She tried to ignore the unraveling feeling trickling through her chest. Daylight would help her make sense of things. Tomorrow would be better.
Chapter 7
The weak light at dawn could hardly be called day. Evelyn awoke to storm clouds, overhead and in the camp. Maddie wasn’t speaking to anyone, not even Evelyn. It was as if their closeness the evening before had never happened. Evelyn had no idea what she had done, and Maddie gave her no opening to ask. The child, glaring and pinch-mouthed, boiled like a teakettle.
Jamie ate as if he hadn’t seen food in a month and bounced at Gareth’s side, waiting for him to finish his bacon and biscuits.
Gareth had a watchful look, an arrow of concern between his brows as he studied his family. Evelyn tried to keep from meeting his eyes, tried to forget what it felt like to be in his arms, to surrender to his kiss and feel his fingers on her skin, his hands in her hair. This morning, everything about him appealed to her.
Stop it.
He looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept any better than she. Sleep had eluded her completely until she heard him crawl into his bedroll beneath the wagon after his shift with the herd ended. Restless, dream-filled hours followed. Several times she jerked awake, heart pounding, stalked by the feeling that she’d lost something precious.
Her muscles protested both the damp cold and the time she’d spent on a horse the previous day. If she hadn’t been a lady, she would’ve groaned with each movement.
Gareth rose and tossed the dregs of his coffee cup onto the fire. He glanced at the swollen, gray bellies of the clouds, turning his head when the low rumble of thunder rolled over them. “Time for us to head out. Jamie and I are going to bring in cattle today, so we won’t be back until late.”
Her mouth went dry. “Perhaps it would be best if Jamie stayed here today. The ground will be slippery if it rains, and he could catch cold if he gets soaked.”
“He’ll have a slicker to help keep him dry. With the weather getting woolly, we’re going to need every hand.”
“I can help.” Maddie tipped her empty plate into the washtub. “Please, Pa?”
Evelyn didn’t know what to hope for. If he said yes, she’d spend the day worrying about all three of them, but if he said no, Maddie would be crushed.
“Thanks, Maddie, but I think you’d be best off here. Evelyn and Muley will need your help getting the tarp set up and stowing all the bedrolls.”
“Let Jamie stay. I’d be more help than him with the cattle.”
“I’m done talking about this.” He leveled a stare her way. “Jamie will ride out with me, and you girls will stay here.”
Maddie deflated and sat down hard on the wagon tongue.
Evelyn knotted her fingers at her waist. “Be careful.”
“Always.” He looked as if he wanted to say something more to her, but he shrugged and turned to her son. “You all set, Jamie?”
“Sure thing, Pa.”
“Then let’s go, pard.”
A scream ripped through the camp. Muley’s ladle clattered to the ground and cowboys came running.
Evelyn forgot her sore muscles and jumped up. “Maddie, what’s wrong?”
“Everything. Why did you have to come here? You’ve ruined everything.” Two fat tears erupted over her lashes and raced down her cheeks.
Gareth, who had run to her side, frowned and put his hands on his waist. “Madelyn Kittrick, that’s enough. You’ve no call to talk like that.”
A sob burst from her thin chest. “I hate you. I hate you all.” She whirled and ran toward the creek, the sound of her footsteps failing to muffle her crying.
Evelyn closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. This was exactly what she wanted to talk to Gareth about last night, but she’d allowed him to distract her.
Jamie looked from Evelyn to Gareth and back again, a guilty, confused expression on his little face. Gareth’s scowl turned to one of bewilderment, and he started after his daughter.
Evelyn reached for his arm. “Don’t. Let her be.”
He stopped. “What on earth has gotten into that child?”
“Jamie, why don’t you go find Rimfire?” Evelyn inclined her head. “He’s over by the horses.”
The boy took a couple of steps and turned back, his brows bunched and his hands shoved into his back pockets. “Did I do something wrong?”
She gave him a tight smile. “No, Jamie. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it sorted out. You run along.”
Gareth removed his hat and scrubbed his head. “Do you know what this is about?”
