Rocky Mountain Sister

by Alena Wireman

  “Thank you, I must look a sight.” Cassandra said as she took rag and canteen. She tried to get the mud off, but there just wasn’t enough water.

  Sitting by the river’s edge, Cassandra and Jessie talked of many different things. He had helped get as much mud out of her hair as he could. There was no way to get the tangles out until she was able to wash it. They sat there for hours talking about their lives. Cassandra finally convinced Jessie that she was Makenzie’s twin sister. At least she hoped he believed her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  She told him about the week she had in Denver and Forest Heights and he told her about how the family moved her five years prior and how he had to take over the ranch when his father came across an accident last year.

  “So, do you believe me Jessie?” Cassandra looked at her new friend with compassion and hope that he did believe her.

  “Well, I don’t have a choice. The Greenwoods are private people. I faintly remember a picture once that I saw in the parlor. I guess I never really paid much attention to it.” Jessie laughed at the thought of being slapped. “That would explain why I thought one day you were all sweet and innocent, and the next day you seemed to want to beat the fire out of me.”

  Both laughed at the thought. “Yeah, I understand that Makenzie can be a little spitfire when she wants to be.”

  “Sure can, but it sure is weird to think of all this time they never said anything.” Jessie was replied. “I couldn’t figure out why I wanted to kiss Makenzie all of a sudden either. Good to know I am not going crazy.”

  “I am sure it has been very hard on all of them. So much has been lost in the last eight years, and then to think they were losing the ranch to that awful Mr. Cramberry.” Cassandra looked sympathetic to the thought of what her family had faced.

  “Have you heard any more about Ferguson or if they proved he was behind it.” Jessie asked her.

  Cassandra repositioned herself on the ground. She was very uncomfortable sitting on hard dirt. “No, Mr. Delaney hasn’t been out to the ranch yet, but believe me, he is very confident that he will find the answers and the proof to put both Mr. Cramberry and Mr. Ferguson in jail.”

  Thunder came from somewhere in the distance. Jessie new that he had better escort Cassandra home. Sometimes the storms come up quickly. He looked around and noticed that the sky was getting dark toward the south. “Well Princess, looks like we have a nasty storm headed our way. I am going to make sure you get home.”

  “Jessie, I am sure I can find my way to the house. It isn’t that far.” Cassandra knew how to get back to the house, but her fear of storms was creeping up on her. She didn’t want Jessie to think of her as a big baby, she tried to keep up a calm attitude.

  “I know, but sometimes we have such quick downpours that you can’t see two feet in front of you. You are really not familiar with this land and this storm looks like it is going to be fierce.” Jessie replied with strong voice. “We certainly can’t let you get lost out here.”

  “Whatever you say my Prince. I shall follow you through the storm to my safety.” Cassandra laughed and grabbed her shoes. Thank you Lord. Cassandra didn’t really want to be alone with the storm approaching. She was enjoying this afternoon so much. She didn’t want it to end so she took her time putting on her shoes and socks. Then the thunder rolled across the sky loud and very close. When she about jumped out of her skin, Cassandra decided that she better hurry.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Hurry sweetheart, we are not going to make now. Hopefully we won’t get completely drenched in this downpour.” Jessie hurried her along. Soon they were headed to the Greenwood Ranch house, but not soon enough. They were about a mile away when the downpour hit. Jessie had to take Paisley’s reins so that he could make sure Cassandra didn’t drift off in the wrong direction.

  Cassandra sat in saddle like a frozen doll. The huge raindrops pounded down upon her. With just the thin dress on that she wearing, it clung to her like a second skin. Still she wasn’t as afraid as she thought she would be. When Jessie took the reins of Paisley’s bridal and held the horse close to his own horse, Cassandra felt safe.

  “Oh my word, Cassandra, what happened to you. You look like a drowned rat.” Rosa looked as shocked as she ever could be when Cassandra and Jessie walked through the door. She had never seen Cassandra like this for many years. As a child she expected it, but at nineteen, it was pure shocked.

