Forever Angels Read online

  "Hay particles," Angela murmured. "There's always hay particles floating around in a barn."

  Michael sniffed and waved a hand in front of his face. "Yeah, I can smell them. It's...ah...oh, no. AAH...."

  "Michael, don't!"

  "AACHOO!"

  "Oh, good grief, Michael. The cow's gone!"

  "I'll find her. Be right back."

  "Michael, wait! Stone's coming back! Michael...!"

  Angela quickly flew to the barn door and conjured up a breeze. The door swung on its well-oiled hinges and closed with a firm clack.

  Stone reached out and grabbed the handle, but the heavy door refused to budge. He shook the door, but it stayed shut. Frowning in frustration, he set the milk bucket down and used both hands to jerk on the handle.

  Damn it, that door had swung easily enough in that sudden breeze. Now what the heck was wrong with it? It couldn't be locked from inside — the only lock was the bar on the outside of the door.

  Stone gave a final jerk and landed on his butt. He glared at the swinging door for a full half minute before he stood up and brushed the dirt off his rear. Picking up the bucket, he stomped into the barn and stared around. He saw a few animal heads — a couple horses and that darned cow — sticking out over the stall doors, but no sign of any human.

  "Rain? Rain! Are you in here? That wasn't funny, Rain."

  "What wasn't funny, Pa?" Rain asked as he came into the barn.

  Stone whirled around. "Have you been out there all along?"

  "Well, yeah. I was greasing the axles on the wagon wheels, like you told me to do last night. I just came in here to get some more grease."

  "While you're at it, grease those darned barn door hinges, too!"

  "Sure, Pa."

  ***

  Chapter 8

  Tess stared at the again laden tray and groaned. Three times a day for the past three days those trays had appeared, carried in by Flower for the most part, but Stone had brought in the supper tray this evening. He stood over her now in the familiar stance, elbows cocked behind him, fingers slipped into his back denim pockets. She bit her lip when she realized the groan hadn't stayed smothered under her breath and Stone's face was creased into a frown.

  "What's wrong with it?" Stone demanded. "Don't you like pork chops? We had beef for dinner."

  "Nothing. Nothing's wrong," Tess quickly denied. "It looks wonderful. Flower's really a good cook."

  "Couldn't tell it by the way you eat. Hell, you haven't cleaned your plate since breakfast that first day."

  Tess looked back at the tray. Two large, crispy pork chops, a huge heap of mashed potatoes, with gravy, and a mound of green beans with bacon bits for flavor lay on the plate, completely filling it with food. Beside it set a bowl of cucumber and tomato salad and two pieces of buttered bread.

  She loved that fresh bread Flower made — and had made the mistake of voicing her liking. Now Flower even brought her in a snack in mid-afternoon, when she usually baked bread for the evening meal. The afternoon snack, warm from the oven, was covered with melted butter and smeared with homemade jelly or jam.

  And a huge glass of milk accompanied every food offering — cool and fresh from the well house, and unskimmed, Tess was sure. And then there were those pies and cakes to top off every meal....

  "You gonna eat or not?" Stone asked in an annoyed voice. "Flower worked too hard for you to let your food get cold."

  "Of...of course. I...oh, damn it, Stone. I can't keep eating like this and lying around not getting any exercise. I'm not going to be able to get into any of my clothes when I get up."

  "Then you ought to get some clothes big enough for you. Flower said you sewed up those denims, but they're too damned tight for you to wear around here. And please watch your language around the kids."

  "Me? You sure don't!"

  "That's different. Ladies don't swear."

  Tess blew out an exasperated breath and lifted her eyes to the ceiling. Damn...uh...darn, she was bored. Oh, hell, listen to her. She couldn't even be herself in her mind. She had been living inside her mind for the past four days, trying to reason out how on earth she had arrived in this time period.

  She didn't dare question Stone or the children too closely. She didn't even know exactly where she was — just that it was somewhere in the "Old West", the summer of 1893. Indians still roamed around, but she guessed they were pretty tame, since they visited Stone's ranch. If she could only find out what state she was in, maybe she could dredge up some buried knowledge from her history classes in high school. But then, history hadn't been her favorite subject — it ranked down there with geography and math.

