Spirit Journey: Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 3) (2 page)

Once everyone was ready, Black Fox led them along the ridge trail while Raven brought up the rear.  Eric rode in the middle of the group in front of Dino and Jonathan and behind Skip and Dash.  Skip could have brought along a horse to ride, but he’d chosen not to, instead preferring to walk with Dash. 

Periodically, Skip hauled himself up on Dash, standing on the space on the saddle between Dash’s paniers.  At slightly over seventeen hands tall, Dash was the biggest equine on the trip.  Skip could see quite a distance away when he stood on the mule’s back.  He scouted for game or water this way.  When he wanted to see even further, he hopped up a little to get extra height.

Around two hours into their traveling, Dash suddenly stopped and almost backed right into Eric’s horse.

“What’s his problem, Skip?” Eric asked, pulling up his horse.

“I don’t know,” Skip said.  “I’m trying to figure it out.”

Dash looked off to his left, out over the edge of the ridge, his long ears pricked forward intently.  His large eyes scanned the horizon.  Skip tried to stop him, but Dash was adamant and went right up to the edge of the ridge they were traveling along.  It dropped off steeply into a deep ravine.  His ears pricked forward again and he pawed the ground.

“Something’s down there.  Maybe it’s a cougar or something,” Skip said.

Dash nudged Skip and then pawed the ground before returning to his previous stance.  Suddenly he let out a huge bray and then fell silent, bobbing his head up and down.  By this time, the rest of their party had stopped to see what was wrong. 

Hailey cupped a hand around an ear to see if she could hear what Dash did.  Suddenly, she thought she heard a voice.  She shushed the others and listened more intently.  Sure enough, she heard someone yelling.

“Hello?” she shouted.  “Is someone down there?”

They must have responded because Dash nodded frantically and pawed again.  Eric looked down over the growth of trees and bushes, but he couldn’t see anything. 

Hailey heard the voice again and she thought they were saying “help.”  “They’re in trouble.”

Eric went to his horse and removed his lariat from his saddle.  “Give me whatever extra rope you have.  Skip, take off Dash’s paniers and leave his saddle on.  He’s going to be my anchor.” 

They tied several lariats together and fastened them to Dash’s saddle horn.  Skip turned him around so that his rear faced the embankment so it would be easier for him to resist the pull of the rope.

Eric pulled on his work gloves and said, “I’m ready.”

              Jaylyn Lennox thought she was hallucinating when she first heard someone yell down to her, but then more shouts reached her ears and relief flooded her being.  She thought that the last voice had said, “Help is coming!”

              She hurried over to her younger sister.  “Hold on, Peanut.  Someone’s coming to rescue us.”

              Peanut’s blue eyes were slightly glazed over.  “I hope they hurry.  I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this pain.”

              Jaylyn’s gaze moved down to where Peanut’s left lower leg was trapped under a couple of sizable boulders.  Then she looked at the nine-month-old baby girl Peanut held.  Little scratches and a small bruise crisscrossed the little one’s forehead, but, by some miracle of God, those were her only injuries.

              “Hang on just a little longer, all right?” Jaylyn said, running a hand over Peanut’s auburn hair.

              Peanut nodded.  “Yeah.”

              Jaylyn ran back to where she’d been.  “Hurry!  Please, hurry!”

              “I’m almost there!” shouted a man.

              “Oh, thank God!” Jaylyn said.  “See, Peanut?  Help is almost here.”

              The brush above her parted and a man wearing buckskin clothing burst through it, scaling down to where the women awaited them.  His long, medium brown braid hung down between his shoulders and she assumed he was an Indian.  He landed on his feet and turned towards her, his gray eyes roaming over her.

              Her vivid red hair was dirty and disheveled, and angry, red scratches marred her right cheek.  Her blouse and men’s trousers were torn in spots and blood had seeped through the left upper arm of her blouse.

              “Hi.  I’m Eric Samuels and me and my family are gonna get you out of here,” he said. 

              He noticed Peanut and the baby.  The younger woman looked bad off.  Then he saw that her leg was pinned under large rocks. 

              Jaylyn said, “I’m fine, but Peanut and the baby aren’t doing well.”

              “I can see that.  Let me take a look.”

              The boulders rested on Peanut’s calf and her shin above the rocks looked bruised.  Eric knew he wasn’t going to be able to move the boulders by himself without further injuring the girl.

              “Is the baby hurt?” he asked.

              Peanut said, “Just scratches.  She’s been eating fine, but she needs to be cleaned up and changed.”

              “I’m glad she’s ok.  We’ll get her taken care of.  How long have you been down here?” Eric asked.

