Chase The Wind Page 28

  Navarro agreed. “Take his word, love; I’ve seen Jessie at work on and off a horse. She’s a top hand, right, Matt?”

  Matt tugged on Jessica’s hair. “Nothing could be closer to the truth.”

  “Stop bragging about me, you two, or my head will swell.”

  “It sounds as if you deserve the praise you’re getting, Jessica.”

  “Thank you all.”

  When Jessica leaned over and kissed her husband’s cheek, Navarro looked at Beth and said, “Matt’s been telling me how much work and skilled planning a spread takes. He was just getting to know how to pick stock and breed ‘em. Go on, Matt; this part is important to us.”

  The rancher stretched out his legs and complied. “Longhorns can take heat, thirst, and hunger the best, but they’re leaner, have tougher and stringier meat than purebreds or mixes. We mated ours with Durhams, Booths, Galloways, and Herefords. Next, we plan to use Angus. Herefords made our choice blend so far; meat’s top grade and brings a high dollar. Just make sure you check their noses, ears, mouths, eyes, and hooves like I told you, else dishonest and greedy sellers pass off old or ailing stock.”

  “Thanks for the warning. I remember having to check navels, noses, and any wounds for screwworms every summer; and I recall how to treat infected ones. What else do I need to be on the watch for?”

  “Rustling and drought; you can slow or stop the first one, but there’s little a man can do to fight bad weather except build yourself plenty of windmills and tanks and keep ‘em whirlin’ and filled to the brim during hot and dry spells. Might carry you till it decides to rain if you’re lucky.”

  Two troubles mentioned, Beth mused, but what about the third and biggest? She was pleased when her partner delved for it.

  “Anything else to watch out for?”

  “Hoof-and-mouth disease: it’s bad, spreads faster and easier than a flash flood in a dry wash. Strikes with about as much warning, too. Makes blisters in the mouth, ‘tween the toes, and on udders and teats. Gets in the milk, droppings, and spittle. Catch it quick and you can steer off big trouble by getting healthy stock away from sick ones and killing infected ones pronto. Ain’t no medicine or cure, just clean-up. Seen it before?”

  “Yep, once. We had to kill and bury almost a whole herd to keep the rest from getting it. Had to burn off the pastures to make ‘em safe again. He couldn’t sell for two years until buyers were sure the meat was good. Nearly broke him in spirit and pocket. He told me goats and pigs can also get it, so I’ll be careful with them, too. Anything else might attack me?”

  “Infernal cattle plague!”

  Navarro read the bitterness in Matt’s mood as those words leapt from his mouth before he. could stop them. The perceptive agent saw Jessie glance at her husband as if in disbelief that he’d let a…secret slip out. He also detected his old friend’s annoyance with himself for being careless. Acting as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual, Navarro said, “Haven’t run into that before. What is it?”

  “Something you don’t wanna mention to others or you’ll be ruined when they panic and cut you off from sales and stop you from riding across their land to get to market or railhead. It’s a devil disease from a foreign country; don’t have it in America except by accident. Least Doc hadn’t seen or heard or read about any cases like mine so he didn’t know what was wrong when it attacked here. He believes it’s an offshoot of hoof-and-mouth, just different from ours ‘cause it came from imported bulls. Kills ‘em in a week or less. They burn up with fever, their innards go to water, and they get sores on the body and in the mouth. First thing we noticed was this…slime coming out of their eyes, noses, and mouths. They got so weak they laid down and died. All we could do was burn carcasses and kill any that was in contact with those devil beasts that week. Fired the west pasture where they grazed. It’s fenced off; I ain’t taking no chances that grass and water ain’t still bad. We got a few head roaming there to test it, but had no sickness or deaths for months. ‘Course, Doc had to tell the Cattlemen’s Association to warn others not to buy and import any. You can imagine what that news did to our market. What stock we saved can’t be shipped and sold until next year—that’s if we don’t have more losses. Doc’s to watch us and give them a report. We have to account to him for every head on the ranch. Can’t get rid of any animal’s body, no matter how it died, until he’s examined it.”

