by Kari Trumbo
He gazed down the street. “I deliver things. I have a large wagon and a team of oxen. People hire me to deliver important, heavy goods.”
“Sounds interesting. What is the most important thing you’ve ever delivered?” She smiled and put her hand between them on the swing.
Josiah stood and brushed off his jeans, as if she’d gotten too close to him. “I’ve got to be getting home, Miss Penelope. When can I see you again?”
She blinked and her mouth fell ajar. “Tomorrow. I’ll wait for you right here on the porch. If you aren’t too busy, that is.” Her eyes looked down at the seat he’d just vacated.
“I’ll be here, but it might be later in the evening. I’m sorry to be in such a rush tonight.” He tipped his hat and strode off the porch in the direction he’d come from, not bothering to look back.
For a man who cared so much about her, he certainly had trouble making time for her. Especially after being in jail for almost three weeks. Something still felt off, or rather, the strange feeling of dread had heightened the longer he’d sat next to her. He was up to something, and she’d find out what.
~~~
Josiah scrubbed his hand down his now clean face. She’d prodded a little too much for comfort. He should have thought ahead and had a ready response for every question, but his Penny had never asked questions about his job before today. She’d just been his pretty Penny: spunky, energetic, and strong-willed. He’d loved everything about her. This new inquisitive side, brought on no doubt by her lack of memories concerning him, just wouldn’t do. He’d have to think up some stories and quick, feed them to Mable, and then disappear for a little bit and either let Penny remember or learn to love him as he was now.
But what if she doesn’t like the new you? A voice nagged him in the back of his mind. Why couldn’t you just tell her? He shook his head. Telling her would not work. She may not agree with what he was doing, no matter how right he thought it was or how dangerous. He only had to do it for another few months anyway. After that, he’d go back to the safety of just delivering farm equipment and other heavy goods. He couldn’t lose his Penny again over a little secret. A secret is the same as a lie. It does the same damage. He shook the voice from his mind.
Beau fell into step next to him. “Does she remember anything yet?”
“No, not a thing. I’d wondered where you went.” Josiah looked over at the man who never had much to say.
“Nowhere special. I took care of the problem for you. I’m sorry he was faster than me.” Beau shook his head.
“Not your fault. I’m just glad you were there and that you remembered who Shorty was. I don’t think anyone even saw you that night. Course, they didn’t see him either, or I wouldn’t have been in jail. What did you do with him?” Josiah led Beau up the stairs to his father’s home. His own would be finished in a few weeks. He’d bought it in preparation of his marriage to Penny.
“He had an unfortunate accident with a mud wasp hill.” Beau looked away.
Josiah winced. “Remind me never to make you angry.”
“I didn’t do anything but slow him down. The wasps did the work. Penny’s always been nice to my sister.”
“Is he…?” Josiah sat at his table and motioned for Beau to join him.
“No, but he isn’t going anywhere for a while, either. I wanted him to be close to home when the judge comes to town. So, how are we going to get Miss Penny to remember? Mable arranged for the delivery for you in a few hours mixed with some pallets of flour. That should be a good cover.”
“Hmmm, flour. If we sprinkled them with flour dust, they may just be able to ride like normal. We could hide them in plain sight.” Josiah scratched his chin.
“It’s your call. You’re the boss. You getting tired of hiding?” Beau’s head remained lowered and Josiah wondered briefly if he truly had Beau’s loyalty.
“I can’t be tired of hiding until I’m done with the job I agreed to do. I’ll think about the flour shower. None of us need to be seen leaving town. If the dust was enough to prevent anyone from recognizing Shorty the night he came into the sweet shop, then it’s enough to keep anyone from recognizing us tonight.”
“Except no one else around here drives a heavy team of oxen. You hired me to take the heat off for you. I don’t see why you don’t just have me do it. I can handle oxen, and I know the way to Rocks Peak.”
“This is my life we are talking about. I have four more of these deliveries to make before they contract someone else. They never keep the same person for long. I need to make sure all of them are done and done right.”
“Who contracted this job?” Beau asked, finally looking up.
“I can’t tell you that yet. I don’t want you to know more than you have to. Obviously, it isn’t safe.”
“Hey, I’m not like you. I don’t have anyone special to come home to.” Beau looked away bitterly.
“When we get back, I think you should take some time and fix that situation. You’ve got money tucked away. There has to be a woman out there for you.”
“Nope. I was meant to be on my own. Let’s get ready to finish this job, then we only have three to go. As soon as my pa feels better, I want to get back on the road. I’ve stuck around here too long as it is.”
“Well, why don’t you consider staying around? You’d have a job with me for as long as you’d want one.”
Beau looked from right to left, not even calm enough to relax within Josiah’s home. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t normally stay in one place long enough to make house.”
Josiah laughed. “Well, put the idea under your hat and let it set for a while. You can give me an answer when these dangerous jobs are done.” He stood and reached above a framed picture, dragging a key from the top. He was careful not to touch the edge of the picture so the dust would remain intact. If he was careless and touched the front of the frame, he’d have to find a new place to hide the key. His sister had harped on him to clean the place, and he would, in a few months, when this was done and he moved to his new house.
