Tess's Trials Read online

  His own tiny smile crept across his lips. “No, I don’t guess so.”

  “Good.” She put her back against the rock and slid down to a sitting position.

  Rafe took another long look around, hitched his slicker up on his shoulders, and sat down beside her.

  As soon as he hit the ground, Merita scooted over closer to him. Rafe turned his head and stared at her. He didn’t know what else to do. Never did he ask for anyone to partner with him, and now here he sat with a beautiful young woman snuggled up against him.

  He hadn’t ever been great hand with women. Truth be told, he felt really uncomfortable around women.

  But here he sat.

  And he had no idea what to do.

  Merita settled that for him. She scooted even closer to his left side. Then she lifted his left arm and put it around her shoulders. A contented sigh came from her lips.

  All he could do was sit there, his left arm around the young woman’s shoulders. At least it was his left arm. He still had his gun hand free.

  For hours they sat there, the rain partially blocked by the hill that loomed above them. The worst of the wind and lightning either blew over them or stayed on the other side of the hill. Sitting there in the lee of the hill, they got wet, but it could be endured.

  At last, the rain slacked off somewhat and the wind grew calmer. Rafe stretched his legs out slowly, easing the cramps of hours sitting with them drawn up under his slicker. He lifted his arm from Merita’s shoulders and stood. It felt good to ease his muscles.

  Light showers of rain continued to fall, but they were of no consequence. Rafe stripped off the slicker and shook the rain from it with a few flips of his wrist. He strode over to where they left the horses to check on them.

  They had been left among some head-high boulders that would shelter them from the wind somewhat. Merita joined him there. Together they wiped as much water from the horses and their saddles as they could with their hands. While they were doing this, the horses’ heads came up with their ears pricked forward.

  Rafe had spent many years sitting astride one horse or another, so he knew this

  indicated they heard or sensed something, or someone, close by. In this case, it was someone.

  He put a hand on Merita’s arm and motioned for her to be still and silent. When his horse took a breath and appeared to be about to nicker, he put a hand on its nose to keep it quiet, also.

  Several minutes passed. Rafe strained to hear any small noise that might show where whatever it was that got the horses’ attention. He heard nothing. Then, a glimpse of movement outside the rocks.

  Indians! Six of them, warriors sitting straight-backed on their ponies.

  Rafe tightened his grip on Merita’s arm and showed her the Indians. Her eyes wide, he motioned her down farther behind the boulders.

  He watched the Indians for several minutes. They carefully scanned the area as if searching for something. He was careful not to let his gaze rest too long on any one of them. Men who live in wild country often develop a sense for when something is watching them. Those Indians certainly had that sense.

  That entire time, Rafe wondered, Did we leave any tracks they could find? Or did th’ rain wash ‘em away? If they find us, we got a pretty good set-up here unless they get on th’ top of th’ hill behind us. If they do, we can get over right next to th’ hill an’ at least make it harder for them to hit us. He kept his .45 loose in the holster the whole time.

  In another half hour one of the Indians, a man with raids and battles under his belt, grunted something softly in their language and nudged his pony on. The other braves followed him away from the hill. One of them, possibly the youngest, scanned the area once more before nudging his pony to catch up with the others.

  Rafe stayed still. He wanted to be sure they were really gone before he moved or allowed himself to feel more relaxed.

  “Who were they?” Merita whispered, catching some of Rafe’s caution.

  “They looked like Cheyenne,” he whispered back. “But I don’t know why they’d be here, so far away from their normal territory. May have been raidin’ down in Mexico an’ now are makin’ their way back home. I didn’t see any scalps, but they looked to have a few extra horses.” He paused, thinking. Then, “They looked like they were searchin’ for somethin’. One of the extra horses had a bridle on him like the Cheyenne use. They might’ve lost one of their braves an’ are tryin’ to find ‘im. In any case, we’ll wait here an’ make sure they’re really gone before we go on.”

  A half hour later, they mounted up and rode west to get back on the trail of the raiders they were following before the storm came up. We’ll have a cold camp tonight , he reasoned. Unless we can find someplace where we can hide a fire . Don’t want to give those Indians any reason to find us.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Once the rain stopped, the water rushing through the ravine where Tess waited retreated quickly. By nightfall, she could tell it was about ten feet below the lip of the overhang where she sat.

  Tomorrow morning, it should be low enough for me to climb down and get out of this ravine and on the way to the ranch. I’m not going to try climbing down in the dark. No need to risk a fall and a broken leg or worse. Anyway, a good night’s sleep will do me good. Just wish I had some water. With that, Tess curled up on the floor of the overhang and tried to sleep, shutting out the thirst that dried her mouth and throat.

  The stopping of the rain brought both good news and bad. The good news was the torrent in the ravine would go away, and she could get back on her way. The bad news was she now had no water to catch to drink. And the water at the bottom of the ravine would be so filled with silt and debris as to be undrinkable.

  Morning brought with it a clear sky, hot sun, and little breeze. And a savage thirst that made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t make enough saliva to spit on a match and put it out. She found a pebble, put it in her mouth. That started the saliva flowing for a few minutes and brought a tiny bit of relief.

