Cages by Sherry

Word Count 5,372

Written for the Lancer Writer ‘55^th Anniversary Episode Tag Celebration’

I have borrowed dialog from the Juniper’s Camp episode. All credit for these lines goes to the scriptwriters.

Episode Tag: Juniper’s Camp

Part One

Jelly knew it. As soon as His Highness Harper arrived from Boston, he started tossing orders quicker than Teresa could throw chicken feed. Why, a man with two glass eyes could see he’d stir up trouble. And friend to Murdoch Lancer or not, that feller figured himself better than everybody else. ‘Don’t touch this bag; be careful of that one.’ Jelly told him plain enough that he wasn’t the suitcase toter anyhow.

“Are you contradicting me? I happen to be a guest in this house.” Harper thought he would come from Boston and run Lancer Ranch. “I may decide to have you fired.”

“Well, don’t you worry none about me. But if you want anything else done around here, I suggest you ask for it nice and polite. ’Cause some of the boys got real mean tempers.” Jelly told him just how it was. “Fired. And then what? Let the whole dad-burn ranch go to ruin.” He mumbled to himself.

Murdoch came out about that time, and the two exchanged their howdy dos. But then Harper started back in. “If I am to spend one minute in your house, I expect you to fire this servant.” The gol durned fool pointed right at Jelly.

“That’s not a servant—that’s Jelly! The best horse wrangler and all around hand I’ve got, plus a good friend. C’mon Jim, let’s go in the house …”

Reckon that cooled his heels some. Looking at Harper’s face, you’d think someone caught his mama in bed with the neighbor man.

.

Jelly hadn’t had a chance to fill the bins when Johnny and Scott turned up in the barn to saddle their horses. They both wanted feed sacks for the road. “Keep yer britches on. I ain’t even unloaded the supply order yet. Where y’all headed in such a hurry?”

“Aw, Murdoch’s sending us to rescue a man’s daughter from marrying some miner.” Johnny grabbed his bridle and went toward Barranca’s stall.

Scott raised a brow and pulled the gear and saddle next to him. “The man said she’d been kidnapped.” He slid the bit into his horse’s mouth.

“Do you believe that? He would have reported it to a federal Marshall if that was so. I don’t see why we’re getting involved.” Johnny settled the saddle onto Barranca’s back and tightened the cinch. “Jelly, you have a tinder box I can take?”

“Hold your ponies. I got one over right here.” Jelly lifted the seat of a box bench he and Murdoch had made and rummaged around until he found one full of matches. “Here you go. Why doesn’t he hire Pinkertons?”

“I wish it were that simple, Jelly.” Scott tied his sleeping roll down. “Our father feels he owes Mr. Harper a debt. So, he’s sending us to Juniper’s Camp to rescue the man’s daughter. It seems marrying a gold miner isn’t what her father has in mind.”

“Why’s it your job to do the rescuing? Somethin’ wrong with Harper that he can’t go up there hisself? After all, it is his youngun.” Jelly searched around, wondering if there might be anything else the boys needed. “You got yer slickers?”

Johnny leaned on his saddle and didn’t appear none too happy about going. “The old man said this ranch wouldn’t even be here without Harper; and to top that, he said Scott wouldn’t be here without him either.” Johnny elbowed Scott and laughed. “What do you think, Jelly? Do you reckon Harper gave the old man some pointers in the bedroom?”

“John-ny Lancer.” Jelly had to remind the boy of his manners sometimes. “You know better than any such as that.”

Scott smiled a little. “I’m not too sure myself what Murdoch meant by that.”

A grin lit Johnny’s face when he turned to Scott. “Are you planning to ask him, Brother?”

“No, I’m planning to rescue the girl.”

Johnny kicked at the straw on the stall floor. “Maybe this ain’t a rescue. It might be he wants her to marry a Harvard lawyer, or what if it’s you he’s after for his daughter?” He rubbed a hand down Barranca’s face and gave him a carrot from the bucket of snacks. “And what if that’s not what she wants? Suppose she wants this gold miner?”

“Well, Harper said the man kidnapped her. And our father is sending us to bring her back to Lancer.” Scott looked at his brother, kind of impatient-like. “Johnny?”

“I know, I know. But if she wants a miner…” Johnny added a few carrots and a couple of apples to his saddlebags. It was easy to tell he didn’t want to go after that girl.

