"Just who do you think I can spare, Miss Callaghan?" The sheriff leaned his chair back against the wall behind him, firing Jessica's temper with his indolent slouch. "One of my deputies is investigating that murder case you're talking about and the other's out looking for your horse thief. At yours and Mr. Baker's insistence, I might add."
"Oh, pshaw," Jessica returned. "I'd have been perfectly willing to let that wait if you'd have explained this morning. Good Lord, who can compare the loss of my horses and a little food to a woman's life?"
"I'm not comparing it, Miss Callaghan. I'm only telling you why there's no one to send out to the Jackson ranch."
"What about yourself, Sheriff?"
The chair legs hit the floor with a thud. "I ain't got no desire to go out to the Jackson ranch," he said angrily. "Hell could freeze over before I'd stir myself to inform Tobias Jackson of anything."
"I find that attitude hard to accept," Jessica fired right back. "Especially since part of the taxes Tobias Jackson pays go to support your salary."
"Jackson don't live in my county," the sheriff denied. "He lives just over the boundary."
Almost wishing she had brought David Baker with her to back up her demand, Jessica gave an exasperated sigh. This stubborn jackass obviously only practiced Baker law in Baker's Valley.
"Draw me a map of how to get to the ranch," she ordered. "I'll go myself."
"Ain't no ride for a woman to make. You might run into something you ain't prepared for."
"Ronnie said Mr. Jackson's sister lives out there with him. I imagine she makes the ride from time to time."
"Nope," the sheriff told her. "She ain't been in town for over a year. Ever since she got...uh...ever since she went dumb."
"Ronnie told me she was mute."
"Same thing," the sheriff said.
"It's not at all, and I'm sure the girl's brother wouldn't appreciate your slur on his sister."
"Doesn't matter what he thinks. It's the same thing. And I don't give a damn what Tobias Jackson thinks of me."
Jessica picked up a pencil from the desk and handed it to the sheriff. "This isn't getting us anywhere, Sheriff. The map."
"It's a good three hour ride over rough country," the sheriff warned, but he took the pencil and grabbed a wanted poster from the stack on the side of his desk. When Jessica only stared at him, he turned the poster over with a muttered oath and began to draw on the back of it.
The sheriff was wrong. It was a beautiful ride — after they finally got started anyway. Jessica chafed at the delay, but had to admit they needed to stop by the general store for at least enough supplies to last the men for another couple days. Of course they had to eat until she decided her next move, but the fact Ned insisted on paying for the supplies galled her pride.
She refused to return to the hotel and ask Buster for the loan of a room so she could change her clothes. He would probably insist she pay for the short time she used the room, though she thought Ronnie might have found a quiet corner for her. Instead, she made Ned stand guard outside the stall holding his gelding while she slipped into her riding clothes.
Now she looked out over the wildflower strewn grass before her and basked in the saffron sunshine warming her shoulders. That grass would fatten cattle to perfection. Not overgrazed like much of the land back in Wyoming, it grew knee high on the horses and waved gently in the afternoon breeze. The same breeze brought scents of the wildflowers to her and she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
Her horse stopped and Jessica opened her eyes. Ned sat with his horse turned sideways, blocking her path as he stared ahead of them. She shifted in her saddle in an attempt to see around him.
"Well, I'll be go to hell," she heard Ned say.
"Ned, what is it? Move so I can see."
When Ned only shook his head, she urged her horse around his. Her mouth fell open and she tugged on the reins, pulling the horse to an abrupt halt.
Just as quickly, Jessica gave a glad cry and lifted the reins, her knees already prodding the horse forward again. The horse shook its head, protesting her indecision, and Jessica shot Ned an angry glance when he reached out to grab her reins.
"Let go, Ned! That's Cinnabar and our pack horse!"
"These old eyes can see as well as your young ones, Jes, and they see the same thing you do. That stallion of yours is flanked by two riders and he don't look a bit happy about it. Best you wait and see why those two have your horses before you go chargin' over there."
