He prayed for forgiveness and had the sense that not only did the Almighty forgive Him, but the good Lord sympathized. Maybe even laughed.
It wasn’t that hard to quit thinking about his stubborn boss, considering he was half dead from exhaustion. He shooed the loafers along faster. The sun set before he was halfway up. But the worst of the slides and cliffs were behind him. The cattle could smell water now, and that picked up their speed more than all his hard riding.
By the time he topped the mountain, it was full dark. The stars were out and the temperature had plunged like it always did in the high country. He practically stumbled when he unsaddled his horse.
Then Emma was beside him, working on the roan with a handful of grass and cutting his work in half.
“I don’t know what you told Ma, but she’s riding night herd right now, and I’d eat and get to sleep before she comes in. She was right prickly with us when none of us were sick.”
“I made it up so she’d come into camp quicker. She’d been back there all day.”
“Ma always rides drag. It’s the boss’s job.”
“Your ma says that so you won’t have to take a turn, and I agree with her when it comes to you girls. And it’s no big deal for her to do it when you’ve just driven a dozen or so head into Helena. But it’s not the boss’s job. In a regular outfit, everyone takes turns, and I’m from a regular outfit. But I can’t convince her to let me spell her. So, I made something up, and now she’s mad at me again. I reckon I deserve that.”
Emma looked over the back of the roan they were working on and smiled at him. Her teeth glowed white out of her dirty face. It was the first time he’d seen the girl be anything but dead serious. It occurred to him in that moment that he was really starting to like the game little girl with the outsized horse skills.
Emma said, “I reckon you do deserve it, but if she asks me again if I’m okay, I’ll try and act sick if’n ya want.”
Silas started laughing then and shook his head. “Better let her get after me for lying instead. Me lying she might forgive. Me getting one of her girls to lie for me, well, she’d be after my head for sure.”
Emma smiled again. “I ‘spect that’s right.”
They finished the horse in double the normal time because they worked so well together. Then they went to the camp and Sarah had a plate of food ready for Silas. He swallowed it fast then dove for his bedroll as quickly as possible to avoid getting scolded by Belle.
He meant to lay awake and watch for her to see if she still looked mad, but he was asleep as soon as his head hit his saddle.
The next day was a repeat of the first, except this time Belle hoped Silas would spell her at drag. He rode up after two hours of watching her eat dust.
“My turn back here.” He glared at her and braced himself for what was to come.
“You must really want to do it to make such a fool of yourself last night. Have at it.” She rode away without further comment.
Silas managed to smile as she rode down into more of the same monotonous dust.
The trail twisted back and forth, up and down the mountainside like a prairie rattler, only meaner. When they crested the next ridge, they’d gone half as far as yesterday and the sun was setting on them. In the waning light from the mountaintop, Silas saw what looked like an endless series of ridges out in front of them, and he almost fell into bed, he was so exhausted from thinking about what lay ahead.
Wade’s body had been too close as they’d ridden. Glowing Sun didn’t like it. But he was strong and she was exhausted, and her stiff back finally relaxed against him.
She awakened as he lifted her off the horse. She struggled against him, and he quickly set her on her feet. Her knees gave out. He caught her before she sank to the ground. Then he escorted her to a log and sat beside her.
The sun had been lost behind clouds, leaving a cold, murky day that pulled at her to sleep again and confused her about their direction. She couldn’t tell how long they’d traveled, but if this was the midday meal, she’d slept for hours. She hoped they’d get to her village soon.
Glowing Sun sat at the warm fire on this cold day. The men produced jerked beef and hard biscuits from their packs and shared with her until her stomach was stretched and full.
Wade opened a tin can and gave her a half of a yellow fruit. “Peaches,” Wade said. He stabbed at the fruit with the same knife he’d used to open the can and extended the dripping fruit to her.
She carefully pulled it off the knife with her teeth. The juicy sweetness nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“Have some more.” Wade speared another slice, holding it carefully over the can.
