by Paty Jager
Cain snagged his hat from his head and continued to stare.
“Haven’t seen a woman, other than Indians, for a couple years,” Tobin said by way of an apology, Isaac guessed.
“Where have you been?” Isaac asked, dragging the conversation away from Allie. He felt her body tense under the men’s scrutiny.
“All over the Bitterroots looking for a good strike.” Tobin shook his head. “Promised my wife if I didn’t find gold after two years, I was coming home. That’s where we’re headed. Back to our family.”
“Sorry you didn’t find gold. We’re lookin’ for good cattle ground. You see any while you were at the base of the mountains?” Isaac asked.
Allie gazed up at him. He glanced down and saw the puzzled expression on her face. If these two had come across her father’s so-called mine, they wouldn’t be headed home. And they needed to keep up their story of looking for cattle ground.
“I’d say the Daulken place Haskell told you about would be the best area for cattle.” Tobin smiled at Allie. “And there’s already a house. Nice one, too.”
From all the talk about the Daulken place, Isaac was getting an idea to check the place out. If they didn’t find the gold mine, he might still have enough money to put something down on the place.
“Guess we’ll head that way this morning. How far to you think the Daulken place is from here?” Isaac asked.
“Two maybe three days of walking. If you had horses you could make it easy in a day and a half.” Tobin raised his arm and pointed. “Follow the base of the mountains until you cross three streams. The third one follow it and you’ll run into the house and barn.”
“Much obliged.” Isaac turned to Allie. “We’ll head there today.” He winked and she smiled.
“I’m excited to see it,” she replied and moved out from his side.
He watched her walk over to the rocks he’d circled last night and stir the ashes from the fire she used to cook dinner the night before.
Isaac turned back around expecting to see the brothers walking back across the clearing. They stood in their spots watching Allie. Isaac cleared his throat. “I’m sure you have things to do just as we do,” he said.
The men had the decency to blush, cram their hats on their heads, and walk away.
He’d known Allie would be an oddity out here but he hadn’t thought she’d be that big of a draw. He’d managed to get the pack on the mule and the mining tools added when two more men came sauntering across the clearing.
Allie was bent over the fire, her backside pointed at the newcomers.
Isaac stepped between the men and Allie. “Mornin’,” he said, loudly, again.
“Morning, mister,” The biggest of the two said, trying to peer over Isaac’s shoulder.
“Isaac Corum.”
Allie moved to his side, and he put his arm around her. “And my wife, Mrs. Corum,” he said in a possessive tone.
These men didn’t remove their hats and they boldly ogled Allie from her head to her boots.
Isaac didn’t like the boldness of the pair. “Allie, why don’t you get the things in the tent ready to load.”
She slipped out of his one-armed embrace and went straight into the tent.
It was times like this that Isaac wished he wore his holster and pistol. His rifle was leaned up against the side of the tent by the mule.
“Heard you’re headed north looking for cattle ground,” the smaller of the two said.
“You heard right.” Isaac crossed his arms and tried to think of a way to get rid of the two.
“Cattle ranching is hard work. Your wife don’t look cut out for it,” said the larger man.
Isaac smiled. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
The smaller man leered back. “It would be fun finding out.”
In one quick motion, Isaac grabbed the smaller man by the throat and held him up on his tiptoes. “If you go near my wife or harm her in anyway, you’ll find yourself gelded.”
“Get your hands off him!” bellowed the larger man.
“With pleasure.” Isaac shoved the smaller man back into the larger one. “Both of you get out of here.” Isaac strode over to his Winchester, picked it up and waited for the two to make their way back across the clearing. Instead of going into a tent, they entered the trading post.
Isaac threw the tent flap back. “Is the food ready,” he asked brusquely.
Allie looked at him from where she knelt packing a food box. “Yes.”
“I’ll bring it in here.” He walked to the fire, used the rag on the ground next to the fire to pick up the hot skillet and the coffee pot and returned to the tent.
Allie had the plates and cups set out on the box she’d been packing. “What was the yelling about?”
Isaac didn’t want to lie, but he also didn’t want her to be fearful. Though if she knew the likes of the men she might be more vigilant.
“The smaller of the two said some things that I didn’t like.” He used his fork to dig a biscuit out of the pan.
“What kind of things? I wouldn’t think you’d be one to let other’s stupidity rile you.” Allie dug out a biscuit and set it on her plate.
He watched her spoon honey onto the biscuit. “He made a threat against you.”
The spoon stopped halfway to her mouth and her eyes widened. “A threat against me? He doesn’t even know me.”
“He is a man who thinks he can take any woman he wants.” Isaac’s stomach churned with anger. Cowards took women against their will.
“But you said pretending we were married would keep me safe.” Her big brown eyes held concern and a trace of fear.
“I can keep you safe if you stay close. Most men honor marriage. But some men and women—” he said with more venom than he’d meant, “—don’t honor the union of marriage.”
Chapter Twenty
Alamayda studied Isaac. She’d heard the anger in his words. But she also understood that it wasn’t always people outside the marriage who didn’t honor union. People in a marriage didn’t always follow the bonds of matrimony.
