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“I’ll remember Jimmy always,” Stephanie said, sniffling back the urge to cry.
“I was to meet with Adam today,” Runner said solemnly. “A part of me says not to go, and a part of me says that I should. The child in me that once knew Adam as a friend leads me to try this one last time to find the side of him that is good and trusting.”
He paused, then said, “I will meet with Adam. I feel that I must, or regret later having not given him another chance.”
“I’m glad you are giving it another try,” Stephanie said, smiling at him. “It would be nice to have Adam at our wedding, and to be able to invite Adam to our home in the future, no matter where he decides to make his permanent residence.”
“I hope that Adam gives us cause to invite him to remain a part of our lives,” Runner said, wondering what Adam had in mind for the meeting arranged for today.
Chapter 21
Where I find her not, beauties vanish;
Whither I follow her, beauties flee.
—ROBERT BROWNING
It was midafternoon when Adam and Runner rode in a slow lope into Gallup. “What took so long for you to get to the train?” Adam asked. He gave Runner a sour look. “I had almost given up on you. I thought you might have decided to escort Stephanie while she took her photographs. She was gone this morning by the time I got up.”
Runner gave Adam no explanations, especially those that might include Stephanie, knowing where she was and what she was in the process of doing.
A bitterness swept through him anew at the thought of Sharon being dead, and over Jimmy now being in the hands of total strangers. If he ever found out who was responsible, he would not hesitate at choking the life from that person with his bare hands.
“You sure as hell are quiet enough today,” Adam said, screwing his face up into a dark frown. “If you had changed your mind about coming into Gallup with me, why didn’t you just come right out with it? I don’t like the idea of having to spend a day with someone who doesn’t even acknowledge that I’m talking to him.”
The false-fronted buildings were casting long, narrow shadows across the road. The sun was shining red in the windows of those buildings on the opposite side of the road as though the fires of hell were raging inside them. Runner stiffened when several men gawked and laughed and jeered at him as they rode past on their horses.
Women were standing at the doors of some of the saloons. They were shouting and making obscene gestures at Runner and Adam. Some turned and lifted their short skirts in the back, to display tight, brightly colored satin bloomers that outlined the curves of their bottoms so tightly it was almost no different than looking at them unclothed.
“You haven’t said yet why you insisted we come to Gallup to make peace between us,” Runner said, finally breaking the silence between himself and Adam.
“If I’d have told you, I doubted you would have come,” Adam said, giving him a shifty glance.
Runner drew his steed to a halt. “I was foolish to come with you at all,” he said, his eyes burning into Adam’s. “Had I not had other reasons for coming to Gallup, the minute you spoke that name to me I would have told you a flat no.”
Adam drew a tight rein. He edged his horse over next to Runner’s stallion. “What other reasons are you talking about?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Are you playing a game with me?”
“Games are for children,” Runner said flatly. “We are grown men now. And my reasons for being in Gallup are none of your concern.”
“They are if they include me,” Adam said impatiently. “Now are you or aren’t you willing to go with me to a place where we can talk over things and try and be best pals again?”
“This place where you are planning to go,” Runner said, his gaze drawn quickly elsewhere. “What is it called?”
His attention was drawn away from Adam. His insides knotted as he watched a pine box lifted onto the bed of a buckboard wagon, Stephanie watching from the boardwalk. His heart ached when he saw Stephanie wipe tears from her eyes as the casket was being secured by ropes on the wagon.
He felt that perhaps he should go with her to the cemetery at the edge of town, to comfort her when Sharon was laid to rest.
But Stephanie had insisted on doing it alone. She had wanted him to meet with Adam as planned. She put much importance on the outcome of such a meeting. For her, he had to give this relationship with Adam one last try.
“The ‘Big Tent,’” Adam said guardedly. “It’s a place where real men go.” Tauntingly, he leaned closer to Runner. “Are you a real man, Runner? Will you go to the ‘Big Tent’ with me to have a few drinks?”
Adam knew the reputation that Indians had gotten after having been introduced to alcoholic beverages.
Their metabolism did not allow them the pleasure of drinking alcohol in large amounts. When they did, they became lousy drunks.
They also got quickly addicted to the taste and its effects. The euphoria of being drunk dulled the pain of their lives since the white man had come. The Navaho were known to trade many things for even one drink of whiskey—squash blossom necklaces, bracelets, rings, and hair accessories.
Although Runner was not Indian, by heritage, Adam was counting on him not being used to drinking whiskey. It would not be the same as when they had been children and challenges had been made between them as to who could run the fastest, or who could win at wrestling. Today there was more at stake, therefore, it was important to make the challenges more difficult!
