by Sarah Cass
“Only with his paint on, Martha. Ain’t no way he’s ever gonna be one of us.”
Katherine backed up, but bumped into Powder. Married by the end of the year? That was barely over two months away. It couldn’t be. She spun and gripped the pommel to lift herself back into the saddle. Before she got far, she was lifted the rest of the way and Cole slapped Powder’s flank over Martha’s protests.
Without time for even a nod of gratitude in Cole’s direction, Katherine leaned over and let Powder race her out of town toward the small settlement of homes starting to sprout up south of town. She didn’t dare go too far for fear of Indians, but she would run until she found somewhere to hole up and think.
She couldn’t get married. Not now. Not in Denver.
She’d barely begun to live.
* * * *
Katherine sat cross-legged on her bed, picking at a loose thread in the quilt her mother had made ages ago when she still did such menial tasks. The quilt was now as worn as Katherine’s hope, but a stubborn flame of rebellion flared in her belly.
There was no good reason to be treated this way. She wasn’t like Martha, she never had been, and yet her parents were going to do everything in their power to change the course of her fate. She tried to slouch and pout, but her corset refused her even that bit of bend.
With a wince, she adjusted the confounded contraption and readjusted the way she sat instead. A knock at the door made her push aside her attempts to plan a way out of her current situation.
“Katherine. It’s time for supper.” Her mother didn’t bother to open the door. Propriety stood that Katherine should join them.
“I’m not hungry.” Childish, most likely, but right then Katherine didn’t want to face her parents. Of course, her refusal would probably bring about that very situation.
“I didn’t ask if you were hungry.” The door opened and Lillian stepped into the room with her unhappiest of expressions. “I stated that supper was ready, which means you’ll join us.”
“And I told you, I’m not hungry. I don’t wish to dine with you.” Katherine turned her back on her mother and rose to her feet.
“Katherine. I won’t tolerate such behavior. I am still your mother, and you will do as I say.”
“You’re treating me like a child.” Katherine lifted her chin and took a few steps closer to the window. “And yet you expect me to be wed before the end of the year.”
For a moment the silence lingered, and confirmed every rumor. Her mother got her wits about her fast enough, though. “We were hoping to discuss our plans over supper.”
“Well we’re discussing them now.” Katherine turned to face her mother. “To whom have you decided to sell me?”
“You aren’t being sold. Don’t be so ridiculous.” Her mother took one step as if to storm through the room as she once had when upset. Instead, she gathered herself up all proper again. “We want to be sure you are cared for and want for nothing.”
“Who, Mother?”
“Benjamin Lawson.”
The last bit of hope for a good future she’d held onto sputtered and died. Her heart shriveled up and dropped into a sick pit in the bottom of her stomach. Of all the suitors her parents had allowed courtship with, Benjamin was the most boring, mind-numbing rotten apple of the lot.
“He’s well-to-do. You’ll have your home to run, and time for leisure. Your children will be set for their lives.”
“Leisure? I don’t want to tea with the women I’ve met there. Their lives are boring. There is no color, there is no life.”
“There is life everywhere in the city. Far better than the chaos and crass amusement those around here tend to. They survive on liquor and whores. There are more men than women and they are nothing like men we should associate with.”
“They’re the men you associated with for years. You played cards with Hammy.”
“It’s Mr. Hamm,” her mother corrected with snap of her fingers. “I’ll have you remember your place.”
“I’m sorry; it’s so easy to forget when just two years ago I was able to associate with any of these people freely. Before you sequestered us in this house away from the riff raff you once called friends.”
Her mother’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared before she folded her hands across her stomach. “What’s done is done, Katherine. Mr. Lawson is a good match.”
“For you and Father. But what of me? What of love?”
“Love has little place—”
“It had every place for you and father! You eloped with him.” Katherine turned and planted her palms against the cold window, and quickly followed the action up with her forehead in an attempt to cool herself and her temper.
She felt no triumph over her mother’s surprised silence, only her own sense of defeat. Out in the paddock Powder sprinted away from the stable hand trying to get her into the stable as the first snowflakes drifted down.
Her soft sigh left a cloud of steam on the window, blurring the image as her joy was now fogged in oppression. “I am not Martha.”
“Of course you aren’t. We’ve ensured—”
“No. I wasn’t Martha before you began this pursuit to make us the toast of Denver society. You didn’t have to sell me into this life to keep me from the life Martha chose.”
“Again, we haven’t sold you. Don’t make this out to be like slavery. You haven’t the faintest idea what—”
“You offered my hand to the man with the greatest bank account. You expect me to be a prim and proper wife which, until Martha took up with an Indian, you never were. I remember what it was like before, Mother. While you did try to improve this camp with a library and a church, you weren’t this person in front of me dictating my life.”
“We all have choices to make. I’m sorry you don’t like all of mine, but there is nothing to be done now. You’ll see when you’re old enough to understand and have children of your own. This is what’s best.”
“And when you’re old and gray sitting around with nothing but one daughter married to an Indian and no grandchildren, you’ll see this was the worst choice you made. I won’t give him children. I don’t even want his slimy hands touching me.”
