Trail of Longing (Hot on the Trail Book 3)

by Merry Farmer

  When the cluster of soldiers and Irishmen from their wagon train, including Katie’s father, found them several yards from the caves, Dean and Emma were laughing hopelessly. As happy as they were to see the search party, they couldn’t keep a straight face. Not when they rushed forward to make sure the two of them were all right and not when they started answering the dozens of questions.

  “I’m glad to see that you’re unhurt,” the leader of the search party, one of the militiamen from the fort, finally told them with a confused shake of his head. “I’ve never found missing people who were in such light spirits, though.”

  As they rode back toward Ft. Caspar—which wasn’t as far away as Dean had feared it would be—their moods grew more serious.

  “Have you found Katie yet?” Emma asked, putting away the last of her giggles in favor of genuine concern for her friend.

  “She’s not here with you?” Mr. Boyle asked, his face turning ashen.

  Dean felt Emma tense behind him.

  “They have to be out here somewhere,” one of the militiamen answered. “We followed the tracks of your horses out this way. You haven’t seen them, have you?”

  “The brave that took Katie rode off in a different direction shortly after the fort,” Dean told the man, alarm spreading through him. Mr. Boyle clapped a hand to his heart. “Aiden Murphy rode off after them. Did anyone follow those tracks?”

  The militiaman paused, then his shoulders sagged and he muttered a curse. “I don’t think anyone saw the other set of tracks.”

  “So no one went after them?” Emma asked, voice full of worry.

  The militiaman sighed. “I don’t think so, no.”

  “We have to go,” Mr. Boyle insisted, hands balling into fists. He appealed to the militiamen. “We have to go right now.”

  “We need to head back to the fort to resupply and enlist more men,” the leader of the searchers told him. “We can’t just charge out into Indian territory with no idea where we’re going or how long it will take.”

  Mr. Boyle accepted the answer, but only reluctantly. The rest of the journey back to the fort was somber. Somewhere out in the Wyoming wilderness, Katie and Aiden were still lost, still in trouble. Dean could only pray that they had encountered Indians who were as friendly as the ones he and Emma had come across, or that they would be able to get away quickly.

  When they finally approached Ft. Caspar as the last rays of sunset were slanting down, making long shadows, they caused a stir. Evidently, people had been watching out for them. As soon as their figures were spotted in the distance, several people stood from the edges of the camp amongst the wagons, rushing toward them in a flurry. Emma’s mother was one of them. She shouted with joy and fear and relief all at once as soon as she saw that it was indeed Emma on one of the returning horses.

  “Oh my darling,” she cried out, near hysterics, when Dean rode up to her. “You’re alive, you’re safe. Oh bless the heavens.”

  “Mother.” Emma was near to tears herself. Dean dismounted and helped her down, and without hesitation, she flew to her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mother, what a time we’ve had.”

  Prickles of uncertainty attempted to creep up through Dean’s gut. Would Emma go right back to bowing to her mother’s wishes? After everything they’d done, everything they meant to each other?

  “Mother, you should have seen Dean. He was so brave, so level-headed.” She let go of her mother and rushed to clasp Dean’s arm, hugging him and bringing him up to her mother. “If it weren’t for Dean, I never would have made it back here. There was a pregnant woman at the Indian camp I was taken to. She would have died as well. Dean helped her to deliver her baby safely. And there was an old man there. He gave us gifts.”

  Her mother stared at her, mouth open in shock. “Well,” she exclaimed. “That is certainly a mouthful. You must tell me more.”

  She glanced to Dean, her eyes full of consideration. She sized him up all over again, the way she had when they had first met. For once, Dean didn’t mind the scrutiny. He didn’t mind the fact that he was being weighed and judged as Mrs. Sutton decided whether he was good enough for her daughter. This time, he knew he was, and, regardless of what her mother thought, Emma would choose him.

  “You folks are probably starving,” the militiaman interrupted the close moment between the three of them. “And you look like you could use a bath.”

