Page 35 of The Promise of Jenny Jones

Graciela pulled back an inch and rubbed both hands against wet eyes.

“My fricking cousins tried to kill me!” Jenny didn’t grab her fast enough to prevent her from shifting to look at the dead cousin in his bedroll.

But the kid didn’t flinch. The tears rolling down her cheeks were not for the dead cousins.

Turning back to Jenny, she talked a hundred words a minute, waving her arms, her eyes huge.

“They turned snakes loose on me!” A shudder of remembered horror trembled down her body.

“Snakes this big!” Her arms flew open wide.

“Then Carlos tried to choke me, but Favre wouldn’t let him, and they got into a fight and killed each other.

And I was so scared and so afraid you wouldn’t come, but I knew you would, but you didn’t, and I thought they’d kill me for fricking sure! ”

She threw herself into Jenny’s arms, sobbing again, clinging like a burr.

Jenny waved her hands in the air, then patted Graciela’s back awkwardly, amazed by how deep down, damned good it felt to have the kid’s little warm body in her arms. “It’s finished now,” she murmured over and over.

“I’m here and you’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you. ”

When she glanced up, Ty was standing over her, fists on his hips, scowling.

“What?” she asked, frowning up at him.

“Did you hear what my niece said?”

“She said she finally believes that her rotten cousins were trying to kill her, just like I’ve been telling her all along.” She didn’t understand his angry expression.

“She said her ‘fricking’ cousins were trying to kill her for ‘fricking’ sure.”

“Well, thank God they didn’t get the job done. It sounds like they tried, the bastards. Did you hear what she said? The sons of bitches turned snakes loose on her. Snakes!”

“Jenny, my niece said ‘fricking.’ ” He stared at her, then cast a meaningful glance at Graciela’s heaving back.

“Graciela, you’ve got to stop crying now.” Jenny tried to peel the kid off her chest. “You got my bad arm caught between us, and it’s hurting like hell.”

Reluctantly, Graciela released her grip and edged backward a step. She cast anxious glances between Jenny and Ty. “Are they all dead?”

“Those men aren’t going to hurt you ever again,” Ty said gently. Kneeling, he sat back on his heels and studied the kid’s face. “Are you all right?”

This time the kid flung herself on the cowboy’s neck and burst into fresh sobs, interspersed with an incoherent story involving snakes as long and thick as a fence rail.

Ty looked as surprised as Jenny had when Graciela had jumped into her arms, then he did the same thing she had done.

He held Graciela’s sobbing body, awkwardly patted her back, and murmured soothing sounds deep in his throat.

“I was so scared of the fricking snakes! One of them tried to crawl up my leg, and—”

“Honey, wait. Listen a minute.” Ty eased her away from his shoulder so he could gaze into her eyes. “Nice little ladies don’t say words like fricking.”

So that’s what he was irked about. Pulling to her feet, Jenny knocked the dust off her hat, then settled it on her head.

Graciela looked at Ty, then at Jenny. “Jenny says fricking all the time.”

Now they both looked at her. Jenny glared back.

“You know your mama wouldn’t want you to say words like that,” Ty said.

Lifting a hand, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind Graciela’s ear.

“And I know your father and your grandma Ellen sure wouldn’t want to hear a pretty young lady cuss and say bad words.

” He paused and sent Jenny a scathing stare.

“I’ll bet Jenny doesn’t want you to say fricking either. ”

Sucking in her cheeks, Jenny tilted her head and gazed up at the sky. The stars were fading, but not Marguarita’s star. Marguarita’s star was always the last to go. A cold, steady beam glared down at her.

Okay, Marguarita, Jenny thought, so she’s starting to talk like me. What did you expect? You knew I wasn’t any fancy-talking bluestocking when you chose me. Mule skinners are famous for cussing; it goes with the job. This isn’t my fault.

Yes it was. Marguarita knew it. She knew it too.

“Jenny?” Ty called to her in a voice stiff with righteous indignation. He had her pinned in a corner. No way was he going to let her squirm out of this.

Jenny lowered a scowl to the kid. “He’s right. Don’t say fricking anymore. Next time I hear you cuss, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap. You hear me?”

Graciela’s chin lifted, and her eyes flashed blue-green outrage. “That’s not fair. You say it.”

Ty grinned, watching her shift her weight from boot to boot.

Red dots flamed on her cheeks, and she kicked dirt at the embers in the Mexicans’ campfire.

She narrowed her eyes to slits and hissed at Ty.

“You think you’re so superior and self-righteous.

Well take a look around you, cowboy.” She flung out her good arm.

