THE OUTLAW'S THANKSGIVING (2 page)

      
Markus sighed heavily.
 
“For years he was on the run.
 
He tried finding Butch, but every time he
got close, he lost him.
 
In some towns,
Butch had robbed stores and ranches he’d worked for.
 
Several times, Markus had to hightail it out of there.

      
Another thing, he was tired.
 
So weary of the running, so weary of not
being home, so weary of not being able to build a life of his own.
 
He’d always wanted to settle down, get
married, and have a passel of kids.
 
That thought made him smile and he thought of Katie.
 
She’d make someone a fine wife.
 
Even when she was young and they were in
school, he had always liked her.
 
She
never got into any scrapes with other girls, never had a bad word to say about
anyone, and always helped the teacher with kids who didn’t do well in their studies.

      
She’d grown into a fine looking woman too
with her long auburn hair and green eyes.
 
She wasn’t skinny or fat, but built like a woman should be in his
estimation, and she was tall.
 
And she
could cook too.
 
The apple pie she’d
served him was delicious.
 
The crust
just melted in his mouth and the apples tender with just the right amount of
cinnamon.
 
The house smelled so good and
he could just imagine what Thanksgiving dinner would taste like.

      
The thought of being here near his own
home, made him want to get up and ride for his Pa’s place, but he knew he
wasn’t able yet.
 
Praying that tomorrow
he’d feel up to it helped his mind to ease somewhat and he settled back and
fell asleep.

***

      
Katie woke when the rooster crowed.
 
She jumped out of bed, washed off in the
basin of clean water she put there yesterday, and dressed.
 
When she went out to the kitchen, she saw
that Markus was still asleep.
 
Being as
quiet as possible, she stoked the dying embers in the stove, added wood, and
put coffee on to cook while she went out and milked the cow, fed the horses and
chickens.

      
Not wasting any time, she quickly
attended to her chores and came back into the house to find Markus sitting up
on the edge of the bed.
 
“Good morning,”
she said.
 
“How are you feeling?”

      
“If it weren’t for the headache, I’d say
pretty well.
 
I do feel a little warm.”

      
Katie walked over to him and felt his
forehead.
 
“You are a little warm, but I
don’t think it’s a bad fever and your wound looks good.
 
There’s no pus or anything.”

      
“That’s a good thing.”
 
He stood up and swayed at the dizziness that
assaulted him.

      
Katie grabbed hold of him and steadied
him.
 
“Where are you going?”

      
“I need to relieve myself.”

      
“Oh,” she said, blushing.
 
I’ll walk with you to the door.
 
Do you think you can manage?”

      
“Yeah, I’ll hold onto the house.
 
I’ll be fine,” he said, as Buster got up to
go with him.
 
“Looks like he needs out
too.”

      
She laughed.
 
“You can leave him out there if he wants to stay.
 
He should be fine.
 
The snow has stopped and the sun’s coming out.
 
Looks like it will be a beautiful day.”

      
“Not as beautiful as you.”

      
Her breath caught in her throat.
 
“Thank you,” she said, unsure of what else
to say.

      
“It’s the truth.”

      
She helped him into his coat, opened the
door, and watched him walk slowly down the steps.
 
She shut the door, when she heard her grandma yelling for
her.
 
“The day has begun,” she said,
running into her grandma’s room.
 
“Good
morning, Grandma.
 
Are you feeling any
better?”

      
“My leg hurts something awful.
 
I need some of that laudanum that doc left
for me before I sit up.”

      
Katie measured out the dose and gave it
to her, then helped her wash up, and get dressed.
 
“I wish you would use those crutches to come out into the kitchen
or sit on the sofa.
 
You wouldn’t get so
lonesome that way.
 
I’ve got a lot of
cooking to do today and we have a guest.”

      
“Oh, did one of my friends come to visit
me from town?”

      
“No, a man was hurt and I brought him in
and patched him up.”

      
“A stranger?”

      
“He’s a nice man, Grandma, and he isn’t
going to hurt us.
 
I asked him to stay
until he’s better and to have Thanksgiving dinner with us tomorrow.”

      
“What happened to him?”

      
“A bullet grazed his temple.
 
I cleaned it and stitched it up.
 
He gets real dizzy though at times.”

      
“Is he an outlaw?”

      
“I don’t think so, but he needs help, and
we are going to help him.”

      
“Is he handsome?”

      
“Why don’t you use those crutches and
come out and find out?”

      
“My arms aren’t strong enough, dear.”

      
Katie shook her head.
 
“Grandma, you are a strong woman.
 
I’ll think of something to get you out of
this room.
 
I know tomorrow, I’ll have
Uncle Matt carry you out to sit at the table.”
 
With those words, she turned and went into the kitchen to get her first
cup of coffee and make breakfast.
 
