by Stacy Henrie
“Can I go? What did she say?” Will asked as he approached.
Jennie frowned at Caleb. “Go where?”
“To church.” Will joined them beside the creek, glancing from one to the other. “Caleb said I could go with him, but I told him to ask you first.”
“I see.” Her knuckles whitened where they gripped the blanket and she glared at Caleb. “This was your idea?”
Caleb forced calmness into his voice. “I meant to ask you before Sunday if it would be all right if I went. I offered to take Will when I saw him reading the Bible just now.”
“Why didn’t you mention this to me?” Jennie turned her glare past him to direct it at her brother.
Will shuffled his feet and stared down at the dirt. “I knew you wouldn’t like it. But I want to go with Caleb.”
The crease on Jennie’s brow deepened. “You want to go back, despite the horrible things people said about us and about Ma?”
Will lifted his chin. “Maybe those people aren’t there anymore. Even if they are, that was a long time ago, Jennie.” He shot a look at Caleb who nodded his agreement. The boy definitely had the makings of a mature young man.
Jennie exhaled a heavy sigh, her eyes focused on something in the distance before she drew herself up. “I suppose if that’s how you feel, you’re welcome to go on Sunday—both of you.” She yanked the blanket off her shoulders and quickly gathered up her things. “You’ll need to hurry back, no socializing for long afterward.”
“Sure thing,” Will said.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Caleb offered. “Your grandmother could come, too.”
Jennie was shaking her head before he even finished. “I’m not coming. More than one person judged our family and our mother with no real knowledge of the situation.”
Caleb tried to swallow back the retort that popped into his head, but he couldn’t. “Kind of like you’re judging them now?” he asked in a low voice.
The air between them went deathly still. Jennie gaped at him for a moment before her face flushed with fury. “I told you he could go. I don’t wish to discuss my church attendance or the absence of it any further, especially with you.” She marched off through the trees, slashing at branches with her free hand and muttering under her breath.
Will blew out a sigh. “Sorry she got mad. Just like I said.”
“I thought that went rather well,” Caleb said with a smirk. “At least she’s allowing us both to go. We can still ask your grandmother if she wants to join us.”
“I bet she’d like that.” Will’s expression brightened. “I’ll ask her first thing when we get back.” He headed away from the creek.
Caleb followed at a slower pace. He wasn’t thrilled about the ride back to the ranch. So much for not ruffling feathers. He’d even entertained the thought of kissing her a few moments ago.
Shaking his head at his folly, he reminded himself that he knew better than to allow another woman into his life right now. He hadn’t completely let go of his feelings for Liza yet, and then there was the guilt he still had over his bounty-hunting days. He’d done things he wasn’t proud of, things he’d done to avenge someone he loved.
No, love and courting were out of the question. They only made a man do foolish things.
Chapter Seven
Jennie watched from her bedroom window as Caleb drove the wagon away from the ranch Sunday morning. Her grandmother sat next to him on the seat and Will lounged in the back. Even from a distance, Jennie sensed their enthusiasm.
Dropping the curtains into place, she turned abruptly from the sight and folded her arms tight against her body.
It’s all his fault, she thought, her thumbnail meeting her mouth. If Caleb hadn’t showed up to “save” her from the stage bandits, if she hadn’t foolishly hired him, everything would be the same. She wouldn’t be so edgy and self-conscious all the time, and the family certainly wouldn’t be trotting off to church.
He wouldn’t have been staring at my lips yesterday, either. Try as she might the memory of Caleb rinsing her hair and watching her mouth, even for a moment, made her pulse speed up in a way that had nothing to do with her anger.
With everyone gone, she left her bedroom and tromped loudly down the stairs, her footsteps echoing in the empty house. Her irritation cooled a little when she found the plate of breakfast food Grandma Jones had set on the back of the stove for her.
Jennie ate slowly, trying to decide how to occupy the next several hours. There were numerous ranch chores to be done, but there was no rush. The family usually rested for a bit on Sunday anyway and she didn’t see the need to change that habit now.
She washed her few dishes, grabbed a book from the parlor and went out on the porch to read in the sunshine. Though early still, the air already felt pleasant.
A single chapter took her much longer than it should have as her mind skipped back and forth from the story to what people at church might say about seeing her family come to services again for the first time in years. Finally Jennie tossed the book onto the rocker and walked to the barn. She could at least ride out to check on the cattle.
She had the saddle on Dandy and was cinching the straps tighter beneath the horse’s belly when the barn door creaked. With quick fingers, Jennie reached for the pistol tucked into the waist of her breeches. Maybe the family had changed their minds about going to church, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Going somewhere, love?”
Nathan stood at the barn entrance, his own horse crowding the doorway behind him.
“As a matter of fact I am,” she said, frowning. She put away her gun, placed her foot in the stirrup and climbed into the saddle.
“Where to?” Nathan swung onto his horse and they fell in step beside her as she and Dandy rode from the barn.
“I’m off to see my cows.” She smiled when Nathan gave a disdainful snort. “You’re back sooner than I expected.”
He nudged his horse close to hers and took her hand, rubbing it against the dark bristles of his face. “Missed me that much, huh?”
