“I’ve never seen so much water,” Naomi said. “Why do people call this a desert?”
“Colby said it only rains like this in the spring,” her father explained. “The rest of the year is dry with a limited amount of snow.”
“Don’t talk about snow,” Ben said. “I’m freezing.”
The weather had made such an abrupt change from hot and dry to cold and wet that several members of the train were suffering with bad colds. Naomi’s father had done his best to make sure none of them came down with pneumonia or bronchitis, but there was little he could do as long as they had to march through the rain day after day. Only those too ill to walk rode in the wagons because the soft ground was taking its toll on the mules and oxen. Colby had said they’d have to take a day of rest if the weather didn’t clear.
“Give me your rain slick,” Naomi said to her father. “I’m going outside.”
“Are you crazy?” Ben asked.
“I will be if I stay cooped up in here any longer.” She wasn’t about to tell him that she was wondering what Colby was doing. She had hardly set eyes on him for three days. She didn’t want to admit she’d missed him, but he was a challenge in a way no other man had been. She would have sworn he was no longer in love with the woman from his past, but something was holding him back. Her father would say she ought to keep her nose out of Colby’s business, but she couldn’t accept that a man like Colby would turn his back on life unless something was terribly wrong.
“I don’t want you getting sick,” her father said.
She opened the flap at the end of the wagon. The rain continued to fall, but the wind no longer blew it against the canvas. The clouds racing by overhead had yielded to a sliver of blue sky in the distance. “It’s clearing.”
“I’m not getting out until it stops,” Ben said. “I got soaked driving.”
The bad weather had prevented the other women from helping with Little Abe so Naomi had taken him each morning, which left the driving to Ben. Her father spent his time doing what he could to make everyone comfortable. Naomi thought his patients depend on him to raise their spirits rather than do it for themselves.
Once her father had satisfied himself that the rain had eased up, he agreed to let Naomi use his rain slick and boots. “Don’t be gone long. I’ll need them soon.”
“Your patients can wait for a change. You’ve been out in this rain for three days.”
“That’s a doctor’s duty.”
“It’s your duty to your family to stay warm and dry so we won’t find ourselves orphans.”
She’d barely set her feet on the ground when Colby came bustling up. “What are you doing outside? It’s still raining.”
“I got tired of being cooped up having to listen to Ben complain.”
“Well now that you’re in the rain with the rest of us, what do you intend to do?”
She hadn’t intended to do anything beyond get out of the wagon. “Just stretch my legs. They got cramped from sitting still all morning holding Little Abe.” Even Cassie had begun to call her son by that name.
They were walking past Cassie’s wagon. She could hear the murmur of Ethan and Cassie’s voices inside. She wasn’t aware that she’d frowned until Colby said, “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”
She was glad the rain gave her an excuse not to look up at him. “He’s too old for me to worry about.”
“You’re his big sister. You’ll worry about him for the rest of his life.”
“How do you know? You don’t have any brothers or sisters.”
“I know because that’s what I would do, and you’re much nicer than I am.”
“That’s absurd. Every female adores you. Not a morning or afternoon goes by that you don’t speak to each one of them. Papa says he doesn’t know who they depend on more, you or him.”
“I don’t do anything.”
“Nothing except give them nasty recipes that make them feel better.”
“I learned a lot from—”
“I know. The Indians.”
“Not just them. We don’t have many doctors out here. Everybody has to know something about taking care of sick people. During the war, the doctors were too busy chopping off limbs and fighting dysentery to concern themselves with anything as harmless as a fever or a bad cough. All of us shared what we knew.”
“Is that where you learned so much about people?”
“I learned that growing up. That’s why I know you don’t have to worry about Ethan asking Cassie to marry him.”
“I’m not worried Ethan will marry Cassie.”
Colby stopped. “Look at me and say that.”
“No. I’ll just get a face full of rain.”
“You won’t look because you know you’re not telling the truth.”
“All right, if you’re so smart, how can you be sure Ethan won’t ask Cassie to marry him?” Naomi asked.
“He doesn’t love her.”
She scoffed. “Boys his age don’t know anything about love. Let a pretty girl look at them like they’re the most wonderful guys in the world, and their brains cease to function.”
“Ethan is too much like you. His brain never ceases to function. Has Ethan ever had a sweetheart?”
“No.”
“I expect Cassie is the first girl to treat him like he knows all the answers,” Colby said. “It’s every man’s dream to meet a beautiful woman who thinks he is perfect and can do no wrong. Ethan craves it so badly he’ll come to Cassie’s defense regardless of who criticizes her.”
“I can understand why he likes being adored, but why can’t he see she says some silly things?”
“If he thought she was silly, he would have to accept that her opinions were silly. What would that say about her opinion of him?”
“That he might not be so wonderful after all.”
“Exactly.”
It annoyed her that he was probably right. It was especially humbling because he’d known Ethan less than a week while she’d had his whole life to figure him out. Had she become so used to seeing the same people year after year that she didn’t really see them any longer?
