Chapter 3

“Took a while, didn’t it?” Sherman asked, leaning against the doorframe of Colt’s office.

Colt looked up startled by the man’s sudden appearance.

“Um, yes sir. The wires were really loose. Took me a bit to tighten them back up,” he explained.

It was the truth. The wires were very loose, and it had taken him a while to fix them. He couldn’t tell Sherman about Jessie Steele. The man was paranoid about people being on his property after a gang threatened his daughter, but who wouldn’t be? Colt just couldn’t bring himself to but Miss Steele in that kind of danger.

“Oh, I see. Well, see that you get to work on those books right quick,” Sherman turned and walked out of the building.

Colt sighed with relief. That had gone over smoother than he had hoped. Sending a brief prayer of thanks to God for the spared argument, he went right back to the books in front of them.

Some of the men that he liked the most were going to have to be fired, and he didn’t like it at all. Sadly, the Dottie Belle didn’t have enough work to accommodate their pay. A lot of the cowboys were hard working and were good men, but these things happen. Besides, they could find work somewhere else, right?

Colt looked over a few more numbers but found that he couldn’t focus. Throwing his pencil on the desktop, he leaned back in his chair and groaned. He couldn’t get his mind off Miss Steele.

He remembered what she looked like, laying there with a pale face and lines on her forehead from the pain. She had long, tangled copper hair in the resemblance of some sort of style that had fallen out. The brief moments he saw her eyes, he could tell they were a vivid shade of green, like the grass in Montana pastures in Spring. She had a round, sweet face and her voice, though somewhat cracked, revealed a smooth yet thick Southern accent. She wasn’t much of a burden to carry, but he could tell that beneath the bodice of her dark blue dress was a slightly plump abdomen. She wasn’t excessively overweight, but just enough to be noticeable.

Bliss had never been overweight in her life. She was always stick thin.

Releasing a sigh and shoving the thoughts of Bliss away, he propped his boots on the top of the desk and took a book into his lap.

He ran over numbers and salaries for the rest of the day. By the end of it, he had a list of people who had to leave and one of the ones who had to go. It pained him to release some of the cowboys who had families to feed, but it had to be done. He would handle the firing part tomorrow with as much gentleness as he could. Right now, he needed a good nights sleep and to see how the patient was doing.

Walking up to the back door of the main house and entering into the kitchen, Colt smiled at Grace as she was washing the dishes.

“Sit down and tell me how life’s been doing for you,” Grace nodded toward the table.

Colt smiled and put one arm around the older woman. “I wish I could, Grace. Maybe tomorrow. I’ve got to get back to Granny.”

“Oh, that reminds me. There’s a canister of tea in the pantry I wanted to send her. Does she like chamomile?” Grace asked.

Colt nodded with a grin. “She drinks a cup every night.”

“Then grab it for her. It’s on the second shelf in the pantry,” Grace nodded toward a room adjacent to the kitchen.

Colt walked over and grabbed the canister, then stopped in front of the door. “I’m sure she’s thankful to you.”

“It’s my pleasure. You take care of yourself, ya hear?” Grace smiled at him, much like a mother would.

“Thank you, Grace. I will,” Colt tipped his hat and walked out of the house and into the chilly night air.

He walked to the barn and went about saddling Hidalgo. The task wasn’t much of a chore to him, as he loved the smell of the leather and the sound of it squeaking. If there was one place he felt like he was at home, it was on the back of a horse.

“You ready to ride, boy?” Colt asked with a smile, rubbing the horse’s neck.

Hidalgo snorted as if he’d understood what his owner had said.

Colt chuckled and put the canister of tea into his saddlebag. After mounting the animal, he steered him out of the door and then away from the ranch. Once away from the buildings and people, he let Hidalgo run full speed. The wind whipped at his face and swept through his clothes, but he didn’t care. Running made him feel free, like nothing else in the world mattered. It was almost like the wind cleared his head and the worries in it.

When he rode up to the front of the line shack, he saw a light coming from the room where Miss Steele was staying. Maybe she as awake.

He stripped the leather off Hidalgo and gave him a quick brushing before rushing into the house. He was greeted by hysterics as soon as he hung his hat on a peg on the wall.

“I want to know who you people are and how I got into this shape? Why in tarnation does my head hurt so blame much?” he heard a sassy, Southern voice exclaim.

He would have smiled had not Doc greeted him with a look of panic.

“She’ll kill us all,” the man said.

