The Birthright of Ezekiel Wilson (World Castle Publishing) released this past Monday, March 24. Scroll past the lovely cover for a new snippet followed by links!
Laredo,
Texas
He'd come to spend a pleasant
evening in the saloon, a diversion not available back on the ranch, and ended
up in a brawl. Ezekiel had thrown the first punch, but once the man he'd hit
rose, he got pummeled by the man's brawny fists. As if that wasn't enough, the
son of a gun's trio of friends joined the fray. Bare knuckles fighting could be
harsh at the best of times but these men didn't fight fair. In addition to
their fists, they kicked with force, used their fingers and thumbs to gouge
both eyes and throat and didn't restrain from using their teeth. If anyone
pulled a gun, Zeke knew he'd be a goner, for he'd left his with his horse out
of some benighted sense of honor. Then he saw the flash of a blade and fought
harder.
A heavy beer glass shattered over
his head, which hurt and caused him to see stars. Someone walloped him across
the back with a heavy wooden chair. The air rang with curses of the vilest
language and the hoarse shouts of men locked in battle. Ezekiel, who had held
his own in many a fistfight, was outnumbered. Somehow, he'd become both
underdog and victim.
In the fray, he heard women
screaming, some of the sporting gals, he figured, and Mary shouting, but if it
was meant to stop the action, it served to spur it on instead. The men had been
bored and spoiling for a fight as a diversion because Zeke doubted all of them
still remembered the night Kate strolled into the bar or that he'd left with
her.
The one thing he did know was he was
going to be hurt and badly.
The fray seemed to last forever. It
went on and on as he was hit, slapped, fisted, kicked, and, at some point,
stabbed. Ezekiel felt the sharp slice of a well-honed knife blade across his right
side, just below his ribs. Another jab cut deep into his upper thigh. He
suspected at least one of his ribs was cracked. Another might be broken.
It ended when Mary fired a
double-barreled shotgun just above the fighting crowd. The blast echoed like
thunder and chipped the wall. When she loaded it again and said, "This
time if I shoot, I'm aiming for one of you sorry rascals. Break it up and git
out of my place."
Hurting, bruised, and bleeding in
more than one spot, Ezekiel didn't know whether or not he could walk. One of
his old pals from the livery, who'd had the sense to stay out of the fight,
helped him limp out of the saloon. He aided him to the barn behind the boarding
house on Grant and helped him mount.
"If I was you, pard, I'd light
a shuck and get out of town," he said. "Can you make it?"
Ezekiel doubted it, but he was
willing to try. He just wanted to get home, where Katie could tend his wounds
and Boone could holler at him. His body ached to lay down. Some blood trickled
from his side, but the thigh slash worried him. He'd taken time to cinch his
belt around it to slow the flow.
Riding at night was a poor idea at
best. Riding at night, wounded and hurt, was begging for disaster. He rode
clutching the saddle horn to keep his seat, and he managed for a good part of
the way home. As he grew weaker, though, his head ached and spun. He lost his
seat, falling hard to the ground somewhere between Laredo and the ranch. His
last conscious thought was a hope he wouldn't land on a rattler or cause more
injuries. Then he smacked the ground, and everything went black.
***
At
the Double Deuce Ranch
When Ezekiel didn't return to the
ranch by late Friday, no one thought much about it. It was sensible to stay in
Laredo rather than ride recklessly in the dark and through the heat. But when
Saturday dawned, another hot and hellish humid day, and he didn't show up by
noon, Boone began to worry. Still, he went about his daily routine and expected
his youngest brother to arrive at any time.
Just as Boone sat down to his dinner
at noon, Jacob arrived with a frown.
"What is it?" Boone asked
as he took the first bite of the frijoles Rachel had made. From Jacob's
expression, he expected a problem, something with the stock or one of the
hands.
"Is Ezekiel back from
town?"
"I don't reckon he is,"
Boone said. "I ain't seen him."
"Me neither, but his horse is
back. He showed up around half an hour ago, but there's no sign of Zeke."
Boone laid down his spoon.
"Where's the horse at?"
"Found him munching on clover
down by the small cabin," he said. "I put him up in the corral. All
Ezekiel's gear was on Candy, his rifle, saddlebags, and all. Got me scared,
especially 'cause there's blood on the saddle and on the horse's right
flank."
His gut clenched into a hard, tight
ball. "Is the horse hurt?"
Jacob shook his head. "I went
over him inch by inch, and he's okay. It's the kid I'm worried about. Where do
you reckon he's at?"
"I don't rightly know,"
Boone replied. "Fetch Moses and then gather the hands, would you? We're
gonna have to go look for him, especially if he's hurt."
