Finding Promise (4 page)

Chapter Four

Jake stayed with the cattle all day so Cole could get some rest, but he left instructions with Shorty to have someone alert him if the woman awoke. No one on a cattle drive liked to stay in one place too long. It was best for the men and cattle to keep moving. Men got bored, especially in such inclement weather, and the cattle had to keep eating. As it was, they had been lucky to travel ten miles a day in the rain. Jake didn't need more delays, but right now he didn't have a choice.

Once again, when he rode back to camp at dusk, he was drenched to the bone. After unsaddling Preacher, he dried him off, and found a nice dry spot for him under a canopy of trees. When he reached the cook's wagon, Shorty was waiting for him. “Any change?”

Shorty knew he was asking about the girl. “No change, but I moved her like you did. I think that is a good idea.” Shorty gave him a cup of coffee. “Boss, I got somethin' to show you.” Jake followed Shorty to the wagon where the trunks were located. When Shorty opened the flap, Jake saw dresses hanging everywhere. There were even more than he'd first thought.

Shorty held up a piece of clothing that resembled a pair of very small trousers with wide legs. “What in the devil is this?'

“That's what you wanted to show me?” Jake knew he sounded short-tempered, but after his day in the saddle in that downpour, he was exhausted. “Hell's bells, I don't know.”

“Nope, that's not what I wanted to show you. I was just wondering what it was since I ain't never seen anything like it.” He put the unidentified item aside and picked up one of the dresses. “I was washin' some of these dresses and those flimsy underthings women wear. I ain't never seen anything so fine as her . . . you know . . . bloomers and such . . . but there sure ain't much to 'em . . . sort of a waste of good money, if you ask me.”

Jake sighed loudly, thinking he didn't need Shorty to tell him how flimsy her undergarments were. He'd seen them on her firsthand, and that was a sight he was unlikely to forget anytime soon.

Hearing Jake's sigh, Shorty stopped rambling. “Anyways, I kept thinkin' those dresses sure were heavy. Now I know there's lots of cloth to the things, with these wide skirts and all, but it still didn't feel right.” Shorty held a dress in the air and showed him how full the skirt was.

“They could be heavy because they're wet,” Jake said impatiently, wishing Shorty would get to the point so he could get into some dry clothes.

Shorty snorted. “No, it ain't that!” He shoved the hem of the dress at Jake. “Feel this.”

Drawing his brows together in confusion, Jake did as Shorty instructed. He took the hem of the dress between his thumb and forefinger. He pulled the entire hem through his fingers, and his eyes widened at Shorty. “What the . . . ?”

“That's what I thought! So I opened the stitches in one of those dresses.” He reached inside the wagon and pulled out a can and pushed it into Jake's hands. “This is what I found.”

Jake was stunned speechless. The tin can was filled to the brim with gold coins.

“Each coin was stitched in place so they didn't move around.” Shorty pointed to all of the dresses hanging in the wagon. “Every one of these dresses has the same thing at the bottom. Boss, this is a whole lot of money,” he whispered.

Jake recalled the dress he'd stripped from her earlier. This explained why the darn thing was so heavy. With that added weight, he was surprised she could walk. He picked up a coin off the top. It was a twenty-dollar double eagle. “All of these came out of one dress?”

Shorty nodded his head. “There were seventy-two of those double eagles in that one dress, boss.”

“How many dresses?”

“Twenty in that trunk. And those dresses were made in Paris, France. But there are more dresses in the wagon that weren't in the trunk. Those dresses are larger and not as fine a cloth, so I don't think they belonged to that gal. Coins are sewn in them too, but not as many, and not gold eagles.”

Jake figured those dresses belonged to the other women they'd buried. If twenty of those dresses held the same amount of gold eagles, that was, as Shorty stated, a whole lot of money. He figured this explained what the killers were looking for. Money was a powerful incentive for those men to slaughter all those people. Nothing else made sense because they'd left all the other items behind. They probably hightailed it out of there when they saw Indians, or they knew the cattle drive was not far behind.

“That's not all.” Shorty reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather pouch. He opened the pouch and poured the contents into his palm.

Jake gaped at Shorty's work-worn palm. Several pieces of fine jewelry, sparkling like stars on a clear night, covered Shorty's hand. Many pieces held large stones, and Jake figured they were diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.

“The pouch was sewn into one of her dress pockets. What do you make of this?”

Jake shook his head. “I don't know what to think. But keep this to yourself; we don't need anyone else knowing about this, or the money. If we get to a town, I don't want the men talking out of turn if they get liquored up.” Jake trusted Shorty to stay quiet, but when men started drinking they often got loose tongues without meaning any harm. “Leave the money in the other dresses.” He figured he'd never seen such a crafty hiding place for valuables, which was confirmed by the fact that the killers hadn't figured it out, if that was what they were after.

“Yessir, this could be too much of a temptation for some men. You said them low-down dirty skunks were looking for something in particular. Well, I reckon somehow they knew those folks was carrying a lot of money.”

“Yeah, judging by the destruction, I had a feeling they knew what they wanted.” Jake pointed to the can filled with coins. “It makes sense, now that you found this.”

“Since those polecats didn't get what they wanted, you know what that means.”

Jake knew exactly what that meant. “They'll be back if they know she's not dead. If they came back after we left last night, they probably counted those graves and know one person is missing.”

“Boss, knowing what we do now, you just can't take that gal to Dodge and leave her alone.”

