“Chase?” she called out, concerned that he had been under too long. She waded out into the shallows, placing her hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the sun. “Chase, where are you? This isn’t funny anymore.”
The next thing she knew, she was flying through the air out into the water, where she landed with a big splash. She came up coughing and spitting, with her hair heavy in her face. She shoved it back and saw Chase standing on the bank with his pants back on, his legs set wide apart and his arms crossed across his wide bare chest, looking down on her like he was a king and she a disloyal subject.
“It wasn’t a beating but it will do for now,” he said as he perused her dripping features.
Jenny sank back under the water to straighten her hair, then made her way towards the bank. When she came out of the water, Chase decided that dunking her hadn’t been such a good idea because her shirt had become transparent and clung to her curves, revealing more than it covered. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, and Jenny took some pleasure in knowing that he was pretty much in the same condition that he had been in before his swim.
Chase picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her, then handed her his shirt so she could change out of hers. She pulled her hair up on top of her head and tied it with a piece of rawhide string, then spread the blanket back out on the ground. She tucked the shirt tail under her as she sat after spreading her own shirt out on the grass to dry in the sun. She patted the blanket next to her invitingly, and he sat down, his eyes wary, watching for her to seek some revenge.
“Why is it,” she started, “that you and Jamie have this need to throw me into whatever water is available?”
Chase laughed and stuck a blade of grass in his mouth. “Maybe it has something to do with our visions.”
“What visions?”
“We went to Gray Horse after we left the mission, and he wanted us to have visions to guide us in our quest. It’s the way of most Indians—we have spirit guides—and Gray Horse wanted us to find ours before we set out. So we performed the ceremony and we both had visions, and we both saw lakes in our visions.”
“Tell me about your vision.”
Chase stretched out on the blanket and laid his head in her lap, taking the blade of grass out of his mouth and twirling it between his fingers. “I followed Jamie. He was flying across the plains like a hawk, and I was behind him. I could hear you calling to us, so we went towards the sound. I saw you swimming in a lake, so I stopped, but Jamie went on.”
“Then what happened?”
“I joined you—we were together.” He drew the blade of grass across her cheek. “Really together, in the lake. It was like we were one. That’s how I knew we would find you, because we were one. There were wolves around us, too, but they would not attack. They were afraid of the water.”
“I had a dream about wolves, too. You were fighting them, protecting me from them.”
“I guess that just goes to show that the heart knows before the head,” he said, his eyes dark. Jenny ran her fingers through the drying strands of his silky hair and bent over to kiss him gently.
“But what about Jamie’s vision? You said he saw a lake, too.”
“He saw you drowning in a whirlpool and pulled you through and then left you with me. He never would really say much about it, except that he wished he could be as sure as I was that we would all be together again someday.”
“Maybe it’s because he is white and isn’t conditioned to believe in those things.”
“It came true for me—except for the wolves, that is.”
“That could still happen.”
“And I will protect you from them.” He pulled her head down and felt her shiver from the cool breeze that had kicked up with the setting sun. “We’d better be heading back.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“We’ll come back again.” They gathered their belongings and mounted up to head back to the ranch, letting the horses set their own pace as they rode side by side.
The days of summer flew by, but time was split into just two segments for Chase and Jenny: the time they could be alone together and the time they were apart. Jenny would go to bed at night dreaming of the day they would be married. She began to make plans for their life together, as her mind roamed back to the home she had grown up in. The thing she most regretted losing was her mother’s quilt. It had been in her life as long as she could remember. Whether spread on the ground for a picnic or folded at the foot of her parents’ bed, it had always been there, a symbol of their family. Her mother had told her that her own mother had made it in anticipation of her own marriage, so Jenny went about gathering scraps to start on a quilt herself. During the long summer evenings they would sit on the porch of Grace’s cabin, Chase and Jenny in the swing with Jenny sewing pieces of fabric together, Jamie in a chair with his leg propped up and a book in his lap, reading aloud as he used to. Grace would sit on the steps and listen to his voice, and the cowboys would often come around and listen, or talk, or have Caleb draw illustrations to the story. Jake had never learned how to read and would let Jamie work with him some, until he could pick up a newspaper and proudly show off his newfound skill.
Jake began to open up to the group, sharing some of his troubled past as they talked long into the warm summer nights. His father had been a preacher, who would talk of forgiveness in his sermons, then go home and beat his wife and son for imagined transgressions. His sisters would try to hide Jake from his father’s anger, but the preacher always found him. His father said he had the devil in him, and the only way to get rid of it was to beat it out of him, until one day Jake left without a word, determined that no one would ever beat him again. He taught himself how to shoot and made himself fast on the trigger, so fast that no one would want to come up against him, but a few foolish ones had tried. Jason had found him trying to hide from his reputation and brought him to the ranch, seeing a sensitive soul underneath the brash exterior. Jake would gladly give up his life for any one of his friends, but they still treaded lightly around his quick temper.