“Katherine Marie, proper women don’t speak of such things!”
Katherine closed her eyes and bit her lips to cover her rising chuckle. Until this moment she’d never realized how much she didn’t want to be a proper anything. She took a deep breath and gathered her calm. Perhaps if she gave in, for now, her mother would let her guard down and Katherine could plan. Plan what, she didn’t know, but she knew she had to plan something. “When do you plan to leave for Denver?”
“Two weeks. Your father has business to wrap up. His new foreman is doing well, so we see little reason to linger for the worst of the snows.”
“What about the lack of a stagecoach? Mr. Hamm says none has been around for three weeks.”
“We’ll have transportation. Never you mind that. Now chin up, join us for supper.”
Katherine straightened up and tugged her bodice taught across her corset. First course of action would be to belligerently agree to the plan. Then she had to find someone to assist her. She had no idea what to do or where to go, but she knew she couldn’t go to Denver.
A prim and proper life would never suit her. She had too much of Dominion Falls in her heart and spirit. One way or the other she would find a way to get out and figure out what she was meant for.
Cole was right about one thing.
No longer would she be a child.
* * * *
Poor Hammy.
He’d fought her tooth and nail. Katherine had been forced to make promises and swear on nothing short of a bible to get him to agree to help her. Between swearing she wasn’t turning herself in to become a soiled dove and that she wouldn’t cave to Cole’s considerable charms, she only prayed she wouldn’t let the sweet old Mr. Hamm down.
Certainly, the last thing in her plans was to be a whore.
; No, she had a tiny bit of a plan to get out of Dominion Falls, but she’d need help. Anyone else in town would tell her parents. After all, her parents owned most of the camp’s land and anyone with a vested interest tended to kowtow.
Not Cole.
It was risky to put any trust in a man in his business, but she had little choice.
The back door of the saloon cracked open. Hammy stepped outside, the same displeased furrow in his brow as when he’d gone in the front. For some reason Cole liked Hammy more than most of the men in town, and gave him alone the freedom to disturb him before business hours.
Katherine ducked through the fence of Cole’s corral and ran toward the gate. “Well?”
“He’s comin’.” Hammy’s harsh whisper cut through the cold wind. He paused at the gate and pulled it open when she got close. “I don’t like this. Not one bit. He seemed real eager to see ya.”
“It’ll be fine, Hammy. You’ll see.”
Movement in the door Hammy had left open pulled Katherine’s attention away. Cole’s tall frame filled the doorway before he slipped outside. Despite the temperatures the man didn’t wear a coat; only boots, trousers, and a unionsuit that left little to her young mind’s imaginings.
Katherine ducked her head to hide the heat of her blush and pulled her muffler further up her face. At the very least the cold gave her an excuse for red cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Hammy step a respectable few feet away, but still close enough to hear everything.
“What’s so important ya had to wake me so damn early?” Cole didn’t even shiver when he leaned on the fence next to her.
“I need some help and there’s no one else in town I can ask.” She tucked some stray curls back into the edge of her hood. Once she felt composed enough, she dared to meet his gaze again. “Everyone else will tell my parents.”
“Ah. You’re runnin’, ain’t ya?” A sly smile curved his lips and he nodded. “Good. Ya got a point, though. Ain’t no one else in this camp that’s gonna dare cross a Daugherty. What do you need? I ain’t giving you money.”
“I’ve got that.” She cleared her throat when his brows rose exponentially. She hadn’t expected him to guess, and she’d actually expected him to try to lure her in. Perhaps his attention was little more than kindness. “And I’ll pay you for your assistance, of course.”
“Didn’t ask for money. Just said I ain’t giving you none.”
“You don’t want compensation for your assistance?” Katherine frowned and shook her head. Words failed her at his revelation and she gripped the railing near his hand.
“It’ll be worth it just to see the good Mrs. Daugherty’s face when she realizes she lost another one.” He leaned on the fence and close to her face. “But you gotta be sure. Ain’t no turning back once ya run, and it ain’t easy to make it being single and all. If you were willin’ to be a whore, it’d be different.”
“I’m not.” She managed to recover her voice for that, and Hammy’s step closer to their conversation didn’t escape her notice. “I want a respectable job, and I’ve got money to make it through.”
“Respectable jobs and women don’t mix so much. Marryin’s what most of ‘em do.” He turned away to lean both elbows on the fence.
“Marrying isn’t what I want to do. I won’t be a whore either.”
“I figured as much when ya said respectable.” He didn’t argue, or suggest otherwise, surprising her again. “If you’re sure, then be back here Monday mornin’. I got someone that can get you outta here.”
“Monday.” It seemed so soon. Was she certain she wanted to go this way? Doubts began to creep forward now that the door stood open in front of her.
“I figured. If you get yella, ain’t no skin off my nose. Just be here if you’re goin’.”
Katherine could only blink for several minutes, her thoughts raced too fast to catch up with. When his departing back came back into focus she found her voice again. “Wait. That was too easy.”
“Ain’t nothin’ easy about it, Kathy.” Cole turned. “I know what someone looks like when they’re runnin’. How do ya think I get them fillies in my stable?”
