by Prairie Song
And for the better. By leaps and bounds.
21
Caleb dropped the last hoof after cleaning and checking them all for cracks. He had already saddled his Pacer and tied up his bedroll. The doctor said Otto would need to take it easy for a few days to regain his strength, so Anna would be needing help with their work.
Isaac gave a low whistle. “You sure are whippin’ through them chores this mornin’.”
“Like you had a fire under you.” Tiny twisted his head as if to see a fire at Caleb’s feet.
Frank chuckled as he backed the oxen into position in front of the chuck wagon. “He’s in such a hurry I’m surprised he didn’t offer to pay us to do his work.”
“Go.” Boney stood and pushed his flop hat back on his head.
Caleb met his gaze. “You mean it?”
“Yeah.” Boney nodded. “I’ll finish up for you.”
“You’re not coming?”
“Naw, you go on ahead.” Boney waved toward the Goben camp. “She’ll be glad to see you.”
Too anxious to see Anna—all of the Gobens—Caleb didn’t take the time to question Boney further. Instead, he went to the washbasin and scrubbed his hands clean.
“Just one thing, Caleb,” Boney said.
Caleb tucked his shirt into his trousers. “Yes, I’ll tell them you sent greetings, and I’ll let you know how Otto’s doing.”
“Okay, that and one more thing.”
Caleb nodded, finger-combing his hair.
“Anna never once looked at me the way she looks at you.”
So, it wasn’t his imagination. Even before the crisis last night, he was sure he’d noticed something different in her eyes. And definitely Sunday when he’d found her in the pasture.
“Anna is strong, but it don’t mean she can’t be hurt.” Boney’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you be the one to do it.”
“I won’t.” Caleb no sooner made the promise when the few sips of coffee he’d swallowed soured in his stomach. He’d been so determined not to care about a woman or to invite a woman’s affections. Until Anna. Now what was he to do?
Boney should be the one going to check on Otto, Anna, and Wilma. Despite that fact, Caleb’s feet carried him down the line, past the Becks, to the Gobens’ camp. Could’ve knocked him to the ground with a feather when he saw Otto sitting in a cane chair with his feet on one of the rocks circling the fire.
Caleb opened his mouth to speak, but when Otto tilted his head toward the hammock on the far side, he forced his mouth closed. Anna wasn’t up yet. How had she slept through Isaac’s horn blasts? Through the chaos up and down the line? It wasn’t like her.
He seated himself on a chair beside Otto and whispered, “Is Anna all right? She’s not sick, is she?”
Otto shook his head. “I don’t think she gave in to sleep before the sun started peeking over them trees.”
“She was very worried. We all were.” Caleb studied the man’s face for any signs of illness. His eyes were focused this morning. “You sure you should be up so soon?”
“Might feel as weak as a fresh kitten, but no fever.”
“That’s good news. But you don’t think hitting the road today would be too much?”
“I may have to kick my daughter off the seat, but I’ll be ready to go.”
Relief washed over Caleb. He knew Otto well enough to know he wouldn’t want to delay the train, and Caleb didn’t want to leave the Gobens behind. Thankfully, Otto knew he wasn’t well and was willing to ride.
“Just so you know,” Otto drew in a deep breath, “I wasn’t so sick that I don’t remember those freezing sheets you plopped on me.”
“That wasn’t my idea.”
Otto arched his eyebrows. “You think that matters?”
Caleb chuckled, keeping the sound beneath his breath.
“You’re a good man, Caleb. I knew it that day on my porch back in Saint Charles.”
“Thank you, sir.” He was trying to be a good man, if that meant anything.
“But I see trouble in your eyes.” Otto’s face sobered, the lines at his mouth now smooth. “My guess is that trouble latched onto you in the war.”
“Yes sir. It did.”
“That’s your business.” Otto’s eyes narrowed. “My granddaughter is mine.”
“I want to protect Anna too.”
“You’ve grown fond of her.”
He swallowed. “I have, sir.”
“How fond?”
“Probably too fond.”
