it while she nibbled on some jerky. Abigail took pity on her and stomached half the plate before Boone declared she was abusing his child. The petite woman was about ready to give birth any day now, but Mary Ann thought Boone’s reaction was a bit over the top...and quite funny. “All right, ya’ll. Stop givin’ Charlotte such a bad time. It ain’t her fault that it looks like somethin’ a swamp monster might spit up.”
“Or a stable boy might scrape off the ground—”
“Quiet, or I’ll hex you!” Charlotte chuckled. She tossed something that resembled a bread roll at Sam. He ducked it and the offending item hit the wall with a loud thud. Charlotte blushed. “I didn’t know they were that hard. I followed Mary Ann’s recipe perfectly."
Thankfully, someone had enough sense to put some mutton and potatoes on the fire just in case. Charlotte ate happily with everyone else as the charred food was all but forgotten. After supper came to an end, Mary Ann pulled Jesse aside. "You still have not told Beth about Ruth!" she whispered harshly.
"It ain't the right time."
"Have you learned nothin' from Sam and me? The only way you and Beth are goin' to get over this feud is to talk about it and figure out what you got to do to fix it," she insisted. "Trust me; it's a lot worse thinkin' someone hates you for a reason you don't know than one you do."
Jesse braced his hand on the wall and shook his head. "Thank you, Mary Ann, but I have to do this on my own time. And I think everyone should realize that Beth and I might just not be compatible no matter what destiny thinks of it."
"Well, I hope you make the right decision in the end. The last thing you want is to have regrets when the war is over." Mary Ann patted Jesse on the arm and walked to the bedchamber she shared with Sam. She opened the door and lifted a single brow when she found him lying naked on the bed.
Chapter Twenty
One week later…
Cheyenne, Wyoming
They tracked a pack of wendigo towards the border but, by the time they arrived, the pack had already moved on. Sam rode with Jesse into town and hitched his horse to the post outside of the inn. He hated leaving Mary Ann behind, but she was busy helping Abigail with the newest edition to the Cassady bloodline. They were set to get married in a month or so when things were expected to slow down. But with spring came a wave of overeager outlaws and wendigo raids all over the territories.
Word spread about cannibals being sighted nearby, so Boone suggested Sam and Jesse get a jump on things before more folks ended up on the menu. Sam took care of the horses as Jesse rented a room in the inn. When they were settled in for the night, Jesse took his post at the window while Sam Looked over the map.
"Do you think this is some ploy to separate all of us?"
Jesse turned his head and looked at Sam. "No. I think Ethan is using trains to transport wendigo all over the West and the South. According to the morning paper, this wendigo problem is spreading like wildfire. I reckon we got a few days before the pack arrives here, though."
"How many are we lookin' out for?" Sam asked as he circled the places on the map that they scouted before arriving in town.
"Itsá said we will most likely see solitary wendigo that hunt on their own, as well as wendigo packs up to fifteen."
"Fifteen…"
"Yeah, he says their numbers are growing substantially. He suspects they'll be colonizing soon. I don't know about you, partner, but I don't want to live in a world where humans are outnumbered by wendigo." Jesse shivered in disgust.
Sam pointed to a spot on the map. "Look here," he said. "There's a cave system not far from the train tracks. If you're right about Ethan Tate smugglin' wendigo on the railroad, then it's the perfect place for them to hide."
"What do you suggest?"
"We need to get there before the train arrives tonight and set explosives to level all of them at once."
"That won't kill them," Jesse argued.
"Yes, it will if we use this." Sam opened a pouch on the outside of his saddlebags. He handed it over to Jesse. "It's powder I scraped from the bottom of Beth's new forge. Made from the blessed daggers