by Tammy Barley
Jess watched Jake work out of the corner of her eye, trying not to notice how gently he cradled her arm, and how patiently he answered Two Hands’s questions, allowing the child to help unwrap the bandage. Against her will, she felt grateful that he had wrapped her hands when she had been too exhausted to tend to the injuries herself. None of it went with the opinion of him that she had cultivated, for she kept seeing him exhibit qualities she respected—qualities that conflicted with the perceptions she’d had of him since the fire.
Confused, she stared out the window to avoid looking at him, but she felt his eyes on her all the same. He unwound the bandage on her other wrist. “They’re not bad, Jess,” came his voice, deep and mildly teasing. “It might be best, though, if you don’t get yourself tied to a horse again until they heal.”
She jerked her hand away. Gently but insistently, he took it again, then rewrapped each wrist with the calico.
For the sake of Red Deer’s nephew, she kept her voice low. “If you hadn’t given that order to your men, the future well-being of my hands would not concern you!”
Jake passed up the bait. Instead, he glanced thoughtfully—almost reflectively—at her face, as if her features had suddenly become of particular interest to him. “I’ll give you a hat to wear. The days are longer now, and the sun can be harsh.” After a brief moment, he added, “I’ll take that as an agreement.”
Jess adjusted the bandages. “Why should you?”
“Because you didn’t argue. When you disagree, you’re rather straightforward about it.” His brown eyes twinkled. “Why don’t you have someone saddle a horse for you? Or, since you seem to prefer taking matters into your own hands, see to the task yourself, if you wish.”
Saddle a horse? “What? Why?”
“I thought you might like to ride with me and the men today.”
“Out on the range?” She couldn’t recall when last she had run a horse for the pure thrill of it. Until now, she’d run them to escape the ranch, looking anxiously over her shoulder all the while.
“It’s nearly April. There’ll be a lot you can do right here in the weeks ahead, but whenever you have a free day, you can lend a hand with the men. I can see you need to be out there, Jess. Horses and riding are in your blood.”
She concealed her thrill at the suggestion. “You know nothing about my blood, Jake Bennett.”
He gazed at her. “I know you very well. You need to live in open places, to feel the wind in your hair. You are like the Indians who don’t wish to stay in one place, who won’t be told where to live. The earth and sky and horses—those things are real, they make sense to you. It’s who you are.”
Jess stared at him in amazement. No one had ever understood that about her. Not even her mother. “How do you know that?”
“I saw you in Carson City. You were different there, sort of like a wild creature on display in a cage, but you’re not like that here. Even though a part of you doesn’t want to stay, the other part of you sees its possibilities.”
Jess digested the truth of that, and of all he had seen in her. “What about Red Deer? She can’t be allowed to do the heavy chores alone.”
“You can stay here on days she needs help, or when work needs to be done. Otherwise, you can ride with me.” Jake indicated her hands. “Get yourself some gloves out of the supply shed. I’ll meet you in the stable.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’m sure you know where the stable is.”
“If you lag, I’ll meet you in Carson City,” Jess said, “and I’m fairly certain you know where that is.”
With a hearty chuckle, Jake headed for the stairs. Jess followed Two Hands outdoors. She paused at the water pump for a drink and to wash her face, then she and her young companion crossed the yard. The cattlemen they passed raised a hand or tipped a hat in greeting. Jess greeted them in return, feeling as invigorated as when she had awakened. She would indeed have much to enjoy this day.
At the entrance to the stable, several men were saddling horses. Apparently, they would ride out with her and Jake. Jess retrieved a pair of gloves from the shed, then led Luina out of her stall. Two Hands expertly held the palomino horse, murmuring gently to her in his youthful, clarion voice while Jess laid a blanket over her back and settled the saddle in place. The men spoke to her as if they had expected her, and Jess felt almost giddy at the thought of flying across the range on horseback. This time, she had been invited, and she wouldn’t have to cast panicked looks behind her to check for any pursuers.
