Brave the Wild Wind

Chapter 19

THEY were only three hours on the trail when Little Hawk caught up with them. Jessie heard him calling to her and stopped. Then Chase heard the name being called and grabbed Jessie’s reins. Little Hawk stopped, watching them.

“So you’re Looks Like Woman?” Chase said.

“The Indians call me Looks Like Woman,” she said flatly.

“Your friend said the Sioux was there because of you. Is that true?”

“Yes. He never left the ranch area, and followed me to the village. He’s asked me to be his wife.”

Chase stared at her for a few moments, then said, “So he did attack me that day because I kissed you?”

“Yes, I suppose he did. But I didn’t know that at the time.”

Chase laughed derisively. “But that’s ridiculous, him wanting to marry you.”

“Why ridiculous?” she said in a deadly voice.

“He’s an Indian, for God’s sake!”

“My closest friend is an Indian,” she said smoothly. “I’ve been visiting him and his people for eight years. I know their culture as well as I do my own. You think I can’t be happy married to an Indian? Well, let me tell you something, Summers. The only place I’ve found any happiness these last ten years was with White Thunder and his family. So don’t tell me his being an Indian should have anything to do with my decision.”

Chase was left speechless. Little Hawk was watching them, and he could feel it. “What did you tell him?”

“That, Chase Summers, is none of your business,” Jessie said, yanking her reins away from him. Turning around, she rode straight for Little Hawk.

They didn’t say anything at first, just stared at each other, Little Hawk searching her eyes, Jessie wishing they were alone.

At last Little Hawk said, “I did not mean to let you go without speaking to you, but I was angry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was not you who caused my anger, but that one. He upsets you.”

“Do not trouble yourself about him. He’s just a stubborn cuss who does my mother’s bidding.”

“I do not like it that you ride alone with him. I will ride with you.”

“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “And have you two battling? No.”

“If he touches you—”

“Stop it,” she said quickly.

“I can handle that one. I’m armed again, see?” She patted her gun before she added gently, “You have got to stop concerning yourself with me. I will not marry you, Little Hawk, and I will not change my mind about it. So go home to your wife.”

He avoided replying to that, asking instead, “You will come again to White Thunder’s camp?”

She frowned at him. “You mustn’t look for me.”

“Looks Like Woman—”

“Oh, please, don’t make this so difficult,” she pleaded. “We are not fated to be together. I know it. Ask your medicine man, he will tell you. Do not look for me. My spirit cannot meet yours with ease. You understand, Little Hawk? You are too... too much for me.”

She turned away then, riding back to Chase. She looked back once to see Little Hawk sitting there, watching her, his expression unreadable. How it hurt her to say those things to him. But it wasn’t to be, and she’d had to stop him from hurting himself more.

She passed Chase without a word, galloping steadily. She didn’t see the two men staring at each other for a long time before they simultaneously turned away, Little Hawk to the north, Chase to follow her.

She could feel Chase’s eyes on her from time to time as they crossed the plains. It was beautiful country.

The Big Horn Mountains were directly west, joining many other ranges stretching across the land to form the Rocky Mountains. The Black Hills were to the east. Even the rolling grassland that seemed infinite was beautiful. Trees along creek beds were bursting with brilliant autumn leaves. A slow-moving herd of buffalo seemed from a distance like great-backed turtles.

Jessie knew this land and loved it. She loved the ranch, too. She had nothing else, really. She certainly didn’t want to live anywhere else. Yet she felt she had reached an impasse in her life. She felt changed, but without a new direction. She felt she needed something, only she didn’t know what that something was.

They didn’t stop that day, except to water the horses. It was late when they finally came to the creek where Jessie meant to camp. The sun had set, and the moon had yet to rise, but she knew just where to find firewood. She got a fire started before Chase had even unsaddled his horse.

With Jessie leading the way home, Chase had no recourse but to let her make the decisions. He wouldn’t have thought of asking her to stop sooner. He was drawing on his last reserves, however. The fight with Black Bear Hunter had been a hard contest. Still, he kept silent.

His cuts were bleeding again. An Indian woman had put salve on them and bandaged him while he was waiting for Jessie that morning, but the cut on his side was bleeding through his shirt and needed tending.

He was too tired even to do that. If he could just get his horse rubbed down ...

“Sit down before you fall down!” Jessie commanded in a no-nonsense voice from behind him. “Honestly, if you were this tired you should have said something.”

He hadn’t known she was watching. “Didn’t want to trouble you,” he offered lamely.

She sighed as she grabbed some grass and finished rubbing down Goldenrod for him, saying,

“There’s food by the fire. White Thunder’s sister prepared it for us. Help yourself.”

“I think I’ll just get some sleep.”

“You’ll eat first,” Jessie said firmly. “You’ll need the energy to withstand tomorrow’s ride.”

Her tone promised that the next day would be another grueling one. “What’s the hurry?” Chase grumbled.

“I told you. I don’t like your company. The sooner we get back the better.”

Chase scowled. “Then by all means I’ll eat. We can’t have you fretting over the few extra hours you might have to spend with me.”

“Thank you.”

How she drove him with that unbending hostility. Whoever would believe they had shared a night of the most incredible loving he had ever experienced?

He sat down and picked through the food laid out on a thin hide wrapping. He had eaten several pieces of meat by the time Jessie sat down. She sat next to him, with the food between them. Her expression was as unfriendly as possible.

“I’m in pain, Jessie,” he ventured.

“From what?” Her tone was a little less frosty.

“From this gash in my side.”

“How bad is it?”

“I didn’t get a good look at it,” he confessed.

He managed to get the left sleeve of his jacket off. When it fell back, the blood soaking his shirt became visible. He felt Jessie’s shock and was pleased. Then he looked down at himself and saw the blood ruining a damn good pair of pants.

Jessie was up instantly, helping him remove his jacket all the way. She went for his shirt next, pulling it out of his pants and over his head. She said nothing until after she had unwrapped the bandage and inspected the wound carefully, making him move closer to the firelight so she could see.

“It’s not so bad,” she murmured. “All that jarring from the ride kept it from clotting is all.”

Chase raised his arm to get a better look while she went to the creek for water. It looked bad to him, a good quarter-inch deep and at least ten inches long. Jessie hadn’t been at all squeamish, he reminded himself.

When she came back, she carefully cleaned the cut. Chase was gazing at her face, the way her brow wrinkled in concentration, the way she chewed at her lower lip. She was too close, and he was beginning to think about things he shouldn’t think about.

Jessie had to use the same bandage for want of another, but offered, “If you have a change of shirt, I’ll wash this one for you.”

“In my saddle bag. How about washing my pants, too?”

“You’ll need your pants for warmth. It’s going to get chilly tonight.”

“All I need is a blanket and a warm woman.” Chase grinned.

“All you’ll get is a blanket,” she retorted.

Chase was grinning when she tossed his clean shirt and a blanket at him before she went back to the creek. She was less hostile, and he was delighted.

He had the blanket wrapped around his waist and was struggling to get the shirt buttoned when Jessie came back. She finished buttoning it for him, then helped him get his jacket back on. He lay down, and she knelt beside him to straighten the blanket. When she leaned over him, his arm came around her and drew her close. She didn’t think to pull back before it was too late. He whispered, “Thanks,” and then his lips brushed hers lightly. His arm fell away, and his eyes closed. Jessie moved away to settle down a few feet from him. She lay facing him, and for a long while she watched him as he slept.