“Now, what in thunder do you have against the Jewish religion?” Cole asked. “You seem to have a lot of grudges against an awful lot of people.”
Harrison closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then he once again tried to wade through the mire of confusion the Claybornes had just tossed him into and find some sort of reasonable explanation.
“I do not have any grudges,” he snapped. “I’m just trying to make some sense out of you people. None of you can be all of those religions. It’s a mockery to each and every faith if you only believe their sacred doctrines three months of the year.”
Adam finally took mercy on him. “We’re learning all we can about the different religions, Harrison. We believe it’s important to understand and respect another man’s beliefs. Do you believe in the existence of God?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So do we,” Adam replied. “We don’t belong to an organized church, however.”
“Probably because there aren’t any in Blue Belle,” Douglas interjected. “Folks talk about building a church, but then they start arguing over the kind it will be, and so nothing gets done.”
“You were probably raised to be a member of your father’s church, weren’t you?” Travis asked.
“Yes, I was,” Harrison agreed.
“As a child, it wouldn’t have occurred to you to think about joining any other church. None of us had fathers around to guide us. We do what we can, Harrison.”
He couldn’t fault their reasoning. “Self-education,” he said.
“And understanding,” Adam supplied.
Harrison nodded. “There are many different religions. Will you try to learn about all of them?”
“Even after we have committed our minds and our hearts and our souls to a specific religion, we will continue to keep an open mind about the beliefs of others. Knowledge is freedom, and with freedom comes understanding.”
“There are several Jewish families living in Hammond. We visit with them as often as possible. Some of the residents there dislike them. As ridiculous as it seems, they tend to dislike what they don’t understand. Some even mock. Their ignorance is shameful. None of us were born Jewish, and we are therefore unable to become practicing Jews; at least from the information the families have shared with us that is the conclusion we have reached. Their traditions are rich and meaningful to them, and we find that the more we know about their faith, the richer we become. Any man who lives by his beliefs is to be admired, not mocked. Now do you understand?”
“Yes,” Harrison returned. “Now tell me why you speak French,” he continued. “Do you wish to understand how the people in France live?”
Even though he was seated at the opposite end of the long table from his host, Harrison could still see the sparkle that came into Adam’s eyes.
He prepared for frustration once again.
“We speak French because it’s Thursday.”
“And?” Harrison prodded with a grin.
Mary Rose smiled at him. “And we always speak French on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.”
Here we go again, he thought to himself. He knew exactly where this conversation was headed. “Is this discussion going to be like the one we had about the Irish?”
“Perhaps,” she allowed.
“What did he mean about the Irish?” Travis asked.
Mary Rose turned to her brother to explain. “Harrison wanted all of us to be Irish. I can’t imagine why it was important to him, but it was. I simply tried to be accommodating. He is our guest, after all. I wanted him to feel welcome.”
“So that’s why you told him I was Irish,” Travis said with a nod.
“You are Irish, Travis.”
“I know that, Cole. I only wondered why it was important to him. He’s a strange duck, isn’t he?”
Cole nodded. Then he turned to Harrison. “Maybe he wanted us to be Irish, and then again, maybe he didn’t. You’d think, being from Scotland and all, he’d want us to be Scots, and not Irish at all. Exactly what have you got against the Irish, Harrison? What have they ever done to you?”
Harrison suddenly had the urge to pound his head against something hard. He couldn’t imagine how the conversation had gotten twisted into a defense of the Irish.
He took a deep breath and tried to be reasonable once again. “I don’t care if you’re Irish or not,” he said.
“Why not?” Cole demanded.
Harrison glared at the offensive brother. He decided that trying to have a normal conversation with any of the Claybornes was simply too difficult for him. He was ready to concede defeat.
“I pray to God I never have to cross-examine any of you in a courtroom,” he remarked dryly.
“Now what’s wrong with us?” Douglas asked. “We’ve been real hospitable, haven’t we?”
