by Amber Stokes
Joe tore at the grass near his boots. “You might not be in any hurry, but some of us have greater ambitions in life than just running away from all our problems.”
Oh, yes. When it came to negativity and hurtful words, Joe never let her down.
“Come now, that’s not fair.” Myghal cradled his biscuit in his palm while raising an eyebrow at Joe. “What do you think ye were doin’ when ya left Virginia City?”
Sally ran a hand through her blond waves, waiting. When Joe didn’t offer a reply, she smirked, but one glance at Myghal’s now-lowered brows and her gloating smile turned into a frown. Spinning around on the stump, she took in the view of tree-covered hills and tossed her hair in the boys’ direction. Men. What did they really want from her, anyway?
“It’s my turn to lead now.” There was no question or malice in Myghal’s voice. He sounded confident, hopeful even.
“Where are ya takin’ us?” Joe growled, causing Sally to grin. Who was more like a dog now?
“You’re as bad as Miss Sally. Would ya two just trust me for once?”
There was no arguing with that. Turning, she found both Joe and Myghal watching her. Waiting.
She looked down at her dress and then back up at them. “What?”
Both quickly bent to gather up their things.
It was silly, really, but she couldn’t keep the blush from heating her face. With a shake of her head, she jumped down from the stump, eager for their trio to be on its way again.
Over the course of the afternoon they turned inland, leaving the thick forest behind for grassy hillsides and blue skies. Sally felt excited and a bit nervous, wanting so very much to like Myghal’s surprise. She trailed behind the men, partly because she had a hard time matching their pace, and partly because she was still avoiding Joe, just as she had been ever since they left Eureka. He’d been so generous, buying her two practical and modest traveling dresses, new shoes, and other supplies for their trip. He never demanded that Sally tell them why exactly she was so determined to get to Oregon, but the unspoken question hung between them ever since Joe and Myghal had found her that first night. He seemed determined to make sure she understood this “whim” of hers was costing him dearly.
As the sun began to set, they came upon Myghal’s surprise so suddenly that Sally almost ran into Joe before she noticed they had stopped. Peeking around his broad back, she gasped.
“Oh…”
The gentle, green slopes were covered with purple flowers, all standing tall and bright in the last kiss of sunlight. They cascaded down the hill like a royal waterfall, swaying slightly in the evening breeze.
She let her pack and bedroll fall from her shoulders. “How beautiful!”
And it was – prettier than any of the flashy clothes Jacob had given her to attract men and more vibrant than anything she could remember seeing.
Without another thought, she started walking through the flowers. For a moment, she wished that no one else was there with her, just so she could run and dance through the carpet of color without anyone watching.
Eventually, she knelt down beside one of the flowers and examined it. Little round petals climbed up the stem, purple and white, glorious and pure. She placed her finger on one of the petals, fitting her fingertip to the gentle touch of the bloom. Her daddy had always told her that God would never leave her and never let go of her hand. Closing her eyes, she imagined God reaching out to her through the sweet caress of a flower.
“They’re called lupines. Sure, an’ they are a sight.”
Reluctantly opening her eyes, she found Myghal standing close by, gazing out on the hillsides. She shook off her fancies. Her daddy hadn’t known all the horrid things she’d do once she left home. He might have had other things to tell her about God’s view of her if he had.
She stood and brushed her fingers across Myghal’s sleeve. “This is a great surprise, Myghal. It’s beautiful.”
He rolled his shoulder. “I thought you might enjoy it.” She was awarded with a small grin before he added, with a hint of melancholy, “Makes me miss my Irish mother, and our home in Cornwall.”
“Oh?”
When he didn’t respond, she whispered, “It makes me miss home, too.”
