Navarro walked to the hearth and squatted. He gazed into the dying fire. “I helped her tend the horses, cook, wash clothes, clean up after those bastards, and wait on them like a slave. They picked on me all the time—pinching, shoving, and smacking—and called me crude names. They loved calling me ‘half-Breed’ for the son of ‘The Breed,’ as the law called him. Carl thought it was funny, thought it would give me backbone and meanness. I never wanted to be like them. I hated them and I hated my father. Sometimes I even hated my mother for being so weak. She endured anything he did to her. When she worked herself into losing her beauty and shape, he started sharing her with his men and treating her worse. Sometimes I tried to defend her or get her to defend herself, but all it got me was a bad licking with a belt. Finally she got the courage to take me and escape to her people—or maybe she was just more afraid of staying.-I was twelve. That’s when I learned she was the daughter of a famous thief in her tribe. They welcomed her back, because she brought along the loot from Carl’s last hold-up. The Apaches do whatever is in their best interest, and they needed money to buy supplies and weapons. Until I was twenty, I lived and trained as an Apache warrior.
“I was a skilled warrior, but they wanted a cunning thief more. My Apache name is Tl’ee K’us; it means Night Cloud. My mother chose it to help me fit in, but I never did. They believe in pure blood, and I didn’t have it. I was a loner, an outcast. I supported my mother, but she was ashamed of me. When soldiers attacked the camp, most were killed or taken to a reservation. I escaped and drifted on my own for three years. I worked my way through Colorado, the Dakota Territory, Wyoming, and New Mexico area, but people were the same everywhere. Nobody wanted a half-breed drifter around. I saw deceit and hatred on both sides, more than I saw good on either. While I was resting at one of my father’s old hideouts, he showed up.”
His eyes hardened and chilled and his body grew taut. “I hated him. I wanted to prove I was a better man, that he couldn’t match my new skills. Maybe deep inside I even wanted to have a showdown with him. I could have outdrawn him and his men. I practiced all the time to be the best. Nobody was ever going to use me or hurt me again. The men knew I, was faster, so they left me alone. I rode with his gang for a while, until I realized how stupid I was being. Six months later, I was gone and he was dead. I can’t say I was or ever will be sorry about that.”
Navarro put his hands on Jessie’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You showed me different, Jess. You showed me goodness, kindness, and honesty. You took away part of the bitterness and anguish I’ve kept inside for years. You taught me I wasn’t worthless. You accepted me for what I am, or what you thought I was. You wanted to bring out the good you believed I had in me. You eased my loneliness and filled my emptiness. You never believed I could be bad. You trusted me. You made me laugh and feel happy. If I hadn’t met you, I would be colder, harder, and meaner by now. I’d be that unfeeling gunslinger you mistook me for in San Angelo. You’ve done all of that for me, but it doesn’t change who and what I am. I have devils inside me, so I have to keep moving or they’ll eat me alive. I’ve lived in torment, Jess, and I can’t let it do to you what it’s done to me. If I stayed, it would. I couldn’t stand to see you gobbled up by demons, too.”
“I can help free you, Navarro,” she promised, hugging him tightly.
“No, Jess, you can’t; nobody can. I haven’t told you all of it. Before I leave, I will. I owe you the truth and more, but answers are the best I can give.”
“I don’t care what you’ve been or done. I know the inside of you, Navarro. Whenever you free yourself, I’ll be waiting for your return.”
“Don’t tie yourself to a burning post, Jess. Your father is gone. Make a new life for yourself. Don’t wait for me to come back,” he pleaded.
“I understand how you’ve suffered, Navarro. But miracles happen. Several happened tonight: the soldiers arrived, the rain came, and you returned. Don’t give up hope. But I won’t pull at you. Just be my friend, and partner…and lover until you must go.”
“How can you want me after all I just told you?”
“You had no control over your birth or the things that happened to you as a child. The things you did later were because you were hurting and bitter. Whatever you haven’t told me yet—I know that’s why you can’t allow yourself to break free. Most of all, I love you.”