To her own astonishment, she realized that she had no intention of betraying the men’s trust. She was free to ride, and she planned to enjoy every moment of it. Just for today, she wouldn’t give herself any reason to look back. Two Hands said something and held up four fingers. Jess turned to him and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. He pointed to all four of Luina’s feet.
Jess grinned. When she was his age, numbers had come to her just as easily. She bent toward him conspiratorially. “Perhaps when I return to run my father’s store, I’ll take you with me to help me keep the books.”
He giggled, uncertain of what she had said, but feeling complicit in some great secret, just the same.
“I’m surprised you’re choosing Luina again,” a deep voice said. “I’d have thought you and Cielos would be miles away by now with half the ranch after you.”
The men looked up at Jake’s humor, as if they had never heard such from the man.
In response, Jess drawled, “Drag Cielos away from Luina? Impossible.” She passed a lightly accusing eye over him and the amused cattlemen. “Isn’t that the way with males? When it comes to the gentler creatures, some of the brutes just can’t be reasoned with.”
Several pairs of eyes pivoted to Jake.
“Males? I recall a flighty mare leading an exhausting chase.”
The eyes swung to Jess.
“Any mare will flee if enough burrs are thrust under the saddle,” she rejoined.
Some good-natured laughter followed. Jake bowed slightly, acknowledging the wisdom of what she’d said, then handed her a light brown hat similar to his darker one.
Jess pulled it on. Glimpsing warm approval in Jake’s eyes, she returned her attention to saddling Luina. She tightened the cinch strap, in spite of Luina’s efforts to puff out her stomach. Jess was familiar with the ploy—the horse would release the air with the rider astride so that the strap would loosen. Despite Luina’s attempts to get away with it, Jess snugged and knotted the cinch successfully. Her attention to the task gave her a moment to pull her traitorously opening heart away from Jake and to restore a cooler, more agreeable distance between them. Finally, Jess flipped the stirrup into place and patted Luina’s belly. “Nice try, girl.”
Jake, Jess, and the men led their animals into the sunshine and mounted up. As they rode out, Jess waved back to a smiling Two Hands. She was already looking forward to seeing the boy again.
“He’s well mannered,” Jake commented beside her. The other cattlemen were talking among themselves.
For her own peace of mind, Jess wouldn’t spend the day in familiar conversation with Jake, but she responded, “He is. You can see he’ll be good with a horse one day.”
“Already is. I brought your horses back with me, and he’s been helping look after them.”
“My horses?”
He spoke softly. “The three from your pa’s stable. The roof caught fire just after Lone Wolf and the other boys left with you.” Jake paused, pulled a couple of biscuits from a pouch on his saddle, and handed them to her. “You haven’t eaten yet,” he said, then continued. “Ho Chen and I were able to get the horses out, but they were struck by falling timbers. Lone Wolf has been caring for them near his lodge—he’s something of a healer. I’ll take you to see them soon.”
Jess’s mind snagged on the fact that Jake had helped save her horses. Even so, she couldn’t see his abandoning her crazed father in any kind of forgivable light. “Two Hands can take me,” she said shortly. “You have
a ranch to see to.”
She gathered her reins for a run, but Jake’s big glove closed over hers. “I need you to stay close, Jess.”
At his tone, she looked up. For some reason, his gaze had intensified, as if warning her of an unknown danger. Frowning to herself, she recalled what Diaz had said the night before: “This place, it is no safe for a woman. The boss, he knows this.” What did Jake know?
“I trust my men, and we have good neighbors. But wild animals or outlaws could do you harm. You ride with me.”
Lifting his hand to signal his men, Jake split away from the group to search the distant foothills for cows, and Jess followed. He wore his revolver and, like all the other men, carried a rifle sheathed on his saddle. She thought about what he had just said, but the prospect of trouble didn’t bother her for long. The glorious afternoon swiftly took her in.
