Blair was doing better, but he did fall off at least once and while he was more relaxed, he was having a difficult time getting into Kris' rhythm. After watching him and his trainer for a few minutes, he moved towards them.
"Maybe I can help?"
"Jim! What am I doing wrong here?" Blair sounded desperate, but he was also laughing.
"Come on, Chief. You'd never let me get away with that. What do *you* think you're doing wrong?"
He rolled those eyes. "If I knew...I don't know. Something's not clicking. He's doing what I ask, but it feels wrong."
"Like how?"
Blair thought. "We're moving at cross-purposes."
"Okay."
"Like...like you're dancing with a partner but one of you is off the beat. You're still dancing, but it's off."
"Good metaphor, Sandburg. What do you do if you're the one off beat?"
His eyes widened. "I...relax and let the music tell me what to do. I'm still not relaxed enough, am I?"
"Just let Kris show you what he needs. You're still in charge, don't worry about that. Just let him go."
"You mean 'give him his head'?"
The trainer guffawed. "Not Ol' Kris. It's sort of a line you gotta ride. Something between shoving him around and letting him do what he wants. And he's a stubborn cuss, Kris is. Gotta handle him just right."
Jim and Blair exchanged an amused glance. "I think you can manage *that* trick, Chief."
Blair grinned. "Oh, I've had some practice along those lines." He bent to talk to Kris in a low, measured cadence as he pressed his legs to the horse's sides. "Okay, Mr. Horse. We're just going to ride around this ring together, you and I. I'll dance with you if you'll dance with me. Yes. Beautiful."
Jim and the trainer watched with differing degrees of amazement as both horse and rider adjusted themselves to one another as they walked around the ring. Blair never stopped talking, of course.
"I know he never rode before. I don't think he'd ever been on a horse before. That guy has to be wunna the fastest learners I ever saw."
Jim beamed with quiet pride. "He's one of the brightest men you'll ever meet, and he knows how to move."
The trainer gave Jim a long look, and nodded as if to himself. "Get that lady of yours warmed up, and I'll make sure you both have some supplies for the trail."
"I can get those myself."
"It's not a problem. There are a couple of other guests doing the same thing. Like I said, nice day for a trail ride."
Jim looked at him closely, but could only detect truth in his voice. "Thank you."
"Just treat Dancer right."
Jim smiled and nodded. With a final wave, he took his horse off to do some more exercises, keeping an eye and ear on Blair all the while.
*****************
A half hour later, they were riding, more or less side by side, down the same trail they'd followed the day before. Their saddlebags held enough food and water to keep them through lunch if necessary.
They didn't talk. Blair was too busy keeping his seat and getting Kris to listen to him, and Jim had to keep Dancer from leaping around in her joy to be out of the ring.
It didn't take them long to reach the same cave as the day before. Jim took a look inside while Blair stood holding the reins of both horses. He emerged almost immediately. "Jim, what's wrong?"
"There's another crate of drugs, and it's just as pure."
"Can you see any tracks?"
Jim began to scan the area. There had to be tracks - those crates were too heavy to be taken on foot or by horseback. But the ground was undisturbed except for hoofmarks and footprints. And none of the footprints looked deep enough to be made by anyone carrying something that heavy.
"It didn't get here by magic, Chief. There has to be something."
"Okay...think about the probable route the truck would have taken and *feel* the ground." Jim nodded. He eyed the terrain and dropped to his knees at a likely place. "Use your eyes, as well. Look for odd shadows or disturbed rocks." Jim didn't bother acknowledging these words. He just followed Blair's advice to the letter. And there was something.
"Chief! Put a rock of some kind over the reins and come over here." Jim heard Blair do as he asked and walk over.
"What is it, Jim?"
"Look here...this rock was moved, and there are very faint tracks, with hoofprints over them. Can you see?"
Blair peered down. "I can see the rock but not the rest. What do you think it means?"
"If we had someone on a truck and someone on horseback, the guy on horseback could sweep away the tracks."
"They couldn't have done it all the way back. Want to see where they lead?"
Jim nodded. He collected Dancer, but led her on foot to follow the tracks. Blair walked behind him with Kris. About four hundred yards more or less northwards, clear tire tracks appeared along with the hoofprints. At this point, Jim helped Blair to mount his horse and then took his place on his own mare.
