Free Holt's Gamble by Barbara Ankrum Page B

"Clay's wife."
    Jim Kelly reined in his horse with a jerk and fell behind a step before nudging his horse back up even with the wagon. His lips were parted in surprise as he eyed Kierin with renewed interest, his gaze flicking down the length of her in unconscious appraisal.
    "I'll be damned—" he muttered under his breath, then chagrined by his rudeness, Kelly reddened. "Beg your pardon ma'am. It... uh... it just caught me by surprise is all. I'm real pleased to make your acquaintance."
    Kierin felt her heated blush travel all the way up to her ears. Nodding politely to him, she couldn't help wondering why Jacob had chosen to tell Holt's good friend the lie they used. And even more curious was the fact that Kelly didn't mention Holt's "other wife." Surely he must have known about her, as long as the two have been friends. Kierin sighed, and decided to save those questions for later. A safer route, she decided, was to steer the conversation completely away from the subject of her "marriage" to Holt.
    "I thank you for what you did this morning, Mr. Kelly. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't helped us."
    Kelly seemed unable to draw his gaze from her. "It's Jim, ma'am." He smiled with a flash of even white teeth. "And just what did happen back there? The sheriff did make mention of murder."
    "Seems the two of 'em ran into a fella named Talbot back at the Independence who didn't cotton to Clay beatin' him at cards," Jacob told him.
    A hard look crossed Kelly's face. He shook his head, and turned questioning eyes on Jacob. "It's not like Clay to let himself get caught off guard like that."
    Kierin's mind flew to the moment when Holt had offered her his shirt last night, dropping his guard momentarily. She looked off into the distant horizon, glad to have something other than Kelly's questioning gaze to focus on.
    Why should she feel guilty? After all, Holt had dragged her into this, not the other way around. So why couldn't she shake the miserable feeling that she was responsible for the condition of the man lying in the back of the wagon?
    "Done is done," Jacob concluded with eloquent simplicity. "Ain't no help for it now but the healin'." Jacob flicked his whip near the ears of the lead pair of oxen and added, "That, an' avoidin' these blasted ruts."
    Kierin glanced anxiously back into the dim interior of the wagon as it lurched over a deep furrow. "It's not going to do him any good to be traveling like this. I'd better go back and check on him." She stood and balanced precariously in the rocking wagon.
    Kelly touched the brim of his hat again as his horse danced sideways, anxious to move at a faster pace. "We got a late start today. That'll cut our traveling time down some. You just do what you can for him. I'll take care of the rest."
    "Thank you, Mr. Ke-" She stopped herself. "Jim."
    He turned a grateful smile on her. "It's a pure pleasure, ma'am. If I know Clay, that pretty face of yours will be all the inspiration he needs to get him up and on his feet again." Kelly nudged his horse and sprinted away up the line, leaving her blushing in the wake of his unexpected compliment.
    Jacob eyed her with a sideways grin and then clucked to the team and flicked the long bullwhip above their backs. "H'yaw!" he called, with a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
    Kierin pretended not to notice and climbed ungracefully over the benched seat, then over the crated supplies in the front part of the wagon. It was fortunate that their wagon was not loaded down with heavy furniture and heirlooms which weighed down many of the pioneers' conveyances. Holt and Jacob had packed only the necessities: primarily staples such as flour, salt pork, coffee, and dried beans and fruit.
    Earlier, she had also discovered eggs—ingeniously suspended in the flour sacks—molasses for sweetening, tinned milk, along with sugar, rice, and salt. There were other crates she-had yet to explore, but they seemed well equipped for