Wild Horses (Sadie's Montana #1)(75)

She slipped one shoulder into the strap. She had to bend over and struggle to get the other strap in place, but determination goaded her. She had to see what those horses would do when confronted with food they were unaccustomed to having. Surely they would remember it and long for it.

In Sadie’s mind, the wild horses had to be connected with that wealthy person who lost his horses—the one she had seen on the news that Richard Caldwell had shown her. As long as the horses weren’t found, there was no proof they had been stolen, so rumors swirled through the valley continuously. That’s all the talk amounted to. Rumors.

Sadie had never entered the conversation at the ranch, but she had listened plenty and formed her own opinions.

Her opinion was confirmed, especially after seeing the horses up close. They weren’t ordinary horses. Wild, yes, and definitely scruffy-looking, but not as small or as mangy as many western mustangs she had seen.

Sadie walked rapidly at first, then slowed. She knew climbing the ridge with 10 or 15 pounds on her back would be a daunting task, but she’d have to try.

She wished she would have taken time to eat. She felt her stomach rumble and hoped the adrenaline rush would propel her up the incline, because there wasn’t much food in her body.

For one thing, it had been Dorothy’s day to make chili, and she sure had been heavy-handed with the ground chilis. The dish was so hot, Sadie gasped and ran for the sink when she innocently put a large spoonful to her mouth.

“Dorothy!”

Dorothy chuckled.

“You’re not good western stock, Sadie! You’re just an Ohio Dutchman raised on milk pudding and chicken corn soup. You don’t know what good chili is.”

Sadie drank water, spluttering, her face turning red. “That stuff is on fire!”

Dorothy laughed and went about her duties, knowing the cowhands would not think the chili was too hot. So Sadie had made a cold bologna sandwich for herself and hadn’t bothered to sit down long enough to eat all of it.

She could hardly keep her secret from Jim and Dorothy. She had even considered talking to Jim about it on the way to work but then decided against it. She didn’t want anyone to know she thought the wild horses were still in the area, mostly for fear of a group of men following her up the ridge to round them up.

Turning off the road, Sadie started across the field on her way to the ridge where the trees met the open grass. She could feel her heartbeat increasing from exertion, but she could climb surprisingly well with the weight distributed evenly on her back. The wind caught her covering, and she grabbed it just before it tore off her head.

Oh, dear, she had forgotten to pin it.

If an Amish girl went outside for a hike on a windy day, she had to put in a few extra straight pins or her covering would not stay put.

Stopping, Sadie tied the strings loosely beneath her chin and decided to let it blow off if it wanted to—which is precisely what it did. She walked on, her brown hair in disarray now and her covering flapping about her backpack. The wind tore at her navy blue skirt, whirling it about her legs, but she pushed it down impatiently and kept walking.

Glancing at the sky, she noticed a bank of dark clouds building in the west.

Hmm.

She hoped this was no spring thunderstorm. She knew how quickly storms could come up at this time of year, becoming quite violent.

The wind bent the grasses, tossing the purple and yellow flowers relentlessly. Dry leaves, leftover from the winter snow, skidded down the hill, and still Sadie climbed, her breath coming in gasps.

She stopped, turned to look back, and as always was awed at the sight before her.

She was glad they had decided to stay in Montana. It was home to them now, and she couldn’t imagine moving back to Ohio where the landscape was flat, the homes too close to each other, and the roads crowded with traffic.

She still missed Eva though. Letters and phone calls were not the same as being with someone. Eva was getting married in the fall, and she still had Spirit, her horse. Sadie wished Eva could be here with her now. She’d have a fit. She would just have to write her a letter when she got back.

She watched the bank of dark clouds. They were farther away than they appeared to be, she knew, but the thought of being caught here in a thunderstorm did not appeal to her.

Finally, her breath tearing at her chest, she reached the spot close to where she had been when the horses first appeared. Carefully she tore the grass away and spread the feed in clumps with the salt on one side, the apples on the other. Then she sat down to catch her breath and wait.

The wind moaned in the trees, its intensity picking up as the pine branches bent to its power. The grasses whipped about now, and Sadie knew she could not stay or she’d be caught in a storm. She watched the clouds moving and expanding, and then she shouldered her empty backpack and started down.

“Okay, Paris and company, enjoy your dinner. I’ll be back.” She hoped the horses would find their feed before the deer or squirrels or birds did. Likely the wild creatures would get some of it.

Thin streaks of lightning flashed out of the dark clouds now, and Sadie hurried down the hill, the backpack flopping and her covering whipping around every which way.

She’d better hurry. How would she explain a soaking wet dress and a ruined covering if she got caught in the rain?

As it was, she had to run the last half mile as huge drops of cold rain began pelting down on her bare head.