She reached out to steady the knife as she bit. The warmth of his hand mingled with the sweetness startled her into looking away from the treat.
Her gaze met his and was captured. The moment lingered. His hard, calloused, gentle hand remained joined with hers. She slowly took the peach, and his eyes flickered to her lips in a way that made her hand tighten on his.
At last she blinked and pulled her eyes away and spoke to the ground. “Thank you, Wade.”
He touched her chin so she had to look at him again. “You’re welcome, Glowing Sun.”
“Wade.” She puzzled the name over. “Wade in water.” She arched her brows.
Wade nodded. “Wade in water.” He smiled and offered her more fruit. “Peach.”
“Peach.” The word tickled her brain, but she couldn’t remember it from before. However, she was sure she’d never forget this delicious dessert.
“Horse.” Wade pointed at the buckskin they’d shared.
“Horse.”
He seemed to enjoy this game of making her say his white words, so she’d play it. But the words made some sense. Horse. She remembered that now.
She wondered if she should tell Wild Eagle that she’d slept in another man’s arms. Would he be angry? He was a warrior and possessive of her. The springtime would see them wed.
“Beef.” Wade extended more of the salty, tough meat to her.
She shook her head and rubbed her stomach. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Wade said.
Glowing Sun smiled. She remembered that, too.
They had a halting conversation over the meal, then Wade stood and began packing the scanty camp.
She did her best to help, eager to be on her way home.
Wade crouched down on the heavily traveled trail. “They’ve already gotten through this pass.” He shook his head. “They’re making good time.”
Shorty came back from scouting around in the fading light of sunset. “I thought you said they needed hands.”
“They do.” Wade looked up from tracks that were obviously at least a day old.
“I can read sign. They’ve got five seasoned hands. They might need another hand or two, but not all four of us.”
Wade hadn’t looked that close, but he could tell the herd moved steadily, and it was obvious they were making good time. He’d also bet his hat that the seasoned hands were Belle’s daughters, but he didn’t mention it. He’d come to trust these men though, so he didn’t worry that they’d hurt the Tanner women.
He looked up at Shorty. “I guess we can go on and check. It sounded like they were taking this herd with almost no help. That was the day before they started. I hope they did find more help. I’ve been worrying.”
“Can we catch ’em tonight?” Roy asked, always full of energy, eager to work and push. A good trait in a boy.
Wade shook his head, looking up at Glowing Sun, sitting perched on his horse. She watched him closely, her eyes narrow. She seemed to be listening, but Wade doubted the woman had learned enough English in an afternoon to follow their conversation.
He didn’t like keeping her out overnight with four men. It wasn’t proper. But nothing about this situation was normal. “I know this trail. It’s a killer in the dark. Rock slides and cliffs especially on this side, going down. We’ve got to wait unti
l morning.”
They went back down the trail a ways until they got out of the wind and set up camp. They ate well. Wade had brought plenty with him, planning to join the drive after he’d left a winter’s worth of supplies at the line shack.
Glowing Sun ate as if she were a bear storing up fat for the winter. He wondered how long those men had kept her prisoner.
He kept after her to talk English, and she’d gotten better through the afternoon. She was speaking in broken sentences and learning so fast, Wade knew she’d been familiar with the tongue in the past.
He settled into his cold, blanketless bed—Glowing Sun had his only cover. He fell asleep instantly. He woke in the wee hours of the night to find her gone. “Wake up.” Wade lunged to his feet. “Glowing Sun ran off.”
Shorty shook his head as he sat up. “She must have figured out we weren’t taking her home.”
“So we took her another day’s ride farther from her village.” Buck stood from his bedroll.
“And now,” Roy added, “she’s alone out there.”
“With wolves. Both the two-legged and four-legged kind.” Wade felt sick. This was his fault. And now he had to make it right.