Jessie unbuttoned Navarro’s wet shirt, freed it from his pants, and peeled it off his broad shoulders. She unfastened his gunbelt and laid it aside. She stood, pulled her gown over her head, and dropped it. Extending a hand to him, she beckoned, “Come to bed, my love. We have so little time left together.”
The fugitive took her hand and obeyed. He could not resist the magic and power of her very essence. He let her guide him to the bed, where she lay down. Navarro removed his boots and struggled out of his wet pants, then joined her. He watched the candlelight flicker over her face and body. Her auburn tresses were spread over the pillow. Her skin was soft and rosy bronze. Her gaze seemed a darker blue in the shadows, and it enticed him to do more than stare at her.
“You’re so beautiful, Jess.” He lowered his head to kiss the tip of her nose, then trailed his lips across her face and down her throat. His quivering fingers traveled over her receptive terrain, and he explored it as never before. He wanted to visit every inch of her ravishing landscape. He wanted to let her know which path he was taking, the way he couldn’t in this life. His mouth and hands journeyed over firm mounds and silky valleys and sweet ridges until she trembled with urgency for him to seek his way home.
Jessie’s hands wandered over his smooth chest and strong shoulders. They roved his scarred back and taut buttocks. She sent her fingers to play in his damp midnight hair. She pressed his head to her neck and shivered with delight as his lips lavished kisses there. She felt the hard muscles bunched in his arms and across his back. He was a treasure worth fighting for. She grasped his head and guided his searching mouth to hers. She took and gave and shared numerous kisses until she was breathless.
Navarro entered her to brand her as his own, if only for this night. He looked into her lovely face.
Jessie’s fingers traced the lines of his brows as she savored the love and desire she saw mirrored in his hazel eyes. She knew with all her being that he loved her and wanted her. Her fingers began a circular trek, memorizing his features: across his left cheek, along his jawline, past his chin, up the other cheek, along his brow, down his nose, and to his full mouth where they teased his lips. His movements were tantalizing and bittersweet. She was torn between wanting to claim the sweet ecstasy that awaited them at the end of this longawaited journey and wanting their passionate ride to continue forever.
Soon there was no choice in the matter. Their desires ran wild and free. Their kisses and caresses were urgent, demanding, thrilling. Their bodies worked as one; their hearts beat in unison; their spirits soared to heaven together. Ripple after ripple of wondrous sensation washed over them. They didn’t even notice the storm outside for love’s storm that raged within them, and they savored every moment—every sight, sound, taste, and touch—of each other before resting in each other’s arms.
“I love you, Navarro Breed, and I want to share a future with you. Can’t you see now that nothing in your past matters to me. Nothing you can ever say will change how much I love you and need you.”
“It will, Jess; believe me, it will. Soon, I’ll tell you the rest and you’ll understand how impossible our situation is.”
When Jessie awakened the next morning, Navarro was gone. She knew he had intended to sneak out before dawn so he wouldn’t be caught in her room. Yet it would have been so wonderful waking up in his protective and loving arms. She was eager to hear what else he had to tell her; yet she dreaded the truth. She didn’t want to think about why he felt he had to go. In all honesty, it didn’t matter to her. Whatever he had done or whoever he had been in the past was over. Navarro had changed. He had wanted and needed t
o do so and he had, but still he vowed it was too late. Something deep within her said it was the truth.
Jessie left the bed and put on her clothes. She donned a lovely dress and left her hair unbound the way Navarro liked it. She glanced out the window and wondered where he was. The rain had stopped, and the day promised to be beautiful. She made her bed, straightened her room, and went to the kitchen.
No one was up in the house yet. She knew they were all tired. As quietly as possible, she slipped out the door. Jessie saw Navarro standing at the corral with Matt, Carlos, and Miguel. She went to join the men. They looked at her as she approached. Matt’s gaze lingered the longest on her glowing face.
“Navarro, you’re back,” she said to him. “It’s good to see you. Have the boys told you what’s been happening here?”
