Forever Angels

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  Stone focused on Tess's face at last. "You know what the hell happened then?"

  "The rancher probably had to stand trial," Tess forced herself to say.

  "Damned right. And he spent a year in prison for manslaughter. Another damned lawyer convinced that jury the rancher didn't have to kill the rapist — he could have just wounded him and still saved his daughter!"

  "But, Stone, for every case like that, there are thousands of cases where criminals get what's coming to them. Didn't a lot of the men you arrested end up paying for their crimes?"

  "Most of them," Stone admitted grudgingly. "And even the rest of those cowboys got what was coming to them."

  "What happened?"

  "Turned out they were running a rustling ring on the side. They got caught, because one of them let enough slip in a drunken binge for us to figure it out. We were waiting for them when they made their next raid, and caught them with the running iron, re-branding the cattle."

  Stone chuckled wryly. "They swung for that — every one of them. Funny, isn't it? Who'd ever think stealing cattle was a worse crime than rape?"

  "Now, you listen here, Stone." Tess found herself warring with her emotions. Her legal mind saw the problem with Stone's argument, but her total sympathy was with the two women attacked and traumatized. Loyalty to her profession meant she had to at least try to make Stone see the other side.

  "You didn't have any witnesses — any proof — at that first trial for those cowboys. At the other one, I imagine you had a whole posse of witnesses. That doesn't make the law wrong. It just means we have to be careful we follow the rules of the law. In the end, that protects all of us."

  "Oh, I see. You're saying it's my fault. I should've known enough to take a couple witnesses with me when I went out after Polly. We could've set outside the window and listened to her scream for a while, then been able to back her up in court!"

  "No! Darn it...I mean...."

  "I know what you mean," Stone finally admitted. "It just chaps my ass to no end when a criminal walks free. Come on, honey. Let's see if that legal mind of yours can help me figure out how to trick those mares into heading into a trap."

  ~~

  "Oh, dear," Angela said with a sigh. "I don't think we're ever going to get his language cleaned up."

  "Probably not," Michael agreed. "But Stone's not our assignment, remember?"

  "You're right, of course. I just don't understand why men don't think they're men unless they curse once in a while."

  "He probably doesn't even realize he's doing it. It's a habit. Tess drops one of those four letter words herself now and then."

  "Usually when she's angry," Angela defended. "But that doesn't make it acceptable, either."

  "Well, we'll see what we can do about that, too, Angie. Right now, I'm more interested in how long it's going to take Tess to realize that's really her horse we brought here for her, if they manage to get Sateen into that horse trap. And I want to see what sort of a trap Stone has in mind."

  "I haven't figured out myself how they're going to manage to corral that many horses."

  "I've seen cowboys build different horse traps in old movies, but that's just it. There's different ways to do it, and this will be the first time Stone and Tess have had to work together on something. What you want to bet they've both got their own idea about how to do this?"

  "I don't think I'll take that bet," Angela said with a laugh.

  A few minutes later, Tess propped her hands on her hips and shot an exasperated look at Stone.

  "What do you mean, we have to build it here? The canyon's a lot narrower up there. We'd only have to build a fence half as big if we did it up there."

  "We're not going to fence it. We're gonna start a rock slide down each side of the canyon and that will start the wall. Then you can pile more rocks up to make the walls higher, while I build a gate and hide it with brush."

  "Do you have any idea how high those walls will have to be so the horses can't jump them?"

  "Yep," Stone said.

  "I still think it makes more sense to do it further up, where the canyon's narrower."

  "For pete's sake, Tess. We have to have a big enough opening for the horses to run through. They'll turn right back on us if the opening's too narrow."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah, oh. You wanted to help — so let's get busy."

  Several hours later, Tess looked down at her chipped and broken nails with a grimace. Even the gloves she carried in her backpack hadn't protected her hands totally. In fact, she thought as she pulled the stained and torn gloves back on, she even had a blister or two. And it was going to take more than lotion to soften the calluses forming.

