Vestige of Courage

by Sara Blackard

  He squeezed his coffee mug to keep from stretching his hand across her shoulders and pulling her to him. “Sometimes more ground can be taken by sneak attacks.” Her forehead crinkled and her head cocked to the side. “We are sneaking up on your foes, Beatrice. Stalking them, per se.” He stood and reached out his hand to help her up. “Today we are stalking. Tomorrow we attack.”

  A large smile stretched across her face as she slapped her hand into his and stood. “I like the way you think, Chase.”

  “I’ll meet you at the truck in five minutes.” He grabbed her mug and pushed her to the door. “I’m taking you on the town, girl. Go put on something different than my ratty sweatshirt.”

  She laughed as she fairly skipped to the stairs. “I happen to like your ratty sweatshirt. I’d be happy to wear it all the time.”

  He swallowed hard and rushed into the kitchen to drop off the coffee cups. “Keep cool. This isn’t a date. You are helping her adjust.”

  He stalked out of the house and headed to his truck. Eddie led a horse out of the barn, a pack tied to the back of the saddle. Chase’s brow wrinkled as he changed course to intercept Eddie.

  “Where you off to?” Chase nodded.

  “I thought since I finished my morning chores that I’d head out and make sure things were fine on the property.” Eddie squinted toward Chase.

  “What kind of ‘things’?” Chase made quotations with his fingers.

  “You know, fences and gates and stuff.” Eddie leaned casually into the horse, patting her mane.

  Chase figured if Eddie didn’t have enough work to do, then Chase may just have to send him packing, and maybe offer Eddie a job next summer. Chase still wasn’t sure what Eddie’s long term goal was, so he felt bad not having enough work to keep him on.

  “Well—”

  The screech of the screen door interrupted Chase. He turned to the house where Eddie stared. Beatrice walked down the porch steps dressed in a dark purple dress with a jean jacket over it. She wore cowgirl boots that peeked out from under the hem, a hem that seemed to twist and twirl with each step.

  Eddie tipped his hat at her and mounted his horse.

  Chase placed his hands on the reins before Eddie could leave. “When you get back, muck out the holding pen next to the barn, please.”

  Eddie saluted and headed out across the meadow. Chase needed to talk to Verne about whether they really needed two ranch hands. He didn’t want to leave Eddie high and dry, but he also didn’t want to pay for an extra ranch hand if they didn’t need one. Especially since Chase wasn’t sure if he would keep ranching or not. If it was up to him, he’d sell all the sheep and be back traveling the world, making his mark one video at a time. He shook his head. Until Beatrice was settled, he couldn’t think of that life, couldn’t let the want of it to drag him down the trail of discontent.

  “I can’t believe all the wait staff had on holsters with actual weapons in them!” Beatrice turned to Chase as they walked out the back of Shooters restaurant into the parking lot. “Is that something I could do?”

  “Yeah.” He smiled at her, an action he’d done a lot today. “Colorado is an open carry state, so as long as you’re eighteen and don’t have a criminal record, you can carry in a holster people can see.” He paused, looking at her with one eye squinted. “You aren’t a criminal, are you?”

  “Chase.” She rolled her eyes, causing him to throw his head back and laugh.

  “You can’t wear it certain places. We’ll have to research it, since I’m not sure where you can and can’t have it,” he continued as they walked through the parking lot to the truck.

  She liked the idea of wearing a holster, even if it wasn’t hers from home. It gave her a sense that maybe things weren’t so different that she couldn’t feel like she belonged. In fact, she liked everything about today so far. While the drive to Rifle had still given her butterflies in her belly, if she focused on how beautiful the trees were with their changing colors and the different houses they passed built back in the fields, the speed didn’t upset her as much. Plus, she couldn’t dispute how convenient it was traveling that distance in less than an hour instead of most of the day.

