King's Ransom (22 page)

"Dear
God!" Jesse moaned, her eyes frantically searching the landscape for signs
of some fire-fighters or a county fire truck or two. But they were nowhere in
sight; there was only a wall of swiftly moving orange flame that was
diminishing its distance from the trapped horses in wide, hungry swaths.

A strong,
maverick gust of wind blew away the clouds of smoke that were slowly
encompassing Jesse and her mount. And for just a moment, she saw hope.

Below and behind
the pond dam lay a narrow corridor of, as yet, unburned pasture. Jesse knew if
she could reach it in time and turn the trapped and milling herd in the proper
direction, their instinct for survival would take them through. With no further
thought, Jesse rode her horse into the thick, burning cloud.

The horses
neighed at her arrival. Their panic matched Jesse's own as she quickly circled
the young horses, turning them to run blindly into the dense smoke. The wind
blew madly down through the draw behind the pond and carried tiny bits of still
burning embers with it, feeding the already bottomless maw of blaze that kept
threatening to swallow Jesse and the horses.

Suddenly, the
young horses saw the break in the fire. They needed no further urging than
Jesse's shout. They erupted as one into the narrowing path and ran in headlong
flight, heads up, manes and tails flowing out behind them like the tails of
kites caught in the whirlwind.

And then they
were through the smoke, the threatening blaze now at their backs, taunting and
teasing with imminent disaster as the strong winds kept blowing the fire across
the prairie. There was nothing left for Jesse to do but outrun it. She bit back
a sob of panic as a strong gust of wind pushed the fire almost beneath her
horse's feet. She felt him jump and surge forward, felt the massive muscles
bunch beneath her as she wrapped the reins around her wrists and leaned almost
full-length across Tariq's powerful neck.

"Okay,
boy," Jesse yelled in his ear. She kicked him sharply. "Take us
home."

The great
stallion leaped forward, his haunches bunched as his hooves dug into the dry,
burning earth. And he ran as he'd never run before. He was running for his
life, and taking Jesse with him.

King knew the
fire had jumped the creek by the direction of the smoke. His stomach roiled and
a pull in the depths of his gut told him what his mind refused to accept. He
was going to be too late to help Jesse. Whatever happened was happening now,
and he was helpless to stop it or aid her in any way. He was too far away. He
hit the steering wheel in frustration with his fist, and pressed the gas pedal
all the way to the floor.

The fire break
was completed. Turner and Charlie had headed back to the ranch when Turner saw
the gathering smoke billowing across the grass land west of the ranch.

"Charlie!
It's jumped Salt Creek," Turner yelled over the tractor's noisy engine.
"We've got to hurry!"

His words were no
sooner said than he saw something else that made fingers of fear crawl down
the neck of his shirt and grab at his heart. The big wooden gate in the pasture
above the barn was wide open, fastened back against the fence to keep it from
blowing shut. The only time they ever did that was when moving livestock.
Turner knew what had happened without a second thought. Jesse had gone after
the horses. He pushed the throttle forward on the big John Deere tractor, and
headed for the ranch, bouncing the raised plow behind him in wild abandon. King
would kill them all if anything happened to that girl.

Turner had no
more than reached the machine shed when he saw the jeep hurtling down the long
driveway. He knew, somehow, that King was already aware of Jesse's danger.

The jeep skidded
sideways, sliding precariously through the loose dirt and gravel, before it
finally came to a halt just in front of the corrals.

King vaulted from
the jeep, and Turner knew by the look on his face that he was almost out of his
mind.

"She's gone,
hasn't she?" King yelled, his voice cracking from smoke and stress.

"Boss, I didn't
even know it until minutes ago when I saw the open gate. Did she go after the
horses?" he asked.

"Hell,
yes," King shouted, and turned around wildly, as if looking for an answer
to his fears. "And I as good as told her to go. If anything happens to her,
it'll be my fault."

His voice broke,
and his dark eyes narrowed in frustration and fear as he watched the huge
clouds of smoke the winds were pushing over the crest of the hill. There was no
hesitation in his movements. He started toward the corral gate with every
intention of taking the jeep into the fire. But the volunteer fire-fighters'
arrival momentarily stopped his progress.

"Looks like
your firebreak might stop this, King," one of the men yelled as he jumped
from the back of a pickup truck and waved a group of men into position, just in
case the fire jumped the wide strip of plowed ground. Then he saw King
McCandless running toward the gate leading into the fields. "Where are you
going, man?" he yelled. "Don't be foolish. That firebreak will hold."

"Jesse,"
he yelled hoarsely, pointing toward the now visible flames behind the blowing
smoke. "She's in there . . . somewhere. I'm going to get her."

Word spread
through the crowd of men like the wild fire itself. A woman was trapped in
there. They each watched in mounting horror at the wall of smoke that came
rolling down the hill toward the barns. There was no way on earth that she'd
live through that.

Suddenly, a sound
came riding on the wind, stopping each and every man in his tracks. All eyes
turned toward the hillside.

"Boss!"
Turner called out, and pointed wildly in the direction of the fire. "Open
the corral gates. She's bringin' em' in."

The wild thunder
of horses' hooves and the occasional fear-laden whinny could be heard, along
with the crackle and roar of the prairie fire. Then they burst through the
smoke, running on the hands of the wind, toward the gleaming white walls of the
barn and safety.

"There she
comes! By God, there she comes!" he heard Turner shout, and King felt the
bones in his legs turn to jelly. Fear for Jesse's safety expanded as he watched
her tiny figure plastered to the back of his stallion.