  She bent and picked up another small rock, trying to ignore the pain in her back. One more row, Stone had insisted. Well, one more row he would get, if her arms held out. Seemed like he had the easier job, fashioning the gate. He almost had it finished. She paused for a moment, watching Stone test the gate by swinging it to and fro.

  His shirt hung over the top rail, and Stone picked it up to wipe his forehead. Sweat glistened on his back and those smooth muscles rippled under his tan. Wet curls clung to the back of his neck, a deep mahogany satin, in contrast to the lighter, sun-streaked brown, lit by reddish highlights in the sunlight. She'd never seen a man's hair take on so many different hues.

  Stone arched and massaged the small of his back. Tess's mouth dried up. Lord, he was beautiful. The sleek power of him reminded her of the snow-white stallion's muscle-packed body, every part flowing into the other in a fluid picture of grace. She gave a sigh of desire.

  "Ouch!"

  Tess grabbed her foot, then tumbled onto her rear. Staring at the offending rock, which had nicked her big toe when her fingers loosened and dropped it, she fought the urge to kick it with her heel. The rock just sat there, ignoring Tess's fury.

  "You all right?"

  Stone started toward her, but Tess waved him off.

  "I'm O.K. It didn't really hurt — just surprised me and made me think it was going to hurt bad."

  "If you're so tired you're dropping things, maybe we better take a break."

  "Tired? You're darned right I'm tired! Why shouldn't I be tired? I've been hauling these stupid rocks around for hours and hours. And now the dumb rocks aren't even cooperating!"

  "What do you think they should do? Grow legs and let you direct them where you want them to go?"

  "Shut up. Just shut up and let me get back to work."

  "I'm not stopping you," Stone told her in a mild voice.

  With a grunt, Tess lurched to her feet. Setting her lips, she grabbed the rock and dropped it sharply in place. The rock crumbled and pieces of it fell on both sides of her fence.

  Stone started to tell her to use something besides sandstone to build the wall, then thought better of it. She'd probably get the idea herself if she picked up any more sandstone rocks.

  ***

  Chapter 26

  Well, she hadn't had to worry about fighting the urge to crawl over into Stone's bedroll last night. She'd fallen into oblivion the minute she closed her eyes.

  Tess cautiously stretched her aching muscles as she watched Stone silently slip away from the spot where he had hidden her and the gray gelding. He disappeared almost instantly, since it was still pitch dark.

  He wouldn't even let her make coffee this morning, insisting the fire smoke would settle in the valley and spook the horses away. And she wasn't worth a darn in the morning until after at least two cups of caffeine. She hoped her groggy mind could remember everything he had told her.

  Wait for him to ride out and block the path the horses took yesterday morning when they left the valley, he'd whispered. Then ride out herself — fast — and try to head the herd into the trap. Don't worry about any single horses that managed to break out of the herd — let them go and concentrate on the main group. Whatever she did, stay the hell away from that white stallion.

  She could hear the horses out t
here — now and then a soft whicker, even the grass pulling out of the soil as the horses grazed — though she couldn't even see a shadow in the pitch blackness. Her gray gelding stood with ears pricked, but made no attempt to communicate with the wild horses. Stone must have trained him well.

  Tess contented herself with scratching Lonesome's ears while she waited. Stone had ordered her not to even climb into the saddle until after she saw him ride out into the valley — the creak of leather as she mounted might carry to the herds' ears.

  Tess blinked her eyes when she saw a movement. She'd been concentrating so hard she hadn't even realized the darkness was fading. She glanced at the ridge top and was able to make out the jagged outline. Looking out across the valley floor, she found she could see the shape of a horse here and there.

  Her muscles tensed in anticipation and Lonesome whined slightly as he caught her mood.

  "Hush," Tess whispered. "Oh, hush, Lonesome. If we scare that herd away, Stone will probably spank us both."

