Out of Control (7 page)

“It's a prehistoric elephant.”

“Elephant?” Rafe was joining his brother in being a doubter. “I've heard of elephants. But never in America.”

“There aren't any.” Surely he'd heard the word
prehistoric
. She'd said it quite clearly.

“There aren't any, but you found one?”

Ethan really should just go on home.

“They're not elephants, but they're similar. And they're extinct. There aren't any in America
anymore
.” Julia really couldn't think of any smaller words to use with the Kincaid brothers. So she decided to move on from her talk of American elephants. That wasn't what she was so excited about anyway. “I'd be glad to let you see the papers I've written. My work is quite extensive. If I can get an article published about the cavern, maybe they'll show some interest in my other work. I keep copies of everything and bring my work when we move. And paper, plenty of paper and pencils.”

Another grunt from above. She might as well have been accompanied home by pigs.

She reached a less treacherous stretch of the trail and dusted off her hands. She set out walking before the doubting Thomas brothers were down. The sky had taken on the gray light of dawn. And she'd be able to make good time now.

“So you've gone from elephants to fish,” Ethan said. “Has all the big stuff been found?”

That thought gave her pause. What if all the fossils had been found? How many could there be anyway? What would she do then? There were always rock formations of course, but she didn't find them nearly as interesting as fossils. Worried, she became all the more determined to study those in the cave. Why would there be fish in a cave at the top of a mountain? There would be only one reason.

Indians eat fish. Hah!

And why would Indians have a meal in a cave they had to climb down into like that? Rafe would change his tune when he saw it.

She glanced back at the menfolk and realized she could see them pretty well now. Still no sun down in this gully, but it was more shadows than nighttime.

Rafe smiled at her and she stumbled. He grabbed her arm and kept her from falling. Rescued again. She sighed silently and went back to watching where she was going.

They came up to a ledge and she pointed down. “See, we can cross on that.”

Rafe came up on her right. She saw him look down and study the stone path about eight feet below that spanned the rushing waters. “We can cross on that? Uh . . . do you just jump down to that first rock?”

“I'll show you.” She sat down on the ledge and rolled so she lay on her belly, her feet dangling. She found the slender gouge in the smooth stone for her toes and, with no trouble at all, lowered herself to the first slab of granite in the bubbling creek. The stone was flat and it stuck up high enough that the top never got wet. A few of the stones were just barely above water level and they'd been submerged a few times when there'd been rain, but today it was as easy as walking on a sidewalk.

Julia scurried across and found the narrow cut that she could walk up. She didn't even look back; getting home seemed most important now. Not to mention that looking at Rafe had an unsettling effect on her knees.

She climbed, using her hands to steady herself, but able to walk rather than needing to scale a cliff like they had on the other side of the creek. She came out onto a clear view of her home about a quarter of a mile down the mountainside.

She stopped to let Rafe catch up and smiled. “There it is.” She thought it rather mature of her not to say
I told you so
.

Rafe scowled. “That creek will flood if there's a heavy rain upstream. You'd be swept away. You can't go climbing down into that gully.”

“Sure I can. I do it all the time.”

Rafe grabbed her by both shoulders and turned her to face him. “You're going to get yourself killed over a fish carcass.”

“Fish
fossil
, and I won't get killed. You fret around like a baby with a wet diaper.”

Rafe's brows shot up.

Audra stepped around the corner of the house at that minute, Maggie in one arm, picking up kindling out of an undersized woodpile. That drew Julia's attention away from the thought of sweeping Rafe away with a flood of cranky, bossy words.

“Julia?” A woman's voice pulled Rafe's attention away from the beautiful half-wit he was escorting home.

Then Rafe saw a very tiny, bedraggled blonde, toting a baby on her hip and another inside her belly. The woman gave a cry and then came up with what looked to be another batch of tears. Rafe had seen and heard and been soaked by more tears in the last half a day than in his whole miserable life. Looked like more were on the way.

“I hate crying,” Ethan muttered beside him.

“Audra!” Julia raced down the trail.

“Julia!” The blonde ran toward them.

Rafe went after Julia and toward a very run-down, undersized cabin.

“Where's Julia's pa?” Ethan asked from where he followed after Rafe.

Rafe looked back. “No man would send his woman out with a baby to fetch wood.”

“His woman who looks to be about to have a new baby,” Ethan added.

“Yeah, and his woman just screamed and he hasn't come out to see why. Even though his daughter has been missing all night. Any decent man would be on edge. Must mean trouble.” Rafe planned to find out just what was going on. The women flew into each other's arms just as he caught up to them.

The women were chattering so fast that Rafe couldn't follow it. The baby started hollering. Rafe heard the words “He's hurt” from one of them—he thought Audra.

He took a second to wrap his head around the little fairy princess being Julia's stepmother.

Julia took the little one from Audra, and then the two women dashed around the cabin. Rafe went after them. Hard to protect a woman who was always leading the way into trouble.