The breeze blew Jessica's scent to Cinnabar and he raised his head to bugle loudly. He reared against his restraint, but the pull of the rope around his neck, fastened securely to one rider's saddlehorn, brought him back down. Jessica watched in amazement as the smaller of the two riders leaned over to place a hand on Cinnabar's muzzle. Cinnabar nuzzled the rider back.
Ned's movements as he dropped her horse's reins and pulled his rifle from the scabbard drew Jessica's eyes. With a grim smile, she pulled the rifle free from the saddle she had borrowed from Patches.
The man's promise from yesterday rang in her mind. Someone else must have stolen Cinnabar from him, too. Unlike Ned, who casually laid the rifle across his saddle, Jessica snapped her rifle to her shoulder. Her well-aimed shot sent the hat flying from the larger rider's head.
The two riders immediately pulled their horses up and disappeared from their backs into the tall grass. The larger rider swatted his horse's rump, and the animals scattered, with Cinnabar still tied to the saddlehorn of one horse.
"Jesus, Jes," Ned grumbled beside her. "What'd you do that for?"
"They've got my horse," Jessica said grimly. "And I damned sure want him back."
"You ever think they might be bringing him back?"
Some of the anger left Jessica's face. "Well, no. I just thought...."
Waving grass indicated the two riders' progress as they crawled toward a large rock protruding from the ground. A second later, Jessica realized they had taken shelter, while she and Ned sat unprotected.
"Don't shoot again or I'll shoot back!" a male voice called across the space separating them. "Throw down your guns! Now!"
Ned shot Jessica a disgruntled look and tossed his rifle aside into the grass. "Do it, Jes," he ordered when she hesitated.
Jessica lowered her rifle and dropped it off the side of her horse.
"Now that six-shooter you've got, man!"
Ned sighed and gripped his pistol with his fingertips. He didn't even usually wear the sixgun, but he had taken to strapping it on after the fiasco of not having his rifle the night they had been attacked. A lot of good it did him now. He held the gun out so the man could see it clearly before he threw it down beside his rifle.
"Mister!" Ned called. "We didn't mean no harm! It's just that those horses you two have belong to the lady here! We just wanted them back!"
A small head popped up from the rock, immediately covered by a large hand and shoved back down again.
"Ride forward!" the voice ordered. "With your hands out in plain sight!"
Ned spread his arms out and kneed his gelding forward.
When the pack horse balked, Jessica reached for her reins to control it. The rifle ball kicked up a clump of dirt by her side, sending the horse plunging frantically. She screamed and grabbed for the horse's mane just a second too late as a powerful kick from the horse's hind legs tossed her tumbling over the roan's head.
An answering scream came from behind the rock, but Jessica never heard it. The thick grass cushioned her somewhat, but her contact with earth forced the wind from her chest. Roaring filled her ears as she fought to regain her breath.
Ned glanced briefly in the direction of the rock as he swung from his gelding. The smaller of the two riders slapped at a restraining arm, breaking free to run toward them. Ned only assured himself that the feminine figure in the riding skirt didn't carry a gun before he turned his attention to Jessica.
Gathering her against his chest, Ned held Jessica gently, his gnarl
ed hand stroking her cheek as he watched her wide-eyed struggle for breath.
"Easy, Jes," he said. "It'll come back in a minute. Easy now."
A look of satisfaction crossed Ned's face when Jessica drew in a gasp of air and blew it out with a whoosh. A second later the alarming redness on her cheeks faded and she breathed freely again.
"Oh, put that thing aside, Elias!" a woman said in an annoyed voice.
Ned glanced up to see the woman shove at the rifle barrel pointed toward him and Jessica, but the man with her held it out of her reach.
"Oh, for pity sakes," the woman said. She tossed the man an irritated look and knelt beside Ned. Her soft hand reached out to stroke Jessica's hair.
"I'm so sorry," the woman said. "We didn't mean for you to get hurt. But, after all, you did fire first."
Brown eyes met green, and despite the ignominy of her position, Jessica felt a stir of liking for the woman gazing down on her. She smiled in embarrassment and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"I'm fine," she said. "Just got the wind knocked out of me. And I'm sorry for shooting, but I've been looking all over for Cinnabar. I was only firing a warning."