  Lonesome dropped down and propped his head on his front paws, silently watching the horses.

  "Good boy," Tess breathed.

  It seemed like forever as she waited. Where in the heck was Stone? The white stallion caught sight of Stone before she did. Tess saw the horse come alert, then rear, a bugling challenge splitting the valley air.

  Tess swung into the saddle and the gelding leapt into an almost immediate gallop. Remembering Stone's instruction, she grabbed the rope coiled on her saddlehorn and swept it back and forth over her head, yelling at the top of her voice as she sped toward the horses.

  The stallion whirled to face the new threat, screaming defiance as he reared and pawed the air again. Tess saw Stone bent low over his own horse, galloping at the herd from the opposite side. Confused, the mares swirled in panic, neighing wildly to their colts as they waited for the stallion to head them in the direction he wanted.

  A rifle shot split the air, then two more. Chancing another glance at Stone from the back of her smoothly running gelding, Tess watched him rein his horse to a skidding halt and aim at the stallion. A puff of dirt by the stallion's feet sent the white horse plunging away from his herd.

  A half dozen mares split off from the herd and followed the stallion, but Stone's well-trained horse leapt back into action and cut off escape for the remainder. The bunched up mares milled in disorder, then, catching sight of even their tentative escape route blocked by the racing figure of a brown and white dog, they turned and galloped for the gate hidden at the canyon entrance.

  The mares streamed between the two rock walls and headed deeper into the canyon. Tess knew they couldn't go far — the canyon ended in a steep cliff face and both sides were way too rocky for the horses to climb. She reached the gate a few seconds after Stone had dismounted, and watched him fling the last bush aside and swing the logs closed.

  The white stallion reappeared, racing toward the gate, his body almost flat out against the ground. His lips were drawn back, baring his yellow teeth.

  Tess kicked her gelding in the sides and the gray horse responded, leaping into a gallop.

  "Damn it, Tess! Don't!"

  Tess swung the rope over her head as she raced toward the stallion. "Get out of here! Get!"

  "Tess!" Stone ran toward his own horse, which shied away from the furious man.

  "Get! I said get out of here!" Suddenly Tess realized the stallion wasn't going to turn. Her eyes widened as the distance between the two wildly galloping horses narrowed. Frantically, she threw the rope away and sawed on her reins.

  The stallion lowered its head and charged the gray gelding. The gelding neighed in terror and swerved, trying to avoid the attack. The stallion's shoulder hit the gelding's hind haunch and Tess's horse stumbled. She flew through the air in an arc, closing her eyes as she waited for the sickening crunch when she hit the ground.

  Almost at once, Tess's eyes flew open again. How far away was that darned ground? The creek rushed up at her and she landed with a splash, the cold water shocking her almost senseless.

  Sputtering and spitting out water, Tess scrambled to her feet and stared downward in surprise. The creek didn't look that deep, but she hadn't even felt the rocks lining the bed when she hit.

  Swiping at the water streaming down her face, Tess turned when she heard Stone's shouts and Lonesome's frantic barks. She saw the white stallion racing away, with Lonesome nipping at its heels. Stone slid his horse to a halt and swung from the saddle, advancing on her with a deadly glint in his walnut-hued eyes.

  "What the hell did you think you were doing?" he snarled. "Didn't I order you to keep the hell away from that stallion?"

  Tess backed up a step, almost tripping on a rock in the stream. "I...I...thought...he...he was c...coming after the mares."

  "He was coming after us!" Stone shouted. "He could've had those mares back with no trouble if he killed us first!"

  "Oh."

  Tess took another step backwards. Stone advanced a step.

  "Didn't I make it clear that you were supposed to do exactly what I said? And didn't I tell you under no circumstances to get near that stallion?"

  "Yes."

  Stone waved his arms and bent towards her. "Then why the hell did you gallop out there on a collision course with that white devil?"

  Tess shrugged. "To try to keep him from getting our mares?"

