“I don’t give a rip whether you believe me or not. It’s the truth, but the only thing I want is to get to a phone and call my friends.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Rena. You’re here in 1876 and there’s nothing I know to do to get you back where you belong.” Jake shook his head at her.
Adela, who had stood at the stove and said nothing, moved to the table and sat down. “How about your family, Rena? Are you married?”
“I was.” Rena’s voice was soft and tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sure he’s looking for you.” Adela smiled at her. “Maybe he’ll show up soon.”
Rena shook her head. “He was killed in the war.”
“I know that’s a lie. The war ended nearly ten years ago.” Silas was almost yelling.
“If you’re talking about the Civil War, there have been other conflicts since then. Several of them.” Rena closed her eyes to hide the tears. “The one going on now is in the Middle East.”
“Do you mean like New Jersey or Pennsylvania?” Silas asked.
“No. I mean Afghanistan.”
“Where the hell is Afghanistan?”
“It doesn’t matter where it is, Silas,” Adela said. “Can’t you see the woman doesn’t want to talk about it?”
“Don’t you tell me it doesn’t matter,” Silas yelled at her.
Adela dropped her head.
“How about your parents?” Jake asked.
“My parents are dead. My father was a police officer and was killed in the line of duty. My mother died a year later from a broken heart.”
“I’m sorry,” Adela said.
“Do you have children?” Jake asked.
Without warning, Rena jumped up and ran from the room. The front door slammed behind her.
* * * *
The three in the kitchen looked at each other. Finally Jake said, “We can’t let her go wandering around the ranch the way she’s dressed. Finn already suspects something and no telling what’ll happen if the men I hired show up.”
“I say the whore is making all this crap up. Ain’t no way…”
“Shut up, Silas.” Jake shoved back his chair and started outside. Silas and Adela followed him.
They found Rena sitting on the steps of the front porch. Her head was in her hands and she was crying. Though he was confused by the situation, Jake didn’t like seeing the woman cry. He turned to his sister-in-law. “Maybe you better talk to her, Adela.” His eyes dared Silas to interfere.
Silas didn’t heed the look. “Talk to her, hell. The best thing we can do is take her to town and drop her off at the Silver Slipper.”
“For God’s sake, Silas. Get saloons off your mind. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m sure she doesn’t work in a saloon.”
“Well, she ain’t no lawman like she said. Women don’t do that sort of thing even in the big cities back east.”
Behind them, Adela pushed the door open and crossed the porch. She gathered her skirt in her hand and sat down on the step beside Rena. “I don’t think Jake meant to make you sad. He’s just confused like the rest of us.”
Though she was confused herself, Rena turned to look at Adela. “I’m sorry I got upset. I can usually keep it under control, but so much has happened that my nerves are on edge.”
“I understand. Why don’t you come back in the house? It really wouldn’t do you any good for Finn to see you out here in the clothes you have on.”
Rena started to tell her that she didn’t give a damn what Finn thought, but when she looked into Adela’s eyes, she only saw confusion with a touch of kindness. “Okay, I’ll go back if nobody will ask me any more questions about my family.”
Adela got up and Rena followed.
As they went into the house, Jake stepped aside. “I heard what you said, Rena. We’ll not ask any more questions for a while.”
“The hell we won’t. I want to know what this half dressed woman is doing in my house and why my wife and my brother are coddling her.”
“You forget, Silas. This is my house, too,” Jake yelled. “Now come along and let’s get everything settled for the night. We need to turn in early because we’ve got a lot to do before roundup starts.”
Silas looked as if he was going to explode. “Where the hell are you planning to let her sleep? I don’t think it’s proper for you to share a bed with that woman when me and my wife are in the next room.”
“I’ll work something out.” He turned to Adela. “Put her in my room. I’ll bunk with Finn or out on the couch.” He took Silas’s arm. “Come on.”
When they were gone, Adela turned to Rena. “I’ll loan you one of my nightgowns.”
“Thank you.” Rena was too numb to say anything else. She couldn’t believe what was happening and hoped to awake from this nightmare soon. Maybe if she went to sleep it would end quickly.
Chapter 3
Sleep didn’t come easily. The bed was uncomfortable and strange sounds came through the darkness. At first she thought they might be within the house, maybe in the room where she was. It took a while to convince herself they had to be outside. Especially the dog or the wolf or whatever it was that kept howling. Though it was warm, Rena pulled the sheet tight around her neck and closed her eyes, willing her mind to concentrate. She had to figure this out.
Her friends had insisted she go on the cave tour. She’d managed to get separated from them and had panicked trying to find a way out. Only by using all her willpower had she managed to keep from losing it. She remembered falling and hearing the cave-in, but nothing after that.
The next thing she knew she woke up here in this strange place and with these strange people.
She still wasn’t convinced she’d fallen back in time and landed on a ranch in the old west. But how else could she explain her presence here? Why did these people insist it was 1876? Could it be? Or was this all a bad dream and she was still trapped somewhere in that awful cave?
