Lady Outlaw (10 page)

“Thank you for the information, Nathan.” She read the silent question in his eyes and knew that he still wanted her to run away with him. He liked her ability with a gun and the adept way she handled bandits—that’s why he wanted her to leave with him. But he didn’t know the real Jennie Jones, the person she was inside. That girl was much more than what he saw—much more than what desperation had driven her to become. She had to be.

“Always a pleasure, Jennie ‘Spitfire’ Jones.” He pulled his horse up short, and Jennie did the same. “I’ll be off—unless you got somethin’ else in mind for us to do besides stare at your pitiful cattle.” He winked at her.

“No,” she said with an emphatic shake of her head. She still held to her morals when it came to some things.

“Of course not. You may be an outlaw, but you’re a prudish one at that.” He laughed and wheeled his horse around. “They’ll attack the stage about ten miles south of Cove Fort. Then they’ll hole up for the rest of the day in a cave, just west of there. You can overtake them while they’re hiding out, but you’ll have a good, long ride ahead of you. Make sure you get there in enough time to steal the money before they split at dusk.”

Jennie waved as he galloped away and renewed her course. Her thoughts soon returned to Nathan calling her an outlaw. She didn’t think of herself in those terms. She certainly wasn’t a criminal like these thugs she came up against.

A niggling doubt struggled to free itself, but Jennie quickly silenced it by reviewing the week’s tasks: finish mending the fences, repair the chicken coop and decide what seeds they would plant in the garden.

Before long she located the bulk of the herd, resting in the shade of some juniper trees. She whistled loudly so they wouldn’t be spooked and rode in a circle around the cattle. She observed each cow, checking for any sign of sickness or injury. They appeared to be in good health, besides being a bit skinnier than their cows in the past. She turned Dandy north and began a lazy search for the rest of the cattle.

After a mile or two, she realized she hadn’t run across a single cow since leaving the main group, and she didn’t remember seeing any calves back at the junipers, either. She headed east for a ways, then turned south again, pausing in confusion. Surely all the mother cows wouldn’t have wandered off together.

She returned to the herd for a count. Thirty of the cows were missing, along with all the newborn calves. Which could only mean one thing. Someone had rustled her cows—again.

Jennie yanked Dandy to a stop, causing the horse to pull against the bit. The thieves couldn’t be far away—the calves would slow them down and they’d want to stick near the prairie grass so the cows could feed. She scrutinized the ground, searching for any sign of the rustlers. She nudged her horse in one direction and then another. At last she saw what she’d hoped to, a few hundred yards to the west: patches of trampled grass.

She spurred Dandy forward to follow the tracks until reason caught up with her anger and she pulled back on the reins. Without knowing how many rustlers there were, she wouldn’t know if she needed help or not. Even if she could overtake them and get the cows back, she would have a hard time driving the cattle back to the ranch alone. Yet the prospect of waiting until the others returned from church, allowing the thieves time to move the cattle farther away, made her groan with impatience.
If I went and got Caleb at the church, though...

If she hurried, she could make it to the church in less than an hour. Then she and Caleb could fetch his horse and any supplies from the house and head back to the range without waiting for Will and Grandma Jones to come in the wagon.

Jennie pointed Dandy toward town. “Yaw,” she cried, prodding the horse with her heels. Bending low across Dandy’s back, she urged him into a full gallop.

* * *

Jennie found the churchyard empty, except for the waiting horses and wagons. The meeting wasn’t over yet. She slid to the ground and tied Dandy to the nearby hitching post. She ascended the few steps and gripped the door handle, her heart pumping harder with more than fear about losing her cattle.

The memories of the last time she’d been to the little church washed over her and for a moment she couldn’t move. All the things people had said about her mother whirled through her mind. Then she lifted her chin. She was only here to get Caleb and save her cattle.

