by Indiana Wake
And now that the sun had passed its zenith, it was time to head home and hopefully catch sight of a fat jackrabbit or an antelope on the way. It would explain her early morning absence because even Ma didn’t know about Tess’s dream. She squirmed uncomfortably at her deception, but Tess forced down the guilt. If Ma knew, it would only give her one more thing to worry about.
Someday, Tess would be able to improve Ma’s life and bring her out to the farm with enough space for the young’uns to spread out. Charlie would provide the way out. She patted the neck of the bay stallion as he picked his way through the narrow opening in the rocks. He flicked an ear in response to her attention.
He had been brought in with a mixed herd during roundup a few years ago. He had been a scrawny foal, somehow separated from his Ma. No one knew how he came to be mixed in with the cows, but they all said he would never survive without his mama.
Tess had disagreed. No one objected when she took the foal, underweight and barely able to stand, and took him home. He had survived and now drew speculative gazes from anyone who knew horseflesh. One rancher had already approached her about using Charlie to breed a couple of his mares. When the foals dropped, there would be more interest.
And Tess would not offer Charlie’s services for free. A smile grew on her face. No sir, they would pay well to have a chance at a Charlie foal. Especially once he won the annual horse race on the Fourth of July.
Chapter 5
Zach slammed the door and tossed his hat onto the table. Running a finger under his collar, he loosened his tie as he toed off his boots.
Another Sunday wasted. He sent an apologetic glance heavenward. Church had not been a waste, but the Sunday School picnic after service certainly was. He had made himself as charming as he knew how to the various ladies who had captured his attention over the years. Not one took his advances seriously. Each one was either engaged, spoken for, or walking out with someone.
Today he had even been laughed at. Rosie Perrine, the last on his list of possible wives, had laughed when he asked to call on her later in the week. “Why Zachariah Owen, a girl, might think you actually believe a woman would come out there in the middle of nowhere to live on your cute little farm.”
Zach scowled at the memory of her words. If Rosie thought this farm was in the middle of nowhere, she would be dumbfounded at the wide-open spaces in Kansas. His gaze lingered on the letter sitting on the mantle. He had put off answering Tess hoping that he could use his own engagement as an excuse to not marry her.
He didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He stood and opened the door to Loretta and her husband.
“Hello, Zach, can we come in?” Andrew Tarlton’s smile was tired and strained. Zach opened the door and let them in. Loretta was instantly at home in his house. Zach watched open mouthed as with her pregnant belly straining against her gown she bustled around stoking the fire and preparing coffee. Tarlton lowered himself into a chair while Zach just watched. Was this what a good woman was like?
“You don’t look so good.” Zach reached for the hat still on the table and hung it on its proper hook.
“Thing’s at the mine are getting bad.” Tarlton braced his elbows on the table and rubbed his hands over his face. “Putney is bringing in more thugs every week. Yesterday, they raided the home of a young couple who was behind on their rent. The husband was in a cave-in last month and is still laid-up and unable to work. The poor young wife, no more than fifteen, was beside herself clinging to her baby. They just had their first baby and now they are living in a makeshift tent and have no place to go.”
“Andrew tried to stand against the thugs,” Loretta said. “But there were too many of them.” She stopped for a moment and studied her husband with a look of mingled pride and worry. Shaking her head as if to clear the memories she set a steaming pot of coffee and three mugs on the table mumbling to herself over the lack of baked goods.
Zach’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “So why are you here?”
“We want to get the family somewhere safe. In the past, we have sent them to Loretta’s mother since she is a friendly face from home.” Tarlton reached for his wife’s hand. “However, this young girl is terrified of trains and the young man isn’t much better. I think they’ll have to be taken out there in a wagon.”
“And you want to use my wagon and horses?” Zach relaxed. He had been afraid that they would bring the homeless ones here, and he didn’t want the wrath of the whole Putney Company coming down on him. A team of horses and a wagon he could do.
“Actually, Zach, we want you.” Loretta broke in. “I can’t travel that far in my condition and Andrew doesn’t want to leave while things are so tense.” She laid a hand over his as it rested on the table. “You are from our hills, but have also seen Kansas when you took Miriam out a couple of years ago. You would be the perfect answer to our problem.”
“Me?” Zach pulled his hand out from under hers and stood up to pace. “I can’t just pick up and leave. I have animals to care for, fields to tend, and … work to be done.” He shrugged. “I’d like to help you out, but it is impossible.”
Loretta stood awkwardly and went to him. “Zach, I would take it as a personal favor. I know it is asking a lot, but I would like Ma to know about the baby before it comes. Putney won’t allow letters to go out and has even found a way to stop them in town. I was hoping you could deliver a letter to her and the young’uns for me. And you could meet your nephews while you’re there. Andrew and I will watch over the farm. We will care for it as though it was our own.”
Zach gazed into the young woman’s intense eyes and understood why Tarlton had waited so long to marry her when he could have had any woman in town. It was impossible to refuse her.
Chapter 6
“What d’ya mean I can’t ride Charlie in the race?” Tess set her hands on her hips and scowled at the red-faced official standing in front of her.
