A Wolf in the Fold

I couldn’t quite savvy why she was so testy with me. “Not much of one, no, I’m afraid. I like pretty things, but half the time I can’t say why I think they’re pretty. They just are.” Now what made me say that?

“Did you enjoy the meal?”

“If I ate that much every night, I’d be fit company for pigs,” I said, patting my gut.

Calista had a nice laugh. “I wouldn’t want that to happen. But perhaps tomorrow night you will do me the honor of dining with me?”

It never fails. Put on a parson’s rig and you become as popular as gold. I should have told her no. I had a job to do. “I would like nothing better.”

We were grinning at each other like idiots when out stepped Gertrude Tanner. She had a poke in her hand, which she quickly slipped behind her back before Calista noticed. “Calista, my dear. When did you come out?”

“A few minutes ago. The sunset is spectacular. I envy you so, living amid such beauty.”

Gertrude followed Calista’s gaze. “To tell you the truth, I hardly ever notice. If you have seen one sunset, you have seen them all.”

“A sunset doesn’t stir you?”

“Not as much as a new dress. Or fine china. Or a gold necklace. Things I can touch and admire to my heart’s content. Things of lasting value.”

“If that’s the case, I feel sorry for you, Gerty,” Calista said. “Man-made wonders can’t begin to compare to natural ones.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, is it not? Some people regard, say, the Grand Canyon as a marvel. But to me it’s just a hole in the ground.”

“You’re joshing.”

“No, my dear, I am not. I do not fawn over waterfalls. I am not impressed by rainbows. The stars in the night sky do not make me feel romantic because they are, after all, just stars.”

“I had no idea,” Calista said rather sadly.

“Oh, please. You make it sound as if I should be pitied. But I assure you that I would rather be as I am than compose sonnets to the moon.” Gertrude shook with silent mirth.

For some reason I resented her smug treatment of Calista. I wouldn’t know a sonnet from a horseshoe, but I butted in with, “If everyone thought like you did, this world would be a poorer place.”

Gertrude was surprised, and I can’t say I blame her. I was a bit surprised myself. “Don’t tell me that you, of all people, admire sunsets and the like?”

“Why do you say that?” Calista came to my defense. “Why can’t a parson appreciate beauty?”

Gertrude had blundered. When she said “of all people,” she was referring to my true profession. But she recovered nicely. “He’s a man first, a parson second, and the only beauty men care about is the kind they find under a woman’s petticoats.”

“Gerty!” Calista exclaimed, scandalized.

“Well, it’s true, and I’ll warrant our parson, here, will agree.” Gertrude looked at me as if daring me to dispute her.

“You both made good points,” I said.

Calista used that as a footstool to say, “I have another point to bring up. But it has nothing to do with what we have been talking about, and everything to do with averting bloodshed.”

“Not this again,” Gertrude said. “It’s the Butchers, I take it?”

“Yes. I have had an excellent idea.” Calista bobbed her chin at me. “Why not have Reverend Storm intervene? He could sit down with both parties and work things out.”

“Are you suggesting I am incapable of working it out on my own?” Gertrude demanded.

“Don’t put words in my mouth. After what happened in my restaurant today, I am worried that sooner or later one side or the other will pull a gun and go on pulling until one side or the other is six feet under.”

“And what would be wrong with that?”

Calista was shocked. “You can’t mean that, Gerty. The Butchers are not bad people. A little wild, yes. But not bad.”

“A little wild?” Gertrude repeated scornfully. “Have you forgotten the last time the three older boys came to town? They got drunk and started a fight with several of our hands.”

“Ty, Clell, and Jordy were only having a good time. They had a few drinks and got a little rowdy.”

“You know them so well, you are on a first-name basis, is that it?” Gertrude carped. “Reckless is one thing, disregard for the law another. How you can stand there and side with them when you know as well as I do that they are rustling LT stock, is beyond me.”

“I don’t know anything of the sort.”

“Who else could it be? Have any strangers been seen? By anyone? I tell you in all honesty, Calista, that the tracks of the rustled cattle always lead to the Dark Sister, but our trackers lose them in the canyons. Those Butchers know all kinds of tricks, I would imagine.”

“I still refuse to believe they are to blame.”

“Only because you are too kindhearted,” Gertrude said. “But I do not have your tender nature. Even so, you must admit I have been patient with them. I have warned Hannah on several occasions to control her wild brood or suffer the consequences.”

Again she had blundered. I wanted to kick her.

“What consequences?” Calista asked.