“Jack, are you sure you didn’t take a bullet to the head and didn’t tell anybody? That’s crazy. You can’t take off on your own. You can’t handle that many hours in the saddle.”
“I sure as hell can. It might pain me some, but I can stick to my saddle. Can’t hurt any worse than my leg.”
“But alone?”
“Thor’s coming with me.”
“He can’t run a mile anymore, let alone over a hundred.”
“Swede and I’ve been yelling back and forth about that. He’s going to help me build a wagon for Thor.”
“Jack, I’m worried about you.”
“A two-wheeler. The Studebakers each have a spare wheel anchored under the bed. Thor might weigh 120 pounds. Swede says he can make a wood axle if we need to. We’ll strip what materials we need off the wagons. I’ll take an extra horse and whichever horse I’m not riding will pull the cart.”
“You’ve thought this out. You are really serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Never more.”
“But the Studebakers might need a spare wheel.”
“You and Tige will think of something. If you can’t, leave one behind. I own the damn things. You got my okay.”
Jordy could see he was not close to winning this argument. He could only hope Jack would come to his senses before they got to Castle Gap. “I have got to go, Jack. I’m going to have Roper and Possum handle the mule teams today. They will be hitching up soon. I’d like to pull out with the herd within a half hour. Horses are getting restless. They have eaten everything down to dirt and sand here. After you have had breakfast and Rudy has cleaned up the breakfast things, the wagons can follow.”
Sierra came up with Songbird beside her, the latter holding two tin cups of steaming coffee. Sierra carried plates stacked with syrup-soaked flapjacks and strips of bacon on the side.
“Did you have a nice chat?” Sierra asked.
Jordy said, “No. We’ll talk later.” He walked away shaking his head.
Chapter Forty-Four
Jack’s appetite was healthy this morning, and he found himself devouring the plate of hotcakes and bacon. He had to credit Rudy. He could put out a decent meal with whatever he had to work with, although he tended to sop hotcakes with too much of whatever syrup concoction he came up with. He shared the bacon with Thor, although Sierra had assured him Rudy would be over with scraps for the dog as soon as everybody was fed. Now he was savoring the hot coffee, taking it in sips, knowing it would ignite his bladder and he would have to seek relief soon. He was not comfortable dealing with his new granddaughter concerning such issues, although she had offered “assistance” several times. He was not certain what that meant.
He knew that Jordy was miffed at him when he left. He admitted he would have been vexed if the circumstances had been reversed. However, he felt he had accomplished what he set out to do. They had recovered Sierra’s horses, or most of them anyway. He had competent crews to finish the job. He conceded obsession had taken over, as it was prone to do with him on occasion, but he was driven to see Tess. The encounter with Potter-Perez had nearly done him in, and, once again it appeared that he had dodged the Grim Reaper. But it had struck him last night that at his age every day was a bonus that he wanted to share with the woman he loved. Besides, he had a promise to keep.
He could understand that others would think he was loco. Well, he had made more than a few mistakes over the years, a few he had even learned from. Some he kept repeating. He claimed no special wisdom about anything. He had always told the listener that his free advice was worth a little more or a little less than he paid for it. Jack set his empty cup on the wagon floor, and his eyes drifted shut and his chin dropped to his chest.
When he woke an hour later, the mules were hitched, Thor was gone and Rudy stood at the back of the Studebaker. “Where’s Thor?” Jack asked.
“And good morning to you, too.” Rudy said. “The pitiful hound is out here pissing on the wagon wheels, since we got no trees to water. I brung him some leftovers, and he made short work of them. Your granddaughter says she doesn’t want you getting out of the wagon unless she’s here to supervise. I brung you a jar if that will help.”
“Not pissing in a jar while I’m sitting here. I’ll get it all over everything. And I’m not having her supervise my pizzle business. So you can help or not, but I’m getting out of here. Let the backboard down, so I can skootch out.”
“We’re both going to catch hell for this. That little heifer’s starting to take over things. It’s just a matter of time before her and Jordy is butting heads.”
Jack scooted to the back of the wagon and worked his legs over the edge. Stabbing pain struck the wounded leg, but his feet touched the ground as he slid forward and leveraged himself to stand with most of his weight on the good leg. Rudy moved up beside him.
“Put some weight on my shoulder,” Rudy said. “We’ll get you around the wagon, and you can wet what Thor missed. If you got to dump, keep it off the wheels.”
“Just got to piss for now. Bad.” He looked around to check for privacy and saw that the other wagons were gone. “Where is everybody?”
“They pulled out fifteen minutes ago, following the horse herd. You can see the dust ahead. I’m driving this wagon today. Possum’s
