Under the Summer Sky

by Lori Copeland

  “Shall I put her sack in the closet?” asked Trinity. Truth be known, she was dying to see what the bag contained—but she could hardly rummage through someone’s personal effects without good reason. If the deed was in there it would be a miracle. She was quickly learning that nothing in Dwadlo was ordinary.

  “No, it’ll be fine here until tomorrow.” Mae paused, her pretty features pinched. “We’re often forced to find Pauline a new home on short notice. I’ll be so thankful when the rest home is ready. All this moving around has to tire a body out.”

  Trinity patted the edge of Pauline’s pillow. “Goodnight, dear. Sleep well.”

  She trailed Mae out of the room and softly closed the door, already hearing soft snores. Jones and Tom sat on the porch, boots propped up on the railing. Fireflies danced about in the waning light.

  A twinge of envy crept over her. Home. What a wonderful place to be. Her room in Sioux Falls wasn’t a house, but a comfortable bed, chair, and washstand made it hers. She’d potted green plants and set them on the windowsill to catch the early morning sunlight. Until now she had been completely content, but seeing Mae and Tom together made her realize how much she still wanted. They had each other and Jeremy and a home where love spilled from every corner.

  Shaking the melancholy thought aside, she trailed Mae to the kitchen and found a large glass of lemonade awaiting her. Jones. He’d poured the drink while she was bathing Pauline. Tears sprang to her eyes. She wasn’t sentimental, but the small act touched her. She had been on her own for so long, so accustomed to taking care of her own needs, that she’d forgotten—or perhaps never known—how small acts of kindness made life easier. If she wanted a drink, she poured it. If she was hungry, she cooked. If she was sick, she made chicken soup. If she was having a bad day, she poured her heart out to Willis, Mrs. Oates’s cat. But there was more to life than that. Her gaze roamed around her comfortable surroundings. Mae had found more to life than working at the post office. She’d found Tom. She’d found love.

  “Looks like the men poured our lemonade.” Mae picked up her glass and drank deeply. Trinity sipped the sweet liquid. “Delicious, isn’t it? Jeremy uses way too much sugar, but…” Mae took another long drink.

  Too much sugar wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Trinity reasoned. Especially for someone who rarely experienced this kind of attention.

  Twelve

  Nodding goodnight to the men, Trinity stepped off the porch steps and started to her room above the café. Twilight turned to dark. Lantern light spilled from the café. The night was so lovely she found herself meandering past her room and further down the road, following the trailing scent of blooming honeysuckle. In the distance she spotted Jeremy running toward town, his legs pumping hard as his long strides ate up the ground. He came to a halt, breathless, as he reached her. “Miss Lil needs help. She’s got problems with the elephant.”

  Trinity started, then stopped dead in her tracks. “We’ll need the men.”

  “No, she said just get you or Mae. She said not to bring any men.”

  Trinity started off again, running now. Why no men? Did Lil think she had the strength to move an elephant? She clearly didn’t know her limitations. There was a stitch in Trinity’s left side now, but she ran harder. How did one control an elephant?

  Jones. They needed Jones, not her.

  They reached Lil’s home and Trinity paused to take in her surroundings. Lil lived in an old shack with a tarpaper roof, and every imaginable object littered the yard. Pigs snorted and scattered. Dogs barked. Cats lined the rough timber railing. She’d never seen such disarray.

  A large shed sat a hundred yards from the house. Lantern light spilled out the open doorway and silhouetted Lil, who was waving to catch their attention.

  “Hurry up!”

  Trinity raced toward the light, Jeremy leading the way. When she entered the primitive building she stepped back. Esau’s massive rump was in her way.

  “I need help,” said Lil, pushing past the mound of gray flesh. “Move it, Esau!”

  The animal didn’t budge. Trinity’s heart raced. She’d never faced anything so massive. The animal’s sheer height snatched her breath away. The elephant was fixed in place, not moving a muscle.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “See for yourself! Git on over, Esau.” She whacked the animal’s rear, but he didn’t budge.

  Peering around the elephant, Trinity spotted a cowering figure, his arms thrown over his head to shield it. A man…

  Her eyes narrowed. “Benjamin! We’ve been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing?”

