The desert’s cool night air drifted through the window and feathered Laura’s exposed back, waking her. She curled into Jake’s warmth,
“Cold?” He drew her closer.
“Ummm.” She nodded and rubbed her cheek against his chest.
“We’re lying on top of the blanket,” he said, reminding her of their avid rush to make love.
“I know.”
“Are you sorry?” A hint of worry shaded his tone.
“Sorry? For what, lying on top of the blanket?”
“For what we did ... on top of the blanket.”
“No.” She craned her neck to look at him. “Are you?”
He smiled; and though it was all the answer she needed, he replied anyway, if wickedly. “I’d be happy to play stallion any time and keep you warm by covering you with my body.”
His teasing renewed her desire, and reminded her of something Fancy Frank had said.
“Jake, are you what that dreadful man called you, a two-bit horse rancher?”
“For now, yes,” he answered, obviously not bothered by the question.
“For now? I don’t understand.”
His smile held equal parts shrewdness and loving concern for her.
“For the present, it suits my purposes to let that no-account bunch in town believe I’m nothing more than a flat-busted, down-at-the-heel horse rancher.”
“But you’re not?”
“Well, I’m not exactly rich.” He smiled at her. “But the little money I have I keep in a bank in Virginia City, away from the prying, avaricious eyes of the local crook who calls himself a banker. And, while I’m waiting, I keep tending my small herd of horses, trying to make a go at ranching.”
Laura pushed herself up onto her elbow to look at him. “Waiting for what?”
“For the inferior-grade gold to peter out in those half-assed mines they’re working.” He sneered. “When they leave off drinking long enough to work.”
“But I don’t understand,” she said, her brow wrinkling. “What happens when the gold does run out?”
“Why, honey, those scum-of-the-earth claim jumpers will clear out in search of better pickin’s, and Sage Flats will become the ghost town you said it will.”
“Jake, really.” She rose to a sitting position, just so she could glare down at him. “I don’t care what happens to them, or to that ugly town. I was asking what will happen to you when the gold runs out”
His smile grew blatantly smug. “I’m gonna be a very rich man, because there’s gold in my mine, and it won’t peter out for a good, long time. I’m just waitin’ for them to go before I start mining it.”
Her eyes grew wide. “There really is gold in that hole in the ground I fell into?”
He nodded. “A wide, deep vein of almost pure, high-grade gold. And that mine is on my land.”
“Geez!”
“Yeah. And now I think we should get dressed.” He sat up beside her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry enough to eat one of my own horses.” He grinned, rising from the bed.
As he dressed, Laura felt a grumbling in her stomach. She could eat two horses, she thought as she got up and pulled on her clothes.
* * * *
While she and Jake were clearing away the supper dishes, they discussed Jake’s plans to eventually begin his own mining operations. But Laura couldn’t help remembering that nowhere in her historical guide had there been so much as a passing mention of a rich vein of gold being discovered, let alone mined, anywhere near Sage Flats.
Which suggested that Jake never did get to mine the gold on his land, and the reason was Fancy Frank.
Jake’s life was in danger. He would die before the town did.
“No!” she cried.
“No, what?” Jake asked, turning from the sink to frown at her.
“Er ... No, you don’t have to wash the dishes,” she said, pulling herself together. “I’ll do that. I’m sure you must have some chores to see to outside.”
“Sure,” he said. “But I don’t mind washing up.”
“No, you go on.” She made a shooing motion with her hand while nudging him away from the sink with a sideways swinging of her hips.
When he had finally left, Laura’s mind raced. She frantically searched for a way to prevent Jake’s death. But all she concluded was that panic was not conducive to clear thinking.
And time was of the essence; she felt it in every cell of her body. The very air around her seemed to vibrate with approaching danger.
She longed to go home to the more familiar dangers of the twenty first century. And she wanted to take Jake with her.
Now, she mused, making short shrift of the dishes, all she had to do was figure out a way to get herself and Jake out of there, before danger descended upon them.
* * * *
Just past dawn, Laura came awake to the sound of a taunting call, and the certainty that time had run out for her and Jake.
“Hey, Wilder,” Fancy Frank called from somewhere beyond the side of the house. “Come on out with yer hands up and bring that gal with ya. You’re gonna show me where that mine is or I’m gonna burn ya out.” His laughter rang harsh and nasty on the morning air. “If ya don’t give me no trouble, I might just let ya live to watch me have some fun with yer pretty piece,”
The bedsprings squeaked as Jake rolled off the edge. “Go to hell, Finnegan!” he shouted, stepping into his pants. “Laura, are you awake?”
“Yes,” she answered, scrambling off the bed to stand trembling and uncertain beside him.
“Get dressed and get your things together. I want you ready when I return.”
“Return?” She grabbed his arm, “Where are you going?”
