Chapter 15

Jessie tried to hold back a smile as Doc hummed the tune to an old cowboy song beside her. The man always had a song of some kind in his head.

“How long have you been playing music, Doc?” she asked.

Doc looked over at her. “Since I was a wee little feller, I guess. My old man had a knack for the strings, and I guess he sorta passed it on to me.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, though,” Colt spoke up on the other side of her. “It wasn’t always what we considered music, but he’s gotten real good a plucking those strings, hasn’t he?”

Jessie smiled; proud that Colt had paid his friend a substantial compliment. “That he has,” she agreed.

Doc waved their compliments off with a wave of his hand, his face turning a little red at the direction the conversation was going.

He wasn’t an overly handsome man, with his skin tanned to the consistency of leather and his brown hair bleached by the sun, but he had a kind heart behind boyishly shiny brown eyes. To Jessie, an outward appearance meant nothing if the person behind the face was ugly. In her eyes, Doc was an attractive man who would someday need a good woman by his side. He was only about a year or two older than Colt, so he still had a few years left to sweep a young lady off her feet. Too bad she hadn’t heard of a single female around the Dottie Belle Ranch beside the aging cook.

However, she knew quite a few women back in South Carolina whom she would love to introduce to the likes of Doc Dawson.

“What’re you grinning about over there?” Colt’s voice broke through her thoughts.

She glanced over at him. “Just thinking, is all.”

“Mmm, that’s what scares me,” Colt teased with a smile.

She laughed. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t devising an evil plan or anything.”

At least not yet.

“Psh, I don’t believe it for a second.” Colt shook his head.

“Do you play any instruments, Miss Jessie?” Doc asked.

Jessie shifted her gaze to the man. “I play a little piano, but I’m afraid that it’s not worth hearing at the moment.”

“Eh, you’ll get better,” Doc nodded.

“My mother is teaching me. Daddy usually heads upstairs while Jake goes hunting when the time for lessons comes around.” Jessie smiled fondly at the memory of her family.

Doc smiled. “I’m sure you’re not that bad.”

“No really,” Jessie nodded. “I scare away the neighbor’s cat.”
Colt chuckled to her left and Jessie smiled.

A longing settled over her - a longing to see her family and know that they were okay, to let them know that she was okay.

She knew they were probably worried sick about her. She just hoped that they knew she was cared for… somehow.

*****

Myra looked at her attire in the mirror. Her riding outfit hadn’t been used in a while, but that was all about to change. Adam had permanently given up the search for her daughter, and she wasn’t about to let that happen. Jacob was equally angry, but he was still thinking about the next course of action while she was planning to not lose any time getting out to New Mexico herself.

“What are you doing, woman?”

Myra spun around at the sound of her husband’s voice.

“I… um… I’m going to search for our daughter myself,” She turned to the doorway and walked out, hearing his footsteps behind her.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Jacob asked.

“Dead serious, dear.”

“It’s too dangerous, Myra. Just give me a little time to think up a plan. Please?”

Myra walked down the stairs to the lower floor of the house. “I can’t sit idly anymore, Jacob. I’m very hurt that Adam is willing to give up so easily.”

“Don’t you see what that boy thinks, Myra? The reason he’s giving up is because… because…” Adam didn’t finish his sentence.

“Because what? I declare, Jacob. You're not talking clearly,” Myra pressed.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the parlor where Myra had a few bags packed.

“Don’t you see? Her tracks just stop in that little New Mexico town. Just stop. There’s no traces of her like there was before. She just disappeared.”

“What are you saying?” Myra faced him.

“I… I think that Adam might think that… that Jessie…” Jacob rubbed the side of his face and turned away from her.

Myra’s heart sank lower than it ever had. A sob tore at her throat until it finally broke loose.

“Don’t tell me that!” she cried through her tears.

“I’m trying to be honest with you, Myra,” Jacob’s voice was gravelly, as if he was trying to quench tears as well.

“I refuse to believe it,” Myra wiped at her face. “I simply refuse. There’s no proof that she’s… that she’s gone like that.”

“Adam doesn’t know what else to do, honey. He’s just as confused as we are,” Jacob stated.

Myra sniffled. “I won’t give up hope, Jacob. I can’t. If we lose hope, then what do we have?”

Jacob walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I understand,” he muttered.

Myra buried her face in his chest and fought back the tears that were threatening to reappear. “Please, keep my baby safe, Lord, “she prayed aloud. “Please don’t let anything happen to her. Wherever she is tonight, help her to have a sound roof over her head and a warm blanket around her.”

She clenched a fistful of her husband’s shirt in her hand and held him tight.

“Amen,” he whispered into her hair.

A moment passed, and then footfalls came down the hall.