Beau stood and followed him. “How are we going to get out of town in broad daylight when you aren’t supposed to leave? Do you really think a bit of flour will work? I’d think that would make the curious look harder.”
“For a man who could use a mud wasp hill as a means to keep a man around, you have very little imagination, friend.” Josiah pulled his Stetson low over his forehead and sauntered toward the small stable in his back yard where he kept his four oxen. He lived on the very outskirts of town, so only the two houses on either side of him would get a good view of what he was up to until he was far enough away that it wouldn’t matter. There was also the chance that most people would think it was his father. They were of similar build, the most notable difference from afar being his father’s uneven walk.
He took his time and hitched the oxen while Beau, using a pulley, loaded the heavy crates of flour on the giant two-wheeled cart. The wheels were six feet in diameter and six feet apart, making for a good, stable means of conveying a heavy load.
“You sure you want to flour everyone, or should I just leave the space in the middle open like usual?”
Josiah stopped hitching the oxen for a moment and thought. “It might be best if we just hide them. I don’t know what they’ll be wearing and I don’t want anyone to stop and question us, being as I’m not supposed to leave town and all. But you have to admit, it was a good idea.”
Beau nodded and said no more, loading the heavy cart with stacked fifty-pound bags of flour so that the center was empty of goods but also so that it would not fall and hurt anyone.
“Cart’s loaded.” Beau climbed up to his seat and pulled his rifle from under it. He checked it over quickly and carefully put it back under the seat. Josiah sat next to him and they both knew that this could be the most difficult trip they’d had yet.
“To the cabin?” Josiah looked to Beau.
Beau pointed ahead. Josiah flicked a light whip just over th
e heads of the oxen and held the lines tight. The crack set them to moving. The cart was heavy, but not as heavy as it would be in a few hours.
Chapter Eight
“Lillian? What do you think of this one?” Penny pulled a light floral cotton dress from the trunk at the end of her bed and held it over herself with her one arm.
“I think you’ll freeze in the evening in that, unless you have a heavy shawl, but then you’ll cover the dress anyway.” Lillian twisted her lips in thought. “How about the green velvet? It is warm enough for the cool weather and it feels buttery soft…not that he should be touching you.” She looked away and turned pink.
“Why, Lily? What do you know of a stolen touch?” Penny had a flash behind her eyes and she imagined a tanned hand reaching out and gently touching her arm, just below her elbow. A steady warmth spread from the contact, and she felt a need to move closer to whomever the hand belonged to. She tried to focus up the arm, to see the face, but the memory faded as quickly as it came. Penny sighed and sat on her bed, her head slumped.
“What is it, Penny?” Lillian sat next to her.
“It feels like I will never remember. I understand why the Lord would suppress my memories of that night, but why would I lose Josiah? I just don’t understand.”
“At the sweet shop last week, I read in the newspaper about a man in Austria, I think Freud was his name, theorizing about how the brain thinks and works, but really, we don’t know. Only the Lord knows why things happen. Perhaps he wanted you both to start over? Maybe you missed something along the way, and He is giving you another try. It’s like you get to go back in time.”
Penny rubbed her shoulder. “I feel so empty sometimes. As if what I lost was so great, it took a huge piece of myself along with it.”
“I can’t say anything to make the memories come back, and I can’t do anything to make you feel better, but I can be here for you.” Lillian handed Penny a delicate handkerchief with PSH embroidered on the corner. She dabbed her eyes and put it in the pocket of her gown.
“All my dresses are about the same and changing is such a task with my arm as it is. Thank you for humoring me, Lillian, but I think I’ll just keep on what I have. I feel all fluttery inside when I think about seeing Josiah again. That is a good sign.” She attempted to smile.
Lillian chewed her bottom lip. “I wish I could stay and be here when he arrives, but James has asked me to come over for dinner tonight. I do so love to see him with his family.”
“I can imagine. Soak up as much of that as you can so that you can pass that feeling on to your own children…and little David.”
“Baby David is so easy to love. James dotes on him and somehow, I find that so completely arresting. I could watch him with his son for hours.”
Penny tossed her head back and laughed. “Why, Lily Donaldson, I do declare you are in love with that handsome man.” She could feel her smile from her head to her feet. Lily had waited so long for happiness and love, which made it all the sweeter.
“Josiah won’t be here for a few hours. Last night, he came just after the supper hour when I was cooling off on the porch.”
“You won’t need to cool off tonight. You might even have to invite him in by the fire.” Lily stood and folded the floral gown, placing it carefully back in the trunk.
“Somehow, I know that we usually sat outside. I don’t think Josiah likes the indoors much. I don’t know how I know that. It’s just a feeling.”
“Well, at least you have that. I must get going. If you need anything at all, please let me know. I know you stood up for me with James when we weren’t sure of his intentions. I would never hesitate to do the same for you.”
“I know, and I may need to take you up on that at some point.” She looked away. “Right now, I need to figure him out on my own.”
Lillian nodded and picked up her hat, securing it with a pin to her hair. “I’ll be at the chapel until James comes to get me. I hope you have a good evening.” Her eyes twinkled as she left the room.
