Ruth Langan - Jade

At her words he sat up straighter in the saddle, regarding her in silence. “I guess I’ll just have to call your bluff.”

He lifted his arm to crack his whip. At the same moment Jade tossed her knife. Reflexively he twisted in the saddle. Instead of finding his heart, the blade bit deeply into his shoulder.

“Why, you little…” He let out a snarl of rage as he pried the knife free and tossed it aside. Then he gripped his flesh to stem the flow of blood.

Before his men could react, a series of gunshots rang out, sending them diving for cover. Another round of gunshots sent the dirt spraying directly beneath the feet of their leader’s horse.

“It must be a posse, Ned,” someone shouted. “Run.”

The leader gave one last glance at Jade, then wheeled his mount and beat a hasty retreat. With shouts and curses, the rest of his men followed, leaving Jade standing alone.

She turned in the direction of the gunshots, but could see nothing but a thick stand of trees. She waited, lifting a hand to shield the sun from her eyes, but no horsemen appeared.

“They’ve gone!” she shouted. “You drove them away!”

Her words were met with silence.

Puzzled, she bent and retrieved her knife from the dirt. It was still stained with the blood of her attacker. Clutching it in her hand, she strode toward the trees, calling, “You can come out now. We’re alone.”

The grove of trees was empty. There was no one there.

She turned to look in all directions, but could see no one.

She knelt and studied the dirt. It bore the unmistakable sign of a single set of hoofprints.

Could it be that there had been only one man? If so, he had been wise to keep his identity hidden from those gunmen. For they would surely have stood up to his gunfire and exacted revenge for his interference.

But why hadn’t he remained to reveal himself to her? She had a right to know who had saved her life. She wanted to thank him. And somehow reward him for his kindness.

After carefully studying the surrounding area, she returned to her carriage and took up the reins. As the horses set off at a brisk pace, reaction to what had almost happened began to set in. Despite the warmth of the sunlight, she couldn’t stop shivering. Her body was racked with tremors. She had no doubt that, without the appearance of her unknown savior, her fate would have been the same as that of the other victims of this vicious gang.

But who had saved her? And why had he chosen to keep his identity secret?

“A mystery man. How romantic,” Pearl said when Jade told her sisters what had happened.

Her husband, Cal, foreman of the Jewel ranch, tightened his grasp on his bride’s shoulder when he heard the news, and drew their adopted sons, Daniel and Gilbert, closer. It was one more thing to be concerned about. One more reason for the wranglers to keep a close eye on the women and children. “We’ll need to report this to the marshal.”

Jade nodded. “If it weren’t for my…mysterious rescuer, there would be something far worse to report.”

“Mystery man. Hah.” Diamond, ever the cynic, touched a hand to the gun at her hip. Her cowhide vest couldn’t hide the slight swelling of her middle, the only indication that she was expecting a baby. “What you need is a pair of six-shooters.” She glanced lovingly at her husband, Adam, who returned her smile with a wink. “Then you won’t need a man to save your hide. You can do it yourself.”

“I have my knife,” Jade said softly. “And I used it against their leader. But even a pair of pistols would not have been enough against those men. Without that mysterious gunman, I would never have survived.”

“I wonder who it was,” Diamond mused. “Most of the wranglers around here work for us, or for one of the other ranchers in the area.”

“Perhaps a passing cowboy,” Pearl suggested.

“But why wouldn’t he reveal himself to me?” Jade demanded.

“Could be a man on the run,” Adam said, recalling his own scrape with the law, when he’d been wrongly accused of murder.

Cal nodded. “A man outside the law wouldn’t want anyone to know he was in these parts.”

“You are all wrong. I know who it was, chérie,” Ruby said to Jade.

Everyone turned to the young woman, whose lips were curved into a knowing smile.

“It was your guardian angel.”

“What nonsense,” Diamond snapped.

“Nonsense! You do not believe in spirits?” Ruby’s eyes flashed. “In the bayou we know these spirits intimately.”

“Well, here in Texas—” Diamond began, but a question from Pearl silenced her.

“Didn’t you say you saw hoofprints?” Pearl asked gently.

Jade nodded.

Pearl turned to Ruby, determined that common sense would prevail. “I don’t think guardian angels ride horses.”

“What do you know?” The fiery beauty gave her sisters a haughty look. “Jade said the grove of trees was empty. Those prints could have been made hours earlier. You will need more than that to convince me that it was not a guardian angel that saved Jade.”

As Jade made her way to her room, she mulled over all that she had seen and heard. She was more confused than ever. Whether it was a spirit, a guardian angel or a flesh-and-blood man, she owed her life to this invisible protector.

Wade Weston yawned and stretched before tossing aside his bedroll and getting to his feet. He had decided against returning to his regular room at Millie Potter’s boardinghouse last night. Sometimes he needed to be alone. To get away from the fancy black suit and the starched white shirt and the polite words expected of a man of the cloth.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like people. Most of the time he enjoyed their company. Decent folks like Millie Potter and her three sweet daughters, April, May and June. And honest folks like Rufus Durfee and his fine, strapping boys, Damon and Amos. And lonely old folks like Yancy Winslow.

But there were times when he just wasn’t fit company. When the black moods came over him, blotting out all the good, the fine, the decent things of this world. Then he had to pull away, draw into himself and keep his own counsel.

He tossed another log on the smoldering embers of the fire before placing a blackened pot on the coals. Soon the air was redolent with the deep, rich fragrance of coffee.

He lathered his face and ran the straight razor across his cheeks and chin in smooth, even strokes. Then he stripped and strode into the frigid waters of Poison Creek. After soaping himself, he began to swim. With strong, powerful strokes he swam the width of the creek and back. Pushing himself to the limit, he continued to swim back and forth until his muscles protested.

Breathing hard from the effort, he clambered up the slope and tossed back his wet hair, sending a spray of water dancing in the sunlight. With his skin still damp, he had to struggle into his pants. As he reached for his shirt, he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled.

Jade was there, seated in her carriage.

How long had she been here? From the strained expression on her face, long enough to have seen more than she’d bargained for, he thought. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open in surprise. But to her credit she wasn’t blushing. And in the blink of an eye she composed herself.

“You shouldn’t sneak up without warning. If I’d been another kind of man I might have fired off a shot before I even knew who you were.” Wade grabbed up his shirt and shrugged into it, tucking it into his waistband and buttoning it as he walked toward her.

Seeing the tight line of her mouth, he softened his tone. “Sorry, Miss Jewel. I didn’t mean to be so abrupt. But you startled me.”

“You startled me, as well.” She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his strong fingers working the buttons. When she finally did, she found herself mesmerized by the width of his shoulders, the muscles visible beneath the fabric of his shirt. She couldn’t put aside what she’d just seen. He had the body of a rancher, or a cowboy. Hardly what was expected of a preacher. “I—wasn’t prepared to see you… to see anyone here.”