She smiled up at him. A beam so brilliant it nearly took his breath away. “Ah, dear Hannah. She’s so very smart. You know that don’t you? She knows her letters and is starting to read. And talk, goodness, she’ll talk your socks off if you let her.”
He grinned. “And do you let her?”
“Of course. I encourage all of our youngsters to explore their world. I told you, I also teach school here, didn’t I?”
He shook his head. “No, you didn’t mention it.”
“Oh well, Deadwood is a hard place to raise children and you have it even harder, trying to raise them out on that creek, which is more of a river than a creek. She has a good friend in Gemma.”
“Um, Lily Sutter’s daughter?” Liam tried to keep up with Eleanor’s chatter. She changed subjects mid-stream with no warning. Yes, she tended to ramble, but he found it refreshing. He found her refreshing.
Mary had been anything but a chatterbox, preferring to keep everything inside. He’d tried so many times to get her to talk to him about what bothered her. She refused. Always said everything was fine. He wondered now how long she’d really been sick before she died.
“Yes, the girls have been spending Saturdays together while your brother helps Lily in the store. Of course, you already knew that.”
“I hadn’t realized it was a regular occurrence. Miss Smith, I’ve been gone for more than three months, I’m sure there are many things about my family I don’t know, so please continue. Enlighten me.”
“Well,” she paused and took a breath. “Your brother Zach is trying to court Lily Sutter but she’s not having any of it. She told me that although Gemma is the best thing that ever happened to her, she’s not falling for another handsome face.”
“Zach will be pleased to know she thinks he’s handsome,” he said dryly.
She cocked her head for a moment deep in thought. “Yes, I suppose he would get that impression. Good looks seem to run in your family, so I’m sure it’s something you’ve heard before.”
“It’s gratifying to know you think so.”
“Oh, don’t act so surprised,” she admonished him. “You must know how handsome you are.”
“It’s not something I think about much.”
“Well, I should hope not. That would make you exceedingly conceited, now wouldn’t it?”
“Yes ma’am. I guess it would.” He smiled. She was feisty. He liked that in a woman.
Liam ignored the stares he got as he carried Eleanor through camp to the doctor’s office. He didn’t much care what people thought of him. They got some raised eyebrows, some guffaws and knowing glances. In Chinatown, the Celestials simply got out of their way and looked the other direction rather than directly at them.
They arrived at the doctor’s cabin, a small building made out of logs and held together with mud. There was a window in the door and one to the left side of it.
Liam lightly kicked the door a couple of times with the toe of his boot.
“Doc? Doc Cochran? You in there?” he called out.
“Coming, coming,” called the doctor just before he opened the door. “What is it?” he questioned grumpily.
“Hello, Doctor Cochran,” said Eleanor with a little wave of her free hand, keeping the other wrapped securely around Liam’s neck. “I seem to have sprained my ankle. Mr. Anderson was kind enough to bring me here.”
“Well, come in,” said Doc, holding the door wide open so Liam could carry Eleanor in. “Put her right there.” He pointed at the table in the middle of the room. “Now, let’s have a look.”
The doctor grabbed a button hook out of a drawer in his desk, unbuttoned Eleanor’s boot and gently took it off.
“How does it look, Doc?” asked Eleanor.
“It’s a good thing your boot buttoned up. I’d have had to cut it off otherwise. But it did keep the swelling down,” he let her boot fall to the wooden floor. “You won’t get that shoe back on now.” He ran his fingers over the ankle, gently pressing as he went.
“Oww. That hurts,” said Eleanor, trying to pull her foot away from the doctor’s probing fingers.
“Yes, I’m sure it does,” said the doc wearily. “But you have well made boots so at least nothing is broken. You’ve got a good sprain and you’re going to have to stay off of it for a few weeks. Then you can start to put weight on it again. Keep it up as much as possible for the first week, and if you can get ice to put on it, if not then just cold creek water, that will help keep the swelling down, too.” Doc wrapped her ankle snugly, but not too tight, with a long strip of cloth. “This will keep the swelling down and give you a little support, but not enough to walk on.”
“How am I supposed to do my work if I can’t walk? For that matter, how am I supposed to get home?” asked Eleanor, a bit of a whine in her voice.
Doc rolled his eyes at her melodramatics. “I’ll give you a pair of crutches, closest to your height, which will allow you to get around your father’s tent, but as to seeing the girls at The Gem, you’re going to have to put off those visits for a while. I’d rather not see you trying to navigate through the muddy streets on crutches.”
“And how am I going to get home, if I can’t navigate the streets on crutches?” asked Eleanor in a fit of pique.
Liam knew she was in pain and was surprised how well she was taking it all. “I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head. “You can’t be carrying me everywhere. We’ve already started tongues wagging just by your carrying me here.”
Liam shrugged. “As long as they’re talking anyway, let’s give them something more to talk about. You’ll have to carry your crutches, your boot, and my steaks, so it’s not going to be as stable as if you had your arms around my neck, but we’ll manage.”
He swept her into his arms. Doc handed her the crutches, her boot and Liam’s package of steaks, then held the door open for them.
