The Rancher (9 page)

“Take off the coat,” Lily coaxed quietly from below.

Abby had taken comfort in the bulky covering.   Her fingers shook as she touched the collar.  She started to pull it open when she caught the eye of the stranger across the way.  It was as if he dared her to remove it in front of the

whole town and she wasn’t ready for that yet.

“I noticed a few of the Grayson’s hands in the barbershop.  The more you have to choose from, the better.” Lily sighed and

then smiled as she headed across the

street.

No fear
, she kept telling herself, butrealized she’d rather be facing anotherrattler or even a bear than standing hereexposed to the entire town. She droppedher hands away from the coat.

Time to get on with it.

Two fingers moved naturally to hermouth and with one loud whistle she hadthe attention of most of the passersbybetween the church and the mercantile.

Abby’s heart began to race when shesaw her stranger push himself away fromthe strapping post and situate himself atthe back of the growing and curiouscrowd. He stared at her, his eyes dark andunsettling, amusement only a glimmer onhis face.  Her hands fidgeted at her sides

and she cleared her throat. When the stranger tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow in what seemed a blatant challenge  to  speak  her  peace,  she suddenly  felt  up  to  whatever  new adventure awaited her.  Starting today.

Colorado, Two Days Earlier

“We’ve been on your land for the last couple of hours.” Raine pulled up alongside Cole. “That pasture fence there looks a might on the weathered side, but daylight’ll be gone soon.  Best get ‘em corralled up for the night.”

Cole had driven the crew hard from sun up to sun down and to his dismay, the sun was once again setting just over the

mountains to the west.

The two brothers rode the perimeter of the enclosed field.  Two sections of the fence had fallen completely and would need fixing, but it’d serve their purposes for now.  They’d mend what they could in what little light was left and build camp just outside the weak sections of the enclosure.

Cole whistled and waved his arm in acircular motion above his head, telling theother drovers to round the cattle up andlead them into the small fenced pasture. He snorted at the ruddy dilapidated barnand adjoining lean-to.

Cattle   drives   were   especiallydangerous at night and where Colenormally would have pushed through foranother couple of hours, he did not want

anything to go wrong this close to his final destination.   It still hadn’t sunk in

completely.  This was
 
his
 
land.  It would be the best place to stop and regroup.  If McCallister had anything to do with Alaric’s death, he would know soon enough.  But only if he had the man’s trust first.  He was supposed to deliver the herd and   report  to   the   SilverHawk  on Saturday.  That would give him two days to make a few repairs and scout out the town beforehand.

His father had been pleased when Cole had finally accepted his new role as guardian and had agreed to live on the land. However, after Mr. Tacy left and the two boys had shown Jameson the note Alaric left, Jameson’s joy had been shortlived.

“Now, don’t go and do anything rash son,” his father had said, “Just because McCallister’s name is written on the back of the note, does not mean he had anything to do with Alaric’s death.”

But his counsel hadn’t resonated with Cole.  He would find out exactly what hadhappened to his friend, even if it got himkilled in the process.

“There are two sections of fence downon the south side, boss, but the herd shouldbe good for the night.  The round pen is inpretty good condition and we’re corrallingthe horses there now.”

“Thanks, Marty. We’re going to settle here for a couple of days and then we’ll push on to the McCallister stead to deliver the herd on Saturday morning.” He hated holding onto the cattle for longer than

necessary, but he wanted to be prepared when he met his new employer for the first time.

The flank rider stared at him a moment,

a  confused  expression  pinching  his features. He recovered quickly and tipped his hat. “Yes, boss.” Marty jerked his horse around to go tell the others.

“He’s probably afraid you’ll change your mind.”  Raine laughed and clapped his brother on the shoulder.

Two weeks on the cattle trail earned histeam this short rest.  Patience had never

been one of Cole’s stronger virtues, however, it was time to get some rest to prepare for the days ahead. It wouldn’t do anybody any good to start the charade sleep deprived.

“Tomorrow, my friend,” Cole spoke to

the wind, hoping Alaric could hear. “Tomorrow, I’ll find your girl and set things right. However many tomorrows that may take.”

Colorado, Friday

Cole stood, stretching muscles usedextensively over the last few months.  Hehad become accustomed to sleeping on thehard ground, but somehow doing so onproperty he could call his own invigoratedhim.   His tall, black Arabian stallionnickered at him and Cole took a deepbreath.

“Can you smell that, Mav?” He askedhis horse, his trusted friend.  The freshscent of the morning dew still lingered on

the brush. The murmur of hundreds of cattle, interspersed with an occasional whinny, set a wistful background in Cole’s mind for the picture of his dream, his ranch.  He planned to ride the land, to familiarize himself with every inch of his soil, but that would have to wait until he’d delivered the herd.