Anna had all but stopped breathing, trying not to move. Given what she’d just heard, it wasn’t an easy task.
Caleb was fond of her.
She shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that. Not after last night, when he’d sat with her at Großvater’s bedside. The way he’d held her hand, squeezed it. Gone to the creek for a bucket of water and helped her put the chilled sheet on Großvater. The way he’d remained at her side until Großvater’s fever broke and he’d come through the worst of it.
He couldn’t know she was awake, that she’d heard him. Not now, anyway.
But what was she to do? It didn’t seem he intended to go anywhere soon. And while that fact brought her comfort, she desperately needed to make a trip to the latrine. In addition, the sounds stirring in the camps around them told her she was likely the last one out of bed. How long had Caleb been here?
“You’re still asleep, Anna Mae?” Mutter’s voice.
Anna popped her eyes open. “Mutter? You’re up?” Mutter was standing at the wagon, filling the coffeepot from the water barrel.
“Yes, I’m up.”
Lifting herself into a sitting position, Anna looked at the other hammock. “Großvater?”
“He’s up too. Over in his chair, visiting with a guest.”
“A guest?” The acting might not earn her a place on a stage in San Francisco, but hopefully it was enough to convince Großvater and Caleb that she hadn’t overheard their conversation.
“Good morning, Großvater. You are well?”
“For a man who had to drink bitter tea and have a cold sheet draped over him as if he were half-dead, I can’t complain about how I’m feeling this morning.”
He was on the mend if he could pretend he wasn’t complaining when he was.
Anna glanced at Caleb, who had changed his shirt and combed his hair. “Good morning.”
He stood. “Good morning, Anna. I, uh, came to help.”
“Good. Otherwise, he might be tempted to do too much.” She gave Großvater a warning glance.
“I’ll go fetch the oxen and get them yoked.” Caleb took his hat from his knee and set it on his head. “I would invite you to go with me, except, well, you’re still in bed.”
“Oh dear.” Anna jumped up and tugged her sleeves straight. She’d been too tired to change into her dressing gown, so she still wore yesterday’s rumpled clothes.
Caleb, Mutter, and Großvater all chuckled.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” Caleb said.
Anna nodded and smiled at the man who was fond of her.
“Probably too fond.”
What did that mean? He was fond of her and wished he wasn’t? He was fond of her, despite his attempts to guard his heart? Something they’d have in common, if that were the case. Or he was so fond of her that it was too late to turn his heart around, even if he wanted to?
Anna sighed as she stepped onto the wheel and up into the wagon. To save time in her morning ablutions, she’d use the chamber pot instead of making the trek to the latrine.
She, too, had seen the trouble in Caleb’s eyes. What man didn’t come home from the war without bringing at least a measure of trouble with him? Who could witness such horrors—brother killing brother—without it taking a piece of his own heart? His trouble could be overcome.
At least he had returned from the war. At least he had a chance at life. And perhaps she would have a chance too.
22
Anna was up early Saturday
morning, brushing her hair and anticipating Caleb’s early visit. He’d come to their camp the past three mornings since Großvater had taken ill and helped fetch water, yoke the oxen, and pack up camp, and then ate breakfast across the table from her. She glanced at the hand he’d held, remembering the tenderness in his eyes when he told her of Großvater’s illness and the warm surety of his touch when he guided her to Großvater’s sickbed.
If a man’s true character was revealed in his benevolent response to someone else’s pain and need, then Caleb Reger had proven himself a compassionate and admirable man. Anna gave her hair a twist and pinned it on her head. Despite her assertion that she should avoid emotional attachments to tend to the needs of her family, the brown-eyed trail hand from Tennessee was capturing her heart.
“Morning, Otto. Ma’am.” Caleb’s visits could be timed with the first rays of sunrise illuminating the wagon canvas. She liked that about him too.
Anna stepped out over the seat. Four oxen stood at the tongue. Caleb leaned against the wheel, his back to her, but he quickly straightened and turned her direction.