Markus was sitting at the table, his head in his hands.
 
“You all right?”

      
“Yeah.
 
I suppose it will take a few days for this headache to ease up.”

      
She poured two cups of coffee and set one
in front of him.
 
“Do you want some
whiskey in it to help with the pain?”

      
“No.
 
I’m really not a drinking man.”

      
“I’m going to start breakfast.
 
Grandma won’t use her crutches to get out of
bed.
 
I wish she would, because she has
me running back and forth all the time.
 
I’ve got a lot to do today.”

      
“Is she a big woman?”

      
“No, she’s small, but she won’t budge an
inch on those crutches doc gave her to use.”

      
“You want me to carry her in here to the
table?”

      
Katie looked at him.
 
“Do you think you can manage that being
dizzy and all?”

      
“I think I make it with her, if she
doesn’t mind it.”

      
“Come on,” she said, when he got up and
swayed a little.
 
“You sure about
this?
 
I don’t want you dropping my
grandma.”

      
He grinned.
 
If I do, I promise to let her fall on me so she doesn’t get
hurt.”

      
“It’s worth a try,” she said, leading the
way into her room.
 
“Grandma, Markus is
going to carry you out to the table so you can have breakfast with us.”

      
“Oh dear, he’s a handsome fellow.”

      
Katie laughed.
 
“Don’t pay any attention to grandma.
 
She likes all the handsome men around here.”

      
“Hello, Grandma,” he said, moving to the
side of the bed.
 
He bent down and
slipped his arms under her and lifted her into his arms.
 
“Hold on.
 
I get a might dizzy at times.”

      
“Oh my,” she said, wrapping her arms
around his neck.
 
“You’re a big man and
so strong.”
 
She winked at Katie as they
moved by her and into the kitchen.

      
“There you go, Ma’am.”
 
He set her in a chair at the head of the
table.

      
“Thank you so much, young man.
 
It’s nice to be out of that bedroom.”

      
“You’re welcome,” Markus said, and walked
over to sit down at his place.
 
Katie
was refilling his coffee cup.

      
“I’ll get breakfast right away.
 
I have biscuits made and there’s pie, but
I’ll make some scrambled eggs and bacon.”

      
“Sounds good.
 
I haven’t had a home cooked meal in a long time.”

      
“Where have you been, young man,” Grandma
asked, sipping at her coffee.

      
“Just roaming around.”
 
He didn’t want to have to answer a lot of
questions, but he was always taught to be polite to women and anyone older than
himself.

      
“You look familiar.
 
I can’t quite place you, but those
eyes.
 
They’re beautiful, don’t you
think, Katie?”

      
“Yes they are.”

      
“You know, there’s only two men I know of
that has that color of eyes.
 
The
Drake’s at the farm next to us.
 
You
know them?”

      
Markus almost choked on the sip of coffee
he’d just taken.
 
“I don’t think so
Ma’am.”

      
“Call me Grandma.
 
Everyone does.”

      
“Thank you, Grandma.”

      
“You’re polite too,” she said, as Katie
placed a plate before her and handed one to Markus.

      
“Eat while it’s hot.”

      
Markus didn’t need to be told twice.
 
He dug into the food and groaned.
 
“This is delicious.
 
You’re a good cook, Katie.”

      
“Thank you,” she said, sitting down to
eat.
 
“I think I am going to bake the
ham today.
 
That way we can have it for
supper too and I got some cream to make potato salad.
 
I’ll make the yams tomorrow and some vegetables I canned.
 
Sound good, Grandma?”

      
“Yes it does.
 
You know, Markus, the more I look at you, I’d swear you were a
Drake.
 
You know what happened to the
youngest son, don’t you?
 
It seems he
was wrongly accused of robbing the bank in town.
 
Matt told me about it before I fell and broke my ankle.
 
It seems his cousin Butch is the one who
robbed the bank.
 
Guess Butch got shot
over in the next town trying to rob the bank there a couple weeks ago.
 
The doctor tried to save his life, but it
wasn’t to be.
 
Before he died, he told
the doctor and lawman there that he let his cousin, Markus, take the blame all
these years and he didn’t want to die with that on his conscience.
 
You wouldn’t happen to be Markus Cole Drake,
would you?”

      
Markus froze.
 
He didn’t know what to say.
 
Could this lady be trying to trick him into exposing himself for who he
really was, or was she telling the truth.
 
He looked at Katie, who smiled at him.
 

      
“I knew you looked familiar!
 
Those eyes.
 
How could I ever forget, but with that beard, it was hard to tell.”

      
“Is it true, Katie, what she says?”

      
“Yes,” she reached over and took hold of
his hand.
 
“Uncle Matt told me all about
it and said he wished he knew where you were to let you know and he put the
word out you were innocent.”