by Ward, Marsha
“How about farming?” Chester asked. “You got any place that’ll grow wheat?”
“That’d be down along the Cuchara. You take the Huerfano down to the fork, then head up the left branch. There’s folk settling in there growing beans, wheat, hay, and corn. You name it, and it grows down there. For your smith, now, I recollect they was needing one down to Leones. He’d get a warm welcome down that way.”
“Rod, looks like I’ve found the place I’m looking for.” Chester hitched up his own belt.
Rod looked closely at the map. “There’s a choice of towns for Rand to set up shop in, and Tom’s likely to find work down south.” Rod turned to Autobees and put out his hand. The man took it and they shook. “We’re obliged to you for your help. I reckon we file homestead claims here?”
“Yup.”
They took their leave, and Rod looked back at the distance-shrunken stockade as they approached the wagons.
“Looks like our trails are separating, Chester. You’re a steady man, and I’ve valued our friendship.”
“This surely ain’t good-bye forever, Rod. The women folk will want to see each other, not to mention the unfinished business with the young folks. We’ll be a-visiting, I reckon.”
“I’ll be handy for house-raising and such, Chester. You can count on me and my boys for help when you need it.”
“I know it, Rod.”
~~~
The travelers gathered around Rod and Chester as they dismounted and walked into camp. Rod spoke first.
“Pueblo City is close by, on the Arkansas. Rand, you could set up your store there, or go further south where some farmers have a settlement.”
“I’d just as lief settle near the mining activities,” said Rand. “I’ll take a look at Pueblo City.”
“I’m ready to follow the river south,” announced Chester. “There’s good land for crops down there. Who’ll go with me?”
“I will,” said Ed Morgan. “Elizabeth is of a mind to settle near Muriel.”
“Molly and me will join you,” added Angus Campbell.
“There’s a town down there needing a smith, Tom. Come along, settle near your kin,” Chester urged.
Tom O’Connor flexed his heavy shoulders. “All this traveling has me hankering after the fire and the forge. Next to the fire is a pleasant spot to be, come wintertime.”
“I’ll go in with Rand to Pueblo City and pick up Carl, then head south for the Wet Mountains,” Rod said. “If I picture it right, we’ll be about forty miles northwest of you folks.”
“Then this is our last camp together?” asked Carl.
“We go our own ways after the nooning,” his father answered.
Carl glanced around the circle. A bond of strength gained from trials overcome joined him to these men: Chester Bates, strong and solid, quietly going about doing the right thing; Edward Morgan, thin and dark, his quick grin and friendly ways starting to return after the blow of his little girl’s death; Angus Campbell, with piercing blue eyes and sandy hair; Tom O’Connor, brawny and restless, still mourning for his long-dead wife; and Rand Hilbrands, tall and fleshy, with a somber air. Now they were parting, and pain squeezed his stomach.
James had brought in an antelope the previous night, and Julia cut up what remained of it for dinner. Marie invited Ellen to eat, and the girls huddled together, dreading their separation.
Ellen looked at Marie, whose eyelashes were jeweled with tears.
“Don’t cry or you’ll start me off. You heard your pa. We won’t be that far away from you. Only forty miles.”
“Forty miles! Ellen Bates, that’s as far away as Staunton or Winchester is from Mount Jackson. How often did you get to go that far away from home?”
“I think it’s different out here, Marie. A body has to go far to get to any place from another. We’ll visit back and forth. I just feel it in my bones.”
Chester Bates arrived with Rand Hilbrands right behind him. “It’s time to be off, Ellen. We’ll see you, Mistress Owen, Miss Marie.” Chester nodded to them.
“Before you go, Chester, listen a minute,” Rand said. “I plan to have a little Christmas party for everyone come the holidays. You’ll pass the word to your group?”
“I will.”
“Then come look me up in Pueblo City on Christmas Eve, and we’ll make merry in our new home.”
Julia smiled. “Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Hilbrands. It’ll be like long-ago times.”
“Let’s be off, miss,” Chester said, taking Ellen’s arm. She walked off with her father, looking back at Marie as long as she could. Then she got in the wagon, and it rumbled away with the others, heading southwest along the Huerfano River.
