Brave the Wild Wind

Chapter 22

RACHEL waited for Jessie in the kitchen that night. Kate had gone to sleep. Chase had gone to his room after dinner, and Rachel had put Billy to bed.

Jessie came in late. She had washed up at the stable, but her clothes were filthy. She used her hat to whack some of the dust off before she entered the kitchen. When she saw Rachel sitting at the table, she scowled.

“I’ve kept your dinner warm,” Rachel said casually.

Jessie stared at her. “I’m not hungry.”

“Have you eaten already?”

“No.”

“Then sit down and eat.” Rachel’s voice was firmer. “I want to talk to you, anyway.”

Rachel got up to make Jessie a plate, and Jessie didn’t say anything more. She was hungry, after all, and too tired to argue.

She pulled out a chair and plopped down at the table, her legs spread on each side of the chair as though in a saddle. She leaned back, one arm hooked over the back of the chair.

“Do you do that just to annoy me?” Rachel asked quietly as she put the plate in front of Jessie.

“What?”

“Sit like that.”

“What’s wrong with the way I sit?” Jessie demanded belligerently.

“If you can ask that, then you would benefit from a few lessons in feminine deportment.”

“From who? You?”

There was such derision in Jessie’s voice that Rachel gasped. “Do you think this is acceptable behavior for a young woman?”

“What the hell is the difference?” Jessie countered. “I live in my own world. I’m not exactly a social butterfly, now am I?”

“You’re not alone here, however,” Rachel pointed out. “You have a guest. What do you think a man of Mr. Summers’s sophistication thinks of such uncouth behavior?”

“I don’t give a good God—”

“Jessica!”

“Well, I don’t,” Jessie insisted. Then she acquiesced. “I haven’t forgotten the first eight years of my life, Rachel. I can conduct myself fittingly if the situation warrants it.”

“Then for heaven’s sake, why don’t you?” Rachel asked in exasperation.

“To impress a gambler? Why should I?”

“For my sake.”

Jessie didn’t respond.

“This is not what I wanted to talk to you about, though,” Rachel continued.

Jessie sat up to start eating. “I’m all talked out.”

“You will spare me a few more minutes.”

Jessie raised her brow at the firm tone. She was surprised, and a bit curious.

“I’m here. Talk. I just hope this isn’t going to be boring.”

“I promise you will not be bored with what I have to say. You may disagree perhaps, but—”

“Get to it, Rachel.”

The older woman drew herself up. “Very well, I will come directly to the point. You are not to go off on your own to visit your Indian friends again.”

Rachel braced herself for an explosion, but there wasn’t one. Jessie stared blankly at her, as though waiting to hear more.

At last Jessie asked, “Is that all you have to say?”

Rachel was amazed. She wasn’t putting up a fight. “Well, actually, I had my reasons for insisting on this if you wanted to hear them. But since you are going to be reasonable, I suppose it won’t be necessary to get into all that.”

“Wouldn’t matter, anyway,” Jessie said offhandedly. “You can give all the orders you like, Rachel. I do what I want.”

Rachel sat back, her face hot. She should have known better. “This time you will do as I say, Jessica.”

Jessie grinned, unconcerned. “Will I?”

“Yes, you will, if you want to keep on running this ranch.”

“Don’t mess with me, Rachel,” she warned softly. “You know nothing about ranching. And the men wouldn’t listen to you, anyway.”

“I didn’t think they would, but I’m in a position to bring in outside help if I deem it necessary.”

“My men take orders from me!”

Rachel’s voice rose, too. “Your men can be fired and new ones hired.”

“You have no right!”

“But I do, Jessica,” Rachel said more gently. “I am your guardian.”

Jessie was furious. “When will you get it through your silly head that my father only made you my guardian so you could see what a proper young lady he’d made of me? He brought you here to spite us both. He knew I didn’t really need you. He raised me to stand on my own—like any man!”

“Whatever the reason,” Rachel said stiffly, “I am here, and I do have the authority to do exactly as I said.”

“Why, damn you?” Jessie shouted, losing control. “What is really behind this?”