“Yes, and I told them where I’ve been.” He repeated his tale as if it were the first she had heard of it.
“Thank you, Navarro. We can use your help. Things have been so bad here.”
“I’m sorry about your father, Jess. He was a good man.”
“Yes, he was. Papa would want me to go on, and I will.”
Captain Graham approached and talked for a while. After the officer promised more help if needed, Jessie watched him depart for the fort with his troops.
She noticed how the men easily accepted Navarro’s return and were delighted by his success during his absence. She realized none of them believed Mary Louise’s accusations, and she was glad. Still, she saw that worried look back in Matt’s eyes. Qualms about her wanton secrets nipped at her.
“We’re riding back to the fire site to check on the damage,” the foreman said. “Navarro’s going with us. You want to come along?”
To ease Matt’s concern, Jessie smiled and said, “I’ll stay here. I have a lot to do. I’m sure Fletcher will stand back to see how that fire scare affects me. If he had men spying on us while we were battling that blaze, he knows soldiers are here. He shouldn’t try anything with them around. Hopefully he doesn’t know they’re gone. Make sure he doesn’t get within sighting range of the house. How is the stock faring?”
“No trouble. Some of the boys stayed with them until the storm was over. We’ll graze them in other areas until that section grows back.”
Jessie made certain she didn’t send Navarro too many glances or treat him too special before the foreman and ranch hands. After the men rode off, she returned to the house and joined Gran, Tom, and her sullen sister for breakfast.
Mary Louise finished in a rush, then said she would leave to get her chores done.
Jessie observed her hasty retreat and asked, “Think she’s about to slide backward again, Gran? She was awfully chilly this morning.”
“She’s been strange since she woke up. I think you’re right about letting her leave soon. It will be good for all of us to have some peace.”
“Me, too,” Tom concurred.
“I have a surprise for you, little brother: Navarro is back. He’s out with the boys on the range. You can see him later today.” She told them what Navarro had been up to. “I didn’t want to start a quarrel with Mary Louise until I could tell you two first.”
It was only minutes after that news that the blonde rushed into the eating area and shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me that gunslinger is back? “You know he hates me! He’ll try to hurt me! He can’t stay!” Mary Louise shrieked, her sapphire eyes filled with panic as she wrung her hands.
“Why don’t you apologize and beg his forgiveness?” Jessie suggested.
The girl scowled in anger. “He wouldn’t believe me!”
“Make up a good story to explain your wickedness. You’re skilled at that.”
“This isn’t amusing, Jessica! He’s dangerous. Why did he return? How could you hire him again?”
Jessie began her plan. “Navarro’s been working secretly for us, little sister.”
“Doing what, pray tell?” she scoffed.
“You don’t need to worry your pretty head with dangerous business. Just keep to the bargain we made and you’ll be gone soon.”
“Not soon enough to please me!”
“Navarro won’t harm you. He’s a good man.”
“I don’t trust him!”
“Well, I do, and that’s what counts around here.”
On Saturday, Jessie and most of the hands rode fence and guarded herds. Navarro stayed with Miguel and Carlos, and Matt stuck close to Jessie. Even the bubbly Tom was allowed to ride that morning and he didn’t leave Navarro’s side. Mary Louise remained out of sight as much as possible. Gran observed everyone with keen eyes.
Tom had just returned to the settlement when trouble struck. Masked riders galloped into the yard and fired in all directions to force everyone to take cover while they did their evil tasks. The irrigation troughs from the well to the garden were roped and torn apart. The wooden V’s were dragged and broken, then discarded. Other raiders raced their horses through the garden, trampling and unearthing the tender shoots and vines. They whooped and laughed as they worked to destroy the ranch’s food supply.
Gran grabbed a rifle and shot at the villains, wounding one. The men returned the old woman’s gunfire, and Gran was forced to take cover. But Tom didn’t. He grabbed another rifle and sneaked to the front porch to shoot around the corner. The wounded attacker sent bullets flying in the boy’s direction, and one caught Tom in the shoulder. As the merry band galloped away, Gran hurried to check on her grandson, but Mary Louise stayed hidden in her room.
