Family Ties
Chapter 20
I was busy rolling up our sleeping bag when I noticed Ranger looking off into the distance. I turned to him. "Problem?"
He shook his head. "No, Snake and Kappy will be here in a couple of minutes."
I turned to scan the direction he was looking. Nothing... Then I saw it. A cloud of dust, coming up over the rise. They were a lot closer than I realized. At that thought, my eyes widened as I blushed.
Ranger had obviously followed my train of thought. "Don't worry querida, even if they did hear you, they'd only be happy for us both."
"Yeah but..." I didn't actually know what I was going to say. I just knew I was mortally embarrassed.
He raised an eyebrow. "Ashamed of me already?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" I was laughing. Oh well, either they heard, or not. Too late to worry about it now.
By the time I got that worked out, they were there. Ranger was the first to greet them. "Glad you made it. Breakfast is almost ready. Hungry?"
Pat answered as she dismounted. "Starving! Someone decided we'd skip breakfast and leave at first light so we'd catch up to you early." That said with a pointed look at her husband.
Jack laughed easily. "Well if someone hadn't kept us up so late, she wouldn't be grumpy about getting going so early." He laughed harder as she blushed. He took her reigns from her and led their horses near ours.
Pat shook her head, turning to me. "Men. And I am not grumpy."
I held my hands up. "Okay, I believe you!"
She scowled at me briefly before dissolving into giggles. "Oh hell, let me help you pack up." With the two of us working at it, packing up everything that Ranger wasn't using for breakfast was the work of just a couple of minutes.
Finished, Pat turned to me with a wicked smile. "So Steph, how did you sleep last night?"
I pretended I didn't know what she was talking about. "Slept fine, thanks." I couldn't help my grin, or the blush that accompanied it.
She laughed out loud. "Come on Steph, don't make me say I told you so."
"I won't." She raised an eyebrow at me. "All right already, you were right."
"Of course I was." We looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Ladies? Anything you want to share?" This from Jack.
We both shook our heads as we walked back to join them.
"In that case, breakfast is ready." Ranger met my eyes and winked.
We lapsed into silence as we all dug in. The four of us all cleaned up, and packed the rest of our things on Annie. Ranger and Jack saddled Cinder and Dancer, and I remembered my lesson and checked all the horses' hooves.
"So what's the plan?" asked Jack.
Ranger turned to look at all of us. "Yesterday, we were only a few hours behind them. We don't know how long they stopped for last night, but Brennan is not an experienced rider. Hopefully he's hurting today, and it's slowing them down. If we ride at a good pace, we should reach the river by early afternoon. If there are signs as to which direction they took, we'll all follow."
Jack shook his head. "There won't be. Brennan may be a novice, but Yazzie grew up out here. She'll know enough to ride in the river for as long as they can."
"Probably." Ranger agreed. "In which case Steph and I will head upriver, you and Kap head downriver. Whoever finds them secures them and brings them in, radioing the others."
"They known to be armed?" Pat asked.
Ranger shook his head. "We have no information one way or the other. No unnecessary violence, but don't hesitate to protect yourselves, either."
We all nodded our understanding. I picked up my holsters and adjusted them as I walked toward the horses. Jack handed Ranger a walkie-talkie. "More reliable than cell phones out here."
Ranger handed it to me. "Does your cell phone have a signal?" I checked quickly before shaking my head. "If you put it in your saddlebag, will you be able to carry this?"
"No problem." I put it on the left side of my belt and took the phone off. We all mounted up without further discussion and were on our way. I think all of us were anxious to get down to business.
We rode at a much faster pace than Ranger and I had yesterday. I was nearly humming with anticipation, but kept trying to relax, telling myself it might still be a few days before we actually had them.
We ate lunch as we rode. Conversation was in brief bursts. I remembered Wendy's advice to stand more often today, and I noticed the others doing the same. Maybe an hour or so after lunch, Pat called a halt.
"Sorry boys, but we need a quick stop."
They agreed, and we stopped. "Ladies' room is that way" pointed Ranger.
"Armed escort?"
We both shook our heads as Pat answered. "We'll escort each other."
It was a relief to be on my feet again, though it felt a little odd. "How are your legs holding up?" Pat asked me.
"I'm okay. Much better than yesterday, actually."
"Gotta love those Pasos."
We took turns keeping watch while the other took care of business.
We returned to our men, and took our turn watching the horses while they took care of business of their own.
I turned to Pat. "Think we'll catch them today?"
She shrugged a little. "If not today, then probably tomorrow. Depends on how hard she's pushing him to move faster."
I nodded. Made sense. I hoped it would be today. The tension was getting to me a little.
The guys returned, and in short order we were on our way. Again we rode mostly in silence. In a little over an hour I started to hear water. The river, finally. It was probably almost another hour before we actually reached it.
"Why don't you two take a breather for a little while?" suggested Jack. "Ranger and I are going to check in both directions for a short distance to see if there's any sign of them."
Pat dismounted, and I joined her. "Best idea I've heard for a while. You two be careful."
Jack smiled down at her as she grabbed a sleeping bag. "I will if you will."
"Deal."
He and Ranger rode off together. Pat tossed the sleeping bag down without unrolling it. "I just want something soft to sit on."
I followed her example. She was right. I wouldn't have considered sitting on a soft surface to be a luxury before this trip, but it felt great to finally do so.
"Now what?" I asked her.
"Now we wait."