~~~
There was one more fort to pass before they arrived at the town, and Rod spotted it at noon on the following day.
“Fort Reynolds,” he told Julia. “We’ll stop to eat here, then get on the road again. We should reach Pueblo City before dark.”
“It will be nice to see a town, and I know Amanda will be happy to settle here, but I’m not a city girl, Rod. One night will be enough for me.”
Dusk turned the sky to lead when the party first glimpsed the lights of Pueblo City. Small adobe buildings and timbered shacks abounded on the outskirts. In the center of commerce stood a hotel, a squat affair of Spanish styling, short on grace, but long on hospitality. Even before they approached the front of the hotel, they could hear a fiddle squawking and a loud voice attempting to sing:
“I got a mule, her name is Sal, fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. She’s a good ol’ worker and a good ol’ gal; fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.”
Carl grinned at the sound. “He sings worse than me, Ida, but it’s Friday night, and I reckon nobody minds much.”
“I mind. I hope he don’t think to go on all night. I was planning to sleep sound, in a real bed.”
“That sounds mighty nice. If your pa pays me off tonight, I’ll have the price of a bed, too.” He blushed as his thoughts wandered back over his words.
“Oh, pooh,” Ida said, flicking her fingertip across his nose. She sighed deeply. “How soon till we can wed, Carl?”
“Soon as the house is built, I’ll come after you. Surely there’s somebody in town that can marry us.” Ida laid her hand on his arm and turned to look at him. Carl squirmed on the seat. “It won’t be long now, girl. I’ll come visit you if I can get away.” He turned to look into her blue eyes.
“That’ll be grand, Carl.” She smoothed her dress across her knees, then brushed a speck of dust from her bodice. “I’ll look forward to your visits.”
Carl turned his eyes front in time to pull the team to a halt before the mules ran into the back of the Hilbrands’ family wagon. He jumped off the high seat, went around the wagon, and scooped up Eliza, who was in danger of falling asleep, and as a consequence, of falling off the wagon.
He settled the little girl in his arms and carried her toward the front of the next wagon, where Rand met him with a canvas sack in his hand.
“Put Eliza up there on the seat. Thank you, boy. Here. I’ll pay you now, in case your pa decides to take off in the night.” He handed Carl the sack. “One hundred and fifty dollars.”
Carl hefted the sack. “Seems a mite much just for driving a wagon.”
“Take it, boy. I promised you a good wage. I’ll make plenty off the goods.”
Carl thanked him and went to the wagon to help Ida. He stood on a wheel spoke and took her hand. “Your pa paid me a hundred and fifty dollars, girl! I’m going to build us a fine house.”
“With a fine feather bed?” She arched her brows and stood up.
“Don’t tease me. A man’s got only so much he can stand.” He dropped to the ground from the wheel.
“I know,” she answered. “Get me down from here.”
“I don’t know as I dare.”
“Silly boy. I won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t reckon you will. It’s your pa I worry about.”
“If he sees me hugging you, I’ll be in a fine jam.”
“Will that get us wed sooner?”
“Ida! We need a house first. Now, are you going to behave yourself, or do I leave you up there all night?”
She looked from side to side, bent her head and closed her eyes, then opened her eyes and gazed at Carl. “I really can get down by myself, you know.”
“I know. You done it before when you was mad at me.”
She wiggled her shoulders at him. “But it’s nicer when you lift me down.”
He groaned. “Is this the good-bye you want?”
“Just a little peck, so I’ll know you’re coming back to visit.”
“One little peck then.” He stuffed the sack into his trousers pocket, reached up his arms for her, and she extended hers, laying her hands on his shoulders.
“You’ve got such a nice frame, Carl Owen,” she murmured as he set her on the ground. “So strong. And you’re so fine looking, too.” She passed her fingers over his cheek. “Now, where’s my peck?” She put back her head, lifting her lips to where he could reach them.
He gave her a chaste kiss, but it wasn’t enough, not for Ida. “Please, show me you’ll come for me,” she breathed, and he took her into his arms.
