Montana Unbranded

Dani’s laugh was humorless. “Depends on your perspective. Anyhow, I doubt that little foal will live.” She stretched out her legs and winced from the pain. “I stashed all my photographic equipment by the side of the trail and my camping gear’s still up at the cabin. I’ll go back and get it all tomorrow. I don’t have the strength tonight and I seriously doubt anyone’ll be up there. It’s off-limits to motorized vehicles and not many people want to hike that far to camp.”

“Any idea who might have shot the horses?”

Dani rubbed a cramp in her thigh and took another tiny sip of coffee. “Hard to say. A rancher, maybe. Legally, the horses are protected as long as they’re on public lands, and Custer’s band was in a part of the national forest, but sometimes they stray. It’s tough to teach horses boundaries when they can’t read. Drought years are hard—they gravitate toward water and that’s usually a water source protected by a rancher. Even the water and graze on BLM lands is hotly contested. The situation can get really ugly. The government holds roundups yearly on public lands to keep the wild horse population in control, but a lot of ranchers don’t think that’s enough and want them all gone. Anyhow, my guess is, with the lack of snow this past winter, ranchers are already worried about the graze and water supplies. Any unbranded horse that strays off public lands is in danger, but this shooting was on public lands. Maybe a preemptive strike? They’re legally protected by the Wild Horse Act, but that’s in a perfect world, right?”

She heard a wry laugh in the darkness. “Right.”

“Jessie Weaver’s family owned these lands for generations, and let the wild horses run on them. She has some of the best bloodlines of pure Spanish mustangs, right here on this ranch. I met her through Molly but I actually heard about her before that through the Wild Horse Rescue. She’s legendary.” The whiskey made her stomach burn but Molly was right; she was feeling stronger. “She’s not only legendary, she’s really nice. She spoke at the Wild Horse Foundation meeting last fall, and she donates her time and experience to the Pryor herd during roundups. If anyone can save that little foal, Jessie can.”

“If she lives, what’s in her future?”

Dani took another sip. The whiskey didn’t taste so bad now. “I don’t have a clue. Do you want to adopt a wild horse?”

“I doubt she would be happy in a big city.”

“Are you?”

“The city’s all I’ve ever known, except for a four-year stint in the military before joining the police department. And I guess guns and violence are the sum of my life experience.”

“So you get shot up back east and come to the Wild West for some rest only to discover we have guns and violence, too. But really, Montana’s great. I love it here.”

“So does Molly.”

At that moment, Molly reappeared from the kitchen carrying a plate of food and a napkin rolled around silverware. “Ramalda won’t let you leave without eating this first. And you’re coming home with us tonight. You can leave your car here and we’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“I can drive my car to your place, but I have Remington and Winchester, and your brother’s staying at your house.”

“We have three bedrooms, and your dogs are welcome, you know that. We even have a fenced yard. Besides, Joseph might be staying here. Now clean that plate before Ramalda comes out to check on you. That baby horse is alive because of you and Jessie’s going to feed her through a tube into her stomach when it’s warmed up enough. She’s going to teach Roon to do it, too. But she says it’s best to find her a foster mother, so she’s going to make a bunch of phone calls once she’s finished feeding her. Caleb’s already reported the shooting to Ben Comstock and Sheriff Conroy, and Comstock said he’d go up there to check it out first thing in the morning.”

“I’d like to go along,” Joe said.

“That’s too much climbing, Joseph,” Molly said. “You’re supposed to be recuperating.”

“I’ve had enough bed rest to last me the rest of my life. I need the exercise and I’d like to scope out the crime scene. I’m not staying here tonight. There’s no need of it.”

Dani set the coffee down between them. She wondered why Molly thought Joe might be staying at the Bow and Arrow, but the food in her lap smelled good, and she suddenly realized she was starving. Ravenous. She unrolled her silverware from the napkin. “You can come with me tomorrow morning, if you want, Joe. I have to get my camera and camping equipment. It’s not a tough hike if we take our time. We’ll bring some bear spray.”

“Bear spray?” Joe said.

Dani picked up a rib. “The Arrow Roots are grizzly country and they love fresh horse meat. I saw some mighty big bear tracks today.”

CHAPTER FIVE (#u9e926cd9-1a8a-5dda-8f74-bdcf0cbb19ef)

DANI OPENED HER eyes to the predawn light, to the first birdsong of the morning, to the tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee brewing, and all was well until she remembered the wild horses. Things went downhill from there when she moved. Her tentative movement brought a moan of pain. She was lame, a combination of the struggle to get the foal down the mountain, the emotional stress of the rescue effort and the fact that yesterday had been her first climb of the season. How on earth was she going to walk back up there today?