  “Afearin’ for my life!”

  She glanced at Lil. “Will Esau hurt him?”

  “Naw, but he ain’t above scarin’ him to death.”

  Stepping cautiously around Esau, Trinity crept closer, reaching out her hand to Benjamin. The elephant had him trapped.

  “Oh, help me, Miss Franklin! I’m in a fine mess!”

  “I should say you are. How did you get back there?”

  Lil shouted from the other side of the animal. “I told him he could stay with Esau but I warned him not to crowd him. He don’t like to be cramped.” Bending, she peered through the elephant’s fleshy hind legs and called out. “Did you crowd him? I told you not to crowd him.”

  “I didn’t crowd him! He jest takes more than his share of space!”

  Jeremy’s summons now made sense. Had he brought Tom or Jones they would have had a field day with Lil. It seemed the people of Dwadlo weren’t overly fond of having an elephant parade through their streets. She met Lil’s troubled eyes. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I’m gonna give him a good whack and see if he’ll move back.”

  “Benjamin?”

  “Esau!”

  The elephant shifted and swished its tail. Trinity jumped back.

  “Are you ready?” Lil called.

  She was as ready to have an elephant trample her as she was ever going to get. “I don’t think this is smart. Perhaps the men…”

  “No one’s going to say a word to the menfolk about this. Now when I whack him, you grab his tail.”

  Trinity’s mouth gaped open. Grab his tail? “Then what?”

  “Then let’s hope Esau gets the message and takes a step back—just far enough to get you outta there, old feller.”

  “Jest hurry up!” cried Benjamin. “If that thing takes a notion to charge, I’m a goner!”

  “Esau ain’t gonna charge anything but his supper. Hold on. You ready Trinity?”

  “Jeremy, step outside the shed,” Trinity ordered.

  “But Miss Franklin…”

  “Outside,” she repeated. She might be risking her life for a strange redheaded ruffian she didn’t know a thing about, but she wasn’t risking his.

  Jeremy turned and left the shed, but stayed close enough to keep an eye on the action.

  “I’m ready!” Trinity called. Maybe she wouldn’t need a train ticket back to Sioux Falls after all. This could be the end.

  “Okay! I’m gonna whack him! Benjamin? You ready?”

  “Jest whack the beast and git it over with!”

  Smack!

  Esau surged backward, pinning Trinity to the doorframe.

  “That did it! I’m free!” Benjamin hollered.

  Trinity turned horrified eyes on Jeremy, who was waiting patiently outside. “I’m trapped.”

  “Want me to go get Tom?”

  “No!” If he brought Tom then Jones would come as well, and wouldn’t she look the fool, pinned behind an elephant? As if she hadn’t already made a complete imbecile of herself in front of him.

  Whack!

  The animal lunged and Trinity jumped free, collapsing to the ground in front of Jeremy. Pain seared her right shoulder. Sucking in her breath she struggled to get to her feet with one hand, the throb almost unbearable. The boy gently helped her upright and dusted off her dress. “Are you hurt, Miss Franklin?”

  “No, I…I’m not su
re.” Clamping her eyes shut she fought the white-hot pain radiating through her limb. She’d fallen hard.

  “You sure? Oughta let the doc take a look at you.”

  Lil stepped out of the doorway, followed by Benjamin. The old-timer took one look at her and frowned. “You need a doc, young lady.”

  Cradling the arm, Trinity allowed herself to be led to a nearby stump. After shooing half a dozen pigs away, Lil made her sit down. She examined the arm with a furrowed brow. “I’ll git my doctorin’ kit,” she said finally.

  Stark terror flooded through Trinity. She’d witnessed the tooth pulling ordeal earlier, and she wasn’t about to let this woman touch her. “No. I’ll go to the doctor.”

  “Why? I’ll set it for nuthin’. Doc’ll charge you as much as two chickens and a dozen ears of corn.”

  Trinity had neither chickens nor corn, but neither did she have a death wish. She held firm. “I prefer to let the doctor look at it.”