***
Something stirred and then clenched painfully in his heart as Joe observed Myghal and Sally standing side by side in a pool of purple flowers. Her hair spread across her back and shoulders, standing out like gold against the plain brown dress he’d bought for her. A bit of wind picked up several pieces of her hair and set it to shimmering – like sunlight on clear water. Her stance suggested she was comfortable with Myghal, who was as tall and thin as Sally was small and curvy.
Huffing, Joe set his pack down next to theirs. Why was he even here, anyway? He kept waiting for Sally to tell them what her game was, but she continued to keep them in the dark, expecting them to take care of her. Spoiled, that’s what the girl was.
He set out to talk with Sally, hoping to finally get the truth out of her. Myghal saw him coming and intercepted him before he could reach her. His grip on Joe’s arm was firm, his voice quiet. “Not now, Joe. Let her enjoy the evenin’.”
Joe scowled. “We’ve let her enjoy weeks without any questions. Don’t ya think it’s about time she tells us what her plan is?”
Something dangerous sparked in Myghal’s normally calm gaze. “Not now.”
Crossing his arms across his chest, Joe considered Myghal. The man was years older than him, probably already in his thirties, although his fun-loving ways often made him appear much younger. He hardly ever made demands, and Joe figured he owed him more respect than he often showed. With a brief nod, he acquiesced. “But we will ask her. Soon.”
Myghal didn’t reply but headed over to where they had left their belongings.
Glancing over at Sally, Joe found her sitting among the flowers again, looking past him to the sunset. With a sigh, he approached her, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Mind if I join ya?”
She plucked a flower and fiddled with the stem. “Contrary to what you seem to think of me, I’m not the one giving the orders around here. So do what you want.”
With a grumble, he plopped down next to her. After a moment, the calm of the setting sun and their surroundings made his shoulders drop a little lower and his breathing slow down a little more. The silence embraced them for a few moments, finally broken when Sally asked, “Do you have any regrets?”
“Yeah.” Was there any other answer?
“Oh.” She held the flower between her hands, quiet again.
His hand came up, and, after a brief hesitation, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “What do you regret?” he asked in a deep whisper.
Picking a petal off the stem, she rubbed it between her fingers before holding it to her cheek. A lone tear fell onto the petal as she replied, “Falling in love.”
He swallowed, unable to look away. “Was it really love?”
Her head came up, her watery gaze meeting his. “What?”
He wasn’t sure how to respond. Clearing his throat, he asked instead, “Who was he?”
She shook her head and got to her feet. “Forget I said anything.”
“Sally…”
When she looked down at him, he held out the flower she had dropped in her haste. “Will you ever stop running? Myghal and I – how can we help you if you don’t tell us what’s goin’ on?” He cringed, realizing he was heading into the territory forbidden by Myghal.
She grasped the flower, holding it close as she turned to see the last glimpse of sunset. “I don’t know if anyone can help me anymore.”
Chapter 10
True to his word, Myghal led them northwest, keeping them headed toward Oregon while still detouring to see the ocean. Sally had been landlocked since birth, although she had always longed to travel down the Mississippi River. To think – now she would get to see the Pacific Ocean!
The moment she glimpsed the place where
the blue sky met the blue sea in an undefined horizon, she felt her heart soar. It was like Oregon, in a way, as it symbolized something beyond her present troubles. There was something infinitely hopeful in the constant motion of it, as well as the uncertainty of all it contained and where it might lead. She decided she loved the ocean, and felt an impulsive desire to live on the coast someday.
“’Tis another grand sight. I haven’t seen it in a long time.” Myghal gave a contented sigh.
Sally clasped her hands tightly together and held them against her chest in supplication. “Can we camp here tonight? Here on the beach?” Oh, please! It was hard to contain her childlike excitement at experiencing warm sand, powerful waves, and the crashing, promising noise of the surf.
Myghal snatched his hat from his head and nodded. “Sure. We’ll build ourselves a grand ol’ bonfire and let the sounds of the sea lull us to sleep.”
With a sly grin, she replied, “Why, Myghal, you sound like a poet.”