“If the girl is underage, it doesn’t matter what she wants. Her father still decides.” Scott eyed Johnny, who had his head bowed. “Come on, Johnny. We can mix in a little fun. It’s a mining camp. You love Chinese food. Plenty of Oriental mine workers are up there, and their families have eating establishments nearby. We’ll have a good meal and enjoy an evening away before we begin our search. Johnny barely nodded, but he smiled when Scott squeezed his shoulder.

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He wasn’t smiling when they came back. Five whole days passed before the boys showed up again, and Murdoch had his spurs in a tangle the entire time they were gone. He probably had his fill of His Highness Harper—Teresa sure had.

Jelly finished haying the stalls and decided to rest his aching shoulders when he saw dust from riders. Finally, it was the boys coming through the arch. Johnny had the girl riding on Barranca in front of him. Scott followed behind them.

“Y’all are just in time for supper.” Jelly took hold of Barranca’s bridle.

“That’s fine, Jelly. We’ve not had a tasty meal since we left.” Scott answered for them.

Mateo ran out to help with the horses, and he reached up and helped the girl down.

“So, this is Lancer.” She sure had eyes for Johnny.

“Yeah, Well, there’s more.” Johnny pointed toward the knoll up above the road they’d just come down. “You get way up there on the top of that hill; it’s as far as the eye can see.”

“There must be a lot of places to be alone.”

“Yeah, I could show ’em to ya.”

That girl may have been planning a marriage, but she sure was flirting with Johnny. Even Scott had a disapproval written all over his face and cleared his throat when he walked by them. Jelly made himself busy unstrapping gear but stayed within earshot.

“Johnny, I don’t want to see any place I can’t have.” But she looked around like Lancer would be something she’d want to own. Now, what did that girl mean by that? Only one way she’d ever be that much a part of this place. Jelly sure didn’t think she ought to hint at a marriage proposal after only knowing someone for a few days—if that’s what she was doing.

“You know, Melissa, I was wondering… back at that barn, why you called out to help me?” Something was going on between Johnny and the girl.

“Does it make a difference?” She kept playing with him, and Jelly didn’t much care for it.

“It might.” Johnny told her.

“When I was a little girl, my father used to take me to the Boston zoo. And I would look at all of the animals in those tiny cages; they didn’t hate their keeper or want to see them hurt… Out here, I guess that’s kind of hard to understand.” Lordy, she’s hitting close to home with that story.

Thank goodness Murdoch came out, but then he started in. “Boys, you certainly took your time getting here.”

Scott raised a brow and said, “It was such a nice trip; it would be a shame not to relax and enjoy it.” He hugged Teresa when she ran to him, and he gave Johnny the eyeball like he ought to do the same. But Teresa beat him to it, wrapping her arms around Johnny’s neck and kissed him. Melissa stared at them, and everything got quiet.

Murdoch broke the silence and told her, “The last time I saw you, your father bragged about you reading news stories in the Boston Herald …You must have been all of three.”

That girl didn’t even answer Murdoch; she just asked, “Is my father here?”

“Sure, sure, and he missed you.” Murdoch smoothed it over. But something didn’t sit well.

“Melissa!”

Well, if it wasn’t Mr. High and Mighty himself.

“Hello, Papa, it’s nice to see you.”

It appeared to be an icy embrace to Jelly—like she was hugging someone with a mess on their apron.

“Come on, Let’s go in.” Teresa walked away with them and said she’d show Miss Melissa to her room.

“Uh… See ya at dinner.” Murdoch watched the Harpers and Teresa leave. Scott took a glove off and didn’t act too happy.

“Well, you did a good job. How’d it go? Any problems?” Murdoch looked from one boy to the other.

Scott kept messing with his gloves, and Johnny kicked some gravel and finally nodded toward his brother, who gave the lowdown to Murdoch, “Well, aside from getting beaten up a couple of times, hit on the head, thrown in jail, shot at… no, no real problems.”

Murdoch checked them both over and must have figured they was okay. But he also must have figured Johnny wasn’t himself. “What about you, son? Something bothering you?”

“No, like you said, we did a good job.” Johnny never looked up.

“Well, you don’t seem very happy about it.” Murdoch kept at the boy.

“I don’t like kidnapping women.” Johnny spoke his mind.

“What are you talking about?” Murdoch sounded impatient. Jelly eased further behind the trellis; he wondered if the Lancers noticed he hadn’t gone inside yet.

“You know that story that Harper told you about her being a prisoner—a bunch of malarkey.”

Scott stayed quiet. He and Murdoch had their hands on their hips, staring at Johnny like he had two heads.

