Tina Tracks a Trail Boss: A Historical Western Romance (Brides with Grit Book 8)

by Linda K. Hubalek

  The wooden two-story home was painted white, but the wash house beside it was painted a dark red. A few trees, probably a dozen or so years old had been planted around the home. The barn and corrals around it were all in good shape. The homestead was very neat and tidy.

  Rania noticed Tina looking around. “This is where the Wilerson’s homesteaded during the Civil War. They lived in Illinois, but moved here so their sons wouldn’t be involved in the war. Their father, Moses died a few years ago from cancer. Their mother, Cate remarried to Isaac Connely this summer, so this is Jacob’s and my home now.”

  “I love the color of your wash house, Rania. It reminds me of our house in Sweden,” Annalina said wistfully.

  “Jacob painted the building ‘Swedish Falun red’ as a surprise for me, calling it one of my Swedish betrothal gifts. Notice the cottonwood tree in the back yard, with a picnic table beside it?”

  “The tall twig?”

  Rania laughed. “Jacob dug it up down by the river and transplanted it here for me. That’s supposed to be the Kansas version of a Swedish birch. I’ve been watering it nearly every day, hoping to help it grow.”

  “Sounds like you found yourself a good husband, daughter.”

  “Indeed I did. I still can’t believe how lucky I am, considering…I never thought when he helped us load cattle on the rail cars last year he’d be waiting for me to arrive this year so he could court me.”

  “Again, I’m sorry about what my brother did to you, Rania,” Tina softly interjected. Robby and Emma were busy looking through the fence railing at the dog and two sheep so weren’t paying attention to their conversation.

  “It is firmly in our past, Tina. Please don’t bring it up again. And,” Rania held out her hands to Oliver, “I need to be holding Oliver because I’m looking forward to holding my own baby soon.” Tina was glad to see the look of joy and anticipation in Rania’s eyes.

  “Let’s go see the kittens in the barn, then we’ll go to the house for some cookies and coffee.” As Tina followed the group towards the barn, she knew she’d be accepted by one member of Leif’s family. Would the next stop on their ride go as well?

  “Oh! It’s a sod house!” Tina had seen a few on their trail north, but didn’t expect Hilda and Noah to be living in one.

  “And Hilda must be home because I can hear Miss Terror barking inside,” Rania sighed.

  “How did the cattle do with the little yapping dog on the drive?”

  “The dog started off pretty quiet, as she was an abandoned sick puppy when Hilda found her. But over time, she found her voice and her name. Terror and Beller had a few rounds, if you can believe it with their size difference. She was a great watch dog then, and still is now.”

  Noah opened the door, raising a hand of welcome to them, before turning around to say something to Hilda. Then he was walking toward them, while putting his hat on his head.

  “Welcome, ladies. Out enjoying this fine fall day?”

  “We’re on a tour of homes and pets…for the kids,” Annalina smiled as Noah helped her down off the bench seat.

  “Ah. Good tactic, Mother Hamner,” Noah tipped his hat to his mother-in-law. “You know how Hilda loves to talk about her dog and cats. Pretty proud of her soddie, too, even though I hope to build us new home in the near future.”

  The Wilerson brothers looked similar with their brown hair and blue eyes, with slightly different heights. They had to have different personalities, though, to get along with their distinctly different wives.

  Noah had helped everyone out of the wagon by the time Hilda walked out the door.

  “Aunt Hilda! I want to meet Miss Kitty!” Robby jumped up and down in front of Hilda, so she really didn’t have much choice but to answer him.

  “Miss Kitty has grown up and doesn’t spend much time here now,” Hilda said while flicking a glance at Tina, “but I have four kittens in the barn who would love you to hold them.”

  Rania had told Tina how “Miss Kitty”, Hilda’s half-tamed bobcat, had scared her brother’s horse, resulting in Sidney’s demise. Hilda had raised the orphaned baby bobcat—which made friends with her tiny dog—but now grown, it only occasionally showed up by the chicken pen. Maybe hoping for a stray chicken for a meal?

