Land of Enchantment (17 page)

Diana shuddered expressively at the picture he painted.

'Still, it is only one small patch in the whole of New Mexico.' There was quiet amusement in his voice. 'Just a few miles from the malpais is Acoma, the Sky City. Not far from that is El Morro National Monument. There you can see Inscription Rock where the early Spanish explorers carved their names. I suppose you could call it an early form of graffiti.'

Laughter rolled easily from Diana's lips and with more freedom when Jim Two Pony joined in with her. Her blue eyes registered their pleasure when she met his dark gaze. This new camaraderie was a welcome change and one that she enjoyed very much.

Chapter Eleven

THE barrier had been lowered. The first tentative steps towards friendship and respect had been taken between Diana and Jim Two Pony, though the reserve was still there. The final commitment by either one had not yet been made, but for the first time things looked hopeful to Diana. Her smile was infused with the growing warmth she felt towards the black-haired Navajo as he turned the ignition key in the jeep.

'I'll feed the horses for you tonight if you don't mind,' she offered, raising her voice to make sure it would carry over the noise of the motor.

'You can leave Malpais for me,' Jim nodded, a finger touching his broad-brimmed hat in a farewell salute before he put the jeep in gear and it sprang away.

After watching the jeep disappear, followed by slowly dissipating clouds of dust, Diana turned her gaze in the opposite direction towards the rutted lane that would soon be bringing her husband home. How she was looking forward to that!

Late that afternoon Diana left the stillness of the house for the more companionable sounds of the stables. She had had enough of her own company and the anticipation of Lije's arrival made the minutes spent alone drag interminably.

An ecstatic whinny greeted her as she paused at the end of the individual enclosures that extended from the outside stall doors. A faint smile of surprise curved her mouth as she saw a sorrel head with a white stripe stretch inquiringly over the rails. There appeared to be a welcoming eagerness in the horse's face that Diana had to laugh.

'Hello to you, too, Bambi, if that's really what you were saying.' She climbed the main fence and made her way down the path to the sorrel's pen. The horse lowered its head for her caress, blowing gently against Diana's bare arm in what seemed like contentment. 'If I were really sure that you're as gentle as you seem, I might be persuaded to learn to ride. Not that I'm afraid of horses,' stroking the shiny neck, 'but you must admit, Bambi, that you're awfully far away from the ground!'

The perked ears of the horse swivelled alertly to catch every nuance of Diana's crooning voice. She perched herself on the fence rail while the sorrel explored her arms and legs and face with its nose, inhaling deeply as if memorizing her scent for future reference. Diana continued talking to the horse, unmindful of what she was saying. It didn't seem to matter to the horse either as long as her soft voice was heard.

When Diana glanced at her watch nearly an hour and a half later, she was stunned that the time had passed so swiftly. The hour had arrived to feed the horses as she had promised Jim she would do. The sorrel whickered forlornly when Diana climbed down from the top rail.

'It's time to eat, Bambi.' She laughed as the horse pushed its head against her chest and kept it there for more gentle caresses. She gave the silken neck one last hug before retracting her steps to the main fence, then on to the barn.

The clanging of the metal buckets as Diana prepared to measure the grain into them was a sufficient signal to the rest of the horses that feeding time had arrived. Instantly they were in their stalls, heads hanging over in anticipation of their evening meal. She didn't have the efficiency of experience that Jim had and it took her longer to complete the filling of the buckets. But soon they were all contentedly munching the grain while Diana went in search of the bales of hay to top off their meal.

Usually there was a stack of bales near the door, but it had been depleted to only two, not enough to feed all the horses. Diana had just placed a foot on the first rung of the ladder leading to the loft when a horn sounded in the yard followed by 'Hello! Is anybody here?'

She walked quickly to the open barn door, brushing away the wisps of loose hay that clung to her wheat tan slacks. Ty Spalding was standing beside the driver's side of his car, his gaze searching the house and yard before spotting Diana standing in the open double doors of the barn.