“Remember to keep it elevated,” Doc Cochran called in their wake.
“I will Doc. Thanks.” Eleanor said over her shoulder.
Liam walked back through camp to the reverend’s tent.
Eleanor was quiet, something she hadn’t been before.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I’ve never had to depend on someone like this before…and…and I hurt.”
“I know it hurts. I wish it didn’t. But please don’t cry. Sometimes we have to depend on others. It happens to us all at one time or another. We might have to depend on family or friends to take care of us or our children. We depend on them to help us through the dark times. The times we struggle.”
She sniffled. “You’re right, of course. And I’m much stronger than this. I’m just feeling sorry for myself. Ah, here we are.”
Liam stopped before a huge tent. “You live here with your father? Alone?”
“Don’t let the size of the tent fool you. We also use it for Sunday services. It can get quite crowded.”
“I imagine it can. If you’ll hold the flap I’ll take you in. We should get you in bed with your foot up as soon as possible.”
Eleanor sputtered. “You…you can let me d-down here. I can go in on my own.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t even know how to use the crutches. I’ll show you and speak to your father.”
“No.” She practically shouted it. “Um, I mean, that won’t be necessary. I’ll explain to father.”
Liam looked down at her and saw fear. “Now why would you be afraid to tell your father what happened, I wonder?” He narrowed his eyes at her in understanding. “You aren’t supposed to be going into The Gem are you?”
She sagged in his arms. “No. I’m not. I’m supposed to leave the ladies who work there alone. It’s an arrangement my father made with Mr. Swearengen, so we could have the corner where the tent is for our services.”
“So why do you do it if it’s only going to make your father and Mr. Swearengen angry?”
<
br /> He set her down on her good leg at the tent opening.
“They need me. They need some encouragement. They need to know that their lives matter and that they have choices.”
“It seems to me if the ladies wanted to come to church, they would. Surely, Mr. Swearengen wouldn’t stop them.”
“Well, yes, I suppose that’s true, but very few of them come and they all need saving.”
“Seems to me, you should concentrate on teaching the children and let your father do the saving. The children need to be educated so they don’t end up in the same straits as the men and women in The Gem. They aren’t all there by choice you know. Most of them didn’t have any other avenue open to them because they have no education. So you need to give other children the choice. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. You’re right, of course. You sound like my father.”
“I sound like any father of a daughter, as headstrong as you are. I’m glad you ran into me. Now maybe you’ll listen to your father and leave the soul saving to him.”
“But of course,” she said. Then muttered under her breath. “Until my ankle heals.”
“I heard that.”
“Well, so what?” she asked defiantly. “I’m thirty-two years old, Liam Anderson, long past the marriageable age and long past the age where I let my father tell me what to do.”
She stood on her left leg, her right leg bent at the knee and her toe lightly resting on the ground. Hopping on one foot, she turned and opened the tent flap.
Liam held the flap open for her and took her boot from her.
She placed the crutches under her arms and froze.
“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted.
Liam stood in front of her. “Put your weight on your left foot and then place the crutches forward the distance of one step. Not too far.”
She did as he said, perhaps even a short step.
“Now lean on the crutches, let them hold your weight, and hop forward landing on your left foot. Keep your right leg bent and off the ground.
She tried and lost her balance but Liam was there to catch her. She tried again and though awkward, she moved forward about a foot.
Liam got her a chair. “Here, you sit and watch me.”
He walked, using the crutches, up and down the aisle between the rows of chairs set up for the Sunday services. There were five rows of seven chairs on each side of a main aisle. The back of the tent was curtained off and he guessed the living space for Eleanor and her father was behind it. He hadn’t been in the ‘church’ before and was amazed that so many people would attend in a camp like Deadwood, where every sin known to man was practiced with impunity.
He turned his attention back to Eleanor. “There, you have the idea. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, I think so.”
He handed her the crutches.
She took them and used the long sticks of wood with handles and a curved piece that went under her arms to help her stand. Then she walked up and down the aisle just as Liam had done.
“I think you’ve got it,” exclaimed Liam.
She beamed at him. That same brilliant smile that transformed her face from pleasant to absolutely beautiful. For a moment he was mesmerized.
“Mr. Anderson? Liam?”
He gave a small shake of his head to clear it. “Well, you, uh, should be able to get around fine in here. I’d listen to the doc if I were you, and not venture out until your ankle heals some.”
“I will. It’s only a couple of weeks.”
“What about the children? Do they come here for school?”
She nodded and practiced using the crutches while she spoke. “They do. Speaking of school, why haven’t David and Hannah been coming? It would be good for them both. They need the companionship as well as the education.” She turned a little too quickly, lost her balance. Liam caught her…again. “Oh my! I do seem to wind up in your arms a lot today. You must forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive. I’m glad I can be of service. As to David and Hannah, as you know I’ve been out of town. I’ll right the situation when I get back home.” He looked down at her, but not far. She was tall and fit perfectly against him. Though slender, he felt all her curves and his body did not fail to respond. He had to get out of here before he disgraced himself or scared her to death. “Well, I best be going.”
