Love's Rescue (36 page)

Red Deer saw it but could not speak. Though the Paiute women had used many cloths to try to stop it, the blood beneath her was spreading beyond them. Jess held the blanket so her friend could see it better.

Both she and her husband looked at the woven pictures in admiration. Jess gazed at the friend she loved. “I made it for you, so that you would remember the day of your son’s birth.” Jess spread it over Red Deer and the quiet baby lying in
her arms.

“It will…have to be for my son now,” she said. “So that he…will remember me.” Red Deer looked at Jess once more. “I love you…my sister,” she said. Then, with a final smile, she said, “Weep not for your dead, but sing and be joyful, for the soul is happy in the Spirit-land.”

Jess kept herself from crying out. “I’ll see you there,” she whispered.

Red Deer nodded faintly, turning her eyes to Lone Wolf, whose face was streaked with two lines of tears. He bent down and spoke tenderly to his wife in Paiute, then kissed her. When he sat up again, he kept one hand on her shoulder, the other on their child.

Seeing the life slip out of her, Jess reached under the blanket and held Red Deer’s hand, determined not to let go until her friend had passed to where the Great Spirit Father was waiting.

Red Deer’s eyes fell closed. The baby began to cry, as though he knew he was losing someone, and Red Deer exhaled long and deep. Jess felt Red Deer’s hand cease its trembling, and only a moment before it stilled, she felt a gentle squeeze. Then she was gone.

Around them, the women started to wail. Jess was sobbing now, too, but she kept holding Red Deer’s hand, knowing this would be the last time she would see her until she joined her in heaven. Thank You, Lord, she prayed, for every moment she and I spent together. Never did I meet a more beautiful person, a more loving example of You.

A small shadow fell across the still form of Red Deer as Two Hands came to stand beside Lone Wolf. His eyes were sad as he quietly mourned his second mother who had died. Then he studied the baby. He sat down next to the boy and gently took one tiny hand in both of his.

The sight stole Jess’s breath from her. She had seen that protective look before, many times—in the eyes of Ambrose.

Beginning to feel like an intruder among Red Deer’s family, Jess quietly left the dwelling. Jake was standing outside, gripping his hat in his hand. Without words, Jess leaned against him, welcoming his warm embrace.

***

The following day, at sunrise, Red Deer was buried beside Olivia and Sadie Bennett. The Paiutes and the ranch hands gathered around her grave, Jake and Jess among them. Many women, including Jess, cried to see Red Deer’s dresses, ornaments, and baskets—all her possessions—buried alongside her. To her surprise, Jess saw the cattlemen were as moved as the Paiutes. Not one of them had dry eyes, and, for once, none of them wore his hat. Taggart’s hair stood out in a blaze of orange. The Indian people had all cut their hair in mourning.

When the dirt had been shoveled and smoothed over Red Deer’s grave, Two Hands and the other Indian children each brought forward a small mud animal to leave with her. One by one, the children laid their gifts atop the slight mound of earth. Then Two Hands looked at Jess and held up three fingers. Jess wasn’t certain what he meant until he touched her hand.

Jess looked down and saw the three roses she had forgotten that she was holding. She smiled softly at the boy and held up three fingers in agreement. Then she stepped forward and laid down the blossoms—one for Olivia, one for Sadie, and one for the sister of her heart, Red Deer.

Jake looked on, touched that she had thought of his wife and daughter.

When Jess stepped back, her eyes met those of Lone Wolf, then focused on the sweet child he held in his arms. She walked over to him and kissed the babe on the forehead. He nodded once, thanking her without words for her friendship to
his wife.

Finally, the old man, Standing Bear, spoke to them all of Red Deer’s strength and courage. He said the words first in Paiute and then in English so that everyone could understand.

The sun was fully up and the sky’s band of color had vanished when the mourners headed back to the ranch, many of them on horseback. The Paiute mothers had come with their children in the wagons. The group left the graveside in silence. Jess and Jake mounted up, as well, Jess pausing to look back at the peaceful mounds dotted with tiny animals and roses.

***

While they rode back to the ranch, Jake kept a close eye on Jess, prepared to battle any new fears that might have surfaced after the loss of Red Deer—fears that might threaten their newfound closeness. But as they entered the ranch yard with the others, he concluded that though she was sad, she was also collected. What was more, she had been content to ride beside him all the way back.