  Then there was Miller’s Dry Goods, the store Chase had taken her to for clothes. The hardwood floors and smell of leather from boots lining the walls had instantly taken her back to the stores back home. While the clothes were still different from what she was used to, they were more her style than the purple dress she wore now. She peeked at Chase strolling beside her, carrying her bags of clothes. She may feel uncomfortable in the pretty purple dress, but from the way his eyes had widened when she walked off the porch, she might not mind wearing a dress after all. At least every now and then.

  She leaned on the truck as he put the bags in the back seat. She scrutinized the large building before her. On the wall of the building, paintings of windows showed people in different home environments. She moved to the back of the truck, examining each scene closely. Chase came up beside her.

  “What is this building?” She pointed, smiling as she noticed the painting of a little girl and a dog near the base of the building.

  “It looks like it’s a museum. Why don’t we go check it out?” He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the parking lot.

  Instead of letting go when she started walking, he threaded his fingers through hers, ratcheting her heart to an impossible pace. She tried not to let the feel of his hand intertwined with hers affect her, but if she didn’t focus on placing one foot in front of the other, she’d probably land on her face. As it was, her racing thoughts of what he meant by holding her hand had her stumbling over air more than once.

  She took a deep breath and pushed out her smitten thoughts. He might not mean anything more than being friendly. As they rounded the corner, her eyes caught a giant photograph mounted to the side of the building and her feet ground to a halt. Her eyes widened as the face of her pa’s friend, Chief Colorow, hung regally for all to see.

  “What’s wrong?” Chase glanced at her face, then followed her gaze to the photo.

  “That’s Chief Colorow. He’s a friend.” Grief flashed anew as she peered up at him.

  Chase stepped in front of her. “Think you’re up for more than stalking today? Want to hunt our fear head on?” He pointed his thumb toward the museum.

  She peered up into his eyes. They were solemn, with a hint of sadness. She was terrified, wondering if the museum held an onslaught of memories she wasn’t able to make. Yet, as she looked up into Chase’s bright blue eyes, she knew she didn’t have to handle this alone. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the side of his mouth.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “For what?” he asked, his voice low and gravely.

  She stepped back and pulled him down the walk, the embarrassment of what she had just done heating her cheeks. “For helping me. For being here so I don’t have to figure this all out on my own.”

  “Trust me, Beatrice.” He smiled as he stepped up next to her. “There’s no place I’d rather be than right here with you.”

  She tried to keep the joy that burst into her heart in check but knew the ridiculous smile on her face was a dead giveaway. She didn’t care. Quite frankly, she was tired of pushing her emotions down or hiding behind her forced agitation.

  For the next three hours, she shared her awe with Chase at the history that was recorded in the rooms of the huge museum. She laughed out loud at the funny stories about Rifle’s earliest citizens captured in the newspaper through the years. When a photo on the wall proved to be of Viola and Hunter’s family, they both had stood in weighted silence, the air thick with wonder and a bit of heartache. Their intertwined hands had grounded her, kept her from breaking.

  Beatrice sighed as they drove back home, the sunset painting the sky cheerful colors which reflected her emotions. Yesterday her life seemed stripped of all hope. Today her heart beat strong with courage.

  Chapter 14

>   August 2, 1883

  Hey, man. I keep thinking that I should buy up a bunch of property and get in on the expansion that is going on now that the Utes have been moved to the reservation. I see this land being picked up for nothing and think I could turn around in twenty years and make a fortune. Then I think of all the people who are going to be flooding in and how pretty soon towns like Steamboat and Glenwood are going to be booming, changing the dynamic of the mountains I’ve grown to love. I’ve decided I’d rather grab up all the land I can between our place and Orlando and Samara’s and build a legacy embedded into these mountains. Maybe we’ll be able to pass the land from generation to generation, leaving it untouched as possible. I never imagined I’d become such a hermit, but I love being out here with my beautiful wife and growing family.

  Chase couldn’t believe the day before in Rifle had gone so well. Though there had been moments of struggle, Beatrice had pushed through, a lingering grin on her face the entire drive home. He puffed out his chest, a smug smile on his face. He had felt a deep satisfaction late into the night, remembering the way she’d leaned on him. Remembering the feather light kiss she’d given him, hope marching right in to barricade itself in his heart. He touched his fingers to the spot she’d kissed, then he quickly rubbed his chin to hide the motion that revealed his sappy thought. Man, he was a goner.

