Buster nodded his head. “Whip’s right. You’re a Little Big Man.”
Toby looked at both men, then put his shoulders back and stretched as tall as he could, a smile never leaving his face.
“Buster, you think we got a horse that would be a fit for Toby here?”
A gasp filled the air.
Buster Walking Tall peered intently at the boy.
Toby held his breath and tried to look like he was big and strong enough for a horse. His chin rose, and he swallowed hard while Buster looked him over.
“You know, Whip, I believe that piebald just might work.”
“A-a pie bald horse, Mr. Walking Tall?” Disappointment edged every word. “A pie bald?”
Buster laughed, then put his hand in the boy’s back and gave him a slight push forward. “You come with me, wicasa tankala, and I’ll introduce you to your horse. Don’t see any reason why you can’t name him either since you’ll be the one riding him.”
Gone was the disappointment. Wonderment spread across his face. He’d take any horse, even a pie bald one. And he’d pick out a name for him, too. Didn’t he pick out his and Jesse’s names? Yes, sir. A horse had to have a fine name, a real fine name. His little brother forgotten, he walked proudly in front of Buster. He’d gone a few feet when realization pummeled him. He stopped short and turned back toward Whip and Heather who still held Jesse, a curled head on her shoulder.
“Uh, maybe I’d better not, if it’s all the same to you, Mr. Walking Tall. You see, I need to stay by my brother. He’s little and he gets scared if he don’t have me close by.” Toby’s head was lowered and the pain he was felt was apparent.
“You go with Mr. Walking Tall, Toby,” Heather said. “I’ll take good care of Jesse.” Seeing him pause, she added, “I promise. I won’t let anything bad happen to him.”
“Well.” The struggle was written on his small face. “Are you sure, Miss Heather? You won’t let anyone hurt, I, uh, I mean you’ll watch him real close?”
“I will,” she solemnly promised. It was all she could do not to wrap her arms around this little one too. But she didn’t. She knew he’d be embarrassed and would resent anyone seeing any weakness or vulnerability in him. Little Big Man indeed.
He turned back to the quietly watching brave. “I guess we could go take a look at that horse, Mr. Walking Tall. I ain’t never seen but one horse, and I’m sure that it wasn’t no pie bald. It weren’t bald at all. Nope, it had all its hair.”
Buster rubbed a hand over his mouth. A muffled sound escaped, and he quickly turned his head, his shoulders shaking.
Whip’s face broke into a grin as he watched the tall Indian brave and the small boy walk toward the corral. Then he turned toward Heather and their eyes met in understanding.
“Bath,” they both whispered.
Like two thieves in the night, they carried the unsuspecting Jesse toward the river. There would be no time to fill a tub. They’d have to make do with nature’s bounty. The sun was hot and the river was cool. Heather had taken many a bath in the Powder River and today she’d take another.
Whip would go back to the cabin and grab a couple blankets, then stay on the bank, his back turned, and keep watch for the protective brother. Heather would slowly wade, whispering words of reassurance, into the inviting water.
And it worked as though planned. The little one in her arms responded like any child would, and momentarily the promise he’d made to his brother never to let anyone bathe him was forgotten in the excitement and newness of the sweet summer day.
Chapter 26
Whip chuckled as he heard splashing and sounds of enjoyment coming from the river. The boy may not speak, but there was no mistaking the shrieks of enjoyment. Whip could only hope Heather was getting at least one layer of dirt and smell off him. The sun felt warm on his back, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and a peace pervaded the riverbank. A day that had started out badly was fast becoming a day he would always remember. He had no way of knowing it would be a day remembered for an unexpected reason.
“Whip!” Heather’s cry broke the bubble of peace.
“Oh my gosh. Whip.” She cried again.
Fear clutched his heart. He could hear something in Heather’s voice that sent a chill through him.
He started toward the river, an icy dread propelling him. “Heather,” he called out. “Heather, I’m coming.”
“No! Stop, Whip. I mean don’t come. That is, come, but don’t look. Darn it, Whip, I need you to come with the blankets, but just hold it out in front of you and I’ll wrap it around Jesse, but DON’T LOOK.”