The horses were
crazed by the fire and the wild race against time. He knew it would take more
than a miracle to stop the stampeding herd. He shook off his terror, his eyes
fixed on Jesse and his horse. King pushed open the gates to the corral and then
began to run.

Jesse didn't even
know when they finally cleared the wall cloud of burning prairie and began the
descent toward the ranch. Her arms and hands were nearly numb just from trying
to stay mounted. So much smoke and ashes had blown into her eyes that they were
pouring tears. She could only see through a watery veil, and heard the wild
cheers of the men congregated at the edge of the plowed strip of ground before
she saw them. When she did, her heart skipped a beat. She bit her lower lip to
keep from screaming.

We made it!
She could see the
wall of white below, and the gate to the corral being pushed open to receive the
thundering herd. Then, as quickly as her elation had soared, it now gave way to
total terror. She'd made it out of the fire, but she knew she'd never be able
to stop Tariq. A tiny moan slipped through her tightly clinched lips. She
almost lost her seat as her concentration slipped.

King saw her
falter, and terror such as he'd never known gave strength to his arms and legs.

The herd of
horses had swerved toward the opening in the corral as surely as they'd run
through the opening in the fire. But Tariq ran on, heading for the rails of the
fence in wild abandon. He was going to jump . . . and when he did Jesse would
be lost. King stood his ground and met the fear-crazed stallion head on.

King heard the
pounding hooves coming nearer and nearer, heard the harsh, panting gasps of
Tariq's tortured lungs, saw the horse's wild, red-rimmed eyes roll frantically
at the man standing in his flight path. Just as the horse came thundering down
upon him, just before he would go under the powerful hooves, King reached out,
grabbed the side of Tariq's bridle, curled his fingers around the metal
attached to the bit in the horse's mouth and hung on for Jesse . . . and dear
life.

Jesse only saw
the top of his head, and then it looked as if he'd gone under Tariq's hooves.
He disappeared from view. Jesse screamed, trying with all her waning strength
to pull back on the reins wrapped tightly around her wrists.

The horse tried
to rear, pawing wildly at the air with his front legs, but there was an
unfamiliar weight tugging at his tender mouth and his struggle was unsuccessful.
He fought and jumped, trying to dislodge the weight from his mouth and neck,
but it was too much effort. Exhaustion finally took hold as he side-stepped
across the plowed stretch of field and ran full tilt into the outstretched
hands of the fire-fighters. He stood, head down, foam-flecked and singed, and
began to shake, his tired muscles reacting violently to the sudden stop.

Jesse slumped
over the saddle horn, and would have fallen onto the plowed ground had strong
arms not reached out to catch her. She felt the tight strips of leather being
gently unwound from her wrists. Her hands tingled and then began to ache as
circulation began to flow.

The men were
cheering and laughing, relieved at the happy ending to what had seemed certain
disaster. Jesse's wild ride and bravery were nearly overshadowed by the
life-threatening sacrifice King had made. They'd all witnessed him catch a
stampeding stallion with his bare hands and pull him to a halt with sheer strength.

King couldn't
think past the fact that he and Jesse were still alive. He held her cradled in
his arms as if she were made of glass, and began to walk through the dry clods
toward the barn. The fire would soon be out. The firebreak had stopped it. The
horses were safe, milling about in a tight circle inside the corral as they
calmed down.

Turner led the
big white stallion past King, as he walked on, silently carrying his precious
burden. Turner looked quickly away, ignoring the tears running down the big man's
face, plowing little clean tracks through the dust and ashes coating his skin.

"Boss,"
he called back, without turning around to see if King was listening. "I'll
tend to clean-up around here. You take her on to the house. See you
tomorrow."

King heard, but
could not acknowledge, the extent of his old foreman's thoughtfulness. He only
knew he was never going to let Jesse out of his sight again.

Jesse felt his
heartbeat, wild and erratic beneath her cheek, felt him shudder and then gather
her closer. She sighed with relief and weariness, then closed her burning
eyes. King was taking her home.

ELEVEN

The house was
quiet—a cool, clean haven from the world outside that had nearly gone up in
flames. Silence lengthened between King and Jesse until she could stand it no
longer.

"King,"
she began, as he carried her through the living quarters toward the bedrooms.
"I can walk, I think. Why don't
..."

"No,"
he muttered, kicking open the door to his bedroom. "I may never put you
down, Jesse Rose. I
know
I'm never letting
you out of my sight again." His voice broke as he sank down on the bed and
propped Jesse across his lap.

"King,"
she whispered, slowly sliding her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I
didn't intend for this to happen." She leaned her face into the curve of
his neck and kissed a muscle twitching uncontrollably in his jaw. "I
thought you were
...
I thought you
fell under
..."

Tears of relief
kept threatening to erupt, but she couldn't cry. The tears were frozen in the
horror of the last few minutes when she'd imagined King dead.

"Hush,"
he whispered, and pulled her across his lap, dangling her legs on either side
until she was facing him.

He cupped her
face in his hands, leaned forward, and pulled Jesse toward him. Not an inch of
her face escaped the branding touch of his lips as he lay claim to the woman
he'd so nearly lost.

Jesse's heart
soared. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. Instead, she pulled him closer
and captured his next kiss with desperation. Every taste, every pull of his lips
against her skin sent pinpoints of heat shooting to the center of her being.
She felt King thread his fingers through her hair as he, once more, captured
her lips. It wasn't enough and he clasped her roughly under her arms and pulled
her closer, moaning in response to her mouth that was opening slowly beneath
his touch.