“We got two dead cousins here. Are you worried about your precious niece looking at two dead and bloody bodies? No, you’re all worked up like some prissy preacher because she used a cussword.

Maybe your frick—” She slid a frown toward the triumph spreading over Graciela’s smug expression.

“Maybe your stupid priorities aren’t where they should be.

Even I know kids shouldn’t be sharing a campfire with two dead bodies. ”

She had him there, all right. One look at the color in his face told her so. He came to his feet like a shot and spun Graciela so she faced away from the dead cousin in the bedroll.

“All right. This isn’t the best situation. But listen and hear me good. You are never in your life going to find a man less like a prissy preacher,” he snarled. “If my niece wasn’t here, I’d show you the kind of man you’re dealing with.”

The smoldering stare he swept over her body shot a hot shiver straight to Jenny’s toes. My God, he was a fabulous man. As hard as a railroad spike. She couldn’t believe that a man like this had developed a hankering for her.

Almost dizzy with pleasure, she swaggered toward Graciela and clasped her arm. “Time to go, kid. Let’s ride.”

The kid gazed up at her with teary, reddened eyes, and Jenny guessed she hadn’t slept more than an hour since the cousins snatched her. “Are we going to bury Jorje and Tito?”

Jenny considered. “You think we should?”

“Hell no,” Ty snarled.

“I didn’t ask you.” She looked down at Graciela. “It’s your call. But before you decide, I have two words to say. Snakes. Choking.”

Ty strode forward. “You can’t ask a child to make that kind of decision. It’s too much responsibility.”

“No it isn’t.” She tapped a finger on top of the kid’s head. “What’s it going to be?”

Graciela lifted her chin, squared her little shoulders, and walked toward the horses.

“Wrong horses,” Jenny called. “Ours are over there.” Graciela spun and marched back toward her. As she passed, Jenny gave her shoulder an approving pat. “Good choice.”

“ You say fricking.” Graciela glared, then continued toward the horses.

Jenny frowned. This was going to be a problem. Glancing up at the pale sky, she imagined she spotted Marguarita’s star still gazing down at her. If it was possible for a star to look pissed, this star did.

All right. I’ve lost the kid a couple of times.

I’m sorry about that. But I’ve got her back, haven’t I?

She narrowed her eyes on the sky and thrust out her chin.

Now, about this cussing. I am what I am.

You can’t expect me to change my ways just to please a kid.

Hell, you must have said fricking a time or two, didn’t you?

She couldn’t imagine it. No cussword had ever tainted Marguarita’s lovely ladylike lips. And Marguarita would have dropped into a swoon at the sound of a cussword scorching her small daughter’s tongue.

A heavy sigh whistled up from deep in Jenny’s chest, and she smacked a fist against her thigh. She just hated being responsible for a kid. It changed everything. And problems kept popping up like dogs in a prairie village.

When she reached the horses, Ty had already mounted, holding Graciela on the saddle in front of him. “If we set a good pace, we’ll reach the railroad in time to flag down the next northbound.”

“And if we miss it?” she asked sourly, shading her eyes against the glare of dawn.

He shrugged. “Then we hole up in the nearest village and catch the morning train.”

“Someone back in that village will have let Luis and Chulo know that the dead cousins snatched the kid.”

“Possibly. But they won’t know that we have her back.”

He was right again. She hated that too.

If they’d been traveling without a child, they would have reached the railroad tracks with time to spare before the northbound came whistling through. But Graciela slowed their pace.

When it became obvious they had missed the train, Ty dropped back beside Jenny’s mare. He tilted his hat brim toward a smoky haze rising in the distance. “Must be a village up there. I say we find a place for the night. Agreed?”

Her gaze fixed on Graciela’s flushed face, and she nodded. “The kid could use a bath, a decent meal, and a good night’s sleep.”

“So could I,” he said, flexing his shoulder muscles. He and Graciela were pasted together by sweat. He was mildly surprised by how fatiguing it was to ride for hours with her leaning against his chest. “How are you feeling?” he asked her.

“Sad,” his niece answered in a small voice.

He didn’t know what to say to that. Adults were not as frank about expressing feelings as he’d discovered his niece was. Pulling his scarf off his neck, he wiped perspiration and dust from his face, searching for a comment.

“I’m sorry you’re sad,” he said finally. When that didn’t seem adequate, he added, “I can see how you would be.” People she’d trusted and loved were dying all around her.

“Uncle Ty?” she asked in that same small voice. “Do you love me?” Shifting on the saddle, she turned huge blue-green eyes to study his face.