“Don’t look? Heather, are you all right?” What was going on? How did she expect him to come running without looking? Without even trying, Heather managed to keep him confused and totally off track. Since she’d popped into his life, nothing had been the same.
“I’m okay. Well, that’s an understatement. I’m not hurt, Whip, but I’m sure not okay.”
“Darn it, Heather. You’re not making a lick of sense. I’m not standing here like some dolt with my eyes shut. I’m coming down that bank and—”
“No, you aren’t. You just open up that blanket and I’ll hand you Jesse. You hush up and don’t look, Whip Johnson. I’ll need that other blanket for myself. You and I have a problem,” she said ominously, “and it has nothing to do with our safety, but it has everything to do with the river. Understand?”
“Hell no, I don’t understand. You’ve got two minutes, lady, to wrap blankets around both of you, and then I’m opening my eyes and dragging you away from that river.”
Whip felt one of the blankets being pulled from his grasp, then it was thrust back in his arms loaded with a squirming child. A cold, squirming child.
“Okay, you can open your eyes. We’re both covered.”
Whip slowly opened his eyes not sure what he was going to see. What he saw reassured him. Then he frowned. There was nothing unusual. Nothing to warrant the commotion and panic Heather had caused. Nothing.
“You hold tight to Jesse. I’m going to step behind that bush and finish dressing. Don’t unwrap Jesse, I’ll do it.”
Whip nodded. “Heather,” he called out, “you’re making a big to-do over nothing. This boy looks good and it ‘pears like you did a fine job of scrubbing some of the stink off. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing whatsoever.” He shook his head. “Women, well one woman in particular.” A smile played about his lips as he held the child wrapped to his ears with the blanket.
“Nothing, huh?” Heather asked as she stepped into sight. “Nothing whatsoever, huh?”
“Nope. We got us a clean boy and a beautiful summer day. What more could you ask for?”
“Why nothing,” she said sweetly, too sweetly. “We got us a clean girl and a beautiful summer day,” she repeated.
“That’s just what I said. I don’t know what upset you, but—” He blinked, gulped, and gagged out the next mouthful. “Heather,” his voice weak, “did you say—”
“I sure did, Mr. Johnson. But you’re right on one count. What more could you ask for? Not much, huh?”
“I’m serious, Heather. Now did you say, ‘we got us a clean girl’? A clean girl? A girl?”
She nodded, smiling.
“Naw. You must be wrong.”
Still smiling she shook her head. “Nope.”
He held the child out away from his body, an anguished look on his face.
“Can’t be,” Whip said. “Darn it, it can’t be! Here, take her while I do some thinking.” He thrust the child at Heather.
He walked away, took his hat off and slapped it against his leg muttering to himself. Every few minutes the words, “A girl,” surfaced.
Heather sat down on a rock and began rubbing the child dry.
Whip walked back over and stood peering down at them.
Heather looked up and smiled. “We’ve been hoodwinked, Whip. Outsmarted by a little boy. That’s why Jesse had manure on him, uh her, to keep people away. And that’s
why there could be no bath.” She sucked in her cheeks, her eyes dancing in the sunlight. “Yep. Admit it, Mr. Johnson. Outsmarted.”
Whip looked as if he’d been pole axed. Heather looked as if it was Christmas. Jesse looked as if she’d been scrubbed within an inch of her life. Of the three, Jesse seemed the least perturbed by the revelation. She’d always known she was a girl. What was the big fuss?
“Whip, you’d better go into the cabin and get yourself another cup of coffee. I think your bad day just got a lot worse, Daddy.” She grinned.
“Heather,” he said ominously. “This ain’t no joking matter. I wasn’t too sure I could handle two little boys, but I was willing to try. But I know darn sure I can’t handle no little girl. A working ranch just isn’t a place to bring up a girl.”
“Now, why isn’t it?” Heather’s mouth was firm. “I was brought up on a working ranch, and I think I’ve done just fine.”
