Debra Holland - [Montana Sky 02] (18 page)

Jack Cassidy lounged against the wooden fence of the corral watching Daniel, Tim, and the Carter children play with the Falabellas. At the first sign of guests, Little Feather had taken off. Jack figured the Blackfoot boy probably wouldn’t be back ’til supper.

At the far side of the corral, Daniel, Mark, and black Chita kicked the gunnysack ball Miz Samantha had made. Nearby, Tim showed Bonita, his chestnut mare, to Sara.

On impulse, Jack had given little Lizzy his own Mariposa to play with. A fool thing to do, and no tellin’ why he had. He’d never seen anyone like the child. Tiny, with long curly hair, wearing a lacy white dress, that weren’t much different than other
gals’. But she’d looked up at him with her wise blue eyes and skin as thin and fine as a raindrop…like a fairy or a princess from the stories Miz Samantha had been telling them…and something deep and lost inside him had just opened up to her.

She must have whupped a spell on him, because he’d guided Mariposa over to her, introduced them, and had handed over the lead rope. Lizzy’s hand, resting in his rough one, was the size of a new maple leaf and softer than the feel of Miz Samantha’s Sunday dress.

Uncomfortable, he’d backed away, but continued to watch the little ’un. She didn’t say anything. Not like her sister, who was talkin’ away to Pampita like she’d never use up all her words. Just silence and fingertip touches to the little mare’s dappled gray hide. But Jack could tell girl and horse were havin’ their own conversation…like they already knew each other. He itched inside like he needed to scratch, but didn’t know how to reach in there.

He needed to get away, find somethin’ else ta do. He glanced around. Seeing the haystacks near the barn gave him an idea. He whistled for his brother. Tim left Bonita and started over to him. Daniel also knew the signal, and he motioned for Mark to come along and bring Chita with him.

Jack waved toward the barn. “Let’s go jump in the haystacks.”

Mark rubbed Chita’s ears, plainly reluctant to leave her.

“See who can jump the farthest,” Jack challenged.

Interest quickened on Mark’s face. “All right. But afterwards, I want to get back to this little one.”

Jack waved. “Come on.” Not bothering to open the gate, he scrambled over the fence. The rest of the boys followed.

Sara, an annoyed look on her face, lifted up the hem of her white dress and followed them. “I’m coming too.”

“We ain’t gunna play with no girl.” Jack pointed his chin in Lizzy’s direction. “You stay with her.”

Sara got a stubborn look on her face, like Pa’s old mule when it refused to budge another step. “No. She can come with us. She won’t get in the way, she’ll just watch.”

Jack knew the futility of arguing with a mule. He shrugged, watching her climb the fence. When she reached the top, the bottom of her dress caught on the splintered wood. She yanked her skirt loose, tearing the lace away from the hem. She looked unconcerned, but he hoped her ma wouldn’t hit her for it, the way their pa would whale on them whenever they’d added a new hole to the collection in their clothes. Or even worse, her ma could blame him. It wasn’t his fault. He’d tried to stop her.

Putting the thought from his mind, he raced around the barn, the other children pelting after him. Two hills of hay piled double-high to the height of a boy beckoned him to jump and slide. Several dents marred the side on the nearest heap where a pitchfork had pulled out enough for the horses. Massed to the left, a mounded muck load, so covered with straw and hay that it resembled a haystack, hadn’t yet been carted away.

Jack ran to the nearest haystack, scrambling up its slippery side. There was a trick to the climb, involving shoving the toes and hands deep into the hay. The blades scratched and tickled his hands, and he breathed in the dusty-sweet scent. Ever since he’d arrived here, he’d been wantin’ to jump on these stacks, but he’d always been too busy with school and chores. But they’d been there, beckoning.

The other boys scampered right behind him to the top, then juggled next to him, trying to stay in a bunch. Sara struggled with the climb, hampered by her dress. As she leaned forward, her long brown hair trailed, picking up wispy spikes. He snickered.
Soon she’d look like a yeller porcupine. Lizzy settled herself on a hay bale near the barn, seemingly content to watch.

Which first? Leap to the next mound, or skim down like an otter on a mudslide and climb back up again?

Daniel solved the problem for him. Flinging his arms behind, then forward, he dove to the next haystack. Popping to his feet, he balanced on the top, flailing his arms, and laughing.

Jack ground his teeth.
I’m first.
Not waiting, he bounded across, pushing Daniel aside when he landed. “Out of my way.”

Losing his grin, Daniel flopped onto his back. Before he had time to get up, Tim sailed through the air. Jack caught a glimpse of the mischievous look on his brother’s face. Then Tim shoved him, and Jack fell across Daniel’s stomach. With a wuff of expelled air, Daniel’s chest caved.

“Hey.” Daniel punched Jack in the side. “Get off me.”

With a grin, Jack rolled off.

Tim thrust his arms in the air. “I’m king of the hill.”

Jack reached over, hooked Tim’s ankle, and flipped him down. “Ain’t no more.”

From the other stack, Mark called, “Make room, or I’m landing on you.”

Jack bounced to his feet. Ignoring Daniel, he grasped his brother’s hand, pulling him up. “See if ya can,” he called to Mark.

Mark jumped, lunging into Jack. They grappled for position. Daniel’s feet slid over the side, dragging Tim down, but by clinging to Tim’s leg, Daniel managed not to slip off.

In his fall, Tim jerked at Jack’s arm. At the same time, on his other side, Mark pushed at Jack. As he fell, Jack stubbornly clung to Mark’s shoulders, taking him down with him.

Laughing, they all lay sprawled over each other like a litter of puppies. Jack felt funny inside, like a lantern had been lit in his chest, and he couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face.

