West Winds of Wyoming (7 page)

C
harlie ate the last of the scrambled eggs on his plate, then crunched a slice of crispy bacon as he wondered about Nell’s absence. He’d stepped inside without knocking, as she’d instructed, and found a quiet kitchen. Food had been prepared and place settings were out on the table. A bit self-conscious, he’d served himself and eased into a chair to eat.

“Morning,” Seth greeted Charlie as he came down the stairs, working the last button on his shirt. He’d shaved his whiskers and combed his hair. “Getting up the day after a long trip is always hard.” He yawned and stretched. “That bed sure felt good last night.”

“Wish I could say the same.” When he’d returned to his bedroll after the encounter with Nell, he’d remained wide awake. He rubbed his gritty, tired eyes.

“I’ve been thinking.” Seth took a cup off the shelf, poured himself coffee, then set it on the table. “Why don’t you take the small room downstairs? It’s around back and was originally a mudroom. But there’s a door, so you can come and go as you please. The bed isn’t more than a cot.”

“What about Nell?”

Seth’s brow furrowed. “Nell?” He glanced around and shrugged.

“How’d she feel about having a man in the house?”

Seth filled a plate, leaving some eggs and bacon for his sister. “Guess you don’t know Nell yet. She can take care of herself. Besides, she’s a grown woman and a widow to boot. You being here won’t bother her at all.” He pulled out a chair and sat across from Charlie.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. A cot sounds darn good over the lumpy floor of a stall.”

“And a bit less aromatic.”

Charlie wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I woke up this morning with a chicken staring me down from atop the stall door. It was a mite unnerving.” He took a drink of his coffee. “By the way, what’s Logan Meadows like?” Something vital inside him was shriveling and dying without information about Maddie. Being so close to her without being able to pick her up, kiss her soft little cheek, was killing him. He needed to know where she’d been living and what her life had been like since leaving him. Anything was better than nothing. It sounded like a nice town, but you never knew until you’d lived somewhere awhile.

“Resembles pretty much any place, I’d say.”

Charlie glanced down at the outdated newspaper on the table. He pointed to the article about the schoolhouse potluck. “Looks like good, down-home fun.”

“Should be. I’m sure we’ll be going since Nell feels strongly about community and especially the children. She likes the roots we’ve sunk here in Wyoming. Guess that stems from us moving around so much when she was just a girl.” He shrugged.

Relief mingled with excitement. All he had to do was get through these next three days. Maddie was sure to be at the potluck.

“It’s been some time since I’ve done any roping.” Charlie rubbed his palms together. “I haven’t thrown a rope or dallied since before my wife . . .” He clamped his mouth closed. The less anyone knew about his past, the better.

Seth’s brow shot up. “You’re married?”

Pain ripped through Charlie’s heart, burning him from the inside out. The worst day of his life was written there in black just waiting to trip him up. Annie dead. Maddie injured, but recovering, only to find she was slowly losing her sight. He scrubbed his hand across his face. “Not anymore. She died in an accident. After I got married, I stopped saddle tramping and bought a store in town. A gun shop. Became respectable to please her.” The thought made him smile. “I’ll need a few tosses to get my timing back.”

Seth’s expression said he understood—but how could he? It wasn’t possible for anyone to understand the grief that gripped his heart day after day. “I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Seth said. He glanced up the stairs. “Wonder what’s keeping Nell. She can be demanding, but don’t let her ride herd over you too much.”

“That’ll be hard to do, being she’s one of the bosses.”

The soles of Nell’s boots tromped on the wooden staircase as she descended. She crossed the room swiftly and emptied the fry pan onto the last plate. “Sorry to keep you boys waiting.” She glanced at him, then smiled at her brother. “Just one of those mornings, I guess.”