“What did the man say?” She’d heard a few words but had banged things around as she packed and hadn’t heard every word of the conversation.
“You don’t want to know what he said. I don’t want to repeat it.” Isaac set his plate to the side. “I’m going to get us packed up and out of here. I like it better when it’s just the two of us.”
She did too, but a person couldn’t run from things they disliked all the time.
“If the man was talking about me, I have a right to know what he said.” She stood, making herself near eye level with Isaac.
Isaac put a hand on her arm. “Allie, I like the way you see things in your drawings. Sweet and innocent. I plan to make sure you stay that way.”
“Your words are only making me more curious. What could the man have possibly said to take my—” She stopped. She knew what the man had spoken of. Her best friend, when Alamayda was small, before she’d started taking care of Ma, had been attacked by a man when she turned sixteen. Alamayda hadn’t been able to get all the story behind it, but she’d heard her best friend had hidden away in her family’s home and refused to come out. She even feared her father and brothers.
Her voice shook as she asked, “Why would a stranger say or think such a thing?”
“There are some men whose minds are always thinking evil thoughts.” Isaac moved to the tent flap. “Finish packing. I plan to leave as soon as we get everything loaded and the tent down.”
Alamayda set to work packing with a purpose. She wanted as far away from the man as possible. Not only for her, but to keep Isaac from getting into a fight. She didn’t need him hurt because of her.
In under an hour, the mule was loaded and they headed into the woods. After half-an-hour, Isaac veered left and another half-an-hour later, he veered left again.
He stopped and offered the canteen to Allie.
“Why are we headed back toward the tr
ading post?” she asked.
A grin tipped the corners of Isaac’s lips. He pushed the front of his hat up, revealing more of his face. “You have a good sense of direction. We told the people at the trading post we were going to look over the Daulken place. I wanted them to think that was the way we were going.” He nodded ahead of them. “Tomcat Lake is due west of the trading post. The opposite direction they all think we’re headed.”
Alamayda smiled. “I understand. This way they won’t know which way we went.”
Isaac’s grin faded. “Unless someone is following us. They’d see we swerved and backtracked. But I haven’t heard or seen anything behind us.”
She studied Isaac’s face. He cared what happened to her. Her heart started beating rapidly. What was happening? Each time he did something caring, her body responded with energy and warmth.
“Let’s go. I’d like to put as many miles between the trading post and us as possible before dark.” Isaac headed out with the mule.
Alamayda fell in behind the mule. She spent the rest of the day following and studying the many different plants, some budding and some with blossoms. The stringent scent of the pine mixed with the sweeter scents of the blossoming plants soothed her nostrils and spun memories of the plants for future drawings.
The light under the trees was dimming when Isaac stopped at a small clearing.
She heard the murmur of a stream not too far from where they stopped.
“This should be a good spot for the night.” Isaac tied the mule to a tree with a nice patch of grass underneath.
“It looks wonderful. I think that’s the most we’ve traveled in one day,” Alamayda said, feeling as if her legs wouldn’t carry her another fifty feet.
“We did. The closer we are to the lake the better I like it. There should be few visitors there.” Isaac pulled the tent off the mule and placed it on the largest flat surface. He came back and lifted the food box down before returning to set up the tent.
“You’ll be happy when we get to the lake and you don’t have to set that up and take it down every day,” Alamayda said, making a fire ring with the rocks laying around in the area.
“I’ll be happy to settle in one place for a while. That’s why I didn’t make a good miner. I didn’t like the moving from place to place looking for the gold.”
Alamayda stopped and stared at Isaac. “Yet, you didn’t hesitate to help me, knowing we’d be on the move until we found the mine.”
His cheeks darkened, and he ducked under the canvas, pushing the tent up with the poles.
Her mind raced. Isaac was doing something he didn’t like to do to keep her safe. A woman he barely knew. She shook her head. No, she was getting to know him very well, and he was learning about her. Does he like what he’s learning or is he sorry? After having to defend me this morning, he’s probably hoping we find that mine soon so he can skedaddle off and get his cattle ranch.
Alamayda finished the fire ring and started the fire with dried twigs and sticks she found on the ground. By the time the gold and orange flames were consistent enough to cook, the sun had set and the air had cooled.
Isaac had the tent up. Alamayda hauled her bedroll and valise inside. She opened another parcel from the store and pulled out a flannel-lined, corduroy jacket she’d purchased for the cool mountain nights. Glad she had the tent and her union suit to sleep in, Alamayda thought about Isaac sleeping out in the cold.
She exited the tent. Isaac had his belongings stacked up on the opposite side of the fire.
“You could sleep in the tent tonight. It’s going to get cold.” Alamayda pulled out the salt pork that had been frying in the skillet and poured hotcake batter into the skillet.
Isaac watched her and shook his head. “I’ll be fine out here. We aren’t puttin’ on a show for anyone tonight.”
Alamayda cooked the hotcakes and put four on Isaac’s plate along with most of the salt pork. She handed the plate, utensils, and the bottle of molasses to him.
“Thank you.” Isaac poured molasses on a hotcake, rolled it up, and ate it with his fingers. Licking his fingers, he said, “You do a good job of cooking with few items to use.”
