A man in a frayed brown suit stepped down from a rickety carriage and absently looked around for a post to tie the horse to, but there was none. He then stooped to inspect the axle of his carriage.
Travis furrowed his brow. “I don’t recognize the fellow,” he said. “Do you?”
Josh shook his head. “Could it be the new cook?”
Travis’s eyes brightened for a second, then narrowed. “There’s a woman with him. Percy Morgan never said a word about bringing a wife.”
“Does it really matter?” Joshua asked. “After all, we’re trying to attract families.”
“We don’t have living quarters for a married couple,” Travis reminded him.
“She could be his daughter,” Josh speculated. “He seems quite a bit older than she is.”
“We haven’t got housing ready for a father and daughter, either,” Travis said.
“I’m amazed that they got here in that carriage without breaking a wheel. The roads are rough.”
From the height of the carriage, a young woman surveyed the growing crowd. She was dressed in a plain dark green dress and wore sturdy boots and a brown leather jacket. A broad-brimmed hat hid most of her features, but Josh could not help but notice the piercing black eyes.
“We’d better find out who they are,” Josh said, and stepped toward the unlikely pair. He approached the carriage and extended his hand to the crouching man. “I’m Dr. Joshua Wells.”
The man looked up sideways at Josh and did not stand to receive the welcome. “Nobody warned me about the roads up this way,” he muttered.
“Most people come in on horseback or with a sturdy wagon,” Josh said lightly. “We don’t see too many carriages up here.”
“I thought I heard the axle crack, but I guess it’s all right.” Finally the man stood. He looked around. “This place is at the end of the world.”
Josh was puzzled and glanced at Travis, who had joined him next to the carriage. “Surely you were warned what conditions were like,” Josh said.
“Why would I be warned of anything?” the man asked.
“You are Percy Morgan, aren’t you?” Travis asked.
“No. I’m not Percy Morgan, and apparently you don’t know much about Percy Morgan.”
Travis was taken aback. “We’ve not met. I hired Mr. Morgan through the mail to be our camp cook. We don’t get many visitors here, so when you arrived, we assumed you were Mr. Morgan.”
The man threw back his head and roared. He glanced up at the woman in the wagon. “You got them good, lady, I’ll say that for you.”
Josh and Travis glanced at each other, both agitated.
“Sir,” Travis said, “if you are not Percy Morgan, perhaps you would give us the pleasure of introducing yourself.”
The man shook his head. “It’s not me you want to meet. I’m just the sucker who agreed to drive the lady all the way up here.”
“The lady?” Josh said, turning to the woman in the carriage.
“That, my dear fellows, is Percy Morgan!” The man roared hilariously once again. He moved around to the back of the carriage and pulled on a trunk. With a smooth, experienced motion of visible exasperation, he heaved it off the carriage and dropped it. Dust swirled into a small cloud and quickly settled again. “And this, my friends, is all the worldly belongings of Miss Percy Morgan.”
“Miss Percy Morgan?” Travis echoed faintly.
“You heard me,” the man said. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way. We drove most of the night through these back roads to get here. But from the looks of the place, I’m better off to turn around and go home now than look for any refreshment here.”
Hearing her cue, Miss Percy Morgan stood up, stepped off the carriage, and landed lightly in the street. “Thank you, Mr. Booker. You’ve been most indulgent.”
With laughter in his eyes, Mr. Booker looked at his customer. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing, young lady.” He swung himself up into the seat and snapped the reins of the horse. In another minute, he was gone.
Several dozen lumberjacks now stood in the street, staring at Miss Percy Morgan. Matt Harden emerged from the mess hall, spatula in hand.
“Travis, who is this and why is she here?” Matt demanded.
“Ah, Matt,” Travis began awkwardly, “apparently your relief has arrived.”
“What do you mean?” Matt barked.
“This is Percy Morgan,” Travis answered. “The new cook.”
“You never said the new cook was a girl,” Matt said, scowling.
