Dylan was sitting atop a small hill watching the wild herd they had gathered. He and Monty had worked hard this morning driving them out of the brush and thickets. They hadn’t taken just any horse that came along. Dylan was particular about the ones he would drive to his ranch. In time he wanted to raise only Morgans. They were the best of horseflesh, in his opinion. But until he could afford to buy some breeding stock, these wild mustangs would have to do. Once they were saddle broken, they made good cow ponies.
His mind drifted back to the night before and Rachel’s surprising comment about John Jacob. Whatever Andrews’s feelings for her might be, it seemed Rachel had no romantic interest in him. Good, Dylan thought, that leaves a clear field for me. He would have spoken of his feelings last night if Spencer hadn’t bushwhacked them. Well, maybe he’d get a chance today.
He glanced up at the sun, which was almost directly overhead. Just about noon. He’d better get a move on. Swinging onto the stallion’s back, he yelled to Monty, “I’m calling it quits for the day. I’m riding down to the post to meet Rachel.”
“You’re gonna take her up to see Granny Hawkins, right?” Monty said. “I’ll come along, too, just to be sure Spencer doesn’t cause any trouble.”
When Dylan and Monty walked into the post, Rachel invited them to have some lunch while she saddled Goldie. In the kitchen, the cook had a big steak and fried potatoes waiting for them. When they had settled themselves at the table, Dylan looked at Andy and asked, “Is John Jacob around this morning?”
“No,” Andy answered. “He’s getting supplies in Jackson Hole.”
“Do you have a paper and pencil, then?”
Without answering, Andy pulled a tattered tablet of paper from a kitchen drawer.
“Thanks,” Dylan muttered as he picked up the stub of pencil accompanying the paper, whose corners were curled from age. When he had finished writing and folded the paper, he handed it to Andy.
“I want you to give this note to John Jacob and no one else. Do you understand? It’s important he get it.”
When Andy saw the seriousness on Dylan’s face, he nodded. “Trust me, Dylan,” he said gravely. “No one but he will lay eyes on it.” He gave a short laugh. “As you know, I’m not much of a reader.”
When Andy’s face looked as if it might split from curiosity, Dylan explained, “Monty and I are taking Rachel up the mountain to see Granny Hawkins. Last night someone took a potshot at the two of us. We’re pretty sure it was that mountain man Web Spencer. I want John Jacob to know it’s important that there’s a man around here to protect Rachel in case Spencer comes around the post looking for her.”
“I guess I could protect her if the occasion arose,” Andy said, a hurt tone in his voice.
“I know you would try your best, Andy,” Dylan placated, “but this man I’m concerned about is a sneaky devil. I hope if the time comes, I can shoot him dead.”
“You can do it, Dylan. You’re the best gun-hand in these parts.”
“Thank you, Andy.” Dylan smiled at the grave-faced cook. “But this man doesn’t face his adversaries. He’s the type to hide behind a tree and shoot a fellow in the back.”
Andy shivered. “Do you think he wants to shoot Rachel? It would kill John Jacob if anything happened to her.”
“That’s why Monty and I are going up the mountain with her. I think the man has worse things in mind for her.”
A string of oaths escaped Andy’s mouth when he realized what Dylan was hinting at. “If you know who he is, Dylan, let’s go get the bastard. Shoot him in the back if necessary.”
“No. Then we’d be no better than he is. We’ve got to catch him in the act to get proof. Then he’ll stand trial and hang for his crime.”
As Andy nodded his head in satisfaction, Dylan and Monty rose from the table. “Looks like Rachel’s got Goldie ready. You can tell John Jacob we’ll be back before dark.”
A couple of old coon hounds announced the small party’s arrival. When Jassy threatened to kick them off the mountain, the dogs quieted down and approached the three riders, their ropy tails swishing back and forth.
Granny sat in the shadows of the porch, rocking in an old bent wood chair. She stood and walked to the edge of the porch. “Rachel, honey, I’m glad to see you. What are you doing up here with these two handsome devils?”
“Oh, Granny,” Rachel laughed. “They just came along for the ride. There was a speck of trouble at the church picnic yesterday, and now Dylan insists that it’s not safe for me to ride up here alone.”