              “Since yesterday morning,” Jaylyn said.

              Her expression told Eric that there was quite a story there, but now wasn’t the time to go into it. 

              He nodded.  “Luckily, there are some big, strong guys with us, so we’ll get you out of here in no time.  Most of them are Indians, but they’re my family and great people.  My uncle is the chief and helps run an orphanage.  I know that sounds strange, but it’s the truth.  I don’t want you to be scared of them.”

              Peanut asked, “Are you an Indian?”

              “One quarter.  I’ll take the baby up and be right back with help.  My aunt will take good care of her,” Eric said, reaching for the baby.  “What’s her name?”

              “Annie.  I’m so sorry.  I’m Jaylyn Lennox and this is my little sister, Peanut.  Annie is hers,” Jaylyn said.

              Eric had assumed that the baby belonged to Jaylyn since Peanut only looked to be around eighteen or nineteen.  “Well, sorry about the circumstances, but it’s nice to meet you,” he said while tying the end of the rope securely around his waist.

              Peanut was reluctant to give Annie to Eric, but Jaylyn said, “It’s ok.  Eric is going to take her to safety.” 
Please, God, let him be a good man.

              Peanut let him take Annie.

              “I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

              His kind smile convinced Peanut and she gave him a weak smile in return.  Eric settled Annie against his chest for a few moments to let her get a little familiar with him.  The baby’s brow puckered as she looked at the unfamiliar man and began crying.

              “It’s ok, Annie,” he said soothingly.  “I need you to be brave now.  I’m gonna put you under my shirt to keep you from getting scratched up any more, ok?”

              So saying, Eric lifted the bottom of his loose shirt and tucked the unhappy Annie up underneath it.  Eric hummed a little, trying to calm the baby, but Annie wasn’t having any of it.

              “I’ll be right back with the cavalry,” he said, giving three hard yanks on the rope.

              Soon, he felt the rope being pulled and he began walking up the steep ravine wall, keeping a tight hold on Annie.  Judging by the rapid speed that he was being pulled, most of the men must be on the other end of the rope.  It wasn’t long before he was being helped up onto the trail.

              “Thanks, guys,” he said.  “I have a surprise for you.”

              He lifted his shirt, revealing Annie.

              “A baby?” Dino said.  “What’s a baby doing down there?”

              Eric said, “I don’t know yet.  This is Annie.  Check her over, Mike, but I think she just has some scratches.  She seems fine otherwise.”

              Mike took Annie, and began examining her. 

              Eric said, “Her mother and aunt are down there.  I don’t know their story.  Annie’s mother, Peanut, is in a bad way.  Her leg is trapped under a couple of boulders.  I can’t move them by myself without risking further injury.”

              Raven said, “I’ll go with you.”

              “Me, too,” Reckless chimed in. 

              “Is Dash ok, Skippy?” Eric asked.

              Skip let out a snort.  “Are you kidding me?  He hasn’t had to do any work.  He’s as fresh as a daisy.”  He watched Mike with Annie, thinking that she was such a pretty baby.

              Eric smiled at Skip’s pride in Dash.  “Ok.  Let’s go get these poor women out of there.”

              Raven said, “You would think he was the one in charge.”

              Owl grinned.  “He’s like his mother that way.”

              Claire Samuels was the principle at Dawson’s school, and she was good at keeping unruly kids in line and giving orders to others.  Eric had inherited her tendency to take charge in tough situations.

              Eric laughed as he kept going.  “Sorry, fellas.  I can’t help myself sometimes.”

              Raven waited until Eric was two thirds of the way down before beginning to climb down the rope.  Reckless quickly followed them.

              Even though Eric had warned Jaylyn and Peanut about his relatives, seeing a couple of big Indian men following Eric through the brush was still a shock.  The women’s blue eyes widened at the sight of them.

              “Ladies, these are my cousins, Raven and Reckless,” Eric said.  “This is Jaylyn Lennox and Peanut, um, I’m sorry, I don’t know your last name.”

              “It’s Lennox,” Jaylyn said.

              “Oh, ok.”

              Raven and Reckless smiled and greeted the young women to put them at ease. 

              Raven said, “Reckless and I will move the boulders.  You pull Peanut back when her foot is free enough.”

              “Ok,” Eric said. 

              Reckless and Raven conferred on which way would be best to move the boulders and then went to work.  They lifted at the same time and slowly the boulders gave way enough for Eric to drag Peanut free of the rocks.

              Peanut tried not to cry, but the pain that suddenly flared in her leg was terrible. 

Jaylyn hugged her.  “I know, honey.  We’re almost out of here.  You just have to be strong a little while longer.”