Evelyn tugged on her lip, weighing her words. “I think she’s jealous, and I can’t say that I blame her.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? From all accounts, you two were inseparable before Jamie and I landed in your lives. You took her with you everywhere and treated her more like a son than a daughter. Then Jamie and I arrive, and suddenly she has to change everything. The way she dresses, her hair, her chores, her manners, her skills. And all the things she used to do with you? Jamie does them now. It’s like you don’t need her anymore. I’d be more than a little upset, too.”
“I never said I didn’t need her anymore. I never even thought it.”
The hurt in his eyes made her want to hug him, but she forced herself to stand still. “Did you ever tell her otherwise? This is what I was trying to talk to you about last night, that Maddie could use a little of your attention.”
He replaced his hat and tucked his fingertips into his back pockets. “I never thought of how she might be taking all of this. I knew she’d have to adjust to things, just like the rest of us. I’d better go talk to her.”
At that moment the clouds opened, releasing a torrent of rain and a howling wind that buffeted Evelyn, the more so for being so quick. They went from anticipating rain to the teeth of a severe thunderstorm in one clap. Lightning cracked, striking so close the light dazzled Evelyn. Thunder roared, vibrating the earth, shaking its way through the soles of her feet and right to her core.
“The cattle are stampeding!” Rimfire shouted from the picket line. Cowboys ran, leaping astride their horses and tearing out of camp.
Gareth grabbed Evelyn as another bolt of sizzling lightning scorched the air. “Get Maddie and get in the wagon. We’ve got to hold the cattle, or they’ll scatter all over the range!”
“Where’s Jamie?” She clutched his arms, shaking her head to clear her eyes of the rain sluicing down. The place where Jamie’s pony had been tied stood empty. Fear closed in around her heart and squeezed all the air out of her lungs.
Gareth shook her. “I’ll find him and send him back. Go get Maddie and get under cover!”
He disappeared into the downpour, and Evelyn found herself stumbling toward the creek, calling Maddie’s name between rolls of thunder.
Evelyn found the child sobbing on the muddy creek bank, in so much agony of spirit she seemed oblivious to the downpour or the danger. The narrow, chuckling waterway of yesterday boiled and foamed in a brown, menacing snarl, already on the rise.
Half dragging Maddie, Evelyn stumbled back to the camp. She boosted the child into the wagon ahead of her then clambered up, hampered by her sodden skirts. Rain lashed the canvas cover and wind rocked the wagon.
“Get out of those wet things.” Evelyn’s teeth chattered as she fumbled with the buttons on the back of Maddie’s pinafore. “You’ll catch your death of cold.”
The girl hung her head, water streaming from her braids. She made no effort to help until Evelyn shook her shoulder. “Hurry up. I’ve still to change, and Jamie will be here soon.”
At the mention of Jamie’s name, Maddie flinched, but her hands came up to remove her wet clothing. Evelyn snatched up a pair of rough towels and began rubbing the little girl down. “Wrap this around your hair and get into dry clothes.”
Once dry and re-dressed, Evelyn pulled Maddie close, sat down on the bed, and wrapped a quilt around their shoulders.
Evelyn jerked awake. The thundering of her heart filled her ears, and her right arm was numb and heavy. Blinking, she found Maddie’s head pillowed on her shoulder. Gently, she eased herself from under the child and sat up. The last thing she remembered thinking was that she mustn’t fall asleep before Jamie returned.
Jamie.
Had he come back while she slept?
Opening the back flap of the wagon cover, she poked her head outside. A soft rain fell, puddling and running, but the worst of the storm appeared to be over. How long had she been asleep? She rubbed her eyes.
Muscles still stiff, she creaked her way to the ground and skirted puddles, hurrying to the canvas tarpaulin Muley had erected over the campfire. Three cowhands squatted there, cupping their hands around their coffee mugs. Water dripped from their hats and chaps. Muley poked the fire under a steaming cauldron of stew.
“Have you seen Jamie?” She ducked under the shelter. “I fell asleep and missed his return. I hope he got into dry clothes.”