“I’m a musician, which isn’t too far from a poet, ya know.” A frown stole away his good cheer. “Too bad I can’t borrow meself a fiddle…”
The thought of lively music made Sally bounce on her toes. “I wish you could. But we mustn’t let that ruin this perfect day.”
“Perfect day, huh?” Joe looked skeptical while he took a wide stance on the sand, as if he feared he would sink or the waves would sneak up on him.
Sally motioned for Joe to follow and performed a little twirl. “Come on. Take off your boots and we’ll go splash in the water. Unless you’re afraid…?”
She hoped to badger his pride until he agreed, but he stood his ground.
“I’m not eager to get wet or carried out to sea, if it’s all the same to you.”
She grabbed his sleeve, trying to tug him along. “Can’t you just have some fun? You’ve never seen anything like this in dry, dirty ol’ Virginia City.”
“Thank heavens,” he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. “Look, Sally, you may not have liked Virginia City all that much, but to me, it’s home. I much prefer such a place to the thought of drowning.”
He looked genuinely uncomfortable, so she finally gave up and left him behind, pulling off her new shoes and running with bare feet through the glorious, non-desert sand. But when she ran straight into the waves, she gasped at the fearful rush of cold that knocked her over.
“Careful, lass!” Myghal helped her up, his own bare feet leaving prints in the dark, wet sand.
“It’s freezing! I thought… I hoped….maybe…”
“Ye thought it would be warm? Surprised, were ya?”
“A bit.”
A hidden laugh gleamed in Myghal’s eyes as the icy water swirled around their legs. Wanting to surprise him as much as he kept surprising her, she waited until the water started to pull at them before pushing him into the retreating wave. As he stumbled to his knees, she giggled, then ran away along the beach.
She hadn’t gone far before a thin but strong arm caught her around the waist and lifted her, laughing and screaming, into the air. Another wave took them both down, but Myghal kept a firm grip on her as the water surrounded them, then left them in soggy silence.
Coughing some of the gritty sand and salt water from her mouth, she felt Myghal remove his arm while placing his other hand on her shoulder. “Are ya all right?”
“I haven’t laughed like that since I left home.” Catching a glimpse of Myghal’s short red hair sticking up at various angles, she giggled again. “You’re a sight, Myghal.”
He smiled, but didn’t laugh as he replied, “So are you.”
***
His heart pounded with an intensity that scared him as Joe watched Myghal and Sally fall backward into the ocean. The sensible part of his mind told him that they were only playing, that Myghal would make sure Sally was safe. But the other, irrational part of his mind urged him to protect Sally himself.
He was just about ready to get up and drag Sally from the dangerous grip of the sea – and, if he were honest, from the grip of his friend – when he saw her and Myghal finally get up and head over to where he had started a fire using driftwood. Scavenging through his bag, he came up with a blanket, which he handed to Sally as she sat down next to him.
Unsure what to do about the roiling emotions that were leaving him seasick, he poked at the fire and kept trying to shoot a glare at Myghal, who wasn’t meeting his gaze. Frustrated, he decided it was finally time to get some truth out of Sally.
“So, what are we really getting ourselves into by taking you to Oregon?”
“What do you mean?”
Sally wasn’t meeting his gaze either, which infuriated him even more. He picked up a piece of driftwood from a pile he’d stacked earlier and rubbed it between his hands. “I mean, why are you goin’ to Oregon? Why are you dragging us…?”
She jerked her head up, the fire reflected in her eyes. “I’m not dragging you anywhere. You insisted on following me.”
“To make sure you were safe.”
“I’m never safe! Don’t ya understand? When I decided to leave home, I left everything that was safe and good and right.”
The fire popped in reply, crackling steadily, hungrily. He fed it with the piece of driftwood he had been gripping and watched Myghal throw in a few pieces, as well.
“I don’t understand, Sally. Help me understand.”