If Charlie had to choose a word to describe Nell, it would be
conflicted
. Her slender body moved like a snowflake on the wind and seemed more suited for one of those flimsy tea dresses he’d seen in the window of an upscale store in Denver. Instead, she was encased in rugged denim jeans, a shirt that must have come from her brother’s closet, and boots older than time itself. A beat-up cowboy hat hung down her back, held secure by a braided-leather stampede string around her neck.

“Something funny?” she asked, chewing on a bacon strip.

Taking her brother’s advice about not letting her walk all over him from the start, he gestured to the boots piled by the door. “With all those over there, I couldn’t help notice your boots are, well—just ’bout worn through. I wouldn’t want to do much walking in ’em.”

“Well, it’s no matter to you because you aren’t going to be walking in them, now are you?” She pulled out a chair and sat. “And neither am I. I’m going to be riding. The two are different, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Nell,” Seth warned in a tone Charlie was starting to recognize. “You get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“No. Did you?”

Seth’s expression said Charlie better walk softly. Seth stood, then started for the door. “I’ll go saddle the horses.”

“I did that before I came in. Also filled all the water troughs.”

Seth stopped and one corner of his lips tipped up. “Sure is nice having a hired hand that thinks ahead and don’t wait to be told what needs doing. I guess we’re ready to head out.”

Nell’s eyebrows lifted. “I need to put the injured mare out in the small pasture where she’ll be able to graze while we’re gone.”

“You should have mentioned that last night. I could have done it.”

Nell stood and dipped her empty plate into the tub of water. “Never you mind, Charlie Rose. We don’t expect you to do everything around here.”

The morning passed quickly. The trip out to where the group of three-year-olds grazed took less than an hour. Charlie and Seth kept a string of conversation going, discussing politics, the state of the economy, just about any subject under the sun. Nell hadn’t seen her brother take to anyone like he had Charlie since Ben had come into their lives. She was taking to him, too—the way his hands and legs were soft as he rode, asking his mount instead of demanding or being a bit cruel, like too many other ranch hands they’d tossed out on their backsides.

Soon the birch-pole corral that she’d helped Seth and Ben construct five years ago came into view at the end of the box canyon. The enclosure connected to a narrow chute, which came in handy for working with a particularly difficult animal. Once the horse or steer had run inside and the gates were closed at head and tail, it was possible to halter, doctor, or even brand the animal through the slats.

The three stopped only long enough to prop open the gates so the corral would be ready to receive the horses.

The roundup didn’t take long with the help of Charlie and Dog. Nell flapped her coiled rope against her leather chaps to urge the last horse into the enclosure, then slid Coyote to a halt on her side of the gate. Charlie, a smile splitting his face like he’d just won a thousand dollars, pulled up on the other side and Seth swung the gate closed. Between the pounding hooves, Dog’s loud, excited bark, and the wind in the tall trees, excitement fairly hummed in the air.

“I haven’t had this much fun since, well, I can’t remember when,” Charlie hollered above the din.

His blue eyes glinted, which set off a strange sensation inside Nell. The flurries in her stomach grew as she took in his grin and windblown face. Yes, no doubt about it, their new hand was all too disarming for her good.

“Glad you liked it,” Seth responded. “Much easier this time with the three of us.”

Dog barked and wagged his tail.

“Four,” Seth corrected with a crooked smile.

“Those horses are fast.” The sides of Charlie’s black gelding heaved, and sweat trickled from under his saddle pad, dripping to the ground. “A couple of times there, I thought we lost ’em, Nell.”

She stacked the palms of her hands on her saddle horn, stretching up in the stirrups to get a better view of the horses and one less filled with Charlie. Caught up in the excitement, Dog scooted under the fence, barking wildly. One of the geldings kicked out viciously, missing him by inches.

“Dog,” Seth shouted. “Get out here before you get your brains kicked clear to kingdom come.” A horse charged and Dog scooted back under the fence, then ran over to Seth.

Nell dismounted and tied her horse to a nearby branch. She climbed the corral fence.

