CHAPTER ONE
When the two dusty, smelly cowboys tumbled into the stagecoach, I knew that trouble would come along too. They both tipped their hats to Ma, and the thin man nodded at me.
"You and your sister travelin' alone, boy?" he asked.
"She ain't-I mean, she isn't my sister, sir; she's my ma," I replied.
Though they were both about average in height, one was a lot heavier than the other. The fat one was all sweaty, and he smelled of whiskey. His belly hung over his gun belt and jiggled as the coach bounced along. He was dirty and greasy and hadn't shaved for at least a week, or maybe not even for two or three.
The other man was mean looking. His clothes weren't as dusty, and he wore two fancy guns. He was about thirty or thirty-five and was clean-shaven, and he was smiling at Ma, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was the kind of a smile a buzzard would give a dying rabbit-if buzzards could smile.
He shifted his gaze from me back to Ma, where it had been since we had pulled away from the station. I wasn't surprised. A skinny, sandy-haired, brown-eyed, freckle-faced boy doesn't get much attention from anybody unless he's in trouble.
"You and the boy alone, ma'am?" he drawled. "This is mighty rough country for a lone lady and-"
"We're not really alone, sir," she interrupted, smiling. "My Father is keeping an eye on us, and we're quite safe."
The man looked puzzled. I don't think he understood that Ma meant God was watching over us, and I guess Pa was watching from Heaven too.
It was hard to believe that we were headed west to claim our ranch without Pa. Just a year ago I had watched him walk across the street on his way to the store. That was the day the store had burned to the ground with Pa inside. I never saw him again. Ma and me, we missed him a whole lot, and we hurt a whole lot; but we still had God and each other. We knew that Pa was watching us and wanting us to carry out his plans. So here we were, going out to work the ranch that Pa had bought--two Ohio greenhorns who were planning to work a West Texas ranch, complete with eight hundred head of cattle. Ma and me--we'd make it work!
"Your pa is here?" the thin man asked Ma. "I only seen the driver."
"She means God, mister," I said. "He's our Father. Pa's dead, but he's--"
"That's enough, Artemus," Ma warned me.
The thin man relaxed and smiled that smile again. His friend was asleep and was snoring. He leaned forward and half whispered to Ma, "Well, ma'am, you shore do look like an angel, so I guess that maybe your Pa could be God. I'm Jeff Chastain, and my pard here is Rafe Alman. Since we're headed in the same direction and may be together for a spell, I thought we might get to know each other a little better."
Ma smiled just a little at him, but she didn't speak. He began to talk--mostly about himself-and I got bored, I guess, and dozed for awhile. I awoke a bit fuzzy in my head, but I heard Mr. Chastain's voice still rambling away.
"Your dress, ma'am," he was saying, "certainly is pretty."
I pretended to be asleep and watched him through squinting eyes. Mr. Alman was awake now but not paying any attention to the conversation.
When the stage jolted to a stop in front of a relay station, we got out to stretch a bit while the driver hitched up a new team. When Ma and I went to get back into the stage, she started in first, gave a little gasp, and backed out again. I weaseled past her and peeped into the stage. Mr. Alman was in the seat where he had been, but Mr. Chastain had taken my seat so that Ma would have to sit beside him or Mr. Alman. Mr. Chastain smiled.
"I thought Rafe and the boy would be snoozing some more and you and I could get to know each other better if I sat over here."
Ma didn't smile this time, and I saw some little red blotches jump out on her neck. Those blotches meant she was either scared or mad or maybe both.
The original seating arrangement was fine," she said coldly.
"The dress, ma'am, is shore pretty. I'd guess a pretty dress like that must have cost a-"
"Please, Mr. Chastain-"
"My friends call me Jeff, ma'am."
"Please, Mr. Chastain, would you move to the other seat."
Mr. Alman began to chuckle, and Mr. Chastain's face began to get mighty red. When Mr. Chastain looked at him, Mr. Alman locked up his lips in a hurry. Ma just stood there, looking Mr. Chastain in the eye. Ma was beautiful, really beautiful, with her long, black hair pulled up behind her head for traveling and her fine, pretty face looking very firm but still pleasant.
Mr. Chastain moved. As we bumped along the trail again, he looked mad and said nothing to anyone. He took a small, flat bottle from his pocket and began to drink from it.
I dozed again; and when I opened my eyes, Mr. Chastain was leaning close to Ma, smiling that ugly smile and reaching for her bag. But Pa had taught her well. Quick as a wink, her right hand pulled a derringer from that bag, and Mr. Chastain was looking into two .44 caliber barrels.
I had known about the gun, but I had never expected to see Ma use it. She was pointing it right at his middle; her face was calm, and her hand was steady.
Mr. Chastain looked pale, but he tried to act brave. "Now, ma'am," he began, "I was just joking about trying to take your money. I-"
"I know exactly what you were trying to do," she said calmly. The red blotches were on her neck again. Mr. Alman was working his hand toward his gun in a really sneaky way.
"Mr. Alman, that would be a foolish thing to do because I couldn't miss from here." He forced a smile and moved his hand away from his gun.
I don't know what makes twelve-year-old boys do what they do, but I made myself look real scared and blurted out, "0 Ma, please don't kill anyone, please. Think what a mess this stage would be if you gizzard-shoot them." I covered my face and pretended to cry.
"No offense intended, ma'am," began Mr. Chastain. "I'm only human, and, well, we've had a run of bad luck lately." He stopped as Ma pulled the hammer back on the derringer. Both men were suntanned, but they looked mighty white just then, and Mr. Chastain was sweating more than what the heat of the day called for. It was Mr. Alman's turn to speak.
"Please don't k-kill us, ma'am. We won't bother you no more, we swear--will we, Jeff?" All of this time Ma had been thinking. Now she looked wild-eyed as she spoke. "Get out, both of you; get out, and don't ever let me see you again, or I'll...," but there was no need to finish because both men had jumped from the stage and were rolling over and over on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and screaming.
I pulled the door shut and looked at Ma. She had put the derringer away and was looking kinda confused. "Gizzard-shoot them?" She busted out laughing and squeezed me hard. We both laughed, but I felt her shaking, and her cheeks were wet with tears. She held me for a long time like that, and then I guess we both went to sleep.
When I woke, we had stopped to change horses again. I had that same ache in my heart that I always seemed to have these days when I woke up. I knew I'd been dreaming about Pa again dreaming that he'd come with us on this trip that he'd planned for so long.
My dream had seemed so real. Pa had been with us in the stagecoach when Mr. Alman and Mr. Chastain had insulted Ma. He had stopped the coach and challenged Mr. Chastain to a draw. Dressed in fancy cowboy clothes and wearing two shiny six-guns, Pa had beaten Mr. Chastain to the draw. Before Pa could shoot, though, Mr. Alman had shot Pa in the back, and Pa had fallen on his face in the dust-dead. Then Mr. Chastain had walked over and, smiling his ugly smile, tried to put his arm around Ma. That was when the stagecoach had stopped, waking me.
I was glad to find that I had been dreaming-except for the part about Pa. He was really dead, and my heart really ached; and God had let him die. Although Ma had tried to explain to me that God works everything for our good, I couldn't see it; and I couldn't stop the ache.
As we started on our way again, I smiled at the thought of the two bad men rolling over and over in the dust and sagebrush. "I guess we've seen the last of them!" I said.
"I hope so, Artemus," Ma replied. "I sincerely hope so!"