They rode on for a long time, in what Jim decided was a great circle.
Dancer twitched under him as they rode. He reached down to pat her side. "It's all right, pretty lady. Just be patient." He turned to look at Blair. "How are you doing, Chief?"
"I'm...I'm hanging in there. Just had...had to let Kris know who's...who's boss. That would be him."
Jim chuckled. "Somehow, Sandburg, I can't see you letting anyone boss you around."
"Just where are we going, Jim? I'm getting lost here."
Jim decided to take that literally. "Near as I can figure, they're heading back to the main house."
"Oh, God. Poor Scotty. Are you going to tell him?" Blair reined in his horse, forcing Jim to halt Dancer.
He rode back so he could talk to Blair better. To his surprise, Kris was a little taller than Dancer. The difference was enough to bring Blair up to eye level. Those eyes were the color of a stormy sky. He had to stop himself from drowning in them. "Not yet. I hate to say this, but he might already know."
Blair nodded. "I hope not, but you're right. He took a deep breath. "Now what?"
"Right now? If we could get away with it, I'd stake that cave out."
"We could, you know. We could, like, camp out there. I mean, it's nice enough that we could manage with just sleeping bags. Or, maybe, *sleeping bag.*" Blair tilted his head.
Jim nodded. "I'll talk to Scotty about it tonight. We could even take the horses with us. Bet you'll love that, Chief."
"Oh, yeah. A night to take care of Kris. I'll live." Dancer twitched again. "Easy, lady. It'll be fine."
"What's wrong with your horse?"
"She wants to move. We've been going too slowly for her."
Blair blinked. "Oh."
It wasn't just Dancer. Blair was looking more beautiful than ever, with the bright mountain sunshine making his curls glow and his eyes dancing with curiosity. It was all Jim could do not to surrender to him right then and there.
That was too dangerous a thought. He'd just scare Blair away this soon. Besides, Dancer really did want to run. He looked around. They really had gone in a circle - he could see that same cave. There was a stream there.
"Chief, look in this direction." He pointed to the cave. "What do you see?"
Blair slipped his glasses on. "A bunch of rocks. Oh, that cave."
"Why don't you ride Ol'Kris here back there? There's water and browsing for him and you could rest out of the sun. I'm going to take my lady for a real run and meet you back there. Just don't eat up all the food, all right?"
Blair grinned at that, and nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. I'll miss you, though." To Jim's surprise and delight, he maneuvered Kris close enough to pull Jim in for a kiss. "Don't be too long." He let go and turned Kris towards the rocks. Jim watched him ride away. This was the first time Blair would be apart from him in days. *That's my life on that horse.*
He'd known that for years. Now he could tell him that. Maybe even tonight.
Abruptly, he dug his knees into Dancer's sides and they were off and running.
It was glorious. He was so attuned to her that he felt as though it was his legs pounding the Colorado prairie. He'd been inside and outside many a vehicle in his time on the force. Never did he feel the same combination of speed, control and freedom as Dancer gave him now. She was flying, dancing over the ground just as she should.
And he was flying with her, as free as he ever could be. Just for this moment, he had no badge, no gun, no senses beyond normal, there were no drugs on his friend's lands and he was not about to take an irrevocable step in the most important relationship in his life.
It was Jim, the wind, the land and the lady.
The sun was past the zenith when he came to himself again. He eased Dancer down slowly and got his bearings.
"You are smart as well as pretty, Lady." She had brought them back where they started, well in sight of the cave.
Blair wasn't alone. There was another horse tethered next to Kris. Jim filtered out the sound of the wind and of Dancer's hooves to see if he could hear anything.
Ah, there was Blair's voice. That was normally the first thing he picked up anyway. He was as attuned to those rich tones as he was his own name. "....along soon. We can wait here."
"You two don't think I'm intruding?" A woman's voice...Marian. No echoes, so they were outside the cave. Jim let go a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Nah. I mean, I was just waiting for Jim to finish his run. I'm so glad for the company."
"I just needed to get away from all the wedding plans. And Scotty's about jumping out of his skin."
