Ahead of them lay the mountains, great slabs of black and silver in the soft wash of moonlight.
A sudden blaze of gold zipped across the sky, and Kathleen squealed with delight.
“Oh, look!” she said. “A falling star!” She shivered. “Oh!”
“What is it?” Billy asked.
“Someone has just died.”
“Why do you say that?”
“That’s what a falling star means. There is a star in heaven for every person on earth. And when someone dies, their star falls.”
Billy chuckled. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes. At least, that’s what I’ve always heard.”
“That’s not true. Besides, stars don’t fall.”
“What? Of course they do. We just saw one.”
“What we saw was a meteor,” Billy said. “Aunt Emma has a book about meteors, and I’ve read all about them. They are actually small chunks of rock which are traveling through space. From time to time, one of them falls to earth. I saw one once.”
“What do you mean, you saw one once? We just did see one.”
“No, I mean I saw one after it hit. I held it in my hand.”
“Oh, I bet it was beautiful,” Kathleen said. “They must look like a large diamond, they glow so when you see them at night.”
“They glow because they are heated up as they are falling. Actually, they just look like any other rock. There isn’t anything spectacular about them.”
“That’s a shame,” Kathleen said. “I rather like thinking of them as beautiful things.”
“Well, they are beautiful when you see them the way most people see them,” Billy said. “So they will always be beautiful in your eyes.”
You are a strange one, Billy Clinton.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You aren’t like any other man I know. You are different.”
“I hope that is a good different,” Billy said.
“It’s a very good different.”
They heard music from the hotel, not disjointed bits and pieces as if the band was warming up, but a complete number, indicating the dance had begun.
“I think we should get back now,” Billy said.
“Yes,” Kathleen said.
Turning, they walked quickly back to the hotel, stepping in through the door as the caller shouted, “Choose your partners for the Virginia reel!”
Billy offered Kathleen his arm. “May I have this dance, Miss Garrison?”
“I would be honored,” Kathleen replied.
The music began then, with the fiddle loud and clear, the bass fiddle carrying the rhythm, the guitars providing the counterpoint.
Although the band supplied the music, Prentiss Hampton had stepped in as the caller.
“All go forward and all go back,
Once more time forward and back.
Make a turn with your right elbow.
A big wide swing and around you go.
Those in front sashay down
And sashay back.
Now let’s have the elbow reel.
A right to the middle and a left to the side,
A right to the middle, then reel on down.
Touch in the middle and a’work your way back.
Sashay around and down you go.”
Around the dance floor, those who were without partners watched the dancers, including those who were too old and those who were too young. A few danced along the sidelines as if they had partners, but most participated in the dance by clapping their hands and stomping their feet.
“Oh, my,” Kathleen said when the dance was finished. She fanned her hand back and forth in front of her face. “That was most invigorating.”
“Would you like to step outside for a breath of fresh air?” Billy suggested.
“Yes,” Kathleen said enthusiastically. “Yes, I think I would enjoy that.”
Kathleen and Billy were standing out front when Falcon and Rachael Kirby came walking up.
“Good evening, Miss Kirby, Mr. MacCallister,” Kathleen said.
“Good evening,” Billy added.
“Good evening,” Falcon replied.
“Now, there’s a sight I never thought I would see,” Rachael said as she and Falcon stepped inside.
“What is that?”
“General Garrison’s daughter with one of Ike Clinton’s sons. Those two men are bitter enemies.”
“Surely, being in the business you are in, you know that such a thing isn’t without precedence,” Falcon said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Romeo and Juliet?”
Rachael laughed. “Why, Falcon MacCallister,” she said. “Who would have ever thought you were such a romantic?”
When Ray and Cletus stepped into the hotel ballroom, the dance was already in progress and out on the floor couples moved and skipped, swayed and bowed as the music played and the caller called.
“What we comin’ to the dance for?” Cletus asked. “We ain’t got us no women to dance with.”
“Looks like there’s some women over there that ain’t dancin’,” Ray said.
Cletus looked toward the women. “Damn,” he said. “No wonder they ain’t dancin’. They’re uglier than cow plop.” He looked around the room. “I’m thirsty. Ain’t there no bar in this place?”
“There’s a punch bowl over there,” Ray said.
“Hell, I don’t want punch. I want somethin’ to drink,” Cletus said.
Ray chuckled. “Believe me, at things like this, punch ain’t what you think it is. Come on.”
The two men walked over to the table to get a cup of punch. Cletus got his, then smiled after he took the first swallow. “You’re right. This here ain’t half bad,” he said.
The set ended and the couples left the floor. Cletus finished his drink, then wiped his hand across his mouth. “I’ll be damn,” he said. “Lookie over there.”
“Where?” Ray asked.
“Over there, just comin’ in through the door,” Cletus said. “That’s our little brother with the Garrison girl.”
“What the hell is he doin’ with her?” Ray asked.
“Why don’t we just go find out?” Cletus replied. Putting the empty cup down, he started across the room toward Billy and Kathleen.
“Oh, no,” Billy said under his breath.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“My brothers are what’s wrong,” Billy said. “They’re coming over here to make trouble.”
“Maybe they won’t. I mean, not in a public place like this.”
“You don’t know my brothers.”
“Well, now, Billy boy, what do we have here?” Ray asked, coming up to them then. “You mixing with the enemy, are you?”
“Enemy?” Kathleen asked.
“Yeah, Miss Garrison, the enemy,” Ray said. “Maybe you don’t know that not all the cattlemen want you pa puttin’ in a railroad here.”
“Ray, whatever is goin’ on between pa and General Garrison has nothing to do with Kathleen and me.”
“Boy, you ain’t got the sense of a day-old goose,” Ray said.
“Oh, I don’t know, Ray,” Cletus said. “She is a good-lookin’ heifer, you gotta give him that. What do you say, little brother? Can I dance with your girl?”
Billy felt Kathleen cringe beside him, and he reached out to take her arm reassuringly.
“If you so much as even look at her, I’ll—”
“You’ll what, little brother?”
Billy sighed. “Go away, Cletus. Go away and leave us alone.”
Cletus laughed wickedly, then held up his hands. “All right, all right, don’t get yourself in a piss soup over it.”
As Cletus and Ray turned away from Billy and Kathleen, they saw Falcon MacCallister standing close by and looking at them.
“What the hell do you want?” Cletus asked.
“Are these men giving you any trouble, Miss Garrison?” Falcon asked.
“Please, Mr. MacCallister, it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Billy said.
Falcon stared for a moment longer, then he nodded. “You know, I believe you can at that, Billy,” he said. He started to turn away.
“Hold it, mister, don’t you be turnin’ away from me now,” Cletus called in a loud, angry voice.