"I can vouch for that," Ned put in. "She can shoot the burr off another horse's rump and never disturb a hair on the horse, even when she's galloping hell bent for leather. Heck, won't nobody enter the county fair matches back home if Jes's name's on the list."
"Your warning ruined a good hat," the man said sternly.
The woman giggled softly. "You're just mad because your masculine pride's pricked over a woman being able to shoot like that." Her own hat lay against her back, held by the strings tied through the brim. Sunlight sparkled on her red-gold curls as she held out a small hand to Jessica.
"I'm Idalee Morgan," she said as Jessica accepted the offer of friendship. Idalee glanced up at the man who stood a few feet away, his rifle still at a half-mast of readiness.
"And that wary fool is Elias Gant. Elias, please. I asked you to put that rifle down. These two aren't going to hurt us."
Ned rose slowly to his feet and held his hand out to Elias Gant. "I apologize, Mr. Gant," he said. "I'm Ned Daniels. And we are unarmed. You saw us toss our guns down."
Elias shifted his rifle to his left hand and pointed the barrel down at the ground. He clasped Ned's hand in a firm grip and his lips twitched when he glanced down at Jessica.
"It's not you I'm worried about, Mr. Daniels."
"You'll have to forgive her, Mr. Gant," Ned said after he dropped Elias's hand. "The impetuousness of youth, you know. And I've been Ned, not Mr. Daniels, to people for more years than I care to remember."
Jessica's eyes widened and her shock over Ned's words overrode the meaning. "Ned," she said without thinking. "I didn't even think you knew the word impetuous."
"Lots of things you might not know 'bout me, Jes," Ned returned, lapsing back into his cowboy drawl. "Elias, that's Miss Jessica...."
"Callaghan," Idalee finished for him.
Jessica accepted Ned's extended arm and pulled herself to her feet. "I assume you both must be from Baker's Valley," she said when she could face Idalee again, though she did have to look down a couple inches into the smaller woman's eyes. "Seems like everyone there knows my name, even if I did just get into town yesterday."
"It's not that large of a town," Idalee said with a shrug. She studied Jessica closely. What in the world was Storm's connection to this beautiful woman? "Things do get around," she continued. "What are you doing out here?"
"We're on our way to see Tobias Jackson," Jessica replied.
Idalee gasped, but it was Elias's flat voice that broke the stunned silence. "Tobias doesn't like visitors. Do you have business with him?"
For the first time, Jessica looked closely at Elias, seeing a man only a little taller than herself. A full shock of nondescript brown hair covered his head, and a straight nose set in the middle of his face, over lips now tightened from their usual fullness and a firm chin. But the strange, silver-gray eyes surrounded by lush lashes a woman would die for drew her attention almost magnetically.
"I...we...." Jessica cleared her throat and willed herself to wrench her gaze away and turn it on Idalee. "We...we don't exactly have business with Mr. Jackson," she explained. Her voice steadied now that she didn't have to contend with the draw of that silver stare. "We're just carrying a message to him. If you're from Baker's Valley, surely you've heard about Eloise."
Idalee's hand flew to her throat. "Eloise? No. My...my place is on the edge of town and I don't usually see anyone until evening. Elias and I have been out riding this afternoon. Please. Tell me what happened to her."
Facing the obvious distress in Idalee's eyes, Jessica found her words dying in her throat. Helplessly, she looked at Ned in time to see him give Elias a meaningful glance.
Elias immediately moved over to put his arms around Idalee and his action heightened the terror in Idalee's eyes. Almost before Ned spoke, she was sobbing against Elias's shirt front. Her small fist pounded against his chest and she drew in a breath as she stared up at Elias, tears streaming down her face.
"Why, Elias? Why Eloise?"
"Don't, darlin'," Elias said, his finger wiping away a coursing tear. "You'll make yourself sick crying like this."
"But Eloise!" Idalee said around a wrenching sob. "She never hurt anyone. And what will become of Prudence now? Oh, Elias, Tobias will never get her any help after this. He'll keep her buried out on that damned ranch!"
Elias covered her mouth gently. "Shhhh. We'll talk later, Idalee. Right now, we have to get word to Tobias."
