Family Ties

Chapter 16

We rejoined Ranger and Sonny. Sonny was loading up another horse with supplies. Ranger caught my eyes. "Doing okay Babe?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. This is going to be okay."

I saw pride in his slow smile. "That's my girl."

I wish, I thought. But I returned his smile.

"We should head out soon."

"We aren't going to wait for Pat and Jack?" I asked.

He shook his head. "They're both experienced riders. We'll start out slow, and they'll catch up. If they haven't caught up by the time we reach the river, we'll take a break and wait."

Sonny interrupted. "You should reach the river in two days. You have water enough for four, so you'll be fine." He handed the rope from the third horse to Ranger.

Wendy smiled up at me as Sonny put his arms around her. "You'll be fine, Steph. Sonny will have his cell on if you have questions."

Sonny looked up at Ranger. "Do you want the authorities to meet you here, or are you planning to take them in?"

"We'll take them in. I'd appreciate it if you two were here to take custody of the horses though."

Sonny nodded. "Call when you have an idea of your ETA."

Ranger nodded and turned Cinder toward me. "Ready Babe?"

I had to laugh. "As I'll ever be."

I slowly followed Ranger off into the sunset. Okay, so the sun wasn't setting. It was wasn't even noon. And we were headed Northeast. But I pretended we were going off into the sunset. It was a nice daydream. Lucky for me Dancer didn't need me to do much.

Ranger slowed until we were side by side. "What were you thinking, just now?"

Here's the thing. I can't really lie to Ranger. Not convincingly anyway. The only defense I have is to evade, avoid, keep silent, or be elsewhere. "Just daydreaming." We'll start with evasion.

"Must have been a good daydream. I'm curious as to what put that little smile on your face."

I shrugged. We'll try avoidance. And silence. Crap, I was quickly running out of defenses, as I didn't have the option of being elsewhere. Oh wait! I almost forgot! Time to pull out the big guns. "How far are we behind them?" Distraction. My specialty.

He raised an eyebrow, and I could almost see him decide to let it go. "If they left early this morning, I'm hoping to catch up with them before they get to the river. We'll have to ride a little harder tomorrow to do that. By then Snake and Kap should have caught up to us, so we'll have plenty of hands."

I nodded, and we rode a long time in silence. It was so quiet out here. I heard nothing but the sounds of the horses' hooves and my own breathing. I felt myself relax. I could almost sleep like this.

"Babe?" I was startled out of my thoughts.

I turned to Ranger, who was holding out a sandwich to me. "Oh, thanks."

I ate quickly, and he handed me a bottle of water. Whatever peaceful zone I'd fallen into seemed to be staying with me, and with Ranger as well. He was quiet, as usual, but the set of his shoulders said he wasn't tense.

Our path startled a flock of birds. Dancer took it in stride, but Cinder was clearly not happy. Ranger spent a few minutes getting him back in control and calm, and I began to appreciate Sonny and Wendy's choice of horse for me. I laughed, causing Ranger to turn to me.

"Going to share?" He asked.

I shrugged a little. "Just before the birds took off, I was thinking how peaceful it was out here. Just after, I was thankful that Dancer was chosen for me."

"It is peaceful out here. And Arabian horses are notoriously moody and skittish. Pasos tend to be more steady in every way."

"So Cinder is an Arabian? What about Annie over there?"

"Annie is half Arabian, half Quarter Horse. Wendy's family breeds and trains Arabian show horses. They have a good reputation for producing champions."

I looked at him, curious. "How do you know all this? And if they breed Arabians, how did they get Dancer? Or Annie, I guess, since I wouldn't think that a half anything could be a show horse."

He smiled. "How do I know all this? Sonny, of course. The boy is definitely smitten. He talked about Wendy almost nonstop, and her family, and how brilliant and beautiful and perfect she is." His smile widened. "As for Dancer and Annie, well, apparently Annie was a rescue. She was unwanted and mistreated, so Wendy took her in. Dancer was bought because someone in the family had back surgery, and didn't want to give up riding."

"Wow. Really was nice of her to lend them out like this." I observed.

Ranger shrugged. "It was important to Sonny. She's doing it more for him than for us. And she's just as anxious as everyone else to get Brennan out of here, and away from those she holds dear."

"That makes sense." My rear and thighs were starting to get a little stiff, so I stood up in the stirrups like Wendy had told me.

Ranger noticed, of course. "Doing okay?"

I grinned at him. "I think so, but I'm hoping I can walk tomorrow." My smile became a bit of a grimace. "Otherwise you may have to lift me up onto Dancer here."

He gave me the wolf grin. "Don't worry Babe, I volunteer to massage your aching muscles when we stop for the night."

I blushed as he laughed. There didn't seem to be much to say after that, so we lapsed back into silence. I hoped that the apprehension went smoothly. My new, more competent self wanted to show off a little, while the old me worried about getting rolled in garbage again, literally or figuratively.

We rode in silence for a long while, and I recaptured that peaceful feeling from earlier in the afternoon. Suddenly, I noticed that the sun really was getting low in the sky behind us, edging toward sunset. I had no idea that much time had passed.

Ranger was lost in thoughts of his own. I studied him as we rode. On horseback, he looked like he should be on the cover of a romance novel. Well, he looked good enough for that all the time, but after the last few days, he seemed somehow more approachable. I wondered again what was happening between us, and if it would continue after this case was over and we were back home. I decided this was not the time or place to pursue that topic just as Ranger broke the silence.

"Babe?"

I turned toward him, waiting.

"We'll stop for the night soon. By the time we get the horses and ourselves settled, it'll be dark."

I nodded, and followed him as he turned a little farther North. He found a tree to tie the horses to, and turned to help me down. I had a little trouble swinging my leg over Dancer, but when I reached the ground, my legs just wouldn't hold me. Ranger caught me before I could fall.

He set me down gently a little apart from the horses. "Rest. Let me unsaddle the horses and get them watered, then we'll see what we can do for you."