Joseph shook his head. “I’ll be sure she’s clear on my plans.”
The preacher looked at him with the same kind of look Joseph often gave Annabelle. He didn’t believe him for a second. “It’s been my experience that love doesn’t always follow people’s plans.”
Love? That’s not what he and Annabelle had.
But Frank didn’t give him a chance to refute that statement. Gertie was striding toward them, clearly intent on whatever purpose that brought her.
“Is everything all right?” Frank’s attention to Gertie clearly indicated that their conversation was over, as well.
Joseph started in the direction where Gertie had come from.
“Everything’s fine.” Gertie held a hand out. “I was coming to let you know the living arrangements up here. Annabelle’s going to watch Nugget while you search for your pa’s silver.”
“I’d thought to have Nugget with me.” Joseph glanced in the direction of the two girls playing. His sister seemed to be thriving in this environment, but with everything, he didn’t want her far from him.
“It would make more sense if Nugget stayed here.” Gertie smiled, then glanced in the direction of the girls playing in the distance. “The mountains are no place for a child. With the trouble you faced at the cabin, it’s even more dangerous. You’ll be able to avoid the bandits easier if you don’t have a child to protect. And, well, I could use the company for Caitlin. She’s been lost without Susannah, and this is the longest I’ve seen a smile on her face since.”
The longing on the older woman’s face would have been enough to get him to say yes, even if he’d been inclined to say no.
As much as it pained him to admit it, Gertie was right. He wouldn’t be able to protect his sister and find his pa’s treasure.
“Annabelle won’t mind?”
Frank and Gertie exchanged an uneasy look. Of course Annabelle minded. She’d made it clear that she’d rather be anywhere but here.
“She understands the importance of keeping Nugget safe,” Frank finally said.
Not the same as not minding, but Joseph was hardly in a position to argue Annabelle’s cause.
Her father was already concerned about the possibility of Annabelle falling in love with him. Even if Annabelle thought nothing of it, he had to be careful of people’s talk. And of taking up for her out of—simple human decency, that’s what it was. But her father didn’t seem to understand.
“It’s settled then.” Gertie gave him a wide smile.
What kind of life would it be with people around them who cared about one another? Annabelle had no idea how fortunate she was.
“Come on, girls,” Gertie called in a booming voice, and they came running.
He hadn’t seen such a big smile on Nugget’s face before. It had to have been a hard life, living the way she had. He hadn’t asked a lot about what had gone on in that situation. He hadn’t really wanted to. It was too painful to hear about the woman who had stolen his pa’s affections.
They walked back to the main area, back to the noise and chaos of the mining camp. They stopped at a tent a couple of yards from Gertie’s cabin.
“This is where you’ll be sleeping,” she said with authority. “My boys sleep here in the summer. It’s plenty warm when the weather’s nice. They’re already up working with Collin. The wages are good, and it’s enough until Collin makes his own strike.”
“And then he’ll work that mine?”
“My, no.” Gertie smiled in the same indulgent way she looked at the girls. “Pretty much all of the mines here are owned by the big companies. It’s too expensive to buy the equipment needed to get the silver. That’s the real dream here. To find a big enough strike that someone will buy it and you can go retire somewhere. I’ve got a sister in Denver, and it sure would be nice to be closer to her.”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. Of what would happen if he struck silver. “So why would my pa be hiding the fact that he found silver if he was going to sell it to the corporation?”
Gertie shrugged. “Either it wasn’t quite enough to interest the corporations, or he was digging deeper to find a higher price.” She looked deep in thought for a moment, and then looked at him. “Or the land he was prospecting wasn’t his own.”
She gave a quick nod and half smile as she looked over at Nugget. “No disrespect to your pa intended. It happens, though.”
“Would it explain the people after Nugget?”
Gertie shrugged. “Perhaps. We can talk about that once we get settled.”
Gertie pointed to the cabin across the small fire pit area. “That’s where Nugget will be sleeping. She’ll be sharing the loft with Annabelle, Polly and Caitlin.”
Nugget’s face lit up. “You mean it? I get to stay here with Caitlin?”
Both girls squealed with delight, not waiting for a response, but running into the cabin.
“I’d rather have Nugget in my tent. To protect her.”
Gertie shook her head. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t look proper. I know she’s your sister and all, but being that she came from a woman of—” she mouthed the words ill repute “—folks wouldn’t be comfortable with her in a tent full of men.”
Laughter erupted from inside the cabin. “Besides, you won’t deny the girls the pleasure of each other’s company, will you? It’ll be so good for Caitlin.”
The happiness emanating from the girls was almost enough to convince him. But Gertie didn’t seem to understand how dangerous the situation was.
“But will they be safe?”
Though Gertie looked offended at the question, he had to ask. She hadn’t been at the cabin when those men tried taking Nugget.
“Annabelle and Polly will be up there, too. There’s no better shot than Annabelle. And Polly, well, this miner tried taking advantage of her at the creek one day, and let me tell you. She done such a number on him that he left town.”