Swallowing back her fear, she pulled open the door an inch. The murmur of a man’s voice floated out from the church’s main room. Though she meant to slip in quietly, inconspicuously, a sudden gust of wind jerked the door from Jennie’s grasp and sent it crashing against the outside wall. Every person in the room spun around to stare at her.

Jennie nearly bolted back down the steps, but the thought of losing her cows kept her rooted to the spot. She searched the faces of the crowd until she located the surprised but pleased ones of Grandma Jones, Will and Caleb.

“Caleb,” she whispered, motioning for him to come to the door.

He furrowed his brow and tipped his head at the pastor who’d managed to keep to his sermon in spite of Jennie’s interruption.

“Caleb,” she tried again a little louder. But he’d turned forward again.

Someone to her left shushed her, bringing a blush to Jennie’s cheeks. Humiliated but determined, she half crept down the aisle and wormed her way into the family’s pew next to Caleb.

“If you were going for a big entrance, that was it,” he said in a low voice. “I’m glad you changed your mind about coming.”

“Do I look dressed for Sunday services?” She glared down at her trousers, then back up at Caleb. “You need to leave with me. Now.”

Another person behind them said, “Shh.” Jennie gripped the arm of the pew to keep from spinning around and glowering. The room felt too hot, the crowd too close.

“Someone’s stolen my cows,” she hissed into his ear. “I think we can catch them if we go now.”

His eyebrows shot up. “We?” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “Why don’t you get the sheriff?”

That was the last thing she wanted. Her association with stage thugs compelled her to stay far away from any lawman. “Not enough time,” she whispered back. “We have to hurry. You can ride Dandy back with me.”

Caleb exhaled loudly through his nose. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes.” She held her breath. If he didn’t help her, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

“All right.”

“Tell Will and Grandma Jones there’s a problem with the herd. We can explain later. I don’t want to worry them too much now.”

Without waiting for him to follow through, Jennie rushed from the pew and toward the door. She couldn’t leave fast enough—both for her cows and for herself. Outside she gulped in air.

She finished untying Dandy as Caleb emerged from the building. “What did they say?”

“Your grandmother said not to let you do anything impulsive.” He walked over, concern evident on his face. “If she thinks I can stop you, then she doesn’t know you well at all, does she? Are you sure you don’t want to go get the sheriff and his men or maybe one of your neighbors here?”

Jennie gave an emphatic shake of her head. “I told you there isn’t time. The tracks they left are still fairly fresh. I think we can catch up to the rustlers if we hurry. Now are you comin’ or not, cowboy?”

Caleb frowned, but swung up into the saddle. “I didn’t leave a perfectly good meeting just to chat.” He leaned down and helped her climb onto Dandy’s back.

Reluctantly, she wrapped her arms around Caleb’s waist as he nudged Dandy into a full gallop and headed for home.

* * *

Jennie tried to distract herself from Caleb’s nearness, from the knowledge of her hands encircling his strong back, by talking. But it sounded like nervous chatter, even to her ears.

“We’ll ride to the house first. And then...then we need to get your horse and your guns. Probably something to eat. I found the cattle’s tracks but didn’t follow where they led completely.”

“We’ll find them,” he reassured. “In the meantime, since you want my help, can I assume you’ve forgiven me for draggin’ your family to church?”

Jennie’s cheeks flamed. Thankfully he couldn’t see her face. “I’m sorry.” This was starting to become a pattern. “I guess I was...” She let her voice trail into silence as she tried to pinpoint why she’d been so angry with him about taking the family to church.

“Afraid?”

“Maybe.” Was she really afraid of returning to church? Or was it something else, something deeper?

“What do you want to do once we find the rustlers?” Caleb asked, gratefully changing the subject.

Jennie resisted the urge to bite her thumbnail, knowing Caleb would only tease her if she did. She hadn’t really formulated a plan. “We’ll figure that out when we know how many there are.”

“From what I saw the other week on the trail, fewer than six shouldn’t be a problem.”