“She wanted to marry him.” Johnny looked to his brother like he’d like some support but didn’t get nary a bit.

Then Murdoch acted as if everything ended in one statement. “I know, but she’s underage.”

I reckon he forgot that half the girls in California, plus from what Jelly knew, the boss married Johnny’s mama before she reached anywhere near that girl’s age.

“Oh, fine, well, just leave it at that.” Johnny walked away, and Scott started studying the ground.

“Well, what have you got to say?”

Scott shook his head, “he’s got his notions; I’ve got mine.”

“Well, could I hear your notions, if you don’t mind telling me?” Murdoch backed off his gruffness some.

Scott shrugged. “I think Johnny’s in love, but too stubborn to admit it. He’s been wild and free most of his life. The girl caught him in the soft spot… I just hope he can handle it… that’s all. I’m gonna get cleaned up.”

When they left to clean up for dinner, Jelly slipped from his hiding spot. He almost wished he hadn’t listened.

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Jelly decided to eat in the kitchen, where he might learn more about the girl and how Johnny was doing. Turned out the boy didn’t join ’em for supper. Can’t say as he blamed him much for that, not after he’d spent the best part of a week trying to do what his Daddy wanted, getting beat on, put in jail, and then come home to have Murdoch shut him down when he disagreed with him. After eating, Jelly left to find Johnny to make sure he had some supper.

Just as Jelly came around the side of the house, he saw him sitting outside the front door. Only that high and mighty James Harper already had Johnny cornered.

“I missed you at dinner, Johnny,” Harper said.

“I found something in the kitchen earlier.” Johnny fiddled with his conchos, not paying much attention to Harper.

“Oh–I understand that you and Melissa became quite close on the way back. This is the horse you were riding?” Harper walked over to Barranca. Johnny had a saddle back on that horse. Probably planned to ride up to one of the line shacks to hole up ’til some of this blew over.

“What are you trying to say?” Johnny looked up at Harper like the man had just doused him with a bucket of ice-cold water.

Jelly figured he best talk to Johnny later. He didn’t want to interrupt their talking, so he would bide his time before heading out to finish his chores. It wasn’t his fault they were conversating right there in the open, where anyone walking from the house to the barn could hear what they said.

“Well, I couldn’t help noticing that you only had one sleeping bag.” Harper got right to the point.

Johnny stood up. “Are you kidding?”

“It may seem stuffy to you out here, but our society has very definite standards.”

“Oh Boy, is that all you can think about–your standards? Your daughter’s safe, Harper.”

“Well, I’m grateful, but ah, we do have rigid barriers.”

Johnny laughed at him, “Rigid barriers, huh … they more like cages?”

When Johnny left, he cut his eyes at Jelly; he must have known he had listened to the whole thing. There Wasn’t any reason for him to be upset. It was a matter of being quiet or forget he had any manners at all—he couldn’t very well blow through a discussion such as that to get to the barn.

Part Two

Melissa’s father had all but accused Johnny of taking advantage of her. No wonder she wanted to live free. Someone had to help her. Talk about barriers; Jim Harper had so many up he couldn’t see the sadness on his daughter’s face. Well, Johnny understood how she felt.

Even with a hundred thousand acres he called home, he sometimes thought he could almost take hold of the bars that caged him. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case if he’d grown up here. But having no one call the tune’ your whole life, and now the old man, and Scott too, telling him when to spit and when to polish made him long to howl at the moon sometimes. The bars surrounding Melissa sure were higher and tighter than anything he had here.

How could Murdoch judge that girl because of her age? Not when Johnny’s mama hadn’t been close to seeing twenty-one the day he was born. The old man spouted ‘She’s underage’ like it ended any discussion. And Scott riled him some, too—he’d been with girls at Letty’s. Most of them were only nineteen or twenty. How’d he explain that? Just because they didn’t come from Boston, where the standards were ‘rigid,’ did that make it okay?

Harper must have some big sway over his old man. Wonder what Murdoch would think of his friend accusing Johnny of taking advantage of his daughter. Well, the old man wouldn’t like what he planned to do next, and he’d probably have Johnny pounding on fence posts until Christmas after next.

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Johnny headed to Jelly’s quarters and whistled at his window. “I don’t want you askin’ any questions—just saddle up that bay and Barranca. And I need you to get some provisions ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“I’ll meet you at the north barn in 10 minutes.” When he heard Jelly stirring, Johnny slipped back inside the house. At first, he couldn’t find Melissa. But when he did, she stood alone in the shadows, staring at that painting Murdoch had in the hall, the one of two women carrying parasols.

