Cindy Holby [Wind 01] Chase the Wind (epub)

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.They had been struggling to make it home before the rain came, but a rock slide had turned them around, causing them to lose time.They stabled their horses and slopped through the deserted yard, knowing everyone else was warm and dry.They were both starved, so they went to Grace’s cabin first, hoping to find a bite to tide them over until dinner was ready.Grace met them at the door with a dazzling smile.“Where have you been?” she asked as they stood dripping on the porch.“Doing our job, and now we’re hungry.Let us in, Grace,” Jamie begged.His hair was soaking and rivers were running down his neck.“Oh, no, you are not coming in here until you get out of those wet clothes.”“Grace, we are starved.Give us a biscuit or something,” Chase begged.Grace shook her head, afraid to say anything more.Jamie looked at her as if she had lost her mind, but she just slammed the door in their faces.They stood looking at the closed portal in shock, then turned to go to the bunkhouse.Grace cracked the door when they had got off the porch, then quietly followed, pulling a shawl over her head to protect herself from the rain.Zane pulled open the door to the bunkhouse before they even got to the porch and put his finger over his mouth to hush Jamie and Chase’s grumbling that had started as soon as they stepped off Grace’s porch.“Has everyone around here lost their minds?” Jamie whispered angrily at Zane as he pulled off his slicker.The rest of the boys were looking at him with big grins on their faces, and Jamie turned to Chase, who was looking at Jamie’s bunk.A golden braid was dangling over the edge of the bunk, and above it was a gracefully curved back, and long, lean legs.Jamie took a step towards the bunk, his eyes wide and staring.Chase caught the eyes of the boys, who all nodded, and he looked toward the bunk in eager anticipation.Jamie reached out and took the braid in his hand, rubbing the silken strands between his fingers before he gave it a gentle tug.A hand reached back to grab the braid, and he jerked on it harder, pulling the head around so that he was looking into a pair of deep blue eyes.Recognition hit her like a shot, and Jenny propelled herself out of the bunk, launching herself into Jamie’s arms with such force that they hit the floor with a crash, becoming a tangled pile of long leg and arms and flying hair.Grace came through the door and looked on in tearful joy as the rest of the boys laughed at the whirling mass before them.Jenny and Jamie were both talking at once as they untangled themselves and stood.Both were wiping tears away, from themselves and each other.“When?” one said, “Where?” the other asked, and both of them were saying, “I looked for you.”“Both of you, sit down,” Grace finally said as the confusion went on.They looked at her; then Jamie led Jenny to the table and they sat, still holding on to each other’s hands.“Everyone else, out!” Grace commanded, and the boys filed out, slapping Jamie on the back, wanting to share in his joy.“Chase, wait,” Jamie said as Chase started out the door.“No, I’ll catch you later.” Jenny looked up into Chase’s dark eyes and saw that they were shining as if he, too, had been crying.His face held a sweet smile as he looked at her.That last morning they had been together, when she had spun around the room in joy, flashed through her mind.“Chase, thank you,” she said softly.“For what?”“Being there for Jamie.”Jamie grinned at his friend.“It wasn’t easy, believe me.” Chase grinned back and left.“Oh, Jamie, you look just like Dad,” Jenny cried when they were alone.Jamie smoothed back the wild hairs that had escaped her braid.“And you are so beautiful.”“I am?”“Jenny where did you go? We followed your trail up into the mountains.We found a burned-out wagon and the bodies of the folks that took you, but there was no sign of you.I was so afraid you were dead, too.”“The Millers—they’re dead?”“Yes, we found them in Indian territory.Looked like they’d been attacked.I didn’t know where to look after that.”“I was in Texas.”“Texas! How in the world did you get to Texas?”“I was picked up by a fellow who thought I’d make a nice addition to his whorehouse,” Jenny explained with a hard look in her eye.“I didn’t hang around there too long, I can tell you.Once I escaped, I started making my way back to St.Jo.”“If only I had gone back to St.Jo,” Jamie said.“But when the trail turned cold, we kept looking further west.”“There is no way you could have known, and you still might have missed me.I don’t know how long I was wandering before Storm found me.”“Storm?”“Yes, Storm found me, out on the plains.I’d been shot—it’s a long story—and I’d lost a lot of blood.I got on his back, and he took me to Gray Horse.”“Chase and I went to him, too, but that was at the beginning of our search.” He put his arm around her.“God, I hate to think what you’ve been through just to survive.It isn’t easy, being on your own, and I know it had to be harder for you than for Chase and me because you’re a woman.”“That’s why I cut my hair, so I could pass as a boy.It seems every man I came across wanted to make me into a whore.”“But they didn’t.”“No, I managed to survive intact, if that’s what you mean.”“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.I knew you would find a way to get away from the Millers, but I never dreamed that someone else would be waiting there to snatch you up.”“You and Chase have been together the entire time?”Jamie showed her the faint scar across his palm.“We’re blood brothers.He is the one who kept me going; he knew we were going to see you again when I thought you were dead.He never gave up on you, and he was always there for me.I don’t know what I would have done without him.”“I’m glad he was there for you.”“You should tell him that.”“I will.” The sound of Jamie’s stomach growling brought them back to the present.“I am starving,” he said as he rubbed the sound away.“I’m glad to see that hasn’t changed any.”He grinned at her and shoved his hair back off his forehead.“Let’s go get something to eat, if there’s anything left over there [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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