Chase the Wind (59 page)

Jason had fixed her arm—she remembered the pain as he maneuvered it into place. Blessedly, that pain was gone, except for a dull ache. Her ankle was throbbing, and she wondered where her boots were. She knew she couldn’t walk, so it really didn’t matter except that they were comfortable and she hated to lose them. The pain between her legs had diminished, just leaving her feeling raw; she didn’t want to think about that.

Jamie had placed her in Chase’s arms. She remembered the trembling she’d felt when he had hugged her, as if he was afraid she would break. Then the sight of Randolph Mason loomed up before her, his bleeding body exposed to all.
You deserve worse,
she had thought as she looked at him, and then his words had hit her.

“It will be my face
she sees when
she closes her eyes.”
Jenny shut
her eyes, hoping to shut him out.

And it will be
his
brand Chase sees when he looks at me,
she realized.
She squeezed her lids tightly, knowing she didn’t have the strength to cry.
How can he love me when he’ll know, every time he looks at
me, that Mason had me, that he had me first.
Her mind was racing
as she imagined the rejection, the hurt in his beautiful dark eyes. Jenny brought her clenched fist up to her mouth, biting it to keep from crying out and disturbing the sleep of the two who protected her.

Chase stirred, disturbed by a dream. He rolled on his back and began talking in his sleep, the words slurred and running together, his face agitated, his brow drawn down in a frown. Jenny ran her hand across his forehead, and he quieted instantly, his face clear
and peaceful once again. His blanket had fallen away, and she
reached to pull it up, but a spark caught her eye.

Beside him on his pallet was his knife—her father’s knife; he
always slept with it next to him, relying more on it than the gun
he wore. Jenny eased it off the blanket, holding her breath as she pulled it away from his side. When she had it in her hand, she sat
up, using her left hand, which was strapped to her chest, to pull the knife out of its sheath. She looked at the fire. It was well
banked, more coals than flames, ready to be blown into life again
when morning came.

If only
I could walk,
she thought, knowing there was no way she
could raise herself up with only one arm and one leg functioning. She eased down her blanket, scooting along on her bottom, awkwardly unbalanced, checking after each movement to make sure she hadn’t woken Chase or Jamie, who was now on his back snor
ing away. The sound he was making would either cover her move
ments or wake the dead, she wasn’t sure which. When she reached the end of Chase’s long legs, she managed to get up on her knees
and crawled with the knife held tightly in her hand. She needed
to get the blade into the fire, it was just ahead, and she shifted the
knife to her good hand and reached out to lay it on the coals.

Before she could do so, the knife went flying out of her hand,
landing behind her, point stuck in the earth, the blade quivering. Her hand stung from the impact, and she pulled it to her, rubbing
it with the bound hand as she slumped into a sitting position. She
looked up to see Chase kneeling before her, his eyes shooting silver
sparks as he looked down at her shocked face.

“What are you doing?” His voice was low and even, as if talking
to a wild animal. Jenny pushed her untidy braid over her shoulder
as she looked at him with wide, scared eyes. She looked over at the knife that was planted in the ground, the blade taking on a
copper cast from the glow of the coals. Chase reached around her
and returned the blade to its sheath, firmly, daring her to try to take it again. He turned where he knelt and placed it under his
blanket and then turned back to Jenny. Chase saw Jason’s eyes on
them from across the fire, but luckily no one else was awake. Chase
placed his hands on Jenny’s arms and pulled her to him. “I love you,” he whispered against her hair. Jenny nodded and let him
hold her, to drained to do anything else. She felt like a rag doll in
his arms, and just rested there, accepting his arms around her but
not responding in any way. Chase slid his arms under her and laid
her on his blanket, then wrapped his arms tightly around her as
he pulled the filthy quilt over them. Jenny shut her eyes and fell
into a troubled sleep, but it was a long time before Chase slept, the
image of her leaning over the fire with the knife in her hand still
haunted him.

Chase said nothing about the incident with the knife when they
awakened the next morning. Jenny did as she was told, letting
Jamie carry her to a private place where Cat could help her with her morning routine. Cat was sympathetic without being morose
and even managed to get a smile out of Jenny, which quickly ended
when her lip split and started bleeding. Jamie handed her over to Chase when they were ready to leave. Jenny knew better than to argue by the look on Chase’s face, so she just laid her head on his
shoulder and relaxed for the ride.

Later that morning a fever overtook her and they debated
whether they should search the nearest town for a doctor, but Jenny
roused enough to say she wanted to go home, so they pressed on. Her temperature continued to rise, eventually soaking the two of them with her sweat. The night was spent trying to cool her down while listening to her ravings about Mason, which sent Jamie off into the darkness, unable to stand it any longer. She quieted towards morning and settled down into a deep sleep; she didn’t even
stir when they broke camp in the morning.

Chase had spent the night sitting by her side and making a sled
for her to ride in behind her horse. He placed her on it, wrapped
in the quilt when it was time to leave. Except for a few soft mur
murs, she could have been dead. They hoped to make it home by nightfall, so Zane and Jake were sent ahead to prepare Grace and
have the doctor waiting when they arrived. It was a haggard group that rode into the yard late that night, their worry over Jenny show
ing clearly on their faces.

Grace was waiting, a bed ready in her cabin where Jenny was
placed by Chase, who looked at the doctor with a face full of worry,
great dark circles under his eyes.