“To get our horses. We won’t escape on foot.” Jake didn’t pause in stuffing his shirt into his pants.
She shuddered, and not just at his words. He was strapping on his gunbelt.
“What are you going to do with that?”
He flashed her a determined look. “Defend us, if I have to. Now get ready, I’m going for the horses.” He strode out of the room. In another second she heard the outside kitchen door open and close.
Laura stood immobile for a moment, frozen with fear for his safety. Then another jeering call came from outside.
“Hey, Wilder, git yer and that gal’s pretty rump movin’, or you’re gonna fry.”
Laura hurriedly got dressed. Slinging the backpack over her shoulder, she grabbed the Peacemaker then ran for the back door. Flinging it open, she ran toward the lean-to and nearly collided with Jake and the horses.
“Are you all right? Think you can ride?” he demanded.
Breathless, she nodded and took her horse’s reins from him.
“Okay,” he said shortly. “Let’s move. We’ve got to ride hard and fast to get the jump on him.”
“I understand,” she said, mounting with his assistance.
At Jake’s signal, she snapped the reins and followed him as they galloped away from the back of the ranch house.
They had not been riding long when Laura turned to glance behind them and saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance. “He’s coming, Jake!” she screamed above the thundering of the horses’ hooves.
Jake didn’t answer, but urged his horse on to even greater speed. Then, to Laura’s amazement, he pulled back on the reins, bringing the animal to a shuddering halt. She followed suit.
“Jake, what—”
“Don’t ask questions.” He dismounted and helped her off her horse. “Run for that pile of brush over there, and take another tumble into that hole in the ground.”
“But…”
“Dammit, woman, we gotta move!” As he barked the order, Jake slapped both horses on their rumps. The animals took off at a gallop, and grabbing Laura’s hand, Jake dashed for the mine entrance. .
They plowed into the brush, and all at once the earth disappeared under Laura’s feet. She dropped several yards into the hole, landing on her backside on the hard ground. Only this time she wasn’t alone in the dark.
“He’ll... find us,” she said, panting for breath. “We must have made a gaping hole in that brush.”
“Maybe not. Maybe he’ll be too busy following the horses to notice.” But even as he spoke, they heard the unmistakable stomping and whinnying of a horse being brought to a halt.
Without thinking, and grasping his hand, Laura drew Jake into the bright shaft of morning sunlight streaming down through the mine opening.
“Laura...”
“Quiet,” she whispered. “He’s coming. Listen, I can hear... Thank God! It’s working,” she cried, watching wide-eyed as crackling blue light radiated from the bracelet. The light swirled out, coiling around their bodies from head to foot.
“What in hell!” Jake said, jolting back.
The light intensified, then as quickly dissipated and disappeared. When it was gone, neither the sound of a horse nor Fancy Frank’s footfalls disturbed the early-morning peace.
And suddenly Laura knew. Shaking, certain, yet afraid she might be wrong, she turned to Jake.
“Can you get us out of here?” she said with barely suppressed excitement.
“Are you crazy, woman?”
“Jake, listen, do you hear anything?”
“No ... but...”
“Frank and the horse are gone,” she said with more conviction than she actually felt. “I’m sure of it. Now, can you get us out of this damned hole?”
“Yes, of course, but...”
“Please, Jake, don’t argue. Just do it.”
Though he looked doubtful, he turned to walk farther into the mine tunnel. He returned moments later carrying a rough-hewn, rickety-looking wooden ladder. “Damn,” he muttered, “this thing looks as old as hell all of a sudden.” He gave her a wry look. “All you had to do before was explore a little.”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was there when you found me?”
“I didn’t know who you were. If I’d told you where the ladder was, you would have known this wasn’t just a hole. I’ll go first,” he said, stepping around her and placing the ladder against the rim of the hole. Then, slowly, cautiously, he climbed the rungs and peered over the edge of the opening. When he turned to gaze down at her, he looked absolutely dumbfounded.
“You were right. Frank and his horse are gone.” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Come on up.”
Anxious but eager, Laura slung her pack over her shoulder and carefully climbed the ladder. The instant she was above ground, she grabbed Jake’s hand and began walking.
“Laura, where are you heading?” Jake asked, bringing her to a halt when he stopped dead. “My house is that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction.
“Come with me. I want to show you something that will blow your mind.”
“Blow my mind?” he muttered, frowning at the unfamiliar expression. Nevertheless, he allowed her to lead the way.
When they arrived at Sage Flats, Jake stared in stunned silence. His head turning from side to side, his eyes wide with wonder and sheer disbelief, he docilely followed as Laura marched through the ghost town and directly to the vehicle parked beyond it.
“And that,” she announced in a voice tremulous from relief, “is the red Cherokee.”
Jake looked at the Jeep, then back at her, then back at the Jeep once more. Finally a slow grin curved his lips.
“Damned if it ain’t.”