'Hi, beautiful!' he called, his lithe stride quickly carrying him towards her. 'Hello, Ty,' she answered calmly, deliberately not matching his familiar enthusiasm. 'What brings you here so late in the day?'

'I was just out at the drilling site.' He stopped in front of her, his thoughtful eyes taking in her reserved expression. 'I thought I'd stop by and let you know we hit water.'

'Lije will be glad to hear that.' A partial smile curved her lips.

'Yes.' But there was an uncaring sound in his affirmative response. 'I stopped up at the house first. When you weren't there, I was about ready to decide that these wide open spaces had finally got to you.'

'They can be daunting at times to a city girl.' Her gaze shifted from his smiling face to the unending spread of country, remembering the isolated feeling that often attacked her, but for some reason didn't this time.

'East is east and west is west and the wrong one I have chose, as the saying goes.' He watched her reaction closely. His comment had found its mark. It was a thought that she had often considered unconsciously and discarded just as often when offset by her love for Lije. 'You wouldn't be the first woman to loathe this land or this life,' he added.

'What makes you think I do?' she asked noncommittally.
 

'Instinct. Or maybe,' his brown eyes slowly travelled the length of her slender but curvaceous frame, 'it's just
that you seem out of place here. A woman like you should have a more glamorous setting. A classy home in the best section of town with furs and jewels and satin gowns, instead of this.' His hand moved in a dismissive gesture to encompass the buildings and land.

'A hybrid rose among yucca plants,' Diana concluded for him with a bitter laugh, the analogy of Jim Two Pony's springing quickly to mind.

'Something like that, yes.' There was the barest lifting of one eyebrow. 'What made you say that?'

'Oh, it was just a comment I heard someone say once,' she shrugged.

'About you?'

'I don't recall.' The coolness in her voice indicated that it was time for the subject to be changed.

'Well, in my opinion, you're very much like a rose. A pale yellow tea rose, fragile and delicate and velvety soft to the touch. Not at all like a yucca plant,' a wide grin spreading over his face, 'with its spindly stalk and greenish-white flowers.'

'I don't know. It might be apt. After all, I am a greenhorn to this part of the country,' she said coolly, more in an effort to disprove his statement than dismiss his compliment.

'That may be, but somehow I could never imagine anyone as lovely as you are compared with something as commonplace as a yucca bush.'

'It's nice to be considered functional as well as ornamental, like a yucca plant is,' Diana replied.

'What do you mean? How is a yucca plant functional?' Ty asked with a derisive chuckle.

'I understood its leaves were used to make baskets and clothes.'

'By Indians,' he said contemptuously. 'Not by white people.'

'I didn't realize it made any difference. Your prejudice is showing, Ty,' she mocked.

'I've never met an Indian yet that was worth anything.' A flush of red spread up from his neck at her biting retort. 'They're mostly a bunch of drunken bums, an untrustworthy pack of thieves.'

'The same thing could apply to some white men I've met,' she retorted icily, sickened by his unreasonable bias. 'Your description certainly doesn't fit Jim. Lije couldn't have found a more loyal friend than he is.'

'Are you actually defending him?' A cynical smirk distorted his mouth. 'I imagine that Indian regrets the day you married Lije. It would be musing to hear what kind of tales he tells Lije about you when you're not around. He's one person who would probably be very happy to see the two of you split up.' His comment was very close to her own initial thoughts about Jim and her uncomfortable agreement was revealed in her face for a brief second, but long enough for Ty to see. And he didn't hesitate to seize on it. 'There's no telling what conjecture his devious mind put on our innocent cup of coffee yesterday. I'm sure he's taking his watchdog duties very seriously.'

'I think you're mistaken about Jim.' But her voice lacked certainty.

Jim Two Pony had made his dislike of her too apparent in the beginning, at least in her way of thinking. And there was no telling just how much his opinion had mellowed even though the events of the last couple of days seemed to indicate that it might have.

