Chase the Wind (41 page)

“Tomorrow you shall begin your journey with the horses that I
have been keeping for you,” Gray Horse said. “Tonight you will be
our guests.” Jamie felt immense relief at Gray Horse’s announce
ment. Tomorrow they would be under way. With good horses,
they should be able to catch up with the wagon that was carrying
Jenny in just a few weeks. He stood, following the lead of the others, and when he saw they were all wandering off, he turned towards the west where the last rays of the sun were showing on
the horizon.

“There’s a lot of country out there,” Chase said as he stepped up
next to him.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, we’re going to find her.”

“We are?”

“Yes. That’s what the spirits told us. You found her, and I found her.”

“You did?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Was I there?”

Chase puzzled over the question. “No, not when I saw her. I was following you, and then you were just gone.”

Jamie wrapped his arms around himself as he looked off towards the west. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Jamie, don’t worry about it. We both found her. We just found her in different ways, that’s all. You’re not supposed to take these things so seriously.”

“I’m sorry, Chase. It’s my first vision. I didn’t know what to expect.” Jamie stalked away.

Chase was shocked by his friend’s vehemence, and decided to give him some time to work it out. After all, Jamie did not have much experience with Indian ways.

The next morning Gray Horse presented Jamie with two saddled horses. Jamie knew them, and as he began to whistle, they turned towards him, their ears pricked forward in recognition. There was a tall black with white stockings and a white blaze that he had ridden many times, so he chose that one, leaving Chase the buckskin. He didn’t want to know where the saddles had come from, he was just happy to have them, along with the food Gray Horse had packed for them.

Gray Horse promised to continue to care for the remaining stock until Jamie could come back, and wished them well on their journey.

“There’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Jamie said as he mounted. “Do you ever see Storm?”

“Your father’s horse?” Gray Horse asked. Jamie nodded. “He is out there, running wild. He steals the mares, but we will take their foals when they are ready. No one can get close to him.”

“Perhaps I’ll give it a try, after I find Jenny.”

“It should be you. You are like your father.”

Jamie flashed his grin, then shoved his hair back before putting his hat on. He and Chase rode out of the village and headed west.

Part Three

Wyoming Territory

1860

Chapter Nineteen

“Don’t know what they’re so happy about,” Jamie grumbled and
tossed his chin towards the whooping cowboys on the other side
of the herd. Chase’s dark eyes peered through the dust kicked up by the cattle and watched as one of the hands chased down a steer that had wandered off. “They act like finding one stray is equal to
rescuing the entire herd.”

Chase shook his head at his friend’s complaints. As soon as they
got the herd in, the two of them would have to head back out again
to do the job that had been theirs since they had arrived at the
Lynch ranch three years earlier. Chase was one of the best trackers
around and could find most of the hiding places the other cowboys
missed. The only time his tracking skills had failed him in the years
since they’d left the orphanage had been during the search for
Jenny. Her trail had ended in the mountains west of Denver that autumn after she disappeared, and there had been no sign of her
since.

Chase and Jamie had wandered back to St. Jo after wintering
with the Kiowa. No one had seen her. They were heading west
again when they had come across Cat Lynch and rescued her from
a stagecoach robbery. She had suggested that they come to the
Lynch ranch in the southeastern corner of Wyoming. They had told her about Jenny, and she’d assured them that her father could help.

Jason Lynch and his daughter Cat were waiting on a knoll for Jamie and Chase to catch up with them. They could see Cat scanning the riders, looking for Ty. The judge had hired Tyler Kincaid the spring after Jamie and Chase had arrived, and Cat had been head over heels for him since day one. Ty had left his home in North Carolina and gone west after a nearly fatal fight with his older brother; the strife that was threatening to tear the nation apart had already worked its poison in his family, setting brother against brother. The judge had known his grandfather in law school and had taken the soft-spoken, well-educated young man in. Ty had quickly shown his worth, pulling his weight, not giving anyone a chance to accuse him of being soft from the affluent childhood he had known. Cat had taken one look at his sandy brown hair, serious blue eyes and long, lean frame and decided that he was the man for her; she just had to convince Ty of it.

Cat was used to getting what she wanted, although she was not the spoiled brat she was reputed to be. She was the only daughter of a man who had married late in life, more to carry on his name than for love. Jason Lynch had loved once, but the girl had disappeared from his life without a trace, much the same way Jenny had from Jamie’s, which made Jason feel a special bond with Jamie that he did not share with the rest of the so-called orphans he took in and put to work. When he had heard the story of Jenny’s disappearance and the fruitless search for her, he had hired detectives to track her down, and put up fliers with her likeness in every town between Denver and St. Jo, but there had been no news. They had found no trace of her. Jamie didn’t mention her much anymore, but he still felt a constant ache, like a wound that would not heal. Chase talked of her at times, and Jamie knew he dreamed of her; he heard his friend say her name in his sleep sometimes. Jamie never dreamed of Jenny, but he still had terrifying nightmares about being on fire, and kept his distance from flames of any sort.

Jamie and Chase urged their horses up the knoll to where Jason and Cat waited. “Did you get them all?” the judge asked. He was tall and slim for a man over sixty; his face was lined and bronzed, his full head of hair more silver than the golden brown it had been. His blue eyes were still sharp and missed nothing, much to Cat’s
dismay. He had encouraged her many times to be patient where Ty was concerned, but she was more inclined to charge in, full
speed ahead.

“I’m sure you’ll let us know,” Jamie said, flashing his grin. He
took his hat off and shoved back the mass of hair that fell over his
eyes, then wiped some of the dust away with his bandanna.