“Thank you. It was something I learned feeding three siblings with little means.” She dolloped a small dot of molasses in the middle of her hotcake and spread a thin sheen across the cake.
“You know, you can put more on than that,” Isaac said, nodding to her plate.
Her cheeks heated. “I’m used to conserving. And we don’t know when we’ll find the mine. We may need to conserve food and money for some time.” She cut the hotcake with her fork and put a bite in her mouth.
Isaac was frowning. “That’s something I’ve been meaning to say.”
“What?” She sipped the water in her cup. The way his forehead wrinkled and the downcast of his eyelashes she could tell he didn’t know how to say what was on his mind.
“How long do you plan to look for the mine? You can spend the rest of your life lookin’. That would be a waste of a good life.” His gray eyes peered straight into hers.
“I hadn’t thought much beyond looking for the mine.” Her heart raced as their gazes held.
“If you’re interested, my thoughts are look for the mine until the weather is too bad to stay up here and if you haven’t found the mine, chances are you won’t.”
She broke eye contact. “I’m not going back to Kansas.” She didn’t want to be a burden on anyone, least of all her family.
“I didn’t say you had to go back to Kansas. But you can’t stay up here through the winter. The snow is high and the cold is bitter. There’s no way you could survive in a tent up here.” Isaac poured molasses on another hot cake and rolled it up. “You could come with me.” He stared at the hotcake he lifted toward his mouth.
Alamayda studied him. His scruffy bearded face was becoming familiar. She liked looking into his eyes and when he touched her she didn’t flinch or step away. But she didn’t want to be dependent on a man, and living with him she would have to marry him.
“I’ll decide what to do when the time comes.” That was as much of a commitment as he’d get out of her.
“Fair enough. Just remember I offered.”
Isaac had finished off another hotcake while she’d been thinking and talking. Alamayda finished eating and began the task of cleaning up and packing. She had to admit, she would like to have one place to stay for a while. Her whole life up until the letter from Isaac had been spent on the farm. That letter had set her heart thumping with the chance of freedom.
She washed the dishes in the pail of water Isaac brought from the stream and realized while she was off the farm, she truly wasn’t free. There were still money worries and where she would live later worries, not to mention if she would find the mine and the security it represented.
***
The next morning, Alamayda put the dishes in the box and tossed the water on the fire.
Isaac had the tent down and everything but the food boxes loaded on the mule. While he loaded the boxes, she took a rag from her valise and headed into the woods. The pains and sluggishness had left but the bleeding was still a nuisance. Her nose wrinkled at her own scent when she replaced the soiled rag with a clean one.
Thoughts of taking a bath in the lake revived her mood. She hadn’t had a bath since leaving home. Washing her hair and the union suit was something to look forward to.
Returning from the trees, she found Isaac tightening the ropes on the packsaddle.
“Ready?” he asked without looking her direction.
“Yes. Do you think we’ll get to the lake today?” Now that she had the notion of a bath, she was anxious to reach their destination.
“If we keep a steady pace, we should come on the end of it by dark. My plan is to set up camp on the north end of the lake. We’ll come to it from the south.”
“Two more days before we’ll actually be settled?” She didn’t try to hide the disappointment.
Isa
ac put a hand on her arm. “Are you getting tired? We can stop earlier tonight if you want?”
His concern heated her cheeks and put a lump in her throat. “No. I don’t want to stop early. I want to be at the camp and take a bath in the lake.”
His eyes lit with merriment. “The lake water is melted snow.”
“I’ve taken baths in the river on our farm.” She wasn’t going to be deterred from getting clean when the chance was so close.
He smiled. “This water is much colder.”
“But it’s wet and clean.” She would have pushed by him and headed out but she didn’t have any idea which direction to travel.
“Yes, it is.” Isaac’s hand slid down her arm, his fingertips brushing across the back of her hand.
The soft caress sent tingles up her arm and lit her heart with happiness. She glanced up at Isaac. His eyebrows arched and his gaze sliced toward her then toward the mule.
“Time to get moving,” Isaac said, leading the mule into the forest.
Alamayda stared at his back, wondering what was happening between them. Just the sight of his broad back and long legs started happiness fluttering inside her. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way?
Chapter Twenty-one
Isaac kept a steady pace toward the lake all day. He wasn’t so much in a hurry to get there as he was trying to stay ahead of the thoughts bouncing around in his head. He knew he was falling in love and from the way Allie looked at him this morning, she was falling too. His heart thumped happily at the idea, but his head was battling his happiness. To allow himself to think he had a chance of marrying Allie would only make him crazy. She’d mentioned enough times she wouldn’t marry and didn’t believe in love.
But what he saw shining in her eyes gave his heart reason to have hope, while his mind said find the mine and move on.
A rosy sunset cloaked Tomcat Lake as they approached.
Allie sighed and said, “I’ve never seen anything as beautiful.”
“It’s a pretty lake and the sunset is making it even prettier.” Isaac had to admit the evening sky with the smoldering reds and oranges reflecting off the lake made the prettiest picture he’d ever seen. Allie standing in his view added to the perfect picture.
