“Or I leave the room,” Nate announced. “Can’t stand it when someone writes about something without knowing what they’re talking about. Not when I’ve been in these mountains for years.”
“But the stories are exciting,” Noah stated.
“I’m teaching Noah to read,” Bethany explained. She ran her gaze around the cabin. There was a small shelf in the corner. On it rested a few books. “We don’t have much room for a library. I’ve got The Bible and a few books which belonged to Richard. One or two for myself.”
Just the mention of her departed husband was enough to bring a furrow to Bethany’s brows. Sadness was never far away. She forced a smile across her lips and settled her elbows on the table. “That reminds me, Noah. I seem to recall we’ve got some counting exercises to do.”
Noah sighed and his shoulders drooped. “Do we have to?”
Bethany nodded firmly. “You know the rules. Do some homework first, and then you and Nate can go adventuring. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for that snow to stop.”
“Snow won’t stop me and Noah,” Nate said.
“I know that,” Bethany replied. “But I make the rules around here.”
Nate grinned. “You sure do.”
Bethany was a good mother, Brodie told himself. That much was obvious. He wasn’t surprised she’d homeschool Noah. And Nate was teaching Noah survival skills, too. The young boy was getting quite an education. It was a better education than most growing boys in this territory.
After the dinner plates were cleared, Nate declared it was time for him to be going to his own cabin further down the valley. As he put on his thick fur coat and coat, Nate peered outside. Twilight had settled upon the valley. Brodie walked to Nate’s side and peered outside. The snow was still falling, although it wasn’t as heavy as it had been earlier.
“You got your own place down by the canyon?” Brodie asked.
Nate’s weather-worn, sun-darkened and very friendly features brightened. The man’s eyes shone with good-humor. “I got my own home, sure enough. It might be small, and lack the luxuries, but it suits me fine. What else does a man need? I got all the basics.”
Bethany laughed. “Don’t listen to a word he says. That cabin of his is a perfect little mountain lodge.”
Nate chuckled. “I built it myself.
“You’re a real mountain man,” Brodie said.
“I guess I am.”
Brodie had heard plenty of tales of mountain men. They’d been living all across the western mountain ranges for years. He’d heard stories of trappers, Indian fighters, miners and gold prospectors. Just like Noah, Brodie’s young imagination had been filled with tales of the heroic men who’d taken to a life which he could barely comprehend. Living in the mountains was hard. He regarded Nate closely as the man completed his preparations to leave. Beneath Nate’s relaxed and good-natured exterior, there lurked a courageous heart, one that had faced unimaginable hardship, and had conquered everything nature had thrown at him.
Nate glanced at Bethany. “Are you going to be okay?” There was a surprisingly cautious tone in Nate’s voice this time. It took Brodie by surprise. Was Nate worried that Bethany wouldn’t be safe in the cabin with the newcomer?
Bethany smiled. “You get going. We’ll be fine.” She glanced at Brodie. “Won’t we?”
Brodie nodded. “Sure.”
Nate peered at Brodie. “You come and visit my place tomorrow. I’ll show you around the valley, if you like.”
Then Nate left and Brodie closed the door.
Wiping her hands on her apron, Bethany came to Brodie. “Nate’s real proud of his place.”
“He seems like a decent guy,” Brodie said.
“He is. Noah and me wouldn’t have been able to survive up here without Nate’s help.”
“Nate fights all the wild animals for us,” Noah said excitedly. “Bears and wolves and mountain lions.”
Brodie looked quizzically at Bethany. “Is that true?”
“I guess so. But he is an expert. So I suppose it makes sense.”
“Nate is teaching me how to shoot a rifle,” Noah said.
Brodie reckoned a rifle would be too much for someone as small as Noah. Especially if it was the kind of rifle a mountain man was used to using. The kick would probably knock someone as small as Noah right onto his back.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, Noah,” Bethany said. “I’ve told you before. I don’t want you using guns, too much.”