  “This is Poker.” Hilda stopped to introduce the German shepherd dog sitting alert near the barn door. It seemed to cringe when Hilda’s little dog jumped up to lick its face, but Poker held his stance. “He was a pup when Noah won him in a card game while he was traveling out west.”

  The dog might have been a puppy, but he was growing into a large dog and seemed to take his role of guardian of the homestead just as well as Rania’s dog, King, did. But they had Samson with them on their cattle drive, doing the same thing.

  They met kittens, chickens, a milk cow and her calf before moving on to the horses in the corral by the barn and the nearby pasture.

  Each horse came up to Hilda when she said their name, loving the attention she gave each. “And this is Nutcracker, my favorite horse, who won so many horse races I was able to buy this homestead,” Hilda said while sweetly smiling at her husband.

  “That’s right, you won the homestead, and I’m proud of you for doing it,” Noah hugged his wife’s shoulder before giving Hilda’s forehead a quick kiss. This couple was more open with affection compared to her and Leif, but Tina didn’t mind. Everyone showed their love and support differently, depending on their personalities.

  “Show off the soddie, Hilda. I’m sure after living outdoors while on a cattle drive, Tina will appreciate any roof.”

  All the women laughed at Noah’s remark, because they’d all camped outdoors for months at a time. At least Tina had that in common with the Hamner family now.

  Rose bushes planted on either side of the front door still had some blooms enjoying the fall weather. It took a moment for Tina’s eyes to adjust to the dark interior, but she realized the two windows did let in a lot of light. Plus the sod walls were whitewashed, and plastered with printed pictures, probably cut out of magazines. Lace curtains hung above the window panes, and a pretty patchwork quilt covered the bed in the single-room home.

  “I set the table before I came outside so we could have tea and butter cookies,” Hilda pointed to the main feature in the house. The lace-covered table was set with delicate china dishes, so opposite of the rough house, and the woman dressed like a man.

  “Oh, what a treat! I’m glad I came along,” Rania grinned. “Did Cate or Noah make the cookies?” Rania gave a wink to her twin, who wrinkled her nose back at her sister.

  “Cate was just here,” she sighed, before turning to address Tina. “I don’t bake. If Noah wants something sweet, he makes it himself or hopes the women in this family take pity on him.”

  Tina laughed, glad Hilda was starting to talk to her. “I think that’s fine. Leif did all the cooking and baking while I was recovering, so I know he’s adapt in a kitchen. Does he have any specialty I should ask him to make after we’re married?”

  “Lutfisk!” Annalina, Rania and Hilda all said at once.

  “Leif loves the dried fish you have to soak weeks ahead before you eat it at Christmas time, so make him do the work,” Hilda said.

  “I look forward to learning the Swedish language and how to prepare Swedish foods,” Tina said while watching Hilda to gauge her reaction. She planned to marry Hilda’s brother so the woman needed to get used to it.

  “Your children picked up on our Swedish very quickly while being together the last two months. Oliver’s first words may be ‘Momma’ or ‘Moder’,” Annalina said as she sat at the table and picked up Emma to sit in her lap.

  “Or something like ‘dumskalle’,” Tina teased back.

  “Momma! You said a swear word!” Robby exclaimed.

  Everyone laughed, knowing certain Swedish family members—like Annalina—used the word for jackass for a reason rather than referring to a donkey.

  Tina looked around the table. She was going to love havi
ng these Swedish women as her family.

  “Cate stopped by to invite us all over to the Cross C for supper tonight. She said she was heading to your place next, Annalina. Did she catch you before you left for Rania’s?”

  “No, we must have missed her,” Annalina said as she looked to Rania.

  “Everyone is invited so you can meet Sarah and Marcus Brenner and their newly adopted family,” Hilda continued. “After you left for Texas, they married and adopted six siblings, three of them being newborn triplets.”

  “I thought she was going to marry the hotel owner, Ethan Paulson?” Annalina asked, confused now of the change in Sarah’s husband’s name.

  “Uh, she left Ethan at the altar on their wedding day. Sarah rode my horse Nutcracker to catch Marcus as he was heading back to his fort. Turns out Sarah helped a widow who lived on the ranch, deliver triplets, instead of her and Marcus leaving. Sadly the woman died, so Sarah adopted her children,” Hilda continued the story.

