Page 20 of Wagon Train Dreams
“They’re fine in the wagon, but look at Alice and Limpy.” He waited until Bertie shifted his attention. “They’ve got to suck in dirt when they breathe.”
Bertie ground to a halt. “It make them sick?”
“It will make them cough.” No need to warn him that their lungs could fill up and then—well, no need to tell him.
“I walk with Mama. Alice, Limpy, come.” He stopped and turned back to the wagon. “Fluff and Smoky, stay.”
Joe allowed himself a little grin. The cats were curled up in matching balls of fur. They wouldn’t be going anywhere until they were offered food.
Having done his job as the scout, he swung past the wagons and rode beside those walking. To check on them, of course. Louise and Angela drove their wagons. Irene and Marnie walked together. Hazel brought up the rear. Dobie skipped along beside them. Petey alternately walked and swung from their hands.
Hazel smiled up at him.
Petey sang a wordless song. Big Warrior might have been mangled in the tune.
Louise waved back at Dobie and signaled him to come to her, leaving Joe and Hazel to gaze at each other. Her blue eyes holding gems of sky. Her smile promising?—
He gulped back the word that rushed to his thoughts.
He’d been about to say home.
No one needed him here, and he rode forward until far in the lead. He slowed, scanning for a suitable place to take the noon break. There it was. The one lone, scraggly tree. Branches like bony fingers reaching out, pleading for the rain that seldom came. The leaves were scattered so thinly the tree would offer little in the way of shade. But they’d ride a good ways and not find anything else. He sat motionless in the saddle, his gaze searching the endless horizon. Heat waves made it move like it was alive. In the distance, dust devils rose in the air, full of dirt and dry grass.
Sweat ran down his back. It dampened his legs where they touched his horse.
The sun beat down like an angry blacksmith trying to melt stubborn metal, and it hadn’t reached its highest point.
He considered the situation. Their noon break would have to be longer than usual, and they’d travel in the cool of the evening. But he’d be unable to offer them more than the skinny shade of the skinny tree and the narrow shadow their wagons would cast.
In no rush to go back and see the travelers’ sweat-covered faces, he returned slowly until he heard Petey’s wails. Poor baby. He didn’t like the heat. Joe urged his horse to a faster pace and reined in beside Hazel, who held the child and bounced him.
Both mother and child looked frazzled.
“Let me take him.” He didn’t wait for her to answer. Indeed, she practically thrust the baby at him.
“He’s hot and bothered.”
Joe plunked Petey in front of him, pulled off his wide-brimmed hat, and fanned.
Petey closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the breeze.
“He likes that.” Hazel lingered at his side, even though Louise and Dobie moved on.
“Because it feels good.” He fanned Hazel and grinned when she copied Petey, eyes closed and face raised.
“It helps.” She leaned against his horse, making it impossible for him to move on. “Now my arms aren’t full; I suppose I could fan myself. In fact—” She reached into her pocket for a fan and waved it in front of her.
His hands had grown idle as he watched her, but Petey’s cry reminded him, and he fanned the little warrior. He should ride on. Check on things. Be the scout. But he couldn’t, and it wasn’t because she stood in the way. No, his inability to move came from inside. He liked being here with her. Liked having her close. Knowing she delayed him because she wanted to be with him.
As she fanned her face, her hand brushed his knee and sent a sweet feeling to his insides.
Louise glanced back. Did her smile mean she didn’t mind if her friend took time to speak to Joe? But the others were getting ahead of them, and Hazel would have to hurry to catch up. Hurrying in this heat was not a good thing.
“We best keep up.” He rode at her side as they journeyed on. But once they reached the last wagon, he didn’t need to stay with her. Not thatneedwas uppermost in his mind.
He liked being at her side.
He liked seeing her tip her head and flash her eyes at him.