Jessica surreptitiously wiped at the tears threatening her own vision and stepped closer to lay a hand on Idalee's arm. "We'll take him word, Idalee. I made the sheriff draw me a map to show where his place is. Don't worry. We'll get word to him in time for the funeral. Ronnie's handling the arrangements, and she'll wait until day after tomorrow for the burial."
Idalee stepped out of Elias's arms and pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of her riding skirt. She wiped her face clean and gave one final sniff, which seemed to calm her somewhat.
"I'm going with them, Elias," she said with a catch in her voice.
"No, Idalee," Elias returned in a soft voice. "You'll only make it worse. He won't let you come near."
"He probably won't let them near, either." Idalee's toss of her head indicated where Jessica and Ned stood close by.
"I'll go," Elias said. "Maybe it'll be easier for him coming from me. In fact." His silver stare took in both Jessica and Ned. "In fact, I think all three of us better go. It might take us all to get close enough to tell him."
"But Elias, if Jessica can go...."
"Jessica can handle that rifle, as you pointed out a minute ago," Elias interrupted. "You don't know one end of a gun from the other."
"Now just wait a minute, Elias," Ned said, taking a step forward. "If there's a threat of anyone gettin' hurt out there, you and me will go. I don't want Jes put in any danger."
Suddenly Jessica heard a whinny from a distance and saw Cinnabar standing a few yards away. Somehow he had managed to slip the noose from his neck, and he tossed his head up and down, the red mane and forelock catching the breeze and floating around his head. She gave a glad cry and placed her fingers to her mouth.
Cinnabar responded at once to the shrill whistle, and a moment later, he stood quietly while she rubbed her cheek against his soft nose and stroked the sides of his muzzle.
"Oh, it's good to have you back, boy," she murmured, and Cinnabar nickered his agreement.
Jessica stepped back and faced Ned. "I'm going with you, Ned," she said, holding up a restraining hand when he tried to speak. "Ronnie said Mr. Jackson's sister is mute, and she'll need a woman with her if she cared as much about Eloise as her brother did."
"She did," Idalee confirmed from beside her.
"Then I'm going," Jessica repeated.
"Jes..." Ned tried again.
"Please, Ned,
" Idalee put in. "Elias is right. We used to be friends, but Tobias would never let me near Prudence now, though I don't really believe he would ever hurt a woman. Tobias won't be any help to Prudence himself when he finds out what happened, and she'll need Jessica."
"Jessica can ride with us at first," Ned gave in curtly. "But before we get to the Jackson place, I want some answers as to what exactly's going on here. I'll make the decision when we get there as to whether Jes rides in with us or not."
"Agreed," Elias said with a nod. He reached out to give Idalee a brief hug. "You'll go back to town as soon as we round up the horses."
"I will," Idalee said. "And I think I'll close down tonight. I really don't feel like I can handle being open."
"That's a good idea," Elias said as he reached for the reins of the roan gelding. He glanced over at Jessica. "Think you can climb on that horse of yours and help me go after the two we were riding — and my hat?"
Jessica's only answer was to swing up onto Cinnabar's back.
A couple hours later, Jessica pulled Cinnabar to a stop between the other two horses and leaned forward to stare at the small ranch spread out below them. Thank goodness the sun lingered in the summer days. The sheriff's words had finally proven true.
They had ridden through some rugged, though still spectacularly beautiful, countryside to arrive at their destination. Even Cinnabar — usually able to navigate any type of ground on fleet feet — pulled up blowing on top of one especially steep ridge. She couldn't imagine trying to cross such country in darkness, but they still had the ride back to contend with.
She waited in silence for Ned to speak. She could tell he wasn't totally satisfied with Elias's explanation of the situation they found themselves in and a few questions remained in her own mind.
Elias said that Tobias Jackson had always been a solitary person, even in his youth. In fact, his parents — immigrants, who stayed behind in Baker's Valley rather than continue with the wagon train to Oregon — had kept pretty much to themselves.
Their ways were somewhat different, Elias admitted. Tobias attended school off and on, but after Prudence was born, the parents sheltered their daughter, refusing to allow her off the ranch unless her mother accompanied her.
Montana Surrender Page 10