  He peeked over at her as they took off down the mountain again, this time making another attempt to go into Glenwood. She sat relaxed, watching the cars speed past on the interstate. He inwardly sighed, praying he had done the right thing this time.

  His relief was short-lived as her knuckles tightened on the door handle when the truck approached the onramp. Her breathing sounded shallow and fast over the softly playing music. His quick glance revealed her eyes squeezed shut and her body rigid.

  “Beatrice.” He reached over and touched her shoulder when she didn’t respond. She jerked, her head whipping his way. “Beatrice, honey, why don’t you unbuckle and slide over next to me?”

  She frantically moved her hands to the buckle, nodding her head in agreement. Before the seatbelt had cleared her body, she was sliding over to the middle of the bench seat. She clenched the middle belt and shakily clicked it into place. Chase laced his arm under her arm and threaded his fingers through hers. She shook like a leaf but sighed as she leaned her shoulder against his. He accelerated and merged onto the interstate.

  “I can’t wait to show you the sights of Glenwood.” He squeezed her hand.

  “Really?” Her voice was rigid like her neck as she stared forward through the windshield.

  “Glenwood has a lot going for it. The hot springs attract all kinds of tourists. During the winter, people can ski at Sunlight during the day and soak in the hot pools at night.” He hoped his incessant blabbering somehow took her mind off of the drive. “Plus, Glenwood has a lot of shopping. It even has a hospital.”

  He mentally whacked himself in the head. She didn’t care about hospitals and shopping. He cleared his throat.

  “What was this area like back in your time?”

  Had he really just asked that? He was bombing this whole distract her from the interstate thing. He was supposed to be taking her mind off her time, not throwing it back to there. He chanced a peek at her and witnessed a small smile stretching across her lips.

  “The Yampah springs were glorious to come to.” The wistfulness in her voice was hard to miss. “We’d come down before winter would take its hold and the snow would seclude us in our meadow. It was Pa’s final way of preparing for the winter. He always said the hot water would warm up his bones all the way till spring. Ma would say that was a tall tale if she ever heard one.” Beatrice snorted, shaking her head. “Considering Pa’s legacy, we’d heard a fair amount of tales. I always loved coming down here, though. I’d get to run wild with the Ute children instead of just wishing for someone to play with.” She sighed and shrugged. “The mountain often got lonely with Viola intent on being a mirror of Ma, and Pa and Orlando often going out trapping or hunting, sometimes for weeks at a time. Winter meant more time stuck inside and less time exploring, shooting, and riding horses.”

  She put her other hand over his. Her fiddling with his sleeve cuff sent worms wiggling in his belly. Did she not know how a single touch sent his senses screaming and his heart pumping? He tried to focus on the twisting canyon road, but her soft chuckle had him peeking at her.

  “This one winter, snow came raging down early and buried us in the valley. Ma convinced Pa we should stay, that maybe a warm spell would come and we could make it home. It snowed more that winter than any winter I’ve ever seen. We weren’t able to head home until April.” Beatrice sighed happily, relaxing into the seat next to him. “Those were the best seven months of my life, filled with people and playing. The Utes called me Runs like the Wind, saying I was always rushing here and there with my hair flying out behind me.”

  “That sounds like a winter I would’ve enjoyed.” He slowed around the last curve before the canyon opened up into the Roaring Fork Valley.

  “It was amaz—” Her words cut off with an inward suck of air. “This … where … what happened to the valley?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s … it’s … gone.” She shuddered. “It used to be so beautiful.”

  He looked at Glenwood anew. Houses and businesses stretched as far as one could see, climbing the mountainside and encroaching on the interstate. Traffic rushed nonstop. Compared to how open it must have been when she had been here before, the valley probably seemed overflowing, swamped with invaders.

  “I wish I could’ve seen it.” He squeezed her hand.