  “Shu, Matt, that’s bad. But you said there are no new signs of the disease?”

  “None, and the ones trapped there are doing fine. Gaining weight and playing like spring calves and colts. Eyes clear and shiny. No sores.”

  “How did your stock get infected with something we don’t have here?”

  Navarro and Beth watched as Matt removed his arm from around his wife’s shoulders and leaned forward to brace both on his hard thighs. They saw his anguished gaze settle on the floor. His tone was near sullen and his voice was hoarse when he finally answered.

  “A…friend sent me a few bulls from Brazil. Thought they’d improve my bloodlines. Give mine a taste and quality that’d demand highest dollar.”

  “Have you told this friend what happened? Is he going to help you out?”

  “Yep, he knows and he’s got a way of settling up with me.”

  “Let’s move to a more pleasant topic, please,” Jessica suggested.

  Matt nodded agreement. “Why don’t I fetch that bottle of wine we’ve been saving for a special occasion and toast these newlyweds?”

  “That’s a marvelous idea. I’ll get our best glasses.”

  Navarro and Beth didn’t talk as Matt got the wine from a nearby cabinet which Fletcher had built in as a bar. They didn’t even glance at each other to prevent suspicious expressions from showing on their faces that Matt might notice in the fancy mirror over the bar. Jessica returned and placed the glasses on a square table near their chair.

  Matt opened the bottle and served the wine. He held up his glass and said, “To our old friend and our new friend, may you be as happy as Jessie and I are.”

  All four sipped the tasty liquid and smiled.

  “Thanks, you two, for everything.”

  Beth retrieved her package once more and said, “These are my way of thanking you two for what you did for Navarro.”

  Jessica admired the ecru chantilly lace shawl with its pattern of flowers and ribbons on a spotted background. “It’s beautiful, Beth; you shouldn’t have. It’s much too expensive.”

  “It’s from France, handmade. I hope it will always remind you of how kind and generous you are and remind you of our friendship and gratitude.” She turned to Matt. “This is for you, with the same sentiments.”

  The rancher accepted the knife with a decorative scrim shaw handle of a wolf pack in a forest. He examined it with eyes and fingers. “It’s the finest and prettiest one I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Beth, Navarro.”

  “I’m glad you like it; I wasn’t sure what to get you.”

  “This is perfect, but you didn’t have to bring us anything.”

  “Yes, I did, because you two gave me the best gift alive.”

  “Before she gets to praising me too high and swells my head, we’d best get moving. It’s late and I know you have to be up early for chores and to tend to the children. If you don’t mind, Beth and I will camp nearby in the grove.”

  “You will not!” Jessica refuted with a smile. “One of the cabins is empty, so you two will stay there. It’s more comfortable and private. I’ve already cleaned it and made the bed. Matt will show you where it is.”

  “That’s too much trouble, Jessie, and you’re expecting company.”

  “It’s no bother, Navarro; and Matt’s brother is family, so he’ll use one of the rooms upstairs. You don’t have to be in San Antonio until the fourth, so you have plenty of time to visit. Besides, Big John has already put your belongings in there, along with your gear and saddles in the tackroom and your horses in the corral. This is the least we can do to repay you for all you did for
us. Right, Matt?”

  The rancher appeared to experience no qualms about Navarro’s motive for coming. “She’s right, and you know it’s impossible to argue with Jessie Lane when she makes up her mind about something.”

  “I remember,” Navarro said with a grin and chuckle. “Thanks.”

  “Our pleasure,” Matt responded. “You keep saying how much you owe us, but the other boot to that pair is how much we owe you for past help.”

  Both agents told Jessica good night at the front steps and followed the rancher to a nearby cabin in a group of several where the foreman resided and newly married couples stayed until better arrangements were made for them in the rented houses at the old Lane homesite.

  Navarro and Matt shook hands at the door and the rancher left.