He didn’t mean to linger, but she was so warm in his arms, and so eager, so willing to receive his embrace. His lips covered hers again, and he pretended it was auburn hair slipping through his fingers.
“Doggone you, girl,” he muttered when he finally broke free. “I’ll visit when I can. Your pa will come looking for you in a minute. Good-bye.” He loosed her and stepped back. And you ain’t Ellen Bates, he thought, wondering if she would always be in his thoughts when he kissed Ida. Carl turned away and went to find his family, trying to shake the mood.
“Pa,” he said when he saw Rod. “Rand Hilbrands paid me. I’ll buy supper for us tonight.”
“Sure. Let’s see what Colorado folks eat.”
Rod and Carl led the Owen family into the lobby and common room of the hotel. The appearance of the inn was rustic, for the chairs and stools were made of unpeeled pine logs and rawhide. A door led off to the right, where the aroma of meat drifted on the air. Another door, to the left, opened into the barroom, already crowded in the first hours of weekend freedom.
As Carl glanced around the lobby, Rand brought his family into the hotel. The Owens and the Hilbrands filled the lobby, and the dark-haired man at the desk looked angrily over at them.
“I can’t put ye all up for the night,” he growled. “I’ve got lots of folks in for the weekend, and I’m nearly full up.”
Rand approached the desk. “I’ll be wanting a room for my girls and a room for the wife and me.”
“The best I can do ye is one room, but it’s big and has plenty of room for spreading quilts and such. Ye can all fit in.”
“This seems a poor excuse for a hotel, if you can’t find rooms for your guests,” Rand blustered.
The proprietor planted his feet on the floor and placed his fists on his hips. “This ain’t your Grand Hotel, mister, and I don’t believe ye made arrangements beforehand, neither. I gives ye what I has to give. If ye can do better than that, buy me out and I’ll be off to the gold fields!”
Chapter 12
Rand looked at Amanda. She nodded her head. He scratched his ear, looked over at Rod, and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll give you fifty dollars and a hundred pounds of flour. If you’re anxious to be off, I’ll be happy to help you pack your bags.”
The dark-haired owner laughed and slapped his chest. “Ye can keep the flour. I’ll take the cash and leave in the morning. My brother’s holding a claim for me that shows signs of bein’ the biggest strike in Colorado history. Ye won’t see me keeping no flea-bitten hotel no more after tonight. I’ve got a fortune waiting for me over yonder.”
Rand turned to his wife. “I reckon we’ve got a hotel to run, Mandy. We’ll see if there’s a place to set up the store.” He glanced at Rod. “You won’t have to look far to find us come Christmas time, Rod.”
“You’ve a lucky streak in you, Rand. Ten minutes in town and already you’re a leading citizen. We’ll just eat and be on our way.”
Rand gestured toward the dining room. “Go find a table and eat up.”
Ten members of the Owen family followed Rod into the dining room, Roddy in his father’s arms. The lighting—coming from six candles in wall holders—was dim, and Carl stopped to let his eyes adjust. He noticed that the tables, jammed with avidly eating men, were made of rough planks of wood, splintered along the edges, while the men sat on benches made of half-logs.
“Do you bring your own lamp to see by, Papa?” Julianna looked around curiously.
“It would make an improvement, I reckon, daughter.” Rod laughed.
“Look, Rod.” Julia pointed. “Those men are getting up. I figure there‘s room for us at that table.”
Seven big men filed past the family, one holding his full belly and burping loudly. Another nodded to Julia and said, “Eat fast, ma’am. They clear the room at seven for the dance.”
“A dance, Pa?” Marie’s eyes sparkled.
“Not tonight, daughter. We have to be on our way early tomorrow. We’ll be in at Christmas time, and there’ll be plenty of dancing then.” Rod sat down, and the rest of the group squeezed onto the benches.
A sturdy matron came over to the table and cocked her head to one side. “Buffalo steaks, beans and sourdough bread are what we serve. Butter and peach preserves is extra.”
