He rode into the yard of the Geyser Gateway, and Danny hopped off the porch to meet him as he reined in. “Lieutenant Prescott! You have to come with me.”
Caleb ran from the side of the hotel and offered to take charge of Bess. Will thanked him, patted the horse, and turned to Danny. “Something wrong?”
Danny’s blue eyes sparkled. “No. Ma’s going to show you our special spot.”
He raised his head to eye the door of the hotel. “That so?”
Danny nodded. “And you’re going to like it. I know you will.”
The door opened, and Kate swept out onto the porch. “Will! Care to go for a walk?”
“Wherever you want to lead,” Will assured her.
She raised her brows as she came down the steps. “That could be a dangerous offer.”
“No, ma’am,” Will said, meeting her. “I’ve never been in better hands. And I hear it has something to do with a secret.”
Danny giggled.
“Go on then,” Kate said with an arch look to her son. “You know the way.”
Danny ran for the path to the Firehole footbridge.
“So,” Will said as he walked beside Kate, “I finally get to see what’s off-limits.”
“You do,” she said, lifting her blue skirts out of a muddy patch on the path.
“What changed your mind?” he asked.
She cast him a glance. “I was praying.”
His mouth felt as dry as if he’d tasted some of the chalky dust of the trail. “About me?”
“And about me,” she acknowledged. “I realized you’ve been nothing but a help, to Yellowstone, to the Geyser Gateway, to me. You deserve to see this.”
And he could only feel humbled yet again.
She let Danny lead them until they reached the opening in the hills near where they had played baseball yesterday. Then she called the boy back to them. As soon as he reached her side, she put a hand on his shoulder and looked to Will.
“Will, what you are about to see only Danny and I know about,” she said, gaze serious.
“And Pa,” Danny put in. “He found it first.”
Kate nodded. “And even though Danny’s father was one of the most talkative men I’ve ever met, he never told another soul except me and Danny. Promise me you will take this secret to your grave.”
She was so intent. He couldn’t imagine what her late husband had found that would drive such devotion. But he had a duty too. “I can’t promise you that without knowing how the secret will affect my position.”
She scrunched up her lips a moment. “What if I promise this has nothing to do with the Army?”
Danny glanced back and forth between them as if he couldn’t decide who would persuade the other.
“Can you make that promise?” Will challenged her.
She blew out a breath. “I suppose not. But the Army came to protect Yellowstone, all of Yellowstone. This comes under that mandate.”
He could not deny his curiosity, or his responsibility. “Very well. I promise to protect Yellowstone with my dying breath.”
She raised her head. “This way.”
She started for the meadow, Danny darting ahead, as agile as a squirrel. Had Will missed something at the game yesterday? Surely there weren’t geysers or hot springs in the area. He’d have noticed. And Kate herself had said there was nothing of interest to her guests.
She stepped out of the trees, then put out an arm to stop him from going any farther. Danny stopped too, gaze on the sunlit grass.
Sunlit grass covered in bison.
Some lay, contentedly chewing. Others moved slowly, calmly, heads lowered as they grazed, beards swinging. Tawny youngsters, most likely born that spring, bounded around each other, teasing, until a mother bumped one back into line.
They were massive, they were grand. They were the last of their kind.
Unthinking, Will took a step forward. The largest, with shoulders nearly as high as Will, raised her head and sniffed the air, black eyes glittering as she glanced Will’s way. As if she’d taken his measure, she lowered her head and kept grazing.
“The wind is blowing our scent away,” Kate said, voice as soft as her look. “Unless we shout or do something equally stupid, they won’t take off or approach.”
“Good.” He certainly didn’t want them stampeding. That mass would trample them if the horns didn’t sever an artery or puncture a lung first.
“This is their favorite place in the park,” Danny said, keeping stiller than any time Will had seen.
“One of them, anyway,” Kate said. “There’s another meadow beyond, through those trees, with a thermal spring that’s just cool enough to be drinkable a few yards from the source. This location is the best-kept secret in Yellowstone—where the bison overwinter. Hunters have been searching for years. We can never let them know about it.”
“That’s why you didn’t want me to patrol here,” Will said. “Why you tried to dissuade Lieutenant Kingman from using the meadow. How did you make them invisible yesterday?”
“I suggested they move into the northern meadow,” Kate said.
Will chuckled, shaking his head. Somehow, he could see even that lead female listening to her. Everyone else did.
That bison was moving now, one hoof placed precisely before the other. The rest rose, followed her toward the trees. Tribes had revered the shaggy beasts; hunters had coveted their hides, their heads. He knew the statistics. Where once millions had roamed the prairies, now fewer than six hundred were known throughout the nation, many in private herds. Most of the wild animals were in Yellowstone.
“You have my word,” Will said, “I will tell no one about this place, these animals. I will do all I can to protect them.”
Her smile blended faith and hope. It reached inside him, brightened the darkest places.
And he knew then that he would have to find a way to tell her the truth, about his past, and his growing feelings for her.
19
He understood. Kate could see it in Will’s rapt expression, hear it in his gravelly voice as he vowed to protect the