Rachel went on to tell Granny about her plan to become an herbalist, and the old woman invited them all in to her homey little cabin. When Granny had finished answering Rachel’s questions, she turned to Dylan.
“If you’re not worn out from workin’ cattle all day, I’d like for you to take a little walk with me.”
“Now, Granny, you know I’m never too tired to take a walk with a pretty woman.” He smiled down at her and took her thin arm to help her over the ruts and rocks as they went outside.
“I didn’t ask you that, you smooth-talkin’ galoot,” she said, giving Dylan a toothless smile.
Dylan patted the thin, work-worn hand that lay on his arm. “What is your problem, Granny?” he asked soberly.
The old woman sighed. “It’s about Jassy,” she said in a low voice.
“Jassy?” He gave Granny a sharp look. “I can’t imagine that child giving you trouble.”
“Oh, no, Dylan. The girl has never given me a speck of trouble.” Granny said no more for a while, and Dylan waited patiently for her to explain.
“It’s the mountain men, Dylan. Now that she’s turned sixteen, they’re all sniffing after her, and that innocent child doesn’t even know it. But I know what they’re up to. I know their kind. I never let Jassy go huntin’ ginseng alone anymore. A couple times I saw a man sneakin’ along behind her in the woods. I’ve been walkin’ her to school in the morning and bringin’ her home in the afternoon. But now that school is out for the summer, I can’t keep an eye on her every minute of the day and I just can’t keep her locked up in that cabin with me all the time.”
“No, that’s not fair to a young girl like her.”
“I know that, Dylan, but I can’t stand to see one of those no-account men get her. Most of the mountain men have no ambition, and their wives live in constant drudgery. They and their children live in gnawing poverty all their lives.”
They turned around and started back toward the old cabin. When it came in sight, Dylan said, “Why don’t you send her down to spend a few weeks with Rachel? It’ll do Jassy good to see how folks in the valley live, and I’m sure John Jacob wouldn’t object. By the time school starts again, maybe her cousin will have showed her a thing or two about how to keep an unwanted man at a distance. Rachel sure knows how to do that,” he said ruefully.
Granny was silent for a second, then said, “I think it’s a fine idea. I can’t do much to help Jassy in that regard.”
Dylan looked at Granny and teased, “I bet there is still plenty of strength in those skinny arms.”
“You’d be right if I had to protect my Jassy. I’ve always regretted that I left Ruthie alone in the house when I went into the woods to dig roots.”
A ragged sigh escaped Granny as she thought of her younger daughter. “That’s when that no-account Rafe Robins came along and raped my little Ruthie. I never wanted her to marry a mountain man, but it’s the law up here. Once a girl has been used by a man, she has to marry him, or be considered a fallen woman the rest of her life.
“Ruthie tried her best to be a good wife, keeping his shack clean and cooking him good meals, but it was no use. That Rafe, may he rot in hell, didn’t appreciate it. He beat her every day.”
“She was Jassy’s mother?” Dylan asked.
“Her grandma,” the old lady sighed. “Her ma was Pansy, the only one of Ruthie’s younguns to survive.”
“I’m so sorry, Granny,” Dylan said, hugging her narrow shoulders. “We’ll make sure Jassy has a very different life. I’m going to be keeping a close eye on Rachel anyway. I promise I won’t let anything happen to either of the girls.”
There were tears of gratitude in the old woman’s eyes. “Thank you, Dylan. You’ve put this old heart at ease. How can I ever repay you?”
“Well, I know one thing you can do,” he said with a grin. “Give me some seeds so I can get a little garden started down at the Bar X.”
“A garden?” Granny asked. “What does a bachelor like you need a garden for, and when would you ever have time to tend it?”
“Well, I’m hoping to have a woman around the place before too much longer,” Dylan admitted sheepishly.
“So that’s the way of it,” Granny cackled. “You’ve got your work cut out for you if you’ve got in mind the girl I think you do.”
“Jassy might as well go back to the post with us now,” Dylan said, hoping to change the subject. “That way we won’t have to make an extra trip. Also,” he added, “there’s going to be a dance at the schoolhouse next Saturday. Jassy will enjoy that, I think.”