“You can enter him, Miss Bonner, but you can’t ride him. That’s all I meant.” The man mopped his brow with a bright red kerchief. “Rules say only men can ride in the race.”
“It’s a stupid rule.” Tess whirled and flung herself into the saddle. Charlie sat back on his haunches then leaped forward, but Tess held him to a fast canter. She didn’t want to tire him out just in case she could find someone willing to ride him in her place. She had to get Charlie in that race; all her plans depended on him winning.
The big bay slid to a stop in front of her mother’s house scattering dust and stones against the wall. Tess dropped to the ground and draped the reins over the hitching post. Charlie could be trusted to stay there and wait. Her brother appeared around the corner of the house.
“You better not let Ma catch you tossin’ up dust. She just hung up a load of wash and won’t like you gettin’ it dirty again.” Harry leaned against the wall and made a show of cleaning the dirt from under his nails. “She’s already mad ‘cause you took off without doin’ dishes like you was told.”
Tess ignored his implied warning. Her eyes narrowed as she examined her brother. He could ride almost as well as she could and would do most anything for a few coins. “Hey, Harry. Thanks for coverin’ for me. I had to go into town for somethin’.” She sent her brother her brightest smile. He immediately frowned with suspicion.
“I didn’t say I covered for you. I just said she was lookin’ for you.” Harry straightened from his relaxed position and began to move away. “I jus’ remembered I forgot to pump more water for the next load of wash …”
“Wait, Harry.” Tess lunged forward and got a good grip on his sleeve. “How would you like to make some money?”
He eyed her warily. “You ain’t got any money.”
“I got some, enough to enter Charlie in today’s race. If you ride him for me, I’ll give you a share of the winnin’s.” She smiled the same way she had seen Marylou smile at him at church last week. She had seen him smile back a
nd later gave Marylou a bunch of wild flowers. But for some reason, the smile didn’t work for Tess.
Harry backed away. “Why don’t you ride him yourself? I got plans during the race. I ain’t got time to ride your old nag.”
Tess bristled and gripped his sleeve hard enough to have the seams popping open. “Charlie ain’t a nag. He’s the best horse in the state. They won’t let me ride just ‘cause I’m a girl.”
“Shows what they know. You ain’t no proper girl. You might wear skirts ‘cause Ma makes you, but no proper girl would hunt and ride and shoot like you do.” Harry pulled away from her, tearing his shirt even more. “Look what you done to my good shirt. Why don’t you brush your hair and learn to sew and cook and do girl stuff instead of pretending to be a boy?”
Tess stood and watched her brother run off toward the pump house. Hurt tore through her chest like a knife. Is that really what her brother thought? Is that what everyone thought about her?
Chapter 7
Tears blurred her vision as she climbed into the saddle again and urged Charlie to full stride. It didn’t matter if she tired him out, not anymore. She wasn’t pretending to be a boy. It wasn’t her fault she hated cooking and sewing. It wasn’t her fault that she could shoot and ride better than her brothers did. It didn’t make her any less of a girl … did it?
She raced across the prairie letting the wind dry the tears and blow away her doubts. Soon she was lost in the thrill of the seemingly limitless power of her horse as he thundered over the hard-packed ground. Tess crouched low over Charlie’s withers letting his thick black mane tangle with the rich brown curls of her own unbound hair.
“Watch out!” The shouted words carried the familiar twang of home.
Charlie slid to a plunging stop within a foot of a covered wagon. The man holding the reins pulled his pitching team to a dancing halt. Then he turned angry eyes toward her.
“Do you always charge headlong across the trail without checking to see if anyone is in your way?” The man set the brake and jumped to the ground. He strode to stand in front of the nervous team, stroking their necks and murmuring quietly to soothe them.
If Tess closed her eyes, she could imagine herself back in the hills and hollows of West Virginia. “I didn’t expect anyone to be on this trail. Most folks comin’ in for the festival are already in town.”
“And that is your best excuse?” The tone was soothing, blending with the croon he offered his horses, but the look he gave Tess was anything but.
She shifted in the saddle, her cheeks heating.
“What’s goin’ on?” A young woman’s pale face appeared in the opening of the wagon’s canvas cover. “We bein’ attacked?”
Tess could hear the fear in the woman’s voice. She was likely the young man’s wife, and quite pretty. Tess couldn’t explain the heaviness that appeared in her heart at the thought. She shook her head. What was wrong with her today? Why should she care if the man was married?
“Don’t worry Ma’am. There’s no trouble. Just a girl riding too fast on a horse she can’t control.” The man gave her another frown. “Soon as I get the team calmed down, we’ll be on our way.”
Tess’s shoulders jerked upright at the mention of her riding. “Who says I can’t control my horse? I raised Charlie from a colt and I have total control over him.”
“Ah, so you are just reckless and foolish enough to ride him at top speed regardless of others who might be on the trail.” The man nodded as if he had made a profound statement.
