Page 11 of The Heart’s Charge

“I’ll finish hitching your team to the wagon,” he offered, trying to salvage her pride by changing the subject. “Why don’t you check on the others? Once you have everything ready, I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Head high, she moved away from the ponies. “While we appreciate you and Mr. Wallace bringing the babe to us, your duty is concluded. We’ll take care of things from this point forward.”

Harness in place, Jonah led the pair of ponies outside to the wagon. “With all due respect, ma’am, you won’t be able to get where you’re going and back before the sun sets, and it ain’t safe for a woman to be out alone after dark.”

Miss Southerland’s skirt snapped as she hurried to follow him. “I’ll have you know I’ve driven after dark on multiple occasions. I don’t need an escort.”

Jonah turned the horses and began backing them up to the wagon’s tongue. Once they were in place, he craned his neck and gave the stubborn woman a look that brooked no argument. “Maybe not, but that babe is under the protection of the Horsemen. If you don’t want me in your wagon, I’ll accompany you on horseback. But I’m coming.”

“The horsemen?” Miss Southerland’s brows arched slightly. “What horsemen?”

“Hanger’s Horsemen.” Jonah watched as her brows arched even higher. Satisfaction puffed his chest. She’d heard of them. Good. She’d know he meant business. And maybe she’d be the tiniest bit impressed. Not that he threw around his association with the famed Horsemen as a way to impress women, but something about Miss Southerland made him itch to gain her good opinion. “Wallace and I are two-fourths of the team. The others, Matt Hanger and Luke Davenport, are currently in San Antonio.”

The awe in her gaze didn’t last long. In a blink, her eyes were narrowed and her hands had found their way to her hips. “I read that the Horsemen retired.”

Jonah met her challenge and her glare head on. “Officially, yes. We are no longer actively seeking clients. However, we made a pact that if ever a situation arose where the Horsemen felt called to help someone in need, we would answer the call.” He nodded toward the house. “Stumbling across that babe at just the right moment weren’t no accident. The Almighty had his hands on this. He assigned the Horsemen this duty, and I ain’t about to argue with him. Are you?”

CHAPTER

SIX

The moment Jonah and Miss Southerland left the front room, Mark repeated the question his companion had yet to answer. “How did you come to be here, Kate?”

He still couldn’t believe it. Kate Palmer. Here in Texas. It was either a miracle or some kind of cruel jest.

“I took a train, same as you, I suspect.” There was the saucy smile he remembered from their school days, and the teasing sparkle in her blue eyes.

That sparkle used to tie his insides up in knots whenever she aimed it his way. Kind of like it was doing now. Apparently some things never changed.

But some things did. Instead of being in her family’s home back in Westfield, Massachusetts, she was here co-running a foundling home. How had that happened?

Little Sarah’s mouth slackened around the cloth Kate held to her lips, sleep overtaking her. Kate set the cloth aside, humming softly as she fiddled with Sarah’s blanket. Did she still sing? He used to listen for her voice in church and harmonize his tenor with her alto, enjoying the way their voices blended.

The humming faded, and her gaze finally met his. “It’s a long story, Mark.” The teasing light had been replaced with a spark of determined fire that almost hid the sadness behind it. “All that matters is that I’m right where I need to be. Where these children need me to be.”

She gestured to someone behind him. Mark turned and encountered five faces taking his measure. Abner, he recognized. The sandy-haired kid looked to be about nine or ten. A reddish birthmark covered the top right quadrant of his face. His mouth was pulled tight in a belligerent scowl aimed at Mark, but uncertainty flashed in his eyes as his gaze darted between him and Kate.

“I got the drawer,” Abner said, lifting the wooden rectangle for inspection as he moved toward the adults. “Ruby picked out the blanket.”

A girl with jet-black hair framing a pale face and big gray eyes limped along beside him. “I gave her mine. It’s the softest.”

Kate smiled at the girl, who looked a couple of years younger than Abner. “Thank you, Ruby. That was very kind of you.”

The girl stared up at Mark as if she’d never seen a full-grown man before. Not wanting her to get a crick in her neck, Mark dropped into a crouch and tipped his hat. “Hello, Ruby. I’m Mark Wallace.” She inched closer to Kate, unsure of what to make of this stranger in her home. Mark smiled at her. “That’s a real pretty pinafore you’re wearing. And you’ve kept it clean all day? Wow! I never could keep my clothes clean when I was your age. Mud saw me coming and just jumped onto my trousers without me so much as offering an invitation.”

A small giggle escaped before Ruby clamped her lips shut. Those lips curled into a shy smile, though, one followed by a proud little swirl of her dress to flare out the pristine pinafore.

“Mud jumps on me too,” a third child declared. Then, as if to demonstrate, the little black boy leapfrogged, hop after hop, until he landed in front of Mark, nearly colliding with Ruby in the process.

“Careful, Ted,” Kate warned.

The boy didn’t seem to hear, however. He was too busy pointing out all the dirt smudges on his pant legs and even one impressively large jam-colored smear on his shirt. Mark steadied Ruby with a hand to her shoulder even as he oohed and aahed over Ted’s badges of honor. It was all Mark could do not to chuckle. This one must be a handful.

The last two children lingered in the doorway. A girl and a boy with nearly identical facial features. Definitely related. Same height, so possibly twins or cousins. They had the olive complexion of those with Mexican or Spanish heritage.

“Ubee?” the little girl said.

Ruby waved the young ones forward. “It’s all right, Pris. You and Quill can come see the baby.”