Polly opened the door cautiously, answering the feeble knock that had just occurred. She opened it wider when all she found was a trembling old man wearing a filthy poncho over his crooked shoulders. His boots were worn into holes around the soles and the toes. He was soaked to the bone from the rain that poured outside.
‘What do you want?’ she asked defensively.
‘I’m just hungry is all,’ he said, and began to cough violently. He covered his mouth with a filthy rag and cleared his throat before he went on, ‘I’m just passin’ through to get to Odessa, you know, see my grandchildren and what not… I was only hopin’ that you’d have a piece of bread to spare.’
She bit her lip, but nodded once, ‘Alright… come in, but just stay here by the door.’
‘Why thank you ma’am… I’m very much obliged to you…’ he said and began to cough and hack into his rag.
She went to the bread box in the corner of the little one roomed cabin. There were children asleep on pallets near the window, along with three large hounds.
‘Who’s this, Polly?’ asked a large man who sat at the table cleaning the barrel of his rifle.
‘Name’s Jack,’ replied the old man.
The other man put down his rifle and stood up, reaching out to shake the old man’s gloved hands, ‘Kenny Bowran.’
‘Oh…’ chuckled the old man, ‘I know who you are.’
Kenny blinked, and then his face darkened. Before he could say or do anything, the old man had straightened his back, now fully six feet tall, with a badge in one hand and a six shooter in the other.
‘I’m Jack Harland, Deputy Marshal, and you’d do you and your family a world of good if you would kindly face the wall and put your hands behind your back, sir,’ Jack said, his voice smooth and deep once more.
Something clicked and he looked over to find Polly holding her husband’s rifle, aiming at Jack from her hip. Her eyes were wild, and she trembled although he could tell she would shoot if it was necessary. She reminded him of a mother bear.
‘Oh…good Lord…’ Jack huffed, holding up his hands in surrender.
‘If you think you’re gonna take in my husband you can just forget about it,’ she said in a low, serious voice.
He cleared his throat, ‘Ma’am… I really think we can talk about this like civilized people…’
‘Civilized? You’re the one who’s tryin’ to put my husband in a cage like he’s some kind of animal!’ she shouted at him, ‘You’re the one tryin’ to take him away from us! He has babies here and you’re the one who’s tryin’ to let us starve! Don’t talk to me about bein’ civilized ‘cause right now manners is just about the farthest thing from my mind… now drop your gun and slide it across the floor.’
Jack sighed and put his gun on the floor and kicked it under the table. He stood back up and held up his hands still. She pointed at a chair with the end of the rifle, ‘Sit down.’
‘Alright, alright,’ he huffed, sitting down.
She found a piece of rope and tied him to the chair. For a woman as slender and frail as she seemed t be, she could tie one tight knot.
‘That’s my girl,’ Kenny chuckled, taking the rifle.
He sat down across from Jack.
‘She reminds me of my wife,’ Jack remarked.
‘You’re married, marshal?’ asked Kenny.
He grinned and nodded, ‘I am… I also hear I’m a daddy.’
Kenny cocked his head to one side, ‘I don’t follow you.’
‘Oh, see I haven’t been home for awhile,’ he explained, ‘Pshh… last time I saw my wife was in June… anyway she was pregnant then but from what I read on this telegram I got about a month ago she done had the baby without me… It’s a girl… Named Arla Rose Harland… Arlow is my middle name and Rose is her mama’s so we just tweaked mine so it fit a little girl so she’s named after us both…’
‘Well, congratulations,’ Kenny said, grinning a little, ‘Is she your first?’
Jack bit his lip, ‘Oh no… I have a son… well, let me rephrase that: I had a son… Jackson Arlow… We named after me and my daddy like I was, but uhh… He didn’t make it… He died about an hour after he was born.’
It was quiet.
