Blackstone's Bride (11 page)

“Reckon so.” He hesitated for several moments. “Abby?”

“What?”

“I’d like you to see the new foal I’ve got in mind to give Tom.”

She whirled around. “You’re giving him a horse?”

“Sort of.” He tucked his fingertips into the pockets of his denims. “He watched the mare foal a couple days ago and
really took to it. Can hardly tear himself away from the animal to do chores.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think he’d sleep in the barn if I let him. He’s got a birthday coming up pretty soon, and I thought I’d give it to him then. He’ll have to learn to take care of it, train it, but it’d be his.”

She swallowed past the lump that grew in her throat and studied him.

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was just trying to decide if you’re the same man who just a few minutes ago was talking about boarding school.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, one and the same.”

“My my.”

Jarrod grew restless under her scrutiny. “Do you want to see the foal or not?” he asked, a note of irritation creeping into his voice.

“I have to get on the road.”

“Might just as well wait till the sun comes up. Won’t put you behind too much, and it’d be a whole lot safer too.”

As much as she wanted to put some distance between herself and Jarrod Blackstone, she couldn’t resist the temptation of his offer.

“I’d love to see the horse.”

“Follow me.”

“Lily, wake up.”

Katie climbed up on her sister’s bed and sat beside her. When Lily didn’t move, she poked her shoulder. “Lily? You gotta wake up,” she said, leaning close and speaking loudly into her sister’s ear.

Lily groaned and opened one eye. In the early morning light she saw Katie.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

Her sister nodded vigorously.

“Then why are you waking me up?”

“I need to know somethin’.”

“What?” Lily asked, sitting up as she rubbed her eyes.

“Is boarding school a place where they teach you about boards?”

“Of course not,” Lily said, annoyed. “It’s a school where you live all the time.”

“Do you learn to read and write there?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s away from home?”

“Yes.”

“Uh-oh,” Katie said, looking serious.

“Where did you hear about it?”

“Abby and Uncle Jarrod.”

“When?” Lily was waking up fast.

“Just now. They’re talkin’ in the kitchen. What’s a last resort?”

“That’s when you’ve made up your mind about something because there’s nothing else you can do.”

Katie sat cross-legged on the bed and leaned her elbows on her knees. She rested her chin in her palms and looked glum. “Uh-oh. We’re in trouble now.”

“What’s this all about, Katie?”

“Uncle Jarrod told Abby that he’s sending us away to boarding school ’Cuz he’s not a good person.”

“What did Abby say?”

“That Mama wanted him to raise us here on the ranch where she grew up.”

“Abby’s right.”

Lily remembered her mother telling her about Blackstone Ranch and what a wonderful place it was. She’d gone on and on about Uncle Jarrod and how much they’d all like him and what a fine man he was. Mama couldn’t have been wrong. She wanted them to stay at the ranch. Lily figured it was up to her to see that they did.

She looked at her sister. “Did they see you, Kate?”

The little girl shook her head. “That one stair made a noise and Abby came to look, but I ran back up and hid so she wouldn’t see me.”

“Good. I’m calling a family meeting. Go get Tom and tell him to meet us here in my room.”

“What about Oliver?”

Lily thought for a minute. “He’ll be cross later when he’s tired, but he’s part of the family.” She nodded. “Oliver too.”

“All right, Lily. I’ll tell them to be quiet as mouses like always.”

“Good girl.” Lily jumped out of bed. “Tell them to get dressed. You too, Kate.”

“All right,” she said, then tiptoed from the room. They didn’t have much time.

“Where you s’pose Tom’s been all mornin’?” Dusty Taylor pulled his gloves off and stuck them in the rear pocket of his denims. The dark-haired, blue-eyed cowboy brushed the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat. “Figure he’s lost interest in that foal already?”

Jarrod stared up the hill at the house. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

He stood beside the other man, checking the section of fencing they had just repaired. Any minute, he’d been expecting his nephew to come and look at the new horse, same as he had every day since seeing it born. But there hadn’t been any sign of him. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen any of the kids all morning.

“I need a break,” Jarrod said, starting toward the house.

“I’ll go with ya. Make sure them young ‘uns ain’t up to mischief.”