He glanced over at the other stack. Sara stood with her hands on her hips. That mule look settled on her face. “My turn.”

Jack jostled the other boys aside to get to his feet. “No, ya ain’t. Ain’t no room for girls over here.”

With a few pushes, the other boys shuffled to their feet.

“No girls. No girls.” Daniel chanted.

“No girls. No girls.” As all the boys joined in, the chorus swelled.

Sara’s face turned as red as his old winter long johns. She shook her fist at them.

A gang.
He and Tim and Daniel and Mark. All together. For the first time ever, Jack felt the power of belonging, of not being on the outside. In a heady rush, he raised his voice even louder. “No girls.”

Sara stuck her nose in the air and turned away from them.

Jack laughed, feeling triumphant.

With a swift movement, she gathered up her skirt with one hand, flung her other arm back and forth and hurdled toward the other mound.

Oh, Lordy.
Jack opened his mouth to yell a warning, but it was too late. Sara landed feet first on top of the straw-covered manure pile. She twisted to face them and swiftly sank. Her eyes bulged in horror.

Jack couldn’t help the snicker that burst from him. Sara sure looked funny up to her knees in manure, her formerly clean white dress bunching up in the top of the muck.

“Don’t laugh at me!” she screamed.

Jack chortled. He’d never seen anything so hilarious in his life. She was goin’ to stink to high heaven.

“I’m sinking.”

She was. Up to her hips.
Jack’s amusement sizzled up faster than water sprinkled on a hot skillet, replaced by a bolt of terror. That manure pile was a lot higher than Sara. In a minute, she’d be over her head. She’d drown in shit, and it would be all his fault.

His heart thumping fit to burst, he plummeted down the haystack.

Apparently realizing her danger, Sara screamed—piercing shrieks that normally would have made him clamp his hands over his ears. But instead, he frantically dug his way into the smelly muck.

She sank, already mired to her shoulders. He knew he had only seconds to reach her. As he worked, her body lowered more, her neck covering up. Her eyes bulged with fear, and the screaming changed to whimpers that tore at him with the sharpness of a bear’s claws. On either side of him, the other boys joined him, each burrowing like a dog after a bone.

Sara plunged down farther. She tilted her chin back, straining to keep her face free. The whimpering cut off. Jack knew she didn’t dare move her mouth.

His tunneling hands struck something. Sara’s arm. “I’ve got her!” he yelled. He pulled. The mound refused to release her. He thrust his arm in deeper, his face pressing into her shoulder.

Breathing in the stench, he wiggled his fingers across her back until they curled around her side. Like a draft horse, he pulled. Her body shifted a few inches toward him. His ear pressed to her chest, and he could hear her heart fluttering like a bird caught in
a trap. At least she wouldn’t sink any deeper. “I’ll hold her. You guys dig her out.”

Mark scooped dung from around her front; Tim and Daniel tackled her backside. As she loosened, Jack pulled her out a few inches more. Looking up at her face, he saw tears streaking down her sludge-splattered cheeks. “Got you,” he whispered to her. “Won’t let ya go.”

She swallowed and gave a slight nod, as if she were afraid to move.

“Be all right.” He spoke to her gentle-like as if she was Mariposa. “Have ya out in a hog’s breath.”

The terror in her blue eyes changed to trust, and it stabbed into his gut deeper than a knife. No one had ever looked at him like that. And he didn’t deserve it now. His teasing had gotten her into this, but he wouldn’t let her down.

By now the boys, covered in muck themselves, had freed Sara to her waist. Jack wrapped his other arm around her shivering body, squeezing her in his embrace.

Bracing his feet, he yanked her out. With a sucking sound, she shot free, the unexpected momentum carrying them backward and down to the ground. With a thud that knocked the wind out of him, Jack fell flat on his back, Sara jarring on top of him. For a moment, he lay there, hearing his own harsh breaths and feeling her safe in his arms.

She drooped her head onto his chest, her back shuddering with her sobs. Protectiveness rose in him. Awkwardly, he tightened one arm around her and patted her shoulder with the other hand. “Got ya safe, now. No need for that there cryin’.”

Mark dropped to his knees beside them, his freckled face pale. “Sara, Sara.” He added his pats to Jack’s. “I’m sorry, Sara. I’m so sorry.”

Lizzy crouched down by Sara’s head, fluttering finger touches on her sister’s head and crooning. The concern on the tiny girl’s face made Jack feel lower than a snake’s belly.

Sara rolled her head to look Jack in the eyes. The drenched blue of her gaze melted the walls he held around his heart. “You saved my life.”

Uncomfortable, he loosened his arms. “I ain’t no hero.”

“Yes, you are,” she insisted, laying her head back on his chest.

With an old kind of wisdom, he knew that in a minute he’d set her aside, go back to being a boy. But for a few more seconds he cradled her, vowing to himself that he’d change. Someday, he was gunna grow up, marry Sara Carter, and spend the rest of his life making this afternoon up to her.

“Oh, dear.” Samantha relaxed her shoulders, giving in to the inevitability of vermin trouble. “Be brave, ladies, and raise your feet. There’s a mouse coming your way.”

Gasps and the chink-rattle of teacups hastily lowered onto the table greeted her announcement. Both women lifted their feet, bunching the fabric of their skirts in their hands.

Rising, Samantha waved the mouse in the direction of the door. “Shoo.” She herded it through the doorway by stamping her feet.

In the hall, Maria stepped out from the kitchen, a damp dishcloth in her hand.

Samantha pointed to the mouse.

Maria nodded her understanding, flapping her hand to urge Samantha back into the parlor.

Would the women leave? Dreading what she’d find, Samantha returned to her guests. To her surprise, calm faces and relaxed bodies greeted her.