“I’m not worried. Chase will find them no matter where they
are,” Jason said. Cat was moving restlessly in her saddle, still scan
ning the herd and the riders around it.

“He’s riding drag,” Chase said, and she took off towards the back
of the herd.

Jason opened his mouth to stop her but thought better of it and let her go. “If she wants him bad enough to eat dust all the way
home, then I’ll let her get a taste of it,” he said.

Chase and Jamie grinned. The romance between Cat and Ty had
provided a lot of entertainment for the hands on the Lynch ranch, and this latest episode would provide more fuel for the teasing the
group heaped upon Ty when Cat was not around. They heard a whoop from the other side of the herd and saw Zane waving his hat in the air at Cat’s fading figure. Zane would be sure to bring
up the fact that Cat had ridden drag with Ty, and his cheeky com
ments would keep them laughing through the evening.

Zane was a charmer who loved hard work but constantly complained about doing it, usually making whatever woman who hap
pened to be around feel sorry for him. He had a wide grin, hazel
eyes, straight light brown hair and a way with women that amazed those around him. He was constantly finding willing companions,
sometimes in the most obscure places, and his sexual exploits were
a legend among the female residents of Fort Laramie. Cat and
Grace, who cooked for the hands, had proven themselves immune
to his charm, and he treated them with the respect due to a sister
or aunt.

Jake was riding behind Zane and looked up to see what the noise
was about. Jake was the most dangerous one of the group, he was
deadly with the two guns he wore on his hips. He was quiet and
brooding, but also sensitive and caring with those he felt close to. He was slowly opening up to the men who lived and worked with him, but there were times when something would come over him,
and then they knew to leave him alone. He had finally told them
about the repeated beatings his father had given him and his mother, which explained a lot. His reputation with his guns had become a problem for him. Gunslingers were always wanting to prove they were faster than Jake, but so far no one had been. He had pale blond hair that he wore long, like Chase’s, and light blue eyes that could turn to ice with a blink. He considered the group that lived at the Lynch ranch to be his family now and would defend any one of them to the death.

The rider at point was Caleb. Caleb was the quiet one, always listening intently to the goings-on around him. Caleb was devoted to his fellow hands and supported them all; he also had an amazing talent for drawing. He had drawn the likeness of Jenny from Jamie’s description, and her brother was amazed at how true to her it was, even though Caleb had never seen her. He would sit and sketch people as they talked and worked. Many times Jason had told him he was wasting his talent working the ranch, but Caleb swore he didn’t want to be anywhere else.

The ranch was over the next rise, and Grace would have supper ready for them. Jason would count the herd, and the next day Jamie and Chase would go for the stragglers while the rest worked the stock, branding the calves, cutting out the ones that would go to market after growing fat on the summer grass. Tonight, however, they would rest and talk and eat, and maybe Jamie would not wonder about Jenny and where she was and what she was doing. And later, when everyone was asleep, he would sneak into Grace’s cabin and lie in her arms after they had exhausted themselves making love.

Grace took the pan of biscuits out of the oven at the same time that the herd came over the long ridge to the north. She heard the whooping and hollering as the hands urged the cattle on into the huge pen beside one of the many outbuildings that made up the Lynch spread. She walked out onto the porch of the small cabin that served as the dining hall and her home, placing a hand over her eyes to shield herself from the sun that hung low in the sky. Her brown eyes scanned the multitude of cows, horses and riders rolling down the hill and spotted a flash of copper in the dust surrounding them. She smiled to herself, looking forward to the night ahead and the secret romance she was having with young James Duncan.

Grace had been born onto a rich plantation on the banks of the
Mississippi thirty-odd years before. Her grandfather had been alive
and had ruled the place with an iron hand, doling out a small
allowance to his irresponsible son, Grace’s father. Her mother had died in childbirth, and her father had brought her to the plantation
to be raised by his own nanny. When her grandfather had died,
her father had quickly gambled away his inheritance, leaving the
plantation and all his other properties to be auctioned off to pay his debts. Grace and her father had wound up on the street. He had taken to the riverboats, dragging his teenage daughter along.
Grace quickly learned the card games he played, helping her father
cheat others to support themselves.

Her father had lost his life over a card game, leaving Grace to
pick up the deck and make her own way, using her natural beauty and feminine wiles to win whenever possible, and cheating when
necessary. She had done well—well enough to begin saving money
to buy her own place. She had known that her beauty would soon fade and she would need another way to live. Then she had met a gambler, an attractive man whose background was similar to hers
and who had fallen on hard times for the same reasons. She had thought herself in love with the man, but soon found that he had
a violent temper when crossed. She had tried to leave him, but he’d
found her and left her beaten and scarred for life. He had slashed
both of her high, classic cheekbones with his knife, leaving scars
that marred her smooth skin from her temples to the comers of
her mouth. He’d also taken her savings and disappeared into Texas,
leaving Grace alone and unable to support herself.

Jason Lynch had found Grace on a visit to New Orleans, working
as a maid in the hotel where he was staying. He looked beyond the scars, saw the educated, refined lady and brought her to Wy
oming to take care of his hands. He found her to be an interesting
opponent in chess and enjoyed her talent for cards and conversa
tion. For her part, Grace was grateful that he required nothing more
of her. She knew her choices were few, and some men would not let her scars keep them from enjoying her womanly attributes. She
was still a beautiful woman, her features elegant, her dark brown
hair abundantly curly and bright, but the scars were there, and she was always conscious of them, until Jamie showed up.