Blue

The Flying K

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From the moment they’d arrived and encountered the First One, not to mention the rest of Jimmy’s tribe, their circumstances left Blue deeply troubled. They’d left the First One to deal with the Other. Blue had no words for the being who stole the witches—whites who were of the Blood. She’d heard legends about them. It was a witchborn white who married her magic with those of Blue’s line that created the First One.

“Are you all right?” Jimmy slowed his mount until she joined him.

“It is undecided.” To have all of these Fevered around her, to align with them, it didn’t match any vision of destiny the spirits ever graced upon her. The air turned cold with the curtain of darkness and she pulled a buckskin coat from the roll on the back of her saddle. Dropping her reins, she slid it on and the horse obeyed the gentle squeeze of her legs.

“I will never get over how easily you do that.” Jimmy grinned. The smile in his voice undiminished by the evening’s events. They’d returned to his home, and joy chased away his pain and fatigue.

“I can teach you.” The gift only required patience and a gentle touch, both of which he possessed.

“I look forward to the opportunity.” In the days since he’d nearly died, his manner had been tense, sometimes distant and pensive. Reaching his tribe seemed to have granted him the absolution he sought. Or maybe he was simply happy to see them. They circumvented the town proper, since she preferred avoiding the wooden structures preferred by White settlers. The rush of water echoed beyond the trees, and more…the soft hum of chanting.

Beneath the first set of trees, she halted. Drums played, though they sounded far and near at the same time. Closing her eyes, she savored the steady cadence underscoring the chant. The music throbbed with her pulse. The language of the chant twined through her. Awareness swept over her at the arrival of another, but Jimmy greeted the man with warmth.

“I came to make sure she could cross the barrier,” the younger man said in a lyrical, almost soothing cadence. Opening her eyes, Blue glanced at him. He’d joined them on the ride to find the First One. She searched her memory for his name, but it wasn’t readily forthcoming.

“She shouldn’t need an escort.” Jimmy’s response confirmed his manner. He trusted the man. “She’s not Fevered. This barrier only keeps out the Fevered.”

“Huh.” Warmth radiated from the younger man—warmth and feeling of goodwill. The spirit housing him was old, strong and wise. A double image overlaid him and she couldn’t help a faint smile. “Welcome to the Flying K, ma’am.”

“Blue,” Jimmy corrected him. “She took the name Blue, and if she has no objection to it, you can call her that or Mrs. Morning Star.”

“Staked your claim did you?” The men shared a look of some significance, one she’d seen on other warriors before. Claiming dominance and possession tangled with the need to protect made the declaration imperative. Like those who would thump their chest or remake the landscape to suit their desires, they wanted everyone to know they would respond should something occur.

“Yes.” No hesitation. “Then so did she. Blue, this is Kid Kane. He’s a good friend, and his family owns this ranch.”

Extending her hand, she brushed the shimmer of the barrier. It trembled over her skin like the spill of a waterfall. The thrumming in her veins increased as blood answered the call of blood.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Jimmy, is she all right?”

A part of her wanted to respond, but she didn’t want to interrupt the song of the field dancing along her fingers. The throb of his voice, one she thought she’d never hear again. The world splintered, a vision overlaying the dark shadows beneath the trees. Sunlight seemed to pierce the shroud of night, and yet it wasn’t real.

A memory of a vision or perhaps a new vision pulled from the ephemera. The shaman danced as he followed the water line, every step accompanied by the pound of his drum. The chant summoned the spirits to dance with him, twined with the land, and the shimmering barrier rose everywhere they passed. The spirits of rock, of grass, of tree and root, and of the water itself—he called to the elements and they answered. On the other side of the curtain separating the ranch from the land she stood upon, a woman took form. Her kind eyes seemed to light from within, and her smile grew welcoming as she gazed at Blue.

“What the hell/” Kid blew out a breath and the spirit looked from Blue to the young man. Her smile grew wider.

“I should probably have mentioned, Blue can summon spirits and bind them, but I’m not sure we met this lady.”

Surprise kindled in the woman’s expression, then she jerked her gaze from Kid to Blue and back again before she vanished and the song quieted. The barrier remained, the tingle of it racing over her hand, but the spirit abandoned them fully.

