Chapter Four

"Jess, she wants you."

Eighteen-month-old Chloe, perched on Anna's hip, reached her little arms out to her biggest brother as he walked through the small kitchen.

Jess turned back. "Come 'ere, sweetpea." He held out his arms and his baby sister lunged into them.

He sat down at the table and plopped the curly-haired blondie on his lap, where she promptly snuggled up and, yawning, laid her head against his chest. Jess tenderly wrapped his arms around her, but the smile he usually had when he held Chloe was absent. Anna understood. He was missing the cub. She hurriedly finished cooking the noon dinner.

Soon Francie had seated both Chloe and Benjie in their own chairs, as Johnny and his mother brought the food to the table. Anna occasionally watched Jess while she helped the two youngest members of the family with their meal. The weary mother had expected his melancholy and silence. The boy loved animals of all kinds. Especially horses, dogs, and cats. And from his viewpoint, he had just been forced to give up his pet kitten. He didn't look at the situation as she and Luke did. The cougar cub was getting restless, its hunting instincts kicking in more each day. They worried about the possible danger to the children as the cat and its strength continued to grow.

Conversation at the table was sparser than usual, without Jess's lively contributions. But still the other four children and their mother kept a steady stream of talk and giggles going. Jess quietly picked at his food.

Sensing his big brother's sadness, Benjie suddenly hopped down off his chair, calling to Jess as he ran to him holding out a piece of jam-covered bread. "What some?"

Jess reacted too late to avoid the little guy bumping into his leg. A brief grunt escaped before he could stop it, and he jerked his leg back.

Anna looked up from dicing pieces of peach for Chloe. "Jess, what's wrong?"

"Nothin'."

As Anna turned back to her little daughter, a concerned Johnny began, "Ma, you might oughta take a look at─"

He stopped in mid-sentence when Jess's eyes flashed lightning at him, and almost imperceptibly the big brother shook his head.

Anna glanced at Johnny. "Look at what?"

Jess aimed another warning scowl at Johnny.

"Uh… look at… Benjie. He's gittin' all messy with that jam."

Anna motioned for her youngest son to get back to his seat. He again held the bread out to Jess.

"Thanks, Benjie." Jess accepted the gift. "Do like Ma wants now. Go sit."

Smiling, the little guy scrambled back up onto his chair, and as Francie wiped the mess from his hands, Anna looked over at Jess.

"Pa took his dinner with him and headed out to the range to work with Mr. Delaney's herd. And he said─"

Jess's head jerked up. "Why'd he go without me?"

Anna smiled. Her sweet boy. He was such a hard worker. On most afternoons he would be riding herd with his father. But Luke knew the boy would be depressed today and didn't want to push him.

For a moment Jess wondered if his pa leaving him behind, not letting him ride Mr. Delaney's fine chestnut today, was part of the correction he had coming. Neither pa nor ma had mentioned a further word about what they had in mind for his punishment. Maybe they were gonna let it pass for just this once, figuring he had learned his lesson. And he had. Giving up Gatomigo was tough enough on him. Pa was apparently showing him some mercy, and he appreciated it.

The wise father also didn't want to leave his son to wallow in his sadness. Some degree of busyness was best.

"He said to tell ya that you can take it easy on your chores today. No range work. Just chop some kindlin', curry the chestnut and the bay, straighten up the tack in the barn, and milk the cow again before suppertime."

"Yes'm."

Anna wished there was more spirit in the dull reply.

A few minutes passed, with Jess still silent, and then Anna took Benjie's hand and carried Chloe into the small bedroom to put them down for a nap. Johnny cleared the table and stored what little food remained as Francie began washing the dishes. Jess headed to the chore he enjoyed most, grooming the horses.

Later, he was working on the tack, favoring his leg and hobbling around the barn as he put things away. He was almost done when Johnny came through the door. Without a word, he took the two bridles Jess held and walked over to the side wall of the barn to hang them on a hook.

"Thanks for savin' me a few steps, Johnny. I ain't enjoyin' walkin' too much right now."

"Figures." Johnny watched Jess limp over to a saddle rack. "Ya gotta tell Ma."

"No, I don't. And don't you say nothin'. I got myself in 'nuff trouble as it is."

"But it don't look good, Jess. Last night when I helped ya bandage it after Ma went to bed, it got me real worried."

"Yeah, well, you worry too much. Now, go git busy on your own chores."

"I know you're hurtin' bad. Stop play actin' that it's alright."

"Dadgum, Johnny! Go on back to the house and see how you can pester Francie."

Head hanging, the younger brother started for the door.

"Wait, Johnny."

The boy turned around.

"I'll clean it up good agin tonight after everybody's asleep. And put a fresh bandage on it. Will ya help me?"

"Sure."

Jess grinned. "I'll be okay."

Johnny smiled back. "Ya better be." He returned to the cabin to get busy nailing the porch boards Pa told him to work on.

Jess slowly made his way out to the tree stump used for a chopping block. He was about to get started on the kindling, hatchet in hand, when a staggering dizziness swept over him. The world spun around. Stars flashed in front of his eyes. With a slight moan, the boy dropped to his knees.