She scrunched her nose when he pointed to the saloon instead of the actual barn. “I’m running, and you’re not trying to lasso me in?”
“You’re no whore. You got the looks for one, but don’t see it on ya. Besides, you’re too young.” He grinned. “Come back and see me when you’re a few years older and we can talk about you joinin’ the ranks if ya want.”
She pursed her lips, trying to change the subject rather than let her flustered stammering take over the conversation. “So you already planned my escape without me saying anything?”
“I got more plans than ya know. This just happened to fall in with other plans I got. What else ya want?”
“Where would I go?” The amount of planning she hadn’t done hit her square in the gut and she drooped against the fence. “Dominion Falls is all I know. I can’t go to family; they’d just send me back to my parents.”
Cole groaned and dropped his head back. A few puffs of his breath curled into the cold air before he straightened again. “Just as I thought. You ain’t thought this through.”
“Well excuse me. I’ve never run away before. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Ya got brains, right?”
“Fine. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“That ain’t what I meant. Ya got book learnin’ smarts, right?”
“Oh.” She nodded weakly. “I’ve always done well in school. I suppose I could be a school teacher, or...”
Cole chuckled into the lingering silence. “Ya good at math?”
“Top grades in my class.”
“Good. If ya don’t want to teach brats all day, I might know someone in Chicago. We trade services. She wants ‘em respectable for real work. I want ‘em the other way.”
“How charming.”
“She might not be lookin’, but I’ll ask. Real discreet-like. If that don’t work out, I got somewhere else I can send ya for a while, so long as ya never tell where I sent ya.”
Curiosity dragged her gaze back to his, but he’d turned away. She wondered what secret he’d want to guard so close, but then again, word was Cole was nothing but secrets. She took a shaky breath. “When will you let me know?”
“Monday morning. Ya think real hard, because once you leave here, it ain’t gonna be so easy to go back.”
“I’ll think. Thank you, Cole.” She stepped forward when he started to move. “Why are you really doing this? If not for money, I can’t believe it’s just to upset my parents.”
“Ain’t no matter of yours. Take the help or don’t. Don’t matter none to me.”
She pursed her lips shut and didn’t bother to try again. This time he disappeared back inside and she turned away from the door.
“You really gonna run, Miss Katherine?” Hammy walked up and offered his arm. “Don’t seem right. Dominion Falls ain’t ever gonna be the same with ya gone.”
“Whether I leave by my parent’s will or my own, I’ll be leaving, Hammy. Mother and Father are going to Denver. I just don’t wish to leave on their terms.”
“Ya scared?”
“Beyond belief, Hammy. Beyond belief.”
* * * *
Katherine crept out of the house quiet as she could. The sun had yet to rise, and even the mines were quiet. Down in the town she could only see two lamps lit, one far enough away that she assumed it to be Cole’s. The silence was so thick, she worried even her light footsteps would be heard in her parents’ room.
She’d spent the weekend fluctuating between regret at leaving her family and disappointing not just her father, but her mother again, and wanting to run far away from the dreaded engagement.
Part of her wondered if there was any chance of escaping the clutches of such a marriage without running. Then her mother’s stubbornness would again rear its head and the increase in propriety and continual cor
rections to Katherine’s posture or behavior would reassert how dead-set Lillian Daugherty was to escape the shackles of the crass world of Dominion Falls.
By last night her mind and heart were set. There was no other choice for a young woman of her age. Her parents had control, and if she were married off, the control would become her husband’s. That was something she couldn’t live with. Not ever.
Katherine crept down behind the Jenkins house where she was hidden from view of their house on the hill. From there she took off at a dead run for town.
She wished she could have allowed for a proper good bye to her father, but she couldn’t without raising suspicion. Maybe once she was established she’d find a way to send him a letter, just to let him know she was all right.
When she got to town, she slowed again. She clutched her satchel to her chest and crept past tents and the skeletons of rising buildings. The whole way to the saloon she all but held her breath to try to remain silent. Lucky for her, most everyone was still in bed.
Everyone, that was, except Cole. He’d been the one to tell her to meet him at this ungodly hour of the morning. Now, even from halfway down the street she could see his tall form outside the saloon. He bent and straightened, loading boxes onto a wagon.
A large man stumbled out of the saloon, hiccupping. In the quiet town, his voice echoed loud enough she worried it would wake someone. “Well, what d’ya say, Cole? Are we even?”
Cole chuckled. “Shut your trap, Frank. You’ll wake up the whole damn town.”
“Sorry,” Frank whispered, or rather tried to whisper.
“We’re even. Between what I won in that game and you shipping these boxes for me, I’ll say we’re good.” Cole patted the boxes. “Address is in your satchel up front.”
Katherine stopped short when Cole glanced over his shoulder right at her. For a moment she didn’t move, but then Cole straightened.
“Why don’t you go inside and have one more for the road.” Cole clapped Frank on the back and pushed him toward the door. Once the man had gone inside, Cole turned toward Katherine. “As you can see, your ride is less than discreet.”