  Using that as motivation, Tess crawled out of the overhang and climbed down to the floor of the ravine. The water that roiled and boiled so much the day before was nothing more than a small stream, only inches deep. But filled with so much dirt and mud it could hardly flow.

  She stared at the stream for a few seconds, then lifted her head and walked out of the

  ravine. Coming to end of the little arroyo, she let her head show above the level of the ground only enough to scout around the prairie before climbing fully out. She saw nothing but prairie.

  Pointing her nose north, she started off, staying to low ground again wherever possible. While staying low had its advantages, it also carried with it some drawbacks. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, its heat gained intensity in the ravines and arroyos she traveled through. Reflected off the walls of the arroyos, the sun’s heat seemed to drain her of every last bit of moisture in her body. There was no relief from the heat through the winds that blew constantly on the plains, either. What little breezes did come down the ravines were hot and tried to leach out any remaining water.

  Even the pebbles in the mouth stopped working after a bit. But she still sweated, so that was good.

  I’ve got to get up out of these holes so the wind will cool me a little. Maybe I could find a tree or a bush to get under in some shade. If I stay down here, I’ll die .

  Once out of the arroyos, the wind did cool her by evaporating some of the sweat she still had. But she saw no trees or bushes tall enough to crawl under for a long way. Off in the distance the direction she was going, a series of small hills stood out on the flat prairie. They would at least offer some shade later in the day.

  She started off toward the hills, walking slowly in the heat of the day and because she felt so drained. The longer she walked the less the wind cooled her. Instead, it seemed to do its best to bake her from the outside in. And it carried little bits of sand and dirt along with it. These caked on her skin, maki
ng her itch almost beyond her ability to handle.

  Tess could feel the sun burning her face, her upper chest where her dress didn’t cover,

  and the backs of her hands. At least her hair covered the back of her neck, giving it some protection.

  The glare of the sun off the prairie grass, dirt, and sand made her squint so much, she developed a headache. Every time she gazed ahead at the hills, they seemed no closer. Distance was hard to judge out on the open prairie, so those hills could be fifty miles off for all she knew. And those dancing heat waves added to the difficulty in telling how far they were.

  Tess stopped once, simply not having the energy to take another step. She didn’t dare sit down. There was every possibility she wouldn’t get back up. In a minute, she started off again, slower this time.

  Fifteen minutes later, she fell the first time.

  Back on her feet quickly, she kept going. Put one foot in front of the other. That’s all, just one foot in front of the other. This became her mantra.

  Licking her lips, Tess discovered two things. One, she had no moisture in her mouth or on her tongue. Two, she tasted blood. Her lips cracked and bled.

  Another fifteen minutes of walking, and she fell again. This time she fell near some rocks. Not high enough for her to get any shade from, but rocks. As she lay there on her stomach, she saw a lizard resting under the edge of one of those rocks. Its sides puffed in and out as it breathed. It seemed to be studying her with one black and unblinking eye.

  For whatever reason, seeing that lizard pushed Tess to make it to her feet again. Pulling her arms under her body, she pushed with the little strength she had left. Once she had her upper body off the ground, she rested. From there, she pulled her legs under her and managed

  to make it to her knees. After another rest, she pushed with arms and legs, finally standing erect again.

  She swayed, but she was on her feet. She stumbled forward, got her balance, started walking again.

  The hills might have seemed an inch closer the next time she glanced at them. But no more than that.

  Don’t look at them , she told herself. You’ll just make yourself crazy if you do. They are however far they are. Nothing you can do about that. Just keep walking .

  Through the heat and the glare she trudged. She only allowed herself to think that each step took that much closer to home. And that much farther away from Snake Eyes and his men.

  If any of them or the Indians happened upon her now, she couldn’t resist them. They would have her. She wouldn’t even have the energy to kill herself like she told herself she would.

  In what seemed like hours of trudging, she finally got to the little hills. There was little there. Rocks, a cactus, short bushes. But she did find some shade.

  Tess sat in the narrow strip of shade on the east side of a boulder and thought. If I don’t find water soon, I’m finished. I won’t make another day without it. Once I’ve rested a little while, I’ll climb around these rocks to see if I can find a seep or some small basin in there that still holds some rain water.

  After another minute, the heat and her exertions during the day took over, and Tess slept. When she awakened, the sun almost kissed the tops of the far mountains to the west.

  She was shocked that she slept so long after laying up under that overhang for a full day and night with nothing to do but nap and sleep.

  During her sleep, she had fallen over on her side onto the ground. Now, she sat up. Dizziness washed over her when she did so. She hung her head, but remained sitting up. After a minute or so, the dizziness eased, and she lifted her head.

  She glanced at the lowering sun. I’d better get busy looking for water. It’s going to be dark soon, and I won’t be able to see anything. And I’ve got to have water .

  Tess figured any water would be higher up on the hills among the rocks she could see there. But climbing those hills as exhausted as she felt wouldn’t be fun. She tried to swallow the saliva she might work up in her mouth, but there was none. Her tongue felt like a dead thing filling her mouth. It stuck to the roof of her mouth and wouldn’t come loose.

