Ride The Wind (Vincente 3)

by Constance O'Banyon

  "You'll kill us both!" the frightened man cried.

  "That's exactly what I intend to do, you bastard."

  Saber raised her head and tried to cry out, but her voice was only a whisper. Reese was going to take himself and Felton over the cliff.

  She watched as they disappeared over the side, and she heard Felton's scream, than a sickening thud. All was silent.

  With her waning strength, she tried to crawl to the edge of the cliff, but darkness overcame her, and she lost consciousness.

  Jake and Zeb had followed Reese's tracks and witnessed the whole tragedy, but they couldn't get there soon enough to prevent it from happening. As they ran forward with guns drawn, they found that they were too late.

  Zeb went down on his knees and lifted Saber, while Jake ran to the edge to see about Reese.

  "Did you see what happened?" Jake asked with tears in his eyes. "I heard a story like this once. Reese and Saber gave their lives for each other."

  Zeb lifted Saber in his arms. "Don't be so sure that 'bout that. She's a fighter." The old man's eyes were misty with tears. "Yes, sir, she's a fighter. And if I know Reese Starrett, he's a fighter, too. Go down and get him, boy. We'll take 'em back to the house and send riders for the doc and Rachel and Noble."

  Jake started his descent into the crevice. "I don't see how anyone could survive a fall like this. But Reese is a hard man to kill!"

  The house at the Starrett ranch was a place of sadness. Everyone walked around quietly and spoke in whispers. Neighbors had stopped by to inquire about Saber and Reese, and even the governor had sent a letter stating his concern for them.

  Reese had been placed on a cot in the parlor. He'd suffered broken ribs and a broken arm. The doctor had concluded that he had a serious concussion but no internal injuries that he could ten.

  Saber was in the bedroom, and she was even more seriously hurt. The bullet had hit her lung. As the doctor was removing the slug, she had started hemorrhaging. That was when the doctor discovered that Saber was going to have a baby. He told Noble that his sister would probably miscarry.

  Noble had not left Saber's bedside day or night. He wouldn't let go of her hand, and he talked to her and sometimes prayed that God would not take her away from the people who loved her.

  On the fifth day Reese opened his eyes. Rachel was sitting beside him, and when he groaned, she took his hand.

  "Try not to move, Reese. You have broken ribs and a broken arm."

  He attempted to focus his eyes, but everything was a blur. He couldn't remember why he was there or what had happened. His arm was in a sling, and there were tight bandages taped around his ribs. "I'm...thirsty."

  Rachel held a glass up to his lips and raised his head just a bit. "Take small sips. Then later you may have more."

  Obediently he did as she instructed. "What... are you doing?" Suddenly everything came back to him in a flash, and he gripped Rachel's hand, his heart heavy with grief. "She's dead, isn't she? Oh, my God Saber!"

  Rachel forced him back against the pillow, which wasn't hard to do because he was so weak. "Saber isn't dead, Reese."

  His vision was clearing, and he looked into Rachel's eyes. "You're telling me the truth, aren't you?"

  "I will not lie to you, Reese. Saber is alive, but she is gravely ill."

  He wet his cracked lips. "I have to see her." He raised himself up, and now no amount of cajoling would make him he down.

  "Noble, I need you," Rachel called out, knowing Reese must not get up so soon, or he would only make himself worse.

  Noble was beside her in an instant, and with their combined strength they managed to restrain Reese.

  Rachel spoke to him in a soothing voice. "If you will he still, I will tell you everything."

  Reese drew in a ragged breath and accepted the inevitable. "I promise. But tell me the entire truth."

  "I will, because I know Noble would want to know if it were me in Saber's place." Rachel and Noble stared at each other with tears in their eyes. Rachel tried to speak, but she knew that if she did she would start crying, and that would only upset Reese more than he already was. She saw the naked fear in Reese's eyes, and she looked at Noble.

  "Noble, please tell him," she said at last.

  Noble got on his knees, so he was level with Reese. "That bullet hit Saber's left lung, Reese. The doctor removed the bullet, but she's lost a lot of blood." He lowered his head in sadness and waited a moment before he could go on. "As for the baby, the doctor isn't sure he can save it. She's been hemorrhaging."

  Reese closed his eyes, and tears seeped out of the corners. "Baby." There was torment in his voice. "Oh, God, she was going to have my baby, and I didn't know it." His chest heaved with the emotions that he had kept locked inside for so long. He tried to rise, but blackness overtook him, and he fell blissfully into unconsciousness.

  It was dark when Reese opened his eyes again. Rachel was still sitting beside him, holding his hand.

  "Don't talk if you don't want to. We'll just sit here quietly."

  "I want to see Saber."

