“Katherine, I do not appreciate being interrupt—”
“Quiet, Ma. Listen. What is that?”
Jacob looked at her quizzically. Then his head swiveled to the south and east as the rumble came again. He stood in his stirrups and squinted, searching the horizon. Then his gelding danced to the side and tossed his head. Kate tensed. If Jacob was nervous …
Jacob turned back to them quickly, his gaze intense. “Buffalo. A stampede.”
Ma’s face paled. “Oh Lord, help us,” she whispered.
He searched up and down the line of wagons. “Are your brothers at the back with the stock?” he asked urgently.
“Yes, and Pa too,” Kate said.
He dismounted in one fluid motion, his broad frame moving with a masculine grace. “No time then.” Moving quickly, he tied Kip to the back of the wagon. “I’ll drive for you. If that stampede comes close, it’ll be the absolute dickens to keep the mules in check.”
“I can do it, Mr. Munroe,” Kate said resolutely. Shouts of alarm began up and down the train. Others had heard it now too.
“With all due respect, Miss McGrath, this is a man’s job.”
Kate’s voice went hard. “With all due respect, Mr. Munroe, I know these mules and they know me. If they feel a stranger drivin’ them through a stampede of buffalo, they’ll spook sure as the sun shines, and who knows what’ll happen. I can do it.”
Ma’s voice was tight with fear. “I don’t know, Katherine. Maybe Mr. Munroe should take over.”
“Trust me, Ma. Please.” She turned back to Jacob. “I helped Pa train this team. With me, we got a chance.”
Jacob paused with one boot on the hub of the wheel, his cobalt eyes locked on hers, his bearded face tight with concern. The rumbling had turned into a deep roar. He glanced at the agitated team, then back at her. Then he gave a quick nod. “I’ll ride in front of you. If any come too close, I’ll head them off.” He grabbed his mount and swung into the saddle, pulling his shotgun from its holster by his stirrup.
The ground was shaking. Kate looked behind her, past the mast of the canvas cover, and watched with wide eyes as a solid black mass flooded over the crest of a hill and poured toward them like a malevolent wave. Her heart tried to beat out of her chest. She took a steadying breath.Lord, keep us safe. Give me strength. Guide my hands.
Joe reared, rattling the yokes. Kate imbued her voice with far more confidence than she felt. “Get up there, team! Big team, big team! Easy does it, Joe. That’s it, Max, slow and steady!”
Joe lunged forward. Max kept him steady, but he was tossing his head too. She could barely hear anything above the thunder of thousands of hooves pounding the earth. “Ma, take hold of the brake,” she shouted. “Two hands. That’s it. When I say, throw the brake but not for long. We just need to make sure they remember there’s a wagon behind them. They’re goin’ to run, but I’ll try to guide them through it.”
Kateplanted her feet and took the lines in as much as she dared, keeping a firm pressure on the team, her grip strong, her arms flexed. She tossed a look over her shoulder. The buffalo were almost upon them, their massive heads and humped shoulders making them look like some prehistoric creatures come to tear them apart. Their bellows sent chills of fear down her spine.
Jacob stayed forward and to the left of the team, his gun pointed to the sky, handling his sidestepping gelding with unconscious ease. He glanced back at her, jaw set under his dark beard. She nodded once. Then the wave of beasts closed the distance and crashed around them with all the ferocity of a hundred thunderstorms.
The mules broke into a panicked run, their tug chains snapping and rattling. Kate hauled on the lines then eased up, pulsing the pressure, pulling hard to the left. Her eyes flicked to the river. It was still a mile away, but the stampede was heading straight to the water. She needed to angle the team across the herd, to go along with the flow of the rampage but try to come out the far side before they were swept into the water.
Jacob seemed to sense her plan. He stayed on their left, heading off the sweating, heaving beasts, gun held high, blasting shots into the air, giving her space to guide the team crossways. She could barely see him for all the dust.Lord, keep him safe!
The wagon jolted viciously over the hard-packed ground. What if they broke a wheel? What if they overturned on some hidden rock and were trampled to pieces by these thousand-pound behemoths? Kate’s breath came in short gasps. They were nearly through!
Then a clod of dirt hit Joe on the muzzle, and he reared and threw himself sideways, pulling Max and Delilah out of stride.
Kate nearly cursed. “The brake! Ma! Throw the brake!”
Ma, face pale, eyes wide, leaned all her slight weight on the lever and managed to engage the brake for just long enough to send the team crashing against their yokes. Kate braced against the jarring shift inmomentum. Max stumbled and Kate’s stomach fell to her toes. But Joe reeled back in line with Delilah and they shot forward again, clearing the edge of the stampeding herd and racing out into the blessedly clear prairie.
Kate kept pulsing the lines, calling to the team over the deafening thunder of hooves until her voice was hoarse. Jacob ran Kip right in front of them and slowed, trying to give reverse pressure. Little by little the mules calmed their frantic pace. Finally, arms on fire with the effort, Kate managed to pull them to a stop nearly a mile from where the stampede was dwindling, the last of the buffalo crashing into the Platte.
Kate heaved for breath, as if she’d been the one pulling the wagon at a gallop. Ma flung her arms around her. “Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!” she cried into Kate’s shoulder.
Kate pried her cramped hands off the lines and hugged her back with shaking arms. “Thank you, Lord,” she whispered hoarsely.
Jacob dismounted and grabbed Max’s bit, rubbing his neck and speaking softly. Kate peeled her mother’s arms from around her neck. She needed to check the mules, make sure they were all right. She climbed over the side of the wagon, but as soon as her feet hit the ground she crumpled, all her strength suddenly and utterly spent.
Jacob was at her side in an instant. He grabbed her hand, helping her back to her feet. Her knees were shaking. She clung to his arm. The tears came then, unbidden. Kate choked back sobs, desperately wanting to not make a fool of herself in front of him, but she couldn’t seem to stop, like her body was ridding itself of the tide of terror she’d held back through sheer force of will. He put his arms around her, and she sobbed into his sweat-dampened shoulder.