“Good morning, Anna.” He offered his hand.
“Good morning.” Anna set her hand in his, watching as his fingers curled over the top of hers, sending a shiver up her arm and into her heart.
Mutter looked up from the potatoes she was slicing. “Thank you for bringing the oxen again this morning.”
“Yes.” Großvater warmed his hands at the fire ring. “I don’t like needing help, but I appreciate the help nonetheless.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Caleb may have been speaking to Großvater, but it was Anna he looked at as she stepped down from the wagon.
The brown-eyed trail hand had captured her heart. As surely as if he’d lassoed it with Duff Kamden’s cowboy rope.
Mutter stared at their still-joined hands.
Caleb let go. Too soon.
“If you and Anna would like to fetch some water, we could have a full barrel when we roll out,” Mutter said.
“Yes ma’am.” Caleb lifted the pails off the hooks on the side of the wagon and handed one of them to Anna, a smile widening his mouth.
Davonna Kamden waved from the road, apparently on her way to the latrine. The older woman made frequent trips that direction. Anna returned her wave then followed Caleb past the back of the wagon and down to the creek in relative silence. The handle on her bucket squeaked in time with the questions swirling her thoughts.
What was happening between her and Caleb? It seemed God had used Großvater’s illness to bring them together. But she didn’t know that much about him, and there was that matter of the trouble she and Großvater had seen in Caleb’s eyes.
When they arrived on the creek bank, Anna cleared her throat and looked at him. “Sunday, when you came out to the pasture to clear the air?”
“I remember it well.” He bent at the creek and looked over his shoulder at her. “You were singing to the ox. A most inspiring song. ‘Give to Our God Immortal Praise,’ I believe it was.”
“Yes.” Anna stepped closer to him. “One of my favorites, but it really wasn’t for the animal’s benefit.”
“Whatever you say.” That wide grin lit his brown eyes. In the morning sun, they looked the color of her polished walnut jewelry case, where she kept her finest possessions.
Anna moistened her lips, trying to remember where she was going with her initial question about last Sunday. They both knelt at the water’s edge. “That day, I learned you came from Tennessee.”
Caleb looked out at the rocky creek, silent. If he was truly fond of her, she needed to know what troubled him. She knew some about loss and sorrow, and maybe she could help ease his pain.
Anna drew in a deep breath. “When I asked if your parents and your sister were still in Tennessee, you said you didn’t know for sure; that you hadn’t seen them since before the war.”
His face sobered. “I haven’t.”
“If Dedrick had done that …”
His jaw tense, he dunked his bucket into the water, getting the sleeves of his shirt wet. “I’m not Dedrick.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “I know that.”
Caleb set the full bucket on the bank. “Why do you care so much about my family? About my past?”
“Because I’m fond of you too.”
He jerked to face her, his eyes wide. “Fond of me? You were awake. You heard what I said to your grandfather.” It was a statement, not a question.
“I didn’t mean to overhear you. But, yes, I did.”
“Then you also heard Otto say he saw trouble in my eyes.” Caleb took her empty bucket. “Anna, I’m trouble. I didn’t want to care for you, but I do. And now—”
“Now you can help me understand. You’ve been separated from your family since the war, for years. Why wouldn’t you want to see them as soon as possible?”
“It’s thorny, Anna.” He scooped up more water, splashing it over the sides of the pail. “I made mistakes. I did things I’m not proud of.”
She stared at the buckets filled with cool, clear water, all the while sorting through muddied thoughts. What could be so terrible that he’d feel set apart from hundreds of thousands of other soldiers who returned home with regrets?
“I love my family too much to go home,” he said.
She didn’t have to understand to know that fact hurt him deeply. “I’m sorry.”
“I am too.” He stood and cupped her elbow, helping her up.
“Caleb.”
He looked her in the eye.
“I’m glad you care about me.”
He rewarded her with a knee-weakening smile. “We’d better go back. Garrett will be ready for me to read soon, and he’ll wonder where I am.”
