Chase the Wind (51 page)

“I just want to say one thing,” he said when she stopped. “I
reserve the right to dump you in the trough any time you act as
foolish as you did this morning.”

“Considering how big you are, I won’t have a lot of say in the
matter anyway.” Jenny sighed.

Jamie pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “Now will you
two get me up out of here?”

Chase got under one arm while Jenny got under the other and they pulled him up. Jamie teetered precariously above them, then dropped his head and threw up, splattering the ground in front of them with his breakfast. Jenny and Chase both turned their heads
away while they held him until the heaving and gagging had stopped. Jenny went for her horse while he leaned on Chase.

“This is going to be the real trick,” Chase commented when Jamie
leaned against Jenny’s saddle, his face pale from his endeavors. The only thing they could think of was for Chase to shove while Jenny
helped swing the leg over the saddle.

“Just leave me out here to starve, why don’t ya? I’d be better off,”
Jamie groaned when they finally had him settled on the back of the saddle. Jenny managed to squeeze in front of him, and he
leaned heavily against her when she took up the reins. The horse snorted in protest at Jamie’s added weight but turned when Jenny
told him to and began to walk towards home. The motion promptly set Jamie’s stomach off again, and he leaned over to the side and brought up more of the contents.

Chase arched an eyebrow at the mess. “The way he eats, this could take all day.”

“Don’t say a word,” Jamie warned Jenny, “or the next load is going straight down your back.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, and Jenny felt the shudder of his stomach down her spine as he swallowed back bile that had risen in his throat. He managed the rest of the ride without incident, much to Jenny’s relief.

The three of them arrived to find a concerned group ready to go out in search of their fallen comrade. Jamie was greeted with several teasing comments until his friends realized that he was hurt and reached up to help him into Grace’s cabin. The boys carried him in, only hitting his leg once on the door jamb and another time on the bed frame before they deposited him in the big bed in the room that Grace slept in.

“Geez, Jamie, you look right at home there,” Zane commented as Grace bent over to pull a boot off the uninjured leg.

“Zane, will you shut up?” Grace snapped at him. “Chase, hold his leg so I can get this other boot off.”

“Zane, go to town and fetch the doctor,” Jason commanded. “The rest of you, get out of here and give Jamie some air.” The men filed out, leaving Grace, Jason, Jenny and Chase, who was helping Grace strip Jamie of his clothes.

“I guess we’ve come full circle now,” Chase commented as he held his friend up while his pants were pulled off.

“Don’t even think about trussing me up with my leg hanging from the rafters,” Jamie ground out between clenched teeth. “Why don’t you just smack me upside the head with something and be done with it.” Grace shook her head as she realized how difficult a patient he was going to be.

“Go ahead, Chase, do it. You’d be doing all of us a favor,” Jenny said.

“That’s it. As soon as I can walk, you are going back in the trough.”

“You might want to think about that,” Jenny said as she squeezed a toe on his healthy foot. “You might be lying in this bed a long time, wanting food, water, company, a trip to the outhouse.. . .” She smiled sweetly at him as Jamie flopped his head back on the pillow and groaned.

After many complaints and much moaning and groaning, the doctor arrived and announced that, just as Jamie had said, his leg was broken. Jamie took some satisfaction in knowing that he was
right, but turned grouchy again when his leg was put in a splint and firmly bandaged, and he was given instructions not to walk
on it for at least a week. The tide of sympathy began to turn towards
Grace as the list of her patient’s requests became long and tedious. The rest of them decided to leave before Jamie demanded some
thing of them. They escaped to the crisp air of the front porch,
where Grace soon joined them.

“Jenny, I’m going to need you to fill in for Jamie this week,”
Jason said.

Jenny was almost jumping at the chance to get away from her
brother’s whining, but she knew she was no physical match for Jamie. “I’ll do whatever you need me to if I can,” she said.

Jason laughed at the look on Jenny’s face. “I need you to go
down to Denver and pick up some mares for me. Jamie knows the blood lines better than anyone, so I’d planned to send him. Since
he’s laid up, you’re the next logical choice.”

“You need these mares for breeding?”

“Yes, there’s a breeder down there who has some good stock. I was hoping to breed the mares with Storm—that is, if you think
they would be worth it.”

Jenny felt overwhelmed by the responsibility, but also honored
to be asked to undertake it. “I’ll do the best I can for you,” she said.

“I don’t doubt it for a minute.” Jason smiled kindly at her. “Oh,
by the way, I’m going to send Ty with you. You’ll need some help
bringing them mares back, and it doesn’t hurt to have an extra gun
on the trail. You can leave first thing in the morning. Maybe by the
time you get back, your brother will be in a better mood.”

Taken aback by the announcement that Ty would be accom
panying her, Jenny didn’t know what to say. Grace, however, caught the flare of pain that showed in Chase’s eyes before he
stepped wordlessly off the porch and went towards the barn. “I guess I’d better get ready to go,” Jenny said, almost to herself, and went to gather the supplies she would need for a week on the trail.

“Jason, do you think that’s a good idea, throwing them together
like that?” Grace asked when Jenny was gone.

“I think it will get things settled one way or another, and that’s
what we all need around here. I’m not blind to what’s going on,
no matter what my daughter thinks. If Ty and Jenny belong together, then so be it, and now is as good a time as any to find out. And it’s also a good time for Cat to realize that she can’t always get what she wants.”

