Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,159

here who has given you so much trouble. We'll be helpin' each other, Irv. You must know how important this is to me. I've rode day and night just to get here as fast as I could."

Irv sighed deeply, glancing at his wife. "Ought to be enough food stored up that the woman will get by till I get back, and Billy and Drew are old enough to stay here and take care of their ma."

"But we want to go with you, Pa!" Billy spoke up.

"Shut up, boy! I told all of you to sit quiet and let me talk to your uncle!"

All ten Walker children sat in a circle around the big wooden table, faces dirty, hair oily, clothes soiled, faces stony. They, too, had learned from an early age to be silent unless given permission to speak.

"Liz, Marybeth, come help me dish up the stew," their mother ordered.

The two older girls immediately obeyed. Thirteen-year-old Dennis sat pouting. He, too, wanted to go with his father and uncle to steal cattle and see how exciting it might be to ride into Montana and take revenge against a rich, powerful rancher like Luke Fontaine.

"What do you think, boys?" Irv directed the question at his three oldest sons. "You willin' to take the risk to defend the Walker family honor?"

"Yes, sir," Benny answered immediately.

"I'll be glad to go," Jim said. Glad to get the hell away from this boring place, he thought.

"Sure, I'll go, Pa," Larry added. "I can shoot real straight."

Zack Walker grinned. "Hey, boys, Luke Fontaine's got a daughter just about old enough to be findin' out about men. I seen her in town once. Her name's Katie, and she's right pretty. I'd guess she's about thirteen or fourteen by now."

All three boys grinned, and Zack directed his gaze to his brother. "I can't think of no better way to get revenge than to soil that man's own daughter. Let the Walker boys stick her good. We'll take the man's cattle and his daughter; and maybe we'll get one of his sons, too."

"How are we gonna get in there to do it?"

"I'll have to think on it. We'll find a way. He figures I'm long gone, that I'd be too afraid to come back. But that son of a bitch don't scare me none. I've got a little surprise for him."

"You sure we ain't bitin' off more than we can chew?"

"Not if we plan it right and bring in some more men to help us." Zach put out his hand. "After it's over, we'll go get Johnny's wife and the grandkids. They're all still in northern Montana, where we've been livin' in a deserted cabin. You with me, brother?"

Irv grinned, displaying yellowed teeth, one of them missing in front. He grasped his brother's hand firmly. "I'm with you."

"I'm thinking of forming a society for preserving the memories of people like Will and Henny," Lettie told Luke. She picked up his plate, smiling at the fact that he had eaten two huge bowls of beef stew and nearly half a loaf of bread. The beef, of course, came from Double L cattle, a smoked roast she had brought along with potatoes and vegetables so she could cook her husband a real meal once they arrived at the cabin. She had even baked an apple pie, and she carried it over to the table to slice it. "I want to be sure people like that are remembered. We could save some of Will's buckskin clothes, some of Henny's dresses, things like that. I think you should also start saving certain tools and equipment as they become outdated. Years from now those things could be of value. I remember visiting a museum in St. Louis when I was little, and the courthouse where people used to gather before heading out on the Oregon Trail. With the railroad being built, things like that are becoming a part of history. I want to preserve Montana's history, Luke." She sat down again. "Men like Will... and like you... should be remembered."

He put a hand over hers. "It's the women who make it all possible. You mark my word. Someday the women will be remembered with a lot more enthusiasm and melancholy than the men."

She smiled softly. "Maybe." She studied his dark, strong hand, feeling almost like a newlywed again, even more nervous because they had let themselves become such strangers. An approaching storm had turned dusk to an early darkness, and she knew that tonight...