“That’s a great thought,” Granny said, “but the child has no fancy clothes for something like that. Besides, she don’t know how to dance.”
Dylan laughed good humoredly. “There’s nothing to dancing, Granny. It’s just hopping and jumping to music. As for clothes, Rachel has enough to dress both of them for a year.”
“Jassy will be so proud, wearing a fancy dress,” Granny said. “It will be the first one she ever wore.”
When Dylan and the old lady returned from their walk, they found Monty, Rachel and Jassy sitting on the porch, sipping tea.
“You were gone a long time,” Jassy complained. “You must have had a lot to talk about.”
“Well, Miss Smarty, we did,” Granny said.
“Do I get to know what you gabbed about?”
“Maybe. If you bring us a glass of that sassafras tea you made for the others.”
Jassy was on her little bare feet and almost out of sight before Granny Hawkins got the words out of her mouth.
“That girl does love her ’sas tea,” the old lady laughed.
It was but a moment before the screen door slammed, announcing Jassy’s return. She shoved a cool glass of tea in Dylan’s hand, then sat down on the porch step beside him. She barely waited for him to take a swallow of the tasty herbal tea before asking eagerly, “What do you think? Is it worth telling me what you and Granny was talkin’ about?”
Dylan smacked his lips a couple of times, then, looking at Rachel, said, “I’m not sure. What do you think, Rachel? Maybe it could use a little more sugar.”
Jassy knew he was teasing by the twinkle in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and threatened, “I’ll break your thumb if you don’t tell me.”
“Go ahead and tell her, Dylan,” Monty said from his seat on the porch. “Tell her it’s not fit to drink.”
“It is too, you dunderhead,” Jassy screeched, and her slender little feet were off the porch as she flung herself at Monty.
“Ouch!” he yelled when she filled her fingers with his hair. “I take it back!” he yelled. “It’s the best damn tea I ever drank.
“You’re sure?” She gripped his hair a little harder.
“I swear it’s the truth.”
Dylan was laughing so hard he could hardly catch his breath. Jassy had Monty on his belly, her skinny legs straddling him. She looked like a little tree frog clinging to him.
She crawled off him, demanding, “Well, am I going to be privy to your secret, Dylan?”
“Tell her, Dylan, before she kills me.”
Dylan was tempted to laugh at his friend, but Monty’s face wore a strange look, a cross between fascination and bewilderment. And he was uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the day.
Jassy was over the moon when Granny told her she would be spending a few weeks with her cousin. In no time she had gathered together her meager belongings and saddled her little mare Polly for the ride down the mountain.
As they were nearing the post, Rachel turned to Dylan. “Would you like to see the cabin John Jacob is building for me?” she asked shyly. “The men have only been working on it a week or so, but you’d be surprised how fast its coming along.”
“I’d like that,” Dylan said as Monty led Jassy off to the post stable.
“I’m glad you’re gonna have your own place,” he added. “Tongues like to wag here on the river. The women will stop debating over whether you’re sleeping with John Jacob now.”
“Interfering busybodies,” Rachel said sharply. “My relationship with John Jacob is nobody’s business but my own.”
“Not even mine?” Dylan asked quietly. “Would you say yes if he asked you to marry him?”
“John Jacob?” she laughed. “No, I certainly would not. I was forced to marry once, and I’m going to take my time before I marry again and have a houseful of children. I don’t want to die young from childbearing and hard work.”
“If you marry a man who loves you, none of that would happen,” Dylan said, wishing he had the nerve to speak to her more directly. What was it about this girl that always tied his tongue in a knot?
“Hah!” Rachel snorted. “I’m sure half the women on the mountain were told a pretty tale of how wonderfully they would be treated. They received their first beating on their wedding night.”
“I know that’s true of many mountain men, but if you marry a rancher, you’ll find they are more civilized,” Dylan said, trying to smooth the way for his declaration.
“I’m not taking a chance for a long time,” Rachel said stubbornly as they dismounted. “John Jacob is supplying me a home and I can dig roots and such, so I’ll do fine making a living for myself.” And you’re the only man I want for a husband, she added silently.
“Yes.” Dylan nodded. “You’re luckier than most. But I wonder if you’ll really be safe living here all alone, especially with Web Spencer on the loose.”
