Page 7 of Riches Beyond Measure (Golden State Treasure #3)

Five

“There are two sets of tracks.” Josh jabbed a finger at the tracks they’d found just a bit back into a small grove of trees. “They hid their horses here and carried the armor out on foot.”

Cord was riding with him in the early light of dawn. They’d taken the time to eat something, not knowing how long they might be searching for whoever had stolen the armor.

Zane had hung back to repair the lock on the door of Michelle’s laboratory.

“I didn’t see that spear tip last night.

” Cord had noticed the artifact just this morning, shoved up against the wall in the laboratory.

Now he studied the tracks, knowing a good tracker could tell more than just that a horse had stood here .

.. then walked on. They could judge the weight of the rider, the size of the horse, lots of things.

Josh was fond of saying that he could read a trail like the written word; he called it “reading sign.” Cord couldn’t see things quite that clearly, but then he wasn’t done learning yet. And, he admitted, he probably never would be.

Josh paused to tug the kerchief off his neck and tied it around a branch. A signal to Zane that he wouldn’t miss. “Zane should pick up the trail too, but this might speed things up some.”

Josh set out then, and Cord fell in beside him. Michelle had taken a couple of cowhands and ridden to Dorada Rio to see if they’d had trouble at the museum in town. It seemed like it would be easier to snatch one of those suits of armor than to slink onto the Two Harts.

“Do the tracks tell you anything?” Cord asked.

“My first reaction is that it’s not one of our horses. We have a mark on the bottom of all our horseshoes.” Josh pulled up and pointed behind him.

Cord studied the track for a long while. Josh waited, not telling him what to look for. “It’s your brand, the two hearts, lying on their side, touching at the point of the hearts like a sideways number eight.”

“Yep, it’s easy enough to mark the shoes when we make them.

Pa started it up long ago. He said the horses sometimes wandered back when he was still building, and he’d let them out to graze like we do the cattle.

The horses were branded, but we had neighbors whose horses wandered, too.

And you couldn’t see the brand until you saw the horse.

This way you wouldn’t spent time tracking your neighbor’s horses. ”

“I like the idea. Is that common practice?”

Josh shrugged. “Around here I think we’re the only ones who do it. But the horses are better trained these days and know where home is, so they’re not as likely to wander off.”

They rode along, the trail being easy enough to follow once Josh had found it.

Cord continued to study the tracks, trying to glean information.

Josh, his eyes fixed on the ground, said, “So you like our Annie some, then?”

Cord’s head snapped up to look at Josh, who lifted his head and met Cord’s eyes with his cold blue ones.

“Why? What did I do that brought on such a statement?” Cord’s mind rabbited around. Josh hadn’t seen him and Annie together yesterday, sitting out an aftershock ... or had he? And anyway, nothing had happened. Even so, clearly something had drawn Josh’s notice.

“No man would be fool enough to be around such a fine woman as my sister and not like her.”

Cord narrowed his eyes. “She is a fine woman for a fact. And one whose heart seems to still be devoted to her husband. Nothing has gone on between us.”

“I reckon not.” Josh then flashed him a look that belied his words, as if Cord’s defense of himself was some kind of insult. “I believe in my sister’s honor too completely to think it was otherwise. Still, you’ve got eyes, and sometimes they linger on her for a bit too long.”

It stung Cord a bit that Josh felt the need to warn him away from Annie. “You’re saying I need to stay away from her?” he flat-out asked.

“Is that what I’m saying?” Josh gave a half smile, then went back to focusing on the tracks. A moment later, he urged his horse forward, ready to ride on.

Cord quick reached out and grabbed Josh’s arm.

Josh twisted around in the saddle to face Cord, and the blazing blue glare was a reminder that Josh wasn’t a man to be trifled with.

He had the ironhard muscles of a seasoned rancher who’d wrestled a living by breaking wild horses, roping ornery cattle, and working the land in all manner of weather.

Cord swallowed hard, letting go of Josh’s arm.

“Josh, you should know that I’ll be leaving here soon.

My plan is to stay until we’ve come to the end of my half of the treasure map.

But I want to go and live closer to my family.