“I, ah, was unaware of that myself,” Travis confessed, eyeing Percy Morgan. “You never mentioned that in our correspondence,” he said to her softly.
“You never asked.” She met Travis’s gaze, daring him to question her further.
Her voice was firm and fierce, but Josh thought he heard a hint of fear embedded in arrogance. Percy Morgan took off her hat and shook free her long, wavy black hair. It fell across her shoulders, framing the creamy complexion of her face. Josh watched her shoulders rise and fall with her even, controlled breaths, as she held her head up straight and surveyed the gawking crowd.
“Travis Gates, you did this on purpose!” Troy Wilger pushed himself forward through the crowd. His ragged brown hair grew well past his shoulders and his beard had not been trimmed in months. His astonishment that the new cook was a woman evolved quickly into overt hostility. “This is all part of your plan to civilize us. You think you can bring a woman in here and make us all behave ourselves and mind our manners.”
“Troy,” Travis interjected, “I assure you I had no knowledge that—”
“Don’t give me that!” Troy interrupted. “You don’t make mistakes. Not like this.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake,” Travis defended himself, “perhaps just a misunderstanding. I’m sure we can work things out. Miss Morgan is very well qualified to cook for all of you.”
“Do you mean you’re going to let her stay?” Matt Harden challenged.
Travis forced himself to laugh. “I thought you were eager to be relieved of your culinary duties, Matt.”
“I don’t see how this can possibly work,” Matt retorted. He waved his spatula in the air and turned his back.
“We won’t know that unless we try,” Travis insisted.
Josh’s eyes were fixed on Percy Morgan. Her head never moved; her shoulders never twitched; her eyes never flinched. Her fingers held firmly the rim of her hat, and her feet stayed locked in place. She has guts, he told himself. She really wants to do this.
“She has to go,” Troy Wilger shouted.
“We signed a contract,” Travis said simply. “Three months’ trial.”
“Don’t talk to me about contracts,” Troy retorted. “This is a matter of integrity. She didn’t tell you the truth about who she was.”
“She answered all the questions I asked,” Travis said. “And I promise you, her answers were quite satisfactory. Now perhaps one of you would help me with her trunk.”
Troy thrust himself farther forward and lunged toward the trunk. “I’ll help you, all right.” With his powerful arms, he picked up the trunk and threw it toward Travis and Percy.
Instinctively, Joshua grabbed Percy’s arm to pull her out of the trunk’s trajectory, but she lost her balance and tumbled to the dirt. Indignant, she leaped to her feet and, as she did so, Josh heard the ripping sound. Although the trunk had not hit her, as Troy intended, it had landed on the edge of her skirt when she fell, and now her skirt had a huge rip along the bottom.
Josh jumped into action and pushed the trunk off of her garment, but the damage was done. The men in the street roared in amusement as Percy Morgan tried to fix her skirt, showing then the first hint of her being flustered since her arrival.
Troy Wilger, though, was not satisfied with her embarrassment and he lunged at Percy. This time Josh was not quick enough. Percy’s slight frame was no match for Troy, and she tumbled backward, her head struck the side of
the trunk, and everything went black.
Chapter 5
Travis and Joshua hurled themselves at Troy Wilger and intercepted further assault on Percy. With his hands firmly planted on Troy’s chest, Travis pushed, forcing the angry lumberjack to step backward or lose his balance.
“Miss Morgan!” Joshua dropped to his knees over the limp form of the newcomer. “Miss Morgan! Can you hear me?” Gently he slapped her cheek, but she gave no response. He put one hand under the back of her head, his fingers finding the slender nape of her neck.
“Is she all right?” Travis called over his shoulder.
“She’s unconscious,” Josh replied. Then he looked at his fingertips, damp and red. “And she’s bleeding.”
Matt Harden pushed his way past Travis and dropped his spatula in the dirt. “I’ll help you move her,” he said. “I may not think it’s fitting for a woman to be camp cook, but she didn’t deserve that.”
