Chapter 6

Jessie watched as Colt stared at her, shock enhancing the blue of his eyes.

What had she said.

“How do you remember my name?” he asked.

Jessie arched an eyebrow. “Your grandmother told me your name yesterday.”

Colt plopped down into the chair beside the bed. “What all happened yesterday?”

“Well, I woke up and your grandmother explained that I had been found a while away from here and you found me. She said that I had a concussion and a broken leg, but that your friend had taken care of me as much as he could. She also said that I needed to see a real doctor, and that I would have to accompany you and your friend to town in a few days,” Jessie explained.

“What’s my grandmother’s name?” Colt leaned forward in his chair.

Jessie felt like she was on trial for something. “Carby.”

Colt let out a deep breath and leaned back. “You’re better. I can’t believe it!” He bolted out of the chair and walked to the doorway. “Doc, get up and get in here.”

Jessie scowled. “What’s your point, Mr. Kidd?”

Colt turned back to her. “You have no idea, do you? You’ve been with us for five days, and we’ve had to explain things to you at least twenty times over those few days. This is the first morning that you’ve remembered anything.”

Jessie blinked. She had been a burden to them for five days? Momma would be so worried!

Doc appeared in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. “What seems to be the problem, Kidd?” he asked.

“She remembers me,” Colt told him, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Doc lifted his head and looked at her. “You know him?”

“I know you, too,” Jessie said.

This situation was beginning to get awkward.

“This is great! You healed a lot faster than I expected. How do you feel?” Doc neared the side of the bed.

Jessie shrugged. “I’ve got a bit of a headache and this splint is uncomfortable, but I feel fine.”

Doc smiled. “That’s good. I wish I knew what to do about your head, but I’m afraid I don’t. We’ll head into town in a few days and get you fixed up.”

Jessie smiled. “Thank you.”

*****

Colt pulled Hidalgo to a screeching halt at the door of the line shack two nights later with a list in hand and a smile on his face. He hopped down off the animal and rushed into the house.

“I’ve got the list, Granny. We can leave tomorrow,” he said.

Granny nodded. “Good. I’ll pack my things.”

“What?” Colt lifted his eyebrows.

Granny glanced at him. “I’ve decided to tag along.”

“What? No!” Colt protested.

“You can’t stop me. I can still bend you over my knee,” Granny waved a finger at him.

“You can’t come, Granny. This isn’t what we decided on,” Colt said, hanging up his hat.

“I don’t see what the problem is. You don’t expect me to let that girl ride for three days with nothing but you two as company,” Granny pulled a suitcase from the closet as she spoke.

“That’s exactly what I expect. You’re not built for that ride any more. It was hard enough on you coming out here last time, what with how cold it gets out there in the desert at nighttime and all.” Colt took the suitcase from her and put it back into the closet.

“I can handle it, Colt. I know I can,” Granny told him.

“Please, Granny? I’ll only worry about you the entire time. It would make me feel so much better if you stayed here, where I knew you were getting a long okay,” Colt pleaded.

“I’m not an old cockatoo who has to stay in her cage the rest of her life. I can get out and do, you know,” Granny crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“I know, Granny, but you’ve got to understand that I want you to be an old cockatoo. Why do you have to be so adventurous? Knitting sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Colt tried to reason.

“Knitting?” Granny exclaimed. “I still have some living to do, son. I’m not gonna waste the rest of my life away in a rocking chair.”

Colt rubbed his face. “Can you do your living after the Plateau trip?”

Granny sighed. “I just don’t understand you, Colt. I just don’t.”

He thought a moment. “Tell you what. If you’ll let me go this trip alone and promise me that you’ll stay out of trouble while I’m gone, I’ll take you to New Orleans once things start settling down around the ranch.”

Granny’s eyes widened. “New Orleans? You’d take me all the way to New Orleans?”

“If that’s where you want to go, then I will,” Colt promised, crossing his arms.

Granny clapped her hands together and grinned broadly. “You have yourself a deal, sonny!”

Colt let out a relieved breath and smiled as his grandmother hugged him tightly.

*****

“Myra, you’re just not gonna believe this! It’s the most appalling thing I’ve ever heard!”

Myra Steele suppressed a groan as Missy Phillips entered the parlor of her home in Myrtleville, South Carolina. Myra’s daughter was missing and all Missy had to with herself do was barge into the Steele house with some latest tidbit of gossip.

“I don’t have time, Missy. I’m expecting Mr. Adam any moment,” Myra looked out of the window as she spoke.

“That’s just it, Myra. Sheriff Adam didn’t return to town today as he promised,” Missy took in a deep breath as the words left her mouth.

Myra was suddenly interested in what the lady had to say. “Why? What do you know?”

The ladies took a seat on the settee and Missy began her tale. “Well, I was in town earlier this morning and I stopped by the telegraph office to see if there had been any news on the Sheriff today. The teller kindly told me that he had received no such news and I was beginning to be worried. Sheriff Adam was always sure to let the family of the victims know if anything turned up, you know. Well, I simply shoved it aside and went on about my day as I normally would. I was watching to the Sheriff to come into town and you’ll never guess who rode into town in his place!”
“Who is it?” Myra asked.

