Dorothy Garlock - [Colorado Wind 03] by Wind of Promise Read Free Book Online

anxious to please—like a youngster in a grown man’s body. Her shyness began to dissolve and the tension eased out of her. The shoulders that she had held so straight relaxed, and her hands that had been clenched together fell apart. An awareness of Henry’s simple nature crept into her mind, and her eyes softened and became misty. This man was no threat; he was as nervous and shy around folks as she was. Lips that had been pressed firmly together softened and tilted upward. Eyes as velvety brown as a fawn’s smiled into his.
    “Give me your hand so he can smell it.” She spoke in a low husky whisper and Henry held out his hand. She shyly reached for it and held the back of it to Mister’s nose. The dog sniffed, looked at her and sniffed again. “He’s a friend, Mister,” she said softly, then placed Henry’s palm on the top of the dog’s shaggy head. A big smile slashed Henry’s brown cheeks as he stroked the dog’s head. “I think he likes you,” Mary Ben said.
    “I like him. And I like you, too, Mary Ben,” Henry replied with simple honesty.
    Ellie had been watching her son as he tried to make friends with the girl, praying he wouldn’t be rebuffed. It had happened so many times, and his hurt was her hurt. Relieved when they began to talk and pet the dog, she turned her attention back to what Mr. Wisner was saying.
    “Ya got to be careful with yore fire, ma’am. Ain’t nothin’ awfuller than a prairie fire. I ain’t been in but one, but it was a ripsnorter. There jist ain’t no place to go when yo’re on the prairie ’n fire comes down on ya.”
    “What in the world did you do?” Ellie asked.
    “Why, ma’am, I turned the team loose, rolled my water barrel out from the wagon ’n jumped in. That fire come aroarin’ like a tornado. Yes siree. Twas all over in five minutes. Lost my tucker, but not a hair on my head. I was plum tickled ’bout that.”
    “You were lucky you had water in the barrel.”
    “Yes’m. ’Nother thin’ we gotta watch out fer is wolves. They ain’t likely to corner ya or brin’ down a mule here cause there be small critters around fer ’em to eat, but ya ain’t ort to be roamin’ around outside camp.”
    “We’ll not be doing that,” Vanessa said firmly. “We’ve got those two-legged wolves to worry about now.”
    “Will the young feller . . . ah, take a watch?” John asked hesitantly.
    “No,” Ellie said quickly. “But Vanessa and I will.”
    “Mary Ben ’n the dog can stand a turn. Nothin’ll come up on Mary Ben ’n the dog without her aknowin’.”
    “How old is Mary Ben?” Vanessa asked.
    “I don’t rightly know, ma’am. Some’eres around sixteen, seventeen, I reckon.”
    Both women gave the wiry old man a puzzled look, but he didn’t say anymore, and they were too polite to ask why it was he didn’t know his daughter’s age.
    They broke the night watch into four two-hour shifts. Ellie would take the first one, then Mary Ben, then John. Vanessa would take the last shift. The rainstorm that had threatened all day became a reality. The wind came first and began scattering the embers of the cookfire. Henry scooped dirt over them, then hurried to the wagon as the rain came down.
    One of the double doors at the back of the caravan was a split door. Ellie folded back the top half and sat looking out into the night. An occasional flash of lightning lit up the camp and she could see the wind whipping the canvas top of the Wisner wagon. Henry was stretched out on the floor beneath Vanessa’s bunk, and Ellie could hear him snoring peacefully.
    It had taken Ellie ten years to become reconciled to the fact that her son’s mental capacity was impaired. He hadn’t walked or talked until two years after Vanessa walked and talked, and it was so terribly hard for him to learn to read simple words and write his name. Had it not been for Vanessa’s companionship, he would not have advanced to the stage he was in now. His cousin had been wonderfully