by Tammy Barley
She stopped. “They’re here.”
Red Deer looked at her curiously. “Yes, they are.”
Jess didn’t know how to explain. “I have the jewelry from my mother, but these…they’re alive. Bennett told me they had survived, but seeing them…” She shook her head. “They’re here. Something living survived.”
Red Deer called to the boys. At her request, they led the three horses over. The animals came, their eyes bright, their manes dancing with their gaits. The blacks sniffed her and allowed themselves to be petted but soon rejoined the herd.
Meg, however, pricked up her ears when she saw Jess, and she trotted over to her like an old friend. Jess rubbed her nose, then leaned against her and ran both hands along her neck. At that, the boys grinned.
“It’s wonderful to see them again,” Jess told Red Deer, blinking away her tears. “Do you know if their burns are healed?”
When Red Deer spoke to the boys, the oldest passed his hand soothingly over Meg’s hide and pointed to the places where bits of burning wood had fallen. There was some mild scarring, but the injuries had healed well.
Red Deer turned to Jess. “He asks if you wish to take your horses now.”
Jess looked to where her father’s horses mingled among the Indian ponies. As she watched, one of them dropped down on its knees and began rolling contentedly in the dust.
“I’ll keep the blacks here for now. They’ve been carriage horses, for the most part. Bennett will have to retrain them to work the cattle when he has time. But I will take Meg with me—I can keep her in Bennett’s stable.”
Red Deer relayed Jess’s answer to the boy, and he ran to get a halter. When he had secured it, Jess and Red Deer left, Meg’s chestnut nose between them.
“Why do you call him ‘Bennett’?” Red Deer asked. “The men at the ranch call him Jake.”
“I don’t know. He’s just Bennett to me. Anything else would be too…familiar.”
“Isn’t he your friend?”
Jess blinked, a little startled. There wasn’t a simple answer to that. Rather than answer, she made an inquiry of her own. “Diaz once told me that Bennett is…different…that he’s changed since I’ve been here.”
“It is true. He is different.”
“In what way?”
“He talks more. He smiles, and he laughs. He was not this way before you came.”
Jess tried to decide how she felt about that.
All at once, Red Deer sucked in her breath and grasped her stomach tightly. Jess eyed her with alarm, but after a moment, Red Deer reassured her. “He is a vigorous one, my son.”
Jess was glad for the distraction from her thoughts. “Why don’t you stay at the village and rest?” she suggested. “Most of the chores are done, and I can cook dinner for the men.”
“I think I will stay here, Jessica. I am glad you came to my village today.”
After they parted, Jess returned to the ranch. She stabled Meg, then hurried to the cookhouse to start dinner. Her mind was full from their talk about Jake, and her heart was troubled about Red Deer, yet as she cast a glance skyward, she trusted that the Lord was aware of it, and that He was somewhere looking down at His people in love.
Chapter Thirteen
On the eighteenth of June, late in the afternoon, Jake and the cattlemen rode into the ranch, more than three weeks after they’d left. At the corrals, the ranch hands stepped down from their haggard horses and began to unsaddle them while Ho Chen pushed on toward the cookhouse to unload. Jake, thinking to rid himself of the trail dust before he saw Jess, nudged Cielos toward the creek.
He reined in near the bank, his eyes passing over the fields of wild and planted grains, their tips now as high as the underbelly of a pony. A light breeze stirred them, making a pleasant, rustling sound. Apparently, Jess was holding her own, despite the prolonged lack of rain.
He saw her kneeling in the middle of the garden, her back to him. Her hat shaded her face, and her thick braid of hair dangled over her right shoulder as she worked.
Jake dismounted and leaned an arm on the saddle. The grain fields, the garden, and even the birds that chased one another overhead seemed to exist because of her. Jess had given new life to the ranch—and to him, as well. The thought of her staying with him always flowed into his mind as easily as summer follows spring.
While Cielos helped himself to a drink, Jake washed his face and arms.
