that doesn’t stop me from grieving for him.” She sighed. “Besides, someone needed to. Matthew, Luke, and John didn’t seem to take notice.”
“I’m sorry about your brother,” James said. He walked down the knoll to sit down beside her. “He turned out to be a pretty good worker. All of your brothers have.”
“Which was a surprise to you, I suppose,” Revelation said.
James chuckled. “Yes, it was. I admit it.”
Revelation looked right at James. “What do you really know about us, Mr. James Cason, son of Colonel Garrison Cason, biggest land owner and wealthiest rancher in Bexar County?”
“Not much, I guess,” James said. He was somewhat put off by the ire of her question.
“Let me tell you what you think you know. No doubt you have heard that we are a shiftless and lazy bunch. That we are cattle thieves and worse.”
James cleared his throat. “I’ve heard words to that effect,” he admitted.
“I will admit that my father and brothers have made some questionable deals in Mexico, buying cattle very cheaply without regard to how the seller came by the cattle. But they have never actually stolen any cattle, nor bought any cattle that might have been stolen from any of their neighbors.”
“I guess that’s something in their favor,” James said.
“My mother and father were from Boston, did you know that?”
James shook his head. “No, I didn’t know.”
“In fact, my mother was a Prescott, an old, proud, fine family. Grandfather Prescott was in shipping. It broke his heart when mother married one of his ship captains.”
James looked surprised.
“That’s right. My father was a ship’s captain in my grandfather’s merchant fleet. But when he married my mother, my grandfather was so angry that he fired him. My grandparents pleaded with my mother to allow them to get her marriage to my father annulled, and when she refused, they disowned her. That was when my mother and father came out here.”
She was silent for a moment. “You have to understand that my father was a man who was used to absolute power, for no one is more powerful than a ship’s captain at sea. He was also used to the respect a ship’s captain received.
“Here, he had none of that. Here, he learned that power and respect come only to those who possess land and cattle. But my father was an impatient man, as powerful men often are, and he had no interest in building his empire slowly. That is why he took shortcuts.
“I admit, that doesn’t excuse him from becoming a”—Revelation couldn’t bring herself to say the word cattle thief—“what he was, or causing his sons to follow in his footsteps. But it may explain a little of who he was.
“My mother died shortly after I was born. My father said she died of pneumonia, but I think she died of humiliation. She was from one of the most influential families in New England. Presidents had dined in my grandparents’ home and yet, here, she was looked down upon. She couldn’t live with the contempt heaped upon her by her neighbors, by people like the Swans, the Murbacks . . .” She paused for a moment before she continued. “And the Casons.”
“Revelation, I pass no judgment on you or your family,” James said.
“Oh, but you do,” Revelation said.
“How so?”
“I see it in your eyes every time you look at me. You think I’m a pretty woman, and you are a little flattered that I made a fool of myself, by throwing myself at you. But it is very obvious that, no matter how flattered, or interested, or intrigued you might be, you will never allow anything to develop between us, because you don’t think I’m good enough for you.”
“Now hold on, Revelation, I never said anything of the sort,” James said. He put his hands, tenderly on her shoulders. “Actually, I think you are a rather uncommon woman, and I—”
“Uncommon,” Revelation said, with a dis missive chortle. “Horned toads are uncommon creatures. You can’t turn a woman’s head using that kind of language.”
“Revelation, please. You aren’t being fair,” James said.
Revelation’s face softened. “I know I’m not. I shouldn’t have thrown myself at you the way I did.” She held up her right hand. “It was not very ladylike, and I’m sure you found it rather unsettling. I’ll never do it again, I promise you. From now own I’ll just be another one of the hands.”
Revelation got to her feet and started up the side of the little knoll.
James waited until she was at the top of the hill before he called to her.
“Revelation?”
She turned to look back down at him. Again, her face was illuminated by the moon, so that her skin was a contrast in pearl and shadow. Maybe it was James’s imagination but, at this moment, he didn’t think he had ever seen anyone more beautiful, despite the men’s clothing she was wearing.
“Maybe I don’t want you to be just one of the hands.”
“I’m sorry, James,” Revelation said quietly. “It’s too late for that now.”
James watched as she disappeared down the other side of the little knoll. A moment later he heard the sound of hooves as she rode away. He turned, picked up a handful of small pebbles, then tossed them one by one into the water.
Revelation was right. He hadn’t thought she was good enough for him. Until this moment, he hadn’t realized what a snob he was. He vowed right there and then, to be less judgmental from now on. It was an epiphany.
Kris Dumey had enjoyed a good day in his diggings. Coming out of the tunnel he had dug into the side of the mountain, he was carrying a sack that was filled with gold nuggets. He had no idea how much it was worth, but his head was spinning with the excitement of it.
It was clear, now, that he was not going to be able to work his claim alone much longer. As he took out the last few nuggets, part of the wall collapsed, covering the area where he was working. At first he was going to dig it out again, then he decided to let the rocks stay where they were. There was no sense in making it too easy for someone else who might try and find his diggings.
Shadows fell across him as he emerged into the sunlight, and when he looked up, he saw six mounted men. Because the sun was behind them he saw them only in silhouette. Then one of the men spoke, and Kris felt a sense of foreboding, for he recognized the voice. The man who spoke was a dapperly dressed, handsome man, the self- appointed sheriff, Henry Plummer.
“Looks like you’ve had a little luck there, Dumey,” Plummer said.
“Not much,” Dumey replied, holding up the sack. “It’s mostly just rocks,” he said. “I thought I might get them out into the sunlight to see if there is any color.”
“Well, what do you say we look at it together?” Plummer suggested. “Empty your sack.”
Protectively, Dumey wrapped both arms around the sack.
“Whether I got any color or not, it ain’t none of your business,” Dumey said in protest.
“Of course it’s my business,” Plummer said. “I’m the sheriff, aren’t I? And as sheriff, I am duly empowered to collect taxes.”
“You aren’t duly empowered to collect anything,” Dumey insisted. “You aren’t really the sheriff.”
“Not yet,” Plummer agreed. “But someone has to keep order around these parts until a real sheriff can be elected. I expect I will eventually be elected, so why not start serving the people now?”
“You’re full of it, Plummer. You aren’t serving anyone but yourself.”
Plummer laughed. “Well, since the job isn’t official, as yet, I have to pay myself and my deputies out of the taxes I raise from good people like you,” he said.
“How much tax?” Dumey asked.
Plummer chuckled, then nodded toward the men who were riding with him. “Well, it takes a lot of money to run my office. As you can see, I have several fine deputies.”
By now Dumey’s eyes had adjusted to the bright sunlight, and he looked up at the men who were riding with