Yet she had to go back. She had to stop by the Bow and Arrow and see how the foal was doing. Her very expensive camera equipment was stashed beside the trail, and her camping gear was in the forest service cabin up on the mountain. Those were all very big incentives to get out of bed. Plus she was curious to find out what Ben Comstock could discover about the shooter and what had happened to Custer’s four surviving mares. Last but not least, the prospect of spending another day with Joe wasn’t the least bit unpleasant.

“Remmie? Win?” At her softly spoken words, the heads of her two golden retrievers popped up beside her, all soft brown eyes and wagging tails. “Hey, boys. You were so gentle with that little filly yesterday—you’re both such good dogs.” Their tails flagged faster at her words. She moved again, moaned again, then swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “Give me five minutes and I’ll take you outside. I need a hot shower first.”

She limped into the little bathroom and emerged ten minutes later in a cloud of steam to face the two very impatient dogs. The hot shower had helped her sore muscles. She dressed quickly and they exited the guest room together, heading for the kitchen and the back door. As she let the dogs out into the fenced backyard, Dani was surprised to see Joe sitting on the back deck with a mug of coffee in his hands.

“Good morning,” she said. “Sleep well?”

“Like a rock. You?”

“The same. The smell of coffee woke me up.”

“Help yourself, there’s plenty.”

While the dogs wandered about the yard, Dani poured herself a mug of very strong black brew and rejoined Joe on the porch. He was dressed the same as yesterday, blue jeans, running shoes and a warm, fleece-lined jacket borrowed from Steven and zipped up to his chin against the chilly morning air. She dropped into the chair next to his and leaned back to admire the view. She took her first sip of coffee, practicing her furtive sidelong glance. Joe had wonderfully thick wavy hair, a rugged masculine profile and the shadow on his unshaven jaw was very sexy.

“I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what to get Molly and Steven for a wedding present,” he said. “I’m not good at stuff like that.”

“Your being here is the best present you could ever give her,” Dani said. “She was right in the middle of her first solo courtroom appearance when she got the text from your younger brother that you’d been shot. She ran out of the courtroom and would’ve been on the next flight back east if Steven hadn’t caught up with her.”

“What happened with her court case?”

“The judge granted a recess of one day. That was long enough for you to go through surgery and get a ‘two thumbs-up’ prognosis from the surgeons. Next day she was back in court—she won hands down. She’s very good. I don’t think she realizes how good she is.”

“Don’t tell her. She has the Ferguson ego. Her head will swell.”

“It’s the swelling in her stomach that I’m worried about. I have to remake her wedding gown, but I think I’ve got it figured out. She’s going to be beautiful.”

“I didn’t know you were a dressmaker. I thought you were an attorney.”

“The dressmaking’s a hobby. I enjoy it.”

“You were limping when you came out here. You okay for today’s hike?”

“I have a blister on one heel and I’m a little lame, but otherwise fit as a fiddle. You?”

“Never better. That meal at the Bow and Arrow yesterday rejuvenated me. If they served food like that in hospitals, survival rates would skyrocket, but the patients would never want to leave.”

Dani laughed, took another swallow of coffee and wondered if she had any aspirin in her day pack, because she was going to need a handful. “Well, looks like you’re going on your first mountain hike. We’ll leave right after breakfast.”

“If the warden’s heading up there first thing, we should probably get on the road as soon as possible.”

Dani canted her head to one side to study him. He did look better than he had yesterday. A lot better. In fact, if he looked any better, she’d be in big trouble. Who was she kidding? She was already in big trouble. She sighed. “At least let me finish my coffee. I don’t function well without caffeine.”

* * *

MOLLY SAW THEM off and told them to stop at the Longhorn Café to pick up an order to go that she’d phoned in for them. “You can’t do that hike on an empty stomach, Joseph. You shouldn’t be doing it at all,” she scolded as they were getting into Dani’s Subaru. He didn’t argue. By the time Dani reached the Longhorn Café he was hungry. They ate the fried-egg sandwiches Bernie had cooked for them as they drove the final miles to the ranch. “Bernie said Ben Comstock was in bright and early for breakfast and he was headed up to check out the shooting when he left,” Dani informed Joe en route. “He’s probably already figured out who the shooter was, he’s that good.”

“He has some suspects in mind?”

“If he doesn’t, he will. There aren’t many ranchers in the area and he knows them all. Bernie fixed you a second egg sandwich, Joe. It’s in the bag. Eat it. Could’ve been a hunter,” Dani continued. “Some of them hate the mustangs as much as the ranchers. They don’t like the wild horses because they think what they’re eating is better left for elk and deer.”

The fried-egg sandwiches were good and Joe ate his second with gusto. He was looking forward to the hike up Gunflint Mountain. He only hoped Dani didn’t leave him too far in the dust. “Where’d this particular bunch of horses come from? Did they stray from the Bow and Arrow?”