Jarrod couldn’t shake the feeling that it was too quiet. The kids hadn’t been with him long enough for him to decide whether or not that was good or bad.

They walked up the rise to the house and through the back door into the kitchen. The room was dark and empty, the only sign of life the cups he and Abby had drunk coffee from early that morning. The silence was strange, unnatural. He was learning more about kids every day, and the one thing he could count on from them was noise.

Katie never stopped asking questions. Oliver never walked anywhere, he ran. Tom and Lily laughed and
wrestled. He shook his head as he felt the cold stove. The other thing he knew about them was that they ate about as much as the U.S. Army. The fire Abby had made for coffee was cool now. It was way past time when Lily would have cooked breakfast for herself and the others.

Jarrod looked at Dusty. “Something’s wrong. I don’t think the kids are here.”

“Where would they go?”

“Can’t say.”

“Wouldn’t they leave you some word if they was goin’ off to play?” Dusty asked.

Jarrod shook his head, at a loss. He couldn’t say what they would do. A wave of guilt crested over him. Abby had told him to spend time with them, get to know them. He hadn’t. But maybe he was jumping the gun and they were here.

“Let’s check their rooms.”

In minutes they had searched everywhere. The children were gone along with their clothes.

Jarrod pushed aside the knot of worry and tried to concentrate. He looked at Dusty. “Where could they have gone?” he asked. Maybe they had gone off to play and just hadn’t thought to let him know. “There’s a waterfall not too far from here. My sister and I used to go there. Lily said they found it. Maybe they all went there.”

“Maybe so.” The young cowboy ran his hand through his hair. “Leastways we know they’re on foot.”

“And if they haven’t gone to the waterfall—”

“We’da noticed if mounts was missin’. They can’t have gone far.”

Jarrod nodded. “But there’s no telling when they left. Abby was up with Katie during the night, so they were here then. Far as I know, they were asleep when Abby went back to Hollister at sunup. They must have taken off after that.”

“So they been gone two, three hours?”

“Four at the most,” Jarrod answered.

Plenty of time to get lost out there in the back country. Fall into a gully. Have a run-in with a wild animal.

Jarrod rubbed the back of his neck. “We have to look for them. Damn, I wish Gib was here. He’s got a nose for tracking. He won’t be back from town till tonight or tomorrow.”

Dusty nodded, then followed him downstairs. “I’ll get Slim. We’ll saddle up. There’s sure t’be signs of ‘em.”

“Those four would leave a trail a blind man could follow.”

Dusty chuckled. “Ya got that right, boss.”

“We’ll find them,” Jarrod said, more to convince himself than the other man. “They couldn’t have gone far.”

“When’re we gonna eat, Lily? I’m hungry.” Katie grabbed her belly.

“Yeah, Lil. How much longer we gotta hide out?”

“Do you think Abby’s gonna be real mad when she finds out we hid in the back of her wagon?” Katie wanted to know.

Lily thought about that. She shook her head. “Not too mad. Maybe a little at first, but when we tell her why we did it, she’ll understand.”

“I didn’t want to leave the ranch,” Tom grumbled.

“Mama wanted us to stay together,” Lily reminded him. “Just because you always get to go with Uncle Jarrod doesn’t mean you can forget about us.”

“Aw, I wasn’t tryin’ to. It’s just I didn’t get to say goodbye to the baby horse. The foal,” he corrected himself. “‘Sides, my stomach’s makin’ so much noise someone’s liable to hear and Katie’s questions are about to drive me crazy.”

“I don’t ask too many questions. Do I, Lily?” the little girl demanded. “How much longer do we have to stay in here?”

Lily lifted the canvas covering them and looked at the rear wall of the Hollister Freight Company. “I’ve already told you a hundred times. Until it’s too late for Abby to take us back to the ranch. We agreed. Remember? We need time to talk her into keeping us.”

Oliver took his thumb out of his mouth. “I want ham and biscuits
and
milk,” he said, then popped his thumb
right back where it was. He took it out again and added, “
And
I gotta go.”

“Oliver, can’t you hold it?” Lily asked. “Please try.”

“Okay,” he said.

