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“Why don’t you have any now?” he asked.
“Dad said it wasn’t proper for a lady,” she muttered with a drawn-out roll of her eyes. “He was just afraid of one of us getting hurt or riding away from him in the middle of the night. Plus, we couldn’t really afford a horse,” she said. “I love them, though.” She fixed her chocolate brown gaze on the chestnut stallion, letting out a little sigh. “He’s really beautiful,” she said.
“His name is Archer,” Joel said. “Would you like to meet him?” His tone was cautious, afraid that maybe Raya would reject him since she was so against the situation.
Instead of reacting badly, she turned bright eyes to Joel, her entire face lit up. “Can I really?” she asked.
“Sure can.”
Joel stood up, and offered a hand for Raya. She was hesitant at first, but then took it. He was warm, but the touch sent shivers all up and down her body. Joel guided her down the porch steps, and to Archer who had begun to graze at the short grass that was growing.
“He was a wild thing when I first caught him, but I’ve broken him in,” Joel said.
“You caught him wild?” Raya asked. She was amazed that Joel was the type of person to be able to capture a wild horse.
He took her hand, still clasped in his own, and set in on Archer’s shoulder. Raya could feel each of his strong muscles, the way he quivered at the touch. His coat was soft and shiny, clearly well taken care of.
“He was injured when I found him, I couldn’t have let him alone and thrown him to the mountain lions,” Joel explained. Eventually, he let go of Raya’s hand, instead putting his hand on her lower back to guide her closer to the horse. “Here, I’ll help you get up on him,” he muttered.
Raya, at first, didn’t understand what Joel was saying. She was so fixated on the strong stallion in front of her, his dark mane and his trusting eyes. Suddenly, hands were on her waist, and she nearly screamed when Joel picked her up and put her on the saddle. She hugged the stallion’s body with her thighs as tightly as she could, a little shock of fear penetrating her. She had never been on such a huge horse, but Archer seemed more than comfortable with Raya at the reigns.
Joel was looking up at Raya, beaming from ear to ear as he looked at her. “What do you think?” he asked. He took Archer’s reigns, and began to lead him around. Raya let out a laugh, admiring the way Archer felt moving underneath him. She could tell that he was built for stamina, rather than speed.
“He’s amazing,” Raya said.
Joel didn’t know if he had seen the girl smile so much since he had met her.
From inside, blocked by the screen door, Michaela was scowling at the pair.
Chapter Four
Michaela wasn’t happy with what she had seen. Joel and Raya were acting closer than they had been the entire time, and it made her angry. When the coach arrived, Raya was allowed to stay on Joel’s stallion and ride next to them the entire time. Joel was on the other horse, guiding it along. He kept Archer’s reigns close, though, never letting him get out of control.
Michaela, on the other hand, was trapped inside of the coach. Her dress was making the heat unbearable, and she could hardly function. She felt as though she was going to pass out at any moment, and if Joel could have seen her, she would have died of embarrassment. She kept her long hair pushed back, wishing for one moment that she could have short hair like Raya.
Occasionally, she poked her head out, but they didn’t stop until it was long past sunset, and there was hardly any light to see by. Michaela only opened the door to the coach once there was a fire lit, and was happy enough to at least have Joel right there to help her hop down.
“Are we nearly there?” Michaela asked. She had her plate on her knees, pushing around the swarming stew of whatever Joel had thrown into it. For all intents and purposes, it was the best example of cowboy food that Michaela had ever seen.
“Yes, Michaela, only one more day of traveling,” Joel assured.
Michaela sighed, and smacked a mosquito that had landed on her arm. “Couldn’t we have stayed at an inn?” she asked. “I’m going to be eaten alive before we ever reach Montana,” she muttered.
“Don’t be such a whiner,” Raya said.
Michaela narrowed her eyes at her sister. “That’s easy for you to say, you’re used to sleeping in the dirt like an animal.”
Michaela didn’t notice the grin that formed across Joel’s features. In fact, she hardly noticed Joel at all, focused only on her sister.
“I don’t sleep in the dirt; I just work with my hands. Well…” Raya paused, taking a big gulp of the stew. “You use your hands, too, but it tends to be in an alleyway and with a boy we went to school with.”
“Raya!” Michaela screeched. She was blushing again, a horrible, ugly shade of red that was accentuated by the orange firelight. “Don’t say those kinds of things!”
“But they’re true, aren’t they?” Raya asked. “What was the one boy who you let take your corset off? Was it Jeremiah?”
“Raya,” Michaela hissed. “Stop telling lies.”
“It’s not a lie,” Raya casually said after taking another gulp of stew. Joel watched the exchange with curious eyes. Raya glanced at him, a strong look in her eye. “If Joel’s looking for a pure, virgin wife, he’s got the wrong girl.”