  “I wish you could’ve, too.” She gave him a small, sad smile.

  He didn’t want her to be melancholy. Especially after she just conquered the interstate. He pulled onto the off-ramp, grinning like a fool.

  “You realize you just bested the beastly interstate, don’t you?” He peeked at her as he waited for his turn at the roundabout.

  Beatrice glanced around, her eyes wide and a toothy smile spread across her face. She let out a loud whoop and hugged his arm close. She slumped back with a huge sigh.

  “Thanks, Chase. You always seem to know just how to turn my focus.” She looked up at him, her voice thick with emotion.

  Her praise filled him with a sense of calm. Maybe he didn’t know the right way to act in certain situations. Maybe he would always feel like he fumbled with his words around her. Yet, he couldn’t negate that he was helping her. Maybe he’d be able to keep his promise to Hunter after all.

  “Do you believe in fairies?” He pulled into the roundabout.

  She snorted incredulously. “Fairies? No, no I don’t.”

  “Well, sweetheart, what you are about to experience might just change your mind.” He smugly grinned at her. “Plus, you are in for the ride of your life.”

  “I don’t know if I should ask what you are up to or not.” She shook her head and settled closer to his side.

  Beatrice didn’t know it, but Chase just decided she was right where she was meant to be. He would do everything possible to keep her there by his side. He wondered if Zeke was in the market for a Shelby, because the pick-up truck was his new favorite mode of transportation.

  Beatrice barely registered her surroundings as she and Chase entered the next destination on his list of places he wanted to show her. How could she when her mind was busy replaying the morning? How she’d soared out over the canyon like an eagle on huge swings and rushed down the mountain on a ride called a coaster at the Glenwood Caverns, or the fairy caves as Chase called them. She covered her mouth to keep from laughing at how she’d told him she’d already explored the caverns with nothing but a torch and some friends when she was younger. His pout was so silly she had half-heartedly agreed the caves were impressive with the lighting the owners had put in. She may have left out that they were much more thrilling to explore the way she had.

  She wan
dered the store as Chase marched up to the counter. The sulfur smell that hung thick in the air flooded her mind with memories of swimming in the Yampah with her family. She thanked God that the memories didn’t pinch as horribly as they had before. She prayed that He would continue to turn the pain of the past into sweetness.

  She shook off the reflection and focused again on the morning. She remembered getting her first look at the valley from the box that transported them up the mountainside. It was amazing how the valley had transformed. As far as she could see out the window, the Roaring Fork that once lay empty except for the teepees of the Utes now was so full of people, she could hardly see bare ground. Noise of the vehicles, so deafening and never ending, had her wondering if people ever wished for silence. Did the vast city ever quiet?

  When she had questioned Chase, he’d laughed at her, saying Glenwood wasn’t really a city. That made her start to wonder what Denver and Chicago, and all the cities she’d visited with her family, would be like now? Part of her itched to go find out. Most of her feared what she’d find. She figured she’d take Chase’s advice and stalk this time period and smaller locations a bit more before braving the larger cities.

  “Here. The locker room is just down that hallway.” Chase pointed as he handed her a stack of clothes. “I’ll meet you right out these doors. This won’t be as thrilling as the Haunted Mine Drop, but I hope you’ll like it.”

  She swatted him before heading down the hall, walking backwards. “I hope it’s nothing like the mine drop.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows before heading the opposite direction. She had hated that ride with its hundred-and-ten-foot drop into the belly of the mountain. Her stomach sank again just remembering the free-falling sensation. She wasn’t normally a screamer, but she sure had let one loose on that ride.

  She turned the corner into the locker room, her stomach dropping for an entirely different reason. Before her were women and children in different states of undress. She quickly lowered her eyes and dawdled forward. With her head down she tried to figure out what they were doing. Her breathing quickened as the echo of the room magnified the laughter and loud voices. She continued further into the space and turned another corner. The lack of clothing got worse the farther in she ventured. She quickly jumped into an empty alcove and pulled the curtain closed that draped over the opening.