Chapter 2

“Colt!”

Colt inwardly groaned at the voice of Sherman coming toward his office. He was knee deep in books and lists; the last thing he needed was Sherman sending him on some silly errand.

Be respectful, Colt. You need to keep this job.

“Colt, I need you to do something for me,” Sherman appeared in the doorway.

Colt plastered a completely sarcastic but passably genuine smile on his face. “Sure thing.”

Of all the cowboys around that Sherman claimed he didn’t need, one would think that he could find one of them to do things for him.

“I need you to ride out to that west side of the south pasture. The fence is broken over there and if one of our Herefords gets over there into Abe Jonas’ land, there’ll be trouble,” Sherman told him.

Colt nodded, closing one of the books in front of him. “Sure. I can get to these when I get back,” he said.

Sherman nodded and left. Colt gritted his teeth and slammed his hat on his head. It wasn’t good for a man to be ordered around like a dog. Part of him wanted to punch the man in the face, but the other, stronger part of him knew that he needed his job now more than ever.

He left the bunkhouse and went to the barn to gather the tools he would need and his horse.

Colt twisted the wire tight around the nail with the pliers in his hands and then hammered it to the fencepost. After tugging on the wire to test its stability, he was satisfied with the job he’d done. He walked back to his horse and shoved the tools into his saddlebag.

“Ready to get back to the ranch, ol’ boy?” he asked his horse, rubbing the animal’s neck.

He put his foot in the stirrup and mounted. It was a pretty day, but he wouldn’t want to be out here for long. The heat was beginning to return for today, causing little beads of sweat to form on his forehead. Colt looked up to see a rider out a little ways in the distance, and immediately recognized the way the rider sat in the saddle.

With a little clicking sound, he got Hidalgo moving at a fast walk. He rode up to the rider and moved to ride beside him.

“You get the fences checked, Doc?” he asked.

The man nodded. “I was just about to check this last stretch, but it looks like you beat me to it.”

Colt sighed. “Yeah, Sherman sent be out to fix it. I told him you were out checking fences a few days ago, but I guess he forgot.”

“Pshh,” Doc Dawson shook his head. “I doubt that. The man works you like a dog. I’m just waiting for you to get your fill of it.”

“Well, I need this job. Especially with Granny with me,” Colt said.

Doc looked over at Colt. “How’s she making out?”

Colt shrugged. “This morning she had it in her head to go gold mining.”

Doc leaned his head back and laughed. “Gold mining? I hope you talked her out of it.”

Colt chuckled along with him and nodded. “I managed it somehow. She ain’t about to let it go, though. I’m beginning to see how Ma and Pop couldn’t handle her anymore.”

“She seems to listen to you, though,” Doc said.

Clint looked over at him. Doc was about a year older than he was, but they had become friends over the past few years after Doc was hired. Colt knew he could trust the man with his troubles with his grandmother.

“Just wait until the new wears off. She’ll get something else in her head and want to go off doing that,” Colt said.

“Why can’t she take up knitting like a normal old woman?” Doc asked with a smile.

Colt shrugged. He happened to look to the side when something caught his eye. Something deep blue contrasted with the brown dirt out in the distance. He tapped on Doc’s arm and pointed toward it.

“What do you reckon that is?” Doc asked.

Colt shrugged. “Let’s go see.”

*****

Jessie tried to open her eyes against the sun shining directly over her. Her arm still protected her eyes from most of the light, but not nearly enough to let her eyes open fully. She needed to find shade. Her lips were cracking and her throat was dry and scratchy. She couldn’t remember the last time she had water.

How had she gotten out here? Where was she?

She tried to sit up, but pain seared through her head like someone was pounding a nail into her skull. She groaned and lay back down on her back.

She tried hard to think. Where was she? How did she end up here? Why couldn’t she remember anything? Her left leg pained her nearly as much as her head did, and she knew that she couldn’t walk on it.

“Please send help, Lord. Please” She begged aloud.

Where was her family? Why weren’t they with her?

Suddenly, she heard the sound of approaching hoof beats. Was someone coming?

“It’s a woman, Dawson!” a man’s voice said.

It sounded as if he were yelling in her, yet like he was talking into a barrel at the same time. Something blocked out the sun and she could open her eyes. A figure lingered over her and a hand pressed against her forehead.

“She’s awake. Grab me that canteen on my pommel,” the man said.

She studied his face, though she could hardly make it out with her blurry vision.

“A-Are you an angel?” she asked quietly, her voice cracking.

“Don’t try to talk, ma’am. It’s alright. We’re gonna get you out of here,” the man said.

Angels didn’t wear hats, did they?

“Try to drink a little for me, okay?” the man’s voice said to her, putting his hand under her head and lifting it a little.

She didn’t know how she did it, but somehow she managed to drink a little bit of water.

“Her leg’s broken, Colt,” another man’s voice said.

She tried to look around for the owner of the other voice, but didn’t see him.

All she wanted to do was sleep.

