Chapter Two
The town of Cool Water Gap was so small it hadn’t been officially added to the map of Texas. With most of it´s residents being in the business of cattle and quarter horses, it wasn’t difficult to see why people made an event of going into town. The Town consisted of the buildings that formed three sides of a square.
A general store stood on one side, a twenty-seat church at the far corner and the thirty-seat saloon at the other. Emmie lifted a large bag of feed onto the end of their family wagon. Silas was still in the store probably being cajoled into buying things he didn’t need. There were three particular women of the town who had a special eye for Emmie’s father.
Two were widows and one a spinster. One of the widows also happened to own the general store. Emmie watched with pity every week as Martha’s eyes grew greedy for Silas’ attentions. He was not good at setting boundaries. Emmie knew that her father should be interested in finding a good woman who could make his life better, but she also knew that he wouldn’t.
Anna, Emeline’s mother, had died when she was only two-years-old in a horse accident and Silas had never even considered adding another woman to his life. He’d raised Emmie the best he’d known how and ignored the near stifling attentions he’d received ever since.
“You here by yourself?” Kate McGillicuddy leaned over the back of the wagon.
“Silas is trapped inside with Martha,” Emmie smiled at her friend. Kate and Emmie had grown up together. Kate only a year older and Emmie’s nearest neighbor they’d spent plenty of time playing at the McGillicuddy farm as children. Kate’s mom was wary of letting her little girl play with Emmie at the Ward ranch where Emmie was allowed to run around like a little boy.
“How’s your family doing?” Emmie jumped onto the back of the wagon before she noticed a particularly vocal townswoman giving her a look of disapproval. Emmie brushed her skirts out and smiled at the woman.
“Not great, dad hasn’t been able to sleep since before the recent cattle disappearance.” Kate’s face changed and Emmie thought for the first time that she looked much older than her years. “So, I decided to work at Birdie’s place,” Kate looked across the square and Emmie followed her friend’s gaze.
Birdie Samuels owned the saloon in town. The Little Bird Saloon drew its customers from miles away, the women who worked there earned themselves a permanent stigma while the men who frequented the saloon seemed to get a free pass from everyone in town.
“Your father is going to let you?”
Kate shifted uncomfortably, “He’s not happy about it but there’s no other choice really.”
“Are things really that bad? Maybe Silas could help or—”
"—it's ok Emmie." Kate's eyes met hers. "Really, I'm just so grateful that Birdie gave me a job." Kate lifted up taller and pressed her lips together not unlike Birdie Samuels who was a good fifty pounds heavier than tiny little Kate.
Kate turned into the square and Emmie followed her friend’s gaze.
"Who are they?" Kate's voice went soft and at first, Emmie had no idea which "they" she was talking about. Then she noticed a group of men walk out from behind the new church building. Emmie squinted at them.
All four were young, rugged, they looked like they lived on the road, one had a limp and Emmie could see his leg was bandaged and his bandages seemed to be showing fresh blood.
“Probably wranglers, cowboys,” Emmie looked back to her friend who was still staring with interest.
“Early for that sort, don’t you think?” Kate shifted her weight and Emmie noticed her friend take on a more womanly posture. Emmie wasn’t sure how she felt about the shift in her friend.
“Maybe they’re just passing through? Headed somewhere to cattle drive in April?”
The men began walking across the square and each one turned to look Kate. The looks they gave made Emmie's arm hair stand on end and her heart beat fast. The last man, taller with a set jaw and gray eyes, caught Emmie off guard. His eyes were focused on her.
Emmie meant to look away but found herself unable. Her gaze was glued to the focused gray eyes and a heat pulsed through her body. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her lungs.
“Well, well,” Kate turned around to face Emmie whose bizarre spell had finally been broken by the other woman. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Emmie’s voice didn’t even sound like her own coming out of her mouth.
“Hey,” A male’s voice came from the square and Kate whipped back around as Emmie looked for the cause of the sound.
The first guy in line, thicker than the others with dark red hair, was standing over one of the boys from town. He was a big boy but he’d always been a bit slower than the other children his age. The town was protective of the boy and seemed to take it as a group effort to take extra care of him. Emmie had never seen anyone be overly mean to him. Ever.
“What just happened?” Emmie jumped off the edge of the wagon her body taut with attention.
“I don’t know,” Kate’s voice hadn’t raised above a whisper. “Maybe nothing?”
As the boy stood up, looking as confused as everyone watching, the large stranger pushed him back to the ground. Other townspeople looked on but Emmie didn’t see anyone else. Before she even realized she was moving she was halfway across the square. Her skirts brushed back behind her, a trickle of sweat moving down her neck, the chill in the air doing little to cool the red heat in her cheeks.
“What’s going on?” Her voice was brittle and she felt her stomach clench.
The man with the gray eyes turned to look at her but the red-haired man didn’t even turn his head.
Emmie moved in front of the red-haired man and reached down for the boy’s arm.
“Come on,” It took every ounce of her energy for Emmie to smile. The boy's brow was furrowed and his eyes refused to meet Emmie's or anyone else's. He looked to the ground as Emmie's strong hands helped to lift him. When he was standing again Emmie shielded his body with her own, waiting for him to turn away from the group. The boy was shaking and Emmie's stomach turned sour at the thought of the man at her back.
The four men behind and even the boy in front of her were huge compared to her tiny frame. She was small but she was strong and every bit of her body wanted to turn and savagely attack the red-haired man. She moved the boy with her hands, unwilling to put him in the middle of another confrontation. Her face turned to the side and her eyes swept over the man’s face.
He was ugly, not like the grey-eyed man, this man had a cruel glint in his eye. His whole person seemed to glow red from his hair down. His face was puckered in disgust and Emmie felt every muscle in her body prepare to attack, but the arm she held in her hands demanded she walk on. Her utmost duty was to the boy whose arm shook under her hands.
“Let’s go,” She pulled her eyes away from the man who refused to look back at her. But as she moved across the square the hair on her arms prickled and she had the distinct feeling that someone else was watching her go.