The darkness swallowed the area whole. Not one thing was visible. Tossing the rifle to Cook, she slipped on her boots, grabbed the long whip and bridle and ran for her horse.
The ground started to rumble under her feet. Without taking the time to saddle the mare, she slipped the bridle on and swung up onto the animal’s bare back.
If the cattle started stampeding, every man available would be needed to mill them. If they lost control, they could lose everything.
Another flash of light exposed her worst fear. The cattle had panicked and were running. Leaning low, she dug her heels into the horse’s ribs and raced to the front of the herd. Behind her, someone called her name.
Jackson rode up next to her, leaned in as close as he could and yelled over the terrified herd. “I’m going to the front. Stay behind me, use your whip and push them to the left.” His voice carried above the chaos. “But keep your distance.”
She nodded. He was trusting her to do this. To help mill the herd and get them back into control.
Her heart rate pounded against her ears, and her breathing became erratic. Taking a deep breath, she reined in her emotions. Her father’s voice reminded her to stay calm.
The horns clashed as they ran into each other. Hooved bodies created a tidal wave that would swallow anyone who got in the way and spit out the pieces.
White eyed, crazy longhorns were heading straight to the edge of the canyon ridge. Up ahead someone shot a gun into the air. It was too dark to spot anyone, but firing a gun into the night sounded like a bad idea to her.
She flicked her whip over her head and popped it in the air. The sky opened, and the humidity gave way to heavy sheets of rain.
Rory rode past her, calling out to scared cattle, helping her force them to the left. If they could get the lead steers to turn, they could slow them.
She pushed her mare faster as she snapped the whip again, careful not to get too close. Her heart jumped to the top of her throat when she felt her mare stumble. Leaning her weight against the reins, she worked to keep them both balanced.
The muscles in her thighs started quivering. Without a saddle, the pressure of her thighs was the only thing keeping her on the horse.
A long piece of deadwood was in front of them and the mare jumped it with ease, not missing a beat even though Sofia’s heart might have missed two. On her left, a steer went down and was trampled by the others.
Another spiderweb of light crawled across the thick clouds. Will joined Rory ahead of her.
Jackson was in front of them. Will had cut into the herd. His horse was trying to stay up. He lifted his gun and took aim at one of the lead steers. What was he doing?
Rory yelled, but his words died under thunder and bellowing cattle. He followed Jackson’s example and snapped a long whip over his head, trying to mill the scared herd into themselves.
The hard, dry ground became a slippery mess. Sofia’s stomach rolled, but she didn’t have time to think about that now.
Her hat flew off in a gust of wind. The rain pushed her hair into her eyes, and she didn’t have a free hand to move it. Her mare was doing everything she asked of her without fear or hesitation. She needed to do the same. Jackson was trusting her. She was part of the team.
One of the larger steers swung his horns and jumped to the right, crashing into Will’s horse.
Everything was moving too fast. Will took aim at the animal, but another hit sent his shot wild. Her heart and lungs froze when Rory jerked. His horse stumbled.
“No!” Will’s shot had hit Rory.
Digging her heels into the heaving side of her mount, she leaned over her neck and pushed the mare to rush at Rory. His horse lost his footing. Screams from cattle and men mixed. Sounds that would haunt her dreams filled the valley.
Will and the horse he was on disappeared under a pack of crazed cattle. She reached for Rory as his horse went out from under him. Using all her strength, she launched herself backward hoping it was enough to pull him across her mare. She had miscalculated. His weight threw her off balance. She knew if she didn’t jump to the right, they would all go down under the deadly hooves.
With as much force as her body could gather, she threw herself away from the herd. One moment she was flying, the next her body was jerked and pounded by the ground. Up and down, the world became a whirling blur of images. Tucking her head under her hands was the only protection she could control.
Sofia couldn’t tell if it was rocks or hooves thrashing her body. Without warning, the ground disappeared and she was falling through air. Curling into herself, she waited for impact.