“You people are completely illogical, that’s what’s wrong with you,” Harrison announced. He didn’t care if he insulted them or not. Frustration, after all, had its limits.
“Maybe we’re just a little too logical for you,” Cole reasoned. “Ever think of that possibility?”
“I simply wondered why you speak French three nights of the week,” he replied.
“Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays,” Cole had the gall to remind him with a grin.
The brothers were all enjoying his frustration. Harrison was slow to catch on this evening, but he wasn’t completely dimwitted. He decided they had all had enough sport.
He deliberately changed the subject. “Mary Rose, are you feeling all right?”
“Yes, thank you,” she answered.
“She took quite a pounding this morning,” Harrison told Adam.
“Apparently so,” Adam agreed. His voice was mild, pleasant.
“She looks better,” Douglas remarked.
“Better” didn’t adequately describe how she looked to Harrison. He thought she was just as beautiful as ever, bruises and all. Her forehead had a bump near her temple the size of a small rock. He couldn’t see the cut, however, because her curls covered it. The corner of her mouth was also swollen. It probably stung, he thought. It didn’t matter to him. He still wanted to kiss her.
“He’s doing it again, Cole.”
“Who’s doing what, Douglas?”
“Harrison’s gawking at Mary Rose.”
“I was simply taking inventory of her injuries,” Harrison defended. “You’re very resilient, Mary Rose. You’re to be complimented for your stamina.”
“I’m not at all delicate,” she replied. She gave Adam a quick frown before she added, “My brothers can’t seem to understand that fact.”
“Don’t start with us, Mary Rose,” Cole warned.
“Don’t start what?” she asked, looking as sweet and innocent as a babe.
“You look delicate,” Harrison admitted out loud.
“Well, I’m not, so don’t get the notion you can tell me what to do. I get enough of that nonsense around here.”
Harrison raised an eyebrow over the vehemence in her tone of voice. Mary Rose obviously was in a rotten mood. He wasn’t certain what had set her off, but he was intelligent enough not to ask her to tell him what the problem was. She looked as if she wanted to tear someone’s head off. His, he decided, was fine right where it was.
“Don’t ask her any questions,” Cole said in a loud whisper.
“I wouldn’t dare,” Harrison replied.
“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” Adam asked Cole.
“Harrison,” Cole answered. “I wanted to talk to you about our houseguest. I got tired of waiting for you to finish talking with Eleanor, so I went back to work. Anyway, I know now why Harrison asks so many questions. He just can’t help it. You heard what he said about cross-examining us in a courtroom, so you’ve figured out by now . . .”
“He’s a lawyer,” Travis interjected before his brother could finish.
Cole frowned at his brother because he’d stolen his thunder. Then he put the rudeness aside and continued on.
&
nbsp; “He thought he had told us, but I think maybe he forgot on purpose. He must have guessed we wouldn’t have allowed him to stay with us if we’d known what he did for a living. We got our standards, after all.”
Douglas looked stunned by the news. Cole was puzzled by his reaction.
“Weren’t you listening to him a couple of minutes ago? Only lawyers cross-examine people,” Cole said.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” Douglas admitted. “Why didn’t he admit it to us? He had plenty of opportunities.”
“It’s extremely rude to talk about a guest when he’s in the room,” Harrison interjected.
“Isn’t it better than waiting for him to leave and then talking about him behind his back?” Cole asked.
“You shouldn’t talk about him at all,” Harrison instructed.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Douglas asked.
“He-thought he had mentioned it,” Cole said. “Everyone in town knows, even Dooley.”
“Well, we didn’t know, now did we?” Douglas said. “Honest to heaven, I’m mad enough to hit him.”
“I already did,” Cole boasted.
“Yes, he did,” Mary Rose said. Her frown was scorching. “Right in Morrison’s kitchen. Your brother has excellent table manners, Adam. Wouldn’t you agree, Harrison?”