Jennie cringed at his touch and firmly removed her hand from his grip. She urged her horse into a trot, but Nathan kept pace.
“So why are you here?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t just to make passes at her.
“Heard about a job last night. They’ll be robbing the northbound stage a week from Friday.”
“That soon?” Her second and third robberies had been several months apart. “How much?”
Nathan grinned, revealing his tobacco-stained teeth. “They think they’ll collect five hundred greenbacks.”
“I’ll do it.” As the words escaped her lips, Jennie clutched the reins harder between her fingers. Excitement, and a small dose of fear, coursed through her at the thought of besting another group of armed men.
“There’s a problem, though.” Nathan’s expression changed from one of enthusiasm to soberness. “They know about you.”
Jennie whirled around in the saddle. “How?”
“Seems you really made Bart mad last week. He got good and drunk the other night and spilled the story to all his friends about a redheaded spitfire who stole his stage money. They’ll be watchin’ for you.”
“Should I pass up the job then?” She desperately needed the money, but she didn’t want to wind up dead, either.
Nathan shook his head. “You’ll be fine. Just be careful. It’s two men and this is their first time robbing a stage.”
“Thank you for the information, Nathan.” She read the silent question in his eyes and knew that he still wanted her to run away with him. He liked her ability with a gun and the adept way she handled bandits—that’s why he wanted her to leave with him. But he didn’t know the real Jennie Jones, the person she was inside. That girl was much more than what he saw—much more than what desperation had driven her to become. She had to be.
“Always a pleasure, Jennie ‘Spitfire’ Jones.” He pulled his horse up short, and Jennie did the same. �
�I’ll be off—unless you got somethin’ else in mind for us to do besides stare at your pitiful cattle.” He winked at her.
“No,” she said with an emphatic shake of her head. She still held to her morals when it came to some things.
“Of course not. You may be an outlaw, but you’re a prudish one at that.” He laughed and wheeled his horse around. “They’ll attack the stage about ten miles south of Cove Fort. Then they’ll hole up for the rest of the day in a cave, just west of there. You can overtake them while they’re hiding out, but you’ll have a good, long ride ahead of you. Make sure you get there in enough time to steal the money before they split at dusk.”
Jennie waved as he galloped away and renewed her course. Her thoughts soon returned to Nathan calling her an outlaw. She didn’t think of herself in those terms. She certainly wasn’t a criminal like these thugs she came up against.
A niggling doubt struggled to free itself, but Jennie quickly silenced it by reviewing the week’s tasks: finish mending the fences, repair the chicken coop and decide what seeds they would plant in the garden.
Before long she located the bulk of the herd, resting in the shade of some juniper trees. She whistled loudly so they wouldn’t be spooked and rode in a circle around the cattle. She observed each cow, checking for any sign of sickness or injury. They appeared to be in good health, besides being a bit skinnier than their cows in the past. She turned Dandy north and began a lazy search for the rest of the cattle.
After a mile or two, she realized she hadn’t run across a single cow since leaving the main group, and she didn’t remember seeing any calves back at the junipers, either. She headed east for a ways, then turned south again, pausing in confusion. Surely all the mother cows wouldn’t have wandered off together.
She returned to the herd for a count. Thirty of the cows were missing, along with all the newborn calves. Which could only mean one thing. Someone had rustled her cows—again.
Jennie yanked Dandy to a stop, causing the horse to pull against the bit. The thieves couldn’t be far away—the calves would slow them down and they’d want to stick near the prairie grass so the cows could feed. She scrutinized the ground, searching for any sign of the rustlers. She nudged her horse in one direction and then another. At last she saw what she’d hoped to, a few hundred yards to the west: patches of trampled grass.
She spurred Dandy forward to follow the tracks until reason caught up with her anger and she pulled back on the reins. Without knowing how many rustlers there were, she wouldn’t know if she needed help or not. Even if she could overtake them and get the cows back, she would have a hard time driving the cattle back to the ranch alone. Yet the prospect of waiting until the others returned from church, allowing the thieves time to move the cattle farther away, made her groan with impatience. If I went and got Caleb at the church, though...
If she hurried, she could make it to the church in less than an hour. Then she and Caleb could fetch his horse and any supplies from the house and head back to the range without waiting for Will and Grandma Jones to come in the wagon.
Jennie pointed Dandy toward town. “Yaw,” she cried, prodding the horse with her heels. Bending low across Dandy’s back, she urged him into a full gallop.
* * *
Jennie found the churchyard empty, except for the waiting horses and wagons. The meeting wasn’t over yet. She slid to the ground and tied Dandy to the nearby hitching post. She ascended the few steps and gripped the door handle, her heart pumping harder with more than fear about losing her cattle.
The memories of the last time she’d been to the little church washed over her and for a moment she couldn’t move. All the things people had said about her mother whirled through her mind. Then she lifted her chin. She was only here to get Caleb and save her cattle.
Swallowing back her fear, she pulled open the door an inch. The murmur of a man’s voice floated out from the church’s main room. Though she meant to slip in quietly, inconspicuously, a sudden gust of wind jerked the door from Jennie’s grasp and sent it crashing against the outside wall. Every person in the room spun around to stare at her.