* * *
Jackson pushed the lead steer away from the ridge, forcing the herd to mill into itself. He glanced behind him. Clint, Eli and Red were riding alongside the herd, keeping the steers contained. Rory and Will had been right behind him with Santiago. All three were missing now.
He stood in his saddle and scanned the area, but it was too dark to really make out anything. At least the quick storm had already passed through, leaving a soggy mess.
He called out to them, but no reply came back. Will had been shooting into the air, trying to turn the herd. Idiot. That just made everything worse.
Estevan and Red rode up to him. Clint had stayed back, singing to the restless but now exhausted cattle.
“Did you see Rory or Tiago? Will is missing, too.” Fear burned in his gut. “What about Sam and Eli? Where are they?” He had too many men missing. And Tiago. Where was she? He had told her to keep her distance.
He swallowed hard and used every aching muscle to chain down the fear and...nothing. To get his job done, he couldn’t afford to feel. His stomach churned and his jaw burned.
Red nodded. “Sam and Eli are in the back keeping the herd calm.” He looked around. “I haven’t seen Will and Rory since we mounted. They were ahead of me.”
Estevan was covered in mud, and blood dripped from a tear in his pants. “I saw Tiago ride in to help.” He glanced over the herd. “Where is he now?”
He had to relax his jaw in order to talk. “We need to find them. Last I saw them, Will was waving a gun around and had gotten too close to the stampede. I think Rory was going in to help him. I had the herd turning at that time and lost track of them.” He reined his horse to the right. “We need to find them.” He called out their names again.
“Boss, it’s dark. I don’t think we’ll be able to find a thing out there.”
Spinning his horse to face Red, Jackson’s face was tight with anger. “We are not leaving till we have everyone!”
Red nodded. “Of course. Why don’t you and Estevan start looking, and I’ll start digging. It’ll save us time in the morning.”
Jackson pushed his horse into Red’s mount. Fire burned in his gut. “We are not digging graves. We will find them.”
Estevan moved in between the men. “Jefe, he didn’t mean anything by that. You know the realities of the trail. If a horse goes down in the middle of a—”
Jackson cut him off with a glare. “No one is digging a grave. We will find them before the sun comes up. Alive.” Water dripped from his hat.
Estevan cut his eyes to Red, and nodded. “Sí, sí. We will find them.”
Taking a deep breath Jackson moved back. “They were over there the last time I saw them.” He couldn’t afford to lose it. He was the boss, and he knew the dangers of the trail. They all did.
“Red, go check on the others. Let them know to keep an eye out for them. Estevan, go check on Cook. Make sure he’s good. They might have gone there if they were hurt.” He moved his horse closer to the ridge. “I’m going to check to see if they went over and are now trapped.”
He dismounted and walked to the edge. “It’s not that far of a drop. As long as their horse didn’t fall on them or any cattle jumped with them, they’ll
be fine.” He knew he was lying to himself, so did the cowboys, but no one argued this time. As long as they didn’t have a body, they had hope.
“Please God, I know I haven’t been on good terms with you, but I need to find her whole and healthy. I don’t know how to ask other than I’m willing to beg.” His prayers had gone unanswered last time, but it had been too late when he found his family. They had been dead for hours.
There wasn’t a prayer that could have brought them back. Tiago was still out there. Hopefully, still alive. Will and Rory also. He added them to his prayers.
He didn’t know what else to do. The humidity was heavy on his shoulders as he walked his horse up and down the area. Every once in a while, he stopped to call out to his missing crew.
There was no returned greeting. Just the night sounds of cattle settling in and the swollen river below.
Tiago was so small. He couldn’t leave her out there by herself. Laying the reins against the horse’s neck, he turned and went in the other direction. If she was unconscious, she wouldn’t hear him.
“Jefe.” Estevan rode up to him. The mud was gone, and he had on a clean pair of pants. Well, as clean as could be when a person was living out of a saddlebag. All the blood was gone.
