Another Chance (7 page)

Melvin Jenkins
nodded.  “You know that I’m just trying to look out for you, don’t you,
Jordan?”

She
nodded.  “Yes. And I’m grateful for that, but I’ve looked at all my
financial papers and I can afford to do this.”

“Of course you
can.”  Jenkins chuckled, winking at her conspiratorially.  He was
very aware of the money she had inherited from her parents and from her
husband’s insurance policy.  “You can afford to do pretty much whatever
you want to do.  I just don’t understand why it’s a horse in Idaho?”

Jordan knew
that Melvin Jenkins was a kind man and she trusted him to invest and handle
most of her money, but she also knew his interest ran deeper than just her
financial wellbeing.  He had been trying for years to date her, but she
just couldn’t see the two of them having anything in common except her
money.  She would never allow it to get beyond business.

“Mel, it’s not
just a horse from Idaho.  It’s that specific animal.  If she were in
Alaska, I’d still want her.”  Jordan was losing her patience.  “Just
transfer the money.  I’ll call Mr. Roberts and let him know it’s on the
way.”

“I don’t
understand why you don’t get on a plane and fly out to look at the horse before
you invest in it, but it’s not up to me.”  Jenkins nodded and pushed back
his chair.  “Let me get the papers ready for your signature.  Would
you like some coffee or a soda to drink while you wait?”  He knew when a
client was determined.  Over the past few years, he’s set his sights on
Jordan Lanier.  He knew that having the right man beside her would replace
this obsession she seemed to have for horses and he felt sure he could be the
right man.

Jordan shook
her head negatively.  “No, I’m fine.”

However, he’d
also learned that she was a determined person.  He’d tried to dissuade her
from remodeling the barn three years ago, but she was insistent.  He had
though; made sure the contractor who did the remodel knew that he, Mel Jenkins
was the man who wrote the check out.

It was well
known at the bank that Jordan was Mel’s personal client.  He made it a
point to know when she came to the bank and it was always Mel who tended to her
business, even if it was just to cash a check.

Twenty minutes
later Jordan was in her truck, headed to the feed store.  Mel had made the
money transfer and assured her that anything she ever needed was in his power
to provide.  When she left the bank, he walked her to the door and held
her hand a little longer than necessary while saying good-bye.  Jordan
thanked him for his help and reassured him that she sincerely appreciated all
his help.

She talked
with one of the girls who worked at the feed store until she was sure her feed
was loaded.  After David’s death, she made a point of never making small
talk with any of the male employees where she did business.  In her head,
she knew that Lambert’s fixation on her was not her fault, but the guilt of her
husband’s death ran deep.

Back at her
place, she unloaded the feed and swept through her chores with Bhrandii at her
heels.  “I wish you could handle a pitchfork.  You’ve watched me do
this often enough, I wouldn’t even have to teach you how, and I sure could use
the help,” she told the dog.  His tail wagged.  She had probably said
that to him at least once a week since she first accepted him from Mac’s arms,
a squirming, whining bundle of red/brown fur.  She stretched out her hand
and rubbed his broad head.  “You get tired of hearing that, don’t
you?”  His tail wagged again.  She laughed at herself as she put away
the pitchfork and went to one of the stalls to get a colt that was due to be
ridden.

She led the
colt to the crosstie in front of the tack room and began the regular ritual of
grooming and saddling.  While she worked, she couldn’t help going over the
conversation with Clay Roberts, in her mind, when she called to tell him the
money had been transferred to his bank.

He was happy
to know the filly would belong to her.  He felt sure the two of them would
fit each other well and it pleased him to know that the filly would have a
career in the show ring.

“I know there
are people who are in the horse transportation business, but they charge too
much, if you know what I mean,” he told her.

“You’re right
about that, but right now, I don’t see any other option.  I have horses in
my barn and commitments to my clients to ride them, so there is no way I can
drive to Idaho to get her.”  Jordan was quick to explain.

“Well,” Clay
said, “If you can give me a few days, maybe a week or so, I’ll see what I can
work out.  Maybe there is someone around here who is going at least part
of the way that I can send her with.  That should save some money.”