Rod pointed to Carl. “He gives the orders tonight.”
“There’s ten of us can do justice to that fare,” Carl said, turning to Mary. “What’s the young’un eat, Mistress Mary?”
“Bread and butter and peach preserves. And half a helping of beans.”
“Bring what she said for the young’un,” ordered Carl. “And bring all the rest of us butter and preserves.”
~~~
First light saw the Owen wagons already on the prairie heading southwest for the mountains. A constant wind blew over the small hills and rocky outcroppings of the desolate countryside. Ahead lay the Wet Mountains, their wooded green flanks topped by moisture-laden clouds.
“That sight over yonder gives me a real peace, Rod. I don’t mind traversing this arid land if I can live snuggled up against them sweet green hills.” Julia gave a sigh of contentment. “I reckon if we get a nice piece of property up there, I’ll say you kept your promise of trees, and right handsomely, too.”
“With those rain clouds, there’s bound to be water a-plenty in this country. We need to look for a spring or a creek coming off those mountains, and there we’ll build.”
The next day, Rod stopped the team in a secluded meadow through which a creek flowed from the side of Greenhorn Mountain. Juniper and piñon trees surrounded the grassy field, and on the bench below them, bands of color showed where aspen and oak trees lived. Up the mountain, pine, fir, and spruce promised an evergreen world.
As he helped Julia to the ground, Rod asked, “How does this place suit you?”
Julia ran out on the thick carpet of grass. She whirled around, laughing. “This is home, Rod. This is our home!” She ran back and stopped, breathless, in front of him. “This is better than back in the Valley. We have all of this to ourselves.” The motion of her arm took in the entire mountain and the valley of the creek below. “And no Yankees to drive us out. Oh, Rod, it’s well nigh perfect!”
“You’ve got a sparkle to you like a dozen gems, Julie. My heart leaps to know you’re mine.” He took her in his arms and looked around at his grinning sons. “Well, she is mine,” he declared, and kissed their mother.
Julianna giggled and hid her face in her hands. “Why’s Papa acting so silly, Marie?” she asked from between her fingers.
“He’s so glad to be home, Jule,” answered her sister, eyeing the rolling tops of the mountains before them. “You kn
ow, these mountains look like the ones we left in Virginia. I feel like I’m home, too.”
“Well, if we’re home, where is our house?”
“Julianna! Pa and the boys have to build it. You can’t expect it to be here waiting for us.” Marie turned and walked away.
Her sister followed, tugging on her skirt. “You mean we have to make everything, just like we done all across the country?”
“I bet you thought it’d all be here like back in Virginia, didn’t you?”
“This is sure different than I expected. Marie, I’m scared of critters. I want a proper house.”
“Who you been talking to, Ida Hilbrands? We’ll have a house by and by, Jule, and Pa won’t let anything get you; so don’t go to crying on me. I want to go see that crick.”
Rod sent Clay and Albert to water the stock and the teams, then turned to his older sons. “Well boys, it’s time to sharpen the axes. I’ll stake out my homestead on the south side of the creek, and Rulon, you can have the north side, if you like. We could put the cabins right opposite each other, and build a little bridge over the creek for sociability. We’ll put a half-shelter behind the house for the horses and mules, and the cattle pens right out there, in the meadow. They’ll have plenty of grass down there.”
Carl scratched his shoulder. “I’m going to need me a homestead, too, Pa. I like that little bench land we passed just north of here.”
Rod nodded. “That looked like a fine place for a cabin.”
“I’m hoping there’s a sweet water creek south of here,” James said, eyeing the trees in that direction.
“As soon as we set up camp here, you can ride over and find a place you like,” Rod said. “Pick your spot and drive your stakes.” He looked around the sweep of the horizon. “We’ll work on cabins for your wives as soon as your ma and Mary have theirs.”
The men cut small saplings and made temporary shelters with the wagon covers until cabins could be raised. Julia arranged her kitchen goods on a pile of boxes, and set about fixing a fire ring for the Dutch ovens and iron skillets. Mary joined her while Marie and Julianna took Roddy for a walk to gather firewood.