“How’s the leg? We don’t need you getting an infection.”
“I’m good. Cook and the wagon were safe. Two Bit wasn’t there. No Rory or Will, either.” Estevan moved his horse in front of him, stopping his progress. “Jefe, you need to go in and change your clothes. You won’t do anyone any good if you get sick.”
He shook his head and moved his mount around the wrangler. The shoulder of his big horse pushed the sorrel back. “I’m not going in until I find them.”
“Sam and Clint have the herd. Red, Eli and I will look for the others.”
Horse hooves sounded behind them. Jackson’s heart jumped in anticipation. They both turned. Hope that his prayers had been answered. He closed his eyes when he saw it was Red.
“Clint found Will.” A grim face and one shake of his head confirmed what they feared. Shreds of ice stopped Jackson’s heart.
“Is it okay if I start digging a grave for him?” Red’s voice was low and hesitant.
Jackson nodded. “Do you know if he had family? Anyone we need to inform?”
Red shook his head. “I’ll check his belongings to see if he had any letters or such.”
“Okay. I’m going to keep looking.” His mind was numb. He should have made her go back to the wagon when he saw her riding into the stampede, but he thought she was skilled enough and smart enough...
On the ground, he saw something. Rushing to it, he picked up the beaten felt hat. Not much was left. It was Tiago’s. He scanned the area.
To his right, on the edge of a thick tree line, he spotted the outline of a horse. The mare Tiago rode.
Mounting, he kicked his horse and rushed to the scene. Head down, the mare stood over a body. Blood ran from a cut on the bay’s shoulder.
Not waiting for his mount to come to a stop, he swung his leg over and ran to the form on the ground. The horse lifted its head, the reins dangling.
Falling to his knees in the mud, he found Rory. Blood puddled in the mud under his head. As careful as possible, Jackson turned him onto his back, checking for a heartbeat and breathing, anything to give hope for life.
Under his head was a rock, stained red. Rory moaned, and relief flooded Jackson. Then he saw the blood on the young Irishman’s shoulder.
A horse came thundering at him. Estevan pulled his horse to a sliding stop in the mud and dismounted in one smooth action. “Is it Tiago? Is he alive?”
The wrangler landed on his knees. “It’s Rory.” Then Estevan looked up at the horse. “That’s Two Bit’s horse.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but we found Rory so we’ll find Tiago. I found his hat.” Jackson spoke with more confidence than he felt. “We need to get Rory to the wagon.”
Rory rolled toward Jackson, reaching for him. “Tiago...” He tried to sit up, then fell back, gripping his shoulder. “Pulled me off my horse when it went down, then disappeared.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “I think she jumped.”
Estevan looked up, confusion on his face. “She?”
“He’s talking about the horse. The horse went down.” His heart wedged itself in his throat. Rory knew. “Where did Tiago go down?”
With a grimace, he nodded. “Yes, Tiago, fell somewhere in the herd. Just swallowed up. I tried to...” He fell back again. “Will shot me. It was an...accident. Where is he?”
Estevan shook his head, then turned to Jackson. “I’ll take care of him. You look for our little Two Bit.”
Rory sat up with Estevan’s help and gripped Jackson’s arm. “Find...him.”
“I will.” He prayed God let him find a living breathing Tiago, not a cold battered body, but it didn’t look good.
Standing, Jackson went to his horse. He couldn’t give in to the possibility that she was gone. He’d be on the back of this horse until he found her. He went south for a bit, then turned back to the cattle. When she didn’t turn up, he started all over. She would be safe in camp by the time the sun came up.
The tightness in his chest threatened to strangle his breathing with each step he took without her in his sight.
His throat was raw from calling, praying and begging. Begging Tiago to respond. Begging God for intervention and making deals.
His father taught him that God didn’t negotiate. Praying to live in peace with God’s will was the only thing one could do. But he hadn’t known a seed of peace for five years now.
