"No one would shoot a man carrying a kid," Jasmine snapped handing Emma over.

"Well I'm happy to hear that," Nathan said, taking Emma.

"Come on, who could shoot a child?" Jasmine said. She tried to cross her arms but her M-4 was in the way so she put her hands on her hips.

Nathan looked at her with a flat expression. "So no child has ever been murdered before?"

Some of the fire left Jasmine's face. "Yes, some have. But those are sick people."

"Then thank G.o.d they're all dead and no one else is a sick person," Nathan growled.

Jasmine stomped her foot. "Fine, I'll take her!"

"No, she can ride with me. But you need to realize this is not a trail ride," Nathan said, giving Emma some food.

"Believe me, I know. But she is driving me crazy. She won't sit still and I have to always keep telling her to be quiet," Jasmine barked.

Nathan looked down at Emma who was just smiling' with her curled lips at Jasmine. "Why didn't you get one of the others to take her?" Nathan asked.

"She won't ride with them," Jasmine said finally calming down.

"Well we will have to keep her awake tomorrow," Nathan said.

"Nathan, she was awake all day today while we slept. She's been up longer than all of us," Jasmine pointed out.

"Well she's with me now so let's get moving," Nathan said, putting Emma up in his saddle. Climbing up, Nathan pulled her back to him and led the group back to the road.

No sooner than they hit the road, Emma started pointing at stuff and babbling. Giving up after ten minutes of telling her to be quiet, Nathan answered her. To his credit, he did get her to lower her voice when she babbled. Listening to her babble, Nathan was convinced she knew everything and was trying to tell him.

When Emma saw a shooting star streak across the sky she squealed and pointed at it. Nathan clamped a hand over her mouth, certain they heard that squeal in Idaho. "Emma, not loud. Monsters are around," Nathan said again.

Emma blew a raspberry at him when Nathan took his hand away. "What the h.e.l.l was that noise? Over," John called over the radio.

"Emma spotted a shooting star, over," Nathan called back.

"My hunter's ear shut off then came back on, just wanted you to know, over," John called back.

Nathan's heart beat fast. "John, are you s.h.i.tting me? Over."

"Yes. I thought it was a bird, over," John called back.

Hearing gravel crunch coming up behind him, Nathan turned to see Jasmine pulling in beside him. "Told you," she said without looking at him.

"Hey, she's just two! I bet you weren't this good at two," Nathan snapped.

Jasmine turned in her saddle, looking at him with a smirk. "I'm sure you're right but you said we needed to be quiet. It almost sounded like she was your own child," Jasmine said slowing her horse pulling in behind Nathan.

Looking down as Emma pointed at a sign, babbling in a low tone. "That's a sign. It says Ice on bridge when cold,'" Nathan told her and Emma babbled back at him then pointed at the stream under the bridge. "That's a creek, water," Nathan said.

"Wawa," Emma said, then continued to babble.

Nathan sighed. "Yes Emma." He was thankful she was at least keeping her voice down. They had been riding for over an hour when Nathan realized he hadn't answered a question in a long time. Then it occurred to him he hadn't heard babbling in a while. Glancing down he saw Emma was asleep with her head back and her mouth open. Nathan was holding her around the waist so she wouldn't fall off.

Nathan pulled Smoke to a stop and Jasmine caught up to him. "Get a blanket," Nathan told her.

"It's burning up out here. You don't need to cover her up," Jasmine told Nathan like he was an idiot.

Grinding his teeth as he spoke, Nathan said, "Just get the blanket." Jasmine mumbled and pulled one out of her saddle bags. She held it out to Nathan. "Jasmine, get off your horse and fold and cut the blanket like I tell you," he sighed.

"Like I knew that," Jasmine said under her breath.

It only took a few minutes and a lot of swearing under the breath for both of them and a baby sling was made. Two holes were cut so Emma's legs could poke out, then Nathan tied the sling across his body so Emma's head was by his left shoulder and her body ran across his, with her legs hanging off his right hip.

Very happy now, Nathan started them off again. "That was a good idea, where did you get it?" Jasmine asked, riding beside him.

