Daniel stood up swiftly and wrapped his arms around her, swinging her in a half - circle. “Just say you’ll be my wife.”
“I will, I would love to be your wife.” Ginger giggled as she said the words. She had felt a special connection with Daniel the moment that they had started to talk, but she hadn’t expected to fall in love so fast.
As Ginger stared into Daniel’s eyes, she knew that he was the man she would like to spend her life with. There could be no one else. “What will we do after we get married?”
Daniel grinned like a little boy who had just won the biggest prize in the whole west. “Well, I reckon we’ll have us a baby. He will be a beautiful round laughing baby who will look just like his mother.”
Ginger pulled back a little and made herself look stern. “What makes you think it’ll be a boy? It could be a girl, you know.”
Daniel shook his head with an amused smile. “I know it could be a girl, and I certainly wouldn’t mind. As long as we are all together, that’s all that matters.”
Ginger jerked awake with a gasp. She had been dreaming, only it hadn’t been a dream. It had been a memory of the time Daniel had proposed marriage to her and they had begun planning their lives together.
If only she could go back to that moment. If only she could bring back that day in history.
She had meant to only doze off for a few minutes but it was obvious that it had been a while longer than a few minutes.
The bright, sunny light that had been shining through the bedroom window when she had fallen asleep was gone. In its place was a dim, gray light from dusk falling.
Her first worry was her children. She sat up, wincing in pain as she did so, sweeping the small parlor for Freddy and Lydia.
They were sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace, playing a game of checkers. “Mama! You’re awake.” Lydia rushed to her side.
“Who started the fire?” For some reason, the thought of someone moving about the house while she was sleeping bothered her.
“Mr. Craig did. He said we should be quiet and play a game and let you get all the rest you could.” Lydia nodded as she relayed the instructions as if she were proud of the good job she’d done with such instructions.
“Thank you, you both did exactly right.” Ginger nodded in approval. She managed to put her feet over the side of the bed and sit up.
“Here mama,” Lydia had gone into the kitchen and come back with a pewter plate. It was piled high with fried pork, fresh cheese, and slices of recently baked bread. “Mr. Craig said to make sure and give you your dinner as soon as you woke up.”
Ginger’s eyes teared up as she considered Craig’s kindness. Nick had nothing but good things to say about him and now she saw why. He went above and beyond his duties to make sure she was comfortable.
“Did you two already eat?” Ginger took a bite of the food, savoring the delicious flavor.
“Yes, he made me and Freddy a plate before he left.”
Ginger forced a smile and kept herself from shoveling the food down. She didn’t feel right having Craig worry about her family’s care.
He was a great man and an even better worker, but having a man here, taking care of things so soon after Daniel’s death, made her feel wrong.
It was for this reason she had invited Lana. She knew that for whatever reason, Nick would continue to be stubborn and insist he do it all. If he did hire someone it would be a strange man or someone she didn’t feel that comfortable with trying to do the work of a woman.
On one hand, Ginger understood her brother’s tendency to paranoia. But on the other hand, she needed a woman’s help. Besides, she knew from what her mother used to say and also from when she had known Lana that Lana was a very smart and accomplished woman.
They lived too far away from the one-room schoolhouse for Lydia and Freddy to attend. Lana could easily teach both of them to read and write and maybe even to sing or something else.
There were things that Ginger had always wanted to learn, but hadn’t been able to because her parents were too poor to pay for them. Now it seemed that the perfect opportunity had presented itself for her to provide her children with the opportunity to learn.
She knew that these types of things wouldn’t convince Nick but he had no experience with children. Since her injury Lydia and Freddy had been on their best behavior, but on a normal day, before the accident, the two of them together could be quite the challenge to care for. And she knew their good behavior was only temporary.
Ginger sighed. She only hoped that Nick wouldn’t send Lana packing the minute he saw that she was there.
Chapter 6
Lana jerked awake. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sleeping but it had certainly been longer than she had intended.
She realized that the train had stopped for some reason and people were milling about.
“What’s going on? Are we there yet?” Lana asked the older woman who was nearby.
“No, there was a tree on the tracks. We’ve stopped so they can get it off.” Despite the innocent-sounding reason for their stop, Lana couldn’t help but notice the worry and fear on the woman’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, I’ve heard stories about people stopping the train that way and then robbing everyone on board.”