Jordan
shrugged her shoulders.  “I appreciate that, but that would mean that I
would owe you board in the meantime.”

She heard a
deep laughter that put her at ease, even though it came from so far away. 
“Don’t be silly, young lady.  If I can’t work something out in a month,
then we’ll get a horse hauler to bring her there.  Until she’s at your
barn, she’s mine anyway and that includes the expense of getting her to
you.  I’m just….frugal.  Are you willing to let me see what I can
do?”

Shocked by his
generosity, Jordan nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her, then
spoke.  “Well, sure, but I don’t expect you to pay for her
transportation.”

Again his warm
laughter eased her mind.  “Just let me see what I can do.  I know a
lot of people.”

She pulled the
cinch snug on the bay gelding she was preparing to ride, and then turned her
attention to the bridle.  She heard Bhrandii growl softly and looked at
him.  He was looking toward the front of the barn so she did too.

A tall,
heavyset figure was silhouetted against the bright light framing the entrance
of the building.  She hadn’t heard a motor or a door slam and was
surprised that she had been so engrossed in her own thoughts.  Just for a
second her heart lurched in fear, then she recognized the movement of the
individual and smiled a greeting.  “Hey, Sheriff John.  How are you?”

Leaving the
gelding cross-tied, she walked toward him, giving him a quick hug of affection
as their steps brought them together.  “I haven’t seen you in a long time,
except at church.”  As she smiled up at him, she realized he was in
uniform.  “Is this an official visit?”

He returned her
brief hug then kept one arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the
office where she always met with clients.  He had watched this girl grow
up and what she had been through would have destroyed a lot of young
women.  He had developed a great deal of respect for her as she had
struggled to overcome the tragic loss, first of her parents, then of her
husband and to rebuild her life, but she had done it.  He hated to tell
her what had brought him here.

“Yeah, Jordan,
it’s official business that brings me here.”

A ribbon of
fear curled into a knot in her stomach.  They were almost at the office
now and she stepped ahead of him.  She led the rest of the way, feeling
that each step was leading her to a place she didn’t want to be.  John
Davis had been her father’s best friend and had been one of the strong
shoulders she had leaned on when her parents died and when she returned home a
widow.  She knew he didn’t beat around the bush and from the look on his
face, she knew this was serious.  Her mind was racing in circles.

He reached
around her to push the door open and waited as the big Rhodesian Ridgeback dog
pushed in ahead of him to be close to Jordan.  She walked behind the desk
and sat down, indicating the chair in front of the desk for him.

“Alright, out
with it.  I’m ready.”  She stated firmly.

“I got a fax
this morning from the prison where Lambert…was.  He’s escaped.”  He
watched her closely as the news settled in.

She felt as
though someone had punched her in her stomach with an angry fist.  “Es…. Escaped? 
How?”

He
shrugged.  “They don’t know for sure.  They think he had help.”

“When?”

Again he
shrugged.  “Last week.  It took them a few days to track you to
here.  They’re all over this, honey.  No need for you to worry. 
I’m sure they’ll pick him up anytime.”

She shook her
head negatively, her heart pounding with fear.  “He’ll come.  It
might take a while for him to find me, but he’ll come.”

“He won’t know
where to find you.  You’ve gone back to using your maiden name.  You
have no ties with people where you lived when it happened.  You’re three
states away in a little town that no one has ever heard of.  He won’t know
where you are.”  Even as he said it, Sheriff Davis feared he could be
wrong.

Jordan felt
disoriented, like someone coming down with a bad case of the flu.  Panic
was nudging at her and she suddenly shoved back her chair, raising herself to
her feet and shrugging her fear off.  She had vowed that fear would never
control her again.  “I think I’ve always known that this would
happen.  Let him come!  I won’t run from him.”

John saw the
flash of fire in her brown eyes.  He knew she had enough of her father in
her to make her think she could fight Lambert.  But could she beat
him?  He didn’t think so.  Her husband had tried to fight him, and he
was dead.  He didn’t want to see something like that happen to Jordan.