  Stone closed his eyes and stood breathing deeply for several long seconds. "To try to keep him from getting our mares," he finally muttered through clenched teeth. He slit his eyes. "I ought to tan your fanny until you can't walk!"

  "Yeah. I told Lonesome you might do that to us both, if we screwed things up."

  When Stone continued to glare at her, his jaws working as though he wanted to still shout at her but couldn't think of anything terrible enough to say, Tess shivered and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "You're wet," Stone finally said, as though he had just realized it.

  "Yes. I landed in the creek, you know."

  Stone glanced down almost in surprise to find himself standing in the creek with her. The water cascaded over his boot, well below the tops.

  "This water's not deep enough to break a fall that hard." Suddenly he grabbed Tess by the shoulders. "Are you hurt? Damn it, Tess, don't try to put on a front. Tell me where you're hurt."

  Not waiting for an answer, he swept her into his arms and splashed out of the creek bed. "We have to get you dry."

  "Stone, really, I'm not hurt. I hardly felt it when I landed."

  When Stone only grunted in disbelief, Tess snuggled her head against his shoulder while Stone bypassed the two horses and continued carrying her toward the gate across the canyon. At least he wasn't yelling at her any longer.

  Lonesome padded up to Stone's side and paced with them, his tongue hanging out in exhaustion, but a look of as much satisfaction as a dog could manage on his face.

  "Oh, dear, Michael. I don't know if it was such a good idea, getting her wet like that."

  "Now just a dad blamed minute, Angie." Michael switched his cigar stub to the other side of his mouth. "I thought it was a right fine idea. I had to fly her through the air just a little farther than she normally would've gone, but that water made the perfect landing spot. What would Stone have thought if she landed on that hard ground and didn't get hurt? We're not supposed to let them guess that we're around, you know."

  "I didn't mean that. I meant...well, she's awfully wet."

  "That's what usually happens when people get in water — they get wet."

  "But look. Her clothing's clinging to her. She looks awfully...desirable. And they've been trying to keep their hands off each other while they're alone out here."

  "Yeah, I see what you're talking about. I think Stone sees it, too."

  Stone backed away from where he had sat Tess down on one of the larger boulders beside the fence. She lifted her hands to push back her sopping hair, and her movement thrust her breasts against the wet shirt. The soak
ing material clearly outlined the pebbled tips.

  Darn it, he really wished she'd wear some sort of restraint on those beautiful breasts. He could even make out the dark pink centers through that pale blue shirt.

  "I'll build a fire." Stone ordered his legs to move, but they remained as immobile as the rocks penning in the horses.

  "It's already getting hot." Tess ran her fingers through her wet hair, working out the tangles. "My clothes will dry pretty fast."

  "Not fast enough!"

  Tess glanced up, pushing aside a soggy curl that fell over her eyes. Stone's shirt clung to his chest, wet from where he had carried her. Several buttons were undone, and the ends of his red bandanna lay plastered among the chestnut-colored curls below his neck. Her tongue licked at a drop of water dribbling down her cheek toward her mouth, and she ran the captured liquid over her upper lip.

  "May...maybe...a fire, yes," she said when she could force her mouth to work.

  Stone turned his back abruptly. "Lonesome," he forced himself to say almost normally. "Think you could go fetch those horses?"

  He waved an arm in the direction where the two horses grazed, and Lonesome jumped to his feet and raced away. Stone watched the dog for several seconds, trying to concentrate on his amazement that Lonesome seemed to understand his order. The dog circled behind the horses, then began herding them back toward Stone.

  Tess didn't pay a bit of attention to her dog. She watched the slight breeze play through Stone's hair, ruffling it like a woman's teasing fingers. The shirt fit snug over his shoulders, outlining their broadness and tapering down to his trim waist. He stuck his fingers in his back pockets as he waited for the horses, drawing Tess's eyes down to the tightly stretched denim over his hips.