Page 74 of Wellspring
Chapter Thirty-Nine
FOUR DAYSlater Erick was perched atop a fence, ticking off a count as Logan and MacRae drove cattle marked for sale into the near pasture where, the day after tomorrow, Payne would be leading them on the months-long drive to Abilene.One more day for Cade to return, and Erick was steeling himself to accept that he might not make it.In time, he insisted to himself.He might not make it back in time to join the cattle drive.Erick refused to accept that something might have happened to keep Cade from returning at all.
A shout rose from the direction of the main house, and Luke Quinn came running up along the fence line.“Erick!”he shouted.“Kit, Mac, c’mon, you won’t believe this!”
Erick swung down from the fence and followed Quinn toward the house, looking up the road, but Quinn pointed in the opposite direction, into the bluffs behind the house.At the crest of the hill, a figure on horseback was silhouetted against the bright sky.A moment later a second figure appeared, one Erick knew intimately.A third figure joined them, and then, to Erick’s surprise and confusion, the crack of a whip echoed over the valley and a string of mustangs started down the hill.The two unknown figures stayed where they were, but Cade spurred Nahnia and galloped ahead of the mustangs down into the valley… toward Erick.
He heard Kit and Mac dismount behind him, heard the shouts as other hands came running, but Erick’s gaze was locked on Cade as he rode forward until he came to a stop before Erick.Cade, dressed in the buckskins Erick had never seen him wear, a beaded headband circling his forehead, feathers plaited into the braids at each temple rather than the single beaded braid he usually wore, a wolf’s tail hanging from his waist.This was the child who had grown to manhood among the Comanche, who had shaped him as much if not more than his birth parents.This was T?taat? Isa.Erick couldn’t take his eyes off him.
Grace and Payne made their way to Erick’s side as Cade slid from Nahnia’s back but didn’t come any closer.“What the hell is this, Webster?”Payne barked.
Cade held Erick’s gaze as he answered Payne, as if he couldn’t force his eyes away either.This was the side of Cade that Erick hadn’t seen before, the upbringing that had shaped him into the man he loved.“You’re shorthanded since picking up the land and cattle from the JR.My Comanche brother and his band are troubled by the cavalry raids on their people.In exchange for space to pitch their tipis, they’re willing to work for Wellspring.”
“And do they know anything about working cattle?”
Cade grinned, still watching Erick as if he were afraid he’d disappear.“They stampede bison to hunt down the weakest of the herd.I think they can handle our longhorns.”
Payne rubbed his chin.“There’s the land along the creek we cleared the trees from… they could set up camp there.”
“And they’ll be paid the same wage as any other hands,” Grace added.
“I never doubted it,” Cade replied.He whistled sharply and the figures still silhouetted atop the hill started down, two becoming three becoming twenty, not only braves but women and children.Most of them lingered on the edge of the paddock, but one man rode directly to Cade’s side before sliding off the back of his pony.Cade spoke to him in what must have been Comanche, and the man nodded.
“This is my brother, Nocona,” Cade said.“He speaks for his band.”
“I accept your terms,” he said in a deep voice, inclining his head to both Grace and Payne.
“You speak English?”Payne asked.“That’ll make things a damn sight easier.”
“Nocona and I grew up together.He taught me Comanche and I taught him English.”Cade shrugged.“Some of the others know a little, but they’ll learn quick enough.”
“It is, sadly, a white man’s world we live in,” Nocona said to Payne.“Speaking English is one way to protect the people who place their trust in me.”
“It might be a white man’s world out there,” Payne said, “but in case Webster didn’t tell you, Wellspring’s owned by a woman and run by her and a black man.Everybody’s welcome here.”
“Of course I mentioned it,” Cade squawked.“How do you think I persuaded them to come back with me?”
“My wife convinced me to accept his offer,” Nocona replied.“Tatsinuupi, will you join us?”
A heavily pregnant woman with a toddler clinging to her skirt made her way slowly through the milling horses to their side.
“Cade Webster!”Grace scolded.“The first order of business should have been getting your sister-in-law and niece somewhere comfortable!”She turned to Tatsinuupi.“Come sit down.”She guided her to one of the mess tables before glaring at Payne and Nocona as well.“Men, really!”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Tatsinuupi said, her voice much more hesitant and accented than Nocona’s.“I am well.But it will be good to be settled in one place when our child comes.”
Payne turned his scowl back to the horses.“I didn’t send you out for more mustangs, Webster.”
“They ain’t for you.”Cade rubbed the back of his neck.The gesture brought a smile to Erick’s face.Cade took a deep breath and indicated the mustangs, now masterfully controlled by the remaining members of Nocona’s tribe.“They’re for Erick.”
That broke Erick out of the spell Cade’s return had cast on him.“For me?”
Nocona said something in Comanche that made Cade throw his head back in laughter.He took a step closer to Erick, still smiling.“Erick, this is Nocona, my brother.Nocona, this is Erick.”
Erick bowed slightly, not sure of the tribe’s customs.
“My brother speaks highly of you, Erick Heller.It is an honor to meet you.”
“The honor is mine,” Erick insisted.“Were it not for you and your family, I would never have had the chance to meet Cade, and for that, I will be forever in your debt.”