“I recall you saying you can shoot,” Brodie said to Bethany.
Bethany smiled nervously at Brodie. “I can. But only when it is absolutely necessary. I hate violence.”
Immediately Brodie thought that the mountains were no place for a woman who loathed violence. But he decided to keep that opinion to himself, for now.
Later, Brodie kept a polite distance, seated on a wobbly chair in the corner of the cabin while Bethany sat at the table with Noah. She helped him with his number exercises. Noah held a pencil and wrote some of the answers to the counting questions which Bethany gave him. Occasionally, Bethany leaned closer to Noah and spoke in a quiet voice, offering encouragement. She was a patient teacher.
Once Noah looked across at Brodie, as if seeking help, but all it took was one stern look from Bethany for Brodie to decide that his silence would be the wisest choice.
After the homeschooling work, Noah said goodnight to Brodie and went to his own little bedroom. Bethany accompanied Noah. From behind the closed door to Noah’s room, Brodie heard the low voice of Noah as he recited his nighttime prayer. Brodie smiled when he heard Noah asking God to bless and protect the visitor to the valley.
Brodie went to the front door and opened it. The snowfall had stopped. The air was chilled and fresh. The sky had cleared and a full moon hung high in the heavens. It cast a pale, silvery light across the valley. Amongst the groves of trees, spectral shadows shimmered like living things.
For a moment, Brodie was seized by a sense that this place had a magical quality. He felt as if he’d entered a lost world, removed from ordinary existence. There was something special about the valley. He’d heard stories about places like this before. There were rumors of hidden places in the mountains used by robbers and outlaw gangs. And, of course, the mountains harbored Indians who’d lived here for a long time. Brodie wondered just how safe was the valley. Bethany seemed to believe that it was a safe space, a refuge for her and Noah. But Brodie couldn’t help thinking that their days in the valley must be numbered. Sooner or later someone would find this place, he told himself. And then Bethany would have to deal with trouble. It would be at that point that she would be faced with an important decision to make.
However, for now, she seemed determined to stay and make it a permanent home for her and Noah. Brodie questioned just how practical that wish could be.
Brodie closed the door and went to the table. He sat for a while, waiting for Bethany to emerge once Noah had been tucked in for the night.
A short while later, Bethany came out of Noah’s room and closed the door behind her. She came to the table and sat down across from Brodie.
“Is he sleeping?”
Bethany shook her head. “Not yet. And I don’t know if he’ll sleep at all, tonight.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. He’s just excited that you’re here,” she told him.
“Really?”
Bethany nodded. “In case you haven’t guessed, we don’t get many visitors up here.”
“I suppose not.” He paused a moment and then added. “I’m still finding it hard to believe that you’ve lived here this long.”
“Why is that so difficult to accept?”
Brodie shrugged. “In a place this isolated, the last thing I would have expected to find would be a beautiful widow and her son.”
When he saw her mouth open and her eyes widen, he realized his choice of words had not been wise. She looked stunned.
He’d called Bethany, “
beautiful”. His use of that single word had been instinctive. If he was being honest, he’d spoken the truth. It was statement of fact. Sitting here, in the soft light from the fireplace and the candles, she looked lovely.
Bethany leaned her elbows on the table and lowered her head for a few moments. When she lifted her head and looked at him he saw that her cheeks were flushed pink. Either heat or embarrassment had caused that, he told himself.
He already knew which it was.
Brodie cleared his throat. A long silence ensued. Bethany seemed lost for words. After a couple of minutes of agonizing quiet, she stood. “Are you sure you’ll be able to sleep on that bedroll?”
Looking over at it, he nodded. “At least I have a roof over my head.” When she lifted a querying brow, he added: “There’ve been plenty of nights when I would have done anything for a roof over my head. Looking after a herd of cattle can mean long, cold nights out under a starry sky.”
“That sounds nice,” she said.
He laughed quietly. “Not if you’re the one huddled inside your bedroll. And it’s even worse if you’re surrounded by ranch hands who spend the entire night complaining about not being back in their bunkhouse.”