“There are more people involved here than just Cat,” Grace commented.

Jason walked over and put his arm around Grace’s shoulder. “I know. I haven’t missed that either.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “It’s funny how sometimes people don’t appreciate what’s right in front of them.” He stepped off the porch and headed to the bunkhouse. “Be ready for the screams when Cat finds out what I’ve done,” he said as he walked off.

Grace shook her head at Jason’s meddling and went in to find out if Jamie needed anything.

Jenny was amazed at how easy the trip had been. The first morning on the trail had been uncomfortable as both Ty and Jenny were nervous about being together, but they soon settled into easy conversation, talking about their lives and what had led them to Wyoming Territory. Ty told Jenny about growing up in eastern North Carolina on a plantation where it took a day’s ride to go from border to border. He talked about how his father had controlled every detail of the family’s life as he controlled the plantation, about his mother, who retreated into her bedroom, the only place his father never went. He talked about his frustration with his older brother’s cruel treatment of the slaves after the death of his father had left his brother in charge. Finally he told of the fight he had had with his brother after his brother had beaten a slave to death. When he’d had his hands wrapped around his brother’s throat, he’d realized that he was no better than the man he was trying to kill. So he had left, making his way west and finding Jason Lynch, who had gone to school with Ty’s grandfather. Ty missed his home, but he hated the institution of slavery and did not know how to change it. The news of the strife in the South did not escape him, even in Wyoming Territory, and he felt that the nation was headed for a war that would tear the country apart. Jenny listened to his story, and missed once again the loving childhood she had shared with her brother.

After spending several days together in easy companionship, each contributing to making camp at night, spreading their blan
kets on either side of the fire, each content and comfortable, it
dawned upon Jenny that somehow, some way, the conversation always turned to the subject of Cat. They were a day away from home, returning with six mares that Jenny had purchased with the
bank draft Jason had given her, and had made camp beside a wide
stream. In the past few days she had heard about all of Cat’s likes and dislikes, how well she could ride, what a sweet singing voice she had, and how nice the yellow dress they had seen in the win
dow of a dress shop would look on her. Jenny fell that if she heard
Cat’s name mentioned one more time, she would scream, so she
walked downstream a bit to wash up.

The water was running crisp and clear over several flat rocks that lined the stream bed, and beneath the surface the moonlight glinted
occasionally on the trout coming up to feed. Jenny took off her
boots and rolled her pants up before jumping from stone to stone
until she was in the middle of the wide rush of water. She sat down
on a boulder and dangled her feet into the water, wanting desperately to immerse her entire body and wash off the dust and grime
of the trail.

She let her mind wander back over the happenings of the last
few weeks, especially the night of the dance and the day after. She
let her thoughts dwell on the conversation she’d had with Grace
when the older woman had asked about her feelings for Ty. Jenny
had just spent a week in his company, totally alone, and while she
could now say that she knew him well, respected him, admired
him, she still couldn’t say if she loved him, and surely didn’t know how he felt about her. The water had taken away the stress of the
day and left her feet chilled, so she pulled them out and sat with her chin resting in her hand. She heard the snap of a branch and
looked up to see Ty walking towards her, a smile on his handsome
face as he spotted her in the middle of the stream. Jenny noticed the ends of his sandy hair curling up and thought about how far
he’d strayed from the polished Southern gentleman he had been
raised to be.

“Catching anything?” he asked when he stood opposite her on
the stream bank.

“Probably a cold,” she answered.

Ty picked up her boots and socks and waved them at her. “Then
you might need these.”

Jenny stood up, dusted off the back of her pants and began to
hop and skip over the slick rocks that would take her back to shore.
At the last jump, she miscalculated and teetered precariously,
swinging her arms out to regain her balance. She was sure she was
going in until Ty swept her to the bank on his arm. She landed solidly against his chest, and he backpedalled, not wanting to get wet any more than she did. He finally regained his balance, and
relaxed his hold a bit, his arm coming down around her waist. Her
eyes were even with the tip of his nose, and she moved her head
back a bit, placing her hands on his chest, noticing that his eyes
had turned gray in the dusk.

“I think we’re safe now,” she said.

“I know.” He didn’t seem inclined to move his arm, but instead moved the other one around her waist also. A question formed in his eyes; he tilted his head, then brought his mouth down on hers
in a tentative kiss.

Jenny willed her lips to relax, moved her head a bit to accommodate his, then felt the increased pressure as he realized her acceptance. His lips moved over hers gently but firmly, asking a
question. The kiss ended and he moved his head back. Jenny
looked up at him, not knowing what to say or what to do until Ty
finally dropped his arms.

“That was nice, wasn’t it?” he asked, as if he, too, were a bit
confused.

“Yes.”

“But that’s not enough.”

“Ty, I-”

“No, don’t say it. I know what you’re thinking.”

“What
 
am
I
thinking?” Jenny hoped he would explain it to her,
because she didn’t have a clue.

“All I’ve done this whole trip is go on about Cat, and then I kiss
you and you’ve got to be thinking, how come he’s talking about
Cat and he’s out here kissing me?”

“Okay, how come you talk about Cat so much if you don’t feel
anything for her?”

“I never said I didn’t feel anything for her.”

“Well, you sure act like it. Every time she comes around, you
run in the opposite direction.”