by Francis Ray
“His letting you cook surprised me.”
“He wants to take care of you,” she said. “He’s willing to let me help if you benefit. He’s waiting to see if I can continue to do it better.”
“I think we both know that’s a given.”
She grinned. “Why, thank you.”
He caught himself before he smiled back. “Since we’re eating your food, feel free to get what you need at Harold’s, the grocery store in town, and put it on the Double D bill.”
“Thank you.” She looked back into the cave. “I better let you get to work.”
He found himself reluctant to leave her. He glanced at his watch. “Ten thirty.”
“I’ll set the clock. Good-bye, Duncan.” Turning, she walked back into the cave.
Duncan watched her disappear into the cave, wondering why he suddenly felt bereft.
What was he doing here? He had work to do. They were still in the midst of branding the calves. His prized mare had yet to foal, yet here he was checking on Raven. The first day she’d called thirty minutes late the first time, almost an hour late the next time.
Three days had passed and she wasn’t much better at calling in on time. As much as he wanted to berate her, he knew that once you were busy time got away from you.
He also knew that during that stretch of time in between accidents happened. He’d been with the search party that found the campers after a black bear attack. One hadn’t made it.
Dismounting and tying Black Jack’s reins to the back of Raven’s Jeep’s bumper, Duncan told himself he was just doing his duty, the need to see her had nothing to do with his being here. He’d scouted the area that morning and again now. He’d seen a few coyote and rabbit tracks but no sign of any large animals.
Head bent, he entered the cave and picked up his lantern. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t call out to her until he saw her. He liked watching her without being obvious. Intent on working, she hadn’t heard him.
“Hello.”
Her head came up, around. She frowned. “I’m sorry I didn’t call on time today, but this is simply fantastic.” She motioned him over to the drawings in the main chamber. “I want to make some notes, then trace it tomorrow.”
Her face was smudged. Her hands dirty. She looked incredibly beautiful. “Don’t you wear gloves?”
She laughed, a slightly husky sound that echoed in the chamber, made his blood rush faster through his veins, and to the wrong place. “At times. That’s why I keep my nails short. I think there is a good chance of finding artifacts here. I had planned to look, but it would take time from the cave drawings.”
“And now?”
“I’m not sure if I’ll have the time,” she said. “Usually it’s done by a geologist and floor specialist. It’s an exacting and tedious process, but I have a feeling that it will be worth it. Once I finish the tracings and notes, I’ll know.”
“I’ll let you get to it. Bye.”
Her smile died. “Bye. I’ll be more conscientious about calling next time.”
He picked up the alarm clock. “It might help if you set it.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I guess I forgot last time.”
“Don’t forget again.” Turning, he walked away. He was just doing his duty. She was his responsibility. Mounting Black Jack, Duncan took one last look before wheeling his mount and riding away.
Raven was in for it from Duncan this time. After a week of working in McBride’s Lost Cave, as she’d named the outer chamber, she’d missed more and more call-in times. Last night Duncan had come into the house while she and Rooster were eating to tell her not to let it happen again. Before she could offer an explanation, Duncan had walked out the back door.
She didn’t need Rooster’s comment that the boss didn’t like repeating himself to know she was on thin ice. That morning she didn’t see him at breakfast. Rooster said the boss had gone to an auction, but that he wanted her to check in on time.
She had every intention of doing just that, but she’d been so excited about a new discovery that she hadn’t called in until almost ninety minutes past the due time.
The conversation with Rooster fifteen minutes ago on her way back to the ranch house had been terse and to the point. The “boss” hadn’t liked it that she had called in only twice. Her walkie-talkie going on the blink was no excuse. When she was late, people worried.
Raven understood and, although she was self-sufficient, she took a small amount of comfort in knowing there was someone concerned about her, albeit only because of duty.
As the middle child, she’d grown up with parents who believed in raising independent children. There was never anyone waiting for then when they came home from extra-curricular activities, dates, or the home of their few friends.
Besides always being told never to bring dishonor to the La Blanc name, they were pretty much left on their own. Raven and her sister’s older brother was much more vocal in telling them what boys wanted. At fifteen he was six-feet and could bench-press 150 pounds. No one messed with them.
Raven pulled up into the yard, grabbed her bag, and hopped out. It was half past six. She hurried up the front porch steps.
As soon as she took a shower, she planned to check and see if she had the ingredients to bake a cake to go along with the trout Rooster had found in the freezer last night and challenged her to cook. It wouldn’t hurt to make Duncan aware she had her uses.
Going inside, she made it to the stairs before she heard her name. “Raven, you gonna make my job harder tomorrow?”
Raven turned. Rooster’s eyes were narrowed in his bearded face. “The radio died on me.”
“Then you should have come back and gotten another one.” Raven almost rolled her eyes until he continued. “You’re our responsibility. This country is unforgiving. It don’t suffer fools. You could get distracted and get into trouble. How would we know?”
Since she tended to block everything out when she was working, she came back down the stairs. “I’m sorry.”
“‘Sorry’ don’t cut it.”
She almost smiled. He certainly didn’t give an inch. Just like his boss. “I’m going to do my best to keep both of us out of the doghouse from now on.”