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Anna stepped outside the kitchen door to dispose of the dishes' rinse water into the garden. She turned around just in time to see the hatchet fall from her son's hand, followed by the boy himself landing beside it. Horrific memories from several years earlier swirled through her mind as fear gripped her. Dropping the dishpan, she darted for her son, terrified she would once again find a scene of bloodied injury.

"Jess!"

She knelt beside the child, who bent forward holding both hands to his eyes.

"Let me see, hon." She gently pried at his fingers. Finding nothing wrong when the hands pulled away from his face, she puzzled, "What is it, Jess?"

"I'm fine."

"No, tell me."

"I'm fine, Ma. Just a bit dizzy for some reason."

It was then that she noticed the pallor, the sweat beading across his forehead.

"You probably been goin' at your chores too hard for such a hot day. You worked up a sweat and probably got lightheaded."

"Yeah."

"Let's git ya inside the house and have ya drink some water and rest awhile." She raised her apron to wipe the sweat away and with her other hand pushed his hair back from his forehead. It was then that she felt the heat.

"Mercy, Jess! You've got a ragin' fever! Why didn't you say ya felt sick?"

Receiving no answer, she helped the boy to his feet, her arm around his waist, and quickly started toward the house. With just a couple of steps, Jess stumbled and moaned slightly.

"What hurts, hon? Your leg? Your foot?"

"Leg."

Finally, an honest answer. Anna supported her son all the way.

Once inside, she lowered him to the settee. "Johnny, help me get his boots off."

When Anna pulled up Jess's pantleg, she saw the sloppy bandage. Frowning, she quickly removed it and gasped at the sight. Francie did the same. Knowing what had happened to his brother, Johnny didn't show the shock of his mother and sister, but he winced at how much worse it looked than it had last night.

"Oh my goodness, Jess!" Anna gently touched the swollen area on the injured shin, where multiple wounds oozed a mixture of blood and pus. Jess flinched and sucked in his breath. "What on earth happened?"

"He didn't mean to hurt me, Ma. Just got kinda rambunctious the other day. He was only playin'."

"Who was?"

Jess looked guiltily at his mother and softly answered, "Gatomigo."

Anna frowned and was about to snap a reprimand when Francie sat down beside her brother. "I'll sit with him while you gather your tendin' stuff, Ma. We'll git him fixed up."

With a quick nod to the girl, Anna headed for the kitchen to collect what she needed to take care of the wounds.

"Thanks, Francie," Jess whispered. "Think she was fixin' to give me a right good talkin' to b'fore she give me any patchin' up."

"Well, I s'pect Ma just needs a minute to calm down her worries. When the frettin' is settled, her mad face'll be gone too."

Johnny stepped forward. "Jess, I'm sorry if'n I hurt ya, pullin' that boot off."

"Don't mind 'bout that Johnny. It had to be done."

Johnny pulled a kitchen chair over beside the settee and sank down on it, a bit out of breath as often happened for him. "And I'm sorry you had to send Gatomigo away. He's a good little cougar. I wish he coulda stayed. At least a little while longer."

Jess glanced at his leg. "Well, I reckon it's best that he moved on. Woulda heaped a ton of sad on me if'n this woulda happened to any of y'all."

The rest of the day was spent in doctoring the scratches and bites, which were minor but obviously infected. As he always did, Jess stoically endured the cleaning and bandaging. There were a few moments of the eleven-year-old struggling to hold back tears, but mostly he just let out an occasional small moan, a few whispered words, and one quiet "dadgum" between gritted teeth when Anna slathered ointments on the wounds. She silently prayed for fast healing, giving thanks that the wild feline had at least been healthy and had never shown any sign whatsoever of being rabid.

When Luke returned from the range shortly after sundown, she met him at the door and explained the situation. He quickly made his way to Jess.

Anna stood at her husband's side as he watched their sleeping son. "Seemed his fever started comin' down as soon as we got everything cleaned up good," she whispered. "He's still too warm, but not as bad as before. And I've been havin' him drink that healin' tea for infection that your granny taught me to make."

"Good. He's fightin' off the poison. He'll be fine."

Anna sighed. "That's just what he said. I'm fine. He even whispered it to himself under his breath several times while I was workin' on that leg."

Luke glanced at her, feeling a pang of guilt. Apparently, that lesson from years ago had stuck. His son had learned to try to hide his pain, no matter how intense it was. A lesson the father both approved and regretted at the same time.

He knelt at his son's side, noticing that the color in his cheeks looked normal now, his breathing steady. Luke felt yet another combination of emotions─pride in his son's courage and anger at the disobedience that had led to the injuries.

And once again, he was overcome with the premonition.

As usual, he couldn't make out any details through the smoky haze. There was just that same feeling that this special boy would grow to be a special man with exceptional strength, both physical and emotional. Strength that he would need on numerous occasions.

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─end of Part Two─

Author's Note:

Have you remembered which episode had Jess telling Slim he had tried to keep a cougar cub as a pet when he was a kid? It's "Duel at Parkison Town."

Part Three (beginning with Chapter Five of the ongoing story) will be completed soon.

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