“Kid?” Jimmy’s gruffness tugged Blue’s attention to the other man. She couldn’t make out his features in the dark, the hazy vision of sunlight disappearing. Another rider approached, this one moving swiftly, and he carried a torch with him. The flickering firelight spilled over Kid’s ashen features.

“What happened?” Ice sheathed the man’s voice, but not the chill of death—rather winter’s bite.

“I—how is that even possible?” Wonder mingled with disbelief in Kid’s tone. “Was she real?”

Jimmy nudged his horse forward, until he stood between her and the other two men. The second man frowned. “Was what real?”

“I saw our mother, at least I think it was her. I’ve only got the painting in Pa’s office to go by.”

Shock seemed to rebound from Kid to his brother then back again. “Impossible. Ma died years ago.”

Blue said nothing. She’d seen the power inhabiting the form. If she had passed many seasons before, she hadn’t crossed over. Had her grandfather bound her to the ranch with the barrier? A tingle traced along her spine. No, he would have helped her cross if she’d needed it. She hadn’t wanted to leave.

“Blue, can you call her back?” Jimmy asked her in a soft voice. He spoke in the language of the spirits, and the other two men frowned. The second one stared at her intently, and the sense of being watched, prodded, and inspected rolled over her.

Meeting the second man’s gaze, she raised her hand palm forward. Pressing away his spirit’s grasping. The man gave a jerk. His power, like the spirit’s, seemed considerable. “It is rude to use your abilities without permission.”

Jimmy raised a brow. “Leave her alone, Jason.”

“I just wanted to know if she did something to create an illusion.”

“Illusions are Evelyn’s gift,” Kid said. “She was as surprised as I was when that spirit appeared.”

“No, I will not summon her again, though she may come of her own accord.” Blue directed her answer to Jimmy, and the man who held her heart nodded.

“Did you know her?”

She shook her head as much for the benefit of the Kane brothers as for her husband. “She said nothing, I think she is a watcher.” The white man’s English came across stilted, but she made the attempt anyway. “The barrier, it was woven by my grandfather and sealed by blood.”

“Kane blood.” The one called Jason said. “We can feel it. Kid and I more than the others, but Sam and Micah can to some extent. Your grandfather, he was the shaman George Two Feathers?”

The name didn’t mean much to her. Grandfather had always been Grandfather. Yet she knew his chanting and the feel of his spirit. She shrugged. “If that is what you called him. The spirit is not bound, but it lives here. It is stronger on the other side.” Her grandfather’s barrier could have…

“Our mother’s spirit is bound to the ranch?” Kid gaped, then jerked his gaze to Jason. “You know Pa still talks to her, right?”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Despite his words, Jason didn’t sound so certain. The wind chose that moment to whip passed them and Blue shivered.

“We’ll talk about it later. I’m taking Blue home.” Jimmy beckoned her forward and Blue nodded. The brothers stared at her, a question in their eyes, but she turned her attention to the dark. For one moment, in the flickering light, she saw them as boys. The small children infected by the Shadow Man—his blood flowed through them. Suppressing another shiver, she passed through the veil and the spirits sang to her, their welcome so joyous, tears pricked her eyes.

She thought to never hear the People again, and they were here, all around her. The land joined in the chorus.

“Holy hell,” Kid whispered.

“I felt it,” Jason said.

Blue dared one look at them, but they didn’t follow. Instead, they seemed intent upon each other and the spirits overlaying them seemed to double. More than one had been bound to them. They were different again from the other Curse—Fevered she’d met. More like the First Ones.

When they reached Jimmy’s home, she needed to unpack what sage she had left. The spirits clamored for her attention. She wouldn’t be able to hold off the vision much longer.

“Jimmy,” she whispered and he turned his horse around, catching her as she reached for him. Secure against his chest, she closed her eyes and let the vision sweep her away.

---

KID

Flying K

---

More than an hour later, Kid couldn’t wrap his mind around the vision he’d seen at the barrier. Jason interrogated him all the way to the house. They’d considered meeting in Haven, their small town across the stream from Dorado. But with the disappearance of the witches, they moved up their time table to move the kids deeper into Kane land. A discussion about where to move them had been ongoing for weeks.

Quinn’s arrival in town decided them. Torches blazed around the main house. The chatter of more than two dozen voices rose at their arrival. They’d focused on adding a new wing. Concentrated effort and more hands than absolutely needed had finished an additional half dozen rooms, creating more than enough space to accommodate their thirty odd unexpected guests, especially if the kids were double and triple to a room.