“Twice this last month you have left the ranch and gone off where you couldn’t be reached for days. That is totally irresponsible behavior, Jessica.”

“That won’t wash and you know it,” Jessie hissed. “Mitch Faber was left in charge, and Jeb could handle anything else that might have come up. So you’d damn well better have a better reason than that!”

“Where you went is reason enough,” Rachel said obdurately. “It is unthinkable that you should venture into an area forbidden to whites. I thought your Indians were friendly. If I had known they were not, I would have put my foot down sooner.”

“Utter nonsense. You think I could go there if I weren’t welcome?”

“You might be welcome, but other whites are not. I will not have you associating with Indians who are hostile to whites. It has obviously been a bad influence on you, and the influence will not continue.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“For God’s sake, Jessica, your behavior here is bad enough, but there, you apparently throw every civilized convention to the wind. I have never heard of anything so appalling as your bathing naked in a creek with an Indian in plain view.”

Jessie stood up so quickly that her chair went skidding backward across the floor. Bright spots of color stained her cheeks, and her eyes were wide and sparkling with fury.

“The bastard had to tell you that, didn’t he?” Jessie cried furiously. “And I suppose he told you about Little Hawk, too? Of course! That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”

“Jessica, calm down.”

“Calm down? When you’re threatening to take the ranch out of my control because of the distortions that bastard told you? What else did he tell you?”

“This much is certainly enough, don’t you think?” Rachel tried to keep her own voice down.

“No, I certainly don’t think it’s enough, not when he twisted innocent happenings into... what did you call it? The most appalling thing you’d ever heard of? What the hell is wrong with my taking a bath in a creek? I do it here every chance I get when I’m alone. There, the village is too close, and White Thunder accompanies me so I won’t be disturbed. He didn’t watch me, for God’s sake! He’s like a brother!”

“This Sioux brave was not like a brother,” Rachel said stonily.

“So I was asked to marry? So what? I refused. If you want to get on your high horse about something, ask your friend about what he conveniently didn’t tell you!”

“If there is more, I’m sure it will only confirm my opinion that you should not go there again, Jessica,” Rachel said quietly. “An Indian camp is still no place for a young white girl. I will not relent on this.”

Jessie glared, so furious she was shaking. Unfortunately for Chase, he picked that moment to step into the kitchen.

“There’s enough shouting going on to wake the dead. What’s the trouble?”

Jessie turned eyes on him as stormy as anything he’d ever seen. She picked up her plate and threw it at his head. He ducked, and it bounced off the wall to the floor.

“You rotten sonofabitch! You just had to get her all fired up, didn’t you? It wasn’t enough that you dragged me back here, you had to malign everything that happened! But you forgot to include yourself in those tales, didn’t you?”

“That’s enough, Jessie,” Chase warned darkly.

“Enough?” she shrieked. “You were the one so hot to carry tales to her! Why didn’t you tell her the rest of it? If she ought to know about my appalling behavior with the Indians, then she ought to know that her trusted friend seduced me—not once, but twice! I mean, if we’re going to wash the dirty laundry, we might as well include everything. Or wasn’t the loss of my innocence as important as my sinful conduct with the Indians? Bastard! When you start something, do it right!”

With that Jessie stormed past Chase, shoving him so forcefully that he slammed back into the cupboard by the door, shattering two of the glass panes. A moment later, the door to her room closed just as forcefully, the sound as loud as a gunshot.

“What’s going on?” Billy called from down the hall.

“Go back to bed, Billy,” Rachel ordered sharply.

He did, without question. Chase would have loved to do the same. The silence that followed was eternal. He was afraid to look at Rachel, afraid to see the accusation in her eyes.

Rachel waited awhile, giving him a chance to speak. When he didn’t, she said, “Was she telling the truth?”

He started to speak, but no words would come.

Rachel let out a small cry before she implored, “Chase, you didn’t! Not my Jessica!”

He winced but still couldn’t answer. He finally faced her. The look in her eyes made him feel about an inch tall. She didn’t wait any longer for an answer, but ran past him, crying.

Chase stood there for several long minutes. Was there anything he could salvage?