“Take her to my house,” Travis instructed.
Troy seemed to settle down. With a last disgusted look at Percy Morgan, he stomped off toward the mess hall.
“I’ll deal with him later,” Travis said, irritated. “What about Miss Morgan?”
“We’ll take her home where she’ll be out of further danger.”
Matt moved toward Percy, but Joshua put his hand up to stop him. “Thank you, Matt, but I can manage.”
“I want to help.”
“Then get her trunk and take it to her room.”
Joshua slipped one arm under Percy’s shoulders and the other under her knees and easily stood up. She hardly weighs anything.
Travis fell into step beside him. “There’s a cot on the back porch,” he told Joshua. “Lacey put it out there so Adam could rest in the afternoons.”
“That will have to do,” Joshua said. “I wish that clinic Peter has sketched were already built.”
Moving quickly but smoothly, they retraced their steps to the Gates house and circled around to the sheltered back porch. Joshua laid Percy on the cot and reached for her limp wrist.
“Her pulse is a little fast, but regular,” he announced, “and she seems to be breathing well.”
Lacey appeared from the kitchen. “What happened out there?” she demanded.
“Troy Wilger and his gang,” her husband answered, “and their usual barbarian behavior.”
“And who is this?” Lacey asked, pointing at Percy.
“This is Percy Morgan,” Travis answered.
“The cook you hired?”
“One and the same.”
Lacey shook her head, a sly smile breaking on her lips. “You never mentioned that—”
“I didn’t know,” Travis said, cutting her off.
“I think we’ve established that Travis didn’t know he was hiring a woman,” Joshua said, “but she’s here and she’s hurt.”
“I’m sorry, Josh. What do you need?” Lacey asked.
“A cool cloth and my medical bag.”
“I’ll get them,” Travis said, and he disappeared into the house.
Lacey unfolded a quilt on the end of the cot and spread it over the still-unconscious Percy Morgan. The rosy color had drained from Percy’s face, making her coal black hair appear even richer in tone. Her small features were smooth and well placed on her oval face.
“She’s quite striking,” Lacey observed. “I can imagine how Troy and his friends would feel about having a woman this attractive around.”
Joshua did not answer. He took Percy’s pulse again.
“On the other hand, you would think some of the men would be glad to have an attractive, unattached woman around. Things might be more interesting here for her than she imagined when she accepted the job.”
Joshua glanced up. “What’s taking Travis so long?”
“I’m here, I’m here.” Travis came through the door and handed Josh a cool, damp cotton cloth.
Joshua gently pressed the cloth against the side of Percy’s head, in the back under her black hair. Immediately he felt the warmth of the blood oozing into the cloth. He pressed on the wound with three fingers as he brushed away strands of hair to see what he was doing.
“What else do you need?” Lacey asked.
Joshua shook his head. “I’ll be fine. The bleeding doesn’t look too bad. If she doesn’t come to soon, I’ll use the smelling salts.”
“I’d better go and see how the other men are taking the news,” Travis said, “if there’s nothing else I can do here.”
Joshua nodded. “Go. We’ll be fine.”
“Mama!” came a plaintive cry from the kitchen.
“Is that Adam?” Joshua asked.
Lacey nodded. “His throat is worse.”
“Just try to keep him quiet and comfortable. I’ll look in on him later.”
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” Lacey asked, glancing over her shoulder at the kitchen door.
“No, she should wake up soon.”
“Mama!”
“I’m coming, Adam,” Lacey said, stepping toward the door.
Joshua repositioned the cloth. The bleeding seemed to be slowing.
Percy groaned and turned her head. “Where am I?” she asked as her eyes opened reluctantly and stared into the brown of Joshua’s eyes.
Holding her gaze, he studied the size of her pupils. “You’re going to be okay,” Joshua said. “It’s just a bump on the head and a small cut. The fact that you’ve regained consciousness so soon is a good sign.”