Jim urged Dancer to a canter. The hoofsteps would have required extra filtering now, so Jim didn't bother. He just went with the rhythm and lost himself for a few more minutes in the dance of horse and rider.
He lost himself again to the point that he didn't hear the truck pull up until it was too late and Marian was screaming.
He barely stopped Dancer in time, and then had to fight with himself. He was just too far to make out who the men were, but he could see that they had Blair and Marian tied and gagged. Blair was clearly struggling in his bonds, but Marian was just sitting there as if in shock.
All he wanted to do was rush out, unarmed as he was, and rescue them. Luckily, all of the instincts forged in special ops and as a cop stepped in on time, and they trumped the others.
He petted Dancer's neck in an effort to calm himself. If they took Marian like that, then it was unlikely they were working with Scotty.
He took a couple of deep breaths and listened, but they weren't saying anything. They were just taking yet another crate out of the truck and loading it in the cave. Then they carried Blair and Marian into the truck. Jim breathed a sigh of relief...they could easily have killed them both. One of the men got into the truck itself as the second one held his horse and waited for the first to drive away.
He then began removing the tire tracks but stopped almost immediately, perhaps figuring that there was no point anymore. He looked at the other two horses and made a fast decision - he set them loose and chased them both away. Marian's horse had some spirit - the large black gelding jumped up and ran away. In contrast, Ol'Kris just sort of sauntered.
And Jim berated himself for not getting the license of the truck.
The second man jumped on his own horse and rode away. Jim wanted to follow him but realized he had to get the horses and get backup, or at least weaponry.
As soon as the man was far enough away, he rode after the two geldings. Kris was easy. Jim just snagged his bridle in passing. The black was a little harder, but Dancer was faster than he was, and Jim had a pocket full of treats.
The bastard had sent them in the wrong direction, which meant Jim had had to chase them. Of course, Jim had to lead two other horses *and* Dancer was tired. It took far too long to get to the ranch itself. When he did show up, Scott was working at the horse barns. He saw the two empty saddles immediately. His face went white.
"Jimmy! What happened?"
"Scotty, we have to talk. In private. Now." He swung himself off Dancer and handed her over to one of the grooms. "Sorry, pretty lady. I wish I could take care of you." He looked at the young man taking her in hand. "She had a major workout today, guy." The boy nodded. Two others collected the geldings and led them off.
Scotty frowned. He took Jim to a small office in a trailer near the stables. Jim turned on a small radio he saw there and turned to Scotty.
"Someone's been smuggling drugs onto your ranch, Scott. Blair and I found a case of it yesterday, and a second this morning."
"Why wasn't I informed?"
"Scotty, you have to understand. I'm a cop. *Everyone's* a suspect. For us, it's got to be guilty until proven innocent."
"You actually thought *I* might be smuggling drugs?" Jim had never seen such raw anger in Scott's eyes.
"No. You and Marian...you were the last on my list. But, until I could be certain, I couldn't say anything. Scott, I don't have time for this. Look, I saw the men who were smuggling the drugs. I know where at least one of their caches is. And none of that's important." Jim sat down in a chair by Scott's cluttered desk and put his hands over his eyes as all the emotions he'd been keeping in check exploded through him. "Scott, they have them."
"Who has who? What are you talking about? Why were you leading Marian and your friend's horses? Oh, my God! What the Hell happened?"
"I couldn't do anything. I'm not carrying a weapon. I could only sit there and *watch* as they took both of them away. Marian and Blair. I don't think they were hurt, but they were tied up."
"Away?" Scott backed into his desk chair.
"In a truck. One of your pickups, I think."
"Why didn't you follow them?"
"I wanted to. You can't know how much." Jim buried his head in his hands again. "I was on horseback, and no matter how fast Dancer is, she can't be that fast. And I had to get the other horses. It killed me not to follow them."
"Wasn't *your* fiancée in that truck."
Jim looked straight at his old buddy. "Only because he's a man and the law won't let me marry him. He was tied up and struggling, and I had to watch him be carted away. Look, we have to get them and get them now."
"Where do you think they are?" Scott was trying to be calm.
The phone rang, causing both men to jump. Jim nodded, and Scott picked it up.
"Hamilton."