She smiled at his back. “Are you saying I could have handled those men without your gallant assistance?”

To her surprise he didn’t laugh. “We’ve got to figure out exactly how we’re going to proceed once we track down these rustlers. We don’t know who we’re dealing with here, and things could go south mighty fast.”

“All right. I’ll think of something.”

They rode on in silence as Jennie’s thoughts raced ahead to where the rustlers might be and how to go about stealing back her own cows. Hopefully with a little luck she and Caleb would be able to bring all of the cattle—and themselves—home safe and sound.

Chapter Eight

A
fter collecting his revolvers from his room, Caleb saddled up Saul and met Jennie beside the corral. A lumpy saddlebag, probably holding food and lassos, straddled Dandy’s back.

“You ready?” Jennie asked as she swung back up into her saddle.

Though apprehension had begun to unwind itself inside his stomach, Caleb nodded and climbed onto Saul. He reminded himself he wasn’t operating in his old job as a bounty hunter, tracking down someone associated with Liza’s death. He was simply going to help Jennie rescue her cattle. Without those cows he wouldn’t have a job.

He kept Saul at a gallop, in step with Dandy, slowing his horse only when Jennie did hers. Before long, Caleb recognized the spot where they’d done the branding. Jennie signaled for him to stop.

“Those are the tracks the cows and calves made when they separated them from the herd.” She pointed to a wobbly line of crushed grass that led west. “With all those new calves to slow them down, they can’t be more than a few miles away. They’ll have to stay near the prairie grass, too.”

Caleb rode beside her as they followed the trail, but the tracks disappeared soon after in a thick patch of sagebrush.

“That can’t be the end of the trail,” Jennie said with a groan.

“We’ll find them. Why don’t you head that way?” He pointed due north. “I’ll go this way.”

Caleb led Saul to the right. Every few feet he stopped his horse and scrutinized the ground for signs the cows had passed this way. Soon he found what he wanted—several new hoofprints in a patch of sand among the brush. A little farther on he discovered some fresh cow dung.

“Jennie!” He stood in the stirrups and waved her over with his hat.

“Did you find something?”

“Here’s their trail. The rustlers took them west, this way.”

Jennie glanced from the ground to Caleb, respect evident in her eyes. “I didn’t know you were a tracker.”

“My uncle taught me more than just how to shoot a gun.”

When the trail faded a second time, Jennie waited for him to find it again before they continued on. Caleb appreciated her trust in his skills, and for the first time since coming to the ranch, he felt useful, competent. Perhaps the abilities he’d honed as a bounty hunter could be put to good use and not just as triggers for memories he’d sooner forget.

They came to a small stream, and Jennie stopped him. Still in their saddles, they watered the horses and ate some of the jerky and bread she had brought along in her saddlebag. The setting sun changed the sky overhead to a dark blue and stole the warmth of the day.

Caleb paused and slipped on the coat he’d brought along when he caught the smell of smoke. “Can you smell that?”

Jennie drew Dandy to a stop and sniffed the air. “It’s got to be a campfire. We must be close.”

“If we are then we’re also more likely to be seen, too,” he cautioned.

Twisting in his saddle, Caleb surveyed the surrounding country. The scent of smoke came strongest toward his left, probably on the other side of the steep incline just ahead of them. Several patches of junipers stood nearby, and to the south, Caleb thought he spied a ravine.

“Let’s tie the horses in those trees over there,” he said, pointing, “then we’ll move on foot up that ravine to see if we can get a better view of who we’re dealing with.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Jennie nudged Dandy toward the trees.

“I think that’s a first.”

She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “Things are never dull with you around, are they, Caleb Johnson?”

“I could say the same for you, Jennie Jones.”

Once the horses had been tied up, Caleb led Jennie toward the ravine. To his relief, she didn’t put up a fuss about following. If she had, he might have refused to help her. He wasn’t about to let her lead the way right through trouble’s door, not if he could help it.