Muley shrugged and spit into the grass. “Haven’t seen him.”
One of the cowboys stood, his hat bumping the canvas overhead. “Last I saw of him, ma’am, he and Gareth were trying to corral a bunch of steers and turn ’em back. Lightning struck right in the middle of the herd, and every last bovine scattered.”
“What time is it?” She instinctively glanced at the leaden sky, but the heavy clouds hid the position of the sun.
Muley slid his watch into his palm. “’Bout two.”
Two o’clock? She’d slept for more than six hours, her sleep-deprived night before catching up with her.
And Jamie hadn’t come back. Anger burned hot and bright in her middle, but not at her son. Gareth had promised to send him back to the camp where he would be safe. She’d had enough of her husband discounting her fears and ignoring her wishes. When she saw him again, she was going to blister him, and no mistake.
“Rider coming.” Muley spat again.
Out of the obscuring rain, a dark form emerged.
“That’s Coffee. Jamie must be coming in.”
Relief coursed through her. Her son was safe.
Instead of stopping at the picket line, the animal charged into camp, jerking and skittering. One of the cowboys ran out into the rain to grab the bridle.
Her heart clogged her throat.
The saddle was empty.
Chapter 8
I’m going, Rimfire, and that’s all there is to the discussion.” Evelyn tugged on a pair of gloves. Maddie led two saddle horses through the drizzle. “I can’t sit by and do nothing when my son is out there somewhere on foot, maybe injured.”
“You don’t know that for sure. Maybe the pony just got loose. He’s probably riding double with Gareth right now, headed back to camp.”
“And you don’t know that for sure.” Evelyn fumbled with the stirrup, trying to remember everything Maddie had taught her while her thoughts raced across the prairie to wherever her son was.
“The boss will kill me if I let you ride out on the search.” Rimfire contradicted his words by giving her a boost into the saddle. “If you’re determined to go, then follow the creek upstream. Thataway you can always get back to us here. Don’t try to cross the stream. It’s running a banker.”
Her horse sidled, tossing its head and stamping. Maddie, already mounted, lifted her reins. “Let’s go.”
“Be back here before dark!” Rimfire’s shout carried after them as they galloped away.
Evelyn clung to the saddle horn and a fistful of wet mane. Her horse followed Maddie’s like a coal car behind an engine. As they rode, her mind settled into one long string of “Please, Lord” prayers, and she tucked her chin into the collar of the enormous slicker Rimfire had given her. Rain pelted her and streamed off the wide brim of the hat the foreman had insisted she take. And how glad she was he’d insisted on the headgear. Her bonnet would’ve soaked up the rain and turned to a sopping mess.
Maddie plunged on, checking over her shoulder from time to time to see that Evelyn still followed. Clad in a pair of Jamie’s overalls and checked skirt, she rode like a cowboy.
“Thank You, Lord, for Maddie’s abilities. I’d be lost without that little girl.”
They traveled forever. Her hands and feet went numb from the cold, and her backside ached from pounding the saddle. And the rain never quit, though it varied in intensity. At last, Maddie pulled her mount to a halt.
“We’re going to have to turn back if we want to get to camp before nightfall.” Her freckles stood out on her pale, wet face.
“Can’t we go a little bit farther?” The idea of returning to camp without her son terrified Evelyn.
“Maybe one of the other riders has already found them and brought them in.” The girl raised her voice to be heard over the rain.
A spark of hope lit in Evelyn’s chest. Maybe Jamie was safe beside the fire, listening to Muley’s growling and filling up on hot stew. “All right. We’ll turn back.”
Maddie wheeled her horse expertly, and Evelyn let her horse have its head, hoping it would follow and grateful when it did. She cast one last look over her shoulder toward the hills rising before them, and a flicker of gold caught her eye.
“Maddie, wait.”
Standing in her stirrups, Evelyn stared hard through the rain and growing gloom. There it was again.
“I think I see a fire.”