Lana’s heart pounded a little faster for a moment. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” Just as she said that, the train began to creep forward once more. “See? We’re back on our way already.”
The older woman nodded and looked relieved. Lana sat back in her chair and peered out the window. She was ready to arrive at Ginger’s ranch already. Ginger had provided extensive directions in her last letter and Lana could practically envision the way to get there and what it would look like when she did.
Lana tried to distract herself by counting things as they passed by her window. Nearly two hours later as the train began to slow once more, she’d counted a very large number of rocks, shrubs, and other odds and ends she’d been able to spot.
Lana scooted forward to the edge of her seat, peering out the window trying to get the first glimpse of the town where she would be living for the next few months and maybe longer.
Who knew? Maybe this was where she would live forever.
For a moment, it looked as if the entire town was the train station itself.
There were only a few buildings, scattered few and far between. Back in the city it always seemed as if the buildings and houses were fighting for space, resenting each other for every brick placed. Here the buildings had plenty of space around them. Bushes and trees framed each lot. Flowers grew in patches along many of the walls.
The sun was shining bright, casting bright rays on the ground and over the wooden platform near the doorway of the train.
Lana wasted no time getting off. She didn’t necessarily dislike the train, but you got tired of anything if you spent too much time on it or doing it.
She took in a deep breath of air as her feet touched solid ground. She was here, well halfway anyway. She still had to figure out exactly how to get to Ginger’s ranch. She was surprised at how quiet it was in the town. There were people talking and murmuring to one another but none of the loud shouting or clanging that seemed to always be present in the city.
She looked around and realized that the majority of the people who had been waiting on the platform a bit ago were boarding the train.
Did this town have any people in it?
“The town looks small but there are several buildings a little further that way.” One of the men who had been helping people with their luggage pointed down the main road. He carried her trunk into the station and set it next to the front wall.
Lana nodded and gave him a quick, grateful smile as he turned and returned to the leaving train. Surely this would be as simple as she imagined.
The man behind the counter smiled at her. “Would you like me to keep this for you, ma’am, until you can get a wagon here to p
ick it up?” he asked.
“Yes, please. My name is Lana Smith,” she said.
“No problem. I will put it in the back room for you,” he said, as he carried it to a room behind the counter.
She turned and walked timidly across the platform until she was on the other side and then turned to wait and watch as the train slowly started up and gathered speed.
Before long, the huge metal beast was disappearing over the horizon, taking its passengers somewhere else.
Once the resounding whistle died in the air, leaving silence behind it, Lana took a good look around.
Down the street, she spotted the general store. Ginger had said that it was the main street that passed the general store and to keep going straight.
Lana wasn’t sure how long it would take her to walk to the ranch, but she had all day and she was fairly certain that it wouldn’t prove too difficult for her. After all, she had walked plenty of times in the city before.
If she kept up a good pace and didn’t get lost, she should certainly be getting to Ginger’s home in a few hours.
With renewed hope and energy, Lana set out. With every step she took, she felt a little more hopeful and closer to seeing Ginger once more.
She wondered what her childhood friend would look like and what it would be like to live together.
She followed the directions that Ginger had sent her, but still it seemed that the landmarks were much further apart than she had expected them to be.
This was probably going to take longer than she had expected.
---*---
By the time the simple little cabin came into view amongst other farm buildings, Lana was thoroughly exhausted. She was covered in perspiration and her head ached from being in the heat too long. The cabin matched the detailed description Ginger had sent to her and she had carefully followed the hand-drawn map. She was reasonably sure that this was indeed Ginger’s house.
She spotted a large tree near the property and sank down underneath its shade. She needed a few minutes to cool off.
She took huge gulps of air and tried to rearrange her hair back into a bun on top of her head. Her hair seemed to be as exhausted as the rest of her body and refused to cooperate, tumbling back down after every attempt she made.
She looked around again, marveling at the silence and the sounds of birds and whispering grass in the breeze. She had to admit it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. She was thankful for the good weather. It had obviously rained recently. There were mud puddles at regular intervals and spots along the trail where wagon wheels had dug deeply into the mud.
