Gwyneth

by Christine Sterling

  “Not too much. It will make you sick.” He took a large gulp and began to cough, choking on the water. Gwyneth patted him on the back until he could breathe normally again. He flopped back on the pillows and closed his eyes.

  He was definitely paler than before, and his skin had a sunken appearance. Gwyneth knew it was from dehydration.

  Shortly the boys came running back into the room with the doctor. The man opened his eyes and looked at Gwyneth before looking at the doc.

  “How remarkable,” Doctor Spense said, as he saw the stranger looking at him. “I was hopeful that he would wake up, but I didn’t think it would be this quickly.” He walked over to the man, feeling his forehead. “How do you feel, sir?”

  “Like I hit my head on a bunch of bricks,” he said in a gruff voice. It was much deeper than Gwyneth thought it would be. It was calming, like a flowing river. Clint’s voice was loud and boisterous. It made her skin crawl when she heard it. He looked around the room, past the three boys who were at the other end of the room eyeing him warily, until his eyes landed on Gwyneth. They unsettled her. “Where am I?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of Gwyneth.

  Gwyneth was so focused on his face, she hadn’t realized that he was talking to her until the silence became too loud around her. She made an awkward sound in her throat and tried to recover from the embarrassment. She could feel her cheeks blooming under his gaze.

  “I told you that you are in my cabin on the outskirts of Wildcat Ridge. I’m sorry, but we startled your horse. It’s how you fell and hit your head,” she said as she leaned over to brush the back of his head. He winced at her touch, which made Gwyneth recoil.

  “Wildcat Ridge?” he asked. “Where is that?”

  “It’s in Utah,” Gwyneth answered, though she was unsure why he was asking.

  “Utah? What am I doing in Utah? I need to leave now. Where are my pants?” He tried to push himself up, so he could get out of bed.

  Doctor Spense pushed him back down. “You mustn’t move,” said the doctor, as the stranger started to settle down in the bed. “You’ll have to stay in bed for a few more days while we assess you.”

  “But I don’t understand why I’m in Utah,” he said, looking bewildered.

  “Where is it that you should be?”

  Puzzled, the man shook his head. “I’m not sure. Everything is fuzzy.”

  “Fascinating,” said the doctor. “Do you remember anything else? What is your name?”

  “Aedan Murphy,” he said, without hesitation. “I know I was born in Ireland and we moved to Montana, where I have lived most of my life. My parents died a few years ago…I worked on a ranch after their death.”

  “How old were you when your parents died?”

  “I was eighteen years old,” answered Aedan.

  Gwyneth’s eyes widened. He mentioned his parents died a few years ago, which meant he would be around her age, and this man definitely didn’t look like he was in his early twenties. He was too big to be anything younger than thirty.

  The doctor tapped his forehead. “Remarkable,” he turned back to Gwyneth. “It appears that our friend here might have selective amnesia.”

  “Selective?” Gwyneth questioned.

  “Yes. It’s a fairly new idea that I’ve read about. It seems that sometimes people can miss blocks of time in their life.” He turned to Aedan. “I believe you are probably missing the last ten years of your life. If I had to guess, I would say you were at least thirty-two years old, judging from your stature.”

  “No, I should be twenty-three,” said Aedan.

  “Sir, you are not twenty-three,” Arnold said, as the adults turned to look at him. “You look much older than that.” He turned into the kitchen and grabbed one of the silver pots sitting on the counter. He placed it on his lap.

  Aedan brought the pot to his face, looking at his reflection. He stared at it with wide eyes, dropping it back into his lap. “I don’t recognize my face,” he said with a short gasp.

  “So, he remembers his life up to twenty-three. He’s missing almost 10 years of his life,” the doctor whispered as she saw Aedan wrestling with the new information.

  “How do we remedy it?” Gwyneth asked. There must be some medicine the doctor could prescribe to get him to remember everything that he lost.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything that would magically bring back anyone’s memory.”

  “Then what do we do?” Gwyneth asked.

