Chapter 22
JESSICA
I watch Reggie ride off with my heart in my throat.
The closer we get to our final destination, the more worried I get, as I know this fairy tale is getting ready to end.
I fight the tears that are forming in my eyes, only to laugh when Zeus bumps my knee.
That big animal misses nothing. I rub his nose gently, as my thoughts drift off to the last few days and nights we have spent together.
I can still feel Reggie’s hand grasping my breast when we woke up this morning.
And the weight of his arm around my waist, where he has held me close all night.
The nights have become a place where I struggle with my own morals.
Physically, my desires tell me to turn and be held by him, without thinking about the outcome.
I know he wants me physically, as the proof is normally always visible or lying hard against my lower back, but I know I simply can’t …
won’t allow myself to take that next step.
No matter how I wish otherwise, I want it all and if I can’t have it, then I need to be able to walk away with my head held high, even if I do leave my heart behind with him.
I’ve had a taste of what being his is like, and I know I could never be pushed to the side watching as he loved another.
Zeus stomping has me looking up, and I can see he is getting uneasy.
So, I reach out and grab his bridle, so he doesn’t take off on me, and look to see what’s upset him.
Several wagons lay in pieces down the sharp embankment we’re basically crawling through, and suddenly, I feel Jacob slowing the wagon down.
Once it’s stopped, I jump off the back, but tie Zeus to the back railing so that he doesn’t follow me.
Jacob sets the brake on the wagon and climbs off the seat, both of us walking over toward the edge of this steep hill.
I watch nervously as Reggie maneuvers Bells down the long embankment, and I know he is looking for survivors.
“Jacob, do you think they got too close to the edge?”
“No, Miss Jessie, something fierce picked them up and threw them down there, and by the discoloration on those tarps, it doesn’t look recent either.
More than likely a spring twister; they can come out of nowhere, and if someone got stuck in a valley like this …
well, there wouldn’t be anywhere to escape it. ”
“Should we make our way down? What if someone needs help?”
“You don’t need worry yourself with such matters, Miss Jessie. If Mr. Kerns finds anything, he’ll let us know. Maybe you should make a midday snack for the men; it’s been a long morning.”
“You’re simply trying to get me to go back to the wagon, aren’t you, Jacob?”
“Yes, ma’am, but I am feeling a bit peckish, so I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind a little something either.”
“Fine, I’ll go throw something together. I really don’t want to see what I believe is down there. My heart is already breaking simply thinking about the loved ones lost.”
I walk back to the wagon, lost in my own thoughts as I gather up the last of the ham and the extra bacon I’d fixed this morning, and placing several pieces on the leftover biscuits before setting everything in a basket to pass out to the men.
Just as I am putting a few things away, it seems like the woods and everything around me get eerily quiet, and before I can react, I see a huge animal rearing up behind me, with large hooves so close to my face I feel the air off them as I push myself hard against the wagon’s gate.
The wagon is literally being pulled backward as Zeus fights the knot I’d tied to the railing, while Coco is trying to stomp a mountain lion to death.
Somehow, I manage to scramble up onto the back of the wagon and grab my rifle out of Zeus’ saddle, only to fire it into the air when I realize I can’t get a clear shot around Coco.
A high-pitched squeal is the only sound I hear before the mountain lion runs off limping, suggesting Coco managed to land some effective kicks.
She stands there, stomping, snorting, and pawing at the ground, agitated.
My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest as I realize she probably just saved my life.
I was so wrapped up in everything going on and getting the food for the guys that I wasn’t paying attention to anything else around me.
I am just getting ready to jump down off the back when a strong set of hands grabs me. Instantly, I wrap myself around the familiar body, allowing myself a minute to fall apart as I know I am finally safe. Holding me with one arm, Reggie’s other hand is tracing my body.
“Dear God, Jessica, are you okay? What the hell happened? Thank God those horses are as protective as they are.”
With tears flowing down my cheeks, I lean back, pushing on him to let me go. “Is Coco alright? Did it hurt her?”
Reggie only holds me tighter. “She’s fine. Jacob is checking her over right now. God, Jess, when I heard that shot, I panicked. I didn’t even know I could run that fast.”
Something grabs the end of my braid, and I laugh through the tears.
I reach out a hand so that Zeus knows I am all right.
Suddenly, I am surrounded as the others have also come running, though more slowly, since they had to make their way back up the hill.
Now that I think about it, I am not sure how Reggie got to me so fast. Reggie slowly lowers me to the ground as I am circled by concerned faces.
Little Henry has tears in his eyes, and I reach over, pulling him into me, kissing the top of his head.
“Hey, will you go make sure Zeus didn’t hurt himself? He was pulling on that lead rope pretty hard!”
“Yes, Miss Jess, I will … don’t you worry none. I will fix him right up.”
He runs around Deven and Jacob straight to Zeus, and I see Marcus’ smile as he knows I was simply trying to get his young mind off the ‘what ifs’. Jacob hands me Coco’s reins, and even though they all said she is fine, I need to see it for myself.
“Thank you, pretty girl. I owe you my life.”
She nuzzles the top of my head before turning and heading back to Zeus’ side, where she had been standing when that mountain lion was sneaking up on me. Colby looks white as a ghost when he sees the hair on the ground where Coco must have made contact.
“Jessie, maybe you should move your stuff to the middle wagon. I am not comfortable with you being back here alone; that thing could have dragged you off, and none of us would have known it until it was too late.”
“Thank you, Colby, but I am fine where I am. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t terrified, but thankfully, the horses were alert, and no one got hurt. I do believe we’ve all gotten a little too comfortable, and I am not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”
I can tell he wants to argue with me, but I take a deep breath and grab the basket that I had fixed for all of them.
“Since you are all here, you may as well eat. Reggie, I don’t want to know the gory details, but what did you find down there?”
“Someone buried the bodies, but no one came away from that unscathed. There are a few chests I am going to have the men bring up that seem to contain pictures and other personal items. Once we get to town, I’ll ask around and see if anyone has family heading this way and pass them along if we do.
If we leave them here, it will just be torn apart by wild animals. ”
“Do you think something came upon them abruptly?”
“No clue, but those wagons were not driven down that bank; they were thrown there. I would say it was a tornado, but it’s just a guessing game at this point. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m a little shook up, but the show must go on. Now that doesn’t mean I won’t have nightmares about this later, but I know we’re wasting daylight.”
Reggie can see right through my act as I am still slightly shaking.
He grabs the basket out of my hand, giving it to Jacob, before picking me up off the ground and walking away from the men.
Hugging his neck tightly, I bury my nose in the crook of his neck, trying to absorb his strength, as mine seems to be failing me right now.
He walks to the top of the ridge, sitting us down on a large rock that’s overlooking a huge valley of oddly shaped rocks and wind-carved formations.
When he rearranges me on his lap, I realize I am not the only one shaking.
“I am going to hear that horse screaming and that shot for the rest of my life. I don’t think I have ever been that scared before, Jess.”
“If it makes you feel better, me either.”
“Why didn’t you shoot the damn thing?”
“Couldn’t get a clear shot around Coco, and I was scared I’d hurt her. I was hoping the sound would scare it off, but it was determined. I am not sure if it was the food or me it was after, to be honest.”
“For once, I agree with Colby, you were an easy target back there alone.”
“I’ve been fine up to this point, Reggie. I am not moving now.”
We both sit there in silence. I have no idea what is going through his head, but mine is all over the place. I realize how quickly all my hopes and dreams … even my wants … could have all been erased within seconds. One thing that is guaranteed about life is the constant unexpectedness of it.