Linda Ford - Big Sky Homecoming

His hand came away bloody.

The black pushed closer.

“Billy.” He looked around for the man... Where was he? He lifted his head and squinted to focus his vision.

Billy galloped away, leaving Duke alone.

The blackness overwhelmed him.

Chapter Three

“Rose! Rose!”

She turned at the sound of her name. Her heart leaped to her throat as Billy raced toward her on horseback, bouncing as though he’d come unseated any moment.

As Billy reached her side, she grabbed the horse and steadied it. Her heart beat a frantic tattoo against her breastbone at the sight of his tearstained face. “Billy, are you hurt?”

“No. No.” He blubbered out the words.

“What’s wrong?”

Billy’s mouth worked and a few garbled words came out, but nothing she could make sense of.

The muscles in her neck started to spasm. She glanced around, searched the horizon for any sign of danger. It took only a few seconds to assure herself there were no cows racing toward them, no cowboys watching from the crest of the hill. At least with the skiff of snow the risk of fire had been dealt with. She shuddered. Fire was her biggest fear.

She helped Billy to the ground and patted his back, trying to calm him. One of the half-grown cats rubbed around her ankles, giving her an idea. She scooped it up and put it in Billy’s arms. The cat purred and pressed its face to his chest.

As she hoped, the animal calmed Billy and he sucked in a deep breath.

“Billy, what’s wrong?”

A shudder shook the man from head to toe. “Duke.” He choked and couldn’t continue.

“What’s he doing?” Did he have some kind of mischief planned and Billy meant to warn them?

“Hurt,” Billy said, his mouth working as he tried to explain. “Duke hurt.” He patted his head.

“He hurt his head?”

He nodded. “Fell.”

She stroked the cat, pulling Billy’s attention back to the animal.

Billy shuddered again but petting the cat helped him relax. “Duke fell off his horse. Hit his head.” A sob caught in the man’s throat. “Blood. Lots and lots of blood.”

Rose quickly analyzed the information. If Billy had come to the Bells, did that mean Duke was near? She again scanned the horizon, this time looking for either a wandering animal, though King had likely headed for the barn, or an unusual lump on the ground. She saw neither.

“Billy, where is Duke now?”

He turned and pointed.

“Do you remember where?”

He nodded, then his face wrinkled. “Maybe.”

“Wait here while I saddle Hope.” Never before had she clung to her horse’s name but now she did.

Ma stepped from the house wearing a warm jacket. “Is something the matter?”

Rose quickly explained. “Billy’s upset. Can you stay with him?” She introduced the pair and Ma spoke softly and soothingly to Billy.

He wouldn’t go anywhere as long as Ma was there to watch him.

She returned in a few minutes with her horse saddled.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

Her ma nodded. “Billy was telling me how much he likes cats. I asked if he’d like to own this one even if he has to leave it here.”

“I’ll call her Patches ’cause she’s all patchy with different colors.” He rubbed his cheek against her fur.

Patches purred and licked his face.

Grub sat nearby watching.

Billy put the cat down and patted the dog. “I like you, too.”

Relieved that Billy had calmed down, Rose led both horses to his side. “Why don’t you show me where Duke is?”

“Wait a moment.” Ma hurried back to the house and returned shortly with a small sack. “I’ve put in some bandaging and other things you might need.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

Rose indicated Billy should mount up and then swung into her own saddle.

Ma tsked and shook her head but didn’t say anything. She and Pa had long ago given up trying to make her ride sidesaddle.

For a few hundred yards Rose easily followed Billy’s back trail before it disappeared in a mess of cow tracks and trampled snow.

“What direction now?” she asked him.

He looked around, twisting in his saddle to glance back in the direction of the farm. “We just came that way, didn’t we?”

“Yes, Billy. That would take us back to my home.”

He nodded. “I rode there as fast as I could.” His whole body quaked. “I was so scared.”

“Yes, when you saw that Duke was hurt.” She gave him a moment to sort through his thoughts. “Where did Duke fall?”

“On the ground.”

She hid her grin. It was a stupid question. “Was he over there?” She pointed to the north.

“Maybe.”

Good. “Then let’s go find him.”

“Or maybe he was over there.” He pointed south.

“I see.” In other words, Billy didn’t know. Maybe he’d remember something else. “Where were you planning to go?”

“For a ride.”

“Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? Were you going to see someone?”

Billy grinned. “You.”

“Me?” Why would Duke want to visit her? She hadn’t been exactly welcoming yesterday and didn’t much care to see him again after she’d spent several hours sorting animals and getting them into their proper pens this morning. “Why?”

Billy ducked his head. “’Cause he likes you.”

She sputtered. Then forced herself to relax. This was Billy talking. He saw what he wanted to see. She sat back and considered her surroundings. The most direct route between the two places would be over that hill. She nudged her horse in that direction.

From the crest of the hill she could see no sign of Duke or his horse. “Did you come this way?”

“Maybe.” A cry choked off the word.

He didn’t know and couldn’t tell her. She’d have to figure it out herself. She took a deep breath. Think. This was Duke. Would he take the most direct route? No. Not anywhere near. He’d take the most dangerous, the most challenging. That meant he’d ride along the escarpment and cross the coulee that lay to the west.

She reined her horse in that direction. She had to confess it was one of her favorite places. From the top, she often observed deer feeding in the coulee and hawks circling overhead. There’d been a nest she’d looked down on in the early part of summer to watch the baby hawks.

She reached the coulee. Some vicious rocks lay scattered across the snow-crusted slopes. If Duke had hit his head of one of those—

She shuddered. She’d imagined finding him injured but perhaps his injuries were beyond help.

Her breath whooshed out when she didn’t see a body anywhere. Perhaps she’d been mistaken in thinking he’d come this way. “Do you remember this place?” she asked Billy.

He nodded. “Maybe.” Then his eyes focused. “Duke wasn’t with me.”

Rose tried to understand what Billy meant. Had they been on this route but Duke had fallen before they reached this place? Only one way to find out.

She made her way across the coulee and climbed the upward path. From there she could see several miles in every direction, clear to the trees filling the hollow toward the Caldwell buildings. And there was no sign of Duke.

Billy jumped to the ground. “He was here.” He pointed. “He’s gone.” He turned his face upward, his eyes wide. “He’s gone to Heaven.”

“No, Billy. I don’t think so.” At least not from this spot because there was no body.

She dismounted and bent to examine the ground where Billy stood. There was a rock and a large dark spot. Blood. Lots of blood. She shivered. Duke might be a Caldwell and a royal pain, but she had no wish to see him dead. She looked around.

Her heart clinging to the back of her throat, she went to the edge of the cliff and looked down. But there was no sign of Duke or his horse. Had the horse remained with him and Duke was now riding homeward?