  "You can't get up yet, Reese. But if you will eat a little, I'll ask the doctor if you can see her tomorrow."

  "She's dead, and you aren't telling me!"

  "No. I promise you she's not. In fact, the hemorrhaging has stopped, and so far she hasn't lost the baby."

  A sob escaped Rachel's lips when she saw the tears in Reese's eyes. She knew the agony he must be feeling.

  "She's all I ever wanted," he said, unashamed of the tears that clouded his vision. "Did you know she jumped in front of me and took the bullet meant for me?"

  "Yes, Zeb told me. He saw the whole thing, but he couldn't get there in time to help. He and Jake carried you and Saber home. Zeb also told me you went over the cliff and took Graham Felton with you."

  "May he rot in hell."

  "He's dead, Reese. But by the grace of God, both you and Saber survived. I have to believe you will both get well, because you deserve to be together."

  "Where is the doctor? I want to ask him about Saber."

  "He's bedded down in the bunkhouse. But he's been here the whole time. He won't leave until you are both out of danger."

  "I'll eat," Reese said, turning his head toward the bedroom where Saber lay, "if you promise I can see Saber tomorrow."

  "I promise. I'm sure just hearing your voice will help her."

  His silver eyes were transparent with tears. "Did you know that Saber loves me?"

  Rachel smiled. "Yes, I have known it for a very long time."

  "I tried to hide my love from her because I didn't think I was good enough for someone like her."

  Rachel clasped his hand. "She knew you loved her, Reese. You don't think she would have married you otherwise, do you? She had just been waiting for you to admit it to yourself and then to tell her."

  He managed a grin. "She's too good for the likes of me."

  Rachel returned his smile. "You just keep thinking that, but I don't think Saber would agree with you."

  Jake and Noble supported Reese's weight as they helped him into the bedroom. Reese eased himself down on his knees and took Saber's limp hand in his. He touched her face, kissed her lips, and ran his fingers over her hair. "Can you hear me, Saber?"

  Noble nodded for Jake to leave, and then he followed him out, closing the door behind them. Noble looked at Rachel, and she could see the tired lines beneath his eyes. Neither of them had slept since they'd received word of the tragedy.

  "I don't know if she's going to make it, Ra chel," Noble said, pulling his wife into his arms, needing her closeness.

  "I believe she will, Noble. We just have to keep on believing."

  When Jake left, Noble sat down in a chair and stared at the ceiling. "That this should happen when she is going to have a baby makes it a double tragedy."

  Rachel sat in his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. "Saber's not the only one who is going to have a baby."

  Noble looked at her questionin
gly. "Are you saying that you... that we-"

  She thought this was the right time to tell him, because he had wanted a child so badly, and he needed to hear something good after so much tragedy. "I'm saying you're going to be a father, Noble. How will you like that?"

  He smiled and held her tightly. "I like that just fine. You have made me a happy man, Rachel." His eyes filled with wonder. "A baby, Green Eyes. I like that just fine."

  Their eyes went to the closed door. "It's all right if we take a little happiness, Noble. Soon we will have a little Vincente running around, and Saber will have a little Starrett who can play with our baby."

  Reese laid his head lightly against Rachel's chest to make sure she was breathing. He heard a good, strong heartbeat, but she was so paleand why didn't she wake up?

  His hand moved to her stomach, where his baby grew; the child too, was fighting to live. "Saber, you are my life. I don't know how I lived until I met you. Since that day you came crashing into my life, I have never been the same. I love you. Please open your eyes."

  He laid his head down beside her, and great sobs shook his body. "I love you so. I never told you that. I never told you that since you became my wife, I have looked forward to each new day. When I am away from you, I can't wait to get home, because you'll be here waiting for me." He placed a kiss on her hand. "Just the sound of your voice or the way you hummed when you went about your work made me happy." He laced his fingers through hers. "You have to get well, do you hear me? I need you. Our baby needs you."

  He pressed his tear-wet face against her. "My heart, my love, I can't live without you."

  After an hour passed, Noble and Rachel went into the bedroom, thinking Reese needed to get back in bed. They found him curled up with Sa her, his arms around her, his cheek pressed against hers, fast asleep.

  They quietly tiptoed out, thinking it was best for the two of them to be together.

  "Besides," Rachel told Noble later, "I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Reese Starrett that he couldn't be with Saber."

  Reese came fully awake, feeling that something was different. He had felt Saber move!

  Raising his head, he gazed down at her and watched her eyes flutter open. For a moment she looked puzzled, and then she smiled. "Am...I dreaming, Reese?"

  He laughed, his heart feeling as if it could take wing. "If you are dreaming, I'm in the same dream."