***
Kneeling among the carrots, Jess paused to rub away the soil clinging to her gloves, then continued her task of pulling weeds. Oddly enough, weeding was a chore she enjoyed. It always relaxed her.
The morning’s calm had vanished rapidly just moments ago, when she looked up and saw the cattlemen returning. Several men had come into the yard, but her eyes found only Jake. Since he had been gone for nearly a month, she knew he must be worn out from the trail drive, yet he rode tall, as if he had stepped into the saddle only that morning. He showed nothing but ease in his broad shoulders and contentment in his handsome face. Unable to bear the stirring of emotions caused by his presence, she turned away from him and resumed weeding with a vengeance.
Even so, her eyes strayed to him as he stopped at the creek. He was a sight—the incomparable man beside his magnificent steed. Hadn’t she dreamed of this exact scene a thousand nights when she was a girl? But now it was all wrong. After witnessing the cruel quickness of death, she would never allow love to be more than a dream.
She heard him come up behind her, but she pretended not to hear.
He seemed to be in no hurry. Perhaps he was seeing how well everything had grown. Perhaps he regretted wasting good money on fabric for the dress she was now wearing as she knelt in the dirt. Perhaps—
“Hello, Jess.”
Jess hesitated. He had done nothing to invite rudeness, so she answered, “Hello, Bennett.”
He was quiet for a minute. She continued uprooting the weeds.
“The garden is coming along, I see.”
“A few other women and I water it at night, now. It gives the roots time to draw up the water before the sun bakes it from the ground.” She sat back on her heels with a sigh and rested her spade on her knee. “Another month of this sun and the grain will be good for lining the floor of the stalls and nothing more.”
“The cattle sold well, and we’re contracted to deliver more in the months ahead, so we’ll have the money to buy plenty for winter.”
When he hesitated, Jess searched his face. “You spoke to Tom Rawlins,” she said.
“Yes. He hasn’t found them, and two more fires have been reported since the one at Lake’s Crossing, north of there. Occasionally, they’ve stolen horses or a cow or two when they’ve needed them.”
“They’re coming in this direction.”
“Yes, but I don’t want you to worry. The soldiers will find them.”
“What if the soldiers don’t find them and those men show up here?”
“Things wouldn’t go well for them,” Jake said, “I can tell you that. The boys have been itching for a fight.”
“Those men are going to come here. You know that, don’t you?”
“Why would they, Jess? Four months have gone by since the fire. If they were going to come after us, they would have already. They haven’t.”
Jess knew he was right about that. Like a band of guerrillas, they were moving about and striking where they could. “That may be, but still…I just know we haven’t seen the last of them.”
“If they come, we’ll be ready.”
Jess realized that this was what she needed to hear. Jake was aware, so she let the matter be.
Jake lifted his gaze to the Paiute woman who was coming to help Jess. “Red Deer isn’t helping?”
“I wouldn’t let her. Is Ho Chen with you?”
“He’s here.”
Jess pushed back her hair. “Good. I’d like to be free to help with the horses in the mornings—feeding them and sweeping out their stalls.”
“Why? The men can see to that.”
Jess let her eyes roam the desert horizon, the distant Sierras, the ranch. In one of the corrals, mares were trotting about, their new fillies and colts frolicking beside them. “You know why, Bennett.”
“Yes, I suppose I do.” He indicated the new dress she wore. “You have a fine hand at sewing. I’m glad I found the same fabric. You seemed to like it well enough.”
“I’m glad for it, Bennett. I should have told you that sooner.” She recalled Meg and the two blacks he’d brought back for her after the fire. “Red Deer took me to see my horses. I put Meg in your stable, but I think the carriage horses will need to be retrained if they’re to be of any use here.”
“Now that summer’s starting, I’ll have time to work on that, and you’ll be able to help with the horses in the mornings. But first, I have a favor to ask you.”
Jess wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “What’s the favor?”