The chestnut stud colt with three white socks—the one Seth had such high hopes for—pawed the ground, showing just how angry he was about being brought in off the range. He flipped his head, then galloped the perimeter of the rails.

“Look at ’em, Seth.” Nell couldn’t keep her appreciation for the beautiful animals from her voice. “They’ve grown strong. That colt must have gained a good three hundred pounds in the last four months. He’s maturing.”

“Are they broke?” Charlie strode over to where she perched on the rail and stood alongside. He reached up and grasped the rail.

Nell shook her head. “Just green broke. Most have worn a saddle a time or two. Like Sitting Bull and Geronimo.” She pointed to a chestnut in the middle. “Cochise is one of my favorites, but he has a mind of his own.”

Charlie shot her a look. “What’s with the names?”

“The soldiers who they’re assigned to will rename them at the fort,” Seth answered. “So for the ones we plan to sell, we just drop a temporary name on ’em so between us we know which we’re talking about. Indian chief names are sort of an amusing thing to do.”

“But you’d be amazed how some of them actually live up to their names. Like that one over there.” Nell pointed to a muscular bay with a zigzag blaze running down his face. The animal stared at them keenly. “That’s Crazy Horse and boy, he’s one I never turn my back on.” She laughed, loving every second of what she did for a living. “We like to start them slow to give them a small taste of what’s to come, and then turn them back out. Let them develop and grow up. Also makes them smart. These horses haven’t been coddled. They’ll go the distance and then some when we’re through with them.”

Charlie pointed to the chestnut that stood out from the others like a diamond among coal. “He also going to the army?”

Seth grunted and removed his hat to wipe his brow, then replaced it, leaning his arms on the rail and peering into the corral. A long rattling cough made him turn away. “No. We’ve been waiting for a colt like him for years,” he finally said, leaning on the fence again. “He’s worth a lot more than an army mount. We’ll keep him for breeding. His name’s Drag Anchor.”

The only stud colt in the group of geldings was full of himself. He flattened his ears and rushed at one of the smaller horses, biting him viciously on the side. The horse squealed and lunged away.

Charlie shook his head. “Looks bad tempered to me.”

“He’s just scared,” Nell said. “In a few hours he’ll settle down. He remembers us and knows what’s coming, and is none too pleased about it, either.”

Snorting and the sound of horses’ hooves scuffling in the barren corral filled the air. “They’re used to running from predators, and to them, that’s what we are. We’re not here to steal their lives, but their freedom. That’s just as bad.”

Sweat dripped from the horses’ bellies and down their faces. The lovely scent of warm, wet horseflesh reached her nose even sitting on the top rail. Nell yearned to calm their fears, but that was not advisable quite yet.

Drag Anchor galloped toward the rail again, stubbornly looking for a way out. He slid to a halt on the enclosure’s far side, which extended twenty feet along the bottom of a sheer cliff.

“You’ve ridden him?” Charlie eyed her, impressed. “He looks pretty rank to me.”

“I have.” Pride filled her. She lived for her horses. All of them. Drag Anchor was special, but all of them were to her.

“I told her to wait,” Seth said. “Until he had some ground manners and had carried a saddle a few more times, but, as you now know, Nell can be tenacious as all get-out. She seems to have a special sense of things. I’ve never seen anything like it before. She knows when they’re ready, or when they aren’t. It’s pretty amazing.”

Seth’s tone had taken on a soft, curious, amazed quality. Nell glanced down at her brother and a swell of love lifted her heart. Always her champion.

“Sounds like you think she talks to them, Seth.”

Seth shrugged. “She does. Not with words exactly. I can’t explain it.” He repositioned his hat. “Don’t matter how she does it; I’m just glad she can.”

Turning back to the horses, Nell let go her breath and flexed her stiff shoulders. All they had to do now was set up camp and begin work tomorrow. Anticipation thrummed inside her chest, not only because of the horses but because of Charlie and the way she felt him looking at her right now. With a light in his eyes that said he was more than a little curious about what she’d reveal next.