That made him uneasy.

***

Shaking back her hair, Jess dismounted apart from the others and fixed her gaze on the sun, still rising to its zenith. Her sadness for Red Deer lay heavy in her, but a sense of purposefulness had settled there, as well. Ambrose was out there somewhere, and she was not going to let one more person she loved die. She had already decided to go to Camp Douglas prison to see Ambrose and to take him food and clothing. But her conviction had just changed.

She was going there to get him out.

Jess held up her skirts and hurried to the house, promising herself the sun wouldn’t set on her until she was somewhere on the other side of Nevada Territory, well on her way to the States.

In her room, Jess tossed aside her gown and pulled on one of two pairs of trousers that Reese had outgrown months ago. She’d planned to alter them to fit a couple of the Paiute boys, but now she needed them herself. After flattening out the second pair on her bed, she rolled into it two shirts—one cotton, one flannel—which she had borrowed unashamedly from Jake’s room. These she rolled into her bedroll. She pulled on a third shirt, also flannel, and shoved the buttons through their holes. Immediately, she rolled back the sleeves that hung well past her hands; the shirttails fell to her knees. At the softness of the fabric, an image of Jake filled her mind, threatening to deter her conviction. One part of her ached to stay at the ranch with Bennett. The other part knew that she had to go to Ambrose.

Half sighing, half groaning, Jess stuffed the unwieldy shirttails into her pantlegs. She buttoned the waist of the trousers, then gathered it in with the braided leather belt that had been Olivia’s.

She retrieved her saddlebags from the doorway, making sure that the four pouches of gold coins she had brought from the store’s safe were still there. She withdrew Ambrose’s letters, still bound with ribbons, and tucked them next to the jewelry box Jake had made for her in a drawer of her dressing table. She would be back, and, Lord willing, so would Ambrose.

Jess buckled the gun belt around her waist, threw a few items into the empty saddlebag, and hurried downstairs. From the water bucket in the kitchen, she filled two canteens, then stuffed a sack with dried fruit, jerky, beans, and the fresh biscuits Ho Chen had left. She grabbed up her things, pulled her hat from its peg, and headed out into the sun.

Though the horses had been put away, the cattlemen and many of the Paiutes were still milling about the yard. They stood in groups, talking quietly. Jess realized as she passed them that Jake must have given the men the day to themselves out of respect for Red Deer. She was touched by the gesture.

She would miss them. Snow would soon block the roads over the Rockies, so it would be spring before she could get through to see them again. Yes, she would miss them all, but she had to go.

Jess strode over to the mustang corral, stopping near the gate and swinging the saddlebags over the top rail. She laid the rest of her gear on the dusty ground. The men’s conversations trailed off, and they started to gather near the corral, openly observing her.

Jess ignored them except for saying a quick word of thanks when they stepped out of her way. She walked past them into the stable, then returned with saddle and bridle, which she set up beside the saddlebags. Inside the corral, she caught one of the mustangs and brought him out. Several minutes later, the horse was fully saddled and impatient to stretch his legs.

Jake stepped through the crowd and came to stand beside her. “And where are you off to now, Jess?”

“Chicago, to my brother.”

Jake stared at her. She didn’t flinch.

“He’s in a Union prison, Jess.”

The cattlemen silently exchanged glances.

“Yes, he is, and if I don’t help him, he could die there. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Diaz took a tentative step forward. “Your brother is not dead? I thought la mariposa mourned him.”

“I did. He was missing and presumed dead, and I mourned him, but I’ve just received word that he’s alive.”

Her voice wavered. She felt in awe of the Almighty’s love…and despair at the look she saw spreading through the ranch hands’ eyes. To her, it resembled withdrawal, contempt, and a sense of betrayal.

Jess hadn’t expected that. Her mouth went dry. She had become a traitor, leaving them—and their apparent Union sympathies—to go to her Confederate brother. But hadn’t Jake once said that most people know honest men stand on both sides of the conflict, and that the worst trouble comes from the fanatics? Still, she saw that gleam in their eyes, that hatred. Unable to confront it, she completed her task with her face averted. Then she addressed Jake, though all could hear what she said.

“I’m taking the mustang and saddle. I believe my three horses should be a fair enough trade.” She untied the lead and gathered up the reins.

Jake’s hand stopped her. “No, Jess. We need to discuss this.”