  "Look, if I go get my plate and come in here to keep you company, will you please eat?" Stone asked.

  "No! I mean...I'll eat. You don't need to keep me company," Tess hurried to say. The few times she had glimpsed him looking into her room the past three days, she had read a million questions in Stone's eyes. She wasn't prepared to answer them yet, since she hadn't figured out how to get her own answers in return.

  And she had to get that backpack. Tomorrow marked the day to start her cycle of pills. She sure as hell didn't need them for birth control, but the doctor had told her that only regular cycles of the estrogen and progesterone would regulate those crazy periods of hers and help abate the crushing pain each month.

  "You know, if I had my clothes," Tess began hesitantly, "I could join you at the table." At least there the conversation wouldn't be private. Flower and Rain's presence would assure a flow of more innocuous patter.

  "Doc should be back out tomorrow or the next day," Stone informed her. "He said you were supposed to stay off that ankle until he came back and looked at you again. Then he'd see about letting you up on crutches. And — he said for you to eat properly!"

  Tess gave a huge sigh and shifted to the side of the bed. When she winced in pain as her foot touched the floor, Stone hastily grabbed the pillow from the bottom of the bed and knelt before her. She shot him a grateful smile when he tucked it under her foot.

  Lord, those lips were beautiful. And Stone had never seen such perfect teeth. Lots of the western men and women lost their teeth early — or at least showed signs of decay. Luckily, he'd never had that problem.

  Come to think of it, both Flower and Rain had beautiful teeth, as well as most of the Indian people he'd run across.

  Tess swiped at her cheek. "Stone, you're staring. Have a got a smudge on my face?"

  "Huh? No, I was just noticing how even and white your teeth were."

  "They should be," Tess said. "I suffered with those braces for enough years."

  "Braces? On your teeth?"

  "It's...it's something new dentists are using...uh... back East." Good lord, when was she going to learn to watch what she said!

  "Where are you from?" Stone asked.

  Tess tensed. "I was raised in West Virginia. You know, I guess I am hungry." She grabbed her fork and speared several cucumbers. "I'll have to ask Flower to teach me how she makes this dressing. It's delicious," she mumbled around her full mouth.

  "Dressing? Never heard it called that before. It's just vinegar sauce." Stone fixed her with a contemplating look. "You've got a lot of strange names for different things."

  Tess ignored him and picked up a pork chop with her fingers. Taking a huge bite, she chewed it slowly, her teeth crunching the crispy meat.

  Stone finally rose to his feet. "All right, I get the message, Tess. But we can only avoid this conversation for so long. We're going to have to sit down and talk pretty soon. If you're running from something, I need to know what it is. I don't want my kids put in any danger."

  Tess swallowed the suddenly tasteless meat, still avoiding Stone's eyes. She wiped her greasy fingers on the napkin, then picked up the fork and speared a green bean.

  Cautiously she nibbled the bean and slipped a look up through her lashes. Her eyes flew open. Stone had gone, and she hadn't even heard him leave. What on earth had ever made her thin
k him awkward? That man could move as silently as a drifting cloud when he wanted to.

  Stone walked out the kitchen door and found Flower and Rain talking together beside the rocking chair on the back porch.

  "Pa," Flower said. "Do you think it would be all right if I left the supper dishes for a while? It's so hot and Rain and I were thinking about going swimming in the creek for just a bit."

  "I don't see why not, honey," Stone replied. "It's still fairly light out. Just be sure you're both back before full dark."

  "We will be," Flower promised. "Thanks, Pa. I'll go get us some towels and my bathing outfit Mrs. Brown made me this spring, Rain. I'll be right back."

  Stone smiled as Flower hurried past him into the house, then glanced at Rain. "You know, son, we haven't had time to talk about what happened on the hill the other day. You been thinkin' about it?"

  "Yeah, a bunch," Rain admitted. "But I still can't figure out where Tess came from. Maybe Grandfather will have an idea when he comes."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "'Cause Grandfather's a Shaman, Pa. He knows things regular people don't know. And he can speak to spir...I mean...uh...."