Jess basked in the sunshine, and the cold of winter became a distant memory. She almost forgot they were working, and as she galloped beside Jake, she let go for a little while her concerns about returning to the city. She felt as free as the falcon she had seen gliding on the wind, and the joyous run of Luina gave her flight over the land.
***
Jake was drawn to the glow in Jess’s face. Since the day Olivia had left the ranch the year before, he hadn’t felt the passion for his work he’d once had, but now, seeing Jess ride with her heart wide open, he was reminded of himself not long ago. With a little smile he loosed the reins and let Cielos fully go. With Jess and Luina beside them, they raced along the foot of the Sierra Mountains. The thought came that he had brought Jess here for her protection, yes, but also to help heal her heart. Unexpectedly, she was helping to heal his, as well.
Chapter Nine
When a woeful bawling reached their ears, they slowed, Jake whipping his lariat at the ready. Not knowing what else to do, Jess stopped to watch. Jake approached the wary cow, keeping Cielos at a mild walk. Cielos appeared calm yet keenly aware of the cow’s movements. When the bovine tried to run, Jake swiftly roped her and jumped to the ground. Cielos immediately leapt backward until the lariat tied to the saddle horn was taut, his gaze locked on the cow.
Jess looked in bewilderment from horse to cow, then back again. Never had she seen such a thing.
The immobilized cow bawled again. Jake quickly knelt beside her and began squeezing milk from her bulging udder.
“What’s wrong with her, Bennett?”
“She hasn’t been milked. Her calf must have died in the cold, or maybe wolves got it. I’d rather save the milk for the calves at the barn that need it, but she isn’t going to wait.”
Jess gazed out over the miles of sagebrush that spread out before them. “I’ll have a look around. Maybe the calf is tangled in a bush or fell into a gulch nearby.”
“Jess?”
She glanced at him.
“Don’t wander out of earshot. I need to hear you if you run into trouble.”
For once, she didn’t take offense at his instruction. “I won’t go far,” she said, and she nudged Luina on her way.
After Jess had made a few rounds as far as she dared, she guided Luina up a hill for a better vantage point from which to survey the area. From the top, she glimpsed a bend of the creek to the east, but she could no longer see the ranch. Far off to the north, the tiny forms of ranchmen on horseback were spreading out to herd the group of brown specks she knew must be cattle.
To the west, less than a mile off, was something odd: dozens of small rocks arranged in a rectangle on the ground. Intrigued, she lifted her hat to block the glare of the sun. A jolt shot through her as she identified the curved marker at the end of the rocks. It was a gravestone.
It was far removed from the ranch. A passing traveler must have died, perhaps long before the ranch was built. Still, seeing the grave twisted her insides. She had experienced too much death of late and had been relishing a life with few reminders.
Jess descended the hill, riding toward Jake yet circling wide, hoping to locate the calf. The more she searched for it, the more she wanted to find it and hoped it had survived. Something had to survive.
As she neared a shallow ravine, she spied a mob of vultures hopping about some distance ahead, and her heart plummeted. Jess knew she had probably discovered the calf, and she reluctantly guided Luina down. When she neared the ugly birds, they retreated with awkward pumps of their huge, tattered wings, revealing, as expected, a calf. It was dead.
Jake had mounted and was waiting when Jess returned. He studied her face. “You found the calf?”
“Yes, killed by wolves, I’d guess. I wouldn’t have thought they’d come this close to the ranch.”
“They do, especially in winter, when meals are hard to come by. Other times, though, I think they hunt for the thrill of it.”
So much death. Death and no reparation. The cow stood, head drooping, at the end of the lariat. Though Jess wanted to avoid them, recollections of the fire stirred in her mind, as did another matter she’d been mulling over.
“Why do you suppose those Unionist fanatics waited four days to set the fire, Bennett? They must have followed us after we rode in from the mountains. They knew where my family lived. And when they did set the fire, why didn’t they wait until we were all in bed asleep?”
