Saul stared at him in prolonging silence, then burst out with laughter that opened his mouth so wide it looked painful.
Relief flowed in Ned’s veins so he followed up quickly. “I might be Irish, but not God-fearing.”
Saul shook his head when he calmed down. “Good. You wouldn’t last long otherwise. See Pearl over there. She’s a pastor’s daughter. I helped Tom steal her. She’s now the mistress of her own destiny, and no God rules over her. You remember that, Ned O’Leary, and you will do well for yourself.”
He walked off, leaving Ned with his lips parted. What the hell was that sermon?
Ned gathered an armful of the split logs and carried them to the huge bonfire. The camp was made up of at least a dozen large tents and a handful of small ones. There was more than one place for gatherings too, with tables set up for comfortable eating and writing, but at the moment the majority of the camp’s women sat around the compactly-built man who’d also accompanied Cole in Beaver Springs. He was barely taller than most of his willing listeners but had a boisterous laugh and handsome face, with a jaw so wide and sharp Ned feared it might cut someone if they came too close.
Adam Wild, he was called, and like the bright star he thought himself to be, he requested everyone called him by his full name, as if the given one was too plain for his tastes. He had a sip of beer and wiped his lips, glancing around to make sure he had the attention of all the ladies.
“The cocksucker should have been polite. You girls know I don’t hate anyone on principle. No one but the parents of my lovely fiancée at least,” he said with a smile, once again spinning the tale of the wagon robbery, because some of the women had only just returned with goods from a nearby ranch and hadn’t heard it yet.
Ned took his time arranging the wood in a neat pile to hear the story of the unfortunate shopkeeper, because he’d been too far away to listen to it properly that first time.
“One look into Saul’s eyes, and he should have known better than to make trouble,” said Sarah, a young woman with acorn-colored skin, big brown eyes, and long lashes that were so seductive no man would have cared that she wore pants with sheep fur chaps to keep her legs warm.
Saul harrumphed, but there was a hint of a smile on his severe face this time.
Adam grinned, flicking his hand toward the Indian. “The man just wanted a ring, and he had the money to pay for it too. You know what that oat-headed idiot said? That he doesn’t serve Saul’s kind. What were we supposed to do, just let him get away with it?”
All the girls shrieked in glee, and one of them, a tiny thing with brown locks and big eyes leaned back with a smile. “Maybe I should comfort you, huh, Saul?”
“Maybe you should,” he said and raised his arm, which prompted her to gather her skirts and join him on the other side of the bonfire.
Adam leaned forward, his gaze pinned to Sarah’s eyes. “So anyway, Saul pulls out his rifle, the shopkeeper calls his son. But the real mayhem started when he spotted the Virgin Mary shrine at the back of the shop.”
Saul grumbled something but didn’t pay the story that much attention. He’d been there when it happened after all. With his arms full of eager flesh, he lost interest in Ned at long last.
Unbothered by anyone, Ned scooted in the warm glow of the fire, anxious about how the story would unfold. He dreaded the bloodshed that was surely about to come up in detail but couldn’t help the spark of excitement deep inside him. For most of his life, he’d been taught to do as told and turn the other cheek. And here was a story of two men who stood up for themselves and refused to let anyone treat them like dirt, even though that was what they were in the eyes of society.
Most folk wouldn’t condone stealing the man’s wagon, beating him up, and leaving the home shrine in a state of devastation. Regardless of what Adam said, his and Saul’s reaction had been an excuse to take what wasn’t theirs. But Ned supposed a man like Saul had endured indignities long enough to lose patience for them altogether.
“I think you might need some loving too for all the nice things you brought us,” a girl said and leaned toward Adam, resting her pointy chin on his shoulder. With painted cheeks and lips too rosy to appear natural, she wouldn’t have fooled anyone into believing her to be an honest woman, but Adam seemed content with her attention anyway.