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He looked at her with surprise and Anna thought he might have exchanged glances with Wade. However, in true Prescott form, he began talking to her in his usual joyful self.
“Should be a good sleep tonight. Not nearly as cold as the last two evenings.”
Anna truly hoped so, though she had eventually warmed up there was still a coldness in her bones she feared was permanent.
“I daresay, it will snow soon. It is beautiful in the valley in the winter. The land is crisp and white and very still. Nothing stirs during the dead of winter. Kathleen calls it a winter wonderland and in particular loves coming home for Christmas. She could be mistaken for a Christmas angel. Her kind heart and generosity are boundless. There never was a sweeter spirit.”
She laid out her bedroll while she listened to Prescott. His words were creating a warmth around her cold heart. Without even having met the woman, Anna took a liking to her.
“And no more a pretty filly,” Joe offered from his corner of the camp. “If only I were a gentleman.”
“You still couldn’t get your hands on her,” Wade remarked and received a few chuckles from the ranch hands.
“Hell, if that girl hadn’t gone to England, you would have had her stay on with you at the ranch for the rest of her life.”
Wade didn’t hesitate. “She would never had been happy here. It takes a certain person to live a life in these rugged elements. Even if the land weren’t so harsh, it’s far too isolated for her liking. She loves the convenience of the city.”
“It takes a rare woman to endure this lifestyle,” Prescott agreed.
“That type of woman does not exist.” Wade stated matter-of-fact.
Many of the ranch hands nodded their heads in agreement and Anna was struck by an unexpected sense of sadness for them. For a group of men who spoke so openly about their trysts with members of the opposite sex, they truly knew nothing about females. They were doomed to live a life of loneliness, occasionally filling the void with salacious intervals. Wade included.
Anna settled into her bedroll and sat back to watch the men in the camp. Joe prepared the fire as usual while Neil and Frank sat across a log for a game of cards. Most of the men took the early stop to lay back and rest. Chuck Rhodes had slipped out of camp and was nowhere to be found. Her lids felt heavy, but she knew she would lie awake most of the night. As she probably would for the rest of her life.
It occurred to her as she observed the ranch hands that her future looked unclear. She couldn’t go on forever charade as a boy. However, there wasn’t too many options available to young females and she certainly wouldn’t succumb to the level of the saloon ladies. The question was, where did she go from the ranch? Though the thought seemed frightening, it was also inevitable. She would eventually have to leave.
She was distracted from her thoughts when Joe announced dinner was ready. With her bowl in her hand, she stared down at the goo and wondered how he could call it dinner. Not wanting to insult, she allowed Joe to scoop a good portion into her bowl before scurrying off to her bedroll. The revolting stuff tasted far worse than it looked and Anna had to force every spoonful down.
The sun had long set and the men were beginning to turn in for the night. Wade, Joe and Prescott did the same. Anxiety started to creep up her neck. She looked for Chuck Rhodes yet again, but found him nowhere. He had come for his meal then disappeared in the area of the animals. Anna only prayed he would stay there.
At the least, she was grateful the evening was not nearly as cold as the last two nights. If she had not been laced with apprehension she probably would have fallen into a comfortable sleep; as it was she found herself still awake hours later, staring up at the branches overhanging the camp. The only sound was the crackling of the fire as it slowly dwindled.
Next to her, Prescott’s chest rose up and down in a heavy sleep. She looked around the camp and noticed all the other men fast asleep as well. Instinctively, her eyes sought out Wade. He too slept propped against a downed tree with his hat perched low over his face.
Sighing, her gaze drifted up into the night sky and the half-moon just visible above the tree tops, and willed it away. The sooner the sun rose the sooner they would be back on the road.
A twig cracked and caught her attention. Her eyes shot in the direction which it came. Chuck Rhodes stood just outside the camp and was looking straight at her. Fear swelled in her gut. She held her breath and waited. Shuffling he made his way toward her, stepping cautiously between wranglers. Anna’s hand snuck out from beneath her blanket and touched Prescott’s arm.
And received no response.
The old man kept approaching and panic set in setting Anna’s heart rate at soaring speeds. She reached out and touched Prescott’s arm once more but still nothing. He slept undisturbed.
“What are you after, Chuck?” Wa
de’s booming voice broke the still night and stopped Chuck Rhodes in his tracks.
* * *
Wade had been keeping a watchful eye on the boy all day. In health, he looked far better. Elizabeth’s home cooking and hospitality had done him good. But there was definitely something wrong with the boy. Since he returned to fetch him for the ride back to the ranch, he had avoided all eye contact. However, Wade didn’t need to see into his brown depths to know something wasn’t right. He just wasn’t sure what it was.
Admittedly, he was hurt when the boy chose to lay his bedroll next to Prescott. Wade knew it had been a deliberate rejection. He just wasn’t clear on what grounds. Had he truly insulted the boy’s sense of morals? Possibly, but with or without the boy’s knowledge he kept an extra watchful eye on him. He wasn’t entirely certain the kid wouldn’t attempt another foolish stunt as he did last night. May even attempt to return to the village in the mountain.
Wade yawned as he had several times, but found sleep avoided him. Instead, he watched as the boy tossed and turned next to Prescott. When Chuck Rhodes made an unexpected appearance in the campsite, he wondered if the old man did this often. Wait till everyone was asleep before coming to warm himself by the fire. That was until he realized the fire was not his destination.
“What are you after, Chuck?”
The old man had reached within a foot of the boy, but stopped suddenly at Wade’s words. He looked flustered at being caught and turned around abruptly and scurried back into the woods toward the animals.