  Inside, Navarro said, “If I haul in my bedroll, it’ll look strange, so we’ll have to sleep together. If you don’t mind.” He hung his hat on a peg.

  “Of course not; we can’t risk arousing suspicions. They’re nice; I like them. I can’t imagine them being involved in our case by choice.”

  “I’m glad you agree, because I’m convinced of their innocence. I just don’t like what I heard about disease and drought almost ruining them.”

  As she glanced around their new setting, she asked, “You also think the ‘friend’ is Charles, don’t you?”

  “Yep. Question is: was it an innocent mistake or was Matt’s brother being devious, using them?”

  Beth began to unpack her things. “A man as wicked as this Charles seems to be might do anything to get his way. There’s another possibility…”

  Navarro stopped unbuckling his gunbelt. “What?”

  “That it was done intentionally to give Charles an excuse to come here to apologize in person and to repay Matt. That’s worth checking out after he arrives. Seems cunning and plausible.”

  “You might have something there, Beth. Thanks.”

  “Was it as hard seeing her again as you imagined it would be?”

  Navarro draped his weapons over a wooden chair. “What made you think it would be painful for me?”

  “I didn’t say painful, just difficult to see your first love happily married to another man and with a lovely home and fine children. And in trouble.”

  He removed his chaps and tossed them over the same chair as he answered, “I think Jessie always loved Matt and didn’t know it. When I was living here, every time he was mentioned, her voice and expression softened. I missed that clue to trouble. What did you two talk about for so long?”

  Beth brushed over their conversation.

  “See, it doesn’t bother her to be around me again. Matt, neither.”

  “And it doesn’t bother you to be around her again?”

  “How would you feel if they were Steven and his wife?”

  That’s a fast and sly sidestep. “I guess why and how I lost him would determine my feelings. If you and Jessica had parted of free will, it—”

  “We shouldn’t be talking like this. Somebody could overhear us.”

  “Sorry, and you’re right again. I’ll get ready for bed. You should, too.”

  As she turned her back to change, Navarro wondered why he didn’t speak his mind and appease his partner’s worries. He had experienced a strange and contradictory mixture of emotions upon discovering Jessie seemed to have gotten over him and the past: relief and disappointment, joy and sadness, calm and tension. It was obvious Jessie wasn’t the same woman he’d known years ago. She had matured, flourished, and mellowed under Matt’s loving care. Even her appearance had altered; her hair was more brown than red, and the shorter sides and top she’d cut for her masculine ruse in San Angelo were now the same length as the locks that curled wildly halfway down her back when unbound. She had gained weight and filled out, but was still dainty and shapely. In her sky-blue eyes, he had read only friendship, pure and innocent love, and total tranquility. The old Jess, a firebrand of a girl who had loved him passionately, was gone, and in her place was a serene parent and mate. In his mind, he had kept her as she was in looks, personality, and feelings ten years ago. It was an odd sensation for an illusion, a golden dream, to crash into reality.

  For a moment when he first saw her, he had wished he could return to the past when they’d first met, if he could do so as a free man. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder, if they and circumstances had been different, would they have fallen in love? In all honesty, he couldn’t answer, and that indecision troubled and surprised him. For him, time had halted like a stopped watch, but Jessie’s had continued to run, marking time and creating new hours, leaving old ones in the past forever. It appeared as if his Jess was as much of a ghost as Beth’s lost love.

  Beth…She had won over Matt and Jessie with charm and ease. She had done a good job tonight. Maybe the reason he didn’t explain the truth was because it might give her the wrong idea, that he was available, especially with a night of fiery passion and a curious attraction lingering between them. He wasn’t accessible and never would be. Love was too hard, too painful, a risk he didn’t want to take again. Besides, it was probably futile with her. She was only obeying orders, nothing more. She had surrendered to him that reckless night out of need and loneliness and a brief loss of self-control, all things he understood and felt at times.