He folded his arms. “The boss has a saying about trying.”
“I’m sure he does.” She started back up the stairs and then paused. “I planned to bake a cake.”
His arms unfolded. Interest sparkled in his eyes. “Chocolate?”
“If you have the ingredients?”
“I’ll go check.”
Raven continued up the stairs, hoping he did, and that Duncan would listen before he chewed on her again.
Duncan arrived back at the ranch to see Billy running toward the house and his heart jumped in his throat. He touched his heels to Black Jack, easily overtaking the young hand. “What’s the matter?” he asked, dismounting before the stallion came to a halt.
Billy whirled, flushed. “Boss. I, er—”
The back kitchen door opened. “Is everything all right?” Raven asked, quickly coming down the back steps.
Billy looked at her, then back at Duncan. “I, er—”
“Billy, I’m waiting.”
The young man’s head lowered for a moment before he lifted his head. “I was going to get the cake Ms. Raven baked.”
Incredulous, Duncan looked at Raven. She smiled at him. “It’s chocolate. I promised a cake for Billy and the others at the bunkhouse since Rooster had to get sugar and flour from them.”
He’d just lost ten years off his life because of a cake. “Glad everyone is having a good time. Billy, I hope you and the others finished the fence, and are ready to work the heifers tonight.”
“Yes, boss.” Billy turned fully toward him. “I just checked Belle and put fresh straw in her stall, just like you want every evening. You want me to put up Black Jack for you and tell the others to meet you at the outer corral?”
Billy was like an eager, frisky puppy. Duncan s
houldn’t have taken his bad humor out on him. He was a good, loyal hand. “I’ll take care of him. The heifers will wait until after you’ve eaten your cake.”
“Thanks, boss.” He faced Raven and Rooster, who had joined her at the back door. “I can smell it from here.”
Raven laughed and stepped aside. “It’s on the counter.”
Duncan looped Black Jack’s reins over an iron hitching post and went inside the kitchen. He had to agree with Billy; it did smell good.
“It’s three layers,” Rooster said to no one in particular. He didn’t sound pleased.
Rooster loves chocolate, Duncan thought as the older man watched Billy pick up the larger cake, leaving two layers on the counter. “Thank you again. I better get this back to the bunkhouse.” He went to the back door. “You sure I can’t take care of Black Jack for you, boss?” He grinned. “The fish smells good, too. You might want to stay and have your dinner.”
“I’m sure.”
The young hand nodded. “I’ll let Ramon know you’re back, and that we’re working the heifers tonight.” One-handed, he tipped his hat. The door banged shut behind him.
“I still don’t see why they had to get the biggest one,” Rooster groused.
“Because there are more of them.” Raven walked over and picked up the platter of fried trout, steak fries, and hush puppies. “And because we get to eat this.”
The older man perked up instantly, took the platter from her, and plopped it between his and Duncan’s plates. “Wash up, boss. We just finished cooking a while ago.”
Duncan doubted the “we,” since nothing was burnt. “Let me take care of Black Jack first.”
“Your food will be cold,” Raven said. “Would he let me unsaddle him and brush him down?”
The request stunned Duncan. He simply looked at her.
“My grandfather is Cherokee and has horses on his small ranch in Canada,” she said. “We used to visit in the summer when my father was on a location where we couldn’t go.”
“Guess I was wrong to call you a city girl,” Rooster said.
“You were right for the most part. I grew up in the cities all over the world,” she said, then to Duncan, “I don’t mind. You still have a lot to do before you call it a night.”
“So do you,” he told her.
“On the computer.”
“Still work,” he said, wondering when he’d ever figure her out. She’d just put his welfare ahead of hers, and it wasn’t the first time. She might be doing it to win points, but he didn’t think so. His ex certainly wouldn’t have offered. She always thought of herself first. “Thanks. It won’t take long. You two go ahead and eat.” Leaving the kitchen, he pulled Black Jack’s reins free and headed for the barn.
Once he settled Black Jack in for the night and checked on Belle, Duncan planned on going back to eat, but he’d heard the men in the back corral and knew it would have to wait until they finished separating, then inseminating the heifers.
Perhaps it was for the best. The less time he spent around Raven, the better. He walked out the back of the barn toward his men.
“You might as well sit down and eat.” Rooster forked another filet into his plate beside the remnants of his huge second slice of chocolate cake. “The boss probably decided to work with the heifers.”
“What can they be doing at night?” she asked, continuing to gaze through the kitchen window toward the barn as she had for the past ten minutes.
“Ranching business,” he said gruffly.
Raven glanced over her shoulder at him. He’d tucked his head as if he was embarrassed. She suddenly had a good idea of what might be going on. Her grandfather and mother had been extremely strict about either her, her sister, or her brother witnessing the horses’ breeding. “How long do you think the business will take?”
“Don’t know.” He looked up. “You just let the men do their jobs. He’ll probably stop by and visit Belle once he’s finished. You can put the boss’s food in the refrigerator like you did last night.”
“All right.” Raven finally took her seat. She’d escaped being chewed on by Duncan, but she also missed him. Too much. Seeing less of Duncan was probably for the best.