“Well, I’ve had it. I’m riding out, and I don’t care who goes along. I’m gonna scour that town over until I can recognize ever rock within fifty square miles.” Jake’s voice echoed down the hall before he entered the room.

Myra pulled away from Jacob and looked up at him.

“I think…” Jacob thought a moment. “I think I need to pack a few things. Jake, get your mother’s things on her horse.”

*****

Colt watched the sunset out in the west, smiling as the vibrant colors of yellow, pink, and blue reached across the sky, fading in and out of each other as clouds drifted across them. He glanced over at

Jessie beside him, asleep against his shoulder. The bright light from the setting sun illuminated her face in an angelic glow. He smiled slightly as he watched her sleep, her breathing slow and steady.

“Need me to take the reins?” Doc teased.

Colt’s eyes immediately jerked back to the road. He cleared his throat. “No, I’m fine.”

Doc shook his head. “Reckon it’s about time to make camp? She’s tuckered out anyway.”

Colt shrugged. “I guess so.”

They rode on for a few more miles until they found a good place for a camp. The sun had sank lower until it left the sky only a dull grey color. Colt looked over at Jessie.

“What’re we gonna do about her, Dawson?” he asked, pulling the horses to a stop.

“What about her?”

“We can’t keep her from Sherman forever. He’ll get suspicious. If he doesn’t, then Bliss will. What’s gonna happen when they find out?”

Doc sighed. “Reckon we can wait to cross the bridge when we come to it. If you want, you could even go ahead and let Bliss know. She could help us hide Miss Jessie from her daddy, don’t ya think?”

“I think this is one big mess and I have no idea what to do with it.” Colt rubbed his face, resting his elbow on his knee.

Doc was silent for a moment. “What do you want to do about it?”

“I don’t know. I want to help her, I just… I just don’t know. This whole thing is a little shady to me. A woman stranded out here all by herself without even a horse, that is. Either she’s plumb loony or there’s something - or someone - she’s hiding. And the girl can’t even remember.” Colt propped his foot up beside Jessie’s and sighed deeply.

The tension built up in him was refusing to loosen up, and he was tired of being stressed about his life. He’d been nothing but stressed since Clint Slade rode up to that porch and started tagging along after Bliss. Something about his life the past few months was nothing but unfair.

God, I didn’t even ask for Jessie to be put in my life. All of these problems are starting to weigh on me, Lord. I need some sort of break - some way to have a little control over something again.

“Well, let’s get a fire started. It’s starting to get cold,” Doc hopped off the wagon, jolting it in the process.

Colt sent him a look. “Do you wanna wake her up?” he asked in a loud whisper.

Doc held up his hands and mouthed an apology. Colt rolled his eyes and wondered how he was going to get Jessie off the wagon and down on the ground without waking her up. She needed all the rest she could get.

He sighed and got off the wagon with careful motions. He laid out her bedroll and a few extra blankets before walking about to the wagon and standing on the wheel. Leaning over, he put one arm under her knees and another around her shoulders. He picked her up and held her close to him, trying his best not to let her wake. She mumbled something and squirmed.

Colt held his breath.

Without opening her eyes, Jessie turned her head toward him and rested the side of her face on his chest. Colt’s heart softened at that moment. Maybe he didn’t mind the stress of her that much.

Stepping down off the wagon, he stilled for a moment to make sure that she was still sound asleep. He looked at the healing wound on the side of her head, grateful that she didn’t wear head bandages anymore. The things might help her some, but they took up half of her head and some of her pretty hair and kept it from anyone’s view.

Shaking his head at the rogue thoughts, he carried her over to where he had made her a place to sleep and lay her gently on the ground. Pulling his arms out from under her, he stilled when her hand caught his arm. His eyes snapped to her face, but her eyes were still closed.

“Adam,” she mumbled. “Don’t do this. Please, Adam.”

Colt didn’t dare move a muscle. If she was dreaming, that would be one thing, but if she were remembering…

“No,” she whimpered, gripping his arm tighter. “Jake… Daddy… someone…”

Her head snapped to the left, then the right. She shook her head in pain until Colt couldn’t take it anymore. He put one hand on the side of her face in an attempt to wake her up, but her grip lessened on his arm and distracted him. She eased back into a peaceful sleep, without mumbling strange things or snapping her head back and forth. Colt sat back on his heels and pushed his hat up on his forehead.

What was wrong with the woman?

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the blankets and covered her with them just as Doc returned with some wood to burn.

“What happened?” he asked when he saw Colt’s expression.

“She’s acting weird.” Colt told him about Jessie dreaming as they built a fire.

“It’s probably just a bad dream,” Doc shrugged.

“Or a nightmare… about something that happened in the past? She had one last night about that man in her hotel room,” Colt replied.

