Last Chance Cowboys Read online

  Nell took Trey’s arm. “She wants to speak at the trial.”

  “I don’t think that would be allowed,” Trey replied, clearly every bit as taken aback as Nell had been.

  “We’ll see,” Juanita grumbled through lips she had drawn into a determined line. She settled herself more firmly on the wagon seat. “Nothin’ to be lost by asking.”

  “I’ll stay and look after the ranch and the boys,” Eduardo said as he climbed down and faced Trey. “She needs to be there, Son.”

  “We’ll all go,” Nell suggested, seeing no way out of the impasse. In spite of her outward appearance of strength and determination, to someone who knew her, Lottie looked to be close to a complete breakdown. “All except Eduardo, Spud, and Josh. As you said, they can manage things here.” She gripped Trey’s arm more firmly, entreating him to accept the plan.

  “You need to rest,” he insisted.

  Nell turned from the others and lowered her voice. “I’m fine. Lottie needs me right now. Please don’t fight me, Trey. We’ll ride in back while you drive and try to talk sense into Juanita.”

  Outnumbered, Trey helped Lottie and Nell into the wagon and climbed up to take the reins. Juanita sat next to him but kept her focus straight ahead, as if they were already on their way. Nell saw him glance first at Juanita and then back at her.

  “Let’s go,” she said softly.

  * * *

  Ira’s trial was held in a small, barren room next to Colonel Ashwood’s office. Even though the fort was technically shut down, it seemed the most logical place to hold the proceedings. The colonel’s aide had set up a wooden table at one end of the room and two chairs—one for the judge and the other for the soldier who would record the proceedings. Under the high, narrow windows that lined both sides of the room were two more tables—one where Seth sat next to Colonel Ashwood and across from that, a smaller table where Ira sat alone.

  Trey, Nell, Lottie, and Juanita sat in chairs hastily crowded into the room when they’d made their intention to attend the proceedings known. The heat was oppressive with so many people in such close quarters.

  Juanita stared at the boy—a child really. Of course, she had seen him before when he and his brother had come to the ranch, but she had kept her distance. Oh, she had done her job—prepared and served food—but she had refused to speak to him or indeed to look at him if she could help it.

  Now she had little choice. She saw that he was afraid—and ashamed. The way he had reacted when he saw his mother the night before told Juanita that he had begun to come to terms with how his rash act had affected others. She recalled a time when Javier had exhibited similar humiliation. He had been caught with two other boys harassing an old miner who worked a claim not far from the Porterfield ranch.

  Of course, her son hadn’t killed anyone. Or had he? Had he been party to the murder of Nell’s first husband? Had her son gotten so caught up in Pete Collins’s vile hatred of anything that struck him as different that he’d ridden with Collins that night?

  “I wish to sit with my son,” Lottie said to no one in particular.

  Judge Ellis glanced up from the papers he was reading. “Ma’am?”

  “That is my son. I would like to sit with him.”

  The judge looked a bit mystified. “Well, I suppose it would be all right.”

  Juanita watched Trey move Lottie’s chair to the table where Ira sat. Once she was settled, the judge went back to reading the papers, then cleared his throat. “Colonel Ashwood, if you are ready…”

  Juanita was vaguely aware that the trial had begun. Colonel Ashwood was standing before the judge reading from a paper that outlined the charges. Jess spoke next, describing the events of the day. Then the judge asked Ira a series of questions. The boy stuttered his way through his answers, his body twitching nervously, his voice barely audible.

  It was all going so quickly, and Juanita felt a panic rise in her chest. Everything she’d heard told her the boy would be found guilty and sent away. She had come here to remind the judge that Javier had been brutally murdered, to add to the weight of the evidence against her son’s killer. But in Lottie, she saw a mother who was helpless to save her child—and she understood that feeling. So when the judge instructed Ira to stand and was clearly about to pronounce sentence, she knew she had to speak. There was nothing to be gained from vengeance.