  “I am fine Rosa, we just got caught in the storm.” Cassandra giggled danced toward the stove.

  “Jessie followed Cassandra through the door. “I’m sorry mam, I was hoping to get her back in time. Sometimes storms out here are unpredictable and come up fast.” Jessie didn’t know who the woman attending Cassandra. He was raised to be respectful to everyone and wanted this woman to know he would never let anything happen to Cassandra.

  “Get over here with Cassandra by the heat. I say, you both are going to catch the death of a cold.” Rosa ushered Jessie to the stove and went after towels.

  Jessie gave Cassandra a look of concern. He had never met the black woman before. He wasn’t sure if he had really believed Cassandra’s story before. He sort of thought Makenzie was hiding from the real world acting like someone else, or that maybe she had hit her head and thought she was someone else at times.

  “It’s okay Jessie, Rosa is my housekeeper from Missouri. She is also my travelling companion. I have never been able to go anywhere without her.

  Rosa brought towels in and gave them to the young couple who were dripping water all over. She handed one to Jessie and wrapped one around Cassandra’s head. “It will take all night to brush these tangles out of your hair young lady. It is a total mess. You will be lucky if we don’t have to cut it off, and look at this mud. What were you doing out there, having a mud fight?”

  Cassandra rubbed her head as Rosa wrapped another around her shoulders. “Rosa, this is Jessie, he is a neighbor.” Cassandra then turned toward Jessie, “Jessie, my travelling companion, Rosa. She is not as mean as she is acting right now.” Cassandra giggled again. “And yes Rosa, we did have a mud fight. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

  Rosa wanted to scold Cassandra, but she would have to wait until later. She would not embarrass Cassandra in front of her friend.

  Jessie wasn’t for sure what to say. He knew that Nathan wouldn’t be happy about this. Being caught in a storm wasn’t very logical. This time it couldn’t be help though. Jessie smiled knowing that he enjoyed every bit of saving Cassandra from the violent storm that raged outside.

  “I am going to put some coffee on. You two need to just keep drying off.” Rosa turned around and got the pot.

  Anna walked into the kitchen surprised to see Jessie standing in front of the stove dripping Wet. When she saw Cassandra, she burst into laughter, “my goodness, Cassandra, you are finding out about our storms out here the hard way.” Anna didn’t mean to be laughing at the sight of her granddaughter, whom she had never seen have a hair out of place, stood there dripping wet like soaked dog. “Jessie, did you drag my granddaughter out in this mess?”

  “No I did not. In fact, she found me and we just didn’t make it back here in time. We tried though, about lost her a couple times in the down pour.” Jessie smiled at the older woman whom he adored. He grabbed Anna’s hand and kissed it. “I certainly would never cross you by keeping your granddaughter in a storm like this and make you worry.”

  Anna walked over and kissed Cassandra on the cheek. “Thank you Jessie for bringing her home safe. I would really hate to think what would happen to you Jessie, if she occurred any danger on your part.”

  Rosa set the hot pot of freshly made coffee on table. Everyone sat down at the table as Rosa poured them all a cup of coffee. “This should warm your insides.”

  Elizabeth entered the kitchen to find everyone laughing at the story Cassandra was telling. Holding Joseph, she sat down to join in on the laughter as Jessie added to the story of Ole Boss.


  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The crash of door jolted everyone to look. Nathan carried Makenzie in, blood dripping from her for head. “Get a bed pulled down for her.” Nathan yelled. The wind was blowing harder now, it slammed the door so against the wall hard enough that Nathan thought the glass window would break.

  Elizabeth put Joseph in the cradle that sat close to the stove, then followed Anna into the hall toward the downstairs bedrooms, Nathan following right behind her, Rosa behind him. Cassandra grabbed a pot and started to boil some water. Nathan laid Kenzie on the bed. Everyone was asking questions at once.

  “I heard a couple shots. By the time I got to her, she was on the ground unconscious. I don’t know exactly what happened. It wasn’t her rifle though. I figure someone took a shot at her just to scare her, and she fell of her horse and hit her head on a rock.