  As she sat contemplating the effort that climb would take, something buzzed by her ear. Thinking it was a bullet, she quickly dropped behind the boulder she sat beside. But there had been no sound of a shot.

  She glanced all around, then heard another buzz go by. This time, she saw what caused it.

  A bee! Flying straight and fast away from her up the hill. Bees would fly straight to their hive – or to water.

  Seeing the direction the bee flew, she pushed herself to her feet and took a few steps in that direction. Then she waited. In another few minutes, another bee.

  This continued for several more minutes, but so far she’d found no water. And no more bees flew past her.

  Dejected, Tess slumped to the ground again. As she sat there, head in her hands, close to sobbing but having no tears to expend, she heard a tiny sound.

  Not a bee this time, but what sounded like a cricket. Listening closer, she heard it again. Over to her left a little way. She took two tentative steps in that direction, stopped, listened once more.

  Nothing. Had she imagined it? Was the sound a figment of her starved imagination? A hallucination brought on by lack of water?

  Once more she listened. There it was! Just over behind those rocks to her left.

  She stepped quickly over to the rocks. A deep pool of clean water! Under a small overhang so it would always be out of the sun and thus wouldn’t evaporate. Clear and cold.

  Tess lay on her belly across a rock and dipped her face into the water. She allowed herself only small sips of the precious liquid so she wouldn’t make herself sick.

  A few minutes later, she sat up and leaned back against another rock. Then she spotted what had been making the sounds she mistook for a cricket. A tiny toad that never lived far from water sat there at the edge of the pool.

  “Bless you, little toad,” she said aloud. “You saved my life.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Tess decided to continue walking through the daylight instead of only at night. She figured she was far enough from Snake Eyes’ camp that his men wouldn’t be looking for her this far north. Going west at first probably had thrown them off her trail. That, and not leaving the area around his camp for the first several hours.

  Besides, walking in the day time would allow her to see areas that might have water. And she could see anyone coming up on her in time to find a place to hide.

  But she could do nothing about the rough ground she had to cover. And her boots weren’t made for it.

  The first thing she noticed was a hole in the bottom of her left boot. She found it when she stepped on a rock that found the hole. The pain brought her to a stop.

  “Oh, no!” She stared at the hole as she sat in the dirt with her boot off. Quickly, she jerked the other boot off and examined the sole. It, too, was showing a lot of wear. Not much longer and a hole would be worn through it in at least one place. How could she walk the rest of the miles to her ranch with holes in her boots?

  These boots were the latest style in Amarillo . The thought gave her no pleasure. I should have been wearing my work boots.

  For a long minute, she stared at the boots, her vision gradually drowned out by tears. Then she hung her head and watched the precious fluid drain from her eyes.

  Soon, she stopped the tears. I can’t afford to lose the water , she realized. I’ll need all I have and all I can get if I’m going to get home .

  With a swipe at her face, Tess grabbed the hem of her dress and ripped off strips. She replaced her boots, then tied the strips around her boots where the holes were. This would only be temporary, she knew. But it would allow her to keep walking a little farther.

  The cloth strips threw off her balance, but the boots could still protect her feet.

  She started off again, more slowly this time. Trying to pick her way to avoid rocks and the occasional cactus took a lot more t
ime than just walking. But she knew this was what she needed to do if she had any hope of getting back to the ranch.

  Going so slowly also gave the sun and wind more time to work on her. At the end of an hour, she felt like she’d been walking all morning. When she stopped to rest, she looked at her boots. The strips of cloth were wearing horribly.

  And she noticed several places where the soles separated from the uppers. At this rate, these things won’t last another mile. When they give out, I don’t know what I’ll do.

  She was right about the boots not lasting a mile. The rough ground combined with them being soaked by the rain resulted in them literally falling apart and off her feet. While she rested, she tore more strips from the bottom of her dress. Enough this time to completely cover her boots. She would keep them on as long as possible.

  As long as possible turned out to be two more hours. She came to a long stretch of rocky dirt. Many of the rocks had rough and sharp edges. By the time she got out of the rocks, the cloth strips, and the soles of her fancy boots, were memories.

  Sitting down on the ground again, she pulled off what was left of her boots. For several long minutes, she sat there staring at those boots.

  What do I do now? I can’t walk barefoot very far. The rocks and cactus will cut my feet up.

  Despair lowered itself on her shoulders, weighing her down like a coat of iron. She could barely lift her head to gaze across the prairie, hoping to see – something. A few minutes later, she did.

  In the distance ahead of her in the direction she was going, buzzards circled around something she couldn’t see. They looked to be about a mile off.

  Don’t know what that is, but something’s there. And it’s in the direction I want to go. Might as well go see what it is. In my situation, it could be something I can use .

  Working quickly, her curiosity aroused by the possibility of finding something that would help her, Tess took up what cloth she could salvage from wrapping the boots. She then wrapped it around her bare feet and started toward the buzzards still circling in the distance.