  “Yes, please,” Emma answered. “A bath would be delightful. I’m dirty all over.”

  Her eyes met his, and the two of them burst into shameless laughter.

  A simple bath had never felt so good. Emma didn’t realize how tired she was until she was soaking in warm water in one of the barracks buildings inside of Ft. Caspar. She relaxed into the tub as her mother fussed around her.

  “This is ruined, simply ruined,” she fretted, turning over the silk of Emma’s skirt. “I suppose it’ll have to be thrown out.”

  “Or washed and reused as something else,” Emma added.

  “What a terrible waste,” her mother went on.

  “Unless someone else can make use of it,” Emma looked at the bright side.

  “I simply don’t know what is to become of us when women can be snatched away from their families at a dance and fine clothing is treated like rags.”

  Emma’s brow flew up. “They’re hardly the same thing, Mother. A dress is nothing. And while I don’t know why the brave carried me off, I do know that Dean and I were able to help a great deal once we reached his camp.”

  “Dean and I,” her mother huffed and tossed the skirt aside. “What has come over you, Emma? You always used to be so agreeable.”

  “Am I being disagreeable to tell you what is true?” She rose from the water and reached for the towel her mother had draped over a rack by the fire. “I love Dean, Mother, and he loves me.”

  Her mother pursed her lips, brow knitting with equal parts frustration and worry. “We’ve talked about this before. Love is not a reliable foundation to build a future on.”

  As she dried herself off, Emma mulled over her mother’s words. Only weeks ago, she had met a similar statement with meekness and acceptance. She had let her mother steer her away from what her heart wanted and into more trouble than she ever could have created on her own. Now, after being put to the test at the Indian camp, after finding joy beyond imagining in Dean’s arms, she wasn’t going to let her destiny be steered by another woman’s anxiety. Even if that woman was her mother.

  “Mother, I love you,” she began as her mother helped her into clean clothes, “but I can’t go on pretending I agree with you when I don’t.”

  “You don’t?” There was as much shock as censure in her mother’s voice.

  “No.” She slipped a simple blouse over her head and tucked it into a clean skirt, then turned to face her mother. “Love is exactly the right thing to base a future on. True love can weather any storm, make any burden lighter. Love makes even the worst tragedy easier to bear.”

  She half expected her mother to argue with her. Instead, she watched Emma with wide, sad eyes, as if she were the child and Emma was the parent.

  “I think Alice knew that,” Emma went on. “She knew when she married Harry that their life together could be short. She was willing to take that risk, not because she was foolish or rash, but because she and Harry loved each other so much that they knew even the shortest amount of time together was enough.”

  She thought of the afternoon she and Dean had spent in the cave. Even if her life were to end tomorrow, those blessed hours would have been worth all of the pain. So many things about Alice made sense to her now. She wished that her sister was there so that she could tell her.

  “Alice hasn’t been grieving all these months because she made a bad decision, she’s been sad because she misses Harry,” she went on.

  “I know,” her mother admitted, taking Emma’s hands. “But still. If I could have saved her one minute of that pain….”

  Emma shook her head. �
��Would you deny me, or Alice, the chance for a lifetime of joy, just to spare us that minute of pain?”

  Her mother sighed and lowered her head. “I would do anything for you. Both of you.”

  “Then let me be myself,” Emma finished.

  Her mother glanced up at her. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and love. For a moment she wavered on the edge of saying something, but in the end, words failed her. Instead, she pulled Emma into her arms and hugged her. For the first time in what felt like a long, long time, Emma hugged her mother back without reservation. She didn’t need to pretend to be anyone other than who she was, and she had no need to hide the strength of her feelings. A weight she didn’t know she was carrying was lifted from her shoulders.

  A late supper had been prepared, and when Emma and her mother walked into the fort’s dining hall, Emma went faint with hunger. A few people were already at the table, Dean, Mr. and Mrs. Boyle, several of Aiden’s brothers, and, unfortunately, Russ. Dean stood to greet Emma with a smile, but Russ beat him to the greeting.

