Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (13 page)

Chester Ford grinned and shook his head at his nephew. “Yo’re more like yore grandpa ever’day.” Chester took pride in his infamous relative, Bob Ford, who had killed Jesse James.

“And just as sneaky as the back-shootin’ bastard,” Ross muttered under his breath, and lifted the hood on the old car.

Chapter 9

B
RADY FOLLOWED THE LUKERS
into the campground near Oklahoma City. He was irritated with the sheriff back in Sapulpa.

“I’ve got a jailhouse full of bootleggers and bank robbers. I’ve not got time to mess with petty crooks.”

“Well, dammit, they wouldn’t have been ‘petty crooks’ if we hadn’t got the jump on them.”

“I know. Aggravatin’ as hell, ain’t it? Happens every day. I get my hands on a piece of shit that hasn’t done quite enough to be sent up for; but you know he’s goin’ to, and you got to wait for it.”

Homer Persy had been so angry he was practically frothing at the mouth and, before the sheriff got there, had threatened to get even. Brady and Rusty had sat in the car, laughing and holding their noses to further irritate him. Homer had calmed down, however, by the time the sheriff arrived, and vigorously denied the robbery attempt.

“I’ll sign a complaint if you want,” Brady had said.

“Wouldn’t stick. This one”—the sheriff indicated Homer—“smells like a privy. I don’t want him stinkin’ up my jailhouse.”

“Then we’ll be on our way.”

Both Brady and Rusty had taken delight in the fact that neither the crooks nor the sheriff was aware that Rusty couldn’t see.

Now with his hand on Rusty’s back Brady guided him to where Alvin had stopped the truck. Blackie followed. Brady had had only a glimpse of Margie when he drove in. She had answered his wave halfheartedly and disappeared in the back of the truck.

“Uncle Brady!” Anna Marie ran to meet him. “Guess what?”

“You learned another song.” He grabbed her up in his arms. She planted a kiss on his cheek.

“How did you know?”

“A little bird told me.”

“Did it, Rusty? Did a bird tell him?”

“I might remember if I got a hug.”

Brady moved so that Anna Marie’s arms could circle Rusty’s neck. Rusty held the child while she kissed him on the cheek. With Brady’s hand against his back they walked on.

“I’ve not ever been kissed by such a pretty girl.”

“How do you know?” Anna Marie asked with the frankness of a child. “You can’t see me.”

“No, but as sweet as you are, you’ve just got to be pretty.”

He put his nose against her face. “And you
smell
pretty.”

“I like you, Rusty. Almost as much as Uncle Brady. Will you sing songs tonight?”

“How could I refuse? And I like you too.” A tug on his shirt told Rusty they had reached the camp. He stopped and set the child on her feet. She ran to the car to get her jump rope.

Jody joined them, and while Grace prepared the evening meal, Rusty and Brady took turns telling what happened after the sheriff had arrived.

“Do you think they will follow?” Alvin asked.

“I didn’t see any sign in their car that they’re prepared for a long trip. It’ll take them a while to fix it unless one of them is a crackerjack mechanic.”

“Speaking of mechanics,” Alvin said to Jody, “how’s your pa’s radiator?”

“It’s still holding. He’s takin’ his Sugar to a motor cabin tonight.”

“You and Mona are staying here?”

“We’ll be all right. Pa can’t afford two cabins.”

“Then, come eat with us tonight.” Grace came to stand beside her husband. “I cooked a pot of stew last night.”

“We … couldn’t impose. Pa’s leaving the trailer. We’ll find something.”

“Won’t do. You’ll eat with us.” Grace glanced at her son. He was combing the burs out of Blackie’s fur, but he was listening intensely. “Scoot now. Go fetch your sister.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. Mona can help me clear up afterward. I think we should have a singing tonight, Alvin. Maybe some of the other campers will join us. Why don’t you invite ’em? They look like decent folks.”

While eating, Brady sat where he could see the Kinnard camp. Margie fixed herself a plate of food, then moved around to the other side of the truck, where he couldn’t see her. Elmer sat on the canvas chair beside the cab of the truck.

If he was smart, Brady told himself, he wouldn’t get to within ten feet of Margie Kinnard lest she become too important to him. He could like her, be interested in her welfare, without falling in love with her. He didn’t want to love her or any woman right now. The time wasn’t right for him.

