Dusty Britches (42 page)

“
Do you remember the object of this game, Ryder?
”
Dusty asked.

“
I believe I do. But why don
’
t y
a
tell me?
”
he chuckled.

As a younger girl,
“
pack
’
em in
”
had been her favorite. It was the opposite of hide
-
and
-
seek. In pack
’
em in
,
one person hid
,
and everybody went looking for the hider. The difference was when someone found the hiding person, the finder hid with the hider
.
This premise made for great fun
—
especia
lly in the courting-age groups—
because usually by the time the last seeker had found all the hiders, a fair amount of flirting, teasing, and sparking had transpired among them all.

“
I
’
m not gonna tell y
a
what you already know,
”
she told him.

“
Then I
’
ll see you…wherever I see you, Miss Dusty,
”
he said, winking at her. He turned and joined several other
ranch
hands in their conversation.

“
I
’
m so glad to see you joinin
’
in tonight, Dusty.
”
Dusty rolled her eyes
with irritation. Drawing in a breath of patience, she turned
to face Brenda Rivers.
“
It
’
s been so long since you were out like this,
”
the girl said, adding insult to injury. Brenda was Maudie
’
s best friend and as syrupy and fake as they came. She stood twisting a long strand of her ebony hair around one dainty finger.

Dusty smiled.
“
I just keep so busy helpin
’
Daddy with the ranch and all. But I do feel a bit more…tolerant tonight, I guess,
”
Dusty told her pointedly.

“
Hmm. Really?
”
Brenda sighed.
“
I thought maybe you was just keepin
’
an eye on Ryder Maddox.
”

“
Why ever would y
a say that, Brenda?” Dusty asked, feigning indifference
.

“’
Cause if Ryder Maddox was my daddy
’
s hand…I
’
d be keepin
’
more than my eye on him!
 
Brenda Rivers was the most shameless flirt Dusty had ever known.

“
It
’
s the nice weather that
’
s got me feelin
’
refreshed tonight,
”
Dusty sighed, ignoring her comment.

“
I bet,
”
Brenda said.
“
Good luck. Findin
’
Maudie, I mean.
”

“
You too.
”
Dusty forced a false smile in return.

As Brenda walked away
,
Miss Raynetta whispered in Dusty
’
s ear from behind her,
“
There
’
s one a them in every town
.
Two in this one! Just makes a woman wanna spit!
”

Dusty chuckled and nodded. She
’
d always adored Miss Raynetta
—
now
more than ever. She
’
d nev
er look at her the same again—o
r her own daddy. Turning, she smiled at her.
“
You wanna join in the game, Miss Raynetta?
”
Dusty asked.

“
Oh, my lands
,
n
o!
”
the woman giggled.
“
I
’
ll just stay here and
help out where help is needed.
”
With a wink, a candle seemed to flame in Dusty
’
s mind. Her daddy
had always liked Miss Raynetta—
spoken very highly of her. Maybe her sudden aspirations where they were concerned wouldn
’
t be so difficult after all.

“Let’s go!” someone shouted. Suddenly,
young men and women
were
racing every which way.

Dusty paused, uncertain she really should get involved. Deep in her heart, she wanted to. But should she?
Still, h
er eyes caught Ryder
’
s daring stare and triumphant grin
. L
ifting her skirts, she spun around
in
the opposite direction, de
termined to find Maudie first—e
speciall
y not last—a
nd esp
ecially before Ryder found her. She wouldn’t give
Maudie a chance to even look at him too close
ly
!

It was Feller Lance himself
who
handed everyone
a lantern as they left the barn—
along with instructions to blow it out once they
’
d found Maudie and were hiding with her.

“
You
’
re not joinin
’
in, Feller?
”
Dusty asked.

“
I
’
m too old for this kind a thing, Dusty. You know that,
”
the man
answered
with a chuckle.

“
You
’
re only as old as you feel, Feller. And you
’
re not as old as you try to make everybody think y
a
are.
”
With that
,
she left him frowning with puzzlement. No doubt over the past two years
,
her high spirits had
become too unfamiliar to him, but that would change—s
omehow.