Rafe went into the miserably small cabin to see Julia kneeling on the floor beside an unconscious man sprawled flat on his back.

John Gill.

“Trouble sure enough,” Ethan muttered from right behind him.

Julia still held the baby, a little girl who looked a lot like Audra, except bald as an egg.

“What's the matter with him?” Rafe knelt beside Julia, who was closest to the door. The blonde was on the man's other side. It was definitely John Gill from Rawhide.

“He just passed out. I . . . I . . .” Audra looked up, blushing, guilty, worried.

“You what?” Rafe asked.

“I hit him.” Tears welled in Audra's eyes.

Rafe reached for the man's flushed cheeks. “You hit him so hard he got a fever?” He shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“This is my stepmother, Audra Gilliland.”

“You're Julia's mother?” Ethan dropped down beside Audra. “I doubt it.”

She was like no
mother
Rafe had ever seen. She was young and beautiful. That seemed to run in the womenfolk in this family. But Audra was frail. Her round stomach almost overwhelmed her body. This woman did
not
knock Wendell Gilliland down.

“No. He . . . I guess he already had a fever. I just didn't know it when I hit him.” Audra gave a guilt-ridden look to Julia.

Who surprised Rafe when she said, “Good for you.”

Rafe had a fleeting moment of sympathy for poor old Wendell. His wife hit him and his daughter's response was “Good.” The man was not well liked in his home.

“Don't you want to know why she hit him before you side with her?” Rafe asked.

“I know my father really well. He deserved it. Besides, I've seen the way Audra gives Maggie a licking.”

“Julia, hush.” Audra's cheeks pinked up, and she rested a delicate, pale hand on her belly.

“One swat on the fingers when Maggie tried to grab a butcher knife. Maggie laughed at her. We just learned to keep the knife up high. Audra wouldn't be able to knock a fly insensible.”

Temper flashed in Audra's eyes. It was
not
a scary sight. “I would so.”

She might knock a fly out, Rafe decided, but it'd be a near thing. Audra appeared to be about as mild as milk. Which meant . . . “So Wendell's sick.”

“Yes. I . . . I guess he must be. I've been so worried since I knocked him down.”

“You did
not
knock him down, Audra,” Julia scolded.

“You didn't come home, and I thought you must be . . . must be . . .” Audra broke down, bent forward until she'd have folded in half if her stomach hadn't gotten in her way. She turned loose of her tears and cried her heart out. Way more upset about her missing stepdaughter, who was right in front of her and just fine, than her unconscious husband.

Ethan, kneeling beside Audra, gave her a purely terrified look. He reached out his hand as if to pat her on the back, then snatched his hand back and turned to Rafe, helpless.

Rafe could sympathize. “I met your pa, Julia. I'm on Audra's side.” He looked around at the rickety cabin. He wanted to get away from it right now, before a strong wind blew it into kindling. Which wouldn't be all bad. They could use it to build a fire and Audra wouldn't have to go get wood.

Ethan pulled a kerchief out of his back pocket and thrust it into Audra's hands.

“What about an injury?” Julia handed Maggie to Rafe. Which caught him so by surprise he almost dropped the baby on her unconscious pa.

Julia turned her attention to Wendell, moving her hands over his head, then onto his neck in a manner far more medical than affectionate.

“An injury could bring on a fever.” Audra rested one hand on her husband's forehead, her lips turned down with worry.

Rafe decided that having these two beautiful women fussing over him wouldn't be such a bad deal. Wendell was doing all right.

With confidence and skill, Julia continued checking Wendell.

“Something was wrong with his arm yesterday in town,” Rafe said.

“Yes,” Audra said. She straightened, wiping tears from her eyes with Ethan's kerchief. “He was doing everything with his left hand.” Audra tapped at two metal cylinders about six inches long and an inch wide, stuck in the breast pocket of Wendell's shirt. “He even smoked left-handed.”

Julia reached for Wendell's right arm. When she touched it, the unconscious man groaned and tossed his head.

“Let's get a look.” Julia rolled up her father's sleeve.

Rafe's stomach twisted. He tore his eyes away from the ugly wound and looked from Julia to Audra. “When did he hurt himself?”

“I didn't know he had. I haven't seen him since Monday morning, and he was fine then.” Julia's throat worked as she studied the red streaks that stretched up past his elbow and down to his wrist.

“It's so swollen.” Audra covered her mouth and looked nauseated. Rafe hoped she didn't decide to empty her stomach. One more indignity for poor old Wendell.

“He's been outside more than in from the minute he got home last night. He was searching for you, Julia.” Audra offered it as if to assure Julia that, yes, her pa had cared about her.

“I'd say this wound is close to a week old,” Rafe said. Maggie distracted him by yanking on the brim of his hat. He handed the little girl to Ethan, who looked mighty shocked.

When the tyke squeaked and bounced in Ethan's arms, he said, “It must've started out as a scratch and turned septic.”

Julia pressed gently on the reddened area around the cut. Her pa moaned but remained unconscious.