A raised voice and stomping outside her door made her eyes fly open. Was someone coming in the room? How could she defend herself? She sat up and looked around the room. The sliver of moonlight coming through the window cast shadows of the sparse furnishings. Nothing she saw could be used as a weapon, unless…her gaze settled on the dresser. It wasn’t much, but the white pitcher had a handle and if she put all her weight behind it, she could knock someone out with it. She eased out of bed and moved to the dresser.
The voices seemed to be right outside her door. Though they were muffled, she could tell it was Silas and Adela. She didn’t know what they were saying, but his tone told her he was angry. Of course, she didn’t remember hearing him say anything when he wasn’t angry. The man must be a beast to live with. I can’t help but feel sorry for Adela, even if I know the woman should get a backbone.
She wondered where Jake was, but not for long. She soon heard a third person come down the hall. Thank goodness. His brother is here to reel him in. Jake’s a little rough around the edges, but I wouldn’t be able to get through this with only Silas. Adela is nice in her way, but she’d be no help. It didn’t take a wise person to realize theirs wasn’t a love marriage. Adela was obviously afraid of the man.
Rena didn’t understand weak women. She’d decided years ago no man would ever treat her badly. She’d had to listen to her grandfather yell at her grandmother when she was small. Right then and there, she’d decided to never take the verbal or physical abuse such as her grandfather liked to hand out. In her world no woman had to take it.
Her heart almost stopped. Her world. Was she really in another time and place? No. Time travel was a figment of novelists’ imaginations. It had intrigued everyone since H. G. Well’s Time Machine novel. She’d even read a couple of western romances that featured it. It could never happen, could it? Lord, she hoped not. There was no way she could survive in that primitive time period. It was nice to visit in a book, but it wasn’t something she wanted to experience first-hand. She wanted to be in her small apartment
with her cat, the modern conveniences and her job. The fact that these people told her she’d somehow managed to slip back to the eighteen hundreds had to be a lie. People didn’t travel in time, even if a few crazy scientists said it was possible. There had to be a reasonable explanation and she intended to find out what it was.
She thought again of the ghost town Cassie said they’d visit. She was sure it was Yellow Creek and she knew that was the town Jake mentioned. Maybe there were two Yellow Creeks. She shook her head. It was too much to try to comprehend at this moment. Her life might be in danger. She sure wished she’d been able to hold on to her back pack. Her 9 MM Sig Sauer P250 was tucked inside. It would give her a more secure feeling to be able to put her hands on it. If this really was 1876, she’d have a distinct advantage with her automatic weapon.
In a little while the voices settled down and the shuffling in the hall moved from her door, but still she waited. She wasn’t about to move until she knew she was safe.
The door to the room next to her banged, then the muffled voices came through the wall. At the same time, the third set of footsteps retreated. She took a deep breath, set the pitcher in its bowl and climbed back in bed.
Though she didn’t think she would, Rena drifted into a restless sleep. Her dreams were punctured with pictures of old western towns, caves and huge cowboys pointing at her and telling her to take her clothes off. Then she saw Drew. He was a long way off, but he was coming toward her. She ran to meet him. She couldn’t see his face, but knew he would save her. He was wearing his police uniform and walking in the determined gate that had been his trademark since high school. She reached out for him as he came closer. Everything would be fine now that he was here. Their hands touched and she looked into his face, but it wasn’t Drew.
It was Jake Haywood.
Rena jerked awake and sat up. Lord, what a horrible dream. In it she thought she was at a ranch in 1867. It seemed so real, but thank God she was awake. Things would be normal now.
Then she saw the face at the window. It was the same bearded face from before, the one with the handlebar mustache.
Rena couldn’t help herself. She screamed. Again.
The bedroom door swung open and Adela rushed through it. “What…”
“The window…a man…”
Adela took a deep breath. “Finn again. The men aren’t here right now, but when they come in, I’ll tell them to talk to him.”
It took Rena a minute to adjust to the fact that she’d awakened in the same small room and not the hotel where she and her friends were staying. Finally she asked, “Who isn’t here?”
“Silas and Jake.”
“Why aren’t they here?” She couldn’t help being a little confused.
“They went out to check the herd and to show the new hands the ranch. They left Finn here to make sure we were okay.”
“Oh,” Rena said as if she knew what Adela was talking about. At least she wouldn’t have to face the hateful men she’d met earlier. She swung her feet to the floor. “I guess I better get up. What time’s breakfast?”
“We had breakfast two hours ago.”
Rena stared at her.
“I put some back for you.”
“Thank you.” Rena stood. “I’ll go to the bathroom and then get dressed.”
“You can’t go outside like that. I’ll get you a dress.”
“I don’t need a dress. I want my own clothes.”
“They were dirty and I put them in the wash.” Adela went out the door.
“Well, I guess that takes care of that,” Rena said to herself. “Hope she doesn’t bring me one of those long skirts and a high necked blouse. I’ll roast in that.”
What Adela brought was worse. It was a plain gray dress with long sleeves, a high neck with a round collar and what looked to have at least a hundred buttons down the front. There were several petticoats across her arm.
