Savage Thunder

Chapter Thirty-six

It was absolutely out of the question. It was so im-proper it didn't even bear consideration.

Besides, there was that implied warning that Colt wouldn't keep his hands off her if she went with him.

That was the one point Jocelyn didn't mention when she told the countess she was going, and then spent the next two hours arguing with her about it. In the end, it was her decision to make. And in the end, Vanessa even allowed the plan might have some merit to it. After all, if Jocelyn could get away undetected, Longnose wouldn't leave the area, thinking she was still there.

Later in the week the rest of their numbers could be divided, half to take the train to meet her in Cheyenne, the other half to go by the Santa Fe Trail as they had intended. And with Jocelyn in neither party, Longnose wouldn't know which to follow, would likely assume she had been hidden somehow. He might even divide his own numbers, which would make it simpler for the law authorities, whom she intended to have waiting for him when he eventually showed up in Wyoming.

Jocelyn didn't know how Colt had greeted her de-cision to go with him, for she had sent a servant to tell him. There was the strong possibility his offer hadn't been sincere and he would be furious that she had once again called his bluff. After all, she really didn't understand why he would do this for her when she knew how much he disliked her company. But if he had been sincere, then she could only conclude that he was so fed up with the job she had forced on ' him — which had now become extremely risky as well as bothersome — that he was willing to do anything to get it over with. Traveling without the encumbrance of the vehicles would get them to Wyoming in half the time, maybe even less.

She was ready when he came for her around mid-night, dressed in one of her more sturdy riding habits, with a full-length fur-lined cloak draped over an arm, her rifle in one hand and a small valise in the other. I Colt did no more than remove her tall, short-brimmed 1 riding hat to replace it with one he had brought along, a man's widebrimmed hat in the same style as his, I which surprisingly fitted. She didn't object. She didn't dare. She was going to have to get used to doing things as he directed, or risk heaven knew what, a thought that didn't sit well with her, but she supposed she would get used to that too.

She noted right off, despite there being no words f exchanged between them, that Colt didn't seem furi-I ous. But then most of the time it was impossible to I tell what he was feeling. However, if anything, he I seemed rather relaxed in his manner. He even flipped 1 her new hat down over her eyes after he'd placed it I on her head, something a playful relative or friend * might do, but not her taciturn guide.

But he wasn't wasting any time in getting started, so she didn't wonder about his attitude for very long.

He led her out of the hotel through the back and down several streets, not to the stables, but to an alley where his brother was waiting with the horses.

"You see anyone?" he asked Billy.

"Not a soul."

Billy stepped back as Colt tossed Jocelyn up onto Sir George, then secured her valise for her. She had to spend a few moments quieting the animal, who didn't like such proximity to Colt's stallion.

"Don't forget what I told you, kid," Colt was say-ing. "Just keep to the flats with the mountains on your left, and you'll have no problem leading the oth-ers straight into Cheyenne. I'm trusting you to show up at the Rocky Valley on your own. If you make me come looking for you again, you'll wish to hell you hadnt."

"I'll be there," Billy replied in a somewhat grum-bling tone. "But I'm still not going back to school."

"You can take your objections up with your ma when you return to Chicago, which is what you should have done in the first place."

At that point Billy grinned. "She didn't think I was serious about not wanting to be a lawyer, that I mean to take up ranching instead. Now she knows I wasn't kidding."

"You proved your point all right. What good it'll do you is debatable, though."

And then Colt pulled Billy into a brief, bone-crushing embrace, surprising the boy as well as Jocelyn, who was watching. If she had been asked, she would have sworn Colt Thunder didn't have an affectionate bone in his body. Obviously, he had one or two well hidden.

As Billy headed back to the hotel and Colt mounted up, it finally dawned on Jocelyn what was missing.

"Where are the supply horses?"

"You're traveling with an Indian, Duchess." For once he didn't say it in a derogatory way. "If I can't survive off the land, there's something wrong with me."

They both thought of Philippe Marivaux simulta-neously, Colt with satisfaction that he'd never have to smell another meal smothered in French wines, Jocelyn with regret. "I'm skinny enough as it is," she felt obliged to complain. "I'll probably waste away to nothing by the time we get there."

He had the gall to laugh. But after she thought about it, she rather liked the idea of his providing for her.

Protection, provision, and whatever else was needed. That had a rather nice sound to it.