Free Love's Rescue by Tammy Barley Page A

and set it before Jess. “My people mourn until our hair again reaches the length it was before our loved ones died. I know my dear sister is with the Great Spirit Father, but always she stays close in my heart. This is why my people also bury the possessions of one who dies, that we will not see what was theirs and feel pain from the reminder.” Red Deer smiled softly. “But we always remember them, yes? And when we die, we live on in someone’s heart, also.”
    “I suppose so,” Jess murmured, clenching the bedcovers to fight off fresh tears. She now lived in a country where death was becoming as common as life, and she couldn’t bear to hear another tragic thing. Red Deer had lost family, and she’d watched her people die. Jess didn’t know how she had survived it. She didn’t know how she would survive it. She only knew that if she had to remain in bed much longer, she might
go mad.
    For both their sakes, Red Deer sought to disperse the gloom. “But now we must talk of better things.” She paused expectantly, and Jess appeased her by taking a few bites from a bowl of dried peaches and steaming porridge. “Your food, it is good?”
    “It is very good,” she agreed, taking a sip of hot tea. Red Deer chatted quietly about simpler matters, and Jess realized she was quite hungry, eating the soft oats by the spoonful until they were gone.
    Jess was curious about the reed tray on her lap, and Red Deer described to her the plant baskets, bowls, and trays the Paiute women made, which were not only prized for their beauty, but also woven so tightly that not a drop of water could seep through. Jess listened, eager to hear about anything tangible that anchored her to life, and she marveled at the skill—and cuts and blisters—required for such skillful construction.
    Glancing at her clothes, which were hanging to the side, Jess saw that Red Deer had laundered them, as promised. By the time she finished her meal, she resented the soot and dirt that remained on her skin, and she couldn’t bear that her hair still smelled of smoke.
    “Red Deer, how long have I been here?”
    Red Deer stood up and removed the tray from her lap. “Today is your third day.”
    “Three days!”
    Red Deer gazed at Jess in alarm. “Do you wish to sleep again?”
    “No, but how long was I on the horse?”
    Cautiously, she answered, “One day and one night.”
    Jess pushed herself upright. The pain of the burns had dulled. “I have been gone four days?” She shoved her covers aside and gained her feet beside the dressing table. “Four days? Red Deer, I need to bury my family! I need somebody to take me to Carson City.” With short, fitful movements, Jess flipped through her undergarments in search of her corset. “Will your husband take me? If not,” Jess muttered, “I can saddle a horse and go myself. The horses belong to Bennett, don’t they? He owes me, anyhow.” She tossed the corset and her pantalettes onto the bed. “Carson is to the south; I can find my own way.” Jess read hurt and confusion in Red Deer’s face, and she quickly curbed her harshness. “Could you tell me where water is to wash with? I don’t wish to trouble you any further.” A glance out the window told her the sun had risen.
    “Jessica, I will get you water, but are you sure you should do this? You are not strong yet, and a woman traveling alone is not safe.”
    “I have to bury my family,” Jess insisted, desperately yearning to be near them. She struggled with a knot in the drawstring of her petticoat.
    “I understand, but you have been ill. You are not ready for this journey. Look how thin you are, and how you shake!” Her voice softened. “Jessica, days have passed. Friends will have buried your family. You would be wise to stay here.”
    The Van Dorns again. Yes, Edmund would have seen to it they were buried. Dear Edmund. He had done so much for them all.
    “Is Bennett still gone?” Jess asked.
    “Yes. When he leaves, he is often away