Rachel rose and stood behind her
husband, her hands on his shoulders. "Boone?"
"Honey, this ain’t good. I'm
gonna have to go hunt for Ezekiel."
"You need to finish eating
first."
He put his hands over hers. "I
cain't. I'm not hungry now."
"You'll find him, Boone."
"I surely hope so, and
fast."
Moses rushed in, wild-eyed.
"Jacob told me. I'm ready to ride. He went on to get all the ranch hands
and Liam. Mattie's crying. She's that perturbed."
"What about Katie?"
Moses stared. "I reckon she'll
be upset, Boone, but…"
"The woman has a way of knowing
things," Boone said. "Maybe she'll have some insight into where
Ezekiel might be found. It's going to be hard. There's a lot of country between
here and Laredo."
He didn't mention the obvious – if
they saw buzzards circling, they'd likely found him. The three Wilson brothers
set out within the hour with six ranch hands, including Liam. Boone directed
them to head in different directions, all toward Laredo.
"Fire one shot if you find
him," he said. "I'll come to where you're at. And, if he's gone, fire
two shots so I'll know what we're dealing with."
Katie, who didn't ride, stood beside
Rachel and Mattie to watch them go. She had wanted to accompany them, but Boone
said she would slow them down, so she remained.
"He's alive," she had said
in her rich brogue. "But he's hurt. When ye find him, bring him to the wee
cabin, and I'll tend to him."
Boone nodded and sent a silent
prayer heavenward. He hoped Katie was correct. "Let's ride, boys, and see
if we cain't find him before dark."
He took the route that he used to
reach Laredo, figuring it was the way Ezekiel would travel. Jacob rode beside
him. They said little as they rode, although Boone pushed Sprat to a gallop,
riding so fast and heedlessly that Jacob cautioned him.
"Go easy, Boone, or you'll take
a spill or lame the horse."
Boone pulled the reins to slow
Sprat's gait. "I just want to find him."
"I know. So do I."
It took a good five hours riding to
reach Laredo, maybe four on a good day, and they were an hour out when a
gunshot echoed to the north. Boone listened, fearful there would be a second,
but when there wasn't, he wheeled Sprat and headed in that direction, Jacob
riding close behind. It wasn't more than a mile, but it seemed like twenty.
Boone spotted Moses on the ground
beside Ezekiel. The younger man's trouser leg was dark with blood, and his eyes
were closed. Bruises mottled his face, and both eyes were black. More blood
stained his shirt and vest.
"He's breathin'," Moses
said when Boone dismounted. "But he's hurt terrible bad. Been beat up, it
appears, and stabbed."
"Has he come around at
all?"
"No, but he's groaned once or
twice. We need to get him back to the ranch."
Boone knelt down beside Ezekiel with
his canteen. "Yeah. I reckon he needs water, too, if I can get him to
drink. Ezekiel!"
He put the canteen to his brother's
lips, and he drank a little. Boone repeated his name twice, and Zeke opened his
eyes as much as he could since they were no more than slits around the
swelling.
"Boone," he rasped.
"I'm here, Ezekiel. We're gonna
get you home. Your Katie's waiting."
"Hurts," he moaned.
"I reckon it does, kid,"
Boone said as he tried to assess the injuries. He pushed away Zeke's shirt to
reveal a slash just below his ribs that didn't appear to be deep. Boone probed
further and slit his brother's trousers to see the source of the blood. A deep
wound still leaked blood and would have bled more except for the belt cinched
around Ezekiel's upper thigh. Boone removed it, and the blood flow increased.
"That looks awful," Jacob
said. "Appears he's lost a fair bit of blood."
Boone nodded. "And he's still
bleeding."
He fashioned a better tourniquet and
tied it in place. Liam rode up with Deacon Lee.
"He's alive, then?" Liam
asked.
"He is, but we'd best get him
home."
"Let's put him across the
saddle," Liam suggested.
Boone disagreed and shook his head.
"Unless we fasten him down, he's liable to get dumped. I'll take
him."
"How?" Moses asked.
"In front of me on the
saddle," Boone said. "It's the only way I know that will work."
A slight grin teased Moses' lips,
and he said, "Like when he was little."
"Yeah, just like that, though
he's a mite bigger now."
At fifteen, Boone had often taken
his smallest brother with him, putting him before him on the horse and holding
him tight. Zeke had always vowed it was how he learned to ride.
"Hoist him up here," he
told the others, so Moses, Jacob, Liam, and Deke maneuvered Ezekiel's limp body
up in front of Boone. Boone grasped his brother tight with one hand and held
the reins with the other. "Let's go, boys."