  Cassandra carried in the pan of hot boiling water and Elizabeth brought plenty of clean towels. Rosa pushed everyone out of the room except Cassandra, who stayed to help undress Makenzie while Rosa cleaned and stitched the wound on her head.

  “How bad is it Rosa” Cassandra asked the older woman.

  “I don’t know yet, I have to get it all cleaned up. It doesn’t appear to be very deep though.” Rosa wiped the blood from around the wound. Then study it to figure out the best way to stitch it up.

  Cassandra was undressing Kenzie when Elizabeth brought in fresh night clothes for her. “How is she?”

  “Oh don’t fret now, she will be just fine. Just a few stitches will do it all.” Rosa assured the girls. “She will have a bad headache for a couple days though.” Rosa stitched and dressed the wound, then left the girls to finish getting her settled in for the night.

  Rosa walked into the kitchen to a bunch more questions. She looked at them with ease. “She will be fine, just a few stitches, and a headache I am sure. She should stay in bed for a couple days. She isn’t awake yet, so I think one of us should stay with her at all times.”

  By the time Cassandra and Elizabeth came into the kitchen, Rosa had everyone settle down with another pot of coffee and assurance that Kenzie would be fine. When Cassandra grabbed her cup to take with her back to the bedroom to sit with Makenzie, Anna went with her.

  Around ten o’clock, Elizabeth came into the room and offered to sit with Kenzie for a while. “The storm has calmed, Jessie is getting ready to head out. He needs to check on his own family. I thought you both might wish to say good night to him.”

  Cassandra stood and let Elizabeth sit in the chair she was sitting in. “Thank you Elizabeth, I won’t be long. I suppose I will get a bath over with also.”

  “Take your time, Cassie, I am fine. Joseph is fast asleep. Go on now and visit a moment with Jessie.” Elizabeth smiled at her sister-in-law, then ushered her out of the room. “Grandma, why don’t you go on to bed, you are exhausted. I promise that one of us will come get you if she stirs even a little bit.”

  Anna was exhausted. She worried that after being reunited with one granddaughter, she would lose the other. “Thank you honey, I think I will do just that. It won’t do her any good for me to be down in the bed too. Good night dear.”

  “Good night” Elizabeth said as she watched Anna walk out the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Makenzie moved her hand toward her aching head. Why is my heading hurting? she thought to herself. She tried to open her eyes. It hurt to even do that. Makenzie spoke in a low voice. “Grandma, Nathan?”

  Rosa was sitting beside the bed. She jumped at the sound of Makenzie soft voice. “Kenzie girl, just lay still. I will get you some water dear.”

  “What happened? My head hurts something awful.” Kenzie whispered to Rosa.

  “You took a fall off of your horse and hit your head against a rock.” Rosa tipped the glass to Kenzie’s lips and let her take a small drink.

  “All I remember is the storm coming up fast on us.” Kenzie barely got the words out. She did manage to open her eyes and look at Rosa.

  “You just relax dear, you are going to be fine. I am going to go and make you some tea. I told your grandmother that I would let her know when you woke. I won’t be a moment dear.” Rosa left the room to go do as she said.

  Anna came into the room and sat with Makenzie until Rosa came back in with her breakfast. Making sure that Makenzie drank a little and ate a small amount of the soft biscuits. Rosa didn’t want the girl eating a lot. Soon Makenzie was back asleep.

  Sitting in the kitchen Cassandra, Anna, Rosa and Elizabeth drank coffee and wondered about Nathan and Jessie. They had left early that morning to try and find any kind of evidence from the previous night’s shooting.

  “Well, I hope they find something, I just don’t think they will. The storm has surely washed any evidence away.” Anna spoke softly. She was tired from a restless night.

  “Delaney is an excellent detective. If the boys do not find anything, then he will. He may have something in the works already.” Cassandra spoke with confidence as she talked to everyone at the table. “I certainly don’t know why we haven’t heard anything from him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The day was passing quietly, everyone was sitting outside on the front porch. Kenzie was even allowed up for a short spell. They were enjoying a nice cool drink when a cloud of dust rose in the road coming toward the house.