"From an old cowboy movie," Nathan said proudly.

Jasmine giggled. "See you can learn stuff from TV," she said in a low tone, and pulled behind Nathan.

"Wish I would've learned more," Nathan said after she was gone. "s.h.i.t, I studied so I could survive. Not care for kids and a woman."

Jasmine wasn't quite out of electronic earshot, but didn't reply. Instead she only smiled. Nathan referred to her as a woman.

It was an hour before dawn when Nathan led them off the small road off into the tree line. They stopped at a barbed wire fence. Nathan called Tom forward to cut the fence, then led the others through. Tom used some wire to put the fence back up. Nathan had shown all of them how to cut fence and told them they would be doing a lot of it. Then he showed them how to put it back together. Everyone thought it was to be nice so the animals in the fence couldn't get out. Nathan then told them it was so if anyone was looking for them it was covering their tracks.

John stayed and covered Tom till he finished. When Tom climbed back on his horse, they kicked their horses into a trot to catch up. The found the group crossing a gra.s.s field heading for a pond on the other side. Nathan led them around the pond to the trees ten yards behind it. Nathan pointed at an area and everyone climbed off.

Ares sat at Nathan's feet. Nathan pulled Ares's woobie from his saddle bag. "Here it is," Nathan said, handing it over. Ares grabbed the woobie in his mouth as Nathan grabbed his own. When Nathan laid his out, Ares let his go. Picking it up, Nathan spread it out beside his.

Very carefully, Nathan pulled the Emma sling' off and laid her on his woobie. Then he removed his saddle. Hearing a grunt, Nathan turned to see Casey on the ground with her saddle on top of her. "Stupid thing," Casey said rolling it off. When Casey started jumping to grab the bridle, Nathan walked over and eased it over the horse's head. Nathan figured the horse wouldn't like the bit ripped out of its mouth.

Wearing a big smile, Casey handed him the lead rope and Nathan put it on, leading the horse out to the gra.s.s. When Nathan stopped he looked down to see Casey putting the Velcro hobbles on. "Casey, you really don't want to get under a horse," he said, thinking of a thousand bad things happening.

"Pepper wouldn't hurt me," Casey said, smiling, as she started drying the horse off with a towel.

"I beg to differ," Nathan said, walking back to his horse. After drying his horse off, Nathan helped the boys lift the pack saddles off. Nathan hung up a rope and everyone hung up their horse blankets to dry. Seeing Casey's saddle laying where it fell, Nathan picked it up and carried over sitting it beside his. Daylight was spreading across the sky when everyone sat down.

Looking at his watch, Nathan realized it took them almost an hour to tend horses. Amanda crawled over to him. "Let me see the map, please," she said, holding out her hand. Nathan did note she said please, but it sounded like it was just tacked on. Nathan handed over the map and ate a protein bar.

Amanda ran her fingers over the map then went over the trip in her head. "You pa.s.sed our camp site rally point," she said, looking up finally.

"Sure did. We have someplace to go," Nathan said, lying back and using his saddle for a pillow. Reaching up, Nathan pulled his boonie hat over his face.

"We went over forty miles," she pointed out.

"You complaining?" he asked.

Not liking the att.i.tude, Amanda threw the paper down and took a deep breath, then looked at the sleeping Emma. "Nathan, we can make it in less than two months," she said, wanting him to see what she was seeing.

Lifting his head up, Nathan tilted his hat back on his head. "Your point is?" he asked not knowing what the h.e.l.l her point was.

"Naaathaaaaan," she whined, dragging out his name. "We will be there before winter. We have almost enough food to last us the whole way. We don't have to worry about the trip."

Everyone just looked from Amanda to Nathan as he sat up. "Amanda, come here." Nathan patted the blanket in front of him. When she sat down Nathan reached out and held her hands. "This trip is still going to be hard. We got a break but you can't relax. Others can hurt us, we can get hurt, the weather could turn bad, or any of a thousand different things," he said, wanting her to understand the danger.

Amanda sighed. "Those things could always happen," she pointed out.