Doc took a deep breath. “I… I don’t know. This whole thing is beginning to give me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Same here, Dawson.” Colt glanced back at Jessie. “We’ve got to protect her. Whatever she’s running from, it’s stronger than she is. We’ve got to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

Doc looked at him and gave him an emphatic nod. “I agree.”

In that moment, Jessie became more than a problem or inconvenience. She became their problem. Whatever awaited her once her parents got Colt’s telegram, there would be two people who would stand behind her no matter what task came about.

*****

“Myra Steele, where in the name of everything sensible are you going?” Missy screeched.

Myra looked down at her friend from where she sat atop her horse.

“I’m going to find my daughter, Missy,” she explained.

“Going to… Does Jacob know about this?” Missy asked, placing her fists on her hips.

“He knows. He’s going with me, along with Jake,” Myra answered.

“It ain’t proper, Myra!”

“I know, but I can’t sit idle anymore, Missy. I’ll go outta my mind if I stare at that empty house any longer,” Myra told her friend.

“These types of things are meant to be left to the men, Myra. I never thought I’d live to see the day when Myra Steele stepped away from being the woman of the house.” Missy shook her head.

Myra took a deep breath. “I owe you no explanation, Missy, but I’m going to give one to you. There comes a time when a woman has to do what she wants, no matter what everyone else thinks. I agree that this should be left to the men, but I have to assist and Lord help me, I will. My baby girl is out there not knowing where she is and apparently has no way to get back home. I need to go find her. If finding my daughter causes me calluses, then so be it. Some things are worth being ungraceful about.”

Missy cast her eyes down to the ground. “I can’t say that I would have the courage in your situation, Myra.”

“I was born and bred down here in the good raising of the South. My momma didn’t raise a weakling, but she raised a lady. Every now and then, a lady has to break the laws of etiquette and do something foolish,” Myra lifted her jaw a notch in determination.

“Take care of yourself, Myra. Bring Jessie home.” Missy reached up and clasped Myra’s hand in hers.

“Keep an eye on that future son-in-law of mine, will you?” Myra asked.

“You know I will,” Missy’s eyes twinkled.

A voice echoed down the street to them. “Mrs. Steele! Wait up!”

“Speak of the devil,” Missy said as she rolled her eyes.

Myra lifted her head and watched at the blonde-headed Sheriff jogged down the street toward her.

She glanced around for signs of her husband, but found him nowhere. He and Jake were probably unable to get away from the talkative livery owner, so she would have to handle Adam herself this time.

“I heard you were planning on riding out after Jessie,” Adam said as he neared.

Myra nodded. “You heard correctly.”

“I came to see if I could dissuade you. This is dangerous and quite possibly all for nothing. Why don’t you leave this to me? I know what I’m doing,” Adam told her.

Myra resisted the urge to roll her eyes, keeping her graceful charm about her. “With all due respect, Sheriff, this is my daughter we’re talking about. It’s to my understanding that it is as much my right to go find her as it is yours, if not more so. I’m failing to see how this possibly affects you.”

Adam put his hands on his hips and pursed his lips, thinking a moment before saying his next words. “You’ve got to trust me, ma’am. I love Jessie as much as you do…”

“Boy, you better watch you mouth!” The words flew out of Myra’s mouth before she could stop them. Missy glared up at her, shocked at her outburst. Equally shocking was the words that followed. “If you indeed loved my daughter as much as you claimed, then you would not be convinced to give up on her so easily. I don’t care if you think she’s dead or whatever it is you think, but I refuse to give up hope not only out of duty, but also out of love. I gave birth to that girl. I slaved over her when she was sick. I beat the only boy who tried to break her heart with a rolling pin. I held her in my arms for countless nights as she wept over a broken heart. You’ve only really known her for the past few years. You cannot possibly say that you love her as much as I do. That entire idea is preposterous.”

Myra clamped a hand over her mouth before more words could come out.

Adam gaped at her. Missy gasped at her.

What was she saying?

This was not the woman she was. Where did those words even come from?

Lord, forgive me.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her graceful way of speech returning to her. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that.”

“You’re under a lot of stress right now. That is exactly why I think you should think this thing over for a few more days before you leave town,” Adam told her.

Myra sighed deeply. “I trust you, as a level-headed young man, to trust my husband and I to make our own decisions. Thank you for your concern, but it is completely unnecessary.”

With that, she turned her horse to face toward the livery and rode away from the young Sheriff.

Now more than ever, that young man had a lot to prove to the Steele family.

Sorry it's been so long in coming! Thank you all for reading! It means the whole world to me! I mean that, I'm not just saying it! I don't know what I'd do without each and every one of you! Please leave a comment/review, and vote! :D Thanks again! Let me know what you think :)