Brave the Wild Wind

Chapter 11

THE knock on the door caught Jessie as she finished pulling her boots on. It was Chase. She had decided to make an effort to be nicer to him, so she let him in with a “good morning” that was almost cheerful.

He looked terrible. His chin was darkened with stubble, his clothes were rumpled, and his eyes were red from too much smoke and not enough sleep. Maybe he hadn’t slept at all.

Chase wasn’t too tired to notice immediately the change in Jessie. Besides looking fresh and clean and lovelier than any girl had a right to look first thing in the morning, she was actually smiling.

He came to his own conclusion. “I take it you hired your hands and are pleased to be going home?”

“As a matter of fact, I only found one man worth his salt,” Jessie replied. “The other two I talked to didn’t know a cow from a steer.”

Chase chuckled. “City boys.”

“City boys,” she agreed, grinning along with him.

“So you won’t be leaving today after all?”

“I guess not, unless I get lucky this morning. I sent Ramsey, the fellow I hired, on out to the ranch. No point in wasting him here, even for a day.”

“Are you sure you told him how to find the ranch?”

He was teasing her, showing her there were no longer any hard feelings about the day she had given him the wrong directions.

She grinned. “I reckon he’ll manage, since he’s from near here.”

It was pleasant to see her in an agreeable mood for once, and he said impulsively, “Look, there’s really no point in your hiring another man when I’ll be at the ranch, anyway. I might as well do something to earn my keep while I’m here.”

Jessie didn’t take him seriously. “You don’t know cattle,” she said, startled.

“Who says I don’t? I’ve driven cattle from Texas to Kansas.”

“How often?” she asked.

“Once,” he admitted. “I hired on for the trail drive just for the company, since I was heading in the same direction and I wasn’t in a hurry. Once was enough.”

She was amazed. “So you really know cattle? I never would have guessed it.”

“I’ll admit I’ve never done any branding, but I learned to handle a rope fairly well. And I can carry a tune passably. And I know the difference between a steer and a cow.”

She laughed. “Then I guess you’re hired Chase.”

He smiled. “Give me an hour to freshen up, and we can start back together.”

She smiled again. “I’ll meet you downstairs for some breakfast.”

But Jessie shook her head as she watched him leave the room. She never would have believed it. He didn’t have to earn his keep at the ranch. Rachel had invited him as her guest. So why had he made the offer to help out?

Chase was wondering exactly the same thing. What made it especially confusing was that he had Thomas Blair’s note in his pocket. It had taken him all night to win it from Bowdre, but he had done it.

Why he hadn’t come right out and told Jessie about winning the note, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps he had the feeling she’d be angry with him—again.

He sighed. He wasn’t at all sure her worries were over, not as gracelessly as Bowdre had lost the note. Chase recognized that he might actually have made things worse.

They returned to the Rocky Valley late that afternoon. Jeb eagerly told them about the big pronghorn that had been dumped on the backdoor steps sometime after Jessie rode to Cheyenne. No one had seen who brought the animal, freshly killed. No one knew who it might have been. If someone was going to give away fresh meat, he usually waited around for a thank-you.

But Jessie knew instantly who the mysterious provider was. It could be none other than Little Hawk.

As they bedded the horses down, she said to Jeb, “You remember the young Sioux I told you about? Little Hawk? Well, we met him on the plains yesterday afternoon.”

“Is that a fact?” Jeb whistled. “He’s the one?”

“It looks that way.”

“Mighty nice of him.” Jeb chuckled.

Jessie glanced at Chase. He was rubbing down the golden palomino, pretending he wasn’t listening.

“I suppose you don’t agree?” Jessie asked pointedly.

He didn’t look up. “I’m sure you both have good reason for thinking it was Little Hawk. I’m just dying to know what his purpose was, that’s all.”

“You don’t know much about Indians, do you, young feller?” Jeb chuckled.

“I’m beginning to think not,” Chase answered without rancor.

“Indians don’t like to be indebted to anyone, especially to a white. Little Hawk took Jessie’s food and shared her fire without givin‘ anything in return.” Jeb cackled. “That must have rankled him. So now he’s paid his debt and then some. Generous of him, too. That big pronghorn would’ve fed his whole tribe.”

“Now you see why he was so far south,” Jessie added. “He had to let me see him, or I’d never have known he had paid his debt.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t explain the rest of what happened yesterday,” Chase said shortly.

Jessie laughed as she approached him and put her hand on his arm. “Come on. I’m sure Billy will love to hear how you were attacked by a savage Sioux and lived to tell about it. And I promise not to interrupt you if you embellish the tale.”

She was teasing him, but he didn’t mind. In fact, what they were talking about went right out of his head the moment she touched him. Her touch seemed to burn his arm, even after she had moved away.