Jess lifted her face, letting him see the score of emotions there. “I wish you could feel what I’m feeling. It’s as if the Lord has raised Ambrose from the dead. Do you have any notion what it is to lose everyone you love and then gain one precious person back again? You lost your wife and daughter. Imagine if you walked through the door of your house and they were standing there waiting for you.” She could tell by his expression and by the tilt of his head that he meant to stop her from going. “Jake, if that really happened, if Olivia and Sadie were really there, you’d go to them, and nothing would stop you.”

“Ambrose is in the middle of a war.”

Her stubbornness flared. “You’d still go to them even if they were.”

“Ambrose is in prison. He isn’t getting shot at anymore.” His voice remained calm.

Hers didn’t. “Ambrose wrote to me about men he knew who had been in prison camps. Knew. Do you know what that means? It means they didn’t survive it. Ambrose isn’t safer in prison. The conditions there are horrible! And now there are no prisoner exchanges! Jake, I refuse to have my brother returned to me only to have him die in prison!”

Jake didn’t budge. “There are outlaws out there other than the ones who attacked the ranch, and the Plains Indians are warriors who are angry with the white men. Whether you fool them dressed as a man or get found out as a woman, things could go badly for you.”

“I heard the men say that a federal colonel and eight companies of soldiers are guarding the Oregon Trail along the Sweetwater River and the North Platte now. From what I’ve heard, there hasn’t been any trouble with the Plains Indians since he’s been there.”

“It’s not possible, Jess.”

“It is possible.”

“It’s two thousand miles. You’ll get snowed in before you get there.”

“The Pony could have ridden it in two weeks.”

“Pony Express riders changed horses every ten miles, and they rode all night. Don’t you see why I can’t let you do this?”

“I’m not asking your permission. I only wanted you to understand why I have to go.”

Jake stared at Jess. “Ambrose doesn’t know that your parents are gone,” he said.

Jess blinked. “I’ll have to tell him.”

The broad shoulders stiffened. “Jess, what will Ambrose’s life be like if you die on your way east? Have you considered that? He would have no one, just like you had no one. Would you want that for him? He would spend the rest of his days knowing he might have had a sister to grow old with, if only she hadn’t died trying to help him. He’s been in a war, Jess. How much more loss do you think he can take?”

Jess understood what he was saying, and she didn’t try to deny the logic of it, but neither did she believe that Ambrose had much of a chance at having a life if she didn’t get him out of prison. “I’ve thought of all these things, Jake, and I know the challenges I’ll face, but the end of the war is nowhere in sight. Ho Chen said his country has been at war for twelve years now. Twelve years! I can’t just wait for the war to end and hope Ambrose is still alive then.” Saddened by the cool way he regarded her, she lowered her voice. “I believe the danger in traveling there will be minimal. The difficulty will come in getting him out.”

“Getting him out? Jess…”

Not wanting to leave matters like this between her and Jake, she tried once more. “The day you and I met in Carson City, I told you that if a telegraph operator didn’t help me, I’d go east and track Ambrose down myself.”

Jake grunted and looked away.

“You knew then that’s what I meant to do, if all other options failed. That’s what I intend to do now. If I’m not able to get him out, I’ll at least see to his needs.” Jess shifted her gaze to the others. Every one of the cattlemen had heard her, and the Paiutes, if they hadn’t comprehended, at least had gotten the drift of it. Not one of them had moved from where he was standing.

She couldn’t leave without explaining—or at least trying to. Turning in a circle to face each of them directly, she took in their familiar faces, one by one. “I’ve lost my family, my home, and yesterday, my dearest friend. Two days ago, in Carson City, I learned that my brother is alive. He is in prison, as you heard. He’s in a Northern prison.”

The ranch hands watched her, their expressions inscrutable. Jess mustered her courage and went on. “Since I arrived here, not one of you has treated me unkindly, despite my origins. I came to feel like I was a part of you, a part of the ranch. I felt like I belonged.” Her eyes settled on Doyle, who towered above the others. “My family never owned another human being, nor did they condone slavery. But when my brother joined with the local militiamen to protect our homes, the Union army ordered a surrender and demanded they send the Federals their guns. Only then did his militia join the South.” Still, the men held back from her. “I only told you so I could apologize. If you’re going to think of me as a traitor after today, I thought you’d best know why.”