  “Oh my. I can’t imagine taking on six children all at once.”

  “Actually, they also adopted a pair of siblings who had been living with Indians, but then brought to the fort where Marcus had been stationed.”

  “Hope they live in a house larger than your home, Hilda,” Tina teased.

  “It’s a big house, but then Sarah’s half-sister, Faye, and her baby showed up unexpectedly…” Hilda continued, really getting excited to tell the family story.

  “Wait, I’m getting confused with all these new people,” Annalina looked between Rania and Hilda. “A lot happened while we were gone for those few months.”

  “Are you going to Dag and Cora’s ranch next?” Hilda asked Rania expectantly.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, I want to go along then! Wait until you see the house Dagmar is living in!” Hilda was practically jumping in her chair.

  “Do they have any dogs?” Robby asked, probably tired of all the grown-up subjects.

  “Their dogs Yipper and Kipper love playing with children, and tonight, you can meet Yipper’s puppies too, because they now live at the ranch we’re going to for supper.”

  Tina watched her son and Hilda interact with each other. Hopefully their mutual love of animals would go a long way in soothing the hurt Sid caused Hilda.

  After seeing Hilda’s sod house, Tina was not expecting the huge two-story stone home sitting proudly among the many outbuildings on the Bar E Ranch. And neither was Annalina, seeing her slack jawed expression when Hilda pointed out which door to stop the wagon.

  “Dagmar lives in this house?”

  “Wait until you see all the fancy furnishings and cut glass dishes inside. Cora has put a lot of things away because it made Dag so uneasy. He only lived in two rooms when he first moved here. I think Cora has gotten him to step into more rooms since they married.” Hilda rattled on.

  “And from here, you can see the bunk house in which Dag suggested you and Fader live, Moder.” Hilda waved to the long one-story building nearby.

  “Well I can’t wait to see it, too!”

  “Välkommen! Welcome all!” Dagmar came out on the porch in his stocking feet, then leaned against the wall to pull his boots on. “Just a second and I’ll take care of your team and wagon. Cora’s in the kitchen, so go on in.”

  Dagmar helped everyone from the wagon, then turned to Robby. “Young man, this house is not safe for us men. Too many knickknacks and silly women stuff in there.” He winked at Robby teasing him. “How about you help me take care of the horses, then we can go meet the dogs?”

  Tina was glad for Dagmar’s help when they walked into the home.

  Oh. My.

  Crystal and ornate upholstered chairs were not safe with a four-year-old boy on the loose. And Dagmar had hinted he and Cora planned to have a dozen children? Well, in the few years Tina was sure this house would looked lived in—with less glass decorating the shelves.

  Cora was the gracious host she’d been raised to be when she grew up back in Boston. But she was down-to-earth, putting Tina and Annalina at ease right away while they toured every room on both floors.

  “Do you need a wedding dress, Tina?”

  That question caught Tina by surprise. “I planned to wear one of the two dresses I have. I lost everything in the train wreck, but Leif bought me some clothing I’m getting by with.” And Leif hadn’t formally said they were going to wed after they found out what had been going on in Kansas with her brother.

  Cora, Rania and Hilda wore matching grins. Hmm. Now what?

  “Welcome to the ‘five-trunk room’ then, Tina,” Cora grandly opened up a bedroom door and ushered them all in. Besides the large room holding a bed, dresser and wardrobe, there were five trunks placed along the walls of the room.

  “Dagmar couldn’t get over the fact that I arrived with five trunks of dresses when I fled Boston—after my fiancé decided to wed my best friend. Never mind that the trunks also held books, and other possessions.”

  “And he still mentions the fact now and then,” Hilda added.

  “Oh, he has no clue how many trunks worth of dresses I really have in the house,” Cora said conspiringly.

  Tina felt a twinge of jealously, thinking of her meager clothing now.

  “We went through the trunks when Millie, Rania and Hilda’s sister-in-law, needed a dress for her wedding. She’s about my size, so we picked out a dress and matching hat for her to wear at the wedding, and I insisted she keep them as my wedding gift to her.”