He draped his saddle over one of the fence posts in the round pen, which creaked in objection. He’d risen early in attempt to familiarize himself with the immediate vicinity.  Along with Raine, he rode out a mile or two round about the

area, surveying the surroundings and gazing over the luscious green hills dotted with new spring growth. Jagged, purple mountains encircled the fertile green of the valley. Deep blue ripples of water,

crested in white caps, crashed over clusters of angled rocks as they raced down the winding riverbed.  The winter must have brought a lot of snow to these parts. The spring runoff was more than he’d expected. He patted his vest pocket.
 
Here it is
 
, he thought, his mind retracing the picture under his fingertips.

The outer fences had all been mended

and the lean-to, resting against the barn, had been cleaned.  Raine had insisted on

transporting an old coal stove for warmth from the barn into the make-shift building and constructing frames for their bedrolls. Although Raine liked ranching, it had been a long time since he’d had to sleep on the ground.  It didn’t seem to suit him.

One of the steers had collapsed from exhaustion yesterday and Cole had helped

Cook dress him for jerky and hide.  Someof the meat now hung from the short raftersin a sectioned off area of the lean-to andthe rest, along with the hide was drapedfrom a support beam in the barn.  Bales ofstraw were stacked at the entrance of thebarn and fresh hay lined the first stall.

This morning’s ride had proved to befruitful.  Although, he and Raine had notyet discovered the entrance to the mine,they had spotted a small farmhouse not faroff.  When they’d inquired of the farmer,he’d agreed to sell them straw, hay, somefruit jerky, and two flattened mattressbeds.  The mattresses would have to bere-stuffed, but Cole was pleased withtheir find.

The only thing still left to do, was tocheck out the town.  According to the will,

Cole owned the town of Silver Falls andmost everything in it, as well as a goodchunk of the surrounding land.

Once the horses were saddled, the twobrothers headed out.   They moved at asteady pace, approaching the outskirts oftown within the hour.  They pulled into Silver Falls, past the confectioners shopand looked around.  People bustled about.

Raine dismounted in front of the Sheriff’s office and Cole followed suit.  Amass of people huddled together and wereshouting out in excitement near the townlivery.  Raine finished tying his horse tothe wooden rail and turned to Cole.  “Looks like trouble.  I’m going to go andsee what all the fuss is about.”

Cole nodded.   If anyone could stoptrouble it was Raine.  He knew Raine was

content  working  alongside  him,  but watching him make his way through the crowd to the center of the action, Cole again wondered why he’d never pursued his love of the law.  Heaven knew he was

better with a gun than anyone Cole had ever met and his sense of justice was unparalleled.

“Either of you strangers lookin’ to get yerself a wife?”  Cole looked up to see a small, round, balding man walking out of the barbershop chuckling.

“Not today.”  Cole stared at the man, whose unruly moustache still had crumbs from his breakfast. “Maybe not ever.”

What an odd question,
 
he thought, patting Maverick on his side. Surely, his mother hadn’t...

He shook his head as he started walking

away, but stopped at the thought. Turning back over his shoulder, he found the man still staring after him with ruddy cheeks and a wide toothy grin, shooing him forward.

She wouldn’t.

Cole moved into the crowd to find

Raine.  It didn’t take long. Raine was inthe center pulling apart two men activelyengaged in fisticuffs.  Cole caught his eye.  Raine jerked his chin upward in twoabrupt movements toward the quaint,white structure that appeared to serve asthe church. Cole worked his way throughthe whispering assembly of onlookers asthey migrated toward the center of town.

As he neared the church the smell offresh paint lingered in the air and Coleguessed the building had just received a

fresh coat.

One of the branches of an oak tree at the

back of the church yard protruded just above his head and he raised his arms to

lean against it.  He froze when a woman, draped in an old woolen army coat, caught his stare. When she made eye contact, he could not bring himself to look away.

She smiled in his direction before

turning to climb the steps.  At the top of the church steps, she slowly turned around and looked warily out at the town, assessing something.  She bowed her head to remove her black Stetson.  Loose curls, the color of wheat with rich auburn sun kisses, fell down around her shoulders as she roughly shook her head from side to side.  He was intrigued.  She pulled her coat tighter around her neck, her fiery

tresses spilling over her shoulders in direct contrast with the green wool. Her lips were full and inviting and Cole found himself unable to take his eyes off her.  He stood mesmerized, taken in by the passionate flair he saw in her eyes.  From this distance he could not distinguish their exact color, but found himself wanting to know.  A small unexpected smile touched his lips as a long whistle, loud enough to put any trail boss to shame, shot out from between her fingers.  He unwittingly took a step toward her.

Chapter Five