With a few strategic pushes from Jessica, the foal managed to come to its feet, but very quickly went sprawling, its stilt-like legs sticking out every which way. As Jessica reached for it, a harsh male voice cut through the storm.
«What the hell do you think you’re doing out here! Southern lady, sometimes you don’t have the sense God gave a goose!»
Before Jessica could say a single word she was snatched off the ground by large hands. Instants later she found herself staring eye to eye with a perfectly furious Caleb Black. There was no sign of the sensual lover, gentle father, or loving husband in him at the moment. He was a dark angel of justice with blazing gold eyes.
«Jessi!»
She smiled tentatively, but found her mouth too dry to speak. Caleb looked frankly intimidating.
«Good grief,» he said, still hardly able to believe his eyes. «Riding Deuce and wearing that fur jacket, I thought you were Willow. Does Wolfe know you’re out in this Hell-wind?»
The appearance of a multitude of slate-gray wraiths just at the edge of visibility saved Jessica from having to answer. Before she could take a breath, she was supported only by Caleb’s left arm and there was a six-gun in his right hand. Shots came too quickly too count, their staccato thunder battering through the savage keening of the wind. Almost a hundred feet away, a wolf went down and stayed. The rest vanished as silently as they had appeared.
Jessica stared eat Caleb, astonished at his speed and accuracy. Veiled by snow, the wolves had appeared with no warning and had left in the same way. Yet if the words Caleb was saying were any indication, he wasn’t much impressed by either his quickness or his skill.
«Damnation.Howcould I miss so many? Must be thirty of those sons of bitches prowling around.»
Caleb didn’t bother putting Jessica down. He simply tossed her onto Deuce, reloaded his gun swiftly, and went to the struggling foal. When he came close, thesteeldust’s ears went back.
«Take it easy, you cross-eyedcayuse. I’m going to help your baby, not eat him.»
The mare’s nostrils flared. Jessica had been infused with the foal’s scent. Enough of it had rubbed off on Caleb to confuse the mare. Stamping her feet, lashing her tail, nickering nervously, she watched while Caleb picked up her foal and draped it over Jessica’s lap.
«Take him to a stall. Thesteeldust won’t like it, but she’ll follow.»
«At least three other mares are missing from the herd,» Jessica said.
With a hissed word under his breath, Caleb pulled on his gloves. «Never rains but it pours. Only a contrary female would have babies in this weather.»
«Leave it to a contrary male to complain about the fruits of last summer’s frolic,» Jessica retorted.
Caleb gave a crack of laughter as he smacked Deuce on his muscular black haunch. «Get going, boy. Sassy little bits like your rider and that foal don’t take long to freeze solid in this wind.»
«I’m not little,» Jessica said as the big gelding headed out.
«You know, Willow’s been saying the same thing to me since I met her. Didn’t believe it then. Don’t believe it now. Watch Deuce. He doesn’t like wind worth a damn.»
«I noticed. I’ll be back for the other foals.»
«No. It’s too dangerous with the wind and the wolves. You stay home. Reno isn’t far behind me. We’ll look for the missing mares.»
«But what about the cattle? You need them more than you need the foals, and most of the horses are Wolfe’s anyway.»
Caleb didn’t answer. Instead, he swung up onto his big horse with a quick motion and trotted off into the savage, waist-high swirls of snow. Beyond him, the herd of horses huddled miserably, their rumps to the icy wind.
With thesteeldust in anxious attendance, Jessica rode quickly to the barn. The mustang didn’t want to go inside, but she did, shying every inch of the way. Jessica put mother and foal in an empty stall, dragged in a bucket of water and an armload of hay, and hauled herself up on Caleb’s tall horse once again.
Deuce didn’t want to leave the barn’s shelter. After a sharp contest of wills with its rider, the big gelding laid back his ears and went out into the teeth of the Hell-wind once more.
The sound of a six-gun being fired told Jessica where to find Caleb. By the time she got there, the wolves were gone. Tall, wide-shouldered, standing with his back to her, Caleb straddled a newborn foal while he rapidly reloaded his six-gun and watched the sheets of wind-driven snow for the movement of hungry wolves. When he saw none, he holstered the gun with a smooth motion and bent to pick up the foal. The mare was much more tame than Wolfe’ssteeldust. Other than nosing the foal insistently, she made no move to interfere.
As though understanding that the man’s attention wasn’t on them any more, wolves rushed in from three sides.
Before Jessica could scream Caleb’s name, he straightened, drew his gun, and fired all in the same motion, emptying the revolver in a few shattering seconds. The speed of his movements shocked Jessica, even though she had seen it once before.
The wolves scattered, leaving two dark shadows behind. Instantly, he began to reload. Then he heard something behind him and spun, gun raised in his left hand. Pale green eyes glittered like gems in the man’s wind-burned face.
In that instant Jessica remembered what Wolfe had said about Reno and Caleb being well-matched when it came to speed and six-guns.
«Willy, what the hell are you doing out here, and riding Deuce of all horses! Does Caleb know what damn foolishness you’re up to?»
As Jessica urged her horse forward, the hood of her jacket was stripped back by the wind. Long mahogany locks whipped and leaped like flames in the late afternoon light.
«Jessi! For God’s sake, does Wolfe —»
«Just give me the blasted foal before it freezes to the ground,» Jessica interrupted curtly, tired of being told by tall, dangerous men that she belonged at home by the fire. «You need every hand you can get.»
Impatiently, she stuffed her hair back under the hood and pulled the drawstring tight. No sooner was she finished than Reno dropped a curly-coated, ice-tipped black foal across her lap. A big rangy bay mare followed, all but stepping on Reno’s heels.
«Was it you with the shotgun earlier?» Reno asked.
«Yes.»
«Did you reload?»
«Wolfe taught me to hunt,» she retorted. «What do you think?»
Reno’s smile flashed. «I think you reloaded. I’ve got your carbine. Want to trade?»
«Unlike Wolfe, I can’t shoot straight one-handed while riding a horse and hanging upside-down with my eyes closed,» Jessica said dryly. «I’ll be better off with the shotgun. All I have to do is point it in the right general direction and pull the trigger.»
«You do that, Red. All the blood smell from the births and that wild wind have every wolf pack between here and the divide in a frenzy. Must be forty or fifty wolves prowling around. Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Shoot one and three more take its place.» He smacked Jessica’s horse on the rump. «Take her home, Deuce.»
Deuce moved eagerly toward the barn once more, followed by a mare that was nearly as big as he was. The foal struggled briefly, then gave up and lay quietly while the wind keened icily around.
As soon as Deuce left the meager shelter of the pines, swirls of snow leaped up from the ground, stinging unprotected skin. The gelding tugged at the bit and humped his back as though intending to buck again.
«Don’t even think of it,» Jessica muttered, curbing the big horse.
Suddenly there were wolves everywhere.
With a cry of fear, Jessica dropped the reins, lifted the shotgun, and fired at a leaping black shape. Simultaneously, Deuce lashed out with his hind feet and the big bay mare charged at the closest wolf, forcing it to retreat. The mare spun back to the gelding. Instinctively, the horses protected their vulnerable hamstrings by turning their rumps to one another and facing the circling wolves. Jessica didn’t urge Deuce to run for the barn; she, too, knew that the horse would be hamstrung and brought down long before it reached the barn’s safety.