Page 6 of Wellspring
The shopkeeper shrugged.“As many ships as we get in and out from there, I can use it to pay off my next shipment of goods.The bank on Commerce Street could exchange the rest for you.”
Cade shook his head at one more proof of the life of privilege Heller had obviously left behind to come to Texas.He couldn’t help but wonder why.It was a question that would have to wait, though, because the other man had already proven uninterested in talking about his past.Cade tipped his hat to the shopkeeper as they left.
They loaded Heller’s gear on the wagon along with the furniture, then drove back to the boarding house, where Heller took only a few things to secure in his saddle bags.“The innkeeper has offered to donate the trunk and suits to his church.I will have no need of them any further.”
Cade had left a life behind to start over twice, but he had never cut himself off as completely from the old one as Heller seemed desperate to do.It made Cade all the more determined to help him find his feet in the new one.
Letting none of his thoughts show on his face, he flashed Heller a grin.“Let’s go exchange your money and then find one more good meal before we hit the road and have to live on hardtack and jerky.”
THEY METthe next morning, after Cade picked up his laundry, at the stables where Heller had boarded his horse.The owner glared at Heller, saying something in German that Cade could not understand.Heller replied, clearly apologetic, and fetched the horse from inside.
Cade climbed down from the wagon to hold the horse’s head while Heller put the new saddle and bridle on the recalcitrant animal.“If you aren’t planning on breeding the monster, you could geld him once we get to the ranch,” Cade suggested.“It might make him a little easier to get along with.”
“We will see how the trip goes,” Heller replied.“If he cannot learn to behave, we will take other measures, but we will give him the chance first.”
Cade couldn’t stop his smile at the repeated use of “we.”Whatever was going on in Heller’s head, he clearly planned to include Cade in his near future.“A good run’s the first thing he needs,” Cade said.“Once we’re out of town, you can let him wear himself out a bit.”
“Ja,” Heller said.“Yes.That will be good for him.And for me.It has been many months since I have ridden hard and fast.”
Cade knew what Heller meant, but the words conjured another image entirely in his lust-addled brain.Heller could ride him hard and fast any time.
Chapter Four
THE RIDEout of Galveston was a revelation for Erick.He knew Texas would be different from Prussia, but he was unprepared for the magnitude of the difference.Everywhere he looked he saw something new, from the trees with moss hanging in graceful, haunting lines from their branches to the birds to the warmth, so different from early spring in Prussia.He couldn’t seem to stop gawking like an uneducated child, but he wanted to see and understand everything all at once.Fortunately his companion seemed happy to answer his questions, explaining about the live oak trees with their Spanish moss and the seagulls and pelicans and the fact that this was typical weather for early March but would get much warmer soon.It did cool off in the fall and winter, he assured Erick, sometimes even snowing in the hill country and farther north.The last was a relief as far as Erick was concerned.He didn’t care as much about the snow as he did about knowing there would be some break from the heat and humidity.
The first half of their day’s trip involved the not so simple task of getting off the island.Erick kept a tight rein on his horse despite the animal’s clear desire to run, not knowing where they were going and too worried about all the traffic, pedestrians and carriages, carts and wagons like the one Webster drove, to allow the horse its head.Not to mention, the saddle he currently occupied fit his body completely differently than what he was used to.Rather than keeping him perched atop the horse, back straight, body poised perfectly, this saddle rose high in front and behind him, leaving him with the odd feeling of being surrounded, cradled even.It would definitely take some adjustment.
They ate lunch on the road, Webster passing Erick a couple of ham biscuits, shortly before they crossed a bridge over brown, silty water to the mainland.If Erick expected a city like Bremen or even one like Galveston, he was mistaken.They passed a few weathered wooden buildings surrounded by unfamiliar greenery as the road branched off north and south, but they continued west, and before long Webster’s wagon was the only conveyance heading toward the lowering sun.Erick’s horse clearly took issue with the plodding gait of the draft horses, tossing its head in frustration as Erick tightened his grip on the reins.He wondered how long it would take them to reach their destination at this slow pace.He was about to ask when Webster brought the wagon to a halt.