Gertie’s warm laugh shook her belly. “No, you won’t find a safer place for Nugget than with Annabelle and Polly.”
He peered inside the tent he’d be sharing with Gertie’s sons. “It’s awfully cramped. Are you sure I’m not imposing?”
He stood and looked back at Gertie, who’d crossed her arms across her chest.
“You’ve been giving me all these reasons why you can’t, or why this is a bad idea, but let me tell you. You won’t find a better offer or a safer place. You’ll be well taken care of, but if you can’t accept that, then maybe you want to take your chances on your own. I guarantee you will be looking over your shoulder every night. Get much past our encampment, and you’ll find plenty willing to slit your throat over a day’s wages. Folks find out you’ve got information on a mine, well...they’ll do that and plenty worse if they think it’ll get them out of this place.”
Her words shamed him. She was only trying to be nice. He’d just been thinking about the wonderful hospitality, and here he was spitting on it.
“I’m truly sorry for any offense. You have to understand, we’re not used to this kind of treatment. Back home, our own family and church is barely lifting a hand to help us. Where I come from—”
“This isn’t where you come from,” Gertie said. “Why do you think we’re all here? Every person in this place has come looking to build a better life. I know there are some who think that living in a cabin and taking in wash is no life, but one of these days, we’ll be able to afford a house. Maybe it won’t be one of those big mansions, but it will be our house.”
Wouldn’t that be nice? A home where he and all of his siblings could be together without Aunt Ina breathing down their necks, barking orders and threatening them all the time.
If anyone could sell him on the dream of mining, it was Gertie. But then, he didn’t need her words to convince him. He already had a mission of
his own. Six sisters and a brother, all of whom who needed him. As much as he’d like to find a dream of his own to follow, that wasn’t possible right now.
“Thank you, Gertie. I really do appreciate all you’ve done for us.”
“Mama, we’re hungry.” Caitlin ran to them and tugged at her skirts.
“There’s an extra biscuit or two in the cabin.” She smiled at her daughter and patted her on the head as she raced off. “We don’t do a proper noon meal here, on account of everyone being up at the mine. But I fix them all a good lunch to take with them. Supper’s at dusk, and you’ll want to be prompt with the way my boys eat.”
She looked at him. “I know you won’t be going up to the mine, but I’ll still pack your lunch all the same. Mind you get home by dusk. As safe as we’ve made it, it’s still not a good idea to go wandering about by yourself.”
Her words reminded him of the bandits and the danger they faced. Yes, this was the best option. Frank reappeared. “I’ve got some visiting to do. Why don’t you come with me so I can give you the lay of the land?”
Joseph nodded. They’d wasted so much time already. Though it had done his heart good to see Nugget so happy, it’d do him even better to have her safely settled.
As they walked back to the horses, Joseph asked quietly, “Any word on the men who were after Nugget?”
Frank shrugged. “Slade isn’t back yet. I’d put Gertie and Annabelle up against any man if it meant keeping a child safe.”
Though he knew firsthand how capable Annabelle was of keeping Nugget safe, it didn’t cause him to worry any less. Not with the attempt against Nugget, and the niggling feeling in the back of his mind about his father’s death. If someone was going to this length to find his father’s silver, his father’s death was looking less and less like an accident. Which meant the danger they faced was far greater than they were imagining.
Chapter Thirteen
Annabelle approached the creek where Polly was working on the wash. Lumps of rock lodged in her throat, preventing her from speaking. Not that she had any idea of what to say. What separated them called for a whole lot more than a simple, “I’m sorry.”
“Hello, Polly.”
Polly didn’t look up from the shirt she was scrubbing. “Annabelle.”
“I’m gonna be here for a while, I guess, so I thought maybe I could help you with your chores.”
Brushing her arm against her forehead, Polly looked up. “Don’t make no nevermind to me.”
No, there was no easy fix for this. “I’m sorry about what happened, you know, when—” Annabelle swallowed. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you. You were just trying to help.”
“You accused me of lying about Henry to deliberately hurt you.”
The words reverberated in Annabelle’s head. The sight of her best friend, her face whiter than the snow she’d been standing in, filled Annabelle’s vision.
Annabelle grabbed a shirt and started working. “I said a lot of things I didn’t mean. I couldn’t imagine that Henry would simply leave without me. Not when he knew I’d just lost Peter and Susannah and Mother was so sick.”
Pouring out her heart seemed almost easier when she had her hands occupied. She turned her attention to a spot that wouldn’t come out. “I was wrong to accuse you of being anything but a friend. I’m sorry.”
“You’re going to tear a hole in it.” Polly’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and she stared down at the shirt.
“I can’t get this spot out,” she said, holding it up for inspection.
“It’ll do.” Polly took the shirt out of her hands and stalked over to where she had the other clean shirts drying.
Annabelle sighed and brushed the stray curls off her face. An apology would never be enough to mend the damage she’d done.
