Chase the Wind (42 page)

Chase had remarked soon after they began working at the ranch that he knew he would never starve with Jamie around. His friend had a way of charming every cook west of the Mississippi. Jamie
had sat down at the table, shoved his unruly mass of hair back off his head and dived into a plate of beef stew and homemade bread,
grinning at Grace the entire time he was eating. She had an un
controllable urge to run her fingers through the mass of russet hair
that kept falling over his eyes, and felt absolutely giddy inside when
he complimented her on the meal. She had a long talk with herself that night about acting foolish and being practically old enough to be his mother, but she still felt flustered every time he flashed his
grin at her.

Then one day, some weeks later when they happened to be alone, he had asked her about her face, and she had asked him
about his, and they had wound up in each other’s arms. She knew
it wouldn’t last, was surprised their affair had gone on so long, and
was determined to enjoy it while she could. Jamie was a sensitive
lover, giving, she felt, more than he got, and Grace was happier
than she had ever been in her entire life. She suspected that Jason knew, realized that everyone else did, but nothing was ever said except for an occasional nudge or wink, so she didn’t worry about it. The men were discreet, and everyone seemed to be happy for
them, so it went on.

The hands came stomping up the steps, slapping dirt off, trying
to edge each other out of position at the washstand as they splashed
off the dust from the trail. The smell of fried chicken and biscuits was making each and every mouth water as the men made them
selves presentable for dinner. Cat elbowed her way to the table,
sliding onto the bench between Ty and Caleb, her green eyes spar
kling in her smudged face.

“Will you join us?” Grace asked Jason as he stood on the porch,
his hat in hand.

Jason looked in at the wild group busily passing bowls and slop
ping servings onto plates. “No, I think I’ll take my meal up at the house.” He put his hat on and stepped off the porch. “I don’t sup
pose you’ll be up for a game of chess later?”

“No, it will take me a while to clean up after this bunch.” Grace leaned against the post as Jason mounted his horse for the ride up to the main house. It had been built on a ridge to the south, facing away from the outbuildings hidden in the small valley. He tipped
his hat and rode off, and Grace went in to tend to her brood.

They were all attacking the meal, an indication that the food was good. They were too busy eating to make conversation, until Zane
looked up from his plate at Cat, who was sitting across from him
at the long table.

“I’m surprised you can eat anything tonight, Cat,” he commented
with a smirk.

“Whyzat?” Cat said around a biscuit that she had smothered in
honey.

Jamie and Chase grinned as they waited for Zane’s retort.

“All that dust you was eating today, riding drag with Ty.” Elbows
nudged stomachs as the group waited for Cat to explode, but she just tilted her nose up and gave Zane a look that said she would
remember she owed him one.

“I don’t know why anyone would ride drag on purpose, unless they were blind or stupid or...” Zane raised his eyebrows quiz
zically at Cat.

“Or what?” Cat asked, “If you’ve got something to say, then say
it.”

Ty put his fork down and looked at Zane. “You got something to say, Zane?” he asked. Ty was tired of the jokes and tired of
holding Cat at arm’s length all the time.

Zane grinned around his food. “Nope, I was just wondering.”

“Wonder all you want to, just leave me out of it,” Ty said.

“Me, too,” Jake added. “I’m tired of hearing your mouth runnin’
all the time.”

“What did I do?” Zane began, but Grace put an end to the debate
by placing a pan of blackberry cobbler in the middle of the table.
They attacked it with their usual gusto, and the conversation turned away from Ty and Cat.

“Hey, Grace, did you know that Chase has an Indian name?”
Caleb said.

“Why, no, I never really thought about it.” Grace looked at Chase, who was sitting in his usual place next to Jamie. “What is
it?”

“Chase the Wind. Jamie shortened it to Chase. He said it was
more practical.”

“Yeah, I can see why,” Jake snorted.

“That’s an interesting name. How did you come by it?” Grace
asked, ignoring Jake. The others all leaned forward to listen. Chase
didn’t talk about his past much, and they knew that it had to be
different from their own upbringing, so they were attentive to his
every word.

“I think it sounds romantic, especially since you have been fol
lowing the wind, trying to find Jamie’s sister and all,” Cat said.

Zane batted his eyes at Cat, who threw a biscuit at him. Ty
frowned at the two of them and turned to Chase. “What would our
names be if we were Kiowa?” he asked Chase.

Chase leaned back on the bench and folded his arms, studying his companions. “I don’t know, some of you are easy, some are
hard.”

“Do Jamie,” Cat said.

“That’s easy. Grinning Fox.”

Jamie grinned and shoved his hair back.

“How about Caleb?”

Chase raised his head to study the dark-haired, dark-eyed artist.
“Eyes Like A Hawk because he sees everything.”

They all expressed their approval. Somebody suggested Jake.

“I would just call him Wolf.”

Jake smiled, something he did not do much, to show his ap
proval. “Do Zane,” he said.

Chase had to think about that one for a while. “Whines Like A
Dog.”

“I do not,” Zane protested as they all erupted into laughter.
“Come on, you can do better than that.”

“Give me some time,” Chase laughed. “Cat is easy. She has cat
eyes, so she already has her Kiowa name. Cat.”