She would have surely been lost by now except for the clearly marked wagon trails. There was a rope tied at each intersection on the northwest corner of the intersection so that a traveler could be sure of the direction they were traveling.
Finally, she managed to get her hair somewhat contained and her clothes straightened to a degree.
Taking one more deep breath she stood, squared her shoulders, and walked confidently up the driveway to Ginger’s home, and knocked at the door.
It didn’t take long. After only a few minutes, a little girl was answering the door.
She was about waist high with soft brown hair and gentle brown eyes. “Hello?”
The little girl gave her a small sideways smile that made Lana wonder if the girl was as angelic as she looked. “Hello. I’m Lana. I’m here to see Ginger.” Lana fidgeted a bit, shifting from foot to foot, wondering if she was making a mistake.
“Oh, mama said you would be here. Come in.” The girl motioned for Lana to walk past her. Lana knew that she must be Lydia. Ginger had always written about both Lydia and Freddy in her letters.
The little parlor was almost exactly as Lana had imagined it from Ginger’s detailed descriptions in her letters.
On one side of the parlor a makeshift bed was set up and Ginger was sitting there, with an excited look on her face. It had been years since they had seen each other and yet Ginger didn’t look all that different.
Lana rushed across the room and wrapped her friend into an embrace.
“Ginger! I’m so glad I’m here. Are you all right? I’ve felt so worried about you.” Now that Ginger was right there in front of her, it felt as if she couldn’t ask all of her questions fast enough.
As she pulled away, Ginger giggled a little, sounding nervous.
“I- I’m doing pretty well. A lot better now that you’re here. I was beginning to think you’d never come.”
Lana grinned as she surveyed the place. There was a small kitchen off the side of the parlor, and back down the hall there were two doors that Ginger assumed were bedrooms. “I told you I would come. I’m sorry it took so long, I had to finish out the classes with the children and the train seemed to take forever. It must have stopped a thousand times.”
Ginger nodded. “I know, I’m actually surprised that you got here so fast. It’s only been three weeks since...” Ginger’s voice broke and her eyes filled with tears.
Lana’s heart went out to her friend. She hadn’t found love, not real love anyway, but she could still see how much it hurt Ginger and could imagine how it must feel to lose a husband.
“It’s all right. Don’t cry, Ginger. We are going to get this place up and running smoothly in no time. Who’s been helping you?”
“Nick mostly. He sent one of his farmhands to help me while he went to the next town over to try and get some new cattle.”
Lana raised her eyebrows in surprise. “He’s not even here?”
“No, not at the moment. But he should be back in the next couple of days.” Ginger was wringing her hands, something that Lana knew meant she was nervous. It seemed some things never changed.
“What’s wrong?”
Ginger shook her head, “Nothing. You know, it’s just…I never did like depending on others all that much. I kind of feel bad that I made you leave your life in the city to come to help me. Nick wasn’t exactly happy when I told him you were coming either. He thinks he can do everything but I know he can’t. He just would never admit it.”
Lana gave a little laugh and stood up. “Nonsense. You didn’t make me do anything. I wanted to come. Besides, things in the city weren’t that great anyway. And don’t worry about your brother. I know we haven’t met since we were all children, but I’m sure once we do he’ll realize how good it is to have me around. Have you all eaten lunch yet?”
Ginger shook her head. “No, Craig has been helping with a lot of the meals. Maybe you could ask him what we should do. I’m so sorry, Lana. I was going to have everything prepared for you if you ever came to visit.”
Ginger looked embarrassed and her cheeks were flushed red with self-consciousness.
“Stop worrying, Ginger. I’m perfectly capable of preparing things myself and right now, you just need to focus on resting and getting better as fast as you can. Just let me worry about the rest.”
Ginger nodded but she didn’t look convinced.
“Now, where are those sweet children of yours?” Lana surveyed the room once more, looking for Lydia who was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t seen Freddy yet, but she was fairly certain she would recognize him when she did.
“I don’t know. You know, they’ve been acting pretty well since the accident, but they’ve begun to act up again lately. I was hoping that it was just something in passing before the accident, and now I can’t be up and about to watch them. Maybe they’re outside.”
An Encounter of Courageous Hearts: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 5