  Juanita leaped to her feet. “I have something to say, if it please Your Honor,” she announced. Her voice echoed off the stone walls in the mostly deserted room.

  From the corner of her eyes, she saw Jess half rise from his chair. She fixed him with the look that had brooked no argument when he was a boy, and he sat down again.

  “Who are you?” Judge Ellis asked.

  “My name is Juanita Mendez. It was my son, Javier, who died that day.”

  “Mrs. Mendez, the court has heard the information it needs to come to a decision. I know this must be upsetting for you, but I assure you justice will be—”

  “May I speak?”

  “This is most unusual,” Judge Ellis commented more to the colonel than to Juanita, but she stood her ground. The judge looked around the room. “Are there any objections?”

  No one spoke. Every eye was fixed on Juanita.

  “Very well, Mrs. Mendez, but I would entreat you to be brief.”

  Juanita stepped away from her chair and walked to the table where Ira stood next to his mother. She gave the boy her full attention, commanding his in return. “On my way here yesterday, I was filled with a fresh dose of all the anger and grief I felt that day they brought my son’s body home to me. I wanted to be sure that someone would speak for Javier Mendez, who cannot speak for himself.”

  Tears rolled down Ira’s cheeks, but to his credit, he did not look away.

  She looked at Lottie. “But now I think what good will it do to destroy the life of another mother’s son? To cast her into that pit of loss?” She moved a step closer and squeezed Lottie’s hand before turning to face the judge.

  “We do not know your decision, sir, but we can guess based on what we have heard today. As the mother of the victim, as someone who has watched as my neighbors have suffered the loss of life and property, I say it is enough. I am pleading with you to forgive this boy as my husband and I must. Surely in these difficult times, it would be more charitable to forgive than to dole out a punishment, one that will not bring back my son and will destroy not only this boy’s life, but that of his mother and brother as well.”

  Her knees were shaking as she returned to her chair between Trey and Nell, and the only sounds in the room were Lottie Galway’s soft sobbing, the rustling of papers, and Trey’s long exhaled breath. She took hold of his hand and Nell’s and held on as they waited together for the judge to read his decision.

  * * *

  Nell squeezed Juanita’s hand, overwhelmed by the woman’s benevolence. Ira sat on the edge of his chair, nervously cracking his knuckles while they waited to see what Judge Ellis would do. Lottie was looking at Juanita, her mouth open in disbelief.

  When Judge Ellis cleared his throat, every eye turned to him.

  “Ira Galway, please approach,” the judge intoned.

  Ira glanced at his mother, who urged him forward. “Yes, sir,” he said.

  “Do you have anything to say?”

  Ira’s chin dropped to his chest as he muttered something.

  “Speak up!”

  Ira looked at the judge. “May I say something to Mrs. Mendez?”

  Nell heard Juanita draw in a breath. Without waiting for the judge to give permission, she walked to Ira’s side. “Yes,” she said firmly. “Speak to me.”

  Judge Ellis threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender and leaned back in his chair.

  “I never meant… After Uncle Calvin was killed, I always carried the knife. My pa never knew I had it, but I t
hought one day, I might need it. That day when…” He hesitated.

  “Javier,” Juanita said softly.

  “When Javier and me was fighting, I realized he was stronger and bigger, and I thought…” Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he shook his head, signaling he had no more words.

  Juanita wrapped her arms around him. “Shhh,” she whispered. Then she turned with him to face the judge.

  Judge Ellis spoke. “Ira Galway, you have admitted bringing a weapon with you that day. You have admitted using it. You have acknowledged that while your intent was to wound, you did in fact kill Javier Mendez. Therefore, I find you guilty as charged.”

  “No!” Lottie screamed.

  “No,” Nell whispered.

  Trey shifted onto the chair Juanita had left vacant between them and wrapped his arms around her.

  Judge Ellis banged his gavel on the wooden table. “As for your sentence, that has given me pause. I find I must take into consideration the forgiveness tendered to you by your victim’s mother.” He drew in a breath and slowly let it out as Nell held hers.