My life isn’t here, and Annie’s is. Add to that, when I look at her, I see love for another man in her eyes.

I see grief there still. She needs time to get past that before she can think of another man.

And when that time comes, I’ll be long gone. ”

Josh nodded. “Did she ever tell you that her husband, Todd, was murdered?”

Cord had heard as much, yet he knew few details of what had happened exactly. “Who killed him?”

“Someone burned their place to the ground. Todd, Annie, and Caroline took off on horseback, riding from their ranch for the Two Harts, and while doing so Todd was shot. By the time they arrived here, he’d taken two bullets in his gut.

Caroline was on Annie’s lap, and she had bullets in her leg and arm.

Michelle got the bullets out of Todd’s body, but he’d already lost a lot of blood. He died soon after in Annie’s arms.”

Cord let out a low whistle and shook his head slowly.

Josh went on, “So you’re right—a wife needs time to get over something like that.

I hadn’t yet returned home from the sea when it happened, but I was here not long after.

And my lively, bright-eyed big sister was replaced by someone quieter, bitterly hurt, and saddened.

I swear to you, Cord, I won’t stand by and see her hurt again. ”

And that’s the danger , isn’t it? Cord thought. How could a man promise not to hurt a woman when all of life seemed to end up hurting at one time or another? It was a mighty hard promise to make, and Cord was nowhere near ready to make it. There was only one honorable way to act.

“You’ve delivered your message, Josh.” Cord looked away from him to the trail ahead. “How about we get back to tracking now?”

Though Josh didn’t say anything, Cord could tell that their little talk was over. His boss kicked his horse, and they went back to searching for thieves.

Annie ached to go along and help search for the stolen suit of armor. She also wanted to go on the next treasure hunt, which was coming up if the buzzing energy of Thayne and Lock MacKenzie was any clue.

Instead, she taught school.

They had four classrooms. In the mornings, they divided the school into four groups—older girls, older boys, younger girls, younger boys—teaching the different groups general subjects like reading, writing, and arithmetic.

In the afternoon, they focused on subjects beyond the basics. It had been Michelle’s idea to bring out the strengths and interests of each child, orphans who’d led hard lives. Michelle wanted to prepare them for a future full of promise.

They offered several classes, including a history class taught by Tilda, who had a rare and fascinating way of talking about the past. Her classes were always crowded.

Annie usually taught writing skills, hoping she’d inspire the children to want to further their education. Being a skilled writer could help with that.

Michelle wanted their students to be prepared for the future and to find work that they’d enjoy. Work that suited their intelligence and temperament.

The Two Harts School for Orphans was an idea that they’d begun two years ago.

The younger children had time to improve, but the older ones, many of whom had spent a good portion of their childhood running the streets, had serious gaps in their education.

The teachers had worked together to identify the gaps, then addressed those gaps by educating the students, hopefully preparing them for life on their own someday.

They’d already had a few children leave school, bound for work and independent living.

They’d trained three teachers, two of whom had married each other and remained at the Two Harts school.

The other had found a teaching job at Dorada Rio but came out to the ranch regularly to visit with her friends.

Two of the young men had been eager to learn cowboy skills and had taken a job on the ranch.

Two others had been hired on at Stiles Lumber.

One was a lumberjack, while the other got a job working at the sawmill.

Since Michelle was a member of the Stiles family, she owned a third of the lumber dynasty her father had established.

She was happy to send her former students to a place of work where they’d be treated right and paid well.

They had four more students itching to get out on their own, including one who’d gone off to college to study medicine.

The training for the students was geared toward practical careers, but not for the first time, Annie wondered if they shouldn’t be teaching their students music too, especially with Cord, a skilled musician, being so close at hand.

Annie pondered this as the older girls filed out of the classroom for the noon meal.

Tilda came out of the classroom for the older boys.

They all loved her to the point they’d considered having her teach the older boys and girls in the morning, then about half the school in the afternoon.

But the older boys were the hardest, and each of the classes had around fifteen students in them right now.

Giving her thirty students to teach all on her own would be too much for her to handle.

Tilda came and wrapped an arm around Annie’s waist. “I’ve got two of my older girls asking about becoming teachers.”