“Everyone makes mistakes when it comes to love. I’m sure I will, too.”
Jinx eyed the woman, thinking how much she liked her. If they didn’t live in different states, miles from each other, they could be good friends. She was going to be sorry to see Ella go when the job was over. “You seem like a woman with her head squarely set on her shoulders.”
Ella laughed. “Maybe. At least when it comes to some things. I’ve seen my cousins make fools out of themselves over love. I swear I’m not going to do it, but then again no man has ever swept me off my feet. I’ve seen what love has done to some of my seemingly normal friends, as well.”
Jinx knew the woman was trying to make her feel better. Just talking to her did. She stared into the flames, letting them lull her for a while before she pushed to her feet. She had no idea what tomorrow would bring other than thunderstorms, but she needed to at least try to sleep.
“You’ll put the fire out?” Ella nodded. “Sleep well. We leave again at daybreak.” With that, she turned and left.
The weight of the job ahead and the day in the saddle pressed on her. Taking her bedroll Jinx found herself a spot some distance from the others. Spreading it out, she lay down and stared up at the night sky through the pine boughs. She’d never seen so many stars—even back at the ranch—as she did up here. Breathing in the last scent of the campfire and the pines, she closed her eyes. She found herself smiling, glad she’d hired on the Savage brothers and their cousin Ella.
Exhausted, she fell asleep, only to be awakened to what sounded like gunfire and yelling.
Chapter Five
Angus woke to what he soon recognized as the banging of pots and pans, followed by cussing. He sat up abruptly, afraid T.D. had found their camp already. He turned in the direction of the racket. Through dawn’s thin haze he saw Max standing next to the chuckwagon, his shoulders hunched in anger, a large dented pan in one hand and a huge spoon in the other. He was beating the bottom of the pot and staring off into the trees. What the—
Rolling out of his sleeping bag, Angus pulled on his boots and strapped on his gun, then headed for Max. “What happened?”
“The son of a bee broke into the wagon, made a mess and took most of our food,” Max said, toning down his cursing as Jinx quickly joined them.
“Who broke into the chuckwagon?” she asked, sounding as confused by what she’d awakened to as he’d been.
Max huffed. “Dang black bear. Made a hell of a mess. I heard someone moving around in the wagon.” Max slept under the wagon, but was clearly a heavy sleeper. “I looked in half-asleep and there are these red eyes staring out at me. ’Bout scared me out of my wits.”
Angus chuckled and relaxed. He’d been afraid it was T.D. or someone in camp who’d gotten into their food.
“I thought you kept the food up so the bears couldn’t get into it?”
“Had it locked up, but these bears... Smart as whips. Figured out how to get into the container, I guess. I should have hoisted it up in a tree, but I thought for sure it was safe in the metal box.”
“How bad is it?” Jinx asked.
“You mean other than the mess?” Max rubbed his grizzled jaw for a moment. “Bear got all the meat. I’d say that was enough, wouldn’t you? We have at least two more days up here before we head back. It can’t be done on empty stomachs.”
“Can we make do with what the bear didn’t get?” she asked quietly as if not wanting the whole camp to know about this.
Angus figured it was too late for that given the racket Max had made. He could tell that the older man was still shaken by coming face-to-face with the bear. As he looked over his shoulder, he saw Brick and Ella were headed this way.
Max stared at the ground for a moment. Angus could tell that the bear had startled the cook. Max had scared it away by banging the spoon on the bottom of the pan—which now looked like the surface of the moon.
“We still have flour and sugar, salt and lard.” Max raised his head. “I hope you like biscuits.”
“I love biscuits,” Angus said. “Also, I can get a couple of blue grouse and my cousin Ella is one hell of a fisherwoman.” He turned and caught Ella’s eye. She nodded and turned back to her gear. If he knew her, she’d have some fish from the creek for Max to fry in minutes. “We’ll be fine,” he said, turning back to Jinx and Max. “It’s only a few days.”
“Three to get back out of the mountains.” Jinx smiled at him and mouthed “Thank you,” before turning her attention to Max again. “We’ll make do.”
Max nodded sullenly. Clearly, he hated being outwitted by a bear. Not to mention the rude awakening he’d had. Jinx was also visibly upset about the loss of the food, but she appeared to be holding it in as if afraid that letting it out would only make things worse.
“Get some breakfast going,” Jinx said. “I’ll get the others up. If they aren’t already.” As she started to walk away, she touched Angus’s arm. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
He followed her away from the chuckwagon and Max for a short distance before she stopped and turned to him. “A bear.” She shook her head as if relieved it hadn’t been T.D. “Sure gave Max a scare.” She let out a huff of a laugh. “I had expected trouble but I figured it would come from T.D. and his buddies.” She sobered. “I know him. He won’t be far behind, though. Still, my first thought was that maybe Cash or
