by Linda Ford
No answer. Her heart stalled. Her fingers grew clumsy. Take your time. Haste makes waste. There. It was ready. Only then did she dare look down the well. Water. Lots of water. That was good, but not while Cole was down there. She strained into the darkness of the pit. When she saw no sign of him, she stifled a wail.
“Cole!”
His head surfaced, and he gasped for air.
“I’m sending the rope down. The bucket is on it. Grab hold and I’ll crank you up.” Afraid she would hit him on the head, she carefully guided the bucket down.
His head sank back into the water.
She stopped the bucket at what she judged to be the surface and held her breath.
He bobbed up, grabbed the bucket, and pawed his way up the rope.
She leaned into the crank with both hands, slowly bringing him to the surface. She grabbed the rope and pulled him to the side.
He swung away from the well and collapsed on the ground, coughing and wheezing.
She sat cross-legged beside him. “Are you all right?”
He nodded. His eyes were too wide. His color too pale.
She touched his cheek. “You’re freezing.”
He nodded again.
“Get out of those wet things.”
“Here? Now?” he croaked.
“Are your dry things in the barn?”
“Yes.”
“Can you make it that far?”
“I think so.”
“Then go change and come to the house. I’ll get the fire going and make you something hot to drink.” She stood and reached out to help him to his feet. His hand was like a block of lake ice.
He swayed then straightened and headed for the barn.
She raced for the house and threw wood into the stove.
Aunt Alice called from the bedroom, and Eve hurried in to help Nancy get into her chair.
“A fire?” Alice said, as she went to the kitchen. “I hoped the house would cool off. Are you planning to bake?”
“I need to make some tea.” She filled the kettle and set it over the stove. “Cole is soaking wet. He needs to warm up.”
The ladies must have heard the urgency in her voice, for both of them went to the door to watch for him.
“Here he comes,” Alice said.
“He needs some socks,” his mother said. “Alice, run and get him a pair.”
Alice rushed away. She returned as Cole entered the house.
The two fussed over him.
Eve shook the kettle. Why was it taking so long to boil? She kept her back to the room, afraid her emotions would show in her face. When she’d thought he had drowned…
She put her hand over her mouth and tried to smooth her breathing.
A choking sob raced up her throat, and she swallowed it down.
He pulled a chair toward the stove and held out his hands. “Ahh, that feels good.”
Thankfully, the kettle whistled, and she busied herself making tea. Then she stared at the pot as she waited for it to steep. Five minutes had never felt so long.
She poured a cupful, added a spoonful of sugar, and handed it to him. She tried to avoid looking at him and almost succeeded, but he caught her wrist.
“Thank you.”
Was it her imagination that his voice sounded as gravelly as hers felt?
Aware of the ladies listening to their every word and reading in emotions that neither of them felt, she smiled woodenly and said, “I didn’t mind helping.”
His expression stayed serious. “Glad you did.”
She turned away, poured cups of tea for the others, and then remembered to pour one for herself. But she didn’t sit down. Instead, she stood at the window. Seeing the well, the wagon of sand, and the pulley, she shuddered.
Aunt Nancy sighed. “Are either of you going to tell us if you were successful in cleaning out the well?”
Cole answered his mother. “I must have hit an underground stream. Water came gushing in. Looks like we’ll have lots now. Next time I get to town, I’ll get a pump so we don’t have to draw the water by hand.”
“Again, God has blessed us and answered our need,” Aunt Alice said.
Eve leaned her forehead to the window frame. God had given her strength and enabled her to fix the pulley. Thank you, God.
She pulled in a deep breath that stalled midway down. Everything was fine. No disaster had befallen her or the others.
It was a good warning to her to not take chances. Nor to stand by and let others take them without objecting. Not that it meant anyone would listen. She knew that. But her conscience demanded she make people understand the dangers some choices involved.
Her insides steadied, she took out a bowl. “The oven is hot, so I might as well bake something.” She tossed together ingredients for a cake.
Cole rose. “I’ll get back to work.” He strode from the house, and finally the brittleness left Eve’s nerves and her breathing eased.
As the cake baked, she mixed up cookies.
She glanced out the window to see Cole going toward the river. She thought she had relaxed, but the starch disappeared from her limbs and she released a deep sigh.
Why was she letting the mere idea of him put her on edge? She wished she could put it down to the scare of thinking he might drown before she got him out of the well, but it was more. It was remembering those earlier times when she’d been thrilled with his attention, his presence.
That time was over for both of them. There was no doubting that in her mind.
“It’s too hot in here for comfort,” Aunt Alice said. “Nan and I are going outside to sit in the shade.”
Eve helped Nancy roll out the door and off the ramp to the north side of the house. “I’ll bring a chair for you,” she told Alice, and got one of the kitchen chairs.
The ladies settled down, Nancy knitting and Alice untangling some yarn. Eve returned to finish baking the cookies.
She pulled out the last tray and set the cookies on a rack to cool. Then she took a bucket and headed for the well to get water. It was nice not to have to trundle all the way to the river.
