The Cowboy Who Saved Christmas - Jodi Thomas Page 0,11
deal to him.
When she moved inside, she thought how nice it was to know a man well enough to kiss him on the cheek.
Rain started before dawn the next morning. Trapper tied Midnight to the back and took the reins. He told Emery and the girls to stay inside. By noon the ruts that had replaced the road looked like tiny rivers, and the wagon rocked several times, almost tipping them over.
Emery covered her hair and leaned out when Trapper called.
“There is a bend up ahead.” He pointed, as if she could see it. “It’s got a rock formation behind a stand of trees. In a flash of lightning I saw a few wagons camped there. I think we need to pull over and wait this storm out.”
She nodded, hating how he was exposed to the cold and the rain.
“Tell the girls to hold tight, and make sure all is tied down. Once we’re off the trail, it’s going to get rocky.”
Emery pulled back in and began getting ready. She crisscrossed rope between the bows holding up the cover. Then the girls could hold onto the ropes. Anything tumbling would hopefully be caught in the web.
Trapper must have pulled off the trail and into open land. The wagon leaned first one way, then another, but they all held tightly. The girls were wrapped in their blankets to cushion them against any bumps.
“One!” Trapper yelled over the storm.
The oldest girl jumped up and climbed out to the bench.
Trapper handed her the reins. “I need to guide the lead horses. Hold tight to the reins and don’t let them bolt.” The last thing he yelled before jumping down was, “If the wagon falls over, jump and roll in the mud.”
Emery couldn’t just wait for the accident to happen. She had to help. In as calm a voice as she could muster, she said, “Now, girls, bundle up and hold on. I’m stepping out to help Trapper.”
Their eyes watched her as she stripped off her jacket and skirt. Next came her petticoats and shoes. Without hesitation, she climbed out of the back of the wagon and headed toward the team of horses.
The wind almost knocked her down. She balanced against the wagon and moved forward. By the time she got to the lead horses, Trapper was already there, trying to control the huge animals.
She grabbed the bridle of one lead horse. Trapper had the other.
For a moment he didn’t see her through the curtain of rain. “What are you doing here?” he yelled. “Get back in the wagon, Emery!”
“No!” she shouted. When she pulled the horse back in line, they began to make progress. She felt like they were walking into an ocean. The rain was so hard she could barely breathe.
One step at a time they moved toward a thick stand of trees. It took what seemed like an hour to go the few hundred yards, but when they stepped behind the shelter of the rock outcrop, the wind slowed suddenly to a breeze as the rain dribbled.
Thirty feet more and they were in the shelter of the trees. Trapper pointed to a break in the tree line just big enough to pull in the horses and the wagon.
The wind and the noise of the pounding rain died, but the gloomy day remained. Now they were moving through a cloud sitting on the ground.
Emery held the reins, talking low to the exhausted team as Trapper began to unhitch the wagon. Four little heads peeked out of the wagon behind Number One, who still stood her post. She might be just thirteen, but she’d done her job better than most men could.
Trapper yelled for them to get back inside; then he helped One down from the bench. “You did great, Number One. I’m very proud of you.”
She smiled. “I told you I could drive.” She went to work, helping to settle the horses, and moved them twenty feet away to an opening beneath the overhang. It looked calm there in the shadows, and the grass was still green.
Emery started toward the wagon, carefully picking her steps in stocking feet. As she watched her path, she suddenly realized her bloomers were plastered to her legs.
She rounded the front of the wagon to the step up to the bench and noticed the thin material of her camisole was wet and lying like a second skin over her breasts. The pink of her nipples was showing proudly through the silk.