“More than fine.” Whip’s eyes softened. “But your Pa had your mother to help. Shoot, I’m by myself, living in nothing more than a cabin, a rough one at that. I’m trying to get a ranch established, and every day wasted brings me one day closer to winter. I’ve got fences to ride and mend, corrals to build, cattle to brand, a bunk house to make winter ready, a—”
“A little boy and girl that have chosen you to lean on,” she finished.
“Dang it, Heather. I didn’t ask to be chosen.”
“No, you didn’t, Whip, I’ll agree to that. But”—she looked tenderly at the little girl sitting on her lap, playing with one of the buttons on Heather’s shirt—“but here they are. I admit you’ve got a problem.”
Both of them fell silent, pondering on the situation.
Then Heather spoke, the words coming haltingly and with some effort. “Whip, we need to join forces.”
“Why, Heather,” he said, tying for a nonchalance he didn’t quite feel, “are you proposing to me?”
“No, you dolt. I’m not proposing to you. I’ll have you know, Mr. Johnson, I’m not so desperate I have to do the proposing. Why, I’ve had lots of men interested—”
“Easy there, Heather. I wasn’t suggesting you weren’t marriageable. In fact, you’re darn marriageable. Too much so,” he muttered under his breath.
“Okay.” She went on somewhat subdued. “I see us needing two things. Well, maybe things isn’t the right word. Hmmm, solutions? Well, things could be part of the solution—”
“For heaven’s sake, woman, get to the point.”
“Okay. The first part of my, uh, my solution, you’re going to like. The second part, well—”
“Heather,” he said, his voice a growl of warning.
“I’ll work with you sharing the responsibility of the brother and sister.” Her hand gently touched Jesse’s head. “We’ll make decisions together and share the load of their care. I think we both agree Jesse needs a mother, uh, a woman’s touch, and whether he thinks so or not, so does Toby. But”—she held up her hand, stopping him from commenting—“Toby also needs you and this ranch. You can see it in his eyes, Whip, he already sees you as his hero.”
Whip said something too low for Heather to hear, not that she was listening. She was too caught up in selling her plan.
“Whip, the way I see it, we have no choice.”
“We have no choice in what, Heather?” he asked warily.
“We have to contact the orphanage and ask to adopt another child.”
Whip reacted like a man just stumbled onto a nest of rattlers. His face whitened, an incredulous look washed across it. The leaves on the tree shook as he yelled back his response.
“NO. Hel—Uh, heck, NO. Are you crazy? Darn it, Heather, I’m looking to you for help, and what comes out of your mouth is some, some cockamamie, downright ridiculous idea. How, and get this in your head, I’m not considering anything, I’m just wondering how your mind’s working, if its working at all, how do you think adding another child to this murky, muddy mess is going to help?”
“Not just any child.” She smiled sweetly, her eyes alive, dominating her face with their radiance. “An older child.”
“Older,” he repeated weakly. He looked at her and knew then that he had no chance, and probably never would, against this captivating woman. He swallowed hard, and fought against pulling her and the child on her lap into his arms. He was weak, him, a Texas Ranger, weak when it came to dealing with this determined, beautiful, delightful, frustrating, creature. Weak. And the realization shook him.
“Older?” he whispered.
“Mmmm, hmmm. It’s perfectly clear. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. It’s perfect.”
“Perfectly clear? Perfect?” he whispered again.
Heather almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Yes. Another older child, a girl, will solve both of our problems.”
“You go on, Heather, don’t mind me. I’m just gonna sit down here and listen to you.” And he weakly lowered himself to a nearby log.
“Whip, you know I need help on the ranch. I’ve been trying to get ahead enough to hire someone. We need help with the kids, someone to accompany Toby over to your ranch to spend the day with you, and every other day or so, to bring his sister with him. She can leave Toby and come back to help me with chores and with Jesse, or, she can stay and help you by keeping an eye on the two of them.”
“Heather.” He shook his head. “You scare me. We have two kids we didn’t plan on and don’t know what to do with and your solution is to get another. You know what really scares me?”
“No.”
“I agree with you.”
