Cade's Quest by Ed Howdershelt

Author:Ed Howdershelt [Howdershelt, Ed]
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction
Published: 2010-03-07T17:20:52.203000+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Marigold saw them coming and came out of the house as Constance stopped the wagon behind the house. Leaving the ladies to their own devices, he took Esther to a stall and set her up with feed and water, then unsaddled her and chose one of the other horses as his ride into town.

The horse had a Union Army brand; likely war surplus, like so many other commodities. The brand on the other horse told him it had been in the Confederate Army.

Cade heard a mewling noise and searched for it. When he opened the tack room door, the orange cat that had been ready to run out of the room froze and backed away.

"It's okay, Doodlebug," said Cade, backing to one side of the door, "Come on out."

Damian saw the cat and whuffled, then whuffled again. The cat darted past Cade on a bee-line to Damian's stall and ducked under the gate, where it turned to watch Cade as Damian appeared to inspect the cat for damage. Using the coffee can in the bag, Cade scooped some feed for Damian and patted him, then closed the tack room door and led his ride to town out of the barn.

After he finished transferring the two new bodies to the other wagon, Marigold told him to wash up for dinner, which surprised Cade somewhat.

"Dinner?"

"Mo' sammiches is all, but y'all gotta eat 'fo you go."

"Good idea. How's James?"

She grinned. "He woke up, then he went back t' sleep." Hm. Might be good, might not, but if he had a concussion or worse, there wasn't much to do about it. Cade washed and followed her into the house. He ate two sandwiches as the ladies fussed over the girl and her baby and drank some cold water from the pump when he left the house.

"Cade," Constance said from the kitchen doorway.

"Yes'm," he said, raising a hand, "Here. Present. Yo."

"Were you going to leave without kissing me goodbye?"

"You looked busy, milady."

As he walked over to kiss her, she said, "I've been doing some thinking since lunch."

Kissing her, Cade said, "That's nice. About what?"

"The house. The land. I'll tell you when you get back. Bring Reverend Phillips back with you if it doesn't occur to the sheriff to bring him." Laughing, Cade asked, "You think he'll come out to this den of sinful heathens?"

Thumbing at the wagon some distance from the house, she replied, "There are bodies to bury. Coffins to make. He'll come."

Kissing her again, then standing back to salute her, Cade said, "Yes, ma'am, ma'am! One sheriff and one preacher, coming right up! Any other orders, ma'am?"

She laughed, "No, Sergeant. Just hurry back, please."

"Yes, milady. As you command, milady."

Cade mounted up and rode out with a wave. Not quite two hours of daylight left. Neither the sheriff nor the preacher would be happy about being dragged miles out of town at night. Oh, well.

He stopped at the stream near sundown to let his horse drink, munch some grass, and rest for a

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