“I’d like you to have a look at the ranch books, if you would. Seems a shame to have someone here with a mind for numbers,” he said lightly, “and not make use of her talents.”
Jess found herself smiling at the warm teasing in his voice. With effort, she tore her eyes away from his. “What about the garden? Manure needs to be turned in the soil, or it will dry out completely.”
“I’ll get a couple of the men to work on it. Between the spring and fall roundups, there’s less work to be done, so they expect to do odd jobs.” He gestured toward the house. “The books and receipts and such are on my desk. Help yourself to paper, pencils—anything you need.”
The next morning, Jess enjoyed breakfast with the men, then returned to the house to start her work with the books. By mid-morning, the room was too hot to leave the door closed, so she propped it open with a log from the woodpile. The intermittent breeze was delightful.
It was nearly noon when Jake made an appearance. His clothes were covered in dust. Jess glanced up, then smiled as she returned her gaze to the pages in her hand. He had been working with her father’s horses, temperamental from months of freedom. “The carriage horses giving you pains for your efforts?”
Jake grinned. “Not nearly as much as the ground is.”
Jess’s smile widened.
Jake nodded to the piles of paperwork. “Making any sense of that?”
“Some.” Then, “I’ve been thinking, Bennett.”
Jake leaned against the wall beside the desk and folded his brawny arms comfortably across his chest. His eyes were on her.
“I think you should use some of your income from this trip to invest in more horses. In fact, I think you should consider doubling your horse count in the coming year.” She paused to gauge his reaction.
“I’m listening.”
Jess leaned back in her chair, glad to be able to share what she had envisioned. “I’ve heard what the men have said about a government land survey of this region and about a redivision of established land claims throughout Honey Lake Valley. For you, that means you could file a preemptive claim with the land office to try to retain what’s yours, or you could wait to see how the new boundaries will fall and take the matter to court, if portions of your land go up for sale.”
Jake narrowed his eyes pensively, nodding for her to go on.
“Either way, with the growing number of cattle ranches in the region, and with immigrants bringing their own herds west, the demand for each rancher’s cattle will almost certainly decline. What’s more, if there is a rush of settlers to the region, open land for grazing will be hard to come by. To boost your profits, you might consider shifting your focus to raising horses to sell rather than cattle, something only a few ranchers have begun to do, according to your men.”
She leaned forward in her chair as she locked eyes with him. “Before I left Carson City, I heard speculation that when the transcontinental railroad comes over the Sierras, it’ll pass within scant miles of here, which will give you access to a vast, maybe even incalculable, market. Horses back East are being used up in the war, even those meant for farming. People will need them. In fact, as soon as the railroad nears completion, I think you should travel east before anyone else does and negotiate there with buyers. You’re a good businessman, Bennett, and if the numbers you’ve sold are a means of measurement, people like to do business with you. Until the horses bring an income, you can continue to sell cattle. Whether or not the war ends soon, you’ll be in business until you decide to hang up your spurs. You could even get by with less land, should it come to that. If you were to bring in more horses this year, you’ll still have sufficient funds for winter provisions. Your profits next year are certain to pay for another large stable and your choice of men.”
His gaze was inscrutable. “Anything else?”
“Actually, yes. Should the weather cooperate, you’ll grow enough hay and grains to feed your stock through the winter, but you’ll still have dozens of acres of land that you won’t need. Why not cut the hay and sell it to hay yards in the new mining camps? Except you’ll need to leave the various water plants and reeds along the creek so the Paiute women will have enough to collect to make their baskets and mats for their dwellings and such, just as they have always done.”
After a lengthy silence from Jake, she added, “They’re sound ideas, Bennett. I thought them through the whole time you were gone, and now the numbers have convinced me that they could work.”
Jake was staring at her, but Jess decided his look was a thoughtful one. Pleased that she had likely just contributed to the prolonged success of the ranch, she leaned back in the wooden chair, stretching her arms and letting the chair rock on its back legs. The room had cooled pleasantly with the door open wide, and there was little to break the relaxing silence but an occasional voice drifting over the compound and the slow, homey creaking of the chair.