  “I see nothing to be gained in putting someone so young away for the rest of his life. I will admit that I felt I had no choice, for the fact is that if I were lenient with you, others would feel that it was because you are white and your victim was not. Others would say that if the situation had been reversed and you had died in that fight, there would be no question regarding the appropriate sentence.”

  Trey tightened his hold on Nell while Juanita took a firm hold of Ira’s hand.

  “This has been a most unusual proceeding, and therefore, I feel inclined to offer an unusual sentence. Ira Galway, I sentence you to return with your mother to your home, with the provision that at least three times each week, you spend time at the Porterfield ranch. There, you will work under the guidance of Mr. Trey Porterfield, completing the chores your victim would have done had he lived. You will not move away or leave the area for any reason until such time as this court agrees. If you do, you will be arrested and imprisoned. Do you understand?”

  Nell stared at Trey. Had she heard the judge’s words correctly? Was he saying Ira was free to go home with Lottie? To live his life without serving prison time? Trey was smiling, so it must be so.

  “Well, speak up, Mr. Galway,” the judge demanded. “Do we have an understanding of the terms of your release?”

  “I think so… Yes, sir.”

  “In that case, court is adjourned.” Ellis banged down his gavel and stood.

  Lottie ran to Ira and hugged him, then turned to Juanita and clasped hands with her, thanking her repeatedly.

  Nell smiled. She could not remember a time when Juanita had ever seemed quite so embarrassed. “We should have a party,” she told Trey.

  He kissed her forehead. “No. We have to get you home. It’s high time you took care of yourself and that baby, Nellie.”

  “We still need to find those missing sheep,” she reminded him.

  “We do not. I’ll take care of it.”

  And she knew he would.

  Thirteen

  Nell saw the first spot of bright-red blood on Thanksgiving Day.

  It was the day they had decided would be perfect for the Porterfield ranch’s annual party, a party that included neighbors and friends, and that Trey’s sister Maria and her husband, Chet, had made the trip from California to attend.

  After Ira’s trial, Trey had taken Lottie’s boys with him to search for the missing sheep. As Trey had suspected, the sheep had been put to pasture deep inside Pete Collins’s property, and the man would pay the price for his misdeeds—years in prison and the loss of everything he’d worked so hard to build. The discovery was cause enough for celebration. Lottie and the boys had livestock to take to market, plus the stock they needed to rebuild the flock over the coming year. And because Lottie and her sons knew little of the business end of things, Trey helped out there as well. The melding of the Porterfield ranch with that of the Galways was accomplished, and other ranchers and herders paid attention.

  Juanita had argued for postponing the party until after the baby arrived. “Nell Porterfield, you seem determined to tempt fate with this child. There are only weeks to go. We can have a party then.”

  “But the tradition is to have the party now, in November, before the cowboys scatter for the winter. The tradition is to show appreciation for their hard work, to allow everyone to take a moment to be thankful for a good season.”

  Trey looked at Juanita. “We are not going to win this, Nita. What if I put Amanda and Addie in charge instead of Nell?”

  Nell had grabbed at the compromise he suggested. “Yes, that’s perfect. And I promise I will stay out of the way and take a nap every afternoon.”

  Juanita had given in. Amanda had moved back to the house for the weeks leading up to the party, and Addie came twice a week and stayed over. Everything was going splendidly—invitations had been sent to every cattle and sheep rancher in the area. Several had accepted, although Nell was aware that among the sheepherders, only Lottie had responded. But the telegram announcing Maria’s intent to be there assured a successful day no matter who else chose to stay away.

  Nell could hear Amanda chattering on to Juanita. She heard Trey laughing at his sister’s wild ideas for the party, and that was all she needed to decide she would keep her discovery to herself. For the rest of the day, she watched for any more signs, and when there were none, she breathed easier and told herself it was the result of overdoing things, nothing more.