Towards the end of summer, Jake’s temper was wearing thin after a week of hard rain had kept the hands confined, except for the necessary chores that always needed tending. As soon as the weather cleared they were going to drive the cattle to market in Independence. Everyone would be going except for Grace and Caleb, who drew the short straw this year. Jamie was on his feet again, his broken leg nothing but a memory now, except for teasing reminders about what a difficult patient he had been. He was anxious, like everyone else, for the adventure of the drive and paced the confines of the cabin like a caged tiger.
Zane, Jake, Caleb and Ty were playing cards while Cat watched, her chair drawn up next to Ty’s. They were in Grace’s cabin, gathered around the table, trying to pass the rainy day the best way they could. Chase and Jenny missed being able to go to the lake but were surviving somehow, passing the time with the rest of them.
“Jamie, would you sit down? You are driving me crazy,” Grace finally said after he walked the length of the cabin for the hundredth time.
Jamie shoved his hair back and stopped in the middle of the floor. “A month ago you were begging me to get up and walk.”
“A month ago you were lying in the bed complaining.”
Jamie walked over and leaned over her chair, bringing his mouth next to her ear. “I never complained when I was in your bed,” he whispered, and she blushed, shoving his head away. He grinned at the boys, who hadn’t missed the comment. His gaze settled on Jenny and Chase, who had their heads together at the end of the table. He walked over and propped his leg in an empty chair, leaning over the table.
“Jen, make me some cookies,” he said.
“Cookies?” Zane’s head came up from the other end of the table.
“Remember those sugar cookies you used to make? I haven’t had one of those in years. Please make me some.”
“Yeah, Jen, make us some cookies,” came a chorus from the end of
the table.
“Cookies sound all right to me,” Chase added.
Jamie looked at her like a whipped dog, then flashed his grin at her. Jenny got up and went to the cupboard and began to pull out the ingredients for the cookie recipe that her mother had taught her. Cat joined her, and soon they were mixing dough and laughing with their heads together. They had started to roll the dough out into little balls the size of walnuts when Jamie decided to come over and stick his finger into the bowl. Jenny smacked his hand, and he jerked back, bumping into Jake’s chair.
“Watch it,” Jake snarled as his poker hand was given away to Zane, who gleefully raked in the pile of money.
“I knew you were bluffing,” Zane said as he made a production out of arranging his winnings.
Jamie ignored the card game and circled again, trying to sneak some dough. Jenny knew her brother well, and threw her elbow into his stomach as he came in again. He rubbed his side and decided to work on Cat, who was a smaller target. He snatched the ball of dough out of her hand and popped it in his mouth with a satisfied sigh.
“Eat all the dough and we won’t have any cookies,” Jenny warned him.
“Blu is shoo goo,” he said around the blob in his mouth.
“Hey, let me have some of that,” Ty called from the table. Cat turned with a ball of dough in her hand and Ty opened his mouth, challenging her to hit the target. She tossed the ball just as Jake rose from his chair, and it landed on the back of his head, clinging to the blond strands of his hair. His chair hit the floor with a thud, and silence filled the cabin.
“Damn it!” Jake exclaimed as he reached around his head. Jenny and Cat exchanged glances and moved towards the door as one, slamming it behind them just as Jake lunged for them. He snatched the door open, bouncing it off the wall, and ran through the opening. He became airborne when his foot hit a leg that was stretched across the doorway, and he flew out into the yard and landed face first in a puddle. Jenny and Cat fell into each other’s arms, laughing hysterically as the rest of the group came to see what had happened.
The rain had just let up as Jake raised himself from the puddle, his light blue eyes resembling chipped ice as they landed on Jenny and Cat, who had to sit down they were laughing so hard. They heard the slamming of the door behind them, and realized they were in trouble when they saw Zane’s face pressed against the window.
“Open the door,” Jenny yelled as Jake took a step. Cat was behind her, beating on the locked portal. Inside, they could hear voices being raised as Chase and Jamie started in on each other.
“Jamie, open the door now.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that.”
“Jamie, get away from that door,” Chase yelled from inside the cabin. Jenny picked up a stool and jabbed it at Jake as he came up the steps, while Cat continued her pounding.
“Ty, let me in!” she screamed.
“I can’t move him,” Ty groaned from the other side.
Jake grabbed the stool from Jenny’s hand and flung it out into the yard.
“Damn it, Jamie, will you move?” Chase hollered.
“Dang, look at that, he’s got both of them,” Zane said, and faces crowded into the window around him.
Jake had Cat under one arm where she was trying to land blows but was mostly hitting air. He was dragging Jenny with his other arm, her legs too long for him to pick her up the same way he had Cat. Jenny had her heels dug in and was trying to break his hold, but he was determined and pulled her down the steps, where he flung her into the mud. Then he dropped Cat beside her, face first. Jenny came up swinging and managed to land a blow before he pushed her down again, all the while holding a snarling Cat down with his boot.