Peanut nodded.

Raven knelt on one knee by her.  “Peanut, you’re a strong girl to have taken care of your baby even though you were hurt.  I need you to stay strong.  I have to use both of my arms to pull us up.  Can you hold onto me around my neck so I can carry you?  Annie is waiting up top for you.”

Peanut loved her baby more than anything and would do anything to get back to her.  She nodded.  “I can do it.”

Raven smiled.  “Good.”

“I will carry you to him,” Reckless said.

“All right.”

Her petite frame was light in Reckless’ arms and he easily took her to where Raven stood with the rope tied around his waist.  He knelt down as Reckless helped her get situated, tied a shorter length of rope around Peanut’s waist, and attached it to Raven’s rope.  Peanut wrapped her arms around Raven’s neck and held on for dear life.  Raven jerked on the rope three times and the men up top began pulling them up.

Peanut closed her eyes and prayed as they rose higher above the ravine.  She took comfort in Raven’s strength and the fact that they were still tethered to the rope in case he should slip.  They arrived up top with little difficulty and another Indian man carried her over to where an older Indian woman sat holding Annie.  The baby played with the woman’s beaded necklace.

The man laid Peanut down on a soft deerskin blanket.

“My nephew will take good care of you,” he said.  “I’m Owl.”

“Hi, Owl.  I’m Peanut,” she said, feeling dizzy.  “I don’t feel very good.”

Mike moved over to her to assess her condition.  “I’m Mike, Peanut.  I’m a doctor and I’m going to have you take some laudanum to help with the pain.”

“Ok.”

Mike helped her take it and then got to work.

Down in the ravine, Eric said, “Jaylyn, I’ll take you up the same way Raven did Peanut.”

Jaylyn didn’t care that she was about to put her arms around a strange man.  All she wanted was to get out of the ravine and see how Peanut and Annie were.  “Fine by me.”

Eric nodded and tied the rope around him once it had been dropped back down to them.  “Ok.  Get a good hold and don’t let go no matter what happens.”

Jaylyn did it so quickly that Eric jerked a little in surprise.

“Sorry,” she said.  “I just want out of here.  It was a terrible night and I was so worried about Peanut and the baby—”

Eric chuckled.  “It’s ok.  I understand.  Don’t fall apart on me yet.  Once we’re up there, go right ahead, but right now, just stay strong.”

“You’re right.  I’m fine,” she said, blinking back tears.

In a matter of minutes, they were hauled up.  Jaylyn was relieved when her feet rested on solid ground once again.  Eric threw the rope back down to Reckless and then introduced her to everyone.

“I’m so grateful to you for getting us out of there,” she said.  “How did you know we were down there?”

Skip pointed at Dash.  “My long-eared friend over here is the one who heard you screaming and alerted us.”

Jaylyn looked at the huge mule.  “Is he friendly?”

Skip said, “Absolutely.”

She walked around to Dash’s head and held out a flat hand to him.  He sniffed it and gently lipped her palm.  Jaylyn stroked his face.  “Thank you for finding us, Dash.  What a good boy you are.”

“He
is
a good boy,” Skip said, untying the rope from around Dash’s saddle horn.  “He was their tree.”

Jaylyn gave him a puzzled look.  “What?”

“Well, we needed as much rope as we could get and he could stand here close to the edge so that less rope had to be used.  Those trees over there are further away and plus, trees can’t pull if you need them to, but Dash can.  He’s actually a draft mule and can pull really heavy loads and stuff like that.  Have you ever seen a draft mule before?  George Washington was the first one to raise donkey—”

Black Fox said, “Justin, I think Jaylyn would like to go see her sister and niece.”

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry,” Skip said.

“It’s ok, Skip,” Jaylyn said, amused by him.  It was good to have something to smile about.

Eric led her over to where Peanut lay by a fire.  A blanket had been folded and placed under her head and she’d been given water.  Jaylyn knelt by her and took her hand.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, looking down at her leg, which had been wrapped in an ACE Bandage.

“Better.  Mike gave me something for pain,” Peanut said.

Jaylyn looked at the handsome man with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.  Although he was tanned, he didn’t look Indian to her.  It wasn’t important at the moment, so she brushed the thought aside.  “How is her leg?  Is it broken?”

Mike smiled.  “No, thank God.  It’s sprained and bruised, but it’ll heal just fine.  In fact, it should feel a lot better in about a week.  It hurt so badly because once the weight was lifted off, all of the blood that hadn’t been able to get to her foot rushed down through her arteries.  It’s a good thing we came along when we did, though, so we could get the blood supply flowing again.”