Suddenly, Jake’s gaze shifted in alarm to the floor behind the chair.
Jess carefully slowed her rocking, eyes wide. Somehow, she knew what was there—she could sense what was coiled up on the floor behind her.
Jake’s voice was low and steady as he spoke to her, still leaning against the wall, his gaze on his target. “In the bottom drawer, there’s a revolver. Hand it to me, Jess, nice and easy.”
Her breath trapped in her throat, Jess slowly reached down toward the drawer.
A sudden, loud rattling broke the silence.
Jess’s heart nearly exploded. Her eyes flew to Jake.
“Keep going,” he urged her.
Jess’s breathing resumed in shallow, rapid pants. Her fingers found the drawer pull.
The rattling broke, then snapped in warning.
Shakily, she slid open the drawer and saw the holster. Slowly, slowly she lifted it out.
With a steady hand, Jake reached for it. The piece barely made a sound as Jake slid it from the holster. He cocked the gun, took aim…BOOM!
Jess jumped as though lightning had struck. Through the ringing in her ears, she heard the snake slump to the floor.
Ranchmen burst into the front room bearing an assortment of impromptu weapons, their manners defensive.
Jake’s voice sounded muted as he told them about the snake. Jess forced herself to stand up, refusing to let the men think her fainthearted. Aware of her audience, she glanced at the snake, then turned to Jake.
“He was just a little snake, Bennett. Surely you didn’t need to blow him in two.”
The men chuckled. Jake eyed her as he reholstered the gun. Jess nodded slightly, silently thanking him for allowing her to save face. She was going to have nightmares for a month.
The ranchmen shuffled out. A few called back their intent to get a few supplies so they could repair the splintered floor.
Seeing Jess’s fingers trembling, Taggart paused in the doorway, then came back and picked up the two large pieces of snake. With a wink to Jess, he headed out again.
“Hey, Dough Chen!” she heard him yell across the yard. “Have ye any recipes for
rattlesnake?”
Her strength having gone out of her, Jess leaned her elbows on the back of the sofa and dropped her head onto her forearm. “That was exciting.”
“More than that,” Jake said.
As she glanced up to determine his meaning, Jake dashed upstairs. He returned moments later with a spare gun belt. Moaning again over her mishap, Jess rested her forehead in her hands while Jake lifted the holster from the desk and slipped it onto the belt.
“I think you’d best wear this from now on,” he said. “I need to know that you have the means to defend yourself if there’s ever a need. Keep only enough rounds chambered to hit what you’re aiming for. Our shooting practice hasn’t given me a lot of hope for your accuracy.”
Jess’s eyebrows rose in mock indignation. “Perhaps I just need a larger target.”
He slid the holster along the belt. “Just how big a target were you thinking of?” His eyes were teasing.
Hers teased right back. “About the size of an irksome rancher, I think.”
Jake stepped up to her, adjusting the belt in his hands. “Then I’d best work on my manners, so that you don’t find me irksome.”
They shared a smile.
Getting back to the matter at hand, Jake’s gaze dropped to the circle of sturdy leather in his hands that was big enough for a large man, then rose doubtfully to Jess’s tiny waist. She watched him with amusement as he slipped the wide leather belt around her.
Jake pulled the end through the buckle until it was snug. Enough belt was left over to go around her a second time.
As he raised his eyes to hers, his expression changed. His fist tightened on the belt.
Suddenly, he felt too close. Jess gave an abrupt half-shake of her head. “Bennett.”
Jake searched her face and then slowly relaxed his grip. After a moment, he pulled the leather free of the buckle and gathered the belt in his hand.
Going over to the desk, he pulled out a knife. He swiftly cut her belt down to size, then poked a few holes through it with the point of the blade. He put away the knife, then handed her the custom-fitted belt, complete with holster and gun.
