Should Have Been Her Child. Stella Bagwell

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      With the cattle safely penned and given access to feed and water, the men turned their mounts toward home while the extra horses automatically trailed behind them.

      As they rode up and out of the dry wash, Will said, “You don’t think that dead man just stumbled on a rock and fell, do you?”

      For the past week and a half the T Bar K case had been going round and round in Jess’s head. So far, without the coroner’s report, there wasn’t much to go on. Except instinct. And something about the whole thing had been giving Jess a very bad feeling. He didn’t exactly know why. Except that the body had been discovered in an extremely remote area without any access roads.

      A transient, as Victoria had suggested, likely wouldn’t have wandered so far off the highway. Even the primitive dirt roads petered out long before the spot where the body had been discovered. Why would a man deliberately leave civilized roads and head into rough land on foot? It didn’t make sense to Jess.

      “I don’t know, Pa. Not yet.”

      “It’s plain you don’t know, son. I’m askin’ you what you think?”

      Jess untied a yellow bandanna from around his neck and wiped the scarf over his sweaty face. It came away as red as the ground they were riding over. “Just between me and you, it looks pretty suspicious.” He glanced at Will. “Why? What have you been thinking about the whole thing?”

      Will grunted. “I guess I’ve been thinkin’ about the Ketchums. They’ve had their share of troubles over the years. Just goes to show you money don’t fix everything. I’ll bet Ross would pay a mighty big heap right about now to get all this quieted down.”

      Jess shot his grandfather a speculative look. “You think Tucker’s son could be involved somehow?”

      “Hell, if Tucker was alive, folks around these parts would already be shouting murder,” Will said with a shrug of his shoulders. “But the younger Ketchum— I ain’t gonna say. I don’t believe he’s as unfeelin’ as the old man. I just think he’d rather not have all this bad talk goin’ on about the T Bar K. Can’t be good for cattle or horse business.”

      According to Victoria, it wasn’t good for her medical practice either, Jess thought. Since she’d come to his office nearly a week ago, he’d neither seen nor heard from her. Oddly enough, he’d missed her even more than usual. And he knew it had been a bad mistake to touch her, to kiss her again after all this time. It had only aroused all those memories he’d tried to bury.

      “No. It can’t be good for the Ketchums,” Jess agreed. Then, with another thoughtful glance at his grandfather, he asked, “When exactly did Tucker die?”

      Will rubbed his whiskered chin as the two men and four horses plodded along in the gloaming, through the blue sage and hunkering stands of twisted juniper.

      “Probably more than a year now.”

      Jess processed his grandfather’s information. “Do you know of anyone the old man was angry with around that time? Or before that time? Was there anyone in particular he was feuding with?”

      Will chuckled. “I doubt there’s ever been a time when Tucker Ketchum wasn’t having it out with someone around these parts. But I can’t think of anyone in particular—” Will gave his grandson a side-long glance. “Jess, you’re forgettin’ the old man was feeble for several months before he died. Spent his days in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank. He couldn’t have knocked anybody in the head.”

      Jess snorted. “Tucker was too smart to do any job himself. He would have hired it done,” he said, then his voice softening, he asked, “Was the old man really disabled for so long?”

      Will sighed. “Yeah. The old man had all that land and cattle and money, but those things couldn’t cure his heart. Victoria is the one I feel sorry for, though. She stood by her papa ’til the end, doctoring him. She didn’t have a chance to get her own practice goin’ ’til after Tucker died. These past four years haven’t been much of a life for her.”

      They hadn’t been much for Jess, either. Not without Victoria by his side. Will knew as much. This was just a subtle reminder from his grandfather that Jess shouldn’t have left New Mexico or Victoria behind.

      “She chose it,” Jess clipped, then nudging his spurs into the horse’s sides, he picked up the pace, forcing Will to follow suit.

      The moment the two men rode into the ranch yard, Alice ran out of the house, waving her arms to catch the men’s attention. Seeing her, Jess didn’t bother dismounting. Instead, he loped the horse to the yard fence.

      “What’s wrong? I told you if the department needed me to call my pager.”

      Alice shook her head and by then Jess could see his grandmother was frantic with worry.

      “It’s not your work,” she said as Jess quickly slid out of the saddle. “It’s Katrina. She started running a fever this afternoon. I can’t get it down.”

      Rather than waste time going around through the gate, Jess vaulted over the yard fence. “Why didn’t you take her into Aztec to the doctor?”

      “Because today is Saturday. The medical clinic is closed. And anyway, she wasn’t that bad until this evening. I was about to take her into the hospital emergency room when I saw you two ride up.”

      “Where is she?” he asked, already on his way through the front door.

      “In her crib,” Alice answered as she trotted frantically to keep up with him. “What—are you going to do?”

      Inside the baby’s bedroom a lamp was on, shedding a pool of light over the sleeping child. Jess’s heart clutched with fear as he took in his daughter’s little red face and hot, dry skin.

      “I don’t want to take her to the hospital. All of the machines and strange faces would scare her.”

      “But Jess, she needs medical attention! I—”

      Before his grandmother could finish, Jess was stuffing diapers and extra clothing into a diaper bag. At this moment nothing mattered but his daughter.

      “I am going to get her medical attention, Ma. I’m taking her over to the T Bar K. To Victoria.”

      Chapter Five

      Nearly a half hour later, Jess braked his truck to a stop in front of the Ketchum ranch house. The porch was illuminated with light and, as he killed the motor and reached for Katrina, he could see Victoria stepping through the door.

      On his drive over, he’d called on his cell phone to make sure Victoria would be home. Jess hadn’t talked to her, but Marina had assured him she would give her the message. Apparently the cook had come through with her promise.

      By the time he stood down on the ground with the baby in his arms, Victoria was standing outside the door of the truck. When he looked at her face, the only thing he saw was concern.

      “Did she hurt herself or is she ill?” Victoria quickly asked as she stepped toward father and daughter. “Marina sometimes has trouble with her English. She wasn’t exactly sure what you’d СКАЧАТЬ