“I don’t think she moved all day,” he said as the doctor bent to
examine her.

“She’s feverish,” the doctor said, and the group watching from the doorway rolled their eyes at that revelation. The doctor looked
around at the worried faces and decided that they needed to go
and leave him to his work. He cleared the room except for Grace and Cat, who stripped Jenny of her clothes and gave her a much-
needed bath when the doctor was through.

When they had Jenny settled in a clean nightgown and under warm blankets, the doctor left with instructions to send for him if
there was any change. Grace gathered up the bundle of torn clothes and the filthy quilt and carried them to the kitchen, where everyone
was gathered around the table. Chase went in to Jenny as soon as
Grace came out.

“Caleb, take this mess out and burn it,” she said as she dropped
the mess into his arms.

“No!”
Jamie shouted, startling them all. Jamie snatched the quilt
from Caleb’s hands. “This was our mother’s.” The look on his face
was desperate as he pulled the quilt against his chest. He looked
at Grace, his eyes full of despair.

Grace looked up into the deep blue of his eyes and gently took the quilt from his hands. “I’ll wash it tomorrow and then I’ll put it
on Jenny’s bed, I promise.”

Jamie shoved his hair back out of his eyes and nodded wearily.
His head fell forward as he fought the waves of anguish that threat
ened to overtake him. Grace took his arm and led him to the door.
“Why don’t you go get cleaned up and I’ll fix you something to
eat.” Jamie let her lead him out the door, too tired to argue about
anything. “The rest of you go on too. You’re not doing anybody any good sitting around here.” There was the scraping of chairs and the shuffling of feet as the group obeyed her commands.

Grace followed Jason out on the porch after everyone had left
and leaned against the door frame.

“What do you think?” he asked as he looked up at the stars
peeping out in the night sky.

Grace sighed and pulled her shawl close against the chill of the
night air. “I think she’s lucky to be alive, but she doesn’t know it yet.” She walked over to him. “Did you see what that animal did
to her?”

“Yes.” Jason scrubbed a hand over his face. “And when I’m able,
I’ll tell you what Chase did to that animal.”

The sounds of the night filled the silence that came between
them. “Do you think she’ll recover?” Jason asked after a while.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not that bastard got her pregnant.” Grace’s voice broke on the words, and she held her hand to her mouth, determined not to cry. Jason looked at her in shock, he had not had time to think about the long-term consequences in the rush to get Jenny home.

“How long?”

“I don’t know, three weeks, a month. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jason reached out and squeezed Grace’s hand as he stepped off the porch. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Grace pulled her shawl up around her chin as she watched Jason disappear into the darkness. It was still late summer, but the air held the promise of a cool autumn, which meant a harsh winter would follow. Jamie came around the cabin, his hair dripping from his hasty shower. Grace was eye level with him as he walked up to where she was standing on the porch. He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head against her breast, something he’d never dared do out in the open before. Grace wrapped her arms around him and felt the trembling in his shoulders. “She saved my life,” he said against her chest. A sob tore at him, and he fought to hold it in.

“She will be all right,” Grace soothed him.

Jamie shook his head against her. “How can she be?”

“Because she’s strong, and we love her.” Grace gently pulled his face up so she could look into his eyes. His dark lashes were wet with tears, and he tried to blink them away, but they fell to his cheek. Grace rubbed them away with her fingertips. “You need to be strong now, she needs to know that you’re here for her. Go sit with her and talk to her. Let her know that you need her to get better.”

“She might not, just to make me mad.”

“So make her mad enough to get better just to spite you.” Jamie managed a slight grin at the thought.

Chase was half asleep in a chair when Grace and Jamie came in. Jenny’s hand was lying lightly in his on top of the blanket. He was instantly alert, a lethal look on his face until he realized there was no threat at hand. Grace laid a calming hand on his shoulder.
“Chase, go get cleaned up, get some rest. You’ll not do Jenny
any good like this.”

“I can’t leave her.”

“We’ll take care of her, now go on.” Chase did not move. “If you
want, you can sleep here on the floor. Just get cleaned up first. I could smell all of you coming hours before you got here.” There
was a flash of humor in his eyes as he rose to obey.

“I’ll be back with my blankets,” he promised as he left.

“Bring mine, too,” Jamie asked. Chase nodded in agreement as
he left.

Chapter Thirty

Jenny was in hell, she had to be, because it was so hot. She was burning up, but
she wouldn’t let go of the blanket that she held tightly against her, because she did not want anyone to see her shame. Randolph Mason was there also, a sure indication that it must be hell, and he was tormenting her, trying to pull the blanket
away so everyone could see his mark. She slapped his hands away
just to find them on her again, pulling at her, constantly snatching at her, taking handfuls of hair, skin and blanket every time she
pushed him away.
Just leave me alone,
she cried in her mind.
Please,
just leave me alone.
But he only laughed, the same laugh she had
heard the night her parents died, the same laugh he had used as he pounded her without mercy in her parents’ bed. “Just let me die,” she sobbed, but she must already be dead, because she was
in hell.

Grace wrung out the cloth that covered Jenny’s forehead. The cool cloths were drying almost as soon as she put them on, and
Jenny’s restless movements made it hard to keep them in place.
“Let me die,” Jenny said. Grace had to put her ear against Jenny’s
mouth to hear, her voice was so weak.