by Barbara Goss
Eden sighed. “I’m sorry for that, too.”
“Just great! Things just get better all the time.” He studied the sun again. “It might be another hour.” He turned all of the clothing again. “They’re feeling pretty dry. How are your trousers?”
“Wet, but they’ll keep me cool on the trail,” she said.
Andrew started to put the fire out. “The sun will do more to dry our clothes than the fire.”
He put his shirt back on. It felt a bit damp, but they really had to start on their way.
“You won’t need this heavy jacket. How about we roll it up and take it along in case it gets chilly at night?” Andrew continued, “When we get the bedrolls, we can roll it up in one of them. We’ll keep the vest to hide your…your shape.”
“So,” Eden said, standing, “let me get this straight: we’re going to walk seventy miles carrying bedrolls?”
“Do you have any other ideas?” Andrew asked.
“Why can’t you wire your friend, Ross, for money?”
“That’s a great idea. If a small town like Kinsey has a Western Union, that is,” Andrew said. “Come on—grab your socks and boots and we’ll go into town and see if they have one. Oh, and better grab your hat and put your hair up again—It wouldn’t be wise for people to know you’re a female.”
When they reached the main street, Andrew scoped out the businesses. “The livery’s open. One of the men there’ll know if there’s a Western Union in town,” Andrew said. “Wait here.” He pointed to a spot outside the livery’s entrance. He started to step away from her, and then turned back and said, “If you want to make a run for it that’s fine with me, but if you decide to stay, I’ll make sure you arrive in Hays safely, one way or another.” He entered the livery.
Andrew came back out, frowning. He wasn’t surprised to see Eden was still waiting for him. He figured she’d stay where she knew it was safe.
“Bad news?” she asked.
“Yep. Just as I thought: there’s no Western Union in Kinsey. The nearest one is at Great Bend.”
“Lets go there, then,” Eden said.
“We could, but it’s about forty-five miles away.”
He saw Eden’s face drop.
“However, if we don’t buy supplies, we can buy an old nag of a horse the livery offered me. We could ride to Great Bend but without any supplies. It’s your choice,” Andrew said.
“How long would it take to get there on the horse?”
“Carrying two of us would put a burden on the animal, and we’d be lucky to get in eight miles a day.”
“Eight miles!”
“It will take us about five days to reach Great Bend, I’m afraid. We’ll also be traveling east instead of north to Hays, so we could also just ride the horse to Hays without supplies,” Andrew said.
Eden frowned. “That would take over two weeks.”
“Maybe longer if it rains or we get lost.”
Andrew watched Eden’s shoulders sag in disappointment. “I think we should take the horse and go to Great Bend," he said. "I’ll have just enough money left to wire Ross.”
“All right,” Eden said, “but what will we eat?”
“Thank goodness I thought to remove my gun belt before I dove into the river to save you. I can use my guns to hunt for food, I have flint to light fires, and we’ll have one horse blanket to sleep on.”
“We don’t have enough money for bedrolls either?” Eden asked.
Andrew pulled several coins from his pocket and held them in his hand. “That’s the money for the horse," he had a few coins in his other hand, " which leaves me with a few pennies, which is more than enough for one bedroll and a wire to Hays.”
“I suppose I’m to sleep on the horse blanket and you on the bedroll,” Eden said, “since this is all my fault.”
“Very good, Eddie. Now you’re catching on.”
Chapter 6
Eden didn’t think the horse Andrew was pulling behind him from the livery looked too bad. She’d pictured worse, but it didn’t have the usual lively gait that younger horses had.
“The livery owner threw in the old saddle for free when I told him about our predicament,” Andrew said.
Eden watched him affix the bedroll to the back of the saddle. She wondered where she was going to sit—with the bedroll behind the saddle, there was hardly any room left for her.
“And where am I supposed to sit?” she asked. “Oh, that’s right: I’m supposed to walk to pay off my debt.”
She saw Andrew smile mischievously. “I hadn’t thought of that. You might've just come up with another great idea.”
Eden’s clothes were still damp, especially the trousers, but the day had grown warm, so maybe they'd keep her cool, at least for a while. She put her hair back up into a high bun, and settled the hat on her head. She wore the vest in order to cover her bosom, and she rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt.
When Andrew had the horse ready, he climbed up into the saddle and sat there, looking at her with a devilish smile.
“Think you could keep up with Nellie on foot?”
“On second thought, maybe I’ll stay here, in Kinsey,” she said with her hands on her hips.
“I won’t make you walk all the way to Great Bend, but I do need you to walk until we get out of sight of the town,” Andrew explained. “How would it look if I had another man sitting in front of me while I rode?”
“So, I’m to sit in front of you?” she asked. That didn’t seem too difficult. “Why can’t I ride and you walk until we’re out of the view of town?”
“We could do that, if I could be sure you wouldn’t take off on me.”
He threw her a coin. “Run into the bakery and get us each a roll. It'll last us until we can stop and set up camp.”
She growled to herself about Andrew all the way to the bakery. Who did he think he was, giving her orders like that? She wasn’t his slave just because she owed him money.