“Yeah, she’s got a pretty nasty head injury, too. I’ll carry her back to the line shack. It’s not too far and…” the angel’s words were lost to her as she drifted off into the darkness once again.

*****

Jessie felt a cool cloth on her forehead when she finally woke up again. It took a moment for her to open her eyes, so all she could do was hear the sounds around her.

“I think she’s beginning to stir, Dawson,” a voice said.

She pried her eyes open to see two strange men leaning over her. Who were they? What were they doing in her room?

Her eyes shifted to the ceiling. That wasn’t her ceiling!

An older lady leaned over her beside one of the men and smiled down at her.

“Ya’ll quit leanin’ over her like that. You’ll scare the poor thing to death!” the woman said.

Jessie’s eyes shifted back and forth between the three people.

“Where am I?” she asked. “Who are you?”

Her voice didn’t even sound like hers. Her eyes darted all around the room, trying to find a familiar face. Pain throbbed the side of her head and her leg was dreadfully sore.

“Don’t worry none about it, ma’am. You’re gonna be fine,” one of the men said.

Her eyes lingered on him. He wasn’t hard to look at, as there was a genuine kindness behind his warm blue eyes. His black hair was combed to the side and looked like it had been for a number of years. His unshaven face and square jaw line was roguishly attractive somehow as a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Why was he even here?

“Can you tell us your name?” he asked.

“J-Jessie. Jessie Steele,” Jessie replied softly. “Where am I?”

“You’re on the Dottie Belle ranch, Miss Steele. Well, on a part of it. We’re gonna take care of you, don’t you worry,” the man said.

Jessie reached her fingers up to touch the wound on her head, wrapped in bandages. “My head…”

“You’ve got a concussion, Miss Steele,” the other man said.

She looked over at him and drew her eyebrows close together.

“I’m Casey Dawson, but most people around here call me Doc. You’ve got a broken leg, too, but don’t worry. If there’s anything I know about, it’s broken bones and head injuries. This here’s Colt Kidd,” the man pointed toward the other man that had just been talking to her.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get out of her confusion. “Where did you say I was?”

“You’re in Arizona on the Dottie Belle ranch, ma’am,” Colt said.

“Arizona? B-But I live in South Carolina,” Jessie rubbed her forehead.

The men exchanged glances and the one they called Doc shrugged.

“You’re also a little dehydrated, so make sure you drink all the water you can, okay?” Doc said.

Jessie looked down at her leg, wrapped in some kind of bandage with sticks on either side of it. “What happened to my leg?”

The men exchanged another confused glance. What had she said?

“It’s broken,” Doc told her.

“How?” Jessie asked.

“I think that’s enough talking for you, young lady,” an older lady said as she walked around the foot of the bed. “You boys get out of here and let her rest.”

The woman shooed the men out of the room and they complied.

Jessie wanted to ask more questions, but she couldn’t bring herself to as her eyelids grew heavy and slowly shifted shut.

*****

Colt sat at the table in the front room of the little line shack he and his grandmother had grown to call home and looked to Doc.

“What’s the matter with her?” he asked.

Doc shook his head. “I’ve seen this before. It’s part of the concussion.”

Colt arched an eyebrow. “I don’t recall a concussion ever causing a person to forget something that was said not five minutes before.”

“It’s not that common, but it does happen. A concussion can cause temporary amnesia, which makes it hard to learn new information or form new memories. She will probably forget all about us when she wakes up. She’ll be dizzy for a while and don’t be surprised if she’s a little disoriented. She’ll likely not remember what happened or how she got injured, either,” Doc explained.

“How long until she recovers?” Colt asked.

Doc shrugged. “No telling. It could be days, weeks, or even months. Even then she might not remember the accident… or whatever it was.”

“I think I saw horse tracks. Do you think her horse threw her?” Colt asked.

Doc shrugged again. “Could be. What I want to know is why she’s all the way out here if she lives in South Carolina.”

“Maybe she has family out here,” Colt offered.

“Then why was she on our land?” Doc asked.

Colt pressed his lips together. “Maybe she got lost.”

“Mmm hmm,” Doc said sarcastically.

“Don’t’ jump to conclusions, Dawson. We don’t know anything about her,” Colt warned.

“Exactly,” Doc crossed his arms.

Colt sighed. “Well, I’m gonna have to get back to the ranch. You stay here and watch her for me. I’ll be back later on. Sherman won’t be expecting you. He knows how long checking all the fences usually takes.”

Doc nodded. “Good luck.”

Colt snorted and grabbed his hat as his grandmother came from the room where Miss Steele was - also his room.

“She’s sleeping,” Granny said.

Colt nodded. “I’m going to have to get back to the ranch. Dawson’s gonna stay here with you and keep an eye on Miss Steele.”

Granny nodded. “Don’t be home too late.”

Colt nodded and left the house.

It wasn’t going to be fun dealing with Sherman.

Hope you guys are liking this story so far!