“I had my bath, thank you. And washed my long johns at the same time.”
Speaking of which, Luke would welcome some dry clothes. He climbed to his feet and scanned the sky. The storm had skirted around them to the north. He glanced toward the herd. From this vantage point he could see the chuck wagon in the distance on the far side. When the cattle had mired in the muck, he’d sent word to halt and let the herd graze. Kirk, Morris, and Vic kept guard while the rest had helped out with the rescue. Judging by the position of the sun, they only had a couple of hours of travel time left before they would need to find a good place to bed down for the night. He searched his memory of his last drive on the Chisholm Trail. As far as he could remember, there wasn’t another appropriate place within four hours of here. This would have to be it. What was a couple more hours when they had lost a full day?
He spoke to the men lying in the grass around him. “We’ll graze the herd a little longer and then settle them here for the night.” Jesse drew breath for an accusation, but Luke held up a hand to stop him. “It’s my fault. You men did a good job today. Let’s get those cattle taken care of and then get some extra shut-eye ourselves. Tomorrow we’ll get an early start.”
There was less grumbling than expected when the men rose and started gathering their belongings.
“I hope the cook ain’t serving beans again tonight,” Charlie said to no one in particular. He winked. “Been noisy enough around here today.”
Griff scooped his hat off the ground. “Some of those molasses cakes he whips up sure would go down good. Got an ache in my sweet tooth tonight.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Luke promised. “You fellows go on ahead. I’ll be along in a minute.”
They mounted their horses, and when the rest headed in the direction of the herd, Jesse paused to look down at him. “She’s doing it again.”
Luke glanced toward the Switzers’ wagon, where Rebecca stood openly staring in Jesse’s direction. When he looked her way, she giggled and turned away, more slowly this time.
Jesse shook his head, disgusted. “Can’t say I’m sorry to see the last of those Aim-ish.” He kicked his horse into a start and galloped off.
When he’d gone, Luke headed toward Jonas, who was inspecting the yoke still attached to his wagon. Mrs. Switzer was up in the back, sorting through a crate, while Rebecca stood watching Jesse ride away. He didn’t trust himself to look beyond the wagon, where Emma knelt in the grass beside the big trunk. Every time he remembered the sight of her running toward those cattle, spooking them into the river, anger heated the blood in his veins. No one had been harmed today, but wrestling a frightened steer mired in river muck had killed more than one cowhand in the past. She’d endangered the lives of his men and delayed his herd’s progress by several hours. No amount of sweet smiles could make up for that.
“Everything look okay?” he asked Jonas when he approached.
“Ja.” The man stood. “I can work around the missing pins. I feared for the bows, but thank the Lord they suffered no damage.”
“That’s good.” He glanced toward the oxen grazing nearby. “They are going to make you a fine team. They pulled hard and steady today. Made the job of getting the cattle out of the river easier and quicker than trying to use horses. Thanks for lending us a hand.”
A smile turned the corners of his shaved lips upward. “It is what friends do.”
Friends. Yes, he could honestly say he had made an Amish friend in Jonas. “You’d better get a move on if you want to make good time tonight.”
He shook his head. “Like you, we will stop here and start fresh tomorrow.”
“You need me to give you a hand with anything?”
“You have done much. Truly, you have been the Lord’s blessing to us. Our debt goes far beyond the money you have spent.”
Luke smiled and cocked his hat. “Which you’ll pay back, right?”
Solemn-faced, Jonas raised a hand, palm out. “You have my word.”
That his word was good, Luke had no doubt. He extended his hand, and Jonas took it in his strong, calloused grip.
“Good luck to you,” Luke said.
“The Lord bless your journey,” Jonas responded.
When he turned, Rebecca