Penny closed her eyes and tried to focus again on her arm, but she couldn’t draw the feeling back to her. Perhaps if she could get Josiah to touch her arm…but he wouldn’t. He jumped away from her earlier and she’d only laid her hand next to him. She shook her head. How can I possibly start all over again? How can I keep these vague feelings from getting in the way? How do I know if they are true or false? She frowned and went downstairs, picking the large family Bible from the mantle. She turned to John chapter ten, where she’d been reading the last few days to calm her raging heart. Her finger ran over the small words to find her place in verse fifteen. ‘As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.’ “It doesn’t matter what I remember or not―the Father knows me.”
She looked down and read the passage again. A calm rested over her. The small clock on the mantle ticked loudly and she looked up at it. It was just before 2:00. She had a lot of time to think about this evening and what she would say and ask of Josiah, but she wasn’t afraid anymore.
~~~
Josiah steered the oxen through the trees of the dense evergreen forest that abutted Cutter’s Creek and lay between the small town and the Big Horn Mountains just to the north. Josiah walked next to the oxen, carrying his goad over the rough patch of terrain. He held the whip in front of the team and they slowed to a stop at the edge of the forest. A great clearing lay before them, with one solitary cabin at the center. It looked abandoned, but that was exactly as it should be. Josiah looked at Beau up on the wagon. He nodded back to Josiah and took the gun from underneath the seat. He stood and searched the nearby forest from his high seat, craning his neck from left to right. Josiah held his breath as Beau looked all around and then climbed down to walk around the whole clearing. When Beau was no longer in view, Josiah listened for any noise in the forest. Animals would have been scared by the sound of the cart and would be long gone. Any noise he heard would be unfriendly.
As silently as Beau left, he returned and nodded at Josiah. He pulled gently on the ear of the ox next to him and the cart rolled into the open area slowly. Josiah whistled low and then made the sound of a mountain bluebird. A crow called back to them. Beau and Josiah exchanged glances and walked closer to the cabin.
When they reached it, the door opened a crack. The darkness kept them from seeing anything. The oxen twitched their ears, as if they knew noise was dangerous. This part was always the most nerve-wracking―standing out in the open, unable to tell if anyone watched you.
A deep voice whispered softly from the door. “Thine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
Josiah whispered back. “We carry no swords, only shields.”
The door opened for them. Josiah and Beau rushed inside and closed the door behind him. Both men stood by the door and waited for their eyes to adjust to the gloom. The windows were purposely left filthy so that no one could see out and no light could come in.
“We were gettin’ a mite worried you’d forgotten us. One mo’ night and we’s told to walk on. I was’n sure how I’d do it. Cori’s sick.” He pointed to the corner where a woman lay on a pallet of rags. She shivered even in the warmth of the afternoon.
The man, whom Josiah could now see, was deeply scarred in the face and hands. The whites of his eyes gave stark contrast to the dark skin of his face.
Josiah frowned. “It isn’t safe for you to stay here another night. You’ve been here long enough for anyone wandering by to see movement. Do you think you could help her into the cart?” He looked out the window, seeing that the autumn sun had dipped lower on the horizon.
“I don’t know how she will travel. I don’t know that she’ll make it. Can we wait just a few hours?”
Beau shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest. He cleared his throat. “I had a feeling you shouldn’t have come, Josiah. If we don’t get these people to safety, they could be caught. If you aren’t back by the time Penny expects you, you will
be. Is it them, or you?” Beau stared at him hard.
Josiah turned away. The choice was easy. Though these two had their freedom, they still weren’t free. There were small settlements where they were accepted, which is where Josiah took them. Anywhere in between was dangerous for both parties.
“I’ve got to get them to Rocks Peak. Mable has a contact there who will take them in until they get settled. I’m sorry. We’re going to have to get going.”
Josiah went to lift the woman up, assuming her traveling companion’s injuries wouldn’t allow it. The man held his arm in front of Josiah and shook his head.
“She’s my responsibility.” The large man strode over to the woman and spoke softly to her. She opened her eyes and her head lolled back. Beau rushed outside. Josiah heard the steady thump of flour sacks moving from the nicely stacked pallets, to the center hole. She would have to have something to lay on and it was the best they could do.
Josiah held the door for him. The two stepped out into the light for the first time in, most likely, days. The large man blinked in the evening sun. Beau had moved many of the fifty pound sacks so that the center could be accessed easily. Josiah climbed into the back of the cart and held out his arms for Cori. The man looked at him for a moment, and then handed her over. Josiah carried her over the small hill of flour sacks to the center and laid her gently in the center.
“Thank ya’, sir. I’ll take it from here. Name’s Moses, in case you need to know. Course, it don’t mean much. There were six other men named Moses where I grew up.” He shook his head and scratched his temple. “Don’t know what other name I’d go by.”
Josiah nodded. “Your name is up to you now. We’d best get moving.”
Beau and Josiah made quick work of moving the flour sacks back so no one looking at them would ever know they had been disturbed or that within the center of the wagonload were two stowaways, destined for a new life.