He kicked Sprat into a gallop, and
the others followed. The ride seemed longer than ever before, and it took every
bit of strength he had to keep Ezekiel from tumbling from the horse. He'd
slipped into unconsciousness again, which was likely for the best because the
fast ride joggled them both. Zeke was a heavy burden but Boone managed to hang
onto him, though he feared he would suffer for it later.
Boone rode straight to the small
cabin. Katie stood outside, back straight, waiting. Mattie stood at her side
with baby Ellie on her hip, and Rachel, flanked by their three, was there.
Jacob and Moses dismounted, then helped haul Zeke from Boone's horse.
"He's alive," Boone told
them as he dismounted. "Hurt pretty bad, but he's alive."
As if to prove that fact, Ezekiel
roused to groan.
"Put him on the bed with no
more than a sheet," Katie told them. "I've things ready to see to
him."
"Grá mo chroide," Katie said as Ezekiel opened his
eyes as much as he could. "Love, I'll have ye right soon enough."
"Katie," Zeke mumbled.
"Darlin'."
"I'm right here, Ezekiel,"
she said. "Whatever happened to ye?"
"Fight."
As she spoke to him, she stripped
away his shirt and trousers, leaving him in his underwear only. Boone observed
as she worked with gentle hands and a light touch.
"Ye told me ye were done with
the brawlin'," she said, though her voice was tender.
Zeke struggled to say something, but
Boone intervened.
"You can ask him the details
later," he told her. "I'd like to know myself but he needs tending."
Boone stood at the foot of the bed
and Moses on the side across from Katie. "If you don't need Mattie, I'll
take her home," he said.
"If I need her, I'll send for
her," Katie replied.
Until she spoke, Boone hadn't
realized that his daughter was present. "I'll help with Z," Mima
said, coming into sight behind Boone.
"I'll take her home," he
told Katie. "Or someone will. Rachel can take the little ones home,
too."
"She can stay," Katie
said. "How old are ye, leannán?"
"Six,"
the little girl said.
"Six
in a few weeks," Boone corrected.
"She's
old enough, Boone, and I can use her help."
He
shrugged. "Fair enough, then, but I'll stay too."
"Thank
ye," she replied. "I may well have need of ye too."
Boone
pulled a chair from the table and leaned it against the wall, near the bed, but
where he wouldn't be in the way. He tilted it back on two legs. If he weren’t
so tense, he could sleep standing up.
With
direction, Jemima Ann washed her uncle's battered face with a wet cloth,
talking to him in a sweet singsong. As the dirt was removed, the bruises were
more obvious. Either in response to the child or to the spring cold water,
Ezekiel opened his eyes a fraction.
"Feels
good, Mima," he said, which brought a smile to the girl's face.
"I'm awfully sorry you got
hurt, Z," Mima told him.
His split lips curved in a slight
smile. "Me, too, baby girl."
Katie had her put a cold compress on
each swollen eye as she cleaned the scratch on his side and the wound in his
thigh. She used lye soap and warm water, using a light touch. He winced, and
she told him, "Aye, I know it hurts, but it must be cleansed."
Ezekiel gave her a feeble nod.
"Do you have willow bark tea
ready?" Jacob asked from his position across the room.
"I do," Katie replied.
"If ye'll pour a cup for him and add some honey, I'll see if he can drink
it."
Because he was too weak to lift his
head, Boone supported Zeke, raising his head and shoulders, then holding him in
place. Ezekiel choked a little, but he managed to get most of it down, then
shook his head, so Boone removed the cup and laid him back onto the bed with
easy hands.
Katie, with Mima's help, applied
witch hazel to the numerous bruises. Then, the Irishwoman cut a potato into
slices and placed them over Ezekiel's swollen eyes. Boone frowned, and she
said, "'Twill get the swelling down a bit. Ye'll see."
Last, she
prepared an herbal concoction and painted both the scratch on his side and
the deeper gash in his thigh with it. She added some sliced garlic to both,
then wrapped some clean bandages around the wounds.
Ezekiel's hands were puffy and
lacerated, so she rubbed wool wax into them. Mima took over the task after
watching Katie treat his right hand. Boone almost dozed with the chair tipped
against the wall. Although the cabin door and the single window were open, it
was over warm.
He had almost drifted off when
Rachel strolled through the door, a basket on her arm.
"How is he?" she asked as
she placed her burden on the table.
"He's been beat half to death
and stabbed in two places," Boone said with a weary sigh. "I think
he'll do fine unless the worse wound gets infected, but if it should, you
ladies know how to treat it."
Zeke links
http://books.apple.com/us/book/id6740248461
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=kOA8EQAAQBAJ
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-birthright-of-ezekiel-wilson
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DS56QWN9