  The doctor shrugged his shoulders. “We just need to give him time and hopefully he’ll remember eventually.”

  “And if he never does?”

  “I hope that it doesn’t come to that,” he said, as he started to back away from the bed. “I’ll check in later in the week, but there is nothing I can do at the moment.”

  As the doctor made his way to the door, Gwyneth looked at the stranger. He looked forlorn; like a man who had just lost 10 years of his life. She felt sorry for him; while she felt that she would be happy to forget certain portions of her life, she knew if she woke up one day, and her memories were gone, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself.

  She walked out of the room towards the doctor, as he was grabbing the bag he dropped off at the door in all of the commotion. “Doctor, what do I do with him?” she asked, needing to be given a clear answer.

  “Keep him here; it seems that he has nowhere to go. Maybe this will be a good thing for you, my dear. Have a man around the house. Lord knows you are going to need the help soon,” he said as he eyed her stomach. “I know you have struggled since Clint passed. The boys will help, but they can’t take the place of what Clint would be doing for you. So, take the free labor for now,” he said with a wink. “And he’s not too bad to look at, no?”

  “But Doctor, it is improper for him to be here.”

  “He was here before.”

  “Yes,” Gwyneth hissed. “But he was unconscious. He isn’t unconscious anymore.” He most certainly wasn’t. In fact, he was wide awake and laying in her bed.

  “I won’t breathe a word. No one knows he is here. Just take care of him until he is better and can be on his way.”

  Gwyneth flushed beet red as the doctor laughed. They exchanged their goodbyes, leaving her with the boys and their new companion. She turned back to enter her bedroom, watching the scene. The two younger boys were huddled behind Arnold, as they stared at Aedan. Aedan seemed to be staring back with equal curiosity.

  Gwyneth thought about the work ahead. With the horse auction only a mere two weeks away, she knew that the extra set of hands would help her fledgling new business. And if she was going to create a new life for the little life growing inside of her, she knew that she was going to need all the help she could gather.

  Gwyneth was checking the traps by the creek when she heard the shrill scream that made her blood run cold.

  She dropped the trap back in the water and crouched behind the bushes. She heard the sound again, this time pinpointing the origin as coming from the trees in the distance. She could see a bobcat cub underneath a tall pine. Another cub came out of the woods and tackled his brother, sending them both rolling down the hill.

  Gwyneth's heart sped up. It was beating so fast, she thought it might beat out of her chest. Where there were baby cubs there had to be a momma.

  The cubs continued their playtime and worked their way to the further end of the creek. Gwyneth slowly moved around the bush, never taking her eyes off the kittens.

  She needed to find the momma bobcat. She took a quick glance around. The last thing she wanted was to get between an overprotective mother and her babies.

  The cubs were old enough that if something happened to their mother, they could still survive.

  She wished Aedan was there. He would know what to do. He was at home with the boys and she chastised herself for coming without a weapon of some kind.

  The scream happened again and this time she saw the mother on the branch of a large tree. She was watching her babies�
�� every movement. If she could see the cubs, she could see Gwyneth. The cat’s tail was twitching, which led Gwyneth to believe it was annoyed.

  Suddenly she saw Jess and Harley in the yard at the front of the cabin. The cat screamed again, and she could see the children freeze. She didn't want to call to the boys because it would give her position away. She silently prayed that they would return back to the house.

  Gwyneth looked again at the tree and couldn't see the bobcat. Panicking she looked back at the boys. They hadn't moved. Looking once more for the cat she saw it creep out of the trees on its haunches. It was hunting, and it looked like the prey was Jess and Harley.

  Gwyneth took a chance. If she could distract the cat the boys could run back inside. She stepped outside the bushes and yelled to her boys, "Run!"

  That was all it took for the cat to start sprinting towards the boys. Gwyneth screamed, and the cat fell on its side. Aedan appeared waving a shotgun. He got close enough to poke the cat. When it didn’t move he yelled to Gwyneth.