When Rena stared at the clothes without comment, Adela laid the arsenal on the foot of the bed. “Now you can get dressed.”
Rena stood. “I guess I’ll wear the dress because I have no choice, but I’ll be damned if I’ll put on all those petticoats.”
Adela’s eyes got big but she didn’t answer before scooting out of the room.
Rena jerked off the gown and put the dress over her head. She had to laugh as she looked down at herself. The dress hung like a sack and dragged on the floor. Shaking her head, she buttoned it up to her breasts but left the top buttons undone. Since it was at least three sizes too big she had no trouble rolling the sleeves above her elbows.
She looked around, but there was nothing she could use to comb her hair. She ran her fingers through the shoulder length blond mop and went out the door wondering if these people had ever heard of a toothbrush. She knew she’d have to find something. There was no way she’d go without brushing her teeth. A cool bath wouldn’t feel bad, either.
Rena went into the kitchen.
“It doesn’t fit very well, does it?” Adela couldn’t hide her smile. “After I finish in the garden, I’ll see if I can find you something better.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
She set a cup of coffee in front of Rena. “Will you always sleep this late?”
Rena wanted to ask her what she considered late, but she bit her tongue. “I’ll get up when everyone else does.”
“We get up before dawn. The men like to get started while it’s still cool.”
Rena frowned. She’d only been up at dawn when she was on a case that kept her up all night. “Please call me in the morning.”
After breakfast, Rena insisted she could wash her own dish. Adela thanked her then headed for the garden.
When she finished the plate, Rena returned to the bedroom and made her bed. Seeing there was nothing else she could do in the house, she went to the back porch. Adela was stooped over picking something. Rena wondered if she should offer to help. Before she could decide, Adela straightened and headed in her direction.
“I was coming to help.”
“Do you like working in a garden?”
“Never done it, but I learn fast.”
“You might get your foot caught in that dress and fall if you tried. As soon as I shell these peas, I’ll see about getting you a better outfit.”
“I can shell those.”
Adela hesitated then handed the basket to Rena. “Thank you. I’ll check on the roast I put in the oven.”
When the peas were finished, Adela hadn’t come back. Rena stood and holding her dress, went inside. She found Adela sitting at the kitchen table with a yellow skirt across her lap.
“I know the shirt waist will be too big, but I’m almost finished hemming this and I don’t want you to fall and hit your head again.” She pulled the thread through for the last time then broke it off. She stood and shook the skirt. “I put the shirtwaist on the bed. Why don’t you change while I put the peas on?”
“Thanks, Adela.”
Rena went into the bedroom and saw the starched white blouse on the bed. It buttoned down the front, had long sleeves and a round collar. She shook her head and slipped out of the dress. She put on the blouse, buttoning it only to above her breast and rolled up the sleeves. The skirt was the perfect length. It covered her ankles but stopped short of hitting the floor.
Back in the kitchen, the ornate wind-up clock hanging on the wall said it was twelve-fifteen. “Now how do I look?”
Adela smiled. “Better. At least you won’t break your neck.” She turned back to the stove.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Set the table if you like.”
Rena picked up the stack of mismatched plates and busied herself putting them around the table. “There are plates for seven. Are you expecting company?”
“I never have company. You’re the first woman I’ve seen in months. The extra plates are for the two hands Jake hired.”
Rena was startled. “What do you mean, you never have company?”
“Jasper Wigham’s ranch is five miles away, but his wife’s dead. He sent his daughter back east to some fancy school. There’s nobody else within a day’s ride.”
“So you’re stuck by yourself all the time?”
“I go to town with Silas for supplies every month or two. I get to see people then.” She bent to take the roast from the oven.
“That’s horrible. How do you stand it?”
Adela moved the big pot to the center of the table and shrugged. “You get used to it.”
“Well, I never would.”
Adela looked at her a little sheepishly. “I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but I think you should button up your blouse. The men will get the wrong notion.”
Rena started to tell her she didn’t care what kind of notion the men got, but she saw the look of pleading in the woman’s eyes. For some reason this gentle woman was afraid of everything. “Oh, what the hell? I can unbutton it again when they leave, but I’m not rolling down the sleeves.”
“Do you always curse like that?” Adela backed up as if she was afraid Rena might hit her.
“Not always. Just when I’m frustrated. I guess it comes from working around so many hard-nosed police officers and even harder criminals.”
“I don’t think I’d like that kind of work.”
Before Rena could answer there was a shuffling of feet on the porch. Without a word to the women the men came in and sat down. They began grabbing food and shoving it into their mouths.
Adela started to take her seat, but paused when Rena put her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe this! I don’t think I’ve ever seen hardened criminals as rude and crude as you people are.”
The men all stopped eating and stared at her.
Silas broke the silence. “What the hell are you talking about? We’re hungry.”
“What has that got to do with manners? I’m hungry, too, but I didn’t come loping in here and start rutting for something to eat like a wild hog. You could have at least had the courtesy to speak to your wife after she slaved over a hot stove all morning to prepare your meal.”
Rena's Cowboy Page 4
