Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) by Constance O'Banyon Page B

able to distance himself from her; at least, he
hoped that would be the case.
    Saber hunched her shoulders and braced herself against his strong back. The horse was mov ing slowly, the tired animal had given its all.
The only things she could think about at the
moment were a good warm fire, a hot bath, and
a soft bed.

     

Saber was so cold that Reese had to lift her down
from the horse. As snow whirled all around
them, he took her hand and led her into the
house.
    A rush of warm air hit Saber's face as she
stepped inside. A cheerful fire burned in the fireplace, and Reese guided her to the warmth. He
took a brightly colored Indian blanket from the
back of a chair and placed it around her shoulders.
    "Stay here where it's warm. I'm going to see
to the horse."
    Her teeth were chattering, and she could do
no more than nod. She dropped down in front of the fire, basking in its warmth. When she was
able to move, she glanced around the room. The
log walls had been honed and smoothed and
whitewashed. A woven Indian rug covered the
plank floor, and several Indian artifacts hung on
the walls. Three rifles hung over the fireplace,
and a coatrack stood near the door. There was
a small high-backed bench and two straightbacked chairs. A battered desk was the only
other furniture, and she noticed the neat stacks
of paper on top. A shelf attached to the wall held
several books. There were no curtains at the two
small windows, no womanly frills of any kind.
It was a man's room, and surprisingly neat and
clean.

    She could see a bed through one of the doors,
so she supposed the door to her left would lead
to a kitchen.
    Saber heard someone stomping the snow off
his feet outside the kitchen and thought Reese
had returned. But a young boy entered with an
armload of firewood. She judged him to be no
more than fourteen or fifteen.
    He placed more logs on the fire and put the
rest in a wood bin. Only then did he remove his
hat, smiling brightly. "I'm Jake Kendrick,
ma'am. Reese asked me to tell you he'd be in
shortly."
    He had sandy hair and soft brown eyes and a shy smile. She could tell that he was nervous,
because he kept shuffling his feet, so she tried to
put him at ease. "I'm pleased to meet you, Jake.
My name is Saber Vincente. Do you live here at
the ranch?"

    "Yes, ma'am. Me, Gabe Cooper, and Miguel
are Reese's hired hands. Miguel's wife, Rosita, is
the washwoman." He nodded toward the door.
"We live in the bunkhouse, just beyond the barn,
and Miguel and Rosita live in a small house just
beyond that."
    Saber smiled at the amount of information
Jake imparted to her in such a short time. She'd
already learned more from him than Reese had
told her in all the time they had spent together.
    Jake backed toward the door and planted his
hat on his head, then touched the brim.
"Ma'am."
    Cold wind swirled through the room when he
opened the front door. After he'd gone, she
frowned thoughtfully. She knew so little about
Reese; he never talked about himself. He had not
mentioned anything to her about his ranch
hands. But of course he'd have hired hands to
help out on the ranch. Otherwise he could not
have gone looking for her.
    She was luxuriating in the blissful warmth
when the door opened and Reese entered. He
hung his coat and hat on the coatrack and came toward the fire. She moved over so he could sit
beside her.

    "Storm's getting worse," he said worriedly.
"I'll probably lose more cattle before it blows itself out. Gabe said we've already lost twenty
head."
    "I'm not surprised. It's been an unusually
harsh winter. I'm so sorry about your cattle."
    He tossed several more logs on the fire. "I keep
forgetting you are a rancher's daughter." He
gazed down at her. "Of course, your brother
could lose several thousand head, and it
wouldn't hurt him."
    "It wouldn't hurt him now. But there was a
time when Noble had to struggle to keep Casa
del Sol from being taken for taxes." She looked