  "Here's our towels, Rain."

  Flower hurried out onto the porch and tossed a towel at Rain. He caught it easily and shot her a grateful look, which Flower misinterpreted as thanks for the towel. As they ran across the yard toward the creek in the trees beyond the barn, Rain threw one quick glance back over his shoulder at his father.

  Whew. He'd almost slipped that time. Grandfather wouldn't be happy with him at all if he found out Rain had told his father about those two little people.

  Stone crossed the yard more slowly. He checked the prop against the barn door before he went in, assuring himself it was snugly seated. He didn't want that darn door swinging shut again, locking him inside this time.

  The backpack was where he had left it, covered with dust and hay particles. He still couldn't figure out why Tess hadn't asked for it since she got here. Surely there were things in it she needed — but even when she mentioned getting her clothes so she could sit at the table with them, she hadn't followed it up by demanding that he bring the pack to her.

  It went against every code he lived by to pry into that damned pack. A man just didn't go through another person's private belongings. He'd been tempted the other day, but he couldn't have gone through with it, could he have? Hell, why didn't he just take the darned thing in to Tess and give it to her. That was one way of getting rid of that hankering to see if anything in the pack would explain how that sexy piece of femininity had managed to drop into his life up on that hillside, with no signs of a horse or wagon having carried her there.

  Shoot, he'd even gone back up there the next day to look for Tess's footprints and try to tell which way she had come from. He found Rain's footprints — turkey tracks — deer prints and hoof prints from the three horses he, Rain and Flower rode. No damned Tess footprints, though, except where she had sat. And those darned soles on those funny boots she wore would have left a real distinctive track.

  Heaving a sigh of resignation, Stone reached down for the pack. He bumped it against his hip as he shifted the strap over his shoulder and immediately threw it back to the floor and jumped away.

  A snake! Stone stared at the pack in horror. The hissing sound continued. A damned snake had crawled into one of the pockets on that pack!

  Now what the hell could he do? He ran to the barn door and grabbed Flower's hoe from where it was leaning against the wall. Holding it at the ready, he started back toward the pack.

  Still six feet away from the pack, Stone stopped and glanced at the mare staring out of the first stall. Horses hated snakes, and by all rights that mare ought to be trying to tear down the door and get out of the barn, away from that hissing sound. But the mare stood with ears pricked, totally unafraid. As Stone watched, the mare nonchalantly turned around to her feed box.

  Stone cocked his head and listened to the sound. It was more of a crackle than a hiss. And no snake he'd ever heard could maintain a steady hiss like that. This sound had been continuous for at least a full minute.

  Stepping up closer to the pack, Stone prodded it with the hoe. The sound continued unabated. Hooking the hoe blade under one strap, he pulled the pack out into the yard.

  "Oh, Michael, s...stop! Please!" Angela gasped. "I can't stand to laugh any more."

  Michael guffawed even louder. Dropping to his knees, he pointed at Stone, who stood staring at the backpack in consternation.

  "M...maybe I oughta glue the zipper shut, so he can't get in there and find that transistor radio," he said through his hee haws of glee.

  "You shouldn't have turned it on in the first place!" Angela whooped again and clutched her sides.

  "I didn't," Michael denied. "He hit the knob on his hip and turned it on."

  "Oh, dear. Oh, my!"

  "Look! Look, Angie!"

  Angela dropped down beside Michael, her wings fluttering as her snickers continued. She gripped the rim of the cloud and watched Stone work the edge of the hoe into the leather thong threaded through the hole in the large zipper slide on the pack pocket. The slide slid smoothly, and Stone stepped back, waiting, Angela supposed, for the snake to crawl out.

  When nothing happened except the constant hissing- crackle, Stone prodded the pack again. Then he stepped up and worked the hoe handle down into the pocket. The black radio flew out and landed at his feet.

  Stone jumped at least six feet away and the angels howled with glee. Suddenly Stone whacked the black box with the hoe blade and silence descended — silence down there around Stone, anyway. Pure, unrestrained laughter reined on the cloud.