He didn’t really expect a response anymore, but that didn’t stop him from letting her know that he really did want her to explain herself. As he watched her intently, he saw her shoulders drop and the reluctance slowly melt away. “His name was Jack.”
Joe saw Myghal’s head come up out of the corner of his eye, but he continued to stare at Sally, afraid she would suddenly close up again.
“I loved him. And he made me believe he loved me, too. He always talked about the places we would go and the things we would see.
“But then one day he said he hated to leave me, but he had to go to Virginia City – to try to find another silver vein or some such nonsense. He had talked about nothing else for months, so I knew his heart was set on it. Of course, my parents refused to let me go with him. They said a mining town was no place for their daughter. And they were right.”
She didn’t take her eyes off of the fire, and her face reddened with the heat and anger and pain.
“Jack and I were meant to be together. I had known that for years. So without telling anyone, including Jack, I took the same train as him, hoping to surprise him when we got to Virginia City. I definitely surprised him.” Her voice was hard, bitter. “He told me to go home. Said I didn’t belong there. I begged and begged, but he left me standing in the middle of the street with no money and nowhere to go. I would have starved if it wasn’t for Jacob and his brothel.”
A simmering rage raced through Joe’s blood, making him desperate to find this Jack and beat him senseless for leaving an idealistic, hopeful girl alone in such a place, without any means of caring for herself other than selling her body. How innocent and trusting had Sally once been to end up in such a situation?
“Sally, I…”
“I’m going to find him.”
Taken aback, Joe hesitated. “Find who?”
“Jack. He lives in Oregon now. I found out from a miner who used to know him.”
“You’re goin’ to find Jack?”
“Yes. And he’ll pay for what he’s done – either by taking me in as he ought to have done three years ago, or by…by…some other way. I’ll think of something.”
She had taken that coin pouch from the front of her dress and fiddled with it, eyes closed as the light of the flames danced across her face.
Joe was stunned into silence. He certainly had a similar desire to find Jack and make him pay, but it bothered him to think of Sally seeking revenge. Why, she had left the security of a good job as a cook’s helper in a lumber town – made them all leave their jobs – to take them on some crazy quest to chase down a man who obviously
didn’t care a whit about her.
Across from them, Myghal sat with his head in his hands. Wasn’t he going to say something about this crazy revelation?
Joe cleared his throat. “So we’re escorting you to the man who left you as a prostitute rather than marry you? Is that what yer tellin’ us?”
Her eyes fairly blazed with fury as she glared at him. “This isn’t about you. Either of you.”
“Oh, it isn’t, is it? Well, whether you like it or not, you’ve dragged us into this sorry mess.”
“Then why don’t ya just leave? A girl who’s survived as a prostitute for three years certainly doesn’t need anyone to come and rescue her now. It’s too late. It’s too late…”
She turned and stormed away, and all that was left were her sobs, the crackle of the fire, and the roar of the sea.
Chapter 11
Fog shrouded the beach and what was left of Sally’s broken heart. She didn’t want to wake up – didn’t want to face another day traveling with Joe and Myghal. How could she expect them to understand? She simply had to find Jack.
That thought followed her throughout the morning as they ate a simple breakfast of cold, leftover flapjacks and jerky, then packed up their few belongings and headed out, ever inland and northward bound.
Sally didn’t bother trying to keep up with Joe’s faster pace. Instead, she fell farther and farther behind. Myghal took the middle position, staying behind Joe but turning around every so often to make sure she hadn’t disappeared. As stubborn as these two men were, there was no hope of escaping them again, but she could at least show defiance in her own way.
It was almost evening by the time Joe decided they could stop. Sally’s feet were in agony, but she kept her mouth shut, determined to hold onto what little independence she could still claim. Myghal and Joe seemed to be determined, as well – determined to keep their distance, which was more than fine. At least that’s what she whispered to her throbbing heart that matched the beat of her throbbing feet.