  “And Cora also gave Darcie, Millie’s sister, a dress when she married,” Rania continued. “Darcie married Reuben Shepard, and they moved into Clear Creek.”

  “Isn’t Reuben the man who took care of this ranch’s bunkhouse and hands?” Annalina asked.

  “And whose place I hope you and Oskar will take over. We’ll go over to see the bunkhouse after this room,” Cora stated.

  “So, now, Pastor Reagan lets me know when someone is getting married. If we know the bride could use a new dress, I invite her over for tea, and invite her to browse through the trunks because I have ‘too many dresses’ and can spare one.”

  “But most women couldn’t fit in your petite dresses, Cora,” Annalina pointed out.

  “Oh, but they can. You see, my mother ships me dresses and hats in various sizes from Boston, and I fill the five trunks with dresses the sizes and colors I think will work for the bride.”

  Cora turned to Tina. “Shall we open the five trunks and see what you’d like to wear for your wedding? I’m guessing they’ll be about your size and will compliment your black hair.”

  Tina smiled through tears of happiness as each woman went to a trunk and lifted a lid. She’d been accepted into the family.

  Chapter 12

  Leif was feeling a little overwhelmed at the Cross C gathering this evening. It was great to meet so many nice people, but the noise…he kind of wished he was back on the trail with a thousand head of cattle.

  Dag lightly punched his shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking, but you’ll get used to living in one place and really like it. Always having a roof over your head at night, your pick of food from the pantry or cellar… and a clean dry bed with a loving wife…”

  “I know but,” thinking he still hadn’t talked to Tina yet about their future. It still bothered Leif that the house they could live in had been haunted by Sid’s kidnapping of Rania.

  “I’d say the ladies are happy with Tina and ready for you two to marry.”

  Leif had noticed the women’s group, talking, laughing, being interrupted now and then by one—or several—kids barreling through the house.

  He’d met Cate and her husband, Isaac, her daughter Sarah and her husband, Marcus, and Sarah’s half-sister Faye, who all lived in this big house. Between Sarah’s five young children, and the triplet babies, and Faye’s baby, this house was full with fourteen people.

  Then tonight they added more children to the mix. Reuben and Darcie’s Tate and Amelia, plus Rueben’s older son,
Gabe and his sister Mary were also running around. Adam and Millie Wilerson came from town with them, but they didn’t have any children yet, although little Tate had lived with them when Millie first came to town as a mail-order bride.

  Robby plowed into Leif’s knees before taking off again. Oh yeah. Add Robby, Emma and Oliver to the little people crowd, too.

  “And Cora and Rania will be adding babies to the group soon,” Dag said excitedly before turning to look at Leif.

  “The idea of living in the Larson house still bothering you?”

  “Well, when everyone keeps calling it ‘the Larson homestead’…I can’t help but think of Sam Larson building the house for his mail-order bride Millie, but then he died before she arrived.”

  Dagmar shook his head to disagree. “But, Rania finding Millie’s letters in the house brought Millie and Adam together. Jacob knew Sam Larson, and said Adam was a better match for Millie anyway.”

  “The house is small. Only a front room, kitchen and two small bedrooms. It’s better suited for our parents,” Leif argued.

  “Sam built the house to easily add on a parlor and a second story of bedrooms. We can start work on it next week. Everyone will pitch in, so that’s not a good enough excuse to not live there, Leif.”

  “But our parents…”

  “Fader told me days ago they’d prefer living and working at the Bar E, if it was possible. And it wasn’t just so you would have room for your new family. They’d have a steady income and living quarters at the Bar E, and wouldn’t have to worry about upkeep of their own place.”

  “There’s also the problem of Tina’s brother taking our sister out of that house.”

  “Hundreds of people have and will be walking through that house in the next hundred years. I don’t think it bothers Rania or Tina now, so quit conjuring up roadblocks!” Dag tapped Leif’s shoulder, like he would have liked to knock Leif’s head instead.

  Okay, Leif would consider living in the house if Tina agreed, but there was still one more obstacle he needed to resolve in his mind.