Oliver wasn’t the only one, Lily thought, growing more uncomfortable herself. It would have been worse if they’d had food and water. But they hadn’t, and she felt bad enough. They would have to go soon. But how could they all get to the outhouse without being seen? Even two at a time they were likely to draw attention. She couldn’t think of any other way to do it, because Katie and Oliver couldn’t be trusted to go by themselves.

Lily peeked again and tried to tell from the shadows how late it was. Just a little longer, she decided. Without a lot of daylight left, Abby would have to keep them for the night. They had to hold out a while longer, just to be sure.

Leather creaked as Dusty Taylor eased out of the saddle. Jarrod had just returned from his own look-see. The two had split up, each taking a section of the ranch to search. Jarrod had chosen the area closest to the house, checking the waterfall, where he found no trace of the kids, and crisscrossing as far out as he thought they could get. He kept reminding himself that Oliver was with them. He was four, and had those short, spindly legs. The children couldn’t get far.

“Any sign of them?” Jarrod asked.

The ranch hand shook his head. “Nothin’. That’s real puzzlin’. No way they could be on foot and not leave a trail, even if they were tryin’ to be careful.”

It was early afternoon. They had been searching for several hours without success. Jarrod was perplexed about where they could have gone without leaving a trail, or why they would have left in the first place.

He looked at Dusty. “You got any other ideas?”

“Let’s think on this a minute—”

“I’ve been thinking,” Jarrod shot back angrily. “I’ve
wracked my brain thinking until I’m about to go crazy. If you can’t come up with something …”

Dusty stared at him long and hard. “There’s no reason t’think anythin’s happened to them.”

Jarrod looked into the distance and let out a long breath, wondering how the other man had read his mind. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s just—”

“Worry. No need t’explain.” Dusty hooked a thumb in his gun belt. “Now, as I was sayin’, we gotta think about this. You said they was sleepin’ when Miss Abby left.”

Jarrod thought back to that morning. “We were having coffee. Abby had been up with Katie, and made a pot while she waited for sunup.”

“And?”

“We were talking.”

“‘Bout anything in particular?”

“Why do you ask?” Jarrod said sharply.

“Just wondered,” Dusty answered. “You got a look on your face. Seems like there’s somethin’ on your mind.”

Jarrod rubbed the back of his neck. “I mentioned that I was thinking about boarding school for the kids.”

“How’d Miss Abby take to that notion?”

Jarrod raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know Abby Miller very well or you wouldn’t have to ask that question. She blew up.”

Dusty grinned. “Yeah, I heard Gib call her Firecracker.”

“We thought we heard someone on the stairs, but when Abby checked, no one was there, so—” His eyes widened. “What if they heard us talking about sending them away?”

“Might give ‘em cause to take matters into their own hands.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we can’t find a trace of them.”

“Don’t it?”

Jarrod thought for a moment. “Abby’s wagon. They hid in the back.”

Dusty nodded. “That’d be my guess.”

If they were with Abby, then they’d be all right. As the
tension in his gut eased off a bit, Jarrod smiled. “How’d you get to be so smart?”

Dusty chuckled. “If you wasn’t so worried, you’da figured it out same’s me.”

“I’m going after them. Chances are, Abby discovered them and she’s on her way back right now.”

“True enough,” Dusty agreed.

Until he saw with his own eyes that all four kids were safe and sound, Jarrod wouldn’t rest.

“If it hadn’ta been for you, she’da never caught us.” Tom glared at his younger brother.

Abby bit back a smile as she stared at the two boys in front of the outhouse. Earl Whittemore had given her quite a shock when he’d looked out the freight office window and said, “Didn’t know you’d brought those two boys of Jarrod’s back with you.”

She had raced to his side and seen for herself the two sneaking up the rise to take care of their “business.”

“I hadda go, Tom. Lily said I could,” Oliver reminded his brother. Then he stuck his thumb in his mouth and wrapped his other arm as far as it would go around Abby’s leg. He pressed his little body against her, and she put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

“Tell me what’s going on. What are you doing here?”

Tom glared stubbornly at her, his mouth a straight line.

“Not talking? Are your sisters still in my wagon?”

Oliver’s head snapped up as he looked at her. “How’d you know?”

“How else would we get here, stupid?” Tom said, taking his frustration out on his younger brother.