“Is there a problem?”he asked.
“No,” Webster replied, “but we’ll need to make camp eventually, and it’s never too early to start looking for a good spot.It’ll be two days before we reach Houston, and the only towns between here and there are too small to have a hotel.And we can’t just pull off the road anywhere we feel like it because of the marshes.We also might want to think about hunting something up for dinner.We can eat jerky and beans from a can, but if we can get fresh meat, I’d rather have that.”
“I can hunt,” Erick offered.“I cannot help find a campsite, but I can handle a rifle.”
“Ducks make good eating,” Webster said, “or turkey if you see one.If you ride your brute through the brush, you might scare up a rabbit or two.The wagon makes too much noise for us to find a deer, probably, but we don’t want that much meat anyway.It would go bad before we could finish it all.”
“My ‘brute’ still needs a run,” Erick said.“Perhaps I will give him one and see if I can find anything for dinner at the same time.”
“If I find a campsite, I’ll wait within sight of the road until you come back,” Webster replied.“We’ll pull farther off the road before we make camp, but I’ll stay where you can find me easily.”
“I would be a fool to lose you.”Before he could say more, Erick loosened his hold on the reins and gave the horse his head.It took off with a speed that pushed Erick back in the unfamiliar saddle.For a few minutes he let it run free, reveling in the breeze cooling the day’s sweat from his skin.He marveled at the freedom his new clothing allowed him.He would not miss his suits and cravats with this as the alternative.As the sun continued to sink, though, he reined in to a more reasonable pace to explore the brush surrounding the road.He debated dismounting, but Webster had warned him of snakes, so he retrieved the rifle he had secured behind the saddle and scanned the ground around him.Not far from the road something startled from the scrub, and he sighted the rifle almost by instinct, bringing down a fair-sized hare.
He scouted the area a bit longer without rousing anything else, so before the sun could set completely, he returned to the road.Fortunately he hadn’t gone far before he spotted the wagon pulled into a slightly less overgrown plot beneath a tree dripping with the strange Spanish moss.
“One rabbit only,” he said as he dismounted.Webster had removed his hat and jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves, revealing muscular forearms.The evening sun caught on the beads woven into the braid of hair that hung from his temple, making them sparkle.“I hope you know better than I how to cook it.I learned how to dress the animals I hunted in Prussia, but never how to cook one.”
Webster laughed and reached for the rabbit.“Yeah, I can cook it.The… people who adopted me made sure I could take care of myself out here.”
Erick handed it over and watched as Webster skinned it with an economy of movement (and a wickedly sharp knife) that suggested much practice.When he was done, he tossed it in a black pan that looked heavy enough to use as a weapon if necessary and hung it over the fire.
“This will take a bit to cook if you want to get your bedroll set up.I toss mine out under the wagon in case it rains during the night, but you can spread yours wherever you want.”
“I cannot judge the weather here, so I will follow your lead.”Erick retrieved his bedding from inside the wagon and crouched to unroll it, settling it to one side to allow space for Webster’s.He wouldn’t let himself dwell on the prospect of the two of them lying beside each other in the dark, focusing instead on the hard, rock-studded ground.Best grow used to it, he told himself.You may not always have even a wagon to block the rain.
Webster looked skyward, at stars that were familiar and yet not quite right to Erick’s eye.“We probably won’t get wet tonight, but you never know, this close to the coast.Storms can blow in faster than you can blink.Did you get that hard, fast ride you’d been missing?”
“Fast, but not hard.”Erick settled himself on the ground in front of the fire, wondering if the innuendo in Webster’s query was intentional.He didn’t know the cowboy well enough to guess, despite what he might wish it to be.“Whoever named him Thunder knew not how to handle him.He ran as smoothly as a spring zephyr.”He shifted position, feeling the effects of the new saddle.“Perhaps that is the name for him—Zephyr.”