“It doesn’t look like the kind of painting I’d expect to see in the hacienda.” Melissa had a look on her face like someone facing life in San Quentin.

Johnny stood behind her and stared at the women in the painting. One blond, the other one dark; he asked Teresa once if that was his father’s way of putting his wives together. The blond one resembled the photograph of Scott’s Mother… And the dark-haired lady; well, a painter couldn’t have made a better likeness of his Mama. Both were beautiful, but all corseted up, stiff and being who and what everyone expected of them.

He wondered if the women in that painting felt caged like Melissa did. Like animals in a zoo, she’d said. Maybe Scott’s mama knew the rigid bars from Harlan that Jim Harper described. She’d escaped with Murdoch. Scott had probably felt hemmed in, too, and he left for war, and later, it might have made him decide to stay here at Lancer. And what about Murdoch going halfway around the world to be free? But had he then built a cage for Johnny’s mama? Is that why she ran? He could understand the feeling, needing to scratch that itch to be free.

“Your father’s goin’ back to Boston tomorrow. Wanna go with him?” Johnny needed to know for sure what she wanted to do.

“I want to be with Bobby.” She said that it would give her the life she wanted. But Johnny had his doubts.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured you’d say.” This wouldn’t be easy, but at least she’d know.

Johnny had his notions about Bobby ever since that fight in the saloon when he tricked Scott and him. He had pegged him as a slick liar, and he’d seen a glint of cruelty in his eye. Could Melissa trust a man like Bobby? He didn’t think so. But Johnny’d been wrong before, and she needed proof before she could move on. Perhaps it wouldn’t turn out like he thought. Maybe the guy loved her, and this would be one of those happy-ever-after deals. He planned to give Bobby an ultimatum that he wouldn’t refuse if he loved her.

“Why don’t you go change your clothes? I got horses waiting for us. I’ll take you to him.”

Her face lit up. Not for Johnny; it was for Bobby, and that was fine. What he felt for the girl, he didn’t think it was love, but a bond of understanding. “Johnny!”

“Go on, now.” He motioned for her to go. Dios, he hoped he could help Melissa find out if Bobby Cooper was worthy of her love. Johnny closed his eyes and sighed through a silent prayer. However this thing ended up, Murdoch and Scott would be mad.

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The sun slipped high above the trees to give them warmth and light, letting them make better time. They’d soon be near the barn where they had spent the night. Johnny had wounded Bobby with a graze to his leg, so whenever they found the Coopers, they probably wouldn’t be too happy for him to be with Melissa. It crossed his mind that the brothers might have stayed there overnight because of that wound.

Sure enough, they heard voices in the distance. “Whoa, slow up, Melissa. If it’s them, those boys won’t be too happy to lay eyes on me.” The three Coopers must have heard their horses. They had guns out and mad faces; no, they weren’t in any mood to welcome Johnny. All three stood in the clearing near the barn where they had spent the night.

Harmon Cooper’s voice carried over the horses. “Look who it is, Bobby.” And he made a rough grab for the reins of Melissa’s horse. Her mount reared a bit, making her have to work to settle him. She looked at Bobby and, finding no support, glanced toward Johnny.

“I wouldn’t.” Johnny put his hand on his Colt, then moved Barranca between Melissa’s mount and Harmon. Everyone, including Johnny, looked at Bobby to figure out his next move. Someone had tied a bandanna around the upper thigh of his right leg, and he hobbled toward Melissa. They all waited until Bobby stood beside her stirrup, staring at her, and it didn’t look like the light of love. Johnny had witnessed meanness glowing from the depths of too many men’s eyes not to recognize it here.

“Aren’t you going to help me down?” Melissa’s voice sounded shaky. She must have seen it, too.

Bobby pursed his lips at her for a beat, then cocked his head toward Harmon. Johnny didn’t like how he shifted his eyes, a signal for both his brothers. Something wasn’t right here. They had a plan in mind for her. Harmon’s mouth spread, splitting his face with a nasty grin.

“Melissa.” Johnny called her name, but she ignored him.

“Aren’t you glad to see me?” She sounded scared. Dammit, he’d heard that quiver a hundred times in his mama’s voice.

“Crocker said he had the jump on him,” Bobby nodded toward Johnny. “And you warned him.” If looks were bullets, he and Melissa would be dead already.

“I-It all happened so fast. I-I didn’t want anyone to be hurt.” Melissa tried to reach out to Bobby, but he moved back. “Besides, Johnny was trying to help me. He never wanted to take me. It’s why he brought me back to you.”