  Anna noticed and spoke up, “Humm, I wonder who would be coming to visit today. We don’t get much company. I do hope it is nothing bad.”

  Kenzie watched the dust grow closer. “Grandma, don’t be so negative, I’m sure it someone out for a visit”

  “Hopefully it is Delaney with good news. I haven’t heard from him since I have been back. He surely has something by now. It has been over a week since Cramberry was locked up.” Cassandra had excitement in her voice. Please let it be Christian, I hope you have arrived. She thought to herself.

  The dust cloud grew closer as the group of women watched. The men rode up to the porch. Cassandra just about jumped off the porch before they even reached it when she saw her brother Christian riding in the buggy with the doctor.

  “Christian, oh Christian, I have missed you so much.” Cassandra barely waited for the buggy to stop. She wrapped her arms around her brother tightly with a big squeeze.

  “Cassandra, please, I cannot breathe, I have missed you too.” Christian picked her up and swung her around.

  A ton of questions were asked back and forth before they went to the porch for introductions. Everyone was soon introduced Anna served coffee and cold lemonade. Doctor Bailey checked Makenzie’s head. “Who stitched this child up?” Doctor Bailey asked in a stern voice.

  Anna smiled at Rosa, “Doctor, Rosa did a wonderful job caring for our patient.” Rosa smiled with blushed cheeks.

  “Well, I have to say, I couldn’t have done better myself. The small stitches will leave only a tiny scar. You won’t even know that you have a scar Kenzie.”

  Rosa smiled even bigger. The Vandeviers complimented her on a lot of things, but to hear an outsider and someone she didn’t know say something made her very proud.

  “Now, I am going to leave some laudanum for the pain. I don’t think you will need it much, but just in case, it will help you sleep. You have had some good doctoring.”

  Rosa looked at the doctor, “Lots of good tea and rest.”

  “Yes that does help, she is healing just fine Miss Rosa.” The doctor put his things back in his doctor’s bag and sat it on the rail. He sat down in a chair, picked up his cup of coffee and took a long drink. “Mmmm, good coffee Anna, good coffee, hits the spot after the ride out here. Makes my job much easier when I don’t have to do anything and then get served with the best cup of coffee in Forest Heights.”

  “Thank you Doctor Bailey, I am glad you feel better. Now we women need to get some dinner started or everyone is going to go hungry.” Anna smiled as she walked in the door. Rosa followed her into the house.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN


  Nathan and Jessie came home with no news. The storm washed any evidence away that may have been there. After dinner, the men went outside to talk. Nothing could be done until Delaney could prove Ferguson was behind everything. The men decided to leave out first thing Monday morning and find the trail of the cattle being taken away. The thought wasn’t a happy one, everyone knew the storm washed the tracks away too.

  They decided to try and start looking for canyons or ravines the cattle could be hidden in. Jessie didn’t know the area very well. Nathan would have to ask a few of the other ranchers to join the search. They needed to get this over with quick. Jessie knew that he and Nathan wouldn’t be going on the cattle drive this year. Every extra day would be spent searching for the cattle.

  The days turned into a week. Every angle they took came up empty. Delaney had stayed for only two more days, he decided to go back into town. He wanted to wire his brother from Denver. He would send the wire from Forest Heights, but he didn’t want alert anyone in the area.

  Christian stayed for two weeks. He wasn’t much help to the ranch. He was a business man. He stayed around the house in case of trouble while all the men were gone. That was fine with both Cassandra and Nathan. They were sitting on the front porch when Thomas Delaney and his brother rode up.

  Thomas jumped off his horse before it even completely stopped. Running up on the porch, “Cassandra, you won’t believe it. Roster, the man who shot at Makenzie, turned himself in. He came in yesterday and confessed it all. He even told us where Ferguson was hiding out. He is in the ice house locked up tight.”

  Cassandra jumped up from her chair with so much excitement. “Oh, I wish Nathan were here. He and Jessie have been gone for three days now. He is going to so happy that he won’t have to worry about all that anymore.”