Everyone at the table turned to see whose side he was going to take. Harrison decided to be completely honest with his answer. “Perhaps,” he allowed. “However, I will admit I was going to hit him back, but then I noticed you were watching.”
“You knew I was watching?” she asked.
He nodded. Her frown intensified. “Yet you still let Catherine Morrison drape herself all over you?”
“She wasn’t draped all over me, was she, Cole?”
Since their guest had defended him a minute ago, Cole felt he had to do the same.
“No, she wasn’t. She was just being polite, wasn’t she, Travis?”
“Maybe a little too polite for my liking,” Travis said. “But she was real polite with me too, so I guess it was all right.”
“In other words, she was also draped all over you,” Mary Rose snapped.
Harrison happened to look at Adam then. He was surprised to notice he was smiling. Mary Rose’s reaction to Catherine obviously amused him.
“Why do you care what she does to Harrison?” Cole asked.
“I happen to believe a hostess should be a little less hospitable,” she muttered.
“She was hospitable all right,” Cole replied.
“Mary Rose, if you’d quit being stubborn and let go of your grudge against Catherine because of the things she did to you when you were little girls, you’d see what a nice woman she’s become. Why, she’s sweet and innocent and kind-hearted.”
Adam suddenly changed the subject.
“I have a question I’d like to ask all of you,” he announced. He waited until he had everyone’s undivided attention, and then said, “I’m curious to know where all of you were while Mary Rose was getting beaten. Anyone mind telling me?”
Everyone started explaining at the same time. Cole was so rattled by what he felt was implied criticism, he forgot to speak French while he gave his list of reasons why he wasn’t looking out for their sister.
Mary Rose was right in the middle of the shouting match. She kept insisting she was perfectly capable of looking out for herself. No one paid any attention to a word she said.
Harrison was fascinated by the change that had come over Adam. He was, as an Englishman would say, bloody furious. It was the first time the oldest brother had ever shown real emotion. The look in his eyes was every bit as chilling as his voice. Travis was coming up with some dandies for why he wasn’t watching out for his sister. Cole wasn’t making much sense at all, and Douglas was still trying to get his excuses in.
Just as surprising to Harrison was his own behavior. He hadn’t simply joined in the argument. He was in the thick of it. He was every bit as loud and obnoxious as Cole was each time he tried to be heard over the others.
He was having the time of his life. Suppers back home were always dignified. And boring. No one ever spoke above a whisper, and no one ever interrupted anyone else to make a point. Only unimportant issues were ever discussed, and Harrison hadn’t realized until now how terribly dull his life had been, and how very, very controlled.
“Adam, will you please listen to me,” Mary demanded in a near shout. She pounded her hand on the table to get his attention. “I want you to acknowledge that I am a fully grown woman and can take care of myself. Don’t you realize how insulting this discussion is to me?”
She didn’t like his answer. “You may be excused now, sister. Why don’t you go into the parlor and practice your music? I haven’t heard you playing in a long while.”
She wanted to protest. The look on her brother’s face changed her mind.
Everyone stood up when she left the dining room. They were following Harrison’s lead. As soon as their sister was out of sight, they sat back down and started yelling again.
Harrison didn’t continue to fight for Adam’s attention. He leaned back in his chair and watched the brothers battle it out.
Cole had calmed down sufficiently enough to speak French again. He was now cursing in the language. He seemed to know every colorful blasphemy in the French vocabulary.
“Honest to God, she was there one minute, then she was gone. All I did was turn around and she disappeared on me.”
His explanation was the only one that made any sense. Travis was still hedging with his excuses, and nothing he said was at all plausible. Douglas was fully occupied accusing Cole of not paying attention. He reminded his brothers that he was inside the stable and therefore couldn’t possibly have been expected to watch Mary Rose. No man could be in two places at the same time.
“Then why did you expect me to be inside the general store and outside at the same time?” Cole asked.
