Page 70 of On the Mountain

“I’ve got one cook on the cattle drive, I don’t need two,” he stated firmly. “Kim has done the job for years, we’ll manage just fine with him. The boy stays behind.”

“Hell, Haddock, you’ve been enjoying his cooking all winter.” Joe burrowed his brows in anger. “Ain’t it time we get a little taste.”

Wade’s eyes flared, but it was Prescott that spoke. “There is no need to blow this out of proportion . . . nor the need for such foul language.”

Joe gave Prescott a queer look, but turned his attention back to Wade. “He came with us on the roundup in the fall and he done all right, ‘cept maybe that little incident in the woods.”

Wade turned away and swung open the bunkhouse door and began marching back up to the house. He stated his decision on the matter of Anna accompanying the men on the cattle drive, and as far as he was concerned, it was settled. He heard Prescott tell Joe he would talk to him before he left the bunkhouse as well and came after Wade.

“Come on, hold up,” he said as he caught up to him.

“Don’t even bother trying to talk me into it, she’s not going,” Wade said, not breaking in his stride.

“Yes, of course, I completely agree, however,” Prescott stated as he walked quickly along his older sibling. Wade shot him a warning look, but Prescott continued, “If you don’t bring her, the wranglers may become suspicious. They’re already suspecting she’s your favorite.”

Wade came to an abrupt halt, then turned to glower at his brother. “They can think whatever the hell they want. I’m not bringing her on a cattle drive with ten men.”

“Yes, I agree, very improper, however,” Prescott began, but Wade rolled his eyes and stomped his way back to the house. He didn’t give a damn about etiquette. “Joe is correct. She did accompany us on the roundup and no one was the wiser.”

“Exactly.” He swung open the front door to the house and tugged off his coat. “I didn’t know she w

as a girl at the time. If I had, there would be no way in hell I would have allowed her to come.”

“Need I remind you that both you and I will also be there, so no harm will come to her.”

Wade entered the great room and with far too much effort tossed a log on the fire in the fireplace. A shower of sparks flew onto the floor. He cursed and stomped them out with his boot. “Why the hell are you so eager to have her come?”

Prescott gave a weary sigh and said, “Because I’m doing my best to help Anna in any way she needs.”

He hated it when his brother was right. “Why the hell does she insist on being a boy?”

He studied Wade closely, then said, “She still doesn’t feel safe and until she does, we must let her know she can trust us.”

Wade turned and placed the palm of his hands against the mantle and looked down into the burning fire. “Why doesn’t she feel safe?”

“Give her time.”

“That’s what you said months ago,” he growled low beneath his breath. “How much longer does she need?”

There was a sound from the entrance leading to the kitchen. Both brothers looked up and saw her standing there, obviously having obtained entrance to the home via the back entry. She looked upset and Wade felt a fresh wave of anger.

“Go help Kim pack the chuck wagon,” he said. “You’ll ride with him.”

She nodded, then disappeared and if Wade hadn’t known better, looked like she was on the verge of tears. However, since the most tragic of events in her life could not bring her to tears, he knew those sad brown eyes would remain dry. Just another reminder of the shroud she hid behind. A shroud he was beginning to resent.

His feelings regarding Anna accompanying them on the cattle drive remained unchanged as they headed out less than an hour later. Hell, he had been nervous to bring a greenhorn out on the trails the first time when he brought the boy along for the roundup. He felt a hundred times worse this time around. His eyes and ears were constantly on the watch. Normally, he loved the cattle drives and the opportunity to spend days out on the terrain. This trip, however, he was being cheated and instead he was left baby-sitting a woman who belonged in the kitchen not on the trails.

The sun had still not risen by the time Joe opened the corral gates where the ranch hands had gathered all the cattle being taken to the Kamloops market. The animals kicked the ground and caused sheets of dust to fly in the air as they scattered out of the holding pen. Wade and Joe took the point lead while Prescott, Neil and Frank took the swing. The rest of the men took the drag while the chuck wagon carrying the kitchen as well as Anna and Kim towed along last.

They covered endless miles of countryside and rode across rolling hills and sagebrush. By the lunch hour the horses were in need of a well-deserved break. They broke camp at a site that had a corral already set up and waiting. Kim and Anna began lunch while the wranglers herded the animals and allowed the cows to mother their young calves.

“Mm-mm—good,” Joe took a bowl of stew from Anna’s hands and inhaled the delicious aroma. “Ain’t nothing taste better on a man’s tongue than a good cooked meal.”

“‘Cept, of course, your little filly back home.” Neil chuckled as he spooned food into his mouth.

Wade’s hand froze in the process of releasing Sty’s girth.

“Ya watch your mouth when talking ‘bout my gal,” Joe warned, poking a fork in the younger rancher’s face, but his eyes had a glint in them.

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