  “There’s our beautiful captive,” he said, striding across the hall to meet her. “You look much better now than when you were returned to us,” he added with a patronizing wink.

  “I think she looked perfectly lovely just the way she was,” Dean said. He walked right up to her, past Russ without a second look, and planted a light kiss on her lips.

  The effect was as explosive as if a cannon had been set off in the room. Emma’s mother gasped, Mrs. Boyle laughed outright, two of Aiden’s brothers hollered their approval, and Russ bristled with indignation.

  “What is the meaning of this?” he bellowed.

  Emma couldn’t help but beam for joy as she slipped her arm into Dean’s and let him lead her away from her mother. “Dr. Meyers and I are engaged,” she informed him. It may not have technically been true. Dean hadn’t dropped to one knee and asked, but after what they’d shared in the cave, after the way he had talked about their future together, it was a given.

  Her mother gasped a second time, but as soon as her first reaction was done, she smiled and relaxed.

  “Impossible.” Russ cut his hand through the air as if he could undo what had just been said. “I am going to marry Miss Sutton.”

  “I’m afraid you aren’t,” Dean said. He paused, tilting his head to the side. “On second thought, I’m not afraid at all. You are not marrying Emma. Not now, not ever. It’s time you get that through your thick skull.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Russ recoiled with overdone offense. “It’s not up to you to say.”

  “You’re right.” Dean squeezed Emma’s hand as it rested in the crook of his arm. He smiled at her. “That’s Emma’s decision.”

  Russ grinned as though he’d won the point. “You’re exactly right.” He turned to Emma’s mother. “Mrs. Sutton, would you care to inform this upstart what your daughter’s decision is?”

  Emma turned to her mother, a smile of victory tugging at the corners of her mouth in spite of how she tried to hide it. Her mother’s reaction to the statement should be her own.

  “I….” Her mother glanced from Russ to Dean, and finally to Emma. She closed her mouth and swallowed. “I think you should ask Emma that question, not me. She’s fully capable of deciding for herself who she should marry.”

  A dark red stain spread across Russ’s face. He sniffed and turned to Emma. “So,” he said. “You would marry a coward? A man who was tossed out of the army on his backside for attempted desertion? You would tie your fortunes to a man who was the laughing stock of Baltimore society? I could tell you stories of the despicable deeds he got up to while we were in medical school.”

  “And I’m quite certain those stories would be a mongrel retelling of your own deeds,” Emma answered him without hesitation. Russ balked, his eyes shifting from side to side at the people listening. “Dean told me all about the true story of what happened when he left his service in the army hospital.”

  “Did he?” her mother asked, wringing her hands, eagerness in her eyes.

  “It was a misunderstanding,” Dean told her and everyone else in the hall, whose full attention he now had. “A misunderstanding made worse by spurious lies told to twist a situation. I had been treating a soldier who was mortally wounded. The man asked me to send his personal effects to his wife. When I went to retrieve those items during a break after a harrowing day, I was moved to tears at the thought of the losses both sides have endured in this war. I was found with the soldier’s belongings, and a certain someone spread the false report that this meant I was attempting to desert. The truth was revealed within twenty-four hours.”

  A moment of silence followed Dean’s story. Then, slowly at first, all eyes turned to Russ. Russ’s expression turned from peevish at the truth getting out to anxious and skittish as everyone stared at him.

  “Well, he could have been deserting,” he defended his past deeds.

  Another short silence followed, before one of Aiden’s brothers declared, “Bollocks to that.”

  Russ recoiled as if the man had slapped him. “I’ll not be spoken to in such a fashion, particularly not by some dumb Mick!”

  A roar followed as chairs and benches were pushed back from the table as Aiden’s brothers and the rest of the Irishmen stood. Russ switched from scornful to terrified so fast that Emma thought he might need a dose of Sandifer’s Special Serum to recover.

  “I think you had better leave, Dr. Sandifer,” her mother was the first to speak.

  Russ gaped at her. “Madam?”