Besides, he’d seen what love could do to a man. Love with the wrong woman was having your heart and soul twisted, tied and knotted and then … stomped on. Even as he thought this, he was planning on how he could get Margie to come over to the Putman camp for the get-together.

It had seemed reasonable to him, at the time, that once he’d kissed her, she would become just another pretty girl. He was dead wrong. He’d thought of her sweet mouth and soft body all day. Thank the good Lord she was a girl whose dreams didn’t include a piss-poor cowboy, a girl who had set her sights on Hollywood; otherwise he’d be in deep trouble.

While Mona and Grace were washing the supper dishes, Alvin, holding Anna Marie’s hand, walked over to visit with the other campers. Soon he was squatted down talking to a man in a battered straw hat and Anna Marie was running and playing with the children.

Brady made a quick decision. He went to his car to check the water and the oil. When he finished, he headed for the Kinnard camp.

“Evenin’,” he said to Elmer, who sat back in his canvas chair, his arms folded across his chest, eyeing Brady as if he had just crawled out from under a rock. Margie was washing dishes on the tailgate of the truck.

“If all goes well, we’ll be in Amarillo in a couple of days.” Brady squatted on his heels and poked a stick into the campfire.

Elmer grunted.

“Truck runnin’ all right?”

Silence. Brady sat back to wait him out.

Finally Elmer said, “I ain’t goin’ to hold you up, if that’s what’s worryin’ you.”

“I’m not losing any sleep over it. Foley’s radiator is sure to blow soon. I’m hopin’ it happens before we get to where the towns are a hundred miles apart.”

Elmer grunted an incoherent reply.

“Alvin keeps his truck in good shape; checks oil and water regularly.”

“You think I don’t?”

“Didn’t give it a thought.” It was a challenge for Brady to force Elmer to carry on this conversation. He wasn’t going to let him freeze him out. The bastard. He’d like nothing better than to put his fist through the man’s face. “Been in the ice business long?”

“You plannin’ on sellin’ ice?”

“No. I raise horses.”

“Then whater ya wantin’ to know for?”

“Well …” Brady scratched his head and spoke casually. “I guess I was wondering if it was the ice business that turned you into such an ornery son of a bitch.”

Elmer didn’t turn a hair.

“And the more I talk to you, the less I give a damn,” Brady added.

“I ain’t no fool. You didn’t come to talk to me. You’re sniffin’ after the female.”

“Something wrong with that? She’s a nice girl and she’s pretty.”

“Nice? She’s a thief is what she is!”

Brady stood. He had never wanted to hit a man so badly in all his life. “That’s a hell of a thing to say about your daughter.” His voice was low and angry.

A sound like a snort came from Elmer, and he got to his feet. Standing with his hands tucked into the bib of his overalls, he looked Brady in the eye.

“Ya ain’t knowin’ what she is. She run off with a feller last year and stole his money. Name was Ernie Harding from Conway. He dumped her. She come a-crawlin’ back to town with her tail ‘tween her legs.”

“You took his word that she stole his money?”

“Damn right. It’s in her blood. She’s set her sights on seein’ Hollywood, bein’ a
movie star
. Don’t that beat all? She’s got about as much chance a bein’ a movie star as I have pissin’ from here to California.”

“I don’t understand how a girl like Margie would be related to
you
.”

“I ain’t a hundred percent sure she is. Take my advice. Stay away from her, or she’ll sucker ya in and take everythin’ ya got.”

“I’ve not got much.”

“Then ya ain’t got nothin’ to worry ’bout except maybe catchin’ the clap.” Elmer walked away.

Brady watched him leave. There were no words to describe the contempt he felt for the man. If Margie was what her father said she was, she was sure to land a job in Hollywood, because she was a damn fine actress.

Margie had heard every word that passed between Brady and Elmer.

Damn, damn, damn him!
she thought.
I wish to God I was anywhere but here.

Ernie Harding had gone back to Conway and spread the story that she had taken his money in order to excuse his going off and leaving her stranded in Oklahoma. Elmer had believed him.

Margie pressed her palms to her hot cheeks and scooted around to the other side of the truck. She leaned against it and hid her face against her bent arm. Too humiliated to even cry, she stood there, stiffening the legs that wanted to sag from the weight of her heavy heart.

