by Rain Trueax
“I changed my mind on you staying with me, Pete. So you better hope you can get a job out here or at another ranch.”
“That’s not fair.” Pete subsided back in his seat with a sour expression.
“Anybody tell you life is fair?” Nick asked clenching his jaw.
“No.”
There was silence then as Denali turned off onto the road leading to the ranch. She loved this part of the drive and was glad Nick had turned his brother off. The road wound up some ridges and then down into two little valleys before it opened up to show the sprawling, hacienda style home with two large barns and corrals. From the road, you couldn’t see the swimming pool, warmed by artesian springs or the hot tub, heated with propane to suit the outside temperatures.
As she pulled the truck to a stop below the house, a tall man with black hair came out of the closest barn. “Hi, Luke,” she said as she got out of the truck, followed by Nick and his brother.
“I thought maybe you were Maria,” Luke said, and she registered the disappointed tone.
“No, I borrowed Mom’s truck. I wanted to take my friends for a ride. How is Maret?”
Luke laughed. “Missing you.” He looked then at Nick and then Pete. “You two know how to handle horses?”
“Grew up on a ranch,” Pete said. “I was hoping to find work out this way. I can work cattle, horses, or clean out stalls. You need it done, and I can do it.”
“Worked on a ranch before, have you?” Luke asked taking off his hat and brushing long black hair back from his forehead.
“My father’s spread out of Cody.”
“Well, I am mucking out stalls, want to let me see how you work?”
Denali smiled. Whether Luke intended to hire him, he had assured she got a chance to ride with just Nick. She knew where she wanted to take him.
“How about you?” Luke asked. “You also grow up on a horse?”
Luke was about as tall as Nick. His smile was assessing.
“I can handle one,” Nick said.
“You’re a big man, need a big horse. I have two-- one that can go and one easier to handle. Which you want?”
“Since I need to keep up with her.” Nick gestured his thumb toward Denali. “I guess it better be one that can run.”
Luke grinned and headed for the horse corral. The white mare came right over for Denali to stroke her nose. “I thought she might be mad at me.”
Luke grinned. “Not her. She’s a great horse.”
“I’ve missed her. She’s in wonderful shape, Luke. Someone’s been exercising her.”
“Your mom comes out when she can and rides the ones I can’t. I’d ride her but too big. I’d be hard on her back.”
Maret followed Denali into the barn. She was obviously as eager for a ride as her owner. She heard Nick whistle his approval of Jock.
“You sure you can handle him?” Luke asked after he roped the chestnut colored gelding and led him to the barn where Denali had almost finished saddling Maret.
“He looks fine. You have hackamores?” Nick stroked the white blaze on Jock’s forehead.
“You ride with one?”
“Depends on the horse. I prefer them when possible.”
Luke nodded approvingly. “Western or Eastern?” he asked from the tack room.
“Either but prefer western.”
Denali stepped up onto her horse. It felt great once again to have a horse between her legs. She could feel Maret’s excitement and sent her a message as to where they would be heading. The mare whinnied her approval.
“Jock’s trained to respond to leaning and knees,” Luke told him. “You’re about my size, so he’ll do well with you.”
“Big brother can do anything,” Pete said who had followed them.
Nick ignored the jibe, as he threw the blanket and saddle over Jock’s back. In moments, he had mounted and followed Denali out of the barn. In the yard, Nick wheeled Jock and looked back at Luke. “Pete earns a spot here or not-- based his work.”
“You got it.” He winked.
As she headed Maret out the dirt road, she let Nick catch up with her. “Do you like hot springs?” she asked. “We have several possibilities here and a waterfall is another option. It won’t have much water at this time of year, but it should still be pretty.”
She saw him consider it and then smile. “Neither sound safe.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Do you have any idea how desirable I find you? How much I’ve been thinking about making love to you from the first day.”
She felt herself flush especially since her mind had been going down the same wayward path.
“Maybe we should save them, and I’ll show you something else.”
He smiled. “Sounds smart. Would it also be a good place to make love?”
“Is there anywhere that isn’t… in your mind at least?” She laughed.
“Probably not at this point. Want to let the horses run? This road seems pretty level.”
“I’d like that.” She nudged her heels into Maret’s side, and the mare immediately took off. She was as eager to run as her owner. Denali leaned low on her mare’s neck and heard the thunder of Jock’s hooves as he came alongside and then passed them. Nick pulled back a little on the reins to keep them together.
“Since I don’t know where we’re heading,” he yelled. The cactus, palo verde and mesquite flashed past in a blur. When she neared the end of the road she knew to be level, she slowed her mare to a trot.
“Very nice,” he said as he wheeled Jock to get him to slow and return to her. The gelding had gotten caught up in the thrill of a race. Breathing heavily, both horses slowed to a walk.
Denali pointed to the mountain, to the limits of the ranch.
“I’ve mostly ridden my cycle out the other side,” he said.
“Do you like the desert? Not all who live in Tucson do.”