He should just let her go with his best wishes. She was probably better equipped to take this journey than he was. But he knew God wanted more from him than just wishing her well. He couldn’t live with himself not knowing if she made it to her village.
The worry for Belle rode him for some reason Wade couldn’t understand. God seemed to urge him to ride quickly to the cattle drive. He paused and opened his heart and mind to the still, small voice of God.
And he had an idea.
He turned to his three saddle companions. “I’m going after her. And this time I’m taking her home. I think you three oughta go on and help handle this drive.”
“You can’t do that. It ain’t right,” Roy fretted.
“I promise to ask her, Roy. I’ll keep at it until she understands. I’ll give her the choice to leave the tribe.”
Roy didn’t speak, but his jaw hardened in obvious dissatisfaction.
Shorty shrugged and pointed down the trail they’d followed. It was the only way over this mountain. “I reckon you can catch her. And if she doesn’t want any part of you, you can just tag along to make sure she gets home safe.”
“It’s settled then.” Wade saddled up while Shorty studied Glowing Sun’s tracks.
Buck explained where he’d seen the village as Wade strapped down his saddlebags.
Before he was done, Wade started to laugh out loud.
“What is it?” Roy asked. “What’s so funny?”
“That little maiden we’re all so worried about?”
“Yeah …” Roy looked down the trail. “Do you see her? Is she coming back so we can help her?”
“I doubt she’s coming back, Roy.”
“Why do you doubt it?”
Wade started laughing again. “Because I just noticed she’s stolen half my beef jerky.”
He laughed as he mounted up and struck out to help poor, helpless Glowing Sun. While he rode away, he hoped when he found her, she didn’t kill him.
CHAPTER 11
Silas got to ride drag so much he was sorry he’d ever pushed for the job. He couldn’t decide if Belle was punishing him or if she’d had the tiniest of female reflexes spring to life and was looking on the hardest jobs as “men’s work.”
No sense hoping for the second, so he decided she was punishing him. Always best to put bad motives onto the way Belle treated him.
They pushed the herd on through another long day, with Silas eating dust and squinting against dirt in his eyes. It was late in the season. The daytime was hot, but the nights were frigid, and it snowed on them once. The women cuddled up together, and Silas resented that he was rejected from their little bevy of warmth while he shivered under his blanket alone.
They lost several head of cattle that slipped on washouts along the narrow pass and fell, bawling horribly for hundreds of feet. One steer skidded across a shale slide and broke its leg.
Silas saw Belle preparing to shoot it with hands that visibly trembled. He spurred his horse toward her and shouted, “Hold up!”
She lowered her gun so willingly Silas worried about her. He also knew she wouldn’t thank him for trying to take this tough job.
“Belle, let me drive him away so the girls don’t have to see.” Ah, he was beginning to know how to handle her. He almost patted himself on the back when her furrowed brow smoothed.
“Yes, that’s a good idea. The girls.” She made no word of protest.
That worried him some. She must be nearing the end of her strength. Belle argued over everything.
He came back with a haunch of beef. The fresh sizzling steaks for supper that night and again the next morning lifted all their spirits.
By the time they’d ridden through another day, the warm, encouraging meal was long forgotten. Silas hated to see how quiet and gaunt the girls were getting. When the two older ones stood side by side, their skin was as white with dust as their hair.
Silas rode ahead and found a trail that led to the best grass he’d seen in a week. He came back to find Belle holding her quiet little baby in front of her, talking to her. Probably whispering endless apologies for bringing Betsy into this bleak world of craggy points and smothering dirt.
At sunset they started coming down out of the high peaks. He worked the herd well away from Belle until Betsy was back in her sling; then he rode up. “Grass ahead. It’ll make a terrible long day, but once we’re there, let’s hold the cattle a day and let them eat.” And let the girls rest. Silas would say it if he had to.
“How long a day?” Belle’s eyes rose to his as if it took all her energy just to lift her chin.
