“You said you had killed five men. That’s only three,” Morgan said.
“Aye, there is more to the story,” Duff said. “Once I arrived in America the sheriff sent his other two sons and his remaining deputy after me—not to arrest me, but to kill me. They caught up with me in the back of the very theater where Andrew and Rosanna were appearing. I killed the sheriff’s other two sons, but his deputy escaped.”
“If he’s got any sense, he’s on his way back to Scotland now,” Jamie Ian said. “You’ve certainly shown that you can take care of yourself.”
“I wish I could believe that,” Duff said. “But I know this fellow, Rab Malcolm. He is evil incarnate, but there is a thoroughness about him that, were he to apply it to more noble pursuits, would be admirable. There is no doubt in my mind but that he is still here, probably recruiting more men for his nefarious scheme.”
“So you think he is still here?” Matthew asked.
“Aye, more than likely he is still in New York. That’s why I left New York. I was afraid that if he tried again it might be dangerous for Andrew and Rosanna, and I have no wish to get them involved. Andrew suggested that I come here.”
“Which I think was a good idea,” Falcon said.
“What are you going to do now?” Morgan asked.
“I’m going to find some way to make a living,” Duff said. He smiled. “I’ve already made two hundred and fifty dollars, just since arriving here today.”
“You have made two hundred and fifty dollars in one day? I would say that is a good day’s wages. How did you come by it?” Morgan asked.
“It was easy. I turned over to the sheriff someone for whom a reward had been posted,” Duff said.
“Wait till you hear how it happened,” Falcon said, and he proceeded to tell the story of Duff “borrowing” a cane and using it to trip up a thief.
“And here is the best part,” Falcon said. “You know who he borrowed the cane from?”
“No idea,” Jamie Ian said.
“I’ll give you a hint. The man he borrowed the cane from doesn’t need it to walk.”
“Ha! You are talking about Toots Nelson, aren’t you?” Morgan said. “He’s always so prim and proper. I would love to have seen his face.”
“It was something to behold all right,” Falcon said. “But the expression on Stripland’s face when he went ass over elbow was even better.”
The men were still laughing when the women, their work in the kitchen completed, returned.
“What’s so funny?” Joleen asked.
A moment later, after hearing the story of Duff using a cane to trip up a purse snatcher, the women were laughing as well, and they were still laughing as they left the house and climbed into the various conveyances for the trips back to their own homes.
“Good-bye, Duff, and welcome to Colorado!” Kathleen called.
“Good-bye!” the others called, and Duff and Falcon responded in kind.
As the teams pulled the surreys and buggies away, Duff stood for a long moment at the front door watching. Noticing a contemplative look on his face, Falcon asked about it.
“Is anything wrong?”
“No, there is nothing wrong. ’Twas thinking, I was, what a wonderful family ye have, Falcon MacCallister,” Duff said.
“You are thinking of Skye, aren’t you?”
“Aye, and the family we would have had.”
“These people, my brothers and sisters, and my brothers- and sisters-in-law, are your family, too,” Falcon said.
“I much appreciate your sharing them with me.”
“It’s not my doing, cousin. It’s a fact of life. But I can understand your thinking about Skye. We’ve all lost people that we love, Duff,” Falcon said. “But we go on with life.”
“And I will as well,” Duff said. “Though I’ve no idea as to what my new life will be.”
“What did you do in Scotland?”
“I had land. I raised cattle.”
Falcon laughed.
“What is it?”
“You are a cattle rancher. There’s no need for you to have a new life,” Falcon said. “You’ll have your old life; you’ll just be having it in a new place.”
“I don’t know how it is in America. But in Scotland, one needs land to be a rancher.”
“You can homestead.”
“Homestead. Aye, Andrew mentioned something about that, but I’m not sure what he was talking about.”
“It’s an easy way of getting land,” Falcon said. “All you have to do is file on it, build on it, and live on it for five years.”
