Their group stretched out single file as they turned eastward to ride on the opposite side of the hills that bordered the path of the Green River. Riley led, of course, with Juniper behind him, then Lorelei, Faith, and Rosemary bringing up the rear. It seemed she was always being positioned nearest Riley. His presence had begun to feel comfortable, no longer unsettling. Though she was still far too aware of him.
They crested the rocky peak and began to descend the other side. This wasn’t a tall mountain, not like those in the distance on the other side of the Green River, but the sharp stones and boulders scattered over its side required the horses to pick their way. The slope didn’t extend all the way down to a valley. Partway down it rose again into another small mountain. Riley turned them north beforethey reached the joining, and they wove between boulders along the trail.
None of them spoke as they rode, and the sounds of nature seeped in around them. Constant wind mussed Juniper’s hair even more than the women’s hands had back in the Gros Ventre lodge. Somewhere above them, the cry of a bird rose over the breeze. This place was so untouched by human hands, as though they were the very first to travel here. Every deep breath she took in filled her lungs, renewing her with its freshness, refueling her vigor.
The sound of running water rose above the wind, and she studied the land ahead of them. Water trickled down the mountainside on their left, a pretty little waterfall that collected in a dip of the rock so the horses could drink.
As they moved on, the path curved around the side of the mountain. Soon, a narrow valley stretched ahead of them. A bit of scraggly grass rose over the mostly flat land, and a small stream ran down the center.
Riley slowed his horse as he studied the ground ahead. The grass was short here, like it had been grazed very recently. Hoofprints had churned up mud in some places.
“What are you looking at?” Juniper asked.
“Horses have been here. A lot of them.”
Rosemary was frowning at the ground too. “Horses? I thought it might be buffalo. Are they mounts from people coming for the rendezvous, do you think?”
Riley shook his head. “We’re too far away from the main camp for it to be trappers’ animals. And this is more than a group passing through. Horses were kept here for a while.” He lifted his gaze across the length of the valley, maybe the distance of a city square before the mountains cametogether to close off the flatland. “This would be a good area to camp. The horses wouldn’t be likely to leave this valley as long as there was grass and water. But I don’t see outlines of lodges like a group stayed here.”
“So you think horses were kept here, but the people lived elsewhere?” Rosie studied him.
Riley seemed to think through his answer before responding. “That’s what it looks like.”
Juniper glanced around the valley once more. “Do you think it has anything to do with our search? Is this unusual?” She couldn’t imagine how that might help them find Steps Right, but Riley knew so much more about this land and its curious people.
He shrugged. “It’s strange that horses wouldn’t be kept right there with the lodges, especially with so many tribes around for the rendezvous. I don’t suppose it matters to us though.” Still, his tone sounded like itdidmatter. He was working so hard to piece together what these tracks meant.
As they continued riding, she tried to imagine possible scenarios. “Perhaps a group moved their horses here for better grazing, but the people had so many lodges they didn’t want to move the entire village. Especially if the horses might eat all the grass here within a few days.”
“Perhaps.” But Riley’s tone sounded more patronizing than seriously considering the scenario. After another minute, he shook his head, as though trying to clear his thoughts. “It doesn’t really matter anyway. The tracks look at least a week old.”
He seemed to be trying to put the questions behind them, for he turned to her with something like a forced smile. “So,your sister mentioned growing up on a horse ranch. Is that where you all live? Outside of Richmond?”
She shook her head. “Our land was several hours’ ride from the city. When our mother died a few years ago, our father sold the business and moved us to town.” She glanced behind to where Lorelei rode beside Faith and Rosie brought up the rear. She didn’t think the others would mind her telling Riley this next part. “We, um, plan to start the ranch back up when we return to Virginia.”
He shot a look at her. “You’re going to buy your father’s ranch back?”
If only. “That land has been turned into a silver mine. But one of our old neighbors is selling his farm. We have enough in our inheritance to buy it back.” Now she really was giving too many details. One simply didn’t speak of finances, not to a man they’d met only days before. Though it felt like she’d known Riley for years. Like she could tell him anything and he would look at her with that curious half-smile. The look that seemed to say he found her fascinating.
Her. The middle child in a family of girls. Papa had never made them feel like he’d rather have had a son than four daughters, but it only made sense that a male child would have been much more useful to him on the ranch.
The weight of Riley’s gaze kept her from following that trail in her mind. She glanced at him, her brows raised.
One corner of his mouth tipped. “I was just thinking how it must be nice to have sisters to go into business with. You four seem pretty devoted to one another.” The faintest hint of sadness laced his voice. He’d not spoken of any siblings the other day. “I’m surprised none of you have married yet.Now I suppose it makes sense. Do you plan to be businesswomen instead of wives?”
She stiffened her spine. But his tone hadn’t seemed condescending. Just ... curious. Still. “Who said we couldn’t do both?” She tipped her chin up and gave him another lifted-brow look. “If any of us chooses to marry, that husband is welcome to join us on the ranch.”
Riley shook his head and grinned as he shifted his focus forward again. “As long as you have your priorities straight.” But as the mirth slipped from his face, he spoke again. Softer this time, almost as though thinking aloud. “I do envy you a bit. Being as close as you all are. You don’t often see siblings stick together the way you do.”
A longing slipped through her. A need to tell him why her sisters mattered so much to her. Were the details too intimate? Did he really care to know their story? She inhaled a breath, then released it. “I suppose nearly losing one another will do that.”
He didn’t press her to tell more, but once again, the weight of his gaze sank over her.
She kept her focus on the grass and rock-strewn ground in front of them. “When Rosemary was ten, she took sick with an illness that left her weak and coughing all the time. Whenever she left her bed, she had trouble breathing, even just to walk down the stairs. Our local physic said the only way she would recover was if she went to this little town by the coast and took special treatments. If she didn’t go, her lungs would continue to shrink until she wouldn’t be able to breathe at all.”
Her own chest constricted with the memories. That had been so long ago, and Rosie was healthy now. But she’dnever forget the awfulness of thinking she’d lose her sister. Her best friend. Watching her struggle for every tiny bit of air was hard enough, but imagining Rosie dying that way...
Riley still didn’t speak, but his full attention rested on her. She eased out a quiet exhale. “Mama took her for the treatments, and they were gone for about three months.” Three months and four days, actually. She worked for something as close to a grin as she could muster. “I received a taste of what it was like to be the oldest, taking care of Lorelei and Faith while they were gone. Papa was there too, of course, but he still had his work on the ranch. And we had a woman who brought meals.” But it had mostly been her and the younger girls, with her doing her best to entertain them and keep them from worrying as much as she did. Keep them from knowing there was a real chance that Rosemary might never return.