  If this woman’s doctoring skills matched her dental proficiency, she wouldn’t survive the ordeal.

  The next morning Dwadlo was buzzing with the news of the incident at Lil’s the night before. The doctor had been woken from a deep sleep to set Trinity’s shoulder, and had been none too happy about the interruption.

  Jones brushed his mare, Sue, with a heavy stroke, a grin forming at the corners of his mouth as he thought about the elephant. But the flash of humor quickly faded. Trinity could have been seriously injured, and the old-timer had been lucky to get away with his life. Fact was, Esau was still a wild animal and he needed to be handled with caution.

  He spotted Trinity coming out of the café carrying a wicker basket in her left hand. Her right arm had been lightly wrapped in white gauze. The bandage would come off soon. Guilt plagued him. He’d been a mite hard on her. And the chance of her coming up with a deed to Wilson’s Falls was next to nothing if it involved Pauline. Jones didn’t know why he was still hanging around. He wasn’t using common sense.

  Trinity crossed the street and walked his way. A grin forced its way out and he ducked behind Sue, pretending to focus on the mare’s hindquarters. She paused beside the horse and stood there while he worked. Finally she spoke. “I see you smiling, Jones.”

  Straightening, he forced a stern expression. “What smile?”

  Shaking her head, she rounded the mare to face him. “I wasn’t hurt. The arm is only sprained.”

  “You could have been killed. What were you doing there at that hour? Last I saw you were heading for your room.”

  “The night was so lovely I thought I’d enjoy a short walk. Jeremy came after me and…well, you know the rest of the story. Apparently everyone in Dwadlo does.”

  Chuckling, Jones bent to examine Sue’s left ankle. “So you found Benjamin.”

  “Lil said he could sleep in Esau’s shed, but he’s looking for other quarters today.”

  “Did you mention that I wasn’t any too happy about the fast one he played on me?”

  “No, that’s between the two of you. I have my own problems, thank you.”

  Jones straightened, grinning.

  “Stop that insipid smiling.”

  “Fine, but I’d think you would be happy. Now that you’ve found Benjamin, maybe he can help.”

  “How could he help? He hasn’t seen Pauline in years.”

  “Could be he could get her to remember where she put the deed—if one exists.”

  “From what he tells me she wouldn’t give him the time of day forty-five years ago. I hardly think she would share personal information with him—even if she does remember him.”

  Jones ran the brush over Sue’s glistening hide. “You never know about women.”

  “And you do?”

  “Just enough to say they’re unpredictable. One minute they’re hot to tell you everything they know and the next they clam up and you can’t get the time of day out of them.”

  “You sound as if you’ve dealt with a few.”

  “My fair share.” He glanced up and smiled. “In my business I have to deal with women sometimes.”

  She dropped to a hay bale and set her basket aside. “And otherwise?”

  He frowned.

  “Otherwise—is there someone special waiting for you in Chicago?”

  His hand paused and the grin widened.

  “I merely ask to be civil,” said Trinity. “I’m afraid we began our acquaintance under a strain and it appears to be continuing.”

  “I’m not mad at you.”

  “Nor I with you.” She adjusted her skirts and kept her eyes on the ground.

  She needed something. Jones felt it in his bones. A woman like her didn’t sashay into the livery and make small talk with a man who got under her skin.

  “Really? I think you could have skinned me alive that first day. I didn’t intend for you to go over those rapids. You must know that.”

  “I’m afraid of water. And I don’t like dark, cramped spaces.”

  “Granted, but what about dinner at the Curtises’ the other night? You didn’t much care for my company. It was all you could do to be polite.”

  She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “I don’t believe I said anything rude.”

  “Oh, honey, your eyes said it. Loud and clear.”

  She bristled. “My name is not Honey. It’s Trinity.”

  “I know your name.” He moved to the horse’s mane. “So what’s on your mind this morning?”

  “I’m not going to find the deed within our agreed-upon time.”

  A fact he had already anticipated. “I’m sorry to hear it.”