After hours of searching the ridge and walking through the now quiet herd, Jackson turned his horse to the wagon. She didn’t have a horse, so maybe she made her way back on foot.
The sun was edging its way over the distant hills. The morning air was still and heavy after the storm of last night.
The chill from his damp clothes caused him to shiver. He needed a new horse to continue the search, and now that the sun was joining them, he could get the others to cover more ground.
The smell of breakfast reached him before he was close enough to see it. Scanning the area, he couldn’t find any sign of Tiago. The first thing he was going to do when he found her was force her to tell him her real name.
Estevan rushed to him, a question he hesitated to ask burned in his eyes.
Jackson, shook his head. “I haven’t found him. Yet.” He was going to find her if it took the rest of his life. “I was hoping he made it back to the wagon.”
“Nope. Rory wants to go lookin’ for him, but he’s got a bullet hole right under his collarbone.”
Clint and Sam rode up to the campfire. “The herd is settled. There were a few that ran off into the trees. We gathered most of ’em. Red has Will in the ground. You want to lead us in a prayer at his grave site?”
Tired, cold and numb, Jackson wanted to yell no. He wanted to find Tiago and hold her. His gaze darted over the men who looked at him.
They waited. For what, he wasn’t sure. Maybe words of encouragement? They would have to keep waiting. He had none.
He looked off to the newborn sunrise. “I’m getting a fresh horse, and I’m looking for Tiago.”
“If we stay too long, we’ll be late getting to New Orleans.” Sam looked at Cook and Estevan. All three turned to Clint.
Clint shrugged and spit. “Sir, with all due respect, the kid’s gone. He came off a horse in the middle of a stampede. We’ll be fortunate to find enough to bury him.”
Jackson had him by the collar of his shirt, pushed up against the wagon. Jaw locked down, he held back the desire to slam his fist into Clint’s face.
“Tiago, is out there.” He lifted Clint, the terror on the man’s face didn’t slow Jacks
on, but the pressure on both arms did. Sam and Estevan were on either side of him, pulling at his arms.
“Jefe, we’ll find him.” The younger man hooked his arm around his waist with the other on Jackson’s arm. “You’re wasting time if you beat up Clint.”
His chest expanded hard and heavy, Jackson relaxed his hands and stepped back. Clint wiped his sleeve over his face. “I didn’t mean nothing by it, boss. Just the reality of the trail. You’re actin’ as if that kid was your own. He’s just some orphan who ain’t got no family to miss him.”
Jackson growled and pulled back his fist. Before he could knock the callous idiot flat, Estevan stopped the lurch of his arm. “Jefe, keep focused on the mission. Go find the kid. We’re already two men down.” He turned to Clint. “Go get a fresh horse.”
Without hesitation, the cowboy ran to the horses.
Rory stood. “I need a horse, too. The kid risked his life to save mine, and I couldn’t hang on to him. He slipped right out of my grip. He has to be out there, alive.”
Bloody and bruised, the charming Irishman looked like an ogre. Jackson looked at the other cowboys. Even Cook returned his stare with a deep sadness.
It was the same look everyone back home had given him when he went into town after the death of his family.
He had wanted to start over. Had wanted to escape the pity and guilt. There was no escape.
God, I don’t get it. Did I do something so wrong that everyone I care about dies?
The men stared at him. They all knew the truth. She was gone.
He made her a promise that he wouldn’t put her in the ground. Now he didn’t even have a body to bury. Clint brought a black-and-white paint to him. “Boss, I’m going to check the herd. I’ll keep an eye out for Two Bit.”
Jackson made sure to smile and nod a thanks to the nervous man. It wasn’t Clint’s fault he lost her. He rested his hand on the neck of the new mount. Estevan switched saddles for him.
“You might still find him.”
“We both know the chances of that are slim to none.” With nothing else to say, Estevan left. Cook disappeared, leaving Rory to watch him fall apart.
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