  "All clear!"

  Gwyneth hiked up her skirt and ran as fast as she could, scooping up the boys as soon as she reached them. "I was so scared," she cried planting kisses on their faces. "Thank you, Aedan, for saving my boys."

  "Me too," Harley said. "I was scared. That was a big cat."

  "It’s okay now. The cat is dead. It can’t harm you anymore."

  "Would you like to touch it?" Aedan asked. The boys nodded. They hesitantly touched the soft fur.

  "What are you going to do with it?" Jess asked.

  Gwyneth thought for a moment. "Take the skins to the Marshal. We can use the bounty money to buy supplies."

  "Makes sense,” Aedan said. "We can take the hide down tomorrow."

  The next day Aedan prepared the fur and wrapped it to take to Cordelia. He loaded it onto the back of Betsy and Gwyneth climbed on top. The boys were staying home under strict orders not to go outside as Aedan couldn’t find the two cubs.

  “Do you really think you should be riding a horse?”

  “I don’t know,” Gwyneth said. “As long as I don’t fall I should be fine. I’ll be back shortly.”

  She rode down to the town and stopped at the Marshal’s Office inside the jail.

  Cordelia must have heard her ride up as she came out of the office. Shielding her eyes against the sun, she looked at Gwyneth and the fur on the back of her horse.

  “Good morning, Gwyneth. Should you be riding a horse?”

  “The baby isn’t due for a little bit. I’m not galloping.”

  “There is a family of bobcats running in the hills,” Gwyneth said. “We shot the momma. I’ll go out and look for the cubs.”

  Cordelia nodded. “I don’t know how much a bobcat fur fetches, but I’m sure Charlie had a ledger in the office. Why don’t you come in?”

  Gwyneth dismounted and followed Cordelia into the office. Her office was in the front of the jail, with a wall dividing her desk from the cells. She sat down and pulled out a black book from the drawer and flipped it open.

  “It appears that Charlie paid $5 for every wild cat. Let me get you a bank draft.”

  Gwyneth watched her write out the bank draft. “What happens to the fur?”

  “I would take it over to the mercantile.”

  “I don’t have to turn it in?”

  “No. As long as I verify the furs and that it was killed in protection of the town, I pay the bounty and the fur is yours to do with as you will.”

  Gwyneth took the draft and turned to make her leave. “Thank you, Cordelia, I appreciate it.”

  Five dollars! That would allow her to buy a few items at the mercantile. Plus, whatever she got for the fur. She quickly went and cashed the draft, putting the money in her boot. She then made her way over to the mercantile, where the fur fetched $7.

  “Do you want cash, or store credit?”

  “Credit would be perfect. Let me see what I need, and we can see what is left.” Gwyneth started walking around the store. There were barrels of fresh apples. Tempting, but she could pick all she wanted from the trees near the woods.

  She placed her staples, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, cornmeal and flour on the counter. Next to it she added canned peaches, which she thought would make a nice treat for the family. She picked out a shirt for Aedan, because the only clothes he had belonged to Clint. Licorice ropes for the boys were added to the collection, along with a box of ammunition. She finally added three new traps to the pile, one for each boy.

  “Tally me up, please.”

  Mrs. Tweedie started making notes on a paper back. She looked at the licorice ropes and gave the bag back to Gwyneth. “Grab a few more for those boys. I’m glad they found a home. That is my treat for all of you.” Gwyneth smiled and added the candy to the bag.

  “That is $7.83. You were pretty close with your counting.”

  Gwyneth reached in her boot and pulled out a dollar and handed it to the shopkeeper. “Thank you so much. I think I have enough supplies to last me a while.”

  She pocketed the change and took the wrapped packages. Placing them on the horse she headed back home. She couldn’t wait to show everyone her purchases and share the peaches and candy.

  She thought that she should take advantage of animal bounties. She looked forward to discussing it with Aedan when she returned. A small flicker of hope wished that he would be there for winter with her and the boys.