Tess’s blood boiled. She urged Charlie toward the man until she was able to look right down into the man’s brown eyes. “I’m none of those things you said. And who says that was Charlie’s top speed? That there was little more than a warm-up for today’s race. You want to see speed; you come to the race where Charlie and I will have everyone eating our dust.”
There was a flicker of something in the man’s eyes. Was it curiosity or scorn?
Tess didn’t wait to find out. Whirling Charlie around on his haunches, she headed back toward home at a more reasonable pace. It wasn’t until she was in sight of home that she realized what she had said. She would be riding Charlie in the race.
Except it wasn’t true. She couldn’t ride because they would find out that she was a girl. Now the man would think her a liar and full of empty boasting. It wasn’t empty because Charlie was fully as good as she claimed, but how could she prove it?
A row of wet clothes flapped on Ma’s clothesline. Mostly men’s clothes since there were so few women in town and most of them would do their own wash. Ma did her own family’s wash as well as that of several of the unmarried men.
A pair of her brother’s pants waved tauntingly at her as if mocking her inability to wear them. And why couldn’t she? Because she was a woman. She and Harry were close to the same size … an idea began to form. Tess sat on Charlie with a hand clasped over her mouth to stop herself from exclaiming aloud.
Did she dare?
Chapter 8
Zach gave one last swipe then dropped the currycomb back in the bucket. The horses had recovered from their fright on the trail, but irritation still lingered in his own chest. The wild-haired girl perched on the back of that red stallion had set his pulse pounding with their dramatic entrance.
He had twitted the girl on her riding ability, but in truth, he had never seen anyone so completely in control of a mount. The horse had gone from full speed, or at least a half speed according to the girl, to a dead stop in a matter of a few feet. In his own head, Zach could admit he was impressed but he would never have let that insolent brat know it.
He tossed a forkful of hay to each horse and strode to the livery stable door. The old hostler stood in the afternoon sun watching a collection of horses milling about at the far end of the street. The old man glanced up at Zach and winked.
“That Charlie will take them all, you wait and see. That horse would run himself to death, or even fly if that girl asked it of him.”
“What girl?” Zach had a sneaky suspicion he already knew.
“That girl right there, Tessy Bonner.” The man gestured to the boy standing beside the tall bay stallion. The figure was dressed in pants and a loose fitting shirt with a wide brimmed planter’s hat pulled down low on his head.
The name had everything inside of Zach going still. “That’s a girl? She’ll get herself killed.”
The old man spat a stream of tobacco juice into the street. “’Course it’s a girl. Stupid officials can’t see past the clothes, but believe me that’s Tessy and she can ride anything she puts her mind to.” The man grinned like a proud papa. “I taught her myself.”
But Zach wasn’t listening. He was already halfway up the street, heading to the waiting horses. When he reached the bay stallion’s side, he grabbed the shoulder of the boy holding the big horse’s reins. A pair of blue eyes glared back at him.
“What do you think you are doing?” Zach squeezed the thin shoulder under his hand and headed toward a gap between the buildings. With the empty alleyway in front of him and the horse blocking them from behind, he pulled off Tess’s hat setting her tumbled brown curls free of their prison.
The sight of the wild curls surrounding her pouting face had Zach blinking. The girl looked like a belligerent angel.
“You’re Tessy Bonner?” His hand gentled on her shoulder almost of its own accord.
She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and snatched her hat from his grip. “So what.” With one hand, she twisted the mass of hair into a messy bundle and shoved it back under the hat.
Zach wondered at the pang of disappointment when she tugged the hat firmly into place. He controlled the urge to pull it off again if only to see that glorious substance once again. Her glare had him clearing his throat and crossing his arms in front of his chest to keep them away from her.
“I’m Zachariah Owen. Miriam’s brother.” He watched her eyes widen, and then narrow again.
“I sent you a letter months a
go.” Her glare had lost some of its heat, but she still took a step back from him.
“I know.” Zach watched the play of emotion on her expressive face. A flare of hope gave way to anger that flowed into wariness.
“You didn’t answer it.” Her eyes searched his. “Why?”
Zach hesitated. He couldn’t look into those clear eyes and admit he was looking for a reason to avoid her. “I wanted to come in person.”
With wonder, he realized it was true. He could very easily have loaned the wagon to the young couple, or found someone else to take them. He could have kept them at the farm until they were able to travel. But he had agreed to come with very little convincing. The letter in his chest pocket was too worn to crackle, but he knew the contents by heart.
For the first time, he admitted to himself that the frankness and boldness of the writer had intrigued him as the coy smirks of other women had repelled him.
A shot followed closely by another rang out in the street behind them. Without thinking, Zach wrapped his arms around Tess and pulled her to the ground waiting for more shots to splinter the wood of the building behind them. He had heard of the lawless violence of the West, but had not expected to see it on his first day in town.
Silence reigned in the alley except for the snort of the horse waiting patiently behind them. Wary of more gunfire, Zach raised himself up onto his elbows. He stared down into Tess’ wide eyes. Her hat had come off again spilling chestnut curls into the dust. Unable to resist, he touched one shining lock with a finger.
“You are so beautiful.” Zach didn’t think her eyes could get any bigger, but they did.