Anna smiled. It was unlikely anyone in the camp wondered where Caleb was or where he’d been the past several days. Everyone already knew.
She wasn’t about to complain. They both had past experiences too personal and painful to discuss. Just one more thing she had in common with Caleb Reger.
Garrett couldn’t help but notice the spring in Caleb’s step as he left the Gobens’ camp and headed to the chuck wagon. For a young man who started this journey so sure he was beyond marriage, he seemed to be falling hard for Anna Goben.
Garrett felt a smile tugging at one side of his mouth. Caleb wasn’t so different from him.
“Garrett?”
He jerked his attention back to Caroline’s creamy face and that red curl gracing her long neck. The Kamdens were gathered around the firepit, while he and Caroline stood on the road’s edge.
Caroline sighed, her lips pursed in a contrived reproach. “I was saying that Caleb has been a big help to Anna and her family these past few days.”
“Above and beyond duty, really.”
She raised a thin eyebrow. “Much like you coming around here more often than necessary, perhaps?”
“Who says it isn’t necessary?”
“Not I.” Her demure smile could melt a glacier. “It does my heart good to see Anna and Caleb getting along so well.”
Garrett nodded. “Yes. I suppose we weren’t the only ones who started off on the wrong foot and got over it.”
Caroline laughed. “I’m not saying Anna had as big a challenge as I did.”
He opened his mouth and dropped his chin, feigning surprise and indignation. All to hear her melodious laugh again.
“Capitano! Mi scusi, Capitano.” Mrs. Zanzucchi shuffled toward him with Alfonzo Jr. at her side.
Garrett removed his hat. “Mrs. Zanzucchi. Alfonzo.” He looked from one to the other.
“Good morning, Captain,” the boy said. “Mama needs to speak with you.”
As soon as Garrett nodded, Mrs. Zanzucchi started rattling in Italian. Her hand motions didn’t help him understand any better.
“Mama is very upset,” Alfonzo Jr. translated. “She keeps her silver teapot in a box in our wagon, but last night she took it out to polish it. She set it on the table and w
ent to fetch my brothers.”
More Italian.
“Mama says we have a thief in the camp.”
“I knew it!”
They all turned toward the voice. Davonna Kamden stood at the front corner of the farm wagon.
“I tried to tell you myself, Captain,” she said. “And now it turns out I wasn’t the only one missing things.”
“Ma’am, if I remember correctly, your locket was found. Are you saying you’re missing other things?”
“I’ll have to see about that.” She looked at Mrs. Zanzucchi and shook her head. “In the meantime, what do you intend to do to find this poor woman’s possession?”
“I will conduct an investigation.” He looked at the boy. “I’ll talk to the members of the Company.”
Davonna huffed and wagged her finger at him. “And you should have that Southern man read the Ten Commandments this morning. He needs to read about the sinfulness of stealing.”
Garrett pressed his fingers to his temple, hoping to ward off the headache forming there. “Ma’am, we’ll put that off for another time. I’d prefer to conduct my investigation quietly.”
“Good idea. That way you can surprise the thief … sneak up on her.” Davonna gave Caroline a sideways glance, her eyebrows lifted. “Or him, if it turns out that way.”
Caroline’s crooked smile told him she, too, had doubts about it being a quiet inquiry.
Caleb carried his supper plate to the far side of the campfire and sat on the empty stool between Isaac and Frank.
“I saw you all making the rounds today. Thanks.” Garrett stretched his legs out in front of him, holding his plate at his chest. “Let’s hear what you found out, if anything.”
That morning, he’d told them about Mrs. Zanzucchi’s visit and her missing teapot. He’d given them each a couple of families to talk to, and asked Caleb to make inquiries with the Brenners and the Renglers about missing anything or noticing anyone near the Zanzucchis’ camp Friday evening.
“I’ll start.” Tiny stabbed a bite of ham with his fork. “I talked to both of the Beck couples. None of them reported anything missing. Didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at the Zanzucchis’ camp last night.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t mean Emery didn’t have plenty to say about everything else.”