“I have a headache bigger than the Civil War,” Percy said, “but you didn’t answer my question. Where am I?”
“You’re on my sister’s back porch, if you must know.”
“Are you really a doctor?”
“Board certified.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yes.”
“And she has a back porch?”
“Yes, a small one.” Josh was pleased that his patient appeared capable of sustaining coherent conversation.
“This doesn’t sound like such an uncivilized place.” Percy slowly moved her legs toward the side of the cot.
“I don’t think you ought to move just yet,” Joshua cautioned.
“But I want to,” Percy answered.
“You just said your head hurt.”
“It does. But it can’t possibly hurt any more if I sit up.” She had her legs over the side of the cot now and began to push her torso up. With a sigh, she leaned back against the side of the house and, after a moment, the view was in better focus. She looked out at the vegetable garden and henhouse. The scene was sharply different from the view of her old backyard. Although unfamiliar, it seemed oddly inviting. “It’s a nice back porch.”
“Here, let me change the cloth,” Joshua said, taking away the blood-soaked cotton and replacing it with a clean rag.
“I guess that’s why my head hurts so much,” Percy said. She slipped her fingers in under his, took hold of the cloth, and nudged him away. “I can do this.”
“Perhaps I failed to impress you with my assurance of board certification.” His fingers still covered hers.
“I’m sure you’re fully qualified. It’s just that I’m not hurt all that badly.”
Reluctantly, Joshua let go. “When it stops bleeding, I want to have a closer look at that gash.”
Percy moved her head slowly from side to side. “I’m fine. Did I hear a child crying?”
“That’s my nephew.”
“So you have a sister and she has a back porch and a son.”
“Two sons, actually.”
“As I said, this doesn’t sound like such an uncivilized place.”
“I’m sorry that you got such an uncivilized welcome.”
Percy scrunched up her forehead. “Why were they so angry? I’m a good cook. They’ll see.”
“It’s a long story,” Joshua said. “Don’t take it personally.”
Percy made a feeble attempt to laugh. “I am attacked within five minutes of arriving
and you tell me not to take it personally?”
“I see your point. After you’re here awhile, you’ll understand better. Troy Wilger…well, he has his own ideas about how things should be done around here. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Except that I’m a woman.”
Joshua unrolled a bandage. “You represent change. Troy doesn’t want change.”
“But the camp needs a cook.”
“Yes, it does. But you’re not the kind of cook Troy had in mind.”
“What did he have in mind?”
Joshua gently moved the hair off the base of her skull, exposing the wound. He inspected it thoughtfully. “I’ll have to wrap that somehow,” he said. “The wound is small. It should close within a couple of days.”
“You’re avoiding my question,” Percy said. “What kind of cook did Troy have in mind?”
“Oh, somebody more rugged, a little rough around the edges, somebody who doesn’t care for city ways.”
“City ways? Up here?”
Joshua chuckled. “We’re not all barbarians.”
“No, of course not,” Percy said, flushing. “After all, you are a real doctor.”
“That’s right. I even went to the city for training.”
She looked around the porch. “You don’t seem to have an office.”
“I’m working on that,” he said.
“I suppose that would be the city way to do things.”
Joshua laughed aloud now. “Yes, it would. But I happen to be in favor of doctors having proper offices, with the right medicine and equipment.”
“I thought this was just a lumber camp. Why does your sister with a back porch and two sons—and presumably a husband—live in a lumber camp?”
“That’s a complicated question, but I suppose the simple answer is that she wants to.”
“And you?”
“Me?”
“Surely you have other opportunities, better places to go.”
Joshua shrugged. “If this is such a bad place to come to, why are you here?”
Percy hesitated ever so slightly. “Don’t change the subject. Why do you live in a lumber camp? Why is there a house here?”
“We have several houses, actually, and several families.”
Reluctant Brides Collection Page 24