“Oh, you’ll just never guess!”

“I’m sure I won’t,” Myra pressed gently. “Why don’t you just come out and tell me before I drive myself crazy?”

Missy took a deep breath. “It was Deputy Smith. I couldn’t believe that the Sheriff would send in a man when he could come back himself, so I sought the man out to derive his reasons for coming to town unaccompanied. Apparently, the Sheriff had found traces of your daughter in Bottlebrush, New Mexico. The ticket that he had found in Georgia had led him to that exact city. I came over as soon as I found out. I don’t see any reason for Jess to be going all the way out west! And our dear Sheriff riding all the way out there in pursuit of her. It’s just a dramatic situation all around!”

Myra bolted to her feet, reminding herself of her ladylike upbringing and refusing to fun, she set off to find her husband. He must know of the resent development. She began walking up the stairs to the second story of her home with Missy on her heels.

“I fear that if the Sheriff doesn’t find much of a lead in New Mexico, he might just give up on the whole endeavor,” the lady said.

Myra stopped on one of the stairs and turned to Missy. “He’d better not quit. If he so much as thinks about the idea I will make certain that he rues the day his mother bore him into the world.”

She continued to walk up the stairs until she reached the second story and walked down the hall and a fast pace until she came to the den where her husband was quietly sitting with a newspaper in his hand.

“There is some news on Jess, dear,” Myra said to announce her presence.

Her husband Jacob popped out of his chair and spun to face her. “What kind of news?”

“Missy has the details,” Myra turned to her friend.

Missy inhaled sharply and began her long-winded tale that she had just relayed to Myra moments before. Hardly a syllable was changed. Myra directed her gaze to the window and to the lake beyond.

Father, please keep my daughter safe. I don’t know where she is or what kind of tragedy has befallen her, but I pray that you grant the authorities the wisdom enough to know where to find her. I utter this prayer from the bottom of my aching heart, Lord. Please bring Jess home to me.

“I’ve never been so worried in all my life. If I were Deputy Smith, I wouldn’t have left Sheriff Adam to deal with the task alone. It was irresponsible of him to leave the man like that,” Missy stated as she finished her tale.

“Adam knows what he is doing, Miss Phillips. I’ve no doubt that he will find our girl and bring her home safely. He wants her back here and safe as much as we do,” Jacob said.

Myra nodded at the truth in his words. Adam was most definitely worried about his betrothed in her time of trial. He would not rest until he found her, and of that she was certain.

“Where’s Jake?” Jacob asked.

“I’ve no idea. He said he was going squirrel hunting about an hour ago. He said that it cleared his head,” Myra told him.

Jacob nodded. “Let him know of what’s happened as soon as he returns. I’m going to have a talk with Deputy Smith.”

Her husband grabbed his hat from the hat rack and walked toward the door, pausing briefly to press a kiss on her cheek as he passed.

It wasn’t long before their twenty-one year old son Jake came back from his squirrel hunt. Myra met him at the back door as he held up a set of about six squirrels for her to view.

“These’ll make for some fine squirrel dumplings, won’t they, Momma?” he asked with a hint of a smile.

The poor boy hadn’t been the same since his younger sister came up missing over a week ago. He had always been protective of Jess, and they had always been unusually close for siblings.

Myra smiled and nodded. “That they will. You can get them to the cook in a moment. Right now I need to speak with you. There is some news on your sister’s whereabouts. Missy came by about an hour ago spinning tales of how they found traces of her in New Mexico.”

“New Mexico?” That’s ridiculous, Momma. Why would she be all the way out West?” Jake’s eyebrows drew close together as he set the squirrels in a tin bucket just outside of the back door.

“I wish I knew, Jake. Your father is gone to talk to the Deputy Sheriff now. We must pray, and pray hard. There’s no telling what mess poor Jess has gotten her poor self into,” Myra commented as she and her son, with a tin bucket of bleeding squirrels in tow, walked into the house and toward the kitchen.

“Oh, good heavens, Jake! Get those dead things out of here!” the maid, Susie, exclaimed.

Jake grinned. He had always enjoyed getting under the young woman’s skin, which wasn’t hard to do when it came to cleanliness.

“I’m taking them to Betty,” Jake explained.

“Well, hurry up about it,” Susie waved her duster in the direction of the kitchen.

Myra continued walking and her son eventually caught up with her. Her motherly intuition told her that there was a strange kind of bond growing between those two young people, though they would never willingly admit it. A mother knew these things, even if her children didn’t yet.

She had always had a feeling about Jess and the young Sheriff, too, though she hadn’t envisioned it going this far. She saw them as compatible, but marriage seemed a little too far to take it for their relationship at the moment.

Not that it mattered. If they didn’t get Jess back soon, there would be no relationship to worry about.

　Hope you guys enjoyed the Steele's POV! :D Thanks for reading! :D