Colt walked across the room to the doorway and watched Granny try to calm Miss Steele down.

“Now, Miss Jessie. I just told you that you got hurt out in the middle of the desert and my grandson and his friend brought you here. We’re trying to help you. Please sit back before you hurt yourself further,” Granny pushed on Miss Steele’s shoulders.

Miss Steele’s eyes had turned from their placid green color to a fiery, dart shooting green. It was enough to strike fear into any hardened heart.

“I don’t want to sit back. I want to get back home. And what do you mean by desert? There’s so desert near Harrison!” she insisted.

“You’re not in South Carolina anymore. You’re in Arizona. I’ve no idea how you got all the way over here, either, so don’t even ask. Now lay down and rest!” Granny demanded.

Miss Steele leaned back as her eyelids began to droop. Her eyes focused on him.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

“That’s my grandson,” Granny explained.

“He’s… he’s…” Miss Steele drifted off to sleep before she could utter another word.

Granny put a hand to her forehead and turned to Colt. “She’s loco!”

“She’s gonna take a while to heal, Granny. She’ll be confused for a while,” Colt said, trying to calm her down. He held out the canister Grace had given him. “The cook down at the ranch sent you some chamomile tea.”

“Oh, thank the Lord for that. I was running low and I need some at the moment. It’s a pious woman’s liquor, I tell you, son,” Granny took the canister and walked toward the kitchen.

Colt took one more look at Miss Steele, sound asleep, and shut the door to give her some silence. Granny had cleaned her face, brushed out her hair, and put her in a clean cotton nightdress. She didn’t look as helpless when she wasn’t caked in dust.

“So how long had she slept?” he asked his grandmother.

“Pretty much the whole day. She stirred a few times, but didn’t wake up,” Granny told him.

Colt sat down across from Doc and rested him face in the palm of his hand. “What are we gonna do about her?”

“She’ll have to stay with us until she gets better,” Granny said.

“I’m talking about after that. We have no idea who she is or where she came from, and we can’t trust what she says when she’s in this state,” Colt observed.

“Then we’ll be patient and cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now she needs rest and a lot of it. We’ll worry about getting our questions answered later,” Doc interjected.

Colt sighed and leaned back in his chair, glancing at the door in which the object of the conversation slept. What was it about her that had him worried? What if she was in danger?

“You want some coffee, Doc? There’s some left from this morning that I can warm up,” Colt offered, trying to get his thoughts steered in another direction.

Doc nodded. “That’d be nice, thanks.”

Colt walked to the stove where his grandmother was heating water for her tea and set the coffee pot on a burner. With that done, he walked to the window and looked out. Darkness had descended over the countryside and he couldn’t see very far, but it was something to divert his mind. He glanced up and began counting the stars in the small area he could see in the window.

One… two… three… four… five… What if she was a friend of the Coopers that he didn’t know about?

His jaw clenched at the failed attempt to keep his mind off Miss Steele.

“You okay, Colt?” Granny asked.

Colt turned around. “Sure, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You look a little tense.”

“Tense? Pshaw, I’m not tense. I’m too much of a carefree person to be tense. What’re you talking about?” Colt sat down in a chair at the other end of the table and sunk down in it so his legs stretched all the way out in front of him, crossing his arms as he did so. “Tense. Ha!”

Granny arched an eyebrow at him, as did Doc. Colt’s thumb twitched and thumped against his side under their gaze. He looked away and focused on the ground in front of him.

That’s an odd knot on that floorboard. I should sand that down before someone trips on it. As a matter of fact, I should sand this whole floor to get it smooth. It would make sweeping easier for Granny.

“How did work go today?” Granny asked him.

Colt nodded. “Went fine. Sherman didn’t hang me up by my toenails for being gone so long, so I guess it was a pretty good day.”

Doc smiled at that comment. He knew exactly how Sherman Cooper was.

“Did you get things sorted out?” the man asked.

Colt nodded again.

“Are you keeping me?” Doc asked.

Colt slid his gaze toward the cowboy. He took the opportunity to stand and get the heated coffee into the waiting cups. It was hard for him not to smile as he did so, knowing that the anxiety within Doc was growing by the second. Colt walked to the other side of the table and set the coffee cup in front of him before walking back to his seat at the other end. He took his time taking a seat and placing his cup on the table just so that the handle was directly to the side.

“For heaven’s sakes, Kidd!” Doc’s voice raised a little.