She shuddered as she looked down into the pit. The water she drew up was clear. She carried it to the house and drank a dipperful. Sweet and cold. They’d all appreciate the generous supply of good water.
She put some to heat, then got a tin to put away the cookies. She stared at the cooling rack. A whole row of cookies had disappeared. Cole must have returned and helped himself. Strange that she hadn’t seen him though.
A few minutes later, the kitchen was clean and tidy, the cake and cookies stored away in the pantry, and a stew simmered on the stove. Restlessness filled Eve. She couldn’t determine its source. If only she could talk to one of her sisters or her mother. They would help her sort out her muddled thoughts.
She went to her room and picked up the little Bible her parents had given her on her twelfth birthday, as they had each of the girls. But as Alice said, the house was hot and confining.
She went outside. “Ladies, I am going down to the river for a short while.”
Aunt Nancy saw the Bible in Eve’s hands. “Alone with nature is a good way to commune with God. Don’t rush back on our account.”
“Thank you.” As she went toward the river, she heard Alice.
“Is it a lovers’ rendezvous?”
Eve chuckled. Alice was a steadfast matchmaker. No point in spoiling her fun and telling her Cole had returned.
With every step toward the river, Eve’s heart lost a degree of her confusion. She was here for one reason only—to take care of the ladies until someone from Ohio came to replace her. A smile grew into a chuckle. Taking care of them was easy. Aunt Nancy needed help with a few things, such as getting in and out of bed. Alice needed help with her hair and getting dressed. Apart from that, Eve tended the house. Since she’d always welcomed such work, it was easy and pleasant.
If only Cole would leave again. But then she recalled how frightening it had been to be alone at
night.
Never mind. She would deal with whatever came her way. Just as she always had from the time she was five years old and lost her home and family.
The sky was cloudless and so blue it stung her eyes. A breeze tugged at her hair and her skirts and cooled her skin. The scent of poplar and evergreen trees filled her nostrils. She reached the path through them and ducked to avoid a low-hanging branch. Certain she was alone apart from the birds fluttering about, she sang one of her favorite hymns. “‘He will hide me where no harm can e’er betide me, He will hide me, safely hide me, In the shadow of His hand.’”
She broke through the trees to the banks of the river.
Cole stepped from the shadows.
“Oh.” She clutched her hand to her breastbone. “I didn’t…I thought…” She stopped herself.
“What did you think?” His intent gaze demanded an explanation.
“I thought you were back at the barn. Or somewhere near it.”
“Why would you think that? You saw me come this way.”
“When you took the cookies…” She shrugged. Of course, he could take cookies and do whatever he wanted. It was his place.
“Cookies? You made cookies? What kind?”
“Oatmeal, but surely you know that.”
He widened his stance and crossed his arms over his chest.
The pose of a warrior she thought. Others might have found it intimidating but she knew him…or at least, remembered him…well enough to know he never used his size to get his own way. Though he might use it to protect others.
“How would I know what kind you made? You aren’t making any sense. Why don’t we sit and relax while you explain this confusion of yours.” He uncrossed his arms and pointed toward a grassy spot.
“Very well. Though I think it is you who are confused.” She sat on the ground, her legs to one side, and spread out her brown skirt. She brushed off some lingering sand. If she’d known she’d be meeting Cole, she would have changed into her prettiest dress. The one with dark blue flowers against a white background.
Don’t be silly, she scolded herself. Their accidental meeting was not like that.
“About the cookies?” he prompted as he sat beside her.
“I baked a cake. You know that. And after you left, I made some cookies and left them cooling on a rack while I went to the well to get water to wash up the dishes. When I came back a whole row of cookies was gone.”
“And you thought I took them?”
She didn’t want him to think she judged him for doing so. “You have every right. It’s your house, your supplies.”
“I didn’t take them.”
She sat back and stared at him. Did he mean to tease her? “I am not imagining they were gone. You mother and aunt were outside. I know they didn’t take them.”
“Nor did I.”
“You’re sure?”
He laughed. “You want to check my mouth?” He opened wide for her to look.
“Of course not. But someone or something took them. And it’s not the first time.” She told him about the missing loaf of bread.
“Could it be a skunk?”
“I think we’d smell that.” She wrinkled her nose. “I did think of some kind of animal, but what wild animal would come right up to the house and grab something inside?” She shuddered. “That’s downright scary.”
“I’ll look around and see what I can find out.”
“One more thing. I was short a jar of canned meat. I assumed you took it when you planned to be away. Please don’t tell me I was mistaken about that because if I was, there is something other than an animal prowling around, and I don’t like it.”
Cole wished he could give her assurance that it was an animal. Hearing that things had gone missing set his nerves on edge. He knew she’d be afraid. Would she want to rush back to town and the safety of her family? It shouldn’t matter to him if she did. Whatever feelings he’d once had for her were long gone. But she’d surprised him when she kept her head at the well. She’d been brave and calm. She’d known what to do, and she’d done it. That did not fit with the picture he’d allowed himself of her as a fearful, hesitant woman, afraid to leave the bosom of her family.