“That didn’t stop him from shooting at us and wounding me. Melissa, you’ll have to learn a lesson—he reached up and jerked her roughly off her horse.

“Bobby!” Melissa’s voice had pain in it.

“Let her go, Bobby!” Johnny backed Barranca far enough, so all three brothers stood where he could keep his eyes on them.

Bobby took his hands off of Melissa but pushed her toward his brothers, and he pointed his gun at Johnny. Harmon took hold of her arms, but she kicked his knee and ran. Then they closed in. “No!” she screamed and came toward Johnny, but Harmon grabbed for her again, and she cried out in pain when he pulled a few strands of her hair that stayed in his fingers.

Johnny jumped from Barranca, slapped his rump to move him, and drew his gun so fast the brothers started eyeing each other. Johnny reached out and swept Melissa behind him. “Hands away from the guns.”

“You may be fast, but you can’t shoot all of us, Lancer.” Bobby said, and he kept his pistol pointed at Johnny. “So hand her over. Isn’t that what you came for, anyway?”

“Please, no, Johnny. I’ve changed my mind.” Melissa sobbed against his back.

“Boys, unless he hands her over by the count of three, shoot him.” Bobby began with, “One.”

“You finish that count, and you’re a deadman. And I’ll take at least one of your brothers with me, probably both of ’em. Melissa, get behind that rock.” Johnny hoped she listened; he felt her move away from his back.

“You can’t kill all of us. Hell, I’ve got you in my sights. You’ll be dead, and whoever remains will kill that girl, Lancer.”

“How good’s your aim with a pistol from where you stand?” Johnny laughed at him. “I don’t miss. Besides, it ain’t always been Lancer. I went by Madrid until a few months ago. So, odds are in my favor, more than you might think. Go ahead, Bobby. Count. You get the first bullet. I believe you were at two?”

“Bobby?” Harmon backed toward their horses.

“We can’t take on Johnny Madrid.” Crocker and Harmon both dropped their guns in the dirt.

Crocker sidled toward Bobby. “We didn’t much want you beating on her nohow.”

“Shut up, Crocker.” Bobby took a step toward Johnny.

“That what you had planned for your bride-to-be? A beating?” Johnny ran at Bobby, grabbed him by the collar, and stuck his gun in his face. “Drop the pistol.” It landed in the dirt. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Melissa come from behind the rock. “Take their guns and throw ’em in the weeds. Now all of you get on your horses and ride. Don’t stop until you’re in Juniper’s Camp. If I find you back near Lancer, the law will investigate you for kidnapping and a few other crimes.”

Scott and Murdoch rode up before the Coopers were even out of sight.

“Johnny?” Murdoch threw him one of those ‘I’m disappointed in you’ looks.

Hell, maybe he deserved it.

“Why did you do this, Johnny?” The old man stared at him; he probably didn’t want an answer, but before he could say a word, Scott lit into him.

“After all we went through to get her to Lancer.”

Dios, Scott rarely yelled at him. What the hell? Johnny reckoned it had to be a reflex from worrying.

“Scott, she never wanted to be at Lancer.”

“That’s not for you to decide.” Scott ought to lower his voice.

“I wasn’t trying to decide. She needed to find out for sure. It’s why I brought her. She has a right to know. Now, she does.”

“She wanted to ‘live her life’ with a man whose a grade A candidate for the hangman, Johnny. How could you?”

“I could because she had to see for herself. If any of you understood how she felt, you’d know that as soon as she had a chance, she would’ve run to him by herself. And just how do you think that would have ended up?” Johnny kept his voice low, but he made sure Scott heard him.

“Please.” Melissa begged. “Johnny’s right. And he kept me safe. I at least know about Bobby now. Please, can’t we go back to Lancer?”

“As soon as my brother understands the gravity of what he’s done.” Scott still didn’t get why he’d done this.

Murdoch cut him off, “Not now, Scott–you’re wasting your time.”

“Oh, so now you figure I’m a lost cause?” Johnny asked his old man.

“I told you before that I owe somebody a debt and I’m gonna make sure it’s paid. That’s all. Are you coming?”

“Well, you don’t owe me anything. Neither one of you.” Johnny settled his hat and eyeballed both of them. What the hell?

Scott gathered Melissa up as if Johnny might hurt her. She looked back at him as his brother helped her mount her horse.

Johnny mounted Barranca and followed them at a distance.