Cat curled her hand up like a claw and hissed at Zane. “Watch out, Dog, I’ll get you.” Zane acted afraid as Cat turned to Chase.
“How about Ty?”

“I don’t know. I really need to think about that one.”

“What about Grace?” Jamie said, his dark blue eyes smiling on
her as she cleared the table.

“White Swan,” Chase said, and Grace smiled at him. Jamie
nudged his friend under the table to say thank you, but Chase didn’t feel it because suddenly Jenny was floating through his
mind.

What
name would you
give
me?
she asked inside his head, and
names started pouring into his mind.

“I’ll talk to you all later,” Chase said and suddenly rose from the
table, trying not to place his hands over his ears as the words
tumbled around in his mind. Beloved, he thought.
Soul
mate. Lover.
Chase walked to the corral and leaned across the fence. The moon
was climbing in the night sky, and he wondered if Jenny was look
ing up at the same golden orb above. “I know you are out there,” he said to the moon. “I know we are meant to be together.” Up in the
hills the
mournful cry of a coyote rang out, bringing the ranch dogs awake to join in the chorus. He heard the sounds of the men
washing up. Zane, Jake, Ty and Caleb were all heading to town for
some female companionship; Jamie was getting ready for his rendezvous with Grace. He could hear Cat muttering to herself as she went to the main house; Ty had sent her on her way, frustrated as
usual.

“Hey, Chase, care to join us?” Zane hollered as they mounted up.

“No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” The coyote continued to howl. Chase knew just
how he felt.

Chapter Twenty

“Caleb, I swear that whore you were with was so fat you probably
had to throw a saddle on her just to keep from falling off.” As
usual, Caleb ignored Zane’s ribbing.

“Well, at least she had all her teeth,” Jake put in. “That one you
were with looked like a busted-up piano.”

“She has other qualities that make a few missing teeth desirable.”
Zane waggled his eyebrows in an innuendo that brought a snort from Ty. They were all stretching the truth just a bit—the whores in town weren’t fat or ugly, they were just well used.

The boys were late getting back from town and had decided to shorten the trip by cutting cross-country instead of staying on the
road. They rode up on a small ridge and were brought up short.
A vision had surfaced in the pond below them, throwing her long blond hair back in an arc as she came out of the water. The four cowboys quietly dismounted and sent their horses back down the
ridge.

“Did you see that?” Zane jabbed Jake with his elbow as they lay on the hillside above, watching the vision squeeze water from her
hair.

“How could I miss it?” Jake grunted in return. Caleb just grinned
at them, then turned back to watch.

“She is beautiful,” Zane said as the woman leisurely scrubbed the soap down a long thigh. Her back was to them, and each one
wished with all his might that she would turn around. “Hey, Caleb,
do you think you could draw her?”

“I have”—Caleb smiled at him—”in my dreams.” Zane put his
head down as he was overcome with laughter.

“Will you shut up? She might hear us,” Jake hissed.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Ty whispered.

“Then don’t, nobody’s making you,” Zane whispered back. “How
many opportunities do you get to see something like this?”

“What do you mean? You saw the same thing last night,” Ty
retorted.

“Yeah, but this is different.”

“How is it different?’

“She’s not a whore.”

“How can you tell?”

Zane pointed down to the prominent bulge in his pants. Ty shook his head in disgust, and Jake started to laugh.

“You are the only man I know who can wake up from a night
of lovin’ with your weapon cocked,” he said.

“He hasn’t failed me yet,” Zane said proudly.

Ty began to slide back down the hill. “Come on, Caleb, let’s go
home.” Caleb looked down the hill towards the beauty, then fol
lowed Ty.

“Caleb, come back here,” Zane whispered after him, but the two
mounted and headed around the hill away from the pond. Jake
and Zane looked back down the hill towards the pond. The woman
was walking out, and Zane grabbed Jake’s arm as he got the full
impact of her beauty.

The woman’s horse tossed his head as she came out of the pond,
and she immediately became wary. She picked up her gun and
held it ready as she pulled on her shirt. Then she grabbed the reins
and scanned the hill above. She cocked the gun, holding it easily in her hand. The horse looked towards the hill, then snorted as he went back to his browsing. The girl relaxed with the horse, and
went to put on her clothes.

“I am in love!” Zane exclaimed as they mounted their horses.
“Did you see her? Did you see how long her legs were and her...”
Zane’s hand circled his chest as he tried to find the words to de
scribe what he had seen.

“Yeah, I saw her. I saw her first.”

“Don’t start that. You know I did.”

“I’ll draw you for her.”

“No way, I’m not falling for that.” The two rode off, arguing over
the girl without even knowing her name.

“You boys are in a heap of trouble with Jason,” Grace declared as
the four entered her cabin looking for lunch.

“Why?” Zane asked as he took the lid off a bubbling pot to smell
the contents.

“Because he expected you to start cutting the herd this morning
instead of laying about town all day.”

“You know we aren’t going to do any cutting until Jamie gets
back.”

“That’s not what Jason said. He wants you to start cutting today,
immediately.” The boys ignored Grace as Caleb took out his pad and began to draw. “Caleb, what are you drawing?” she asked.