When Jessie and the others returned home, they found Gran and Hank working on a pale and bleeding Tom. The bullet had been removed, and they were bandaging the boy. They explained what happened. Matt and the hands went to check on the damage.
Jessie hovered over her brother and told him how brave he was. Navarro offered encouraging words to both. The redhead saw how nervous her grandmother was, and she finally told her hysterical sister to get out of the room.
“Me and one of the boys should track them pronto,” Navarro said.
Matt entered as he was making that suggestion and said, “I’ll go with you.”
“I’m done here,” Hank told them. “I’ll get some supplies ready.”
Jessie looked at the two special men in her life. “I’m sending Gran, Tom, and Mary Louise into town where they’ll be safe until we can settle this for good. Fletcher is getting bolder. He thinks that he can win now that Papa’s gone.”
Navarro and Matt vowed to stop him, then left together.
Early Sunday morning, the wagon was ready for the trip into town. Tom and Gran were made as comfortable as possible in the rear, with the boy’s head in his grandmother’s lap and a pillow at her back. Mary Louise sat up front with Davy, while Miguel and Jimmy Joe—excellent shots—rode along as guards.
Jessie kissed Tom and Gran and begged them not to worry. She told her sullen sister good-bye, then waved as the party left. She turned to the remaining men and said, “Let’s see what we can do about repairing those troughs and saving the garden. I don’t know when Matt and Navarro will return. Rusty and Carlos, you two stand guard. Everybody keep your rifles and pistols handy.”
The ground wasn’t as muddy as they expected, since the dry earth had sucked up most of the rain. Big John and Jefferson Clark repaired or replaced the troughs. Hank and Jessie worked in the damp soil to replant any seedlings that weren’t damaged too badly; they filled in with seeds where plants were beyond recovery. They all knew how important the crop was for fresh vegetables in the summer and fall, then canned or dried ones during the winter and spring. A shortage would be costly or ruinous.
The remaining three men—Talbert, Walt, and Pete—rode range to watch the herd. Jessie had ordered them to return home if more trouble struck. She didn’t want them taking chances against greater odds. Stock could be replaced, but men’s lives could not. She prayed Fletcher had done enough damage for one week.
Miguel, Jimmy Joe, and Davy returned on Monday. Jessie’
s family was safe in town. The sheriff had come along, but there was nothing he could do without proof. But Toby Cooper pitched in and helped them that afternoon, then spent the night.
The lawman hadn’t left before Navarro and Matt returned on Tuesday. The two men had trailed the raiders farther and farther south until they guessed the band was heading across the Mexican border to lay low for a while. They decided it was best for them to return before another band made the next attack.
Jessie was relieved to see both Navarro and Matt back safely and told them they had made a wise choice. Guards were positioned around the ranch, and the work continued as everyone waited tensely for their foe’s next move.
Wednesday evening at dusk, Toby Cooper returned with a letter from Jessie’s grandmother. She read it, then looked at Navarro and Matt. “Mary Louise married the bastard,” she cried with growing fury. “My sister married Wilbur Fletcher! She’s coming home tomorrow to get her things and move over there. It’s time for our plan. Sheriff Cooper, if you’ll agree, our war can end this week. Listen to what we say; then help us get the evidence you need.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jessie watched her sister as she packed her belongings. “How could you do this, Mary Louise? You know what kind of man he is.”
“Yes, I do. He’s rich, educated, handsome, and powerful. And he’s most virile,” she added with a sly smile. “I told you I was leaving soon. When Wilbur proposed, I jumped at his offer. He’ll give me the wonderful life I deserve.”
“What will you do when he kills all your family to get this ranch through you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jessica. Wilbur is tired of all this bickering and troubles. As soon as he finds a buyer for his ranch, we’re moving back East. He has family there and several businesses. I’ll have the life I’ve always wanted.”
“He told you he’s leaving?”
Follow The Wind Page 33