Jack swallowed, shaking his head, his eyes going moist, ‘I know how ya’ll feel about wantin’ to keep your babies safe… I think I understand it more than anyone else ever could. Baby Jack was everything to me before was ever even born, before I knew he was a he…’ He cleared his throat, ‘You know when I held him, just before he died…I’d never even held a baby before that so I was shakin’ like a leaf afraid I was gonna drop him or break him or something ridiculous like that. But once I had him in my arms I never wanted to let him go. I wanted to be able to do something…I wanted to protect him… I wanted to make things right…the way they should have been in the first place… But I couldn’t.’ He paused and looked at the children asleep on the floor, and then at each of their parents, ‘But you two can… Just by coming along peacefully, Kenny, all you’d serve is about five or six years, less if you behave… And Polly if you’d just put down your rifle and untie me, you’d at least be here for them… And I’ll tell you what, while your husbands doing his time I’ll send you whatever you need in order to take care of your family until he does get out. Money is no object to me, especially if it means I’ll be able to take care of my little girl.’
They looked at one another, and Polly set the rifle on the table.
Jack raced down the street up to his house, springing from the saddle before the pinto had enough sense to stop. He jumped over the gate and the two front steps to the porch, crashing through the door, shouting, ‘Kitty!’
‘Man alive! Jackson Arlow, I oughtta skin you alive!’ Patty said as she marched down the stairs, ‘Katie Rose just got that child to sleep and here you are hollerin’ and crashin’ like you’re some kind of tornado child!’
‘Sorry,’ he whispered and brushed passed her, skipping a stair at a time.
He rushed down the hallway and reached for the bedroom door. It opened on its own and
Kate poked her head out.
‘Hey, Kitty,’ he said, grinning.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Jack, I’m mad at you,’ she huffed.
He leaned against the wall, ‘I’m sorry I’m late, Kitty… Honest…’ He removed his hat.
She pressed her lips together.
‘It won’t happen again, I promise you,’ he said softly.
‘How many times have you said that before and ended up doin’ it all over again?’ she asked.
‘I didn’t mean all those other times,’ he pointed out, ‘But I do mean it this time, I swear.’
She wrinkled her nose at him, ‘You stink. A man who smells as bad as you do shouldn’t be allowed in the same house as an angel like Arla, much less in the same room… You should probably take a bath before you come in here.’
‘Kitty, you let me in that room right now,’ he huffed.
‘Well I certainly wouldn’t want you to sour her preciousness with your sore mood,’ she said softly.
He stared at her, ‘Kitty if you don’t let me see my daughter right now I swear by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin I’ll bust this door in.’
She giggled, ‘You make it fun to be a tease.’
He pushed the door open, rolling his eyes, ‘One of these days, Kate, you’ll go too far… then we’ll see who’s laughing.’
There was a cradle at the foot of their bed. When he saw it, he stopped in his tracks.
‘Are you having second thoughts?’ she asked, walking up to it and reaching in.
She picked up a bundle of pink and white, cooing softly when it began to whimper.
Jack gulped as she came up to him and peeled back the blankets. Inside was a tiny face framed by ringlets of copper. The baby’s eyes open, they were sheer blue, like Kate’s, large and round. Jack pressed his lips together, unable to look away from such an angelic face.
‘You wanna old her, Jack?’ Kate asked.
He gulped, ‘I think you were right about me needing a bath first…’
‘I was only teasing you,’ she giggled, offering the baby, ‘Now hold your baby girl before I pull out your eyes and give them back to you so you can see what a fool you’re being.’
He hesitated, but held out his arms, and Kate laid Arla down in them. He breathed a wavering breath, still staring at Arla’s face.
‘Come sit down,’ Kate whispered, ‘I know you’re tired.’
He eased back into her rocking chair, holding Arla close against his chest.
Her brow creased as she stared back up at him inquisitively. He smiled a little, his eyes misting over. She smiled, her lips pulling over her toothless gums in a crooked line. Her nose wrinkled and she snorted as a giggle escaped her.
‘She just laughed,’ Kate gasped.
Jack chuckled, placing her forefinger into her palm. She squeezed it.
‘She’s got herself a grip,’ he remarked.
Arla yawned and closed her eyes after awhile.
Jack did the same, feeling nothing could have made him happier, or more thankful, than he was at that moment.
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