As he sat by the river contemplating what had happened, he wondered if she might have changed. Then he’d heard her singing as she made her way through the trees. He will safely hide me in the shadow of His hand. She hadn’t changed. She still clung to what was safe… her family likely number one. Her faith hinged to that.
“I did not take a jar of meat.” He kept his voice calm and steady though his neck tensed. Someone was stealing from him. Someone was hanging about. His mother and aunt were back at the house. Were they safe?
He got slowly to his feet, not wanting to alarm Eve. “I’ll leave you to your solitude.” He didn’t want to leave her alone with danger lurking in every shadow, but he also didn’t want to frighten her. If she decided to go back to Glory, he’d have the full responsibility of his mother and aunt. Leaving them while he went to the barn to do chores would be difficult.
Eve scrambled to her feet. “I’m not staying here by myself knowing some thief is prowling about.” She grabbed his hand with a grip that surprised him and made him smile.
She clung to him through the trees, practically treading on his heels when they had to go single file. Even then, she didn’t drop his hand. They were almost back before she let go.
Together they rushed around the house. His breath whooshed out at the sight of Ma and Aunt Alice calmly sitting outside.
Aunt Alice looked up at their approach. “What are you two up to? You look like cats who drank the cream.”
If she only knew it was not satisfaction that filled his expression.
Alice’s gaze darted from him to Eve and then back to him. She winked. “Glad to see you putting a little effort into your courting.”
“Aunt Alice,” Eve protested. “It’s nothing like that.” She put a goodly distance between herself and Cole.
Cole ignored Alice, knowing she got great delight out of teasing. Instead, he spoke to his mother. “Ma, are you ready to go inside?”
Ma looked him over carefully, likely thinking it was a strange question. She shook her head. “I’m fine here for now. Why? What’s going on?”
Should he tell them what he and Eve had realized? Cole looked at Eve. Her eyelids flickered enough to signal she didn’t think there was any need to worry them.
“Nothing.” He glanced at the sky. Too bad there weren’t some clouds somewhere so he could pretend he was worried about a change in weather. “If you’re happy here then I’ll get on with my work.” He waited for Eve to accompany him around the corner of the house.
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” she said.
He knew they were not in sight of the kitchen window.
“I’ll be able to see them from the garden.”
“Good idea. And I’ll look around. I’ll find whoever is hanging about.”
First, he took a quick look through the trees nearest the house, but there was no sign of anyone there. Nor did he expect there would be. A man would not likely stay nearby where he might be seen or overheard at any moment. He went to the barn and saddled Sanchez. He rode by the garden and waved at Eve.
She raised her hoe as if to inform him that she was armed and ready for an invader.
He chuckled to think of her defending herself, his mother, and his aunt with a hoe. But his amusement died a sudden death. This was no laughing matter. Some of the men wandering the wilds of Montana Territory were beyond human kindness.
He patted his rifle as it lay across his knees and rode toward the river. He’d search the trees and the riverbank for signs of a camp.
Two hours later, he had scoured the river toward the northwest, reasoning that a mountain man would stay closer to the highlands. He’d found a tin lid from a can. No telling how long it had been there.
He saw wildlife trails through the woods but upon closer exami
nation, didn’t see any sign of a man’s footsteps. Of course, a good mountain man wore moccasins and knew how to hide his tracks.
A glance at the sky revealed that the day was almost gone. He needed to get home. He urged Sanchez to a faster pace. While he was looking this direction, the ladies at the ranch were unprotected…except for Eve and her hoe.
That provided him not one drop of comfort.
He slowed as he approached the house, searching every shadow and crevice for hidden dangers.
That’s when he remembered that back when they were more than friends, Eve had spoken vehemently about avoiding danger.
He wished he could remember what she said and why she had spoken with so much conviction. He’d have to ask her because if she avoided danger, then where did it leave his aunt and mother if he couldn’t be there?
Did he see something in the shadows by the barn? He pulled Sanchez to a halt.
Chapter 7
Eve finished in the garden and took the ladies indoors. Supper was ready, but she delayed, hoping Cole would return. Her nerves twanged so tight that the sound of a crow made her jump and press her palm to her chest. Not wanting to worry the ladies, she forced herself to work calmly. She stood at the worktable to ice the cake, glad it provided her an excuse to be close to the window so she could glance out every few seconds. Cole had been gone a long time. What if he had been attacked? She wouldn’t even know where to look for him.
All she could do was pray, and she did, silently and repeatedly.
Keep him safe. Bring him home.
The shadows lengthened.
“Are we going to simply admire all that food?” Aunt Alice asked.
Eve turned slowly to face them. Aunt Nancy looked worried. “Don’t you want to wait for Cole?” Eve asked.
“I do,” Nancy said.
“Oh, very well. Maybe we could have cake while we wait.” Aunt Alice brightened at the idea.
Aunt Nancy gasped. “Mama will roll over in her grave if we do.”
“Why don’t I give you some stew, and you can eat cake when Cole gets here?” Eve hoped he would arrive before the ladies had a mouthful of their supper eaten.