“All right, all right,” Travis shouted. “I was on my way over to see Catherine. I should have stayed in town, but I thought you were watching her, Douglas.”
Adam turned his gaze on Harrison. “And what were you doing?”
He didn’t give any excuses. “I take full responsibility. I got involved in a discussion about the cattle roundup and simply didn’t notice her leaving the store.”
Adam nodded. He scanned each face before he spoke again. “This cannot happen again. Mary Rose can take care of herself. I realize we aren’t her keepers. She also shares the blame because she went searching for trouble. She knows better. She didn’t even have a gun with her,” he added with a shake of his head. “Our sister let her anger get the better of her. However, now that she’s inside the parlor and unable to protest, I’ll remind you that she is indeed delicate. She may not like her physical limitations, but that isn’t important to us. She could have been killed.”
“Yes, she could have,” Cole agreed. “Bickley’s short, but he’s more than twice her weight and muscle.”
“His friends were big,” Douglas said.
“His friends? There were other men hurting her?”
The brothers flinched over the roar of Adam’s displeasure. Cole and Travis turned to Harrison for help. Douglas stared hard at his coffee cup.
“No one else struck her,” Harrison explained. “I was able to convince Bickley not to run away. Your brothers would have done the same thing. I just happened to be the first to get to her.”
“How did you convince Bickley?” Adam asked. He’d calmed down enough to speak in a normal tone of voice.
“With my fists,” Harrison admitted. “I lost my temper. I’m not sorry about that. I could have killed all of them, but I didn’t. The men are being taken back to Hammond. The authorities will deal with them.”
“What makes you think the sheriff will do anything?” Adam asked.
“Are you saying he won’t?” Harrison asked.
“It’s doubtful. We live in Blue Belle. The folks in Hammon
d take care of their own. God only knows, the sheriff has enough to contend with. He’ll probably slap their hands and let them go.”
“Do you think they’ll come back to Blue Belle?” Harrison asked.
“Eventually,” Adam said. “Trash always drifts through our town. I don’t think Bickley will come after Rose though. You’d be his target, Harrison. I believe all of us should stay on our guards.”
The brothers couldn’t agree fast enough. Adam smiled. “I’m glad we cleared the air. Harrison, about a month ago, we purchased three hundred head of cattle from a rancher who lives near the falls. Will you be staying around long enough to help us bring them to Rosehill?”
He wasn’t given sufficient time to come up with an answer. Douglas gave his opinion first. “He doesn’t know how to rope a steer, Adam. Do you, Harrison?”
“No. But I . . .”
“Let me guess,” Cole drawled out. “ ‘It can’t be all that difficult,’ right? Isn’t that what you said about breaking in the horses?”
“I was perhaps a bit inept,” Harrison conceded. “However, I’m certain that if you give me a rope and show me how to use it, I’ll get the hang of it in no time at all.”
“He’s a glutton for pain, isn’t he?” Douglas remarked.
“When are you going to realize you’re completely out of your element?” Cole asked.
“Just after I smash your face in, Cole.”
Everyone laughed. They didn’t think he was serious. “Yes, sir, you sure are easy to like,” Cole said.
“Why is that?” Harrison asked.
“You’re the only one who stands up to him,” Douglas explained. “That’s why he likes you. You might not be too smart, but you sure have courage. Cole isn’t used to anyone talking back to him.”
Harrison shrugged. “How far away is this rancher with the cattle you purchased?”
“About two days’ ride,” Cole answered. “You can start working with a rope the day after tomorrow. You have to finish up with the mustangs first. You’ve still got that stubborn one to break in. Remember?”
Harrison let out a sigh. “I remember. The speckled one. He hasn’t been ready to listen to reason yet. He’s getting there though. I can feel him warming to the idea. He’s a lot like you, Cole. Real stubborn. I’ll probably have better luck with him tomorrow.”