Jack still was not looking at them but continued talking. “And you, Sierra. I got to see a bit of my son through you. And I am so grateful you came to me and allowed me to be a part of this adventure. You’ve got grit, young lady, and J. T. did himself proud raising up a fine woman like you. You are a treasure I never dreamed I’d find in this life. Now I’m getting all mushy-like. Let’s all get to sleep, and we can talk about Fort Stockton in the morning.”
Sierra said, “I can stay with you and bathe your head with cool water.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. That’s very kind. But I can sleep now, and you need your rest.”
“I’ll be under the wagon. If you need me, just call.”
“I will. I’ll try not to wake you during the night when I get up to water the cactus a few times. I can take care of that just fine.”
“Well,” Jordy said, “goodnight, Jack. We’ll talk first thing in the morning.” He turned away and started to leave. “Goodnight, Sierra. You know where I’m at if you need some help. I’m within a holler’s range.”
She walked with him a short distance from the wagon. “Thanks, Jordy, for everything,” she said.
“Hey, we’re practically family. You’re like my little sister.”
“Well, big brother, do you think Grandpa’s going to let us take him to Fort Stockton?”
“Not a chance. But I don’t know what the devil he’s up to.”
She sighed and turned away to go back to the wagon. “I guess we’ll see what the morning brings. I could sleep on rocks tonight. Goodnight, Jordy.”
Jordy watched her shadowy form slip away in the moonlight and then headed for his bedroll near the fire. It cooled down fast at night in the desert country and he would have tossed a few more logs on the fire if wood had not been so hard to come by out here. He rolled out his blankets, thinking about his calling Sierra his little sister. Well, if that is what she was going to be, he had better get rid of the thoughts that been teasing his brain whenever she was near.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Jack waited until midnight before nudging Thor awake, dropping the backboard and slipping out of the wagon with his bedroll. He hoped that if he awakened Sierra, she would assume he was heading out to pee, which he did as soon as they were twenty paces from the wagon. He limped along, wincing each time he stepped down on the wounded leg. Still, since the whole damn leg hurt all the time now, it seemed you didn’t notice an extra stab of pain so much.
Thor seemed to be adapting much quicker than his human friend, starting to put some weight on the injured leg already. Jack took some solace from the indications that Thor would make a full recovery. He was harboring some doubts about himself, but his fight was not close to over as far as he was concerned. He could tell from Jordy’s and Sierra’s reactions that they thought he already had a foot in the grave. Maybe he would surprise them—or, perhaps, he would not. Funny, such things did not matter so much when a man was hurting like blazes.
Jack and Thor took a deer path along the twisting river’s edge to where he had staked the two horses and left the cart along with tack, possible bag, and guns. With the river’s sharp turns, hiding horses and gear had not been difficult. Roper had helped haul the saddle and other gear and pull the dog cart to the spot. Everybody had been preoccupied with the crossings, and any that noticed had not given his actions any thought.
He had not been able to cobble onto much food without risking detection by Rudy’s watchful eye. That did not matter, so long as he could remember the locations of water holes along the way. His appetite had disappeared yesterday.
He felt badly not saying goodbye to Rudy, his loyal partner of so many years. But Rudy would have objected again and would not have kept quiet for a minute. He hoped Roper would forgive him for claiming he just wanted his horses and gear collected for crossing the river the next day. It had not been a huge lie. He could rationalize that it was now the next day, but that would not wash out the guilt of his deception.
He found the horses and gear, partially hidden by brush that grew along the river’s edge. With no small effort, he saddled Pokey and then with a series of knots and hitches anchored the cart to the docile sorrel gelding he had selected for the journey. The horse carried the Lucky Five brand, so Jack figured he was not a horse thief, but he was not certain who had been riding the mount or if it was one of the spares. Regardless, there were ample mounts, so no one would be left horseless.
He slipped out the sliding panel on the back of the cart. It took a bit of coaxing, but Thor finally hopped in, looking sadly at Jack when his friend replaced the panel. Hanging onto the sorrel’s lead rope, Jack stepped into the stirrup, groaning as he swung clumsily into the saddle. He paused, waiting for the pain to subside, and then headed for the slope that took them into the river.
The crossing went off without a hitch. The Pecos was down from the earlier crossing, both horses had negotiated the crossing then, and, as Swede had promised, the cart was nearly watertight and skimmed over the water like a boat.
When he rode out on the north side of the river, Jack saw that the horse herd had been collected for the night some distance west of the trail to Castle Gap just as Jordy had informed him. The current plan was to identify the