They hadn’t been enthusiastic about the relocation until Micah’s wife Jo announced she was also moving to the main house for the duration. Since arriving in Dorado, she’d wanted to maintain her independence and her own home. Even after she and Micah married, they’d simply added to the home she already had. Eventually, they’d added several buildings around her home and the new schoolhouse directly across the stream from Dorado proper. The barrier provided them with some assurance of keeping dangerously powered individuals away from Jo and the kids—Fevered like those who’d come hunting for her previously and destroyed their town in the process.

Evelyn stood on the wide porch, a heavy shawl wrapped around her shoulders and concern tightening her expression. Catching sight of his own wife eased some of the bruise from Kid’s soul. Jason peeled away to greet Olivia, who didn’t step out into the chaos until he appeared. The connection between his brother and his brother’s wife soothed the rawness left behind from seeing the spectral image.

One of the ranch hands caught the reins of his horse as Kid slid out of the saddle. Another waited for Jimmy and took control of Blue’s mare. Jimmy dismounted without releasing the shaman in his arms. Cody squeezed his shoulder, then Buck and Noah surrounded him. Concern rose from them in deep intense waves.

“She’s fine,” Jimmy said, shaking his head. “I’m fine holding her.”

Shane bypassed Kid on his way to greet the couple, but Kid caught Evelyn into a brief hug before turning her toward the house. “What’s wrong?” Her fingers interlaced with his as he strode through the foyer then down the hall to the study.

“William?”

“One minute, sweetheart.” He gave her a gentle kiss by way of saying please, before tugging the doors wide. Kid had avoided the room at all costs while growing up. His father spent most of his time within these four walls, at least whenever he wasn’t out working on the ranch and dealing with serious matters. A large cherry wood desk occupied the center of the room. The fireplace behind him warmed the room and a pair of hard chairs were perfectly placed to make a little boy feel as though he would prefer to be in the town jail than facing his father’s disapproving glare.

“Should we be in here?” Evelyn glanced behind them and lingered near the doorway while Kid crossed the room. No matter her unease or confusion, she didn’t shy away from watching his back. God, he loved her.

Stopping at his father’s desk, he raised his gaze to the painting over the fireplace. The woman in the painting held a note of mischief in her smile, almost impatience. When he was very young, he used to concentrate on her face rather than his father’s stern one. In his heart, he believed she would have appreciated his humor and his pranks.

“I’ll be damned.”

“Was it her?” Jason’s voice preceded him down the hall.

“Your brother is here.” Evelyn folded her arms, remaining in the entryway. Pivoting away from the painting, Kid met Jason’s questioning stare. Olivia paused to stand next to Evelyn. The two women couldn’t be more different. Olivia possessed a slighter build, dark hair and dark eyes to Evelyn’s vibrant blond hair and blue eyes. Tall, capable and stubborn—Evelyn took his breath away. Yet despite their differences, the women seemed more often united than at odds.

“Yes.” Admitting it aloud left his heart aching, and he rubbed a hand over his heart. “I swear that the spectral being—it looked just like Ma. It was more than that…”

“You saw something?” Evelyn’s tone sharpened, and her eyebrows lifted. “Does someone else have my gift?”

“No.” Of that much Kid was certain. “She’s a shaman and Jimmy’s wife. I think—they’re definitely tied together.” Like Jason and Olivia, only not entirely the same. Bracing a hand against the desk, Kid glanced at the painting again. All he knew about his mother were the rules—the things Miss Molly would have wanted. His father quoted them, as did Miss Annabeth. Micah and Sam had some memories of their mother, but Jason hadn’t been very old when she passed and Kid had never known her.

But I did…

Jason gripped his shoulder, the squeeze comforting and supportive in one. You did what?

I knew her, Jason. Yes, she looks like this painting, but that wasn’t how I knew her.

The feeling sweeping over him when he’d locked gazes with the being had been both alien and familiar. The warmth pouring out of her reminded him of the moment he’d stepped onto Kane land after returning from the Mountain and feeling the… “She’s part of the barrier. How the hell is that possible?”

“How is what possible?” Sam’s voice cracked through the silence. “And who is she?” Their father didn’t wait for his answer, pausing to give each of his daughters-in-law a kiss on the cheek before he strode into the room and left Sam to follow him.