  “Could you possibly delay…”

  “No, ma’am. The railroad pays me a salary and I’m not earning it hanging around here. Fact is, I’m not supposed to be in Dwadlo at all, but considering I needed Tom’s advice I decided to detour.” The brush paused in its strokes, and Jones rested his hand on the mare’s back. “Tom Curtis knows more about a land’s worth than any man around.”

  “I’m sure he does—but would a delay of another day or two really hurt?”

  He pulled the brush through the mare’s coat absently. “You still have tomorrow.”

  Her thin shoulders slumped with silent defeat. He could have given her more time, but he seriously doubted the deed would be located—if it even existed. Accurate records hadn’t been kept that many years ago, and there were a thousand places to lose those that had been documented.

  “What am I going to do? I think I’m in trouble.” Her wistful inquiry touched a heartstring. What was she going to do? She had no family other than a senile aunt who had outlived everyone’s expectations. She was in a pitiful state, and she had every right to wonder.

  “Look.” He set the brush aside and came around to drop down on the hay bale beside her. She smelled pretty—like the purple hyacinths that bloomed in the spring. “I’ll loan you enough to get back to Sioux Falls. You can pay me back whenever you save up enough that the ticket won’t run you short.”

  “Thank you, but I can’t accept it. Mae and Tom have offered to help as well, but the train ticket isn’t my biggest problem. I can’t walk away and abandon Wilson’s Falls. My ancestors worked too long and hard for me to just give away their sweat and toil. Pauline and I both deserve the funds from the sale.”

  “And if the search proves worthless? How long are you prepared to look?”

  “I couldn’t say.” She lifted troubled eyes to meet his. “I haven’t thought about it.”

  She had spunk. Most females would have hightailed it out of here once they’d been saddled with a senile great-aunt. Jones reached out and tweaked her nose, and then tucked a stray lock of hair into place. “I once had a friend who gave me some sound advice.”

  “And it was?”

  “Take heart—things could always get worse.” He winked. “About that question you asked earlier…”

  She looked up to meet his gaze.

  “The one about whether I have a woman.”

  Sh
e blushed and ducked her head.

  “Were you just being sociable when you asked that?”

  “It’s none of my business,” said Trinity.

  “I don’t have a woman,” said Jones, “but I intend to get one soon.”

  She nodded, her head low. “That’s nice.”

  “Very nice. I’ve worked hard to get her attention.” He sat back, smiling. “It’s going to be a pleasure to win her love.”

  “You’re very smug about it.”

  “No.” He stopped, seeming to think about it. “She’s been giving me the runaround for a year now, but she’s interested. And you? Anyone in your life?”

  She shook her head. “I see a widower who comes into the café every day, but it’s nothing serious.”

  “Does he know that?”

  “We haven’t spoken about our feelings.”

  She stood, carefully gathering her basket. She winced as her arms shifted position.

  Jones focused on the bandaged arm, frowning. “Is the arm giving you much pain?”

  “Some, but it will heal soon. I have to go now.” The conversation had become too personal for her taste. “I’m on my way to find Benjamin and see if he’ll accompany me to Pauline’s.”

  Jones stood and straightened his hat. “Won’t this come as quite a shock to Miss Wilson? She hasn’t seen the man in half a century.”

  “I’m sure his appearance will be like a bolt from the blue—if she remembers him at all.” Trinity met his eyes. “I have one more day, correct?”

  “One more day. And good luck.” He sobered when he thought about the task that lay ahead of her. Not an enviable one for anyone involved. “You’re going to need it.”

  “You’re such an encouragement.” She flashed a smile and he knew that she was warming up to him. For some reason he liked the thought. He picked up the brush and returned to the horse.

  “Hey—Miss Franklin?”

  She turned. “Yes?”

  “Remember to take heart.”

  Nodding, she walked on. He watched her go, hand on Sue’s back, wondering who the lucky man would be who won her heart.

  “Then you’ll come with me?” Trinity had spent an hour searching for Benjamin, looking in alleyways and on the outskirts of town. She’d finally located him half a mile outside of Dwadlo, near the river. He’d been none too happy to have his camp discovered, but Trinity was none too happy that he’d followed her to Dwadlo. As far as she was concerned, she’d evened the score.