Polly turned and stared at her. “You barely knew Henry. Sure, he was handsome and charming and helped you deliver things to your father’s parishioners. But we’d known each other our whole lives. And you’d call me a liar before you’d believe that your precious Henry would betray you.”
Annabelle deserved every bit of the ire directed at her. Probably even more than that. “I was wrong,” she said again, but Polly had returned to her work.
“What next?” she called over her shoulder at Polly.
“Go find my ma and tell her to put you to work elsewhere. You’re slowing me down. I’ll never get all this done with you around.” Polly gestured to the pile of laundry.
“I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do...” She looked for any sign of understanding in her former friend, but Polly merely frowned at her.
“Just go.”
The camp was quiet as Annabelle returned to Gertie’s cabin. Everyone was probably up working in the mines. With such good weather, they were probably trying to get as much extra work done as they could.
“Hey, pretty lady.” An obviously drunken miner stumbled out of a tent. Disheveled, and smelling more like liquor than the mines, he reached for her with hands knotted with age. An old-timer, most likely. But who could tell with the way this place prematurely aged people.
She turned to go between the tents, but another miner stepped from behind the tent she was trying to go around. Younger, the sandy-haired man also reeked of drink.
“What’s your hurry?”
Her father hadn’t given her a gun to replace the one that had been in her saddlebag. Which would be a problem living in the camp. She’d gotten proficient at scaring men off with a quick wave of the pistol.
“I need to get back to my friend’s cabin. She’s expecting me.”
The men moved closer, sandwiching her in. “We can’t have no delay, now can we?”
Even with considerable distance between them, she could smell the younger man’s foul breath. She looked for an escape route.
“Aw, pretty birdie wants to fly the coop,” the man in front of her said with the kind of leer that spelled trouble.
This was precisely why young ladies did not venture beyond certain boundaries unescorted.
Her momentary lapse in looking for an escape gave the man behind her the opportunity to bump into her, pushing her closer to his friend. He might have looked like an old-timer, but he was quick.
“We don’t mean no harm,” he whispered, his foul odor stinging her nostrils. “Just tell us where the silver is.”
Naturally. That’s all anyone in this crazy place wanted.
“I don’t know anything about any silver,” she said stiffly, realizing that a hard object was pressed into her back. A gun.
She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but the gun pressed deeper into her back.
“What’d you find at the cabin?” the man rasped into her ear and pushed her forward into his friend.
“Nothing. It was just a cabin.” She tried to keep her voice steady, calm. These were no ordinary ruffians, but dangerous men who clearly knew much more about her activities than mere happenstance.
The man in front of her grinned an ugly toothless grin as he rubbed his stubbled chin. “And silver is just a rock.”
As his eyes narrowed, she recognized him as one of the men who frequented her father’s Wednesday night dinners.
“I know you.” She stared at him harder, trying to remember if she knew his name. There were just so many, coming and going, and with trying to stay unattached...
“Our family has done you great kindness. Please repay that kindness and let me go.”
Her words only made the man’s sneer deepen. Perhaps it had been the wrong thing, to ask for repayment for what they’d done.
“We’ll give you kindness, sweet lady.” The man behind her rubbed up against her in a vulgar motion that sent her stomach rolling. “You tell us where the silver is, and we won’t share you with our friends.”<
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Annabelle gritted her teeth. “I told you, I don’t know about any silver. I was merely showing Joseph where his father’s cabin was so that he could claim his father’s personal effects.”
Toothless gave her a murderous look. “We seen him in the mercantile yesterday buying mining supplies with the good preacher. So no more lies. Where’s the silver?”
She glared at him and tried to shake free of his friend, but the man pressed the gun harder into her back.
“If he had really found any silver, do you think that cabin would have been as desolate as we found it? Don’t you think he would have spent some of it on something nice for his daughter? You know miners. There’s no silver.”
Her words seemed to catch the miner who held the gun to her back off-guard because the pressure loosened and he hesitated.
“You think she’s telling the truth?” The waver in his voice was all she needed.
In a quick motion, Annabelle stomped back, using the heel of her boot to dig into the man’s leg, then darted past Toothless. As she rounded the corner past his arms, her heel broke, but she kept running, hoping Toothless would be more concerned about his friend’s yowls.
“I’m going to get you, she-cat.”
Annabelle ran, dashing between cabins, hoping that somehow the weaving would keep him from catching her. A short distance, and she’d be at Gertie’s.
“Gertie!” she yelled as loudly as she could.
“Your friend ain’t gonna help you, so save yerself the trouble.”
“Help!” Annabelle hoped the word would get someone in the area to come to her aid. She rounded the corner, feeling her ankle in the broken boot give way.
Oh, how she’d wanted these fashionable boots. But what good were they doing her with a bandit after her? At least she’d worn the sensible dress Maddie had forced upon her.
“Please,” Annabelle yelled again. “Someone help me!”
A man stepped out of the cabin nearest her.
“What seems to be the problem?” Though his face was grizzled, his voice was kind.
Rocky Mountain Dreams (Leadville, Co. Book 1) Page 12
