Four

It was quite a procession whenever the Harkners chose to bring the whole family into Brighton for shopping. People in the street always stopped to watch, each with his and her own opinion of Jake. Still an outlaw at heart…a hero for saving Boulder citizens when that bank was robbed…a lawman who still thinks he can take the law into his own hands…dangerous…must not be easy being married to a man like that… The whole family is so loving and loyal to him. They saved him from a hanging in Denver, you know… But he blew a man’s head off in front of a hundred people! They say he adores his wife—that he would easily kill for her… He adores ALL women, I heard, especially prostitutes… I sure wouldn’t cross him… The newspapers said he was tortured and left for dead last year in Mexico—went there to rescue some young girl who’d been kidnapped.

Whispers. Quiet laughter. Curious stares. Distrust. Admiration. Most men liked to brag that they knew Jake Harkner, had met him. He was, after all, famous—“the last outlaw” some called him. Most women fluttered and twittered and smiled with nervousness around him. His smile usually melted their hearts and left them speechless…and wondering what it was like to be married to “a man like that.”

Bells jingled merrily on the harnesses of the two horses pulling the large four-seater sleigh driven by Brian. Randy, Evie, Sadie Mae, and the girl’s two-year-old sister, Esther Miranda, were also along. Evie held her six-month-old son, Cole. Joining the packed family in the sleigh was Katie and her little girl, Tricia, two-year-old son, Donavan, and one-year-old son, Jeffrey Peter. Katie’s parents from Oklahoma also lived on the J&L now, and her mother, Clara, had come along to help with the babies.

The packed four-seater sleigh slid through town to the sound of the jingling harnesses and the girls’ and women’s laughter. Tricia and Sadie Mae had begged to make the trip in the sleigh because there was enough snow and it rode better than a wheeled wagon—and because “sleighs are more fun!” the girls insisted.

“Lord, when that bunch comes to town, it’s an all-out parade,” Win Becker said to his wife. The Beckers owned the local hardware store. They stood at their front window to watch.

“Should be a good day for us, Win,” Tessie Becker answered. “They’ll be needing plenty of supplies to get through the rest of winter. Heavier snows will set in soon, and they’ll be holed up on the J&L till spring.”

“Ole Amos at the feed store will have a good day too,” Win replied. “Those Harkners have money, that’s sure.”

“Some say it’s money Jake’s son inherited from his first wife when she died,” his wife commented. “I think her pa was a wealthy rancher who lived way south of here. It’s quite a past those Harkners have, all from way back when Jake Harkner was a wanted man and went to prison. His wife waited for him all those years. Most women would have given up on him.”

“She’s quite a woman. God only knows what she’s been through.”

“And she’s so beautiful and tiny and sophisticated. She sure is a contrast to that husband of hers.”

Behind the sleigh came two buckboard wagons for supplies, driven by Cole and Terrel. Alongside the wagons rode Stephen and young Jake. Ben rode just behind them, all three boys on their own horses, sitting as tall as possible to feel more like men.

“You can tell those boys are proud to be related to Jake Harkner,” Tessie mentioned. Bringing up the rear was Jake himself, riding beside Lloyd. They separated and rode at a faster lope to catch up alongside the big sleigh. It took nearly a day and a half to reach Brighton from the J&L, and the whole family had spent the night at a rooming house established on a neighboring ranch belonging to Henry Hill, with whom the Harkners had become good friends. Brian had saved Hill’s son’s life earlier in the winter, when the boy took a bad turn after a case of the measles.

The sleigh approached the Sherman Inn, one of only two hotels in Brighton. The supply wagons clattered on down the street.

“We’d better prepare some rooms,” Margaret Sherman told her husband. They stood on their front stoop, and Margaret waved to Jake as he dismounted. The Harkners usually stayed at their place when the whole family came into town, usually only once or twice a year.

“They must be here for supplies and probably to shop for some Christmas presents,” her husband, Clint, added. “I’m glad you already put up a tree. Those little girls will love it.”

“I’ll get the rooms,” Jake told Lloyd. “The women can go ahead and shop for whatever they need.” He tied his horse and glanced at Brian. “Brian, can you see to the women? Lloyd can go with you to keep an eye out.”

“Jake, just a little shopping for now,” Randy called to him. “We’ll come back in about an hour, when the rooms are ready, and put the babies down. We all need to rest a while after that long trip.”

“I figured as much.”

Brian turned the sleigh to head for a dry-goods store on the other side of the street.

“We’re gonna buy Christmas presents!” Tricia called to the Shermans.

“That’s real nice, honey,” Margaret Sherman called back.

“My present for Mommy will be a secret!” Sadie Mae added, giggling.

Bells jingled and more giggles filled the air as the sleigh sailed back down the street.

“I’ll meet you at the stables, Pa,” Lloyd told Jake before following the sleigh. Stephen, young Jake, and Ben rode after them.

Jake stepped up onto the front stoop and nodded to the Shermans, then put out his hand to Clint. “We’ll need at least five rooms, Mr. Sherman. The family just keeps getting bigger.”

“Well, that must make you right proud, Jake,” Margaret told him, looking up at Jake and smiling. She was short to begin with, but Jake towered over most average men and women. “You have a beautiful family!”

“And I don’t deserve any of them. If anybody had told me thirty years ago that I’d end up like this, I’d have shot them for being crazy.”

Margaret sobered a little at the remark, wondering if Jake Harkner used to shoot men for no good reason. She smiled nervously and invited him inside to sign for the rooms.

Jake turned to watch Lloyd and Brian help the women out of the sleigh. Tricia and Sadie Mae screamed and laughed and tossed snow at each other before running inside the dry-goods store. He smiled, loving their excitement. He took a good look around then before going inside, always wary, always watchful, always alert.