  Suddenly her eyes widened, and her hand went to her abdomen. "Our baby! Oh, Reese, have I lost our baby?"

  He covered her hand with his and bent to kiss her. "No. You haven't lost our baby. And you are going to be all right, Saber."

  She touched his face and felt the stubble of a beard. "You need a shave."

  He was afraid to move lest he cause her pain, so he kissed her forehead and then her lips. "I love you. Did you know that, Saber Starrett?"

  Her smile held all the love she felt for him. "Yes, I know you do. I have known it for a long time."

  He tried to take her hand, and muttered because his arm was in a sling. "Starting today, I'm going to tell you how much I love you every day of our lives."

  "I'll hold you to that, cowboy." She looked at his face and saw he was pale. "What are your injuries?"

  "Nothing, considering the fall I took. I have broken ribs and a broken arm."

  "You are really all right?"

  He gently touched her cheek. "I am now." He moved forward and gently laid his head against her stomach. "To think you are having my baby." His eyes were filled with pride when he looked at her. "I hope it's a girl who looks like her mother."

  "And I hope it's a boy, stubborn and hardheaded like his father. It took falling off a cliff for you to admit you love me."

  Noble and Rachel heard laughter from the bedroom, and they burst in, not knowing what to expect.

  "Noble," Reese said between bouts of laughter, then grabbed his aching ribs, "do you know what your sister said to me?"

  Noble looked confused. "I can't guess."

  Reese had another bout of laughter. "She said my baby was going to be hardheaded like me."

  All four of them laughed, although later Saber would wonder what had been so funny. It was just that life was so good.

  Reese had finally admitted he loved her!

  It was raining the day Gwen Felton was buried behind the church in a small village not far from Fort Worth. With Noble's influence and Saber's insistence, it had been possible to have her buried in consecrated ground.

  The only ones in attendance at the short ceremony were Reese and Saber. She cried for the young girl who had died so needlessly, and for the baby who never had a chance at life.

  When the service was over, she glanced up at her husband, whose head was bowed, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. There were sadness here today, but there was also the promise of life, the life that grew within her body.

  Reese met her gaze, and his eyes were warm with love. "I want you to put this tragedy behind you, Saber. Nothing can make up for what Matthew and Graham Felton did. But at least we kept a promise. Take comfort in that."

  She stood for a moment with her head bowed in prayer, then placed the flowers she clutched in her hand on the fresh grave. "I didn't do it for Felton. I did it for the girl Matthew wronged."

  His arm was still in a sling, so he used his other hand to guide her away from the grave. He helped her into the buggy and climbed in beside her.

  They drove out of town in silence, each lost in thought.

  At last Saber said, "It will be good to get home."

  His gaze took on a glow she knew and loved so well. "It will be good to get in bed with you when we get home. It's been too long."

  She snuggled close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "There will be three in our bed," she said, smiling to herself.

  He drew back on the reins and stared at her. "Saber, I don't want any ghosts in our bed. What happened to the Feltons was not of your doing."

  She shook her head, still smiling. "I wasn't speaking of a ghost, but a real living creature. I was speaking of our baby, silly."

  He laughed, his silver eyes dancing with delight. "You have made me a happy man in every way. You made my house a home, and now we have a family." He placed his hand on her slightly rounded abdomen. He wanted her to swell with his baby so everyone could see. "I can't wait to hold this baby who came from our love, Saber."

  "I do love you so, Reese."

  He drew in a quick breath as contentment swelled through him like a tidal wave. His eyes softened, and he had to wait a moment before he could speak. "My baby is growing inside you." He pulled her to him and held her tightly. "Saber, I should have known that first day I saw you, looking so forlorn and frightened, that you were going to turn my whole world upside down."

  "And I should have known that first day that you were the one man in the world for me. I never told you that when you touched me that day, even when I thought you were Graham Felton, I felt drawn to you."

  He tilted her face up to his and rested his cheek on hers. "I love you so much, Saber. I never knew what happiness meant until you came storming into my life."

  "I want to make you happy," she said, glowing under his love. "I always knew you had a great capacity to love you just had to learn to trust."

  He shoved the sling aside and gathered her close. "Saber, never stop loving me."

  "Not until my last breath," she promised.

  Reese closed his eyes and breathed in the essence of his wife. She had shown him how to love and trust. "What can I ever give you to repay you for all you have given me?"

  "That's easy." She drew back and looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You can give me three or four more little Starretts running around the house."

  He threw back his head and laughed, then picked up the reins and headed the horse toward the ranch. "That, my dearest heart, will be my pleasure."

  Saber laid her head back against his shoulder and said a prayer of thankfulness that they had lived
to find such a powerful love.