She hoped and prayed that Brady would leave. To have him look at her with contempt would be more than she could endure.

Her prayers were not answered. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was the final straw. A tremor shook her. She swallowed repeatedly to hold back the agonizing sobs that refused to be controlled. Silently they bubbled up. She cried as she had never cried before, tears wetting her arm.

“Hey, don’t cry.”

It seemed to take all her natural strength to say, “Go away … please.”

“I don’t believe what he said. I’m smarter than that.”

“He … said that I’m a—he said I took Ernie’s money. He believes—he’ll tell everybody.”

“They won’t believe it either.” Brady tried to turn her into his arms. She resisted.

“Go away. Please. I wish … I wish I’d never come on this blasted … trip.”

“What kind of man is he to say these things about his daughter—”

“Unless they’re true? Is that what you think?”

“No, it isn’t what I think. I think he’s an embittered, sick man who doesn’t even like himself.”

“He … hates me because of my mother.”

“He must have loved her once.”

“No. There’s no love in him.”

“Hold your head up, Margie girl. Don’t give him anything to gloat over.”

“Please go. I’ve got to finish the dishes.”

“The Putmans are inviting all the campers to a singing. Will you come over?”

“No!” she answered quickly. “I’m going to bed.”

“If you don’t come, I’ll come after you.” He looped her hair over her ear and massaged the nape of her neck.

“Don’t come back. It’ll just make things worse.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

“No. He’ll not … hurt me that way. He has other ways.”

“Finish the dishes. Then come over.”

“Please go before he comes back.”

“All right. But if you don’t come over, I’ll be back; and if he says anything, I just might knock his block off.” He patted her on the back and walked away.

She waited until she was sure that he was gone before she lifted her head from her arm. Oh, Lord. How could she ever face him or the others? Elmer had branded her a thief, made fun of her for wanting to see Hollywood. He had insinuated that she was a loose woman. He had probably said the same to Alvin and Grace and the Lukers. He must really hate her. She wiped her face on the hem of her skirt and went back to the dishpan.

Margie had planned all day to tell Alvin about the campsite at Andy’s Garage just this side of Sayre, where Ernie had taken her money and deserted her. It was probably called Deke’s Garage by now. In the one letter she received from Leona after she had married, she said that Andy had sold the garage to Deke, the man who sometimes helped him, and that he and the girls were moving with her and Yates to a ranch in Texas.

If Alvin would agree to camp there for the night, Deke would tell them that she hadn’t stolen money from Ernie, that it was the other way around. The only way she was going to be able to speak to Alvin before they pulled out in the morning would be to go over there tonight.

Once she came to a decision, she hurriedly finished the evening chores, then climbed into the truck with a pan of water. The first thing she did was hold a damp cloth to her puffy eyes, hoping to erase the results of her tears. After washing she put on her blue-checked gingham skirt and blouse. It was her second-best dress. Soon she would have to find a place to wash her underwear and the two skirts and blouses she had worn all week.

Her heart felt like a rock in her chest as she brushed her hair and added a touch of color to her lips. She wanted to leave the truck before Elmer returned. She jumped down and hurried over to Brady’s car before she lost her courage. Pausing there, she was assailed by sickening doubts. What if she was ignored? What if Grace no longer wanted to associate with her? What if Brady had second thoughts about what Elmer had said?

Her eyes searched for him. Rusty was playing a rousing tune on his fiddle while Alvin piled wood on the bonfire, and Grace, holding on to Anna Marie, greeted the people coming from the other camps. They came with stools and chairs and quilts for the little ones to sit on.

Brady and Jody appeared out of the darkness carrying a heavy log. When they dropped it on the fire, sparks flew in all directions. Brady paused, kicked at the log with his booted foot, then turned and came toward her.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I’ve been watching for you.” He held out his hand. Mindlessly she reached for it, but held back when he tried to pull her toward the gathering.

“No. I’ll wait here. I’m only going to stay long enough to talk to Mr. Putman.”

“You’re coming with me.”

“No. Please—”

“You’re coming. Must I remind you that I’m bigger than you are?”

Brady reached into the car for a blanket, then, holding her hand tightly, pulled her along with him. He skirted the crowd to a place out of the direct light of the campfire and spread the blanket. Margie sat down quickly, hoping not to attract any attention. Brady sat close, but not touching her.