Jordy listened while Jack told him about his conversation with Sierra, refraining from any interruption. Jack noticed that his foster son’s eyes glistened with the tears Jack had not summoned when J. T.’s death was mentioned.
Finally, Jordy asked a question. “And you never explained to Sierra that you didn’t know about J. T.? That Emily was leaving you?”
“I didn’t see the point of it. She likely wouldn’t have believed me and would have thought I was defaming her grandmother.”
“You should have stood up for yourself, Jack. That’s what you always told me to do with liars.”
“Maybe I will later when I find the right way to say it. Anyhow, that’s pretty much the story. I wanted to ask her more about J. T., but I didn’t think the time was right for either of us. It is a strange feeling when you can’t see the face of your child in your mind. I’ve been sitting here thinking about what might have been different in my life if I had known about J. T. I’d have quit the Rangers, so I would’ve been nearby even if Emily and I couldn’t stick it out as husband and wife—and the chances of that were slim to none.”
Jordy said, “I wouldn’t have been your foster son then. I’d probably be dead or on the way to the reservation with a Comanche band, if you and your Ranger company hadn’t shown up at our burning wagon. My folks and little sister were already dead, and I was just lucky to have crawled to the ravine while they were doing their looting and maiming. I can still hear Ma screaming while they took her. But they knew I was around. They would have found me if you hadn’t showed up. Then you took me in and left the Rangers. Rudy, too. And you brought me here and raised me up, gave me another dad, and an uncle, too. I am lucky this Emily didn’t get ahold of you. A lot of folks are. This ranch would not have been. The jobs would not have been here and the caring for and schooling of the ranch and freighting families.”
“You are overstating my influence a mite, Jordy. But it is strange how every day we make what seems an insignificant decision at the time or take a little turn that changes the course of our lives and maybe those of countless others. And we don’t know—and they don’t either—what event triggered it all.”
Jordy said, “And now Sierra’s shown up here. Things are going to be different than if she had not. I wonder if it is going to be good different or bad different?”
Jack said, “It might be some of both.”
Chapter Ten
Jack endured a fitful sleep that night. It had nothing to do with his nightly battle with Thor for an equal share of the bed. He simply could not turn his mind away from the quest to recover the stolen horses and the stunning revelation, delivered by a previously unknown descendant, that he had sired a child many years ago. These thoughts struggled for his attention, none ever truly winning out.
He dropped off to sleep several times to be awakened soon after with an urgency to relieve his bladder. Three or four times nightly these days, he pulled out the chamber pot to deposit a weak stream or, sometimes, mere droplets of piss. And even Thor could not make it through the night anymore without a trip outside to water the grass. Tess had given Jack a powder concocted partly from yucca plant that helped noticeably, improving the flow when taken early evening with a glass of water and cutting his unwanted awakenings considerably. But damned if he could remember to take it half the time, and tonight the powder had failed to make the task list. His supply of yucca powder was about depleted, and he would resupply when he saw Tess in the morning—if he remembered.
He was first to rise as usual, beating the sun by a good half hour. He put some tinder and a few small logs on some lingering coals in the cookstove, hoping they might ignite and provide Josephina with a fire and warm stove when she arrived. He lowered himself to his hands and knees and commenced blowing on the coals, yielding nothing but smoke for several minutes before a flame erupted and curled around the tinder. He closed the stove door, grabbed the seat of a chair for leverage and slowly got back to his feet. When he straightened, he heard his back crack and hoped he would not be starting their journey with a gimpy back. His back would not reveal the answer till the next morning.
He started to pump some water in the coffee pot, but the handpump gave him nothing but air at first. Finally, it took hold, and the water came. He should have Enrique check the pump and see if it needed work. He heard movement behind him and tossed a look over his shoulder. Josephina walked in with her usual smile, bubbling with an enthusiasm Jack could not muster yet.
“Why, thank you for starting the fire, Boss Man,” she said. “That will earn you hotcakes and sausage this morning. Are you hungry?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. I’ll go shave.” He nodded toward Thor, sitting in the corner. “I think Thor will be more interested in what you are doing, so I’ll leave him for company.”
“I told him last night I had saved back some scraps for him. That’s what he’s waiting for.”
Jack met Jordy coming down the stairs, clean shaven and attired in a fresh shirt and denims. “Breakfast ready?” Jordy asked.
“Josephina is getting started. I was going to shave first.”
“Wasting your time. Your granddaughter has taken over the tub room.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. Don’t recall we’ve ever had a woman in the guestroom. That could take some getting used to if she sticks around
