“Put the club away,” the leader said in English. Then he spoke to Tom. “My name is ...”
“I know who you are,” Tom said. “You are Dohate.”
During the entire confrontation, Tom had not let go of the rope by which he had been leading the three cows. He handed the rope to Dohate.
“How is it that you know my name?” Dohate asked.
“I have heard stories told of Dohate, a brave and fearless warrior,” Tom said, playing up to the Indian’s ego. He knew that he had scored when he saw the look of pride and satisfaction on Dohate’s face.
“Because the cattle we are driving are black, you thought they were buffalo,” Tom said. “But as you can see it is only cattle.”
“I have never seen cattle such as these.”
“They are called Angus,” Tom said.
“Angus,” Dohate repeated, though when he spoke the word it came out as “Angoose.”
“Never have you eaten meat that is better than this,” Tom said.
Dohate took the line. “You make gift to Dohate?” he asked.
“Yes,” Tom said. “In return, we ask that you let us pass through.”
“What is your name?” Dohate asked.
“My name is Tom. I am told, also, that you like this candy.” Tom handed a little bag of horehound candy to the Indian and he looked inside, smiled, then took one out and put it in his mouth. He did not offer any of the candy to anyone else.
“Your cattle may pass, Tom.”
When the others saw Tom returning, they hurried out to meet him.
“You are here and the cows aren’t,” Clay said. “I take it that means you and Dohate worked things out?”
“Our cattle may pass,” Tom said.
“Good job, Tom!” Clay said.
“Smoke?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for your briefing. It proved to be very helpful,” Tom said.
Red River, December 10
They were within sight of Texas now, and though they were still quite a way from their ultimate destination, there was a sense of satisfaction in knowing that they would be back in Texas by the next day. It was bitterly cold, much colder than it had been during any part of the drive, even though they were significantly farther south from where they started.
“As soon as we cross the river, we’ll be in Texas,” Dusty said.
“But it is later into December than we thought it would be, isn’t it?” Sally asked.
“Yes,” Clay said. “Later than I would like.”
“How long until Christmas?” Dalton asked.
“Fifteen days,” Rebecca said. “This is the tenth.”
“I wonder what Pa got me for Christmas.”
“Why, Dalton,” Clay said. “I figured letting you come on this drive was your Christmas present.” The others laughed.
“That might be true,” Dalton said. “I know that I’ve enjoyed this more than anything I’ve ever done before. It has made me appreciate what cowboys do.”
“It’s done something else for you, too, Dalton,” Clay said. “It has made you a man.”
“Clay’s right, son,” Dusty said. “You’ve become a man I could work with, and probably some day work for, and be proud to do it.”
“Thanks,” Dalton said, beaming with pride over the praise. “Dusty, Duff, would you all play some Christmas carols?”
“I’ll play them if you folks will sing along,” Dusty said.
As the campfire burned brightly, sending sparks high into the night sky, the eight men and three women sat close enough to enjoy its warmth, and filled the night air with their music.
“I wonder which star it was,” Dalton said, as he looked into the black vault overhead. The sky was filled with stars, from the brightest ones of the highest magnitude, on down to the smaller and dimmer stars, until finally nothing could be discerned but a fine blue dusting of stars that were just below being visible, except for the blue dust they scattered across the heavens.
“You mean which star led the wise men to the baby Jesus?” Sally asked.
“Yeah, I wonder which one it was?”
“Maybe it was that one,” Dusty suggested, pointing to one particularly bright pin-point of light.
“No, that’s Venus,” Tom said. “It isn’t a star, it’s a planet.”
“Maybe it was the North Star,” Smoke suggested. “It has guided me, many a time,” Smoke said. “And there it is.”
“That’s Polaris,” Sally said.
“That’s easy to find. All you have to do is line it up with the Big Dipper,” Dalton said.
“I wonder if any of the stars in the Big Dipper have a name?” Clay asked.
“They all have names,” Tom said. “The first star in the Dipper’s handle, is Alkaid. Then comes Mizar and Alioth. The stars in the cup are called Megrez, Phecda, Dubhe, and Merek.”
Tom pointed out each of the stars as he named them.
“What is that star?” Dalton asked, pointing to another one.
“I don’t know.”
“I was beginning to think you knew the names of all the stars.”
Tom laughed. “Well, now, there are billions of stars,” he said. “So not all of them have names. That means we can name some if we want to. Suppose we name them after the ladies? We can call that one Maria, that one Sally, and that one Rebecca.”
“Wow, my sister has her own star,” Dalton said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“That was sweet of you to give me my own star,” Rebecca said later that night as Tom got ready to ride on night herd and she got ready to go to bed.
“I can be very generous when it doesn’t cost me anything,” Tom teased. “If you notice, I even gave one to Maria and Sally.”
Both were wearing fur-lined sheepskin coats, and as they breathed and spoke, clouds of vapor filled the air between them.
“Yes, but my star is, by far, the most beautiful,” Rebecca said.
Tom smiled. “If you say so.” Tom looked around and saw that they were shielded from everyone’s view by the hoodlum wagon.
As Tom looked at her, Rebecca saw a smoldering flame in his eyes, and she felt a tingling in the pit of her stomach. He moved toward her, paused for a moment, and encountering no resistance, put his hand behind her head and pulled her lips to his.
It was dark enough here that they could move in to the wagon and no one would ever be the wiser. Why not give in to the need that was clearly driving them both?
“Tom, are you ready?” Dusty called. “Let’s get out there.”
Tom and Rebecca jerked apart as abruptly as if Dusty had come upon them. Tom pulled his hands back, and Rebecca felt her skirt fall back into place. They stared at each other through the darkness for a long moment, the vapor in the night air almost luminous as it hung between them.
“I must go,” Tom said.
“Yes, you must,” Rebecca said.
“Tom, come on! You know that Matt and Falcon are getting cold out there!”
“I’ll be right there,” Tom called back, and with one last long gaze at Rebecca, he hurried out to join Dusty for the night.
Tom realized that he had gone too far now. He couldn’t treat Rebecca this way unless he was willing to make a commitment. Could he find the strength to make the commitment? And if he did, would Rebecca be strong enough to stand up to her father?
Red River, December 11
A strong wind came up during the night, making the cold even more difficult. Then, the next morning, as all were gathered around the breakfast fire for its warmth as well as breakfast, Dusty pointed to the west.
“That doesn’t look good, Clay,” he said.
To the west was a huge reddish-gray wall that, at first glance, looked like nothing more than a building cloud. But closer examination showed that it was an approaching sand storm.