  The horse auction was exactly as she thought it would be. She had sent the boys into town with the next round of deliveries, and an understanding that they were not to mention the man that was staying with them.

  They came back buzzing with stories of all the people that came into town. There were horses of all shapes and sizes, with people from all over the country coming to see what Wildcat Ridge had to offer.

  Gwyneth was sorry she had to miss it, but she did enjoy hearing the accounts from the boys. They seemed so excited to go, she couldn’t let her own disappointment ruin their good time. With Aedan getting the hang of domestic life, she knew she couldn’t leave him alone in the house for too long. She also didn’t want the town to know about him so quickly; she was worried what they would say about her keeping a man at her house that had no commitments to her.

  Aedan was a nice addition to the household. Although he didn’t remember much about his recent past, he still remembered certain skills that he probably had developed over time. She was able to have him go and help Arnold check the traps around the house and skin and cut the game she brought home every night from her hunting. He was even able to fix some of the older traps that she had let sit aside because she wasn’t sure how to fix them.

  He didn’t talk much; he seemed to be lost in his own world almost any time she tried to broach a conversation with him. She wondered what made him stay in the first place; he was only bedridden for the first week, until the doctor had come to say that he was all right to get out and move.

  Gwyneth suspected that it was partly because he didn’t know where he should go from here; Montana was a long way away from their house and she wasn’t sure he knew how to get back home. Gwyneth wasn’t sure she could even direct him back; she would only be able to tell him to just keep going North, and maybe one day he would be back in his home state.

  That evening, she sent the boys to deliver the last shipment to Olive for the week. When the boys came back, Arnold was holding an envelope. “Mrs. Muckelrath wanted me to give you this,” he said, as he handed her the small envelope.

  “What is this?” she asked as she opened it up. Arnold shrugged.

  Inside was a letter, from an Elijah Stone.

  She opened the crinkled parchment and smoothed it with her fingers.

  Dear Mrs. Davies,

  I was given your name as the provider of the top quality raw and smoked meats that could be found in Mrs. Olive Muckelwrath’s establishment.

  I was in town for the horse auction and I couldn’t have been happier with the food they fed us, and I
find out again, it was you that supplied the wild game and trout.

  I must say I’m extremely impressed that a woman can hunt like you can.

  I am wondering if you would make deliveries of meat and fish to our town in Curdy’s Crossing. You can find me at the parsonage there.

  Respectfully,

  Pastor Elijah Stone

  “What did it say?” asked Arnold, as he tried to peek over her belly.

  The kid was insufferable, Gwyneth thought to herself as she slipped the letter back into the envelope before Arnold could pry anymore. “It’s someone from Curdy’s Crossing. He wants me to deliver some of the hunting game,” she said.

  “But Curdy’s Crossing is at least a day’s drive from here to go there and back,” said Arnold.

  “Well, it seems that it’s too late now to go; I’ll wake up in the morning and make the journey.”

  “You can’t go by yourself!” shouted Harley. “Our father once told us it was the hardest journey he ever had to take, and he would never want to go back if he had the choice. We can’t let you go.”

  “We can’t turn away the business,” she said to the boys, as they looked at her with sad eyes, “and I’m sure it isn’t as hard as all that.” They were already being stretched thin with Aedan in the house and with the new baby coming in a few weeks, it was only practical for her to accept the new opportunity.

  “Then we should come with you,” piped up Jess.

  “No, you three must stay here. There are plenty of household chores that need to be done.”

  “Then I’ll go with you,” said Aedan.

  Gwyneth and the boys turned towards him. He was sitting at the table, whittling a small tree branch. He had made a habit each night of making small figurines for the boys to play with. When Gwyneth questioned it, he told her that his hands remembered the movements, even though his mind had forgotten the exact instructions or how he knew how to do it in the first place.

  “No, you should stay here with the boys. I’ll be all right by myself,” said Gwyneth.

  “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I let you go by yourself,” he said, as he looked at her with his unyielding eyes.