Part Three

In the great room, Melissa and Murdoch had their heads together. She winked at Johnny when he walked in and poured himself a whisky from his father’s best stock. He wouldn’t have come at all except to say bye to her. Teresa had checked on him last night. She said the Harpers were going back to Boston today. Truth be told, Johnny wasn’t sure anyone wanted him there. Since he followed them home yesterday, he’d not talked with any of them other than Teresa.

Melissa’s father lifted his wineglass in a toast. “I don’t think that I’ll ever be leaving Boston again.” Surprisingly, the man saluted Johnny and Scott with his glass. “Murdoch, I want to tell you that you have two very fine young men here.”

“Well, thank you, Jim.” The old man looked at Johnny’s glass and raised one eyebrow. Johnny tipped his glass in salute, out of pure rebellion. He should have met Melissa outside and told her bye while they loaded their luggage.

Harper kept on talking about him and Scott bringing Melissa back. “… and I want to um, tell you how much I appreciated it.”

“It was our pleasure, Mr. Harper.” Scott sure made the old man proud.

“Even getting thrown into jail and now you’re in trouble with your family?” Melissa asked and looked at Johnny.

“I’m used to it. And I didn’t mind so much… gave me a chance to meet you.” Johnny saw Scott and Murdoch squirm some. It was time to go outside.

“Well, if you ever find your way up around Boston, you’ll always be welcome at the house.” He reached out and put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “Uh, Johnny, you risked a lot to help Melissa realize who the Coopers really were. And we’ve both decided to explore what she wants to do.”

Scott smiled at the comment and looked down at the floor. “Sometimes my brother comes up with wild plans that, only by the grace of God, work out.”

Murdoch rolled his eyes. “The last time Johnny had one of those ‘I’ve got my plan’ moments, Scott carried him in the hacienda with a bullet in his back. Son… .”

Melissa’s eyes lit up when Johnny grabbed her arm. “You wanna go for a walk?”

They went outside, and Johnny let go of her when she said, “Johnny, don’t worry about me.”

“Melissa, if you could go anyplace, anywhere…where would you choose?”

“I’d go to San Francisco with my Aunt Kate. I’d be free without all the barriers.” She crossed her arms and laughed. “It’s a little late for that now.”

“No, it ain’t. Tell him. I think he’ll listen.”

She didn’t have time to answer; Harper opened the door. “Ahh… There you are. What’s going on?”

Murdoch followed him out, walked up, and tapped Johnny’s back.

“Papa, are you open to an offer?”

“An offer… What’s involved? Melissa?” Harper opened his jacket and put his hands in his pockets.

“Papa, I don’t want to go back with you. I want to stay with Aunt Kate in San Francisco.”

Harper stared at her. “You don’t want to come back to Boston?’

“I love you Papa. You’ve done everything for me. But I want to be free.”

“To do what?”

“To be who I am.”

“You’re my daughter. That’s who you are, isn’t that enough?”

“No, Papa.”

“Jim, you’ve given her everything in the world, except uh, well, there comes a time when you have to give your children the right to say ‘no’ to you.” Murdoch squeezed Johnny’s shoulder when he said it. Maybe the old man understood after all.

“Okay, then. I’ll wire your Aunt Kate. We’ll head to San Francisco instead of Boston.”

Melissa hugged Harper and, while she did, looked over his shoulder at Johnny and winked. “Thank you, Papa.”

While the others said their goodbyes, Melissa stepped close to Johnny. “Thank you for everything, Johnny Madrid.”

He bowed his head. Hell, he’d forgotten about using his reputation to bluff those boys, but she hadn’t. “That bother you?”

“No. It’s true?”

“I don’t make a secret of it.”

“So your father and brother know?”

“Yeah, they know it.”

“You lived that kind of life, so free?” She shook her head and looked at him with stars in her eyes like some of those young girls and kids in the border towns had. “After living that way, how can you be happy here, ranching?”

“It ain’t all that bad. And… well, you might be missing something right here.” He faced her then but stuck his hands behind him. It almost felt safer.

“Johnny, you’re not trying to hold me back, are you?”

“No… never.”

She kissed him and moved away. To hell with playing it safe. He reached out and drew her close. Might as well enjoy this goodbye. But then it was Johnny who pulled away from the passionate kiss he began. Scott had been right; the girl was inexperienced. He could tell. And he had already experienced a lifetime more than she would ever understand.

“Johnny.” She breathed.

He knew when she said his name, she would have stayed if he’d asked. But that wouldn’t have been fair to either of them.

The End
October 2023

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