“I get out there when I can-- although I have only painted a few of it.”
“I don’t remember any desert scapes at the show.”
“I am not ready to show them. One was that sunset, which Jane knew she was not to show. I wonder now if she ever had a buyer interested or just wanted it as a showcase for the rest.”
“That would make sense. It is striking.”
“But nothing like the others.”
“True.” She wondered about the new ones. The sunset had been both arresting but also threatening with the harsh colors and spear like clouds. It had not suggested the comfort she found from an Arizona sunset but rather the threat of darkness.
She knew where she was taking him. Equally, she knew it was probably foolish. She wanted to assess how accurate Nick’s senses were, and there was only one place she could do that. The other thing making this place perfect was the ward her mother had put over it to protect it from the invasion of beings who were not friendly, who wanted to do ill. Her mother was a powerful witch, stronger than her four daughters. Maybe someday, they would exceed her abilities, but that day was not yet there. Sometimes Denali wasn’t pleased with her mother’s spiritual powers, but not this day. For this, she wanted protection and anonymity to what she might tell or not tell Nick about the place they were heading. She had never brought anyone there and was not sure how her sisters would feel when they learned she had. She would tell them anyway. It was only right.
“From here, we have to ride single file,” she said as she pointed to the narrow trace heading into an outcropping of rounded rocks, piled high and sometimes appearing to have human shapes.
Nick reined in Jock, who wasn’t thrilled not to be in the lead, but responded to the firm hand on his reins.
She leaned forward to open a wire gate, pulling it back to the rock formation before riding through. The trail wound through more rock formations, some making the trail narrow, and then opened into a meadow flanked by a rock bluff, cottonwoods, and a small stream. Because the cattle hadn’t been given access to it, the grass was tall. Even in May, some gol
d and purple wildflowers lingered. The heat would soon have them gone. She loved the fragrance of grass, and from the hill beyond, the scent of juniper.
“Beautiful,” he said leaning on the pommel of his saddle. “Like no one’s ever touched it.”
“Only lightly. Let’s get down. I want to talk to you here.”
He smiled. “Just talk?” But he dismounted and ground reined Jock. The horses contentedly grazed on the meadow grasses.
“For now. This is a special place.”
“I can see that. Very private.”
“It is. Only the birds and animals can see into us here.” Overhead, an eagle soared on a high wind she couldn’t feel below. “Come on over to the stream.” There rocks had been placed to form a circle.
“A medicine wheel?” he asked.
“You know Plains Indian religions?”
“Some.”
“Circles are for all religions, but this one is more for sitting, talking and sometimes… other things.”
“A perfect place for-- any of that.” He sat on one of the rounded boulders, while she chose one across the circle from him. She saw the faint smile on his lips and knew what he was thinking without probing. She wanted the same thing except… He didn’t know who she was. He didn’t understand what was out there and threatening. Given his view of the world, how could he believe anything she said? Could she trust him enough to tell him? Questions without answers.
“What do you feel here?” she asked finally.
She saw him considering the question, look around, and then back at her. “A hundred birds, a kestrel over on that saguaro, warmth, a breeze picking up, colors, the sound of water, you breathing…”
“You can feel me breathing?”
“As though your warm breath was touching me. I feel you even when you’re over there and obviously don’t want me to touch you, but you are touching me.”
She shivered. “Do you read minds?” she asked.
“Not that I know of. If I had, I’d never have let Pete think he could stay with me. What he’s said since he’s been here tells me what he’s thinking is not good.”
“I am not thrilled at his working at the Circle C,” she said, still trying to decide how many of her secrets she dared tell Nick.
“So tell your foreman not to hire him.”
“I hate to interfere with the workings out here. I will talk to Mom about my feelings. If he’s a good cowboy, it seems unfair to let my feelings regarding his personality block him.”
“I don’t see why.”
“I don’t like to interfere period.”
“But you can.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You are an enchantress.”
She felt her heart skip a beat. “Now, what do you mean by that?”
“Your beauty ensnares a man. You don’t know that?”
“You mean the physical.”
“Among other things.”
Chapter Eight
“Nick, I…” Before she could say more or even decide what she would say, he rose and came to her, taking her arms in his big hands and lifting her from her rock.
“If you don’t want me to do this, you better say no right now,” he said as he bent, his breath now against her mouth. When she said nothing, felt incapable of stopping him, he pressed his lips against hers and then pushed her lips apart with his tongue, invading her mouth as he put his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him.
Her body came awake as she felt the kiss throughout, warming and causing her to feel sensations she’d never felt. She opened her mouth wider and thrust her tongue into his mouth, teasing alongside his. As his hands dropped to her buttocks and pulled her against his growing hardness, she knew she had to stop him. She didn’t want to.
“Not here,” she said, pulling away.
“Isn’t this what you brought me here for? To ensnare me in your beautiful arms.”
Her arms were still around him even as they had both loosened their clasp. She stepped away and tried to catch her breath. “No, I wanted to tell you about this place, about me.”
