When he opened his eyes, the room seemed brighter, his heart lighter. He drew in a breath, raised his head, and listened as Mr. Yates spoke of devotion, dedication, and determination. All Will could think about was the future. Kate didn’t release his hand until the minister had finished speaking and closed the service.
“Thank you,” she said as she rose and smiled at him.
Will shook his head. “I should be thanking you. That was good.”
Her smile widened. “I agree. Come meet Mr. Yates.”
Once he would have balked. Now, as Danny ran to see Private Smith on the geyser field, Will accompanied Kate up to the minister. The fellow’s eyes crinkled behind his spectacles as Kate introduced Will.
“So, this is the famous Lieutenant Prescott I keep hearing so much about,” he said, shaking Will’s hand.
“And you’re the famous Mr. Yates,” Will countered.
The minister laughed, releasing him. “I don’t know about famous. At least I’m not infamous.” He turned to Kate, face sobering. “And I don’t generally pass along gossip, but I thought you should know what I heard at the Fire Hole Hotel, Mrs. Tremaine.”
Kate frowned. “More rumors about the Geyser Gateway?”
“No, indeed,” he assured her. “I don’t generally stop there, but I saw more coaches than usual, so I thought I’d see if anyone required my services.” He tugged down on his waistcoat. “They did not. A rough bunch there at the moment.”
“We keep an eye on them,” Will told him. “At least, we did until this fire commandeered our time.”
“Now that the fire’s out, you might want to stop by this afternoon,” the minister replied. “I understand Roy Jessup was recently seen in the vicinity.”
Kate stiffened. So did Will.
“They told you that?” he asked.
The minister glanced between them. “I heard his name mentioned and went so far as to inquire. He was swapping stories in the gentlemen’s room there only yesterday.”
A blaze built inside him, hotter than the inferno they’d fought. “I’ll ride up this afternoon.”
“Do you think he could have anything to do with our fire after all?” Kate asked, face tight.
“I should hope not,” Mr. Yates said. “But I know he’s been associated with arson in the past. I just thought you should be warned.”
Kate thanked him for his trouble, but Will’s mind raced. Sergeant Nadler and Elijah had been sure the poacher was out of the park by now. But if he had been as close to the Geyser Gateway as the Fire Hole Hotel, he could have started the fire that threatened the area.
As the minister turned to speak to Mrs. Pettijohn, Will stepped aside with Kate.
“I don’t like it,” she said. “Jessup, at the Fire Hole? What’s he doing? You could ride by at any time.”
“Once the denizens of the Geyser Gateway arrived with news of the fire, he had to realize it was keeping us busy,” Will pointed out.
“But did he need to learn about the fire from Alberta and the others?” she asked, eyes narrowing. “Or could he have set it after all, to flush game?”
“I wondered the same thing, but you said it yourself: there were no major herds in the area.”
Her eyes widened, and she clutched his arm. “That’s it, Will! He located that one bison north of here. He must believe there are others nearby. He was trying to scare them into moving and revealing themselves.”
Will nodded. “The season’s nearly over. Nadler found his pack and the buffalo hide and pieces. Jessup must have nothing to show for his efforts. He’s getting desperate.”
And desperate men did desperate things, which meant Kate, Danny, and her beloved buffalo were in danger.
26
Jessup, in her own backyard? Kate’s hands bunched at her sides. The need to run to their special spot, count every shaggy head, nearly pushed her out the door. But Will had the right of it. Better to track this rumor to its source.
Still, she was on pins and needles for the rest of the afternoon, until he returned from the guard station.
“No sign of him,” he reported, hitching Bess to the post as Kate leaned out over the veranda railing. “No one noticed which way he went when he left. No one knew where he’d been holed up before reaching the hotel. But we’re alerted to his presence now, Kate. If he’s still in Yellowstone, we’ll find him.”
She wished she could believe that. Will and his commander had thought Jessup gone twice before. He could have headed anywhere in the millions of acres that composed Yellowstone. The cavalry could only cover so much ground.
So could Will. He pulled off his gauntlet. “I’ll walk the geyser field. Care to join me?” He held out his hand.
Miss Pringle and Mrs. Pettijohn were inside packing. Mr. Jones remained closeted in his room. No other visitors from the Fire Hole were on the field. There was no reason to patrol, but she recognized the gesture. A gentleman courting a lady might ask her to walk through the park on a Sunday afternoon. Here the park was all around.
Kate came down the steps and took his hand. “I’d be delighted.”
How many times had she strolled this path over the years? It had never felt so comfortable, so companionable.
“Which one’s your favorite?” he asked as if they were discussing dresses instead of mighty geysers.
“Jelly,” she admitted with a nod toward the southwest. “The color reminds me of huckleberries. What about you?”
“I like something with a little more height,” he said as they rounded the mud pots. He raised his voice over the plop-plop. “Fountain reaches for the sky.”
“We’ll have to go back to the Norris Geyser Basin,” she said as they turned for Silex Spring, the scent of sulfur hovering like a dandy’s perfume. “Steamboat Geyser can reach three hundred feet. It’s the largest in the park.”
He tucked her arm closer. “If we go back to Norris, it will be after I leave the Army. I’m not sharing you with Nadler and his