“Eth,” Rafe said, “you get—”

“We need hot water.” Julia rose from her father's side. “Rafe, get a basin full of it. Audra, tear up some strips of cloth. We need to get that open and drain the infection.”

Surprised to see Julia taking charge, Rafe jumped to his feet and headed for the fireplace only to find the fire had gone out. Audra tried to stand and almost tipped over. Ethan caught her one-handed. With Maggie in his left arm, he helped Audra to her feet. Ethan had his hands full for a fact.

“I've got an old dress I can tear up for bandages.” Audra left the room.

The fireplace was empty and cold. There was no kindling to be seen in the cabin. Even the sticks Audra had been fetching when they'd arrived had been dropped and left behind. “I'll be a while heating water.”

Julia rushed for the water and poured a basin of it. “I'll do the best I can with cold water until you get that fire going. Ethan,” Julia snapped, “take this cold cloth and keep it on Father's head.”

The trembling, clinging woman he'd pulled out of a cavern had turned into a general ordering her troops. It occurred to Rafe as he dashed for the door that he really didn't know Julia at all. Not under what a man might call normal circumstances.

He found a mighty small stack of wood that wouldn't last long. Julia didn't need to give the next order. Rafe could see he needed to chop wood, probably haul water—and while he was at it, he should hunt. He hadn't seen much food in the house and a little broth would be all Wendell would be able to eat for a while.

Rafe knew from the look of the wound, Wendell Gilliland was in a world of trouble.

He filled his arms with wood, which as good as emptied the pile, and hurried back inside to find Ethan bathing Wendell's flushed face while holding a baby in his lap. Ethan was plumb handy.

Julia worked on her father's arm. Audra stood tearing a faded blue gingham dress into strips.

Rafe went to work starting a fire. While everyone was busy, he said, “Mrs. Gilliland, tell me what's happened here since Julia went missing.” He thought of that rope that had been moved. There was more going on here than a scratch that'd gotten putrid and a night of worry over a woman who didn't return from her walk.

It was hard to demand much of Audra Gilliland, though. Hard to even call her missus. She looked like little more than a child. He thought Julia had said her stepmother was only a few years older, but she looked younger.

A cry from Ethan's arms stopped Audra from telling her story. “It's time to feed the baby.”

Rafe felt his face heat up, and he saw Ethan blushing and looking at the little baby as if she might explode.

“Give me the dress. I'll finish tearing.” Julia stood quickly.

Rafe noticed the bloodstain on the dress Julia still wore. There'd been no time to change. They should've torn up the one she was wearing because it was ruined.

The kindling caught and began licking at the bigger pieces of wood with an encouraging crackle.

“Rafe, get over here. Let's get Father into his bedroom. Audra, take Maggie so Ethan can lift from that side.”

Wendell being sick didn't stop Rafe from being amused by the orders Julia was firing at everyone.

Rafe's eyes met Ethan's across Wendell's feverish body, and Ethan arched his brows at Rafe before sliding a look at Julia, who stood near her father's head. He handed Maggie to her ma. Maggie clung to Ethan and her hungry whimpering turned into a shriek. Ethan had to peel the little girl's hands off his neck.

“She's a bossy little thing,” Ethan muttered.

“Julia or Maggie?” Rafe asked.

Ethan smirked as they lifted together.

If Julia heard him, she didn't say anything.

“He doesn't weigh much,” Rafe said. “Let me carry him. One of us can get through that door with him more easily than two.”

“Audra, get the door.” Julia, in charge. Her stepmother obeyed with alacrity, which told Rafe a lot about how this household worked. “Ethan, if you're not needed to help carry, get the water started heating, then move Audra's chair into the empty bedroom so Audra can have some privacy.”

Audra led the way down what couldn't really be called a hall. It was a space about six feet long and so narrow Rafe had to walk sideways to get Wendell to his room. The little hallway divided the cabin in half with a door to the left and right. Audra swung the droopy door to the right open and stepped out of the way.

Rafe, Wendell in his arms, went past the fragile-looking mother who'd knocked her husband down, and stopped in the doorway. “How many kids do you have?”

“Just one.” Audra's cheeks pinked up again and she patted Maggie's little tummy. Maggie went to crying in earnest. “She needs to eat.”

He gave her belly a significant glance.

She placed her hand on her belly. “Well, two counting this one.”

“And how old are you?”

“Rafe, hurry up. You're blocking the doorway.” Julia shooed at him like he was a flock of chickens.

Rafe left off questioning the young mother and turned into the room. He stopped, and Julia ran into his back. “This is a bedroom? It looks more like a lean-to.”

“Get in there.” Julia shoved and Rafe went in. The ceiling sloped, and he only had room to stand upright right against the wall. Julia had to bump against him to get in, too. Then she pulled the door mostly shut, and Rafe could tell by the slightly more quiet crying that Audra had gone into the other bedroom.

There was barely enough floor space for two people to lay side by side. Several nails on the wall held a scanty supply of clothes. Blankets thrown on the floor were all there was of a bed.