Ty knew his remarks had touched a vulnerable spot and he also knew when to back away when his point had been made. He very wisely chose that moment to change the subject.

'I'm curious. What brought you down here to the barn at this time of day?'

It took Diana a full second to re-focus the direction of her thoughts before she could answer. 'I came down to feed the horses.'

'You?' There was a light teasing sparkle in his voice and eyes that was reminiscent of the flirtatious side of his personality that she was accustomed to seeing.

'Why not?' she retorted, knowing that two days ago she would have voiced the same disbelief that he had just done.

Ty pushed his hat farther back on his brown head. 'Let's just say that I can't visualize you mucking out the stables.'

'In other words, you don't think I belong to the horsey set.' Laughter danced unwillingly in her eyes.

There was no doubt that Ty Spalding had a considerable amount of charm. A moment ago she had been appalled and angered by his attitude towards Indians in general and Jim Two Pony specifically. Now she found it difficult to remain indifferent to the pleasant side of his personality, perhaps because his marked attention was such a boost to her morale that had suffered some damaging blows these past weeks.

'I've met some girls who definitely belong in the horsey group,' he grinned.

'Such as?'

'Such as Patty King.'

'I met her,' Diana murmured, blinking her bewilderment at Ty. That was the name of the girl she had met in the restaurant with Lije. 'She was a very lovely girl. You could hardly describe her as horsey.'

'You met her, did you?' His question was purely rhetorical. 'She had her rope all shaken out ready to throw the loop over Lije.'

'I…I had the impression that she was fond of him.'

'Fond of him!' Ty hooted. 'That gift joined the rodeo just to be near him. Your marriage must have been quite a blow to her.'

Unbidden the thought came to Diana that if Patty had married Lije she probably would have been out on the range working right beside him instead of sitting in the house always waiting for him to come back.

'I suppose it was a surprise to her,' she agreed, straightening a bit as she spoke. 'I haven't finished feeding the horses yet, Ty, so if you'll excuse me, it's getting late.'

'What have you got left? I'll help.
'
He was already starting through the open doors of the barn before Diana could reply.

'There's really no need,' she said, following him inside the dimly lit building.

'I insist,' he smiled. 'You make a very beautiful stablehand, but,' his hand reached out to capture one of hers, 'I don't like the thought of these lovely hands being soiled or a nail being broken.'

'Don't be silly,' snatching her hand away from his grasp. 'I'm just as capable of doing this kind of work as anyone else, and a little dirt never hurt anyone.'

'Well, I'll help anyway.' He teased at the half-angry expression on her face. 'What's left to be done?'

It was obvious to Diana that short of ordering Ty to leave she wasn't going to persuade him to leave by any subtle method. Although she disliked his attitude towards Jim, he could be extraordinarily pleasant when he tried, and he was a friend of Lije. Heaven knew she had done quite enough to alienate her husband lately, and he wouldn't take kindly to her being rude to one of his friends. So, with a resigned sigh, she accepted the situation.

'I've already given them their grain. All that's left is the hay.'

'Those two bales won't be enough,' he observed, glancing at the hay near the door.

'I know,' she agreed sharply. 'I was just climbing the ladder to the loft to get some more when you came.'

'I'll do that while you ration out what's down here.'

Reluctantly Diana nodded agreement, walking over to the bales of hay as Ty climbed the ladder to the loft. The horse stamped restlessly in their stalls behind her, lending urgency to her fingers as she pulled at the twine holding the hay in its bales. Above her she could hear Ty walking towards the far end of the loft and she could see the hay chaff sifting through the floorboards of the loft. By the time she had distributed the first two bales Ty had tossed down more. Diana had just freed one of the bales from its twine and was turning to carry the hay to the horses when her feet became entangled in the wiry rope. With a gasping yelp of surprise, she went tumbling to the floor. Ty ignored the ladder, swinging from the opening to drop on the floor beside her.