Colt let his smile break loose. “You’re fine.”

Doc leaned back, looking like he had deflated. “Don’t scare me like that.”

Colt chuckled and took a sip of his coffee.

“How many have you told?” Granny asked.

Colt shook his head. “None. I’m gonna do that tomorrow.”

Granny sensed his trepidation and looked at him with sympathy. “It’s got to be done. Just be glad that you’re the one doing it and not Sherman. He would be very harsh about it.”

Colt nodded his agreement, but didn’t say anything. He could send them all to one of the neighboring ranches, the Lazy Q. He’d heard a few weeks ago that they were hiring. Maybe a few of the men he was firing wouldn’t be unemployed for long.

Granny yawned. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay.” She swallowed the rest of her tea and stood. “There are extra blankets in the coat closet by the door for the two of you. Goodnight.”

“G’night, Granny,” Colt smiled at her. “Sleep well.”

Granny patted his head as she walked past, much like she had when he was a child.

Once she was gone to bed, Colt and Doc followed her example.

Colt was awakened at about three o’clock that morning with a tiny whimpering sound. He looked around the room and found that Doc was still asleep. He listened again, straining to hear the sound again. Sometimes he hated being a light sleeper, but tonight he was grateful, for the sound did come again from the bedroom behind his head. He stood and walked across the floor in his socks. He had remained fully clothed with a lady in the house, but he drew the line at sleeping in his boots.

Talk about uncomfortable.

He twisted the knob on the door and he heard the whimper again. He opened the door ever so slightly and the sound grew louder out of fear. He opened the door enough for himself to slip through and fumbled around to light a nearby lamp. The light from the lamp cleared the darkness from the room and revealed Miss Steele, clutching a pillow to her chest and staring at him, pure fear in her eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he told her. “It’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”

He talked to her as he would a startled child, because he didn’t know how else to address a terrified woman. He grew up with Bliss, and she was hardly ever afraid.

Miss Steele gripped the pillow tighter as he neared.

“G-go away. Don’t come near me, ya hear?” she said, her voice less coarse than it had been this morning, revealing that beautiful accent even further.

“I’m not going to hurt you, okay? I’m here to help you,” Colt said soothingly as he set the lamp on the bedside table and sat down in the chair beside the bed. “Can I get you anything?”

“Wh-where am I?” she asked, looking around the room.

“You’re in a line shack, ma’am. My friend and I found you hurt out in the middle of nowhere. We brought you here and my grandmother has been taking care of you,” Colt explained.

“Who are you?” Miss Steele’s grip lessened on the pillow, but she didn’t let it go completely.

“My name is Colt Kidd, ma’am. I work at a ranch about a mile from here. What’s your name?” Colt tried to act as if this was his first encounter with her, trying to calm her fears about him.

“J-Jessie Steele,” she answered.

“That’s a downright pretty name. Where you from?” Colt asked.

“South Carolina. Isn’t that where I am?” Miss Steele’s gaze drifted to the window.

“No ma’am, you’re in Star County, Arizona,” Colt informed her.

Her eyes widened. “D-Did you kidnap me? I have no money…”

Colt held up his hand. “No, ma’am. I found you hurt a few miles from here.”

“Why does my head hurt?” Miss Steele put a hand to her head.

“You’ve got a concussion and a broken leg. You’ll be staying here until you heal. Are you thirsty or anything?” Colt held the cup of water from the beside table out to her.

She took it gently and took a gulp of it. She narrowed her eyes into slits and handed it back to him.

“Who are you then?” she asked, tucking her coppery hair behind her ear.

Colt resisted the urge to smile. Doc said she would be like this. “Colt Kidd is my name. Why don’t you lay back down and get some rest, okay?”

He stood and her gaze followed him. Miss Steele put the pillow she had been holding and put it behind her head. “What’s that contraption on my leg?”

“It’s a splint. It’s nothing fancy. Just to hold it straight,” Colt explained.

Her beautifully green eyes shifted from curious to horrified. “Y-You didn’t put it on, did you?” she asked.

Colt shook his head and smiled. “No ma’am. My grandmother did.”

“You have a grandmother? Where is she?” Miss Steele looked around.

“She’s asleep, which is what you need to do, okay? Go back to sleep,” Colt smiled and took the lamp from the table.

She leaned her head back and was asleep again within seconds. Colt blew out the lamp and shook his head.

This was going to be a long few weeks.

Thoughts?