This would end up being a very long trip. She thought he’d be a gentleman and forget about the money once he heard her story, but no—he was going to get every cent she owed him out of her in labor.
Eden was comfortable enough sitting in front of Andrew on the horse. She had the saddle horn to hang onto, although the horse never went fast enough for her to feel the need to. It sure beat walking, though. As they trotted along, they pretty much remained silent unless he pointed something out to her, like a rabbit scurrying into the bushes or a deer grazing in a field.
Eden had never ridden a horse before and her bottom had begun to grow sore.
“Can we stop for a rest?” she asked.
“Stop? It'll take us two weeks instead of one if we keep stopping,” he said. “What do you need?”
“Nothing. Never mind,” she said, wriggling a bit to try to ease the soreness.
“All right,” he said, followed by a sigh. “We’ll stretch our legs but only briefly.”
It felt so good for Eden to be standing on the ground again as she walked around a bit and stretched her legs.
“As long as we’re stopped, if you have a nature call, now’s the time to do it,” Andrew said as he tied the horse to a tree branch.
Eden went into the shelter of the woods to accomplish her nature call. She supposed he did as well, for when she returned to the horse, he wasn’t there. She gazed around the area and began to fear something had happened to him and he'd left her alone in the wilderness, with a horse she didn’t know how to ride, when he walked out from a copse of trees.
“I found some clean water,” he said. “Let’s have a drink before we continue. Bring the horse.”
“We don’t have any cups—how will we get a drink?” she asked as she grabbed the reins and pulled the horse with her.
“Indian style,” he said. “I’ll show you.”
He led her through some heavy brush to the small pond and he knelt, cupped his hands, scooped up some water, and brought his face to his hands. “You have to do it fa
st or the water’ll leak out between your fingers.”
Eden knelt down. Her first attempt at drinking was unsuccessful, as all of the water was gone by the time she'd brought her mouth to the hands.
“No, do it faster,” he prompted.
When she failed again, he knelt behind her, took hold of her arms, dipped her cupped palms into the water, and said, “Lean over so you don’t have to carry the water so far.” He lifted her arms up and to her mouth and she got a cool drink.
It tasted so good. She turned to look up at him and their noses touched. They both pulled away quickly. His eyes were the prettiest shade of green, but she still disliked him for having made such a big deal out of a few dollars. He could have left her behind and traveled alone. Why had he taken her with him? The trip was going to be the worst experience of her life.
“I just wanted to thank you," Eden said. "That was refreshing.”
Andrew moved back beside her. “Now, try it yourself.”
She did as he’d instructed and was successful.
They walked back to the road where Andrew put his hands on her waist, lifted her up onto the saddle, and mounted the horse himself.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked.
“As much as possible under the circumstances, I suppose.”
“You don’t sound happy,” he said, nudging the horse forward.
“Can’t this horse go any faster?”
“It can, but carrying two makes him tire faster.”
The sun was just slipping beneath the horizon when Andrew stopped the horse and jumped down.
“Now what?” she asked.
“This is a good place to camp,” he said, pointing to a small copse of pine trees. “We’ll be hidden from the trail and the thick trees will keep anyone from seeing our fire or us.”
“Who in the world would be out here in this nothingness?” she asked. “We haven’t passed a soul all day.”
“You never know. There are desperados all over the West waiting to rob travelers,” he looked at Eden, “or worse.”
Eden shivered.
“I’ll be right back,” he said. “Stay right here behind these trees.”
“Where are you going?” she asked with a bit of panic in her voice.
“I’m going to tie our horse about a half mile away, just in case.”
“In case of what?” she asked, looking around fearfully.
“Sometimes a horse’s neigh can give a hiding place away. I’d feel safer with the horse being away from our camp,” he said. He turned and walked away with the horse.
Eden sat beneath one of the taller pine trees and waited. Andrew seemed to be gone forever. A gunshot sounded from his direction. She shivered and looked from left to right expecting…she knew not what. How had she gotten herself into this situation? If someone had shot Andrew, what then? Would they come for her next? Should she hide?
She stood up to assess the situation. A thick copse of pine trees blocked her view of the road, but it was fairly open in the direction Andrew had gone. She decided to hide in the center of the pine trees, out of view from all directions.
Every so often, she peeked out from her hiding place. Finally, she saw a figure coming toward her. It was Andrew, and he was carrying a critter, having shot their dinner.
Eden came out from her hiding place and ran to meet him. “Where were you, Andrew, I was scared here, all alone. And when I heard the gunshot—”
“You thought I'd been shot?" he asked. “No such luck. You’re stuck with me.”
“I just didn’t want to be out here alone,” she said.
“I want you to fetch as much wood as you can find—sticks, branches…whatever will burn.”
“Me?” she asked. “And what will you be doing—sleeping?”
“No, I’ll be cleaning this rabbit so we'll have something to eat,” he snapped back.
Eden saw him roll his eyes and walk toward a fallen log, take a knife from a sheath at his waist, throw the rabbit onto the log, and begin to gut it. She turned away and began looking for firewood.