  Maria and her family arrived midafternoon, having taken the train to Tucson and come the rest of the way with Amanda’s husband and children. The cousins were loud and lively, and Nell worried that Joshua might feel left out in the boisterous crowd. But her fears were unfounded. Addie’s son, Isaac, took charge and announced that because he and Josh were older, they would take care of “the little ones” as he called them. “Come on, Josh, let’s round up these kids and get them out to the barn,” he said.

  Josh grinned, picking up Amanda’s youngest—a girl who had just started to walk—and carrying her outside.

  “Well, that’s a relief,” Maria said, facing Nell and smiling. “So you and my baby brother are about to make me an auntie, I see.”

  Nell blushed, but she couldn’t help liking this new sister-in-law. Maria was direct, like Addie, but there was a softness to her that Nell found very appealing.

  “How are you feeling?” Maria glanced around at the chaos Amanda had created with decorations and such. “I hope this isn’t too much for you.”

  “I think it’s wonderful,” Nell assured her. “A house filled with laughter and love—what could be better?”

  Later, she overheard Maria talking to Trey. “She reminds me so much of Mama,” she said. Then she poked her brother with her elbow and added, “And the way you look at her reminds me of the way Papa couldn’t take his eyes off Mama, even after all those years.”

  Trey blushed. “That’s the plan,” he replied. “Years and years of trying to figure out how I got so lucky.”

  Guests started arriving shortly after noon, and soon, the area between the house and the barn was filled with an assortment of wagons and buggies. Although the herders continued to keep their distance from the ranchers, the courtyard resonated with laughter and squeals of recognition as friends who had not seen each other during the long summer season hugged and found a place to sit while they caught up. The kitchen was a hothouse of activity, with Juanita firmly in charge. Where the women gathered to carry out the tasks of giving a party, there seemed to be no room for making a distinction between those who raised sheep and those who herded cattle. Inside the barn, Rico and some of the cowboys provided the music while Jess called the square dances. Even the herders joined in the dancing.

  Just before Juanita and her helpers were about to bring out the food, Trey wove his wa
y toward Nell through the clusters of guests. “Come with me. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  Nell had been standing at the edge of the courtyard, tapping her toe in time to the lively music, trying to decide if dancing with Trey would be tempting fate. She so wanted to share a waltz with him. “What kind of surprise?”

  “You’ll see. Come on.” He held her hand and led her to the house. Every room glowed with candlelight and kerosene lamps, and because the temperature dropped once the sun set, there was a fire in every fireplace. The front rooms were crowded with guests who all seemed to be talking at once, but Trey bypassed those rooms and instead led her down the corridor that connected the front of the house to the bedrooms—the corridor lined with the portraits he had made of family members.

  Maria and Chet, Jess and Addie, and Amanda and Seth stood crowded next to each other at the far end of the hall. They were smiling—even Jess.

  “What on earth?” Nell could not imagine what Trey had done.

  “Jess, will you do the honors?” Trey asked.

  Jess pulled a small hammer from his back pocket and a nail from between his lips and pounded it into the wall.

  Then Maria stepped forward holding something covered by a cloth. With Jess’s help, she hung the object on the nail.

  Finally, Amanda—wonderful, dramatic Amanda—took hold of a corner of the cloth and pulled it free. “Ta-da!”

  Trey urged Nell forward as Addie held high a lantern, illuminating the addition to the gallery—a drawing of Nell. “It’s official, Nell,” Addie said. “Like it or not, you are one of us.”

  They all burst into applause, and the women pressed forward to kiss her cheeks.

  “Do you like it?” Trey asked shyly.

  Nell ran her finger over the portrait. Trey had drawn her seated under a tree near a creek, and the sun was setting, the sky behind her alive with lavender and orange. She wore the dress she had worn the day they were married, the night they had sealed their vows. He had recalled every detail down to the slim silver band she wore on her finger. “I love it,” she whispered, unable to find her voice. “Thank you.” She turned to the others. “Thank all of you. I really don’t know what to say.”