"True, but if we got hurt, we could go to a hospital. If bad weather came in, we could rent a hotel room. If someone stole our car, we could call the police and insurance company to get a rental. We have none of that Amanda. We can only count on what we have," Nathan told her.

Tears welled in Amanda's eyes. "I just didn't want you to worry so much," she said, and the dam broke with tears running down her face. Nathan pulled her over hugging her tightly. "You worry all the time about us hardly getting any sleep. You always check on us no matter where we are. I just wanted you to stop worrying so much," she wept.

Feeling like an a.s.s and not sure how that happened, Nathan looked around and noticed a few more tears. "Amanda, I don't think I will ever stop worrying about you guys even when we get home. Not for a long time have I worried about someone other than me or a dog. Now I care about you guys and if any of you got hurt-" Nathan paused as ice gripped his heart. "I don't know what I would do," he admitted.

Dragging her sleeve across her nose, Amanda leaned back, looking up at him with tears running down her face. "I love you bunches," she said, sniffling. Then she threw her head into his chest. Nathan rubbed her head and was. .h.i.t from his right, feeling arms wrap around him.

Looking down, he saw Casey, crying, "I love you too."

John ran at them with his arms open and tears on his face. "Oh s.h.i.t," Nathan said as John hit them, taking them all down. As he was on the ground, he felt more impacts and struggled, lifting his head up to see everyone piled on him.

"Ahh," he heard beside him. Well, almost everyone. Then Emma jumped on his head.

"Guys, can't breathe," Nathan managed to get out. Slower than he liked, they all got off. "Guys, I love you too," Nathan admitted more to himself than to them.

Chapter 20.

Day 27 Nathan and Casey took the first watch and entertained Emma. Nathan checked his gear then his saddle then grabbing a brush, Nathan headed to Smoke. With the hobbles on, Smoke met him and nuzzled his chest. Stroking her head, Nathan gave her some dried fruit and started brushing her. When Nathan watched Emma run under Smoke like the horse was a bridge, he picked her up as he continued to brush.

Looking over he saw Casey brushing her horse though she had to lead it to a stump so she could get the back. Thinking that was very smart, Nathan laughed and kneeled down to check Smoke's hooves. Then he walked around checking the other horses' hooves, knowing they would each have to brush their own horse. Eyeing the donkeys Nathan turned around and took Emma to Casey.

Then Nathan checked the donkeys. He had limited experience with donkeys but he knew they were smart, strong as h.e.l.l and could kick you with their back leg when you were standing beside their head. The last point was the only one that mattered to Nathan at the time. The donkeys loved his attention and loved the brushing, telling him with their soft baying. He gave both some dried fruit and went back to get Emma and Casey. Their shift was up so they woke up Amanda, Natalie, and Jasmine.

Taking his boots off, Nathan lay down with his head on his saddle and watched Ares sleeping beside him. Nathan laughed as Ares ran in his sleep. He lowered his hat over his eyes and was asleep almost instantly.

When Nathan felt something land on his chest giggling, he woke with a start. Moving his hat he looked on his chest and saw Emma smiling at him. "There are other people you can jump on," Nathan grumbled. Emma just giggled at him.

John came over, followed by Tom. "Sorry, she got away," John said, picking up Emma.

Reaching out Nathan grabbed her. "I got her." Nathan said sitting up. John looked like someone shot his dog. "John, it's no problem. A wise man once said, There is only one way to stop a toddler: don't have one,'" Nathan said, making John laugh.

Nathan watched the boys head over and brush their horses. The horses were tied up to a rope strung between two trees. Nathan had told everyone the last shift had to move the horses back to camp when they started. Looking at his watch Nathan felt good seeing he got almost six hours of sleep. Emma slapped the side of his face and yelled at him.

"You better rectify, woman. I'll bounce you like a basketball," Nathan warned. Seeing her rear her hand back again, Nathan popped her hand. "No," Nathan snapped. "I hit harder. Do you see me hitting you for no reason?"