Jennie nearly bolted back down the steps, but the thought of losing her cows kept her rooted to the spot. She searched the faces of the crowd until she located the surprised but pleased ones of Grandma Jones, Will and Caleb.
“Caleb,” she whispered, motioning for him to come to the door.
He furrowed his brow and tipped his head at the pastor who’d managed to keep to his sermon in spite of Jennie’s interruption.
“Caleb,” she tried again a little louder. But he’d turned forward again.
Someone to her left shushed her, bringing a blush to Jennie’s cheeks. Humiliated but determined, she half crept down the aisle and wormed her way into the family’s pew next to Caleb.
“If you were going for a big entrance, that was it,” he said in a low voice. “I’m glad you changed your mind about coming.”
“Do I look dressed for Sunday services?” She glared down at her trousers, then back up at Caleb. “You need to leave with me. Now.”
Another person behind them said, “Shh.” Jennie gripped the arm of the pew to keep from spinning around and glowering. The room felt too hot, the crowd too close.
“Someone’s stolen my cows,” she hissed into his ear. “I think we can catch them if we go now.”
His eyebrows shot up. “We?” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “Why don’t you get the sheriff?”
That was the last thing she wanted. Her association with stage thugs compelled her to stay far away from any lawman. “Not enough time,” she whispered back. “We have to hurry. You can ride Dandy back with me.”
Caleb exhaled loudly through his nose. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Yes.” She held her breath. If he didn’t help her, she wasn’t sure what she would do.
“All right.”
“Tell Will and Grandma Jones there’s a problem with the herd. We can explain later. I don’t want to worry them too much now.”
Without waiting for him to follow through, Jennie rushed from the pew and toward the door. She couldn’t leave fast enough—both for her cows and for herself. Outside she gulped in air.
She finished untying Dandy as Caleb emerged from the building. “What did they say?”
“Your grandmother said not to let you do anything impulsive.” He walked over, concern evident on his face. “If she thinks I can stop you, then she doesn’t know you well at all, does she? Are you sure you don’t want to go get the sheriff and his men or maybe one of your neighbors here?”
Jennie gave an emphatic shake of her head. “I told you there isn’t time. The tracks they left are still fairly fresh. I think we can catch up to the rustlers if we hurry. Now are you comin’ or not, cowboy?”
Caleb frowned, but swung up into the saddle. “I didn’t leave a perfectly good meeting just to chat.” He leaned down and helped her climb onto Dandy’s back.
Reluctantly, she wrapped her arms around Caleb’s waist as he nudged Dandy into a full gallop and headed for home.
* * *
Jennie tried to distract herself from Caleb’s nearness, from the knowledge of her hands encircling his strong back, by talking. But it sounded like nervous chatter, even to her ears.
“We’ll ride to the house first. And then...then we need to get your horse and your guns. Probably something to eat. I found the cattle’s tracks but didn’t follow where they led completely.”
“We’ll find them,” he reassured. “In the meantime, since you want my help, can I assume you’ve forgiven me for draggin’ your family to church?”
Jennie’s cheeks flamed. Thankfully he couldn’t see her face. “I’m sorry.” This was starting to become a pattern. “I guess I was...” She let her voice trail into silence as she tried to pinpoint why she’d been so angry with him about taking the family to church.
“Afraid?”
“Maybe.” Was she really
afraid of returning to church? Or was it something else, something deeper?
“What do you want to do once we find the rustlers?” Caleb asked, gratefully changing the subject.
Jennie resisted the urge to bite her thumbnail, knowing Caleb would only tease her if she did. She hadn’t really formulated a plan. “We’ll figure that out when we know how many there are.”
“From what I saw the other week on the trail, fewer than six shouldn’t be a problem.”
She smiled at his back. “Are you saying I could have handled those men without your gallant assistance?”
To her surprise he didn’t laugh. “We’ve got to figure out exactly how we’re going to proceed once we track down these rustlers. We don’t know who we’re dealing with here, and things could go south mighty fast.”
“All right. I’ll think of something.”
They rode on in silence as Jennie’s thoughts raced ahead to where the rustlers might be and how to go about stealing back her own cows. Hopefully with a little luck she and Caleb would be able to bring all of the cattle—and themselves—home safe and sound.
Chapter Eight
After collecting his revolvers from his room, Caleb saddled up Saul and met Jennie beside the corral. A lumpy saddlebag, probably holding food and lassos, straddled Dandy’s back.
“You ready?” Jennie asked as she swung back up into her saddle.
Though apprehension had begun to unwind itself inside his stomach, Caleb nodded and climbed onto Saul. He reminded himself he wasn’t operating in his old job as a bounty hunter, tracking down someone associated with Liza’s death. He was simply going to help Jennie rescue her cattle. Without those cows he wouldn’t have a job.
He kept Saul at a gallop, in step with Dandy, slowing his horse only when Jennie did hers. Before long, Caleb recognized the spot where they’d done the branding. Jennie signaled for him to stop.