Maddie rode up beside her, squinting and swiping the water from her face. “If Jamie was hurt bad in a fall, Pa would camp and make a fire, I bet.”
Weakness trickled through Evelyn’s limbs. Jamie might be too injured to move. Her mind froze, and she kicked her mount, yanking him around and urging him toward that flickering light much too fast for the wet, slippery ground. Maddie joined her, leaning over her mount’s neck and slapping him with the ends of her reins.
The tiny glow in the distance grew larger, until Evelyn could make out the flames of a campfire under a rough shelter. All her attention focused on the slicker-covered pallet beside the fire, and she almost forgot to pull her horse up.
She was off her horse and kneeling beside the makeshift bed before she realized it wasn’t Jamie’s broken body under the slicker.
Gareth lay, pale and tense, his hands fisted and dried blood crusted to his cheek.
“What happened?” She lifted the edge of the slicker. His left leg, lashed to two sticks and bound with strips of blanket, had swollen up like a balloon.
“Evelyn?” His voice rasped. “How’d you get here? Did Rimfire come?”
“No, it’s just me and Maddie. Oh, Gareth, what happened?” A powerful fear and concern for him swept over her, nearly toppling her, followed by a wave of love. She loved this man, and it was too late to stop it. And here he was injured and maybe dying, and how would she survive if God took him from her?
“Where’s Jamie? Is he with you?”
“I’m here, Ma.” The boy staggered in with an armful of twigs and sagebrush. “Pa’s horse stepped in a hole and broke its leg. He landed on Pa’s leg and twisted it some. Pa had to shoot the horse.” The brush clattered to the ground, and he dusted off his sleeves. “When I was rigging this shelter and getting Pa onto that bed, lightning scared Coffee, and he ran off.” Jamie squatted beside the fire, poking up the blaze and adding fuel that hissed and smoked.
“You made this shelter and started a fire? All by yourself?”
Jamie shrugged and nodded. “Wasn’t hard. Pa told me what to do.” Right before her eyes, her son shed a layer of little boy and put on a cloak of capable young man.
Evelyn bit her lip, tugged off her gloves, and removed her hat. “Maggie, you’re going
to have to ride back to camp and have Muley bring the wagon. Your father can’t ride.”
Maggie wrapped her horse’s reins around her wrist and knelt beside Gareth’s bed. “I’m staying with Pa. Jamie can ride back for the wagon.”
Jamie was on his feet in a flash. “I’ll go. I can do it, Ma.”
She didn’t miss the fact that he was calling her Ma and not Mama as he always had. He was so confident, so eager to go, she hardly recognized him. He’d grown up overnight. No, not overnight, she corrected. He’d been growing up and maturing since the day they arrived in Sagebrush; she just hadn’t wanted to admit it. Something shifted inside her, illuminating a dark corner of her heart. Her tight mother’s grasp of her son loosened a notch, and though it would cost her, she knew she needed to let him do this. And she knew that God would take care of him, as He always had. Gareth had the right of it, modeling for her son the truth that God was in control, that He was sovereign. It wasn’t her job to try to hold the universe together.
“All right, Jamie. If you follow the creek, you can’t get lost. Take my horse.” She couldn’t resist giving him a hug before he mounted, but she forwent a kiss. “Be careful, son.”
“I will, Ma. Don’t worry.”
She watched after him until she could no longer hear the plopping hooves of his mount or see him through the rain. Blinking and gathering herself, she ducked under the shelter, edging around Maddie, who was adding twigs to the embers. They’d need to scout for more fuel to keep the fire going until Muley arrived.
Kneeling beside her husband, she touched his shoulder. “Gareth, where else are you hurt?”
His eyes opened, and his hand came up and captured hers. “Other than some bruises, just the leg. It’s not broken, only wrenched.”
“You’re sure?”
“Sure as I can be. Now, would you explain how you two happen to be riding around in the rain? What was Rimfire thinking?”
“He said you’d be mad, but he couldn’t stop us, not once Jamie’s pony showed up without him. Maddie led the way, and I followed.”
Where the Heart Is Romance Collection Page 49