Acting like Nathan broke her arm, Emma poked out her bottom lip. "You will not hit me," Nathan said and put her down. Emma pouted with tears running down her face. Lying back down, Nathan watched Emma from under his hat. Emma looked over at John and Tom then back to Nathan. Slowly she climbed on Nathan's chest and laid her head down.

Patting her back, Nathan smiled. "You're a mess," he said. Emma lifted her head up, smiling, and babbled. "You have the memory of a fruit fly," Nathan said, shaking his head. Holding Emma tightly, he sat up and started some coffee.

Hearing blankets rustle Nathan looked over to see Jasmine stand up, stretching. Like always, she was in her bra and panties. Looking behind her, Nathan spotted two spellbound boys staring. Maybe I should say something to her? Nathan thought. "Nah, what's life without some beauty?" he said out loud.

Pulling on a t-shirt and shorts, Jasmine tip-toed over in her bare feet. Seeing that Nathan was sitting right in the middle of his own woobie, Jasmine stepped beside him and hit his shoulders with her hips for him to scoot over. Reluctantly, Nathan complied.

"What's with the tip-toe? The ground is dry," Nathan pointed out.

Jasmine pulled her hair back in a ponytail, tying it up. "There are stickers," Jasmine told him.

Seeing the coffee percolate, Nathan poured a cup and handed it to Jasmine. "Thank you," she said, smiling. She played with Nathan's hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "Don't you let your hair down when you sleep?" she asked.

"No," Nathan said, pouring a cup and waited for Jasmine to finish with the creamer and sugar. When he was finally able to take a sip he noticed Jasmine hadn't been talking. Looking at his side he noticed she was just studying him and that made him nervous for some reason. "What?" he asked.

"Just looking at you," she said and looked away. Nathan fought the urge to run instead he pulled out a pot to boil some water. "You think we will make that many miles often?" she asked.

Nathan nodded, pulling out some oatmeal. "We should manage about thirty-five a day. On the prairies we could get as many as sixty. In the mountains we may move thirty-five but only gain twenty," he said.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Remember, you're traveling up and down as you go forward. I'll be happy with twenty-five," Nathan said.

"No problems, what's the time frame?" she asked.

"Fifty days," Nathan said after thinking about it.

Jasmine extended her legs and crossed her ankles, sighing with relief. "That sounds so much better than four months," she said smiling.

Nathan was just looking at her legs and didn't hear what she said. Realizing his eyes were burning because he wasn't blinking, Nathan went back to fixing breakfast. Jasmine smiled, catching the stare. "You know, Amanda was right, you worry about us too much," she said.

"Just let me worry so I can get all of you there safely," Nathan said, looking back at her legs.

Seeing him stare, Jasmine fought back a giggle and the urge to tell him her face was higher up. "At least you see we care about you and are grateful for you," she said, uncrossing her legs and crossing them again, putting her right leg that had been on the bottom on the top.

Breaking the hypnotic effect of her legs, Nathan jerked his eyes away to see the water boiling and dumped some in the oatmeal. Stirring the oatmeal quickly, "Thank you," he said and put some oatmeal in a bowl for him and Emma.

"Am I making you nervous?" Jasmine asked, tapping his side with her leg.

"No," Nathan answered quickly but glanced over as she set her leg down.

Grinning, Jasmine stood up. "I'm going to get the girls up," she said, tip-toeing over to her blanket.

Nathan looked down at Emma. "The good Lord wasted no parts when he put her together," he said. Emma nodded her head, babbling. Nathan was sure she was agreeing with him. Everyone ate then started getting the horses ready to go. Tom and John helped the girls get their saddles on but the girls strapped them on. Nathan was going to help Jasmine but she s.n.a.t.c.hed up her saddle, doing it herself.

Getting the pack animals ready was what Nathan didn't like. They didn't unload the pack saddles, they just lifted them off and on. Each was almost three hundred pounds. Everyone had front and rear saddle bags and Amanda, Casey, and Natalie had more supplies strapped to their saddles, since they all weighed next to nothing.

Even though they were riding, Nathan made everyone wear their backpacks. When the complaints started he explained if they fell off and their horse ran off, they still had supplies. That shut everyone up, but didn't stop the complaining; they were just quieter about it.