“You do?” Wonderment filled her voice. This amazing man kept surprising her.
“Yeah. We’re both too busy to take those two on by ourselves. Although, that little one on your lap doesn’t look like she’d be much of a problem.”
Heather looked down. Jesse was asleep, her small hand curled on Heather’s chest, her lashes resting against rosy cheeks. She did look angelic. But, looks can be deceiving. Her earlier ones were. Heather looked up at Whip and smiled.
The smile tore at him. He got to his feet, shaken by the picture the two of them made. It could have been his wife, his child, had she lived. It could have been, and he turned away from the two of them and took a deep breath. Heather was bringing life too close to him. And he’d managed these past five years by keeping it at arm’s length. The time wasn’t right for what he was feeling for this woman, yet he knew he would never give her up. She was a flower on a winter day, a light in the darkest night.
He turned back to her. “That solves one problem, but we still have another.”
“What’s that?”
“Well now, Heather, if you unwrap that little one, you’ll see the problem bare naked.”
“Oh.” Heather’s voice was a gulp. “No clothes.” She made a face, then smiled.
“How about me borrowing something from you, neighbor?” she asked.
“Are you crazy? I haven’t got anything that will fit that mite.”
“No, but you might have an extra hand that would go over and do my chores and milking while I ride into town and see what Alice has in her store. That would also give me a chance to telegram the orphanage with our request. I’ll stay overnight and wait for their response. With luck, they’ll have just the child we need, and they could put her on the train. Within a few weeks we should have the addition to your small family.”
“My small family. No you don’t, Heather. This is your small family as well as mine.”
Heather had to laugh at the worried expression on his face. Then she took pity on him. He really was rattled by the morning’s events. Big, strong lawman, huh!
“Okay, we’ll share. Now, do you have someone you can spare?”
“Yep. But what about—”He pointed to the sleeping girl.
“I’ll take her with me. Can you handle Toby for a couple days?”
“Heather, right now I’m not sure I can handle drinking this cup of
coffee.”
Chapter 27
“Two? Two?” Alice kept repeating the word.
“Alice, you’re beginning to sound like an echo. “Yes, two. This little one,” she said and motioned to the blanket wrapped bundle she carried, “and a boy, six, going on forty.”
They were sitting in Alice’s small kitchen, two steaming cups of tea between them. Jesse was sound asleep on Heather’s lap, worn out from the day’s excitement and the ride to town.
Alice’s delight and surprise at seeing Heather walk into her store had given way to bafflement as she watched her friend come up to the counter, the blanket wrapped child in her arms. It took only a few sentences for her to realize Heather’s story would require her full concentration. She turned the store over to her helper and led Heather to her living quarters in the back.
Now, tea cup in hand, she was sitting forward, her eyes wide as she listened to Heather tell of the day’s events. She choked with laughter when she pictured the unsuspecting lawman with the sad eyes grabbing the foot of the sleeping boy in the back of his wagon. Then her eyes filled with tears as she heard of that same little boy refusing breakfast if his brother couldn’t eat too. By the time Heather had reached the eventful river bath and the discovery Jesse was a girl, she felt wrung dry from the mountain and valleys of emotions that had filled her.
As she listened to Heather’s next words, she marveled at the fortitude and strength of her friend. Heather was unflappable. She met each crisis life threw at her and dealt with it. Once, when she’d asked Heather how she did it, she was told, “I do it like you would eat an elephant—one bite at a time.”
“Alice, I’m ashamed to say Whip and I took the coward’s way out.”
“Coward’s way? Good Lord, Heather, you sit here at my kitchen table, babe in arms, and tell me you’re taking the coward’s way out. How’s that?”
“Well, that big, brave cowboy and I snuck around the barn and hitched up the wagon as fast and quietly as we could. We wanted Jesse and me well on our way before Toby came back from his horse hunt and found we’d discovered his secret. Honestly, Alice, we weren’t sure we could handle that man-child, much less convince him to let Jesse out of his sight long enough for a trip to town even if it was to get something for her to wear. He’s like a lion with a cub.”
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