When they approached Haskel Sumner’s wagon, she was surprised to see Ted Drummond and Amber Sumner standing together on the lee side of the wagon.
“That boy’s not serious,” Colby said. “Fortunately, Amber isn’t either. She’s got her eye on the Johnson boy who drives Noah’s wagon.”
“Cato? You can’t be serious! Ted is twice as good looking.”
“Not every woman chooses a husband based on his looks.”
“Then why do men?” Naomi said.
“There are a few exceptions.”
“Are you one?”
“No. I was the most stupid of all,” Colby said.
Bitterness and anger fought for supremacy in his tone. Despite the rain, which had started to pick up again, she looked up at him. He was staring off into the distance. For a moment she wondered if he was aware she was there. She was thankful that Vernon Edwards climbed out of his wagon as they approached.
“How long before we hitch up the wagons?” Vernon asked.
Colby looked to the west where the piece of blue sky had disappeared. “From the looks of that sky, I’d say we were in for a night of it.”
“My team is getting worn down,” Vernon said. “I don’t know if they can hold up under another day of driving over soft ground.”
If Vernon hadn’t loaded his wagon with everything he could manage to squeeze inside, his six oxen might be holding up better.
“We can make a short trip tomorrow and hope the rain will stop, or we can stay here for another day.”
“I don’t like stopping. It gives the Indians a better chance to find us.”
“If they wanted to find us, they would no matter what the weather
.” Colby pointed to the horizon. “Those clouds are approaching fast. Unless I miss my guess, they’ll bring heavy rain.”
“I’d better talk to Norman.”
Naomi waited until Vernon was out of earshot to say, “Norman doesn’t know anything about keeping teams healthy, how long to pasture them, or whether it’s best to leave now or wait until the weather clears.”
“It won’t do any harm to let him talk.”
“Once he hears himself talk, he thinks anything he says is a good idea.”
“You don’t like the man much, do you?” Colby said.
“No, I don’t. He thinks he’s better than everybody else. I dislike him most for the way he treats my cousin.”
“He’s a cold man.”
A sudden gust of wind as they passed the second of Noah Spencer’s wagons caught Naomi off guard, and she stumbled against Colby. His arms closed around her.
The feel of his arms around her—the sense that she would always be safe there—was mesmerizing. She’d had so much responsibility from an early age that she’d never felt the need for a sheltering pair of arms. She didn’t need them now, but it felt good to have them wrapped around her. Their strength was comforting. Did women always want to feel enfolded in a strength that would protect them from adversity even though they knew that was impossible? She couldn’t speak for anyone else, but she liked the feeling. It didn’t mean she didn’t want to stand on her own two feet. It didn’t mean she wanted to be told rather than asked. It did mean that she wasn’t alone.
She was heading toward an uncertain future beyond Santa Fe, and Colby was off to find a corner of the world free of people. It was foolish to allow herself to want something she couldn’t have. It would be the height of folly to start to depend on it. She tried to push away, but Colby didn’t release his hold on her.
“Are you going to let me go?”
“What if we get another gust of wind?”
“I’m sure I won’t—”
A flash of lightning was followed within seconds by an earsplitting crack of thunder. A sharp gust of wind whipped the rain into their faces.
Colby released her. “It looks like the storm is going to be worse than I thought. You’d better get back to your wagon.”
The rising wind and heavier rain made it unnecessary for Colby to tell her it was time to take cover.
“If you pass anybody, tell them to get inside and tie the flaps down tight.”
As Naomi turned, a flash of lightning so close she could feel the heat in the air split the clouds and lit the landscape in an eerie, blue light. A simultaneous roll of thunder made the ground shake.
“Hurry!” Colby shouted over the sound of rain that was now coming down in drops so large they sounded like hail hitting the canvas.
“You’ve got to get out of this rain, too,” Naomi shouted back at Colby.
“I will as soon as I know everybody’s safe.”
Naomi took hold of his arm and pulled. “Anybody who hasn’t gotten back in their wagon is too stupid to live. Come on. There’s room for you in our wagon.”
Colby hesitated only a moment before allowing Naomi to pull him after her. They had only covered half the distance when Cato Johnson galloped out of the gloom.
“Stampede!” he shouted. “Lightning killed two oxen.”
Eleven
“Get back to your wagon!” Colby shouted to Naomi.
“How many men were on guard duty?”
“Just Cato. We never need more than one in the daytime.”
“I can help.”
“Not riding sidesaddle. Get your father.” Colby turned to Cato. “Get every man who has a horse. We need to round up the livestock before they get lost.”
Lowering his head against the rain, Colby looked for horses that had been kept within the circle of wagons. He found only one—Morley Sumner’s. Cato didn’t find any. Counting Dr. Kessling who was a poor rider—Morley Sumner wasn’t much better—that meant only four men on horseback. He’d have to see if the doctor would lend his horse to someone else, but by the time Colby got back to the Kessling wagon, the horse was gone. He scratched on the flap at the back of the wagon. He was surprised when Dr. Kessling’s face appeared at the opening.