  "Uh oh," Michael finally managed to say. "He's headed in to confront Tess. We better warn her."

  "How?"

  Tess felt an uncontrollable urge to sit up and look out the bedroom window. She tucked the curtain back just in time to see Stone carrying her backpack into the barn. A second later, he emerged with something in his hand.

  Oh, no. That looked like her little radio. He'd been going through her things!

  She wasn't ready to talk to him yet. What could she say? Tess jerked the curtain closed and stared wildly around the room. She sure couldn't hide — not in here. Besides, she couldn't even get out of bed and walk unaided.

  Spying the laudanum bottle Doc Calder had left her for the pain, an idea formed. She hadn't taken any more doses of laudanum after the first pain-filled day, determined that she would endure without leaning on that narcotic. Now she grabbed the bottle and reached under the bed for the chamberpot. She dumped part of the bottle in and hastily shoved the pot under the bed before she set the bottle back on the table and laid down on her pillow.

  "You're not asleep, damn it! I saw you looking out the window."

  Stone stormed over to the bed and dropped the black box on Tess's stomach. She flinched and her eyelids fluttered, but her eyes remained closed. He reached down and shook her shoulder.

  "I said, I know you're not asleep!"

  Tess slowly opened her eyes. "Hum? No, how could I sleep with you standing there shouting? But my medicine makes me sleepy." There, that's not really a lie. "Doctor Calder said I should rest as much as I could until he came back."

  "Don't give me that. You're avoiding me again."

  "Avoiding you? Stone, how could I avoid you when I can't even leave this room? You can come in here and talk to me any time you want to. Like you said, it's your house."

  "That's not what I meant, and you damned well know it."

  "Really, Stone. Do you have to swear at me?"

  "That's right," Angela whispered. "Tell him, Tess."

  Stone gritted his teeth in frustration. "I want to know what that box is!"

  "What? This?" Tess reached down and picked up her little radio. "Oh, it's broken. Look. Did you drop it?"

  "No. I hit it with the hoe. I thought it was a snake."

  "A snake?" Tess turned the radio over in h
er hands, then back again. She slipped a raised eyebrow look up at Stone. "A snake?"

  Stone groaned in embarrassment and his face flamed. Wondering just how long Tess had been looking out that darned window, he recalled his foolish actions as he prodded at the pack and jumped away from that evidently harmless black box, which Tess handled so easily. Turning on his heels, Stone stomped out of the room.

  Tess heaved a sigh of relief and cradled the radio against her cheek. Lordy, Lordy, was he mad. How was he going to act when he saw some of the other things she carried with her?

  Tess dropped the radio to her lap and readjusted the plastic piece covering the batteries. The batteries clicked back into place and a hissing sound filled the room. She twisted the tuning knob, but the static only continued. Radio stations were nonexistent in this time.

  ***

  Chapter 9

  Rain leaned on his saddlehorn and studied the two spirits. It must be great to soar through the air — fly like the birds. Lots of times he stretched out on a hilltop to watch an eagle skim along the wind drafts, or a falcon float lazily overhead, then drop like a stone to grab a field mouse or rabbit.

  Wonder what their names were? The man spirit didn't look much different than other men on earth. He would have to ask Grandfather about that. The legends always seemed to indicate that warriors returned to their prime in the spirit world.

  This spirit had a slight potbelly and Rain could tell his age must be close to Grandfather's. He still had an almost full head of brown hair, with a few gray streaks, like in Grandfather's black hair. And, like most older white men, Rain noticed a bald spot on the back of his head. Wonder why Indian men never seemed to lose their hair?

  Of course, this spirit man wasn't Indian. Could there be two different spirit worlds for whites and Indians? He sure wished Grandfather would show up, so they could discuss how to talk to these spirits.

  And that lady spirit. At first when you looked at her, she seemed sort of plain. But there was something about her that quickly made a person realize just how beautiful she was. Once he and Grandfather had discussed how a person's true beauty came from within — from a person's unselfishness and caring about friends and family.