“I expect a couple of them were still enraged about what happened in the street…maybe they had been drinking. They gathered up a can of kerosene and a Confederate flag, and they set the house on fire.”
“As easy as that?”
“Many of the families that come west are Southerners. Confederate flags are easy to come by, and every household has kerosene.”
“Perhaps,” Jess allowed, “but the men couldn’t have been drunk, or someone would have seen them staggering from the house.”
“Then they weren’t drunk,” he agreed. “Now, that troubles me.”
“It troubles me, as well. You know something else? I wonder why they didn’t see you, my father, and me leaving the house. Even if only one man was responsible, you and I were away from the house less than ten minutes, and my father left after we did. An arsonist would have had to approach the house, douse the perimeter with kerosene, strike a match, and then run—all in five minutes, and without seeing the three of us, who remained within view. My point is, the fire took patience, forethought, planning. That doesn’t sound like the result of a hot temper.”
Jake chewed on her hypothesis, his expression inscrutable under the shade of his hat brim. “You think that someone else planned the fire?”
“Maybe a visitor to my father’s store who hated Southerners, maybe someone else.”
Thoughtful, Jake propped a gloved hand on his thigh. “If that were true, a killer would have made certain Isaac was inside the house, and, like you said, why not wait until your family was asleep? That doesn’t make sense, Jess.”
“It does if the man wanted to punish my father, if he wanted my father—and only my father—to survive and to watch his family die. It would also explain why all of this didn’t happen the day I was attacked in the street. This man might have been around back, where he wouldn’t have seen you and me leave the house. If he saw us walking, he would have thought we were just neighbors out for an evening stroll, but he must have seen my father with his unmistakable silhouette.”
“Jess, the men who attacked you in Carson City openly hated Southerners. They saw where you lived, and they decided what they wanted to do about it,” he said. “Unless you can think of anyone else who might have done this…”
“No,” she said, “but I do see another problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Whoever set the fire would have watched from nearby to be sure they accomplished what they intended. If so, they were there when Lone Wolf took me away. Bennett, they saw you there. They know I’m alive.”
She let that sink in, then continued, “Do you see why I have to return to Carson City?” The situation was much worse than she had thought. “I’m
not the only one in danger. If I don’t help the sheriff find those men, they’ll come after you and the cattlemen here. Diaz, Taggart, and Reese all saw them that morning on the street, and Lone Wolf and the others were there the night of the fire. Those Unionists know there are more besides us who can identify them. They’ll be looking for all of you!”
“Is that why you’ve been trying to leave?” he asked, incredulous. “Because you want to help the sheriff?”
“Didn’t you hear the rest? The killers saw Taggart and Reese and the others. I need to help find those men before they harm anyone else!”
“Jess, one of the men brought news last night. I wanted to wait for a better time to tell you, but the sheriff has called off the search—”
“Called off?”
“—but Tom thinks there’s something more. He’s received a report of a similar fire near Lake’s Crossing.”
For a moment, Jess set aside her anger at the sheriff. “Another fire was set?”
“Yes. Tom will send word when he knows more, but those fanatics have apparently moved on, so there’s little point in your returning to Carson City right now. I’ll warn the boys. They’re capable of looking out for themselves.”
The thought of another fire chilled her. “The captain is still searching, then.”
“Tom won’t give up so long as there’s a lead.”
The sheriff called it off, she thought. Had she already returned to Carson City, she wouldn’t have allowed the search to desist, and now her family’s murderers were roaming free in Nevada Territory, possibly hurting others, while Jake held her at the ranch. Reluctantly, she admitted that although she still wanted to return to Carson City, her presence there would no longer benefit the search, since the blackguards had moved on, evidently in the general direction of the ranch.
“Bennett, what ever happened to the Confederate flag those men left behind?”
“I was angry when I found it. I threw it into the fire.”
“Good. I’m glad I’ll never have to see it.”