“I’ve got all
my deputies carrying pictures of him and we are going to increase patrols in
this area, but I want you to disappear for a few weeks.”  He would do all
he could to protect her.

“No.” 
She said it firmly.  “I’m not hiding from him.  If he finds me, so be
it.  I have Bhrandii, I’ve taken some self-defense classes, I can out
shoot most of your deputies and
I will not hide
.”

Sheriff John
was good at reading people and he knew there wouldn’t be much use in arguing
with her.  For now, he’d just set up some secret surveillance.

Even Daniel
Chetan was surprised at the speed of his recovery once he was at the Roberts
ranch.  Feather doted on him and Clay and Sue did all they could to help
her take care of him.  He had been undercover so long that he had almost
forgotten what it was like to live openly, with people who cared about him.

Within a few
days of arriving at the ranch, he was getting up early to help Clay with
chores, even though Clay insisted Daniel needed to take more rest time. 
To begin with he was lucky to walk to the barn and back before he was shaking
with exhaustion.  Then he managed to push the wheel barrow loaded with
feed.  He knew that the more he did, the stronger he got and in spite of
her desire to take care of him, Feather was elated to see his strength
returning.

They all found
it difficult but made a real effort to call him Daniel, however, in his heart
he would always be Wolf.  Soon he insisted that they resume calling him
that too, and they agreed.

The clean air
and his improving health made it impossible for him to stay inside, and soon he
was able to saddle his horse and ride.  Then he almost lived in the
saddle.  When Clay needed anything done from horseback, Wolf was there and
when there were no chores to do, Wolf and sometimes Feather loaded up the horse
trailer and headed into the nearby foot hills.  His horse that was only a
green colt when Wolf went undercover was soon as well schooled as a seasoned
ranch horse.  Because of his ability to communicate with animals, Wolf was
uniquely able to help the animal understand what was needed from him and the
trust between horse and man grew quickly into a close partnership.

Clay owned a
two year old filly that Feather had been doing some ground work on that really
caught Wolf’s eye.  There was a sweet fire that burned in her and although
she wanted to please her handler, there was a deep desire burning in her heart
to do more and work harder.

One evening
after supper, Wolf called Feather outside.  Together they leaned against a
fence, watching some of Clay’s yearlings playing in the field.

“We can’t stay
here forever, you know.”  He said simply.

She
nodded.  “I know.  I love it here and Clay and Sue are so good to us,
but I miss us having our own place.”

The silence
that followed was comfortable and in the Lakota tradition, it provided them
both with the chance to think through what their next words would be.

“Where do you
want to live?”  He asked.

She
shrugged.  “I love the northwest country, but it’s not really safe for you
up here.  We need to go away,….far away.”

He nodded in
agreement.  He hated the thought of leaving behind everything that they
were familiar with but after thinking long and hard, he had come to accept that
his safety was the same as her safety.

“Pick a
place.  Not Texas.  Not close to a reservation, but close to
interstate highways.  A place far from here.  It will be better for
us all.”  He hadn’t verbalized it, but he worried about Clay, Sue and
Feather if the gang he had infiltrated ever found they harbored him.  He
watched two of the yearlings bucking and kicking.  “We need to go
soon.  It’s gettin’ too easy to make excuses to stay here.”

She turned her
brown eyes up to look at him.  She recognized his sadness.  “You know
that filly I’ve been working with?”

He nodded.

“Clay has sold
her.  She’s going to be sent to a woman in Florida.”

Feather knew
that Wolf really liked the filly and if he were settled someplace already, he
would have spoken to Clay about buying her.

His head
dropped and he pushed a clump of dirt around with the toe of his boot. 
Then he shrugged.  “I hope the woman will appreciate what she’s gettin’. 
That filly is special.”

Feather tilted
her head so it rested against her brother’s arm.  “Clay knows a man that
knows the woman and Clay’s talked to her on the phone.  He says his friend
thinks a lot of the woman and Clay likes what he’s come to know about
her.  He thinks the filly and woman will work well together.  The
woman wants a horse to show.”