“Yes, well, um, thank you. I appreciate all you did for me today. I’m sure no one else would have gone out of their way like you did today and they certainly wouldn’t have carried me to the doctor and back. That was very gallant of you.”
He picked up his package of meat. “Perhaps I’ll see you again when I come to camp or at least when I bring the kids for school. Today is Friday, do you think you’ll be ready to teach on Monday?”
“I think I will but won’t I see you on Sunday for services?”
“No.” His voice was louder and more forceful than he intended. “I don’t go to church.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. “I’d forgotten.”
“Goodbye, Miss Smith.”
“Ellie. Please, after today, I’d say we’re close enough for you to call me Ellie.”
“Very well, but I think I’ll call you Eleanor. It’s much more dignified. I’ll see you on Monday. Eleanor.”
She smiled. His day got immediately better.
“Until Monday.”
Liam turned on his heel and walked out of the tent before he gave into the temptation to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He doubted the outspoken Miss Smith had ever been kissed. At least not how he intended to do it. It would be fun to teach her how to kiss and so much more.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Miss Smith needed wooing and marriage, neither of which he was interested in. Or was he? Was he prepared to put the past behind him? He knew Mary would want him to continue living. Want him to provide a mother for their children. Someone they could come to when he wasn’t around. Someone to help Hannah with all the girly things he couldn’t. But could he let go of Mary? Let go of the pain? He definitely had some serious thinking to do.
CHAPTER 3
Liam rode up the creek to his campsite, arriving there at dusk. The boys, as he referred to his brothers, should be done for the day and getting ready to start dinner. He’d be there just in time.
As much as he didn’t look forward to sleeping in the tent again, he’d do anything for his children, and giving them a new life was the best he could do right now. As he rounded the corner to the site he was amazed to see a large cabin where his tent had been.
He dismounted and walked the last fifty feet in awe, trying to take in the changes.
“Daddy!” Hannah was the first to see him. She ran to him and launched herself at him. He dropped the package of steak, caught her and wrapped his daughter in arms that ached from not having her to hold. Lord, he’d missed her, missed these hugs. He held her tight while she placed sweet baby kisses all over his face. Lord, she’s grown. So much in so little time.
“Pumpkin, did you miss me? I missed you so much.”
“I did Daddy, but Uncle Zach, Uncle Jake and Aunt Becky all took turns reading to me and Davie at night. And Aunt Becky held me when I cried ’cause I missed you. I’m so glad you back.”
Her little arms wrapped tight about his neck nearly strangling him but he didn’t mind at all.
“Hannah, stop choking Daddy,” said David, who was now at his side, hugging him.
“Hi, son,” said Liam. It was all he could get out without tearing up himself. He held David with one arm and Hannah in the other. Together they made their way toward the house.
“Well, brother, you’re back early. Glad to have you home,” said Zach walking up to him. “Jake and Becky should be by shortly. How do you like the cabin?”
“It’s wonderful,” said Liam. “It’s not a cabin but a house. It’s so big.”
“Well, it has to be, we’re all living in it until my cabin gets built. Winte
r was just too harsh and we knew if we didn’t build it soon, it would only get harder and colder, so it only took us about two months. Come on in and warm up. There’s a fire going.”
Liam unwrapped Hannah’s arms from around his neck, set her on the ground, then picked up the package of steaks. “Here, these are for dinner.” He handed the meat to David. “I thought we could all use a good meal,” he said to Zach.
“Great. We’ve been eating a lot of fish and Jake has killed a deer or three. So we’ve had meat, but not beef. Not in a very long time,” said Zach.
Liam walked into the cabin. It wasn’t fancy, but to him, it was beautiful. In the main room, directly in front of him across from the door, was a big fireplace. A kitchen was off to the left. A large table with chairs on either side and at each end, stood in front of the fire. There was no stove in the kitchen, so it appeared they still cooked over the fire. That was all right, the next thing Liam would get for them would be a cook stove.
To the right of the fireplace was a sitting room with two comfortable-looking stuffed chairs and a rocking chair. Also, there were two cots one on each side of the room, with a real glass window in the wall between them.
A curtained doorway from the main room led to the bedrooms. He walked through it and saw a short hall with a doorway on each side and one at the end, all curtained off.
“There are bedrooms for you, me and one for Jake and Becky. Theirs is at the end. I figured they needed the most privacy,” Zach rolled his eyes at Liam in a knowing way. “The kids sleep on the cots in the front room.”
Liam understood perfectly. He’d been young and in love. He and Mary couldn’t get enough of each other when they were first married. The times were so few and far between, whenever he’d come home on leave they barely left the bedroom.
Even now there was still some pain when he thought of Mary, of their life together. How things change. He never would have brought Mary here, to Deadwood. Never would he have put her through these kinds of hardships, and yet, he’d always expected her to pull up stakes and travel to whatever fort the Army sent him to. And she did it with no complaint. She never complained about anything. Or talked to him about anything really. The last years, there were the kids and his work, her volunteering, and that was about all. Nothing personal between them. So what was it he really missed? Was it Mary or just that she was his wife and had been taken from him. He hadn’t thought about any of this until now.
Liam Page 3