  He shifted his thoughts to another loss: Lane, a handsome, smart, and special boy, his boy, his son, but in birth and blood only. What he wouldn’t give to be rearing Lane on a ranch with—

  “Ready to put out the light?” Beth asked for the second time. Her heart ached at what she assumed he was feeling. She warned herself once more to restrain her emotions where he was concerned or she’d come away from this assignment with an anguish too great to endure. Yet, she wanted to comfort him and herself for a moment. “How about a friendly hug to calm us down? We’ve been under a strain for hours.”

  As they embraced, each sought solace, encouragement, and strength from the other. Both felt the tension from recent episodes ease away. Both felt desire chew at them but sensed this wasn’t the time to succumb to their hungers. With reluctance, they released each other and smiled.

  You’re a fine friend and partner, woman, and maybe more… “You did good today, Beth Breed; more than good, excellent. All we have to do now is make sure they keep us around until Charles arrives.”

  “Thanks. I’ll do my part as best I can.” She climbed into bed as she told him, “Good night, boss. That was nice and I admit I needed it.”

  “Me, too. ‘Night, partner.” He doused the lamp’s flame, shucked his boots and garments, and took a position on his left side. He realized she was doing the same on her right one, putting them back-to-back but still close to each other on the bed. Shu, he fretted, it was going to be a long and hard night with a tempting woman so near in body and so far away in spirit.

  Navarro was up and dressed when Matt knocked on the cabin door; Beth was grooming herself while he tried to keep his eyes and thoughts off her. He opened it enough to go outside but still guard her privacy.

  “Morning, Matt.”

  “Morning. Thought you might wanna eat with me and the boys in the chuckhouse, then ride the range a while. They’re eager to see you.”

  “Sounds good to me. Let me tell Beth where I’m going.”

  “Jessie said for her to come to the house when she’s ready.”

  Navarro went back inside to pass along the quick messages. He wondered if Matt’s intention was to keep him away from Jessie and Lane as much as possible, at least until they all adjusted to being together again. He was eager to see the range and herd to learn how bad things were. He headed to the cookhouse where his old friends were waiting to greet him.

  When Beth was ready, she walked to the house and found Jessica in the kitchen. “Good morning. What can I do to help?”

  “Grab yourself some coffee and take a seat. I’ll have our food ready in a few minutes. Our husbands are eating with the boys so they can chat. Lane and Alice have alrea
dy done their chores and left for school. Eat up, Lance.”

  After pouring coffee and sitting down, Beth looked at the little boy sitting at the table. “How are you this lovely morning, Lance?”

  “Mama cooked me johnnycakes” was the four-year-old’s reply.

  “He’d eat them every day if I’d let him,” Jessica said with a laugh. “Don’t forget your milk, son, and slow down or you’ll choke.”

  “What chores do the other children have before school?”

  “Lane milks the family cow in the morning and evening; Biscuit Hank, the boys’ cook, does the other two. Alice feeds the chickens and lets them out to scratch for the day and pens them up at night, except for those sitting on eggs. Do you know about those chores?”

  “I’ve done those two, but Stephen chose which nests and birds were allowed to sit and make hatchlings.”

  “I’ll teach you how to do the choosing later. Matt hays the stock in the morning and I gather the eggs for us; Hank, for the men. Big John slops the pigs for me from the bucket I sit on the back porch; he mixes it with their feed and water. I’ll teach you about that, too. Until you hire help, which is a big expense, you and Navarro will have to do the chores yourselves.”

  As they ate breakfast in leisure, Beth queried, “Lane is kind of quiet and shy, isn’t he? He doesn’t seem outgoing like Alice and Lance.”

  “His best friend just moved away and he’s sad and lonesome, hasn’t had time to get over the loss. But he’s still a mite quiet and serious, just like his father used to be. I suppose Lane is mature for his age. He was our only child for years, so he spent a lot of time around adults—me and Matt and the hands. He was on a horse before he could walk and helping with chores as soon as he could. He’s a lot like my brother, loves to read and learn. I won’t be surprised if he wants to go off to college like Tom did. Every time my brother visits, they talk about it constantly.”