“No, I can't do that now that I know what they are after. She would never be safe.” Jake had fifteen men on this cattle drive, and he needed to make sure they knew what was going on so they couldn't be bushwhacked. He'd tell Cole to inform the men out on watch, and he'd tell the men at camp before he got some rest.

Once the men were told to be on alert for the killers, Jake decided to go check on the woman. While he was out on the range he'd started thinking of her as Promise. When he climbed inside the wagon the first thing he noticed was how good it smelled. Shorty had put the bars of soap and her perfume in the wagon. Kneeling down beside her, he examined her face closely. She looked less pale than she did last night, but that in itself wasn't encouraging because she was deathly still. Shorty had changed her bandage again, but Jake peeked at the wound anyway. It looked like Shorty had also combed her long, blond hair. “Is your name Promise?” He felt the pulse at her neck and thought it stronger than before. He pulled his pallet closer, and after he took off his holster he stretched out beside her and started talking. “I'm from a town called Promise. It's in Wyoming, and that's where we are taking the cattle. My brothers and I own a ranch there.” He turned to face her to see if she reacted in any way while he was talking. “I sure would like to know where you were going so we could help you get there safe and sound. I found your book, and I hope you don't mind me reading what you wrote. I'm not a man to read a person's private thoughts, but I was hoping it might tell me where you were headed. You must be from back East, or maybe the South near the coast somewhere. It's mighty brave of you to come all this way.” Mentioning her book gave him an idea. Perhaps if she heard her own words she might come around. He picked up her book and read the third entry aloud.

“‘After one week, I would think Matthew's mood would have improved, but he is more irritable than ever. Most of the day I walk, which is really difficult since my dresses are so heavy with the added weight, but it is better than riding in the wagon with him. Tonight I plan to tell him—'” Jake stopped reading since he didn't think she sounded particularly happy that day, and if there was trouble between her and her husband it might be best not to read this aloud. He was curious so he finished reading the entry silently.

Jake stared at her. She was going to tell her husband to leave her alone once they reached wherever they were going! Maybe her husband should have turned her over his knee and showed her who was boss. He didn't know why her husband didn't want to leave their home, but surely he had a good reason. But what if there was another woman in the picture . . . this Emily Bouchard? Impossible! How could any man want another woman when he had a woman as beautiful as this one? Of course, she could be a shrew, he told himself. He'd seen beautiful women with quick tempers, and they quickly became less attractive. He moved to the next entry, but first, he thought prudently, he'd read it to himself.

He could hardly believe what he was reading. He looked over at her again. The gun was hers. Those men had no guns, not even rifles! That made him angry. If they didn't care about their own hides, they should have considered how they would protect the women. Reading that, he almost understood why she wanted her husband to go back home if he wasn't the kind of man who would protect her. If she were his wife he would do everything in his power to keep her safe from harm. He didn't know where that thought came from, but it was the truth. As far as he was concerned, she had more guts, not to mention sense, than all those men combined. He read this entry aloud as he kept his eye on her for any indication that she could hear him. When he said the word
father
, he was sure her eyelids fluttered.

He leaned over her. “Honey, are you awake? If you can hear me, just know you're safe and no one will hurt you here,” he told her softly. This time he was positive her eyelids moved, almost like she was too tired to open her eyes. “If you can, you need to wake up, you need something to eat. If you don't mind my saying so, you don't have any weight to lose.” His eyes roamed over the quilt covering her. She was delicately built, but he remembered what she looked like in her wet undergarments. To his way of thinking she was perfectly formed, with a lot of curves packed into a small frame, but she could use a few pounds. He continued talking to her until he fell asleep.

When Jake awoke, his first glance was at Promise. He scrambled to his knees when he saw that she had changed positions. “Honey, are you awake?” She didn't respond, so he checked the pulse at her neck. It was definitely stronger than before, but she was still asleep or unconscious. He wasn't sure what to call her condition. Last night, before he drifted off, he decided he'd ride back to Dodge City, find a doctor, and bring him to her. He also planned to find out if anyone from the small wagon train had stopped in Dodge. There was always a chance they'd stopped for supplies like he had. It wouldn't take him that long to get to town, and that seemed like the best alternative, not to mention he'd rest easier once a doctor checked her out.

 

 

When Jake walked through the door of the general store in Dodge, the owner recognized him from his first visit. A man his size was sure to draw attention, plus he had the most uncommon eyes, black as night, and an overall intimidating appearance. “Did you forget something?”

“No, I had some questions for you, if you don't mind.”

“Sure thing.” The owner stopped stacking cans on the shelf and moved to the counter.

“Do you remember if any men came in here just before my last visit who might have been with a wagon train?”

“Yessir, I do. Three men came in for supplies. They said they were from the Southeast coast and were going to Colorado.”

“Did they say where in Colorado?”

“No, they didn't say, but they told me they'd saved up for several years to make that trip. Said they had grown children in Colorado that they hadn't seen in a long time. Grandchildren too. Nice folks, but there was something odd about them.”

“How's that?”

“They weren't armed. Well, I didn't notice it myself, but some men who were in here buying some cartridges noticed, and told them they might run into Indians. I expected the travelers to say they left rifles with the other folks on the wagon train. But you know what they said?” He didn't wait for a response, saying, “They said they weren't even carrying guns, it was against their beliefs.” He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe what he'd heard. “Can you believe that? They were traveling all that way with no guns.”