To his secret delight, she laughed quietly. When he saw her smile, his heart warmed. Bethany Hoxton didn’t laugh enough, he said to himself. He decided, there and then, he would make sure she laughed plenty of times before he left the valley.
“Montana nights sure can be cold,” she said. “This is our second winter here.”
Brodie wondered if it would be her last in the valley. “Don’t you and Noah find it hard?”
“Noah loves it,” she replied.
“And you?” he asked quietly.
She paused and then said: “I told you. This is what Richard wanted for us. And I am going to respect that wish.”
“Even if it gets to be impossible to stay?”
She fixed Brodie with a penetrating look. “I’m not the kind of woman who breaks promises. And I don’t give up easily.”
“I don’t doubt that for one minute, Bethany,” he said.
Her eyes shone with a determined look. The same one he’d seen down in town and on the hillside after the trouble with Tyrell and Rufus. “I gave Richard my word. Before he passed away, I told him I would stay here. That I would try and build a life for me and Noah.” Her jaw tightened. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Besides, the Lord has taken care of me and Noah. And I’m sure He will protect us for as long as we’re here.” Her voice cracked with emotion. He could hear the conviction in her voice. He had no doubt she believed what she had just told him.
“I’ll wish you a goodnight, Brodie,” she said.
He watched as she went to the door of the other bedroom. As she closed it she gave him one last, gentle smile. And that was all he needed to know that, even if there was a cold night to come, he’d be snug and warm inside the bedroll.
CHAPTER TEN
The next morning, soon after breakfast, Bethany went with Brodie to the snow-blocked entrance of the crevasse. Noah stayed back in the cabin with Nate. Bethany wrapped up warm, wearing her riding pants and her heavy fur coat.
The snow lay thick on the ground across the valley. Stepping outside the cabin, Bethany had taken a few moments to savor the beautiful sight of the snow-covered valley. It was truly like something out of a dream. Her spirits lifted as she gazed down the length of the valley.
After her brief conversation with Brodie last night, she’d lain in bed, thoughtful and unable to sleep. His words had circled around inside her mind. He didn’t think she and Noah could survive in a place like this. It wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in her ability to look after Noah. She figured he was just trying to show some concern for her safety. He must have seen plenty of people struggle to create a life for themselves out here on the frontier. It was just that her choice of where to settle on this frontier must seem incredible. She concluded that, to him, her determination to remain in the valley must be mystifying.
Riding alongside Brodie, she glanced across at him. In spite of his reassurances this morning that he’d slept well, he looked tired. Shadows darkened his eyes. But she knew he wasn’t the kind of man to complain about a lack of sleep. Over the breakfast table, he’d laughed and joked with Noah. Her son had shown real delight that there was a new face in the cabin. As she’d done so many times before, she allowed memories of her husband’s love for Noah to seize her mind. Richard had adored Noah. When his father had passed, Noah had been inconsolable. Bethany had done her best to bring her son through those dark days. Now, with Brodie here, she could see hope in Noah’s eyes.
One thing troubled Bethany this morning. When he’d arrived from his cabin, Nate had seemed surprisingly cold toward Brodie. The good-hearted friendliness of last night had faded. Bethany speculated that maybe Nate had had some time to consider Brodie’s presence in the valley. Had Nate undergone some kind of a change of heart about Brodie? Or was it simply that Nate was worried about Brodie’s presence and what it might mean for them all?
Deciding to keep the two men apart for the morning, Bethany had insisted that she go with Brodie to see the blocked entrance of the crevasse. She also planned to spend some more time with Brodie. Maybe they could both take a ride across the valley. She was eager to show him the place. Maybe if she showed him the valley, and how it was the perfect place for her and Noah, he might come around to her way of thinking. For some inexplicable reason she could not figure out, winning Brodie’s approval seemed important to her now.