So why wasn’t she happy about it?
Today Duncan had planned to do a flyover of the range and check out the ranch, especially the fence line, and later talk to Old Man Johnson about leasing his land to graze more cattle. The price of beef was down, and in Duncan’s opinion it was the perfect time to expand his herd. The prized Angus he’d purchased at auction would help, and he wanted to buy more.
The calves born from last night’s work would help his bottom line as well. They would have a shorter gestational period, which meant his herd would increase faster.
His focus was on building his ranch, making his mark. Yet here he was checking on Raven, a woman he didn’t understand and couldn’t ignore. She’d done a better job of calling today.
Her call had been impatient and abrupt, Rooster had said, but Duncan understood. He didn’t like being interrupted, either.
He caught a movement at the mouth of the cave, then Raven fully emerged, bending and stretching. She tilted her face upward toward the sun. Taking his binoculars from his saddlebag, he saw the sheer joy on her face as she lowered her eyes and scanned the area.
Moments later, she unhooked the radio from her waist and held it to her mouth. Wind tossed her hair, dirt smeared her face and clothes, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. After a few seconds, she rehooked it.
Almost immediately there was static, then Rooster’s voice came through on Duncan’s radio: “Raven checked in. Over and out.”
Used to the static and voices from the radio, Black Jack swatted an insect with his tail. She was an hour late in calling in.
With her hand shading her eyes, her gaze spanned the area. She was looking for Duncan. Lifting her arm, she waved, then reentered the cave.
Duncan lowered the binoculars, wondering if she’d seen a reflective glint on the binoculars lens. In any case, he had seen what he’d come for. She was safe; there was no reason to go any farther. He could leave.
Yet he didn’t move. He knew better than most how quickly the unexpected could happen. Predators still roamed the area.
Her need to authenticate the drawings overshadowed any fear she might have. She was gutsy, but she wasn’t invincible. In the short time she’d been on the Double D, she’d made her presence felt.
She’d all but taken over cooking dinner in that slow cooker of hers. The days were getting longer, and he and his men used every minute to work. There were times he didn’t get home until after nine.
He’d taken to looking for the light shining from her window when he returned home at night. He’d wonder what she was doing, if she was in bed, and try to ignore the desire to join her. In the refrigerator he always found a plate of food.
Duncan replaced the binoculars. Raven wasn’t for him. Gathering the reins, he headed back to the ranch.
Raven packed away her equipment for the day, careful to pull the waterproof tarp over everything to protect it from curious animals and the elements. She’d seen a couple of coyotes today but, thank goodness, no mountain lions or wolves.
She had four panels of the total thirty already scanned and in front of their respective drawings. Once she had all of them completed, she’d moved to the inner chamber where she and Duncan had found the colorized drawings.
Sighing, she stood to her feet. Once she left the ranch she knew she’d always think of him when she remembered that initial moment. She snorted and walked out of the cave to her Jeep. Who was she fooling? She’d think of him regardless.
Duncan was a man who defied explanation. If he wanted, he could send her on her way, yet he hadn’t. He cared for his ranch, the people, and everything that walked on it. He’d gone to help a fawn because he was in distress. Duncan ate burnt food because he cared. He took precious time to check on her.
As Rooster had said,
Duncan was a good man, but at times he could be hard.
Getting in the Jeep and starting it, Raven turned south, away from the ranch. She’d purposefully stopped an hour earlier today. She’d walked the perimeter outside the cave, but she wanted to explore farther. The area surrounding a find often gave insight as to why the inhabitants had been there.
As she’d told Duncan, the caves were seldom dwelling places, which meant the people probably had lived nearby. And although there was skepticism about the ability of people to have a light source to go deep into caves and make the drawings, lanterns with animal fat as a base had been found in several caves in Europe and around the world.
Raven stopped to admire a shimmering patch of wild daisies, breathe in the crisp, clean air, and take in the bluest sky she’d ever seen. Duncan and the people who lived here were blessed beyond measure.
Putting the Jeep into gear, she continued over the bumpy terrain. It had rained the week before, Rooster had said, but you couldn’t tell since the land soaked up water like a sponge. But there were creeks here. The Ancient Ones had followed their winding paths to hunt game and survive.
Raven came over a rise, careful to look back to get her bearings. She was her own GPS system. Smiling at her humor, she stared down the slight incline. Her excitement grew as she saw a winding stream.
She stepped on the gas. If the maps she’d gone over were correct, this was Bitter Creek, a source of water for the Ancient Ones. She planned to cross it and see what was on the other side.
As she hit the creek, water splashed up into the open door. She shifted into second gear, expecting to continue. Tires spun.
“Come on, Buddy,” she urged, shifting into low, then finally four-wheel drive. Her back tires spun, spitting out mud, but the Jeep didn’t move.
“All right, let’s try this again,” she murmured, then shifted into reverse, then forward. Pressing on the gas, she repeated the maneuver over and over, trying to get a rocking motion for the tires to get traction.
Nothing.
She couldn’t feel one bit of forward motion when she pressed on the gas. She was stuck. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head on the steering wheel.