  Her mother lifted her chin, staring down her nose at him. “I think, after the revelations we’ve had tonight, the best course of action would be for you to leave this room, and perhaps to find another means of transportation to wherever you are planning to settle in the West,” she said. “And I do hope it will not be Portland, Oregon, as I believe your reputation may just be about to proceed you there.”

  Emma grinned from ear to ear. At last, her mother had seen the truth behind all the lies. At last she had stood up for what was right instead of scrambling to protect what she wanted to hear. Emma had never been prouder of her.

  “You should listen to my mother,” she told Russ, unable to hide her smile. “She is a smart woman who knows how to protect the ones she loves.”

  “Well,” Russ huffed. “I… I never.” It was the best he could do. He glanced around, looking for someone, anyone to lend him support. Not a soul in the room was on his side. The only thing he could do was humph and strut out of the room, and hopefully, if Emma had anything to say about it, right out of their lives.

  As soon as he left, the mood in the room lightened. The Irishmen drew Emma and Dean and Emma’s mother over to the table, pulling out chairs and heaping plates of food for them. Emma found herself sitting next to Katie’s mother.

  “I’m so sorry Katie hasn’t been found yet, Mrs. Boyle,” she said.

  Mrs. Boyle grasped her hand and squeezed it. “It’s only been one day,” she said, trying to smile through the stark worry in her eyes. “Katie is a brave, resilient girl, and with Aiden chasing after her, they’re bound to come home safe. That boy has loved her since he knew what love was. He’ll not let a speck of harm come to her.”

  Emma squeezed her hand back, praying that it was true. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she knew her friend was safe.

  At the same time, her own life had just blossomed with possibilities. She twisted to face Dean, who had seated himself on her other side and was wolfing down a chicken leg as though he hadn’t eaten in… well, a day.

  “And I owe you an apology as well,” she said.

  “Me?” Dean sat straighter. “What could you possibly have to apologize to me for?”

  She leaned closer. He smelled of fresh soap and savory chicken now, but she would never forget the delicious scent of his skin so close to hers. “I was too bold when I told everyone we were engaged,” she whispered.

  Dean laughed, reaching for her fre
e hand on the table and taking it. “Emma, my darling, you could never be too bold. I adore your boldness far too much.” He stole a kiss, sending Emma into a wave of giggles. “I love you,” he went on. “I love you today, tomorrow, and forever. Yes, we are engaged.” He leaned closer still, whispering in her ear, “And if I didn’t get a chance to formally propose before, then I’ll make up for it. I’ll propose to you every night in every way. I’ll make you mine over and over, if that’s what you want.”

  “It is,” she whispered back, her heart as full as it had ever been. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

  Epilogue

  Ft. Bridger was an oasis in the middle of vast stretches of mountains and hills that marked the second half of the Oregon Trail. The long days that it took to make it there from Ft. Caspar were some of the hardest travel that the trail had to offer, but Emma had enjoyed every moment of it. She and Dean had climbed hills together during the day and snuggled under a blanket together to watch the stars at night. All under the careful supervision of her mother, of course.

  “I don’t know what your father will say about the two of you,” she scolded as they made the approach to the large fort. Already, several wagons were parked around its walls. “The way the two of you have been carrying on, why, it’s scandalous.”

  “You have my sincere apologies, Mrs. Sutton,” Dean begged forgiveness.

  “Call me Elizabeth,” she insisted. “Oh, fiddlesticks. Call me Mother if you’d like.”

  Emma laughed. “So you’ve come around?”

  Her mother feigned a long sigh. “I don’t suppose I have any choice,” she said. Emma knew it was all an act. As soon as the truth had come out, her mother had gone right back to treating Dean as though he was a prize at a fair. She seemed more than happy to do so, but still she fussed. “I approve of you,” she told Dean. “Heaven knows you’ve proven yourself to me, but we’ll see what Mr. Sutton has to say.”

  Emma giggled, pressing her fingers to her lips as she glanced forward to the fort. A moment later, she gasped. “Mother, look!”