“I think we’re even now,” he said after he had made sure they were covered with mud. The group inside had spilled out onto the porch and were laughing hysterically at the three muddy people before them. Jenny flung the mud out of her eyes and scooped up a handful. Jake had turned towards the porch and was in the process of bowing when she let go of her bomb. It hit Jamie square in the face. He jerked his head back, then blinked a few times, while Zane fell to the floor of the porch, holding his stomach in painful laughter. Jamie reached down and picked him up by his belt loops and flung him out into the mud hole, where he landed beside Jenny. Cat had scrambled out of the way and began scooping up mud to throw at Jake. Jamie let out a whoop and pitched Jake back into the mud, followed by Caleb. Ty bailed out over one porch rail and Chase wisely took the other. Jenny had decided that Chase looked entirely too clean and tackled him as he came around the side of the porch. Soon everyone was rolling in the mud, except for Grace, who had wisely gone back in and locked the door.
The rain started up again, a downpour so intense that it blinded them as it washed the mud away. Chase pulled Jenny over to the side of the porch, where the water drained off like a heavy waterfall. She stuck her head under the flow, running her hands through her hair to wash out the mud that clung to the heavy strands. Chase helped her by combing his fingers through the mass that reached halfway down her back. She tilted her head back, letting the water wash over her face and down her neck. Mud began to accumulate inside her shirt, so she pulled it out and unbuttoned it. Chase ducked his head under, clearing his hair and face, and pulled his shirt off.
Everyone else had taken shelter, Jake, Caleb and Zane dashing for the bunkhouse, Ty and Cat heading into the barn. Jamie had begged at the door for Grace to let him in, and she finally did, after throwing a towel at him to clean up with. The water washed over Chase in sheets as he turned Jenny against the house, shielding her from any prying eyes with his body. She pulled her shirt off and plucked her camisole away from her skin so the water could wash away the mud that had accumulated.
Chase leaned an arm against the wall and looked down at the cleavage revealed beneath him, watching the water sluice down the valley between her breasts. He slowly raised his eyes and saw Jenny’s parted lips, her eyes the deep blue of sapphire as he bent to kiss her. Her arms twined around his neck, and he pulled her close, the heat of their skin burning against the cool water. He felt the softness of her breasts against the smooth hardness of his chest, and it started a fire deep inside him that threatened to consume them both in the midst of the shower. He couldn’t stop; she begged him not to as his mouth claimed hers, pulling at the depths of her soul.
“Ahem.”
Chase raised his head, blindly, looking towards the noise. Jason was standing on the porch, covered with a rain slicker, water dripping off the brim of his hat. Chase turned towards him, and Jenny peered over his shoulder at the interruption.
“Perhaps I should send for the minister.”
“Actually, I was hoping you would do the service for us,” Chase replied.
Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I would be honored. So you’ve set a date?”
Chase looked over his shoulder at Jenny, who was looking a bit surprised herself. “I was thinking maybe as soon as we get back from the drive?”
Jenny wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Just give me time to find a dress.”
“I think that can be arranged.” Jason smiled at them. “If you don’t die of pneumonia first.” He shook his head at their foolishness and knocked at Grace’s door before going into the cabin.
Chase turned around into Jenny’s arms. “Will you marry me when we get back?”
“I’d marry you now, soaking wet, covered with mud.”
“While the thought is enjoyable”—he moved his hands over her bare shoulders—”I don’t really want to share you with the brutes that hang around this place, so we’ll wait.” He pulled her dripping shirt off the porch rail and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Go on into the cabin, I’ll get you some dry clothes from the bunk-house.” Chase kissed the tip of her nose and took off through the rain. Jenny watched him run from the porch and wrapped her arms around herself.
“We’ll be married in just a few weeks,” she sang to herself. “I can hardly wait.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
The long days of the drive were over, the herd had been sold, Jason had given everyone a well-deserved bonus, and they were heading home. Chase and Jenny were anxiously looking forward to their wedding day. Jason had presented them with the cabin that had been his first home when settling the ranch, and Chase had many busy nights ahead of him to restore it to livable condition.
There was only one thing left to do before they started on the wedding plans. Jenny and Jamie needed to go home one last time to see their parents’ graves and close that chapter of their lives. They turned north when they came out of Independence, promising to catch up with their friends in a few days. Chase did not go with them. He felt that it would be better for just the two of them to go so they would have the time to grieve and talk and put all the pain of the past behind them. They said their goodbyes and looked forward to being together again in a few short days.
The town had grown in the years they had left, so much that the cemetery that used to be on the outskirts of town was now almost in the middle. The place was still well tended, and they easily found the stones that marked the last resting places of Ian Duncan and his beloved wife, Faith, and the smallest ones that belonged to the two baby brothers. They stood in silence, gazing down at the chiseled stones and at the grass that had been clipped short within the confines of the white picket fence.
“Dad’s not here,” Jamie finally said. He shoved his hair back and plopped his hat on his head. “He’s out there somewhere, standing on a ridge watching the horses run.”
“And Momma is right beside him.”
“Yes, she is.”
“When he died, he saw her,” Jamie nodded his head, remembering the story. “He said she was an angel,” she said.
“I guess they both are.”
“Do you think they’re watching us?”
“Every day.”
“At least they can be with the babies now.”
“They have more family up there than they do down here.” Jamie looked around restlessly, the town now suffocating him, and his scar making him self-conscious. “Let’s go by the ranch. I never got a chance to say goodbye to it, either.”
Chase the Wind Page 37