Finding firewood in the midst of so many trees was easy enough. When she returned, she threw her armload onto the ground, sat back down, and waited for Andrew to finish with the rabbit.
When he joined her, he took one of the sturdier branches she’d collected and forcefully skewered the rabbit with it. Yet again, Eden turned her head, but he elbowed her and said, “Here, hold this.” He held out the rabbit on the stick.
“I can’t hold that!” she said with a grimace.
“I need two hands to start the fire. Hold it.”
Eden sighed and gingerly took the stick. She couldn’t look at it, but she held onto it in an attempt to alleviate Andrew’s exasperation. She told herself she really should try to get along better with him—it was going to be a long trip.
Andrew held the rabbit over the fire, turning it occasionally. “I have another job for you,” he said. “Remember where you saw me go with the horse? I found a small creek on the way, not far from here. I need you to fetch us some water.”
“Oh? And what shall I carry it in—my cupped hands?” she asked.
“No, your boots.”
“My boots? What about your boots?”
“All right,” he said. “Take one of mine and one of yours.”
“I hope you don’t expect us to drink from our boots,” she said.
“Have you a better idea?”
Eden sighed again, and yanked off Andrew’s boot. “Wait—I have to walk back with one boot off?”
“All right, take both of mine. Rinse them out first because we’ll be drinking from them.”
“Ugh,” was all she could think of to say as she pulled his other boot off. “How far away is it?”
Andrew stood. “See that hedgerow of bushes? They border the creek.”
Eden turned and trudged toward the creek, clutching Andrew’s boots.
She found the creek, rinsed out the boots, filled them with water, and then saw a big, ugly snake swimming toward her. Eden screamed and threw one of the boots at it.
Chapter 7
Andrew continued turning the rabbit over the fire as he watched Eden walk toward the creek. He shook his head. Why had he ever offered her the train ticket? Now he was bound to miss meeting Catherine, as well as the new shipment of saddles due to arrive that week. Eden was nothing but a thorn in his side. He'd already be home by then if he hadn’t softened toward a young “lad” in need.
A blood-curdling scream almost made him drop the rabbit into the fire. He jumped up, stuck the stick with the rabbit on it into the ground, hoped it wouldn't fall and soil their dinner, and ran like the wind in his stocking feet toward the creek.
He found Eden beating something frantically with his boot. He grabbed the boot from her and saw what she was beating: a cottonmouth! Andrew pushed Eden back so hard, she fell to the ground. He shot the reptile three times, and as he did so, water splashed over them both, and Andrew’s boot floated downstream. Without stopping to take off his stockings or to help Eden up from the ground, he ran into the water after his boot.
Finally, he emerged from the creek with both of his boots, wet up to his knees, and a scowl on his face. He grew even more furious when he saw Eden with her hands over her mouth, trying not to laugh.
“I just saved your life and all you can do is laugh?” he asked as he filled the boots with water and toted them, back to their campfire, his socks squishing as he walked. Water seemed to be squirting out from everywhere: his stockings, his pant pockets, and even his gun holster. He heard Eden following him, but he didn’t turn around. He set the boots down, picked up the rabbit and held it over the fire again.
Eden sat nearby and he could tell she was enjoying his discomfort. Why did she think it was funny? Did she expect him to travel with only one boot? He wished himself to be anywhere but there, in the wilderness, with her. He wondered why he'd ever offered to help her at the train station, but then he remembered the forlorn lo
ok on her face and he’d known he had to help her. He’d think twice before ever offering to do another good deed again.
When the rabbit was done, he stuck the end he’d been holding into the ground again, only this time it was to let the meat cool. He drank from his boot and set the other boot near Eden. If she got thirsty enough, she’d lower her standards and drink.
Andrew spread the bedroll out on one side of the fire and the horse blanket on the other. He returned to the rabbit, broke off a leg, and handed it to Eden.
She looked at it and grimaced.
“Do you want it or not?” he said angrily. He was beginning to lose patience with her.
She took the meat from him and stared at it.
“Eat it or go hungry,” he said. “It’s all the food we’ll have until morning when I’ll warm up what’s left for breakfast.”
Eden smelled the meat.
“Take it or leave it!” Andrew spat, sat down, and ate his share.
He glanced over at her a few times and noticed her eating the meat and seeming to enjoy it. He wrapped the leftovers in a large plant leaf and placed it up in a tree.
It had grown dark. Andrew spread the wood around in the fire.
“What are you doing?” Eden asked.
“I’m spreading the fire to make it less noticeable. We need a fire to keep us warm, but we don’t want it blazing. Someone might see it,” he explained.
Andrew unbuckled his gun belt, threw it down to the ground, and then sat down on the horse blanket nearby. He drank a bit more water, emptied his boot, and laid it by the fire to dry.
He noticed Eden did the same.
“Do you need to visit the powder room before hitting the sack?” he asked.
“Powder room? Oh, yes. Where might that be?” Eden asked, looking around.
Andrew pointed at the copse of pine trees behind them.
“And you’ll stay here?” she asked.
“Yes. I'll wait till you return before going in.”
She walked slowly to the copse of trees. “But it’s dark in there. What if I come across a critter?”