It was a fairly clear night. Not too many clouds threatened to darken the moon. Still, Dusty was grateful for the light of the lantern
. She could see other lanterns
dotti
ng the night out in the fields,
looking like fireflies hovering in a darkened meadow. Pausing, she looked around trying to decide where Maudie would hide. It really wasn
’
t a very hard thing to figure out. The ea
sy options were fairly obvious—
l
ie
low in the grassy fie
ld until someone stepped on her? No—
Maudie was too pristine for that, though
it
would
’
ve been one of her least wise choices. The old oak clear down by the creek was a good one, but Maudie was too soft
-
skinned
to climb it
. Then Dusty saw a lantern flicker and go out near the old shed out behind the barn.

“
Oh, surely you tried harder than that!
”
she mumbled to herself as she set out. She blew her lantern out immediately, knowing the way well enough to find it by moonlight and thereby not easily leading anyone else to it.

Carefully she stepped into the old shed
,
closing the door behind her. It was pitch dark, even with the moonlight streaming through the enormous crater in the sh
ed’s roof overhead. S
he heard muffled giggles coming from above.

“
In the loft?
”
she whispered.
“
Maudie?
”
Dusty called.
“
You up in that loft?
”

There was no answer. So draping her skirts over one arm and setting the lantern on the ground by the door, Dusty climbed the ladder to the loft of old man Leroy
’
s shed. It was awkward at best, but when she reached the loft and peered about, it was to see at leas
t five different smiling faces
in addition to Maudie
’
s
—including Becca’s
.

Guthrie clamped his hand over Maudie
’
s mouth and, motioning to Dusty, called out in a whisper,
“
Come on, Dusty! Hurry! I can hear somebody else outside the barn!
”
Something
about Guthrie calling her Dusty—
just plai
n Dusty with no “Miss” attached—it
suddenly warmed her heart so completely she thought she might burst into tears.

“
Hurry up, Miss Britches! There
’
s others nearby!
”
Startled at hearing his whisper just below her feet on the ladder, Dusty did as Ryder prodded and climbed up into the loft with the others.

“
Just here,
”
Becca whispered. Dusty followed suit with the others, lying down next to Titch. She hadn
’
t even stretched out completely on her stomach before Ryder was beside her. He plopped himself down with a triumphant grin, obviously having ditched his lantern somewhere as well.

“
Ssshhhhh!
”
someone whispered as Maudie and Becca both fought their delighted giggles. Dusty allowed
a
smile
begging
to spread to draw itself across her mouth, but she lost the battle to deter the giggles
. I
t was Ryder
’
s hand over her mouth that finally silenced her.

“
Keep yourself quiet, girl,
”
Ryder whispered
with a low chuckle
.
“
Or I
’
ll find a way to do it for you.
”

“You cheater!” Dusty told him. She pushed
his hand away
,
trying to squelch the immediate thrill
traveling
over her
because of
his threat to quiet her.
“
You followed me!
”

“
I figured you were
still
pretty good at this game,
”
Ryder whispered in her ear.
“
So…
”
Goose bumps again broke over her entire body. She was bathed in delight as she lay there in the darkness waiting for her eyes to adjust to only the light of the stars and moon breaking through the tattered rooftop of the old shed.

“
You
’
re a cheater as well as a scoundrel,
”
she told him, still smiling. He had followed her. How…how…how fabulous!

One of the girls erupted into giggles again
;
Dusty recognized it as Becca.
“
Ssshhh!
”
a man
’
s voice scolded.
“
Stop that! Everyone
’
ll know where we are!
”

Minutes of silence passed before someone else
entered the old building. N
ow
Dusty waited anxiously—
trying to restrain the giggling sensation overtaking her again at the excitement of watching who
m
ever it was labor to find the hiding place.

“
It
’
s Cash Richardson,
”
Ryder whispered in her ear.

Dusty looked at him
irritated,
only to find his expression utterly sincere. Cash? Why did it have to be Cash? So soon. A
fter their altercation in town—
even for their obvious ignoring of eac
h other at the picnic thus far—
Dusty feared Cash
’
s presence might dampen Ryder
’
s good mood.

They all listened as Cash ascended the ladder rungs and peeked up into the loft. Maudie and Becca immediately burst into giggles
. Smiling,
Cash blew out his lantern and climbed up into the loft right next to Ryder.