“Where is your horse?”
“I don’t know,” the doctor shouted back. “Have you seen Naomi? She hasn’t come back.”
“I’ll find her.” And if she was on that horse, as he suspected, he’d drag her off and deposit her in the wagon. She’d been riding for barely more than a week. How did she think she was going to round up stampeding animals in a driving rain?
Morley Sumner appeared out of the gathering dusk. He was a powerfully built man, which was necessary in a blacksmith but of questionable value in a horseman. Cato Johnson had all the enthusiasm of youth without much skill to go with it. Colby didn’t see Naomi or her horse, but he didn’t have time to look for her. Every second was important. With Cato leading the way, the three men headed into the gloom. They hadn’t gone a hundred yards when a horse and rider appeared through the curtain of rain.
Naomi! She had ridden ahead on purpose to make it difficult for him to force her to go back. If he could’ve spared the time, he would’ve pulled her from the saddle kicking and screaming.
“What’s she doing out here?” Cato questioned.
“The same thing we’re doing,” Colby shouted back. “Spread out. You take the far side with Morley next, then Naomi with me on this side. Try not to lose sight of each other.”
“I can’t see a hundred yards in this rain,” Morley yelled.
“Neither can the livestock. I doubt the milk cows have gone far. The oxen will be next with the mules and saddle horses having gone farthest. When you find one, head it back toward the wagons.”
Over the next half hour, they found all the cows and about half of the oxen. Colby tried to convince Naomi to go back with the gathered stock, but he wasn’t surprised when she refused.
The farther they got from the wagons, the more anxious Colby became. He would have no trouble finding his way back, but the other three could become disoriented if they lost contact with one another. He called the riders together.
“Cato, you and Morley take the stock we’ve gathered back to the wagons.”
“What is Naomi going to do?” Cato asked.
“She’s going with me,” Colby said.
“But she’s a woman.”
“She’s doing just fine—and she has the advantage of a horse. Once you get the stock secured inside the circle of the wagons, send the horses back with other riders. You’ve done enough for today. We’ll gather the stock we find in this area so tell whoever comes how to find it. Stay close to me,” he called to Naomi. “If you get lost, you’ll never find your way back to the wagons.”
As they headed out again, they found more oxen and a few mules, but rounding them up and driving them to a central point was tedious. The oxen were slow and stubborn while the mules were skittish and quick on their feet. Their horses would be exhausted long before they found all the missing animals.
“You okay?” Colby shouted over the noise of the wind and rain after driving three more oxen into the growing herd. He’d had to bring his horse alongside Naomi’s before she could hear him.
“I’m fine. Where do we look next?”
His irritation at her had died long ago. She wasn’t an accomplished horsewoman, but she had been as much help as Cato, more than Morley. Nor did she appear tired. She smiled like she was enjoying herself. It was hard to understand her enthusiasm. He was miserable.
“There’s got to be a streambed somewhere near here. With all this rain, maybe the water is high enough to discourage the mules and horses from crossing.”
The rain continued to lash them with numbing force. Turning so the wind was at their backs, Colby led off.
&
nbsp; As they rode farther from the wagons, the terrain was crisscrossed by small rivulets of water. He could either follow them until they formed a stream that flowed into the river, or he could continue upland. He decided to follow the water. He was rewarded when several rivulets joined to form a stream of foaming water rushing over and around anything in its path.
“There!”
Colby indicated a point where the stream made a sharp turn against a rocky bank. Gathered in the bend, their backs to the rain, were nearly a dozen oxen, half a dozen mules, and two saddle horses. Driving them to the rendezvous spot took every bit of expertise and patience he could summon. The oxen wanted to stay where they were, and no two mules wanted to go in the same direction. The saddle horses, more accustomed to the company of humans, followed without being driven. By the time he and Naomi had gathered the animals in the chosen spot, his horse was winded. He was certain Naomi’s mount must be near exhaustion.
“You ought to go back,” he called to her.
“We haven’t found all the stock yet.”
“We won’t find the last of them until tomorrow.”
“There’s still time today.”
“Your horse is exhausted.”
“Yours is too.”
“Go back.”
“Only if you do,” she insisted.
The longer the animals were loose in the storm, the farther the storm would scatter them. It could easily take them two or three days to round up the stragglers. He made up his mind to keep looking.
“I’ll saddle one of the horses for you.”
The horses were so skittish it took several minutes before he could get close enough to grasp one by its bridle.
“You’ll have to get down by yourself,” he told Naomi. “If I let go of his bridle, he’ll be off again.”
Naomi threw her leg over the pommel and slid to the ground.
“Here, hold this horse.”
While Naomi held the fresh horse, Colby stripped the sidesaddle from her father’s horse and put it on the other. The saddlecloth was soaked, but there was no help for that.
To Have and to Hold (Cactus Creek Cowboys) Page 15