Rachel whipped the Colt out of her pocket so fast Dylan stopped in his tracks. “I never go anywhere without this now,” she said. “John Jacob told me to keep it after last night. He said not to hesitate a minute to use it if Spencer threatens me.”
“He told you right. That is, if you have time to pull it out of your pocket. Just don’t ever leave the house without it. In fact, sleep with it under your pillow at night. Then even if I’m not with you, honey”—he grinned—“I’ll know you’re safe.”
Rachel took Dylan through the shell of the cabin, pointing out which space would be the kitchen, where the fireplace would be and the location of the two bedrooms.
“It’s a good-sized place for one little ole female,” Dylan joked when they left the half-finished building. “You’re going to be lost in it.”
“I’m sure she’ll have plenty of company there,” came Jenny Quade’s voice from behind them.
Rachel’s face grew tight with anger. “Every time I turn around, I find you behind me. Why are you following me?”
“I ain’t followin’ you. I just happen to be in the same place as you are sometimes.”
“It never happened before, and I want it stopped. I don’t trust you. I know you’re up to something.”
“Yo’re tetched in the head,” Jenny muttered and took off up the mountain.
“Do you believe what you said?” Dylan asked as they resumed walking toward the post, leading Devil and Goldie behind them.
“Yes, I meant every word of it. Ever since Jenny learned to walk and talk she has been a troublemaker. It took the mountain people a while to realize that half of what she says are lies intended to cause somebody grief. A lot of women have been badly beaten by their husbands because of the lies Jenny told them.
“I know that she’s hatching up some kind of trouble for me. I gave her a beating last week that she won’t ever forget or forgive.”
Dylan agreed. “She strikes me as the type who would carry a grudge to the grave. Honey, for a pretty little thing you sure have made a passel of enemies around here. When your cabin is finished and you move into it, I want you to take my dog Shadow with you. He’d let you know in a minute if someone was sneaking around the place.”
“I appreciate that, Dylan,” Rachel said, blushing, “but won’t he miss you?”
Dylan grinned. “We’ll just have to make sure I’m around too much for that to happen.”
They had reached the post, and Rachel turned to look up at him as she stood before the porch rail where she’d tied Goldie. “I want to go out hunting ginseng tomorrow. Jassy says she knows where a big patch is growing. Will you have time to come along?”
“I will if you wait for the afternoon. Why don’t we meet where the trail to the Bar X turns off the river road?” he suggested.
“We’ll be there at three.” She was about to step up on the porch when he turned her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers. One hard kiss and he was swinging himself up on Devil and galloping off down the trail.
Rachel felt a warm glow as she stepped into the post. Andy had started a fire in the fireplace and lit the six wall lamps in the big room. Jassy and Rosie and the girls were sitting at a table with little Benny and Colby, at a table eating their supper. Even Iva was there, and it was rare to see her out of bed these days. The middle-aged piano player sat at the badly out-of-tune keyboard, managing to coax a soft melody from it.
A happy sigh escaped Rachel. There had never been enough light in the old shack where she grew up. There was only one coal-oil lamp affixed to the wall in the kitchen, and its wick was always turned down so low it was hardly worth lighting it. There was no lamp in the bedroom and none in the main room. Only candles and the light from the fireplace.
And there were never delicious aromas coming from the kitchen like there always were from John Jacob’s kitchen. Andy, the cook, mixed up dishes the likes of which she had never tasted before.
In her bedroom she found that someone had lit the lamp there, too. Her gaze went to the feather bed in the corner and lingered a minute, admiring the colorful quilt spread over it. Her mother would have loved it so. For one who had appreciated beauty so, her poor little mother hadn’t seen a great deal of it.
Rachel walked to the sturdy dresser opposite the bed and pulled out the middle drawer. She rubbed her hands over the neatly folded underclothing and nightgowns lying there. When she had removed what she would put on the next morning, she closed the drawer and opened the one over it. She lifted from it a pretty blouse and a pair of denims. Heavy socks joined the other clothes. She put everything on a chair, a satisfied smile curving her lips. She could hardly wait to go hunting ginseng tomorrow.