“I could barely see the grass through the next pass; I didn’t come close to riding all the way to it. We’ll be pushing them in full dark for a couple of hours. But the uphill side of the trail to get there is clear, no slides or drop-offs.”
Belle nodded silently for far too long. Then she squared her shoulders and lifted her reins.
“We’re going to make it, Belle.” Silas wanted to give her a hug for encouragement and to thank her for being so steady.
“I know.” Her eyes flashed. The first sign of spirit she’d shown, and Silas decided she needed him to pester her into having some gumption.
“You womenfolk have held up pretty well. I’m mighty proud of you.”
Those words might seem like a compliment to some. To Belle they were fighting words.
She rammed her gaze into him like the tip of a bullwhip. “Well, Silas, for a man, you’re holding up pretty well, too. I’m mighty proud of you. And may I say, surprised.”
He could set her off, all the way off. She’d be scolding and yelling and maybe threatening with about one more well-chosen word from him. Instead, he laughed. “That’s the spirit.”
Belle’s temper melted and she managed to smile. Then laugh. “We’re going to make it, Silas. No doubt about it. And…well…I will say …”
Silas waited. Yes, she could compliment him. She could thank him. She could even say she liked him a little.
“I will say you haven’t slowed us down overly.” She smirked.
Silas laughed out loud and decided he might make it through this cattle drive yet.
Still smiling, Belle reined her horse aside and rode down the trail.
Betsy waved bye-bye from her place on Belle’s back.
They kept the cattle moving well into the night. They had two more passes to go through before Helena. Both shorter, but also higher and more perilous. Bringing up the rear, Silas was long after the others getting to camp.
Belle was already on the first watch. Emma and Sarah were asleep, cuddled up next to Betsy on the far side of the fire.
He ate stew from a warm pot and tumbled straightaway into bed to get a couple of hours’ sleep before taking midnight watch. He knew, even as he collapsed,
that just as he was trying to carry as much of the weight of this trip as possible, the womenfolk were trying to ease things for him. And for all their efforts, they were all almost dead. He knew he should insist on taking the first watch part of the time, but his eyes fell shut before he gathered the strength to stand.
The next time his eyes opened it was full daylight. He jumped up, alarmed to realize he’d slept through his shift. He immediately scanned the camp and saw all the girls sleeping soundly.
Except Belle. She’d been on the first watch last night. She couldn’t have done the whole night alone. Silas was moving toward the nearest saddle horse before he’d finished stepping into his boots.
God, what happened? Where is she? His prayers were hard and desperate and laced with dread.
He rode out, afraid he’d find Belle trampled to death or thrown from her horse with her neck broken. He moved soundlessly, unwilling to wake the girls and have them go with him for fear of what they might find.
He had been riding half an hour through the wooded grazing land when he saw Belle’s saddled horse standing with its head down. Silas spurred his buckskin, scattering a few standing cattle, but the stock were tired and they didn’t pay him much mind beyond getting out of his way. He got through the herd and, with desperate eyes, scanned the ground around the horse.
A hundred yards away, in a notch between two trees, he saw Belle’s boots sticking out. He galloped toward her, his heart pounding. As he pulled up, Belle cried out softly and sat up.
“Belle, what happened? Were you thrown?” Silas leaped off his horse and knelt by her side. He ran his hands over her arms and legs, looking for bleeding or broken bones.
Belle looked at him, her eyes dazed. He ran his hands over her head, looking for the bump that must have knocked her cold.
Suddenly she swatted his hands away. “I’m fine. I…I guess I fell asleep. I remember getting off my horse to sit by that rock because I was getting so saddle sore. The next thing I knew you were waking me.”
She looked over Silas’s shoulder and seemed to register the rest of the world. “It’s morning! I slept all night?” She stood and pushed past him. “I fell asleep before midnight. I’ve got to check the cattle. They could have stampeded all the way back home by now. I’ve got to—”
Mary Connealy Page 40