They arrived at the blocked crevasse and drew rein. Bethany ran her gaze across the entrance and sighed heavily. Just like Brodie had said, a huge pile of ice and snow blocked the entrance. Dismounting, she moved closer to the frozen mass. On closer inspection she saw rocks and rubble from the mountainside mixed in with the icy bulk.
“You were right, Brodie. No-one can get through this.”
“Has it happened before?”
She shook her head. “Last winter was mild. We didn’t get much snow. Occasionally we get rock falls. Nate’s always said this might happen. I guess he was right.”
Taking a few steps back on the rocky platform in front of the entrance, Bethany peered up the steep angle of the overhanging mountainside from which the deadly mixture had fallen. The side of the cliff up there was exposed. The frozen snow had probably accumulated for weeks. With each successive frozen night and snowfall, the mass had grown larger and heavier. Last night’s storm, with its violent gusts of wind, had been the trigger for the ice and snow to slide down into the crevasse.
“At least it’s starting to melt,” Brodie said. He pointed to a pool a slushy snow which was beginning to gather at the crevasse’s entrance. “The rocks will be a problem, though.”
“We’ll have to deal with those once the thaw sets in,” she said.
Brodie grinned at Bethany. “Clearing that away will be man’s work.” He lifted a mischievous brow. “Don’t you think?”
She glared playfully at him. “Are you saying I’m not strong enough to help out?”
Brodie lifted both hands as if warding her off. “I didn’t say a word, ma’am.”
She liked it when he was being playful. Bethany reckoned he was just trying to make sure they got the day off to a good start. She wasn’t going to argue with that.
“There’s nothing we can do about this,” Brodie said gesturing at the blocked crevasse.
“Why don’t I show you around?” Bethany suggested.
He arched a brow. “That sounds like a good idea.”
They rode back along the trail, passing the cabin, and then reached the nearby pool at the base of the waterfall. The pool was one of Bethany’s favorite places to come and think. It was circular in shape, about thirty yards broad, and edged by a rocky border which was perfect for sitting on. Because of the recent freezing conditions, the waterfall was smaller than usual but a steady, thin stream of water tumbled noisily into the pool. The
source of the water was an opening about two hundred feet high up on the rock face.
Bethany dismounted and Brodie did the same. Bethany found her usual place, a large rock next to the pool. She cleared away some loose snow and sat down upon the rock, while Brodie remained standing. He gazed up the waterfall. “That sure is pretty.”
“It’s our main source of fresh water. I like to come here whenever I want to think a while.”
He nodded appreciatively and came to sit down next to her. She saw Brodie gaze out across the valley. The sky was clear and the valley could be seen in all its splendor. The southern edge of the valley was cast in shadow, making the high walls seem even more imposing. Those cliff walls rimmed the entire valley, enclosing it in an impenetrable oval. Beyond the cliffs on all sides of the oval, looming mountains rose majestically.
“I can see why no-one has found this place before,” Brodie observed. “Those cliffs must be a hundred feet high all the way round the valley.”
“We’ve investigated the whole valley. There are no other entrances.”
He turned to face her. “Or exits.”
“No.”
“Have you ever been down the canyon?” he asked.
“Not all the way,” she replied.
“No reason why anyone would come up the canyon.”
She sensed he was leading the conversation in a direction in which she didn’t want to follow. Bethany smiled at Brodie. “Tell me about your family.”
His brows rose in a straight line. “My family?”
Bethany nodded. “You said you had a brother and sister. How long have you and your siblings lived on the ranch?”
Brodie leaned back and his gaze softened for a moment. “My father and mother established the ranch years ago. They brought us to this territory because they reckoned we’d have a better life here than out in Oregon.”
“Your parents were overlanders?”
He nodded. “They set out in a wagon, just like other folks. But my father changed his mind when he saw this territory. So he settled here and spent a few years building up the ranch. My brother, my sister and me took it over when my parents passed.”
Montana Mountain Valley Bride (Western Romance) Page 8