“All right.” He moved back to the boulder on which he’d sat and lowered himself. “So tell.”
“This place is spiritual… It’s where we do rituals, my family and I. It’s magical.”
“It is beautiful.”
“No,” It’s more. It’s where things happen.” She was stumbling over her words. How could she tell him part of it without telling him all of it? He wasn’t ready to hear all of it or believe it. Then she heard a scream from the sky that she recognized. She stood, watching as the falcon circled and then came down, hovering, before gently landing on her shoulder. She looked at Nick who was watching. She had no clue what he was thinking.
“This is Edie.”
“A hawk is a pet?”
“She’s a ferruginous hawk and not a pet.” She brushed Edie with her finger.
The hawk bent and whispered in a way Denali knew Nick would not hear or understand if he did, ‘Do we know him?’
“No,” she said smiling. Nick would think she was insane talking to a hawk. “He’s a friend and a painter.”
Edie cocked her head toward Nick then. ‘Would he paint me?’ she asked.
“Would you like that?”
‘Perhaps.’ Denali reached into her pocket for a treat. Edie delicately took it with her beak. ‘Your friend seems nice.’
“Nick, do you want to tell her anything?” she asked the man who was watching with curiosity and a little disbelief. He was probably wondering what he’d gotten himself into by coming with her out here.
“She’s a beautiful hawk,” he said.
Edie preened a little, would have smiled could a hawk smile. She left them, soaring overhead and disappearing into one of the cottonwoods. Denali should have asked if she had a nest there. The fledglings would be raised by June. She’d ask next time.
“You raised her?” Nick asked, politely ignoring her talking to the hawk as if she was a pet.
She shook her head. “She comes when she wants. She lives wild.”
“Hopefully she doesn’t trust all humans.”
“Out here, she can, and her range keeps her safe. She warns us if she hears anyone approaching who she deems unsafe. She sometimes is around the barns and house.”
“And she recognizes who would be a danger?”
“I would not have brought Pete to this sacred ground.”
“Good judgment on your part. You think Edie would’ve gave her warning cry if you had?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never brought anyone here who I didn’t already know to be a friend. I don’t want the energy of this place dissipated by selfish or evil humans.”
“Thank you then for bringing me.”
“It’s not a compliment but a reality.”
“So, what’s going on with Pete?”
“I don’t read motives… I have the ability to look at histories.”
“Mine?” He smiled crookedly.
“You block me. Is that your training as a SEAL?”
“Mind control can be important in battles. You check me out online?” She knew it was strange but she hadn’t done that. She shook her head. “How about Pete?”
“No history there either. Your family isn’t into mysticism by any chance?”
“Not when I was around.”
“Well, in my curiosity, I went further. There is no history of him online—not even using a sophisticated detective app.”
“You did that?”
“I did. He made me uncomfortable and I wanted to know why. His lack of anything about him is unusual. It’s as though he doesn’t exist.”
“When you speak of history—not using a computer, what do you get?”
She doubted he would believe her—not yet anyway. “It would mean looking at events in a person’s memory bank. I would see and hear a specific scene and then go onto another, which might connect. I tried it at the gallery. I could see the argume
nt with Jane… I was blocked from seeing the actual murder.”
“And you believe you can do it other times.” He sounded as disbelieving as she had expected. She had hoped this place would help him to understand what she needed him to know.
“For some people and situations, but it is possible to block me. If I worked at it more, that might not be true. Each of us, my sisters and me, we have gifts we were born with. They come from our ancestors.” She debated the right words. “Yaquis have shamans. That came to us through the Cordovas. Nate Hemstreet married a woman who was gifted. He had some abilities, he’d never developed until he met her.”
“Gifts?”
She might as well go for broke. “Witches.”
His smile changed into a tight one. “And you now think you are a witch?”
“It’s not a matter of thinking. It’s of being.”
“So you and your sisters come out here and do the coven thing?”
He wasn’t making this easy. She heard the disbelief in his voice. “Do you understand there is a religion which some call Wicca, a group, but there is another way.”
“And?”
“You can be born to it.” She wished she had never begun this. Clearly, he wasn’t ready to hear it.
“Fly on broomsticks?”
“Who needs them.” She rose. This was not going to work. She could demonstrate for him, but when someone isn’t ready to hear something, it would be disbelieved, and suspected of being a delusion.
“Dance naked around a fire?” His smile turned back to the sensual one. “I could get into that with such beautiful women.” She knew he was teasing her, not taking anything she’d said seriously. This wasn’t the right place or time after all.
“My mother and grandmothers join us.”
He shook his head. “Is this why you were at Jane’s the morning after she was killed? To use an extra something to figure out what happened?”
“It was the hope, but the one behind that murder was stronger than I-- or I was too distracted.” She knew the latter was possible as from the moment she had seen Nick Beringer, she had felt an electrical charge that was derailing her in many other ways besides using extrasensory skills.
“You believe Jane was murdered by a spirit?” His tone dripped with skepticism.