“Why are you boys in here?” Jed reached into the desk. “We still need to get those young’uns sorted out.” After opening the drawer, he drew out a map. Fisting the item, he gave them a long stare. Over the years, Jed had represented many things to Kid—teacher, taskmaster, and parent—but also grieving widower. His loss colored everything about him and had certainly colored their interactions. “Boys?”

“Kid and I wanted to look at Mother’s painting.” Jason took over the conversation smoothly, his voice not wavering once. “Sometimes we forget what she looked like.” None of it lies. Their wives said nothing to dispute the statement.

Jed glanced at the painting, and the guarded expression on his weathered face gentled. “Miss Molly was the finest woman I’ve ever known. The only thing that might eclipse her beauty was the love in her heart. She had so much to give and never stopped.” Wistfulness tangled with admiration and grief to thicken Jed’s voice.

“Evelyn and I will give you gentlemen a moment…” Olivia’s soft contralto excused them from the conversation. Likely Jason had asked her, but Kid sent a wave of reassurance to his wife. Evelyn deserved to know what was going on, but he wasn’t sure he could verbalize it to her yet.

A burst of trust and faith greeted him, then she said, “Of course, we’ll check with Miss Annabeth to see what else we can do to help get the children settled. Take all the time you need.”

The last was directed at him, and Kid longed to just abandon what promised to be an unpleasant conversation to follow her. Remaining in place was a choice, a necessary one. Too many long unanswered questions haunted their family, too many times of not saying what needed to be said. Glancing at Jason, he found his brother staring at him. Waiting.

I guess you want me to begin…

You saw her. I didn’t. The tang of regret shifted some of the doubt in Kid’s heart.

I’m sorry. The sentiment intertwined with the simple statement. Jason didn’t remember her any better than Kid did.

“Boys?” Jed tapped his knuckles against the desk. “What’s bothering the two of you?”

Sam closed the door and, though dozens of young voices filled the house, they were cut off and quieted.

“Micah should be here,” Kid said, and Jason nodded.

“He’s coming.”

Of course he was. Smiling faintly, Kid paced away from the desk but his gaze tracked to the painting once more. “How old was Ma when you had that painting done, Pa?”

Jed’s forehead creased with his deepening frown. He glanced at the painting. Nostalgia swept through his irritation. In a gruff voice, he said, “It was just after Sam was born. Your mother’s family had a tradition—painting their wives after their first born.” Unease settled on his father, an old sadness and longing twisting together. Both emotions tugged at Kid, but he kept his gift locked down. His father’s feelings were his own and he had the right to them. “It took some doing, but I hired an artist from back east. It took him a few months, but he arrived about ten weeks after Samuel was born. Your Ma smiled at me, patted my cheek and told me I was a fool for going to so much trouble.”

“It wasn’t any trouble,” Sam folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

“No, son, it wasn’t.” Father and son shared a look, one Kid had envied once upon a time. No longer. Sam had a right to the relationship he shared with their father. He was the eldest, he’d shared in their father’s loss in a way neither he nor Jason ever could. Micah, too, to some extent. Jed cleared his throat and wiped at hint of dampness around his eyes. “So why the questions about the painting?”

A soft knock announced Micah’s arrival before he opened the door and let himself in. “Is something wrong? We’ve got a lot going on and the kids are agitated. Buck and Jimmy are both saying Wyatt will be here soon and there’s a good chance he’s bringing Quinn.”

Agitation marked his arrival—agitation and worry for Jo. The two were not mutually exclusive. Despite the advanced stage of her pregnancy, no one relaxed their vigilance. She was afraid, and Kid did what he could to soothe her battered emotions even as Noah kept close watch over her condition. As far as they could all tell, she was fine, her baby was fine, but until he or she was born, they all refused to be cavalier.

“Your brother’s about to tell us.” Jed shifted his attention to Kid.

Neither Sam nor Micah questioned their father’s redirect. Jason gave Kid’s shoulder another squeeze before releasing him.

“I’m not going to drag this out any longer than necessary, just know I didn’t imagine it and I wasn’t the only one who saw the image.” Kid gave them a beat to absorb the information. “I stayed to meet Jimmy and his shaman bride because I wanted to make sure she could get across the barrier. It’s grown so much stronger since I got back from the Mountain.”

A nod from each of his family members. Sam and Micah could feel the barrier now, something they hadn’t noticed at all before. Jason and Kid could use it, however, and it seemed to extend the reach of their own gifts while they were on Kane land.

Taking a deep breath, Kid concentrated on quieting his own riot of emotions. “I saw Ma.”

“What?” Jed’s frown turned to confusion.

“At the border,” Kid said, pressing forward. “Jimmy and Blue were getting ready to cross and Blue seemed able to see the barrier.” Something neither he nor Jason could do. They could feel it, sense it, taste it and use it, but they couldn’t see it. “Jimmy told me she wouldn’t need the invitation, as she isn’t Fevered, but then…then I saw Ma. Ma was smiling at her, and she looked like the painting right there.” Kid raised his gaze to stare at the beautiful woman captured in oils. “She looked right at me, recognition and love in her eyes, then she seemed to realize I stared back at her.”

Silence lapped the room, then Micah squinted at him. “You see ghosts now?” Disbelief and weariness, not judgment, echoed in his tone.

“No, apparently Blue does. She’s a shaman.” Not that he fully comprehended what that meant. Quanto had been a shaman, as well. The old Indian saw right through him, so did that mean Blue would as well? A question he’d have to answer at another time.

“So maybe she has a power like Evelyn’s,” Sam suggested. “Something to win us over, though seeing Ma…” He didn’t have to finish the thought.

“I don’t think so,” Jason paused, his expression deeply thoughtful. No one hurried him or interrupted. If they’d all learned one thing about Jason, he took his time and deliberated every word. “I sensed something when it happened. I can’t really describe it for you because I can’t describe it for myself. An awareness is perhaps a better word. Not alarm, but knowledge, and I knew I needed to get there.”

“Did you see her?” Micah pounced when Jason finished.

“No.” Regret. “But I believe Kid did see her, and I think it had something to do with the shaman. She’s unconscious at the moment—or in a vision.”

“Vision.” Kid said.

A faint, almost humorless chuckle escaped Sam. “We’re standing here discussing seeing a phantom of Ma while another person is having a vision and we’re trying to get folks with powers settled. I didn’t think our lives could get any stranger.”

“Don’t say that,” Micah slugged Sam in the arm. “Not with bounty hunters, witches, and whatever the hell Wyatt is on our doorstep.”

“Wyatt’s their brother. Whatever else he is, he’s on our side.” Sam paused, then took a step forward. “Pa?”

At the note of worry and question, Kid pivoted to face their father. Jed braced both of his fists against the desk, his pallor a worrisome gray. “Did you really see your mother, William?”

The use of his full name was never a good sign with his father. Reinforcing his shields on the off chance his father lashed out in anger—a reasonable reaction—Kid nodded once. “Yes, Pa. I did. I don’t know how, and I can’t pretend to explain it, but she was there and I felt her.”

“Felt?” Tears glistened in his father’s eyes and the raw emotion punched Kid in the throat. “She was real enough for you to get a sense of her?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jed sat abruptly. Jason moved first, gripping his father’s arm. “Pa?”

“I’ve heard your mother for years. Miss Molly never left me.”

Shock rolled them. Perhaps it shouldn’t have. They’d heard their Pa refer to Miss Molly in the present tense, yet… “She talks to you?” Kid had to know.

“In a manner of speaking.” Jed scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve felt her. I know when she’s near. I haven’t seen her since…since we had to bury her. I’ve always known she was looking after you boys, and I know she’s proud of you.”

They said nothing. What could they say?

“For now, we have guests, and you boys have brides to be looking after, and my grandchildren…” Rising, Jed seemed to compose himself before their eyes. “Shall we?”

“Pa…”

“Not now, Samuel. Perhaps when it quiets down and we’ve resolved our current crisis, we can discuss it. Go see to Scarlett and, Micah, go take care of your Jo. She’s still fretting and she shouldn’t be.”

Kid wanted to argue, but Jason shook his head. He’s made up his mind and he believes us. Accept it for now.

If we see her again? Could their father handle the strain?

Then he will be happy, Kid. He still loves her. Let’s let him have that.

Jason wasn’t wrong. Before he could take a step, the barrier reverberated. Kid shuddered and caught the back of a chair to keep himself from falling. Jason jerked around. Sam and Micah both paled and Jed studied them all. “What now?”

“Wyatt’s here.” Kid managed around the sensations crowding him. “And he’s not alone.”