by Lilah Rivers
Bella rode Glory down to the creek, looking over the sad sight of the crushed fields. No worthy crops would grow from those trampled seeds. And replanting them would almost certainly guarantee the same result.
Perhaps God doesn’t want us here, us or the other homesteaders. Could it be that He wants the ranchers to control this land? How can we know for sure? And Turner … could all this have been God’s way to ensure that we’d find each other, that we’d be together? Or is that a trick played by the enemy below, to distract me from God’s true plan for me, for all of us?
Bella kicked Glory, and the mare rode faster, carrying her across the property, wind blowing through her auburn hair. They rode up, the land rising up above the creek below. But Glory couldn’t deliver her from the problems her family was facing or the decision she herself would have to make.
Surely God has blessed the Archer family, and I have no right to turn my back on such blessings. I must put the Archers’ benefit first, just as God clearly does. Do I dare do less? What kind of price will that require, and who will have to pay it?
Glory slowed, and Bella surveyed the area. Her body was shot with a sudden bolt of panic when her eyes found an odd sight by the creek. A second glance made it terribly clear; a man’s body lay on the banks of the creek, the current slowly pulling his lifeless form from the rocky bank and into the deeper water, head becoming submerged.
Chapter 9
Bella nudged Glory and shook the reins, the horse bolting ahead and down the slope of dirt and rocks to the creek below. Glory was cautious, Bella leaning back as the horse took the tricky slope down to the creek. The bay had to slow as it approached, natural instinct telling her to be careful among the wet rocks, differing sizes making navigating them even more treacherous.
But the swollen spring current pulled the man from the rocky banks, head bobbing above and below the surface. Bella jumped off Glory and ran into the water, splashing up around Bella as she raised her dress up, stomping deeper into the cold, rushing water. It was moving with greater force than she expected, the creek bed even more irregular under the water than on either bank.
Bella’s ankle twisted, and she fell a bit, dress instantly soaked and cold, clinging to her legs as she tried to push through the water. Luckily, she was walking along with the current and not against it, or she knew she’d never have a chance of getting to the man in time.
But the current was carrying him faster, laying flat in the water, rolling facedown and then up. It was only a matter of time before the man was pinned against a rock or tree and drowned. But the water was carrying him further and further away, Bella running a better chance of breaking her leg than of getting to the man and reviving him.
The water carried him further downstream until Bella’s worst fears came to terrible life. A tamarack larch had fallen into the creek and rotted, but its branches rose up tangled and gnarled, ready to ensnare the man’s body. He was caught in the branches facedown, and it would only be a few seconds before he was drowned, if there was any life in him at all.
Bella pushed through the water, reaching the man and pulling at his waterlogged clothes. The current pushed him against the tree even as Bella tried to pull him free. Her feet slid on the mossy rocks beneath her, and she fell into the water. The man rolled back into the branches and under the water, and Bella was beginning to fear that she’d be entangled as well.
Bella pushed herself up and got another grip on the man, fingers digging into his clothes to pull him back and free of the tree branches. He was too heavy to pull against the current, but she managed to drag him sideways across the creek to the bank. She fell again but managed to hold onto the lifeless fellow as she finally made it to the bank. With his soaked clothing, he weighed as much as two men. And Bella’s own clothes were also soaked, her arms and legs also weak from the struggle against the current.
Bella finally managed to drag him and herself onto the bank, pulling him an extra few feet with the last of her strength to make sure he wasn’t pulled back to a watery grave. She laid him on his back and opened his belt buckle. She unbuttoned his shirt to free him of any constraints.
Leaning over him, pressing her ear to his chest, Bella could hear his heart still beating, but it was a faint and irregular struggle, an organ that was already dying. The man showed no evidence of being alive.
Lord, help me to help this man, use me to help save him if that’s Your will!
Not sure what to do, Bella used her instincts. She cupped her hands together and brought them down hard in his sternum, hoping to shock his heart back into a regular rhythm. But a second blow didn’t do much more good than the first. His breathe wheezed out of his mouth with a faint gurgle.
Bella reasoned he had to be drowning from water already in his lungs. So Bella cupped her hands together again, but instead of pounding his chest, she pressed down hard into his belly just under the ribcage, hoping to force whatever water was inside out of his mouth before it was too late.
She pressed down three times without effect, and then checked to see that his heart was still beating.
Please, Lord, don’t let me fail, don’t let the man die!
Bella pumped down again, leaning hard on her hands as she tried to push the water from his lungs. Finally he coughed, water leaping up from his lips and out of his nostrils. He sputtered and spat, body cramping forward and to the side. Bella backed up a bit to give him room, the poor man holding his stomach and wrenching out the rest of the creek water. He coughed and lurched as he recovered, Bella silently thanking the Lord for His great and wondrous mercy.
Chapter 10
Josh’s head was pounding, his throat burning, chest cramping. His body jutted forward as he gagged, trying to clear his lungs and his throat, not to mention his head. His heart was pounding; his brain was aching, and his blood pulsing in his veins. He opened his eyes, his blurred vision clearing as his coughing sputtered to a torturous, protracted end. But breathing in only made him cough again, and Josh had to wonder if he’d ever breath right again.
His body shivered with cold, clothing wet and heavy, pulling at him from every angle. He sniffed a bit, coughing once or twice more, heart slowing to a regular rhythm. But through all that, he could feel a hand resting on his arm.
“Are you all right?”
Josh turned to see the woman kneeling behind him. He was struck by her diamond-shaped face, more beautiful than he’d ever seen; her eyes were bright and hazel, burning a golden hue, almond shaped over her upturned nose and under her soft eyebrows.
Her curly auburn hair spilled down, cascading past her shoulders and down to her waist, wet from the creek and pressed against her amble bosom. Her skirt and blouse were also soaked, clinging to her curvy figure.
She asked again, “Are you okay?”
But Josh was almost second-guessing whether or not he’d actually died and gone to heaven. “Yeah, I’m … I’m fine, I think.” Josh tried to stand, not wanting to be seen as weak. But his legs were every bit that weak, and he reached out as she helped him to his feet. He was dizzy, unsteady. As she backed away and he took a single step, he knew he’d made a mistake. He fell into her arms, and they both made their clumsy way back to the bank of the creek.
“Maybe you should rest up a bit,” she said. “I’m Bella.”
She extended her hand and Josh took it, shaking it with a beleaguered smile. “Josh.” Josh pressed his hand against the back of his head, wincing in pain before looking around the area. “My horse,” he said, “black and white palomino.” Bella nodded and pushed herself up. Shaking her head, she turned to climb up the slope about thirty feet and turned to look around again, holding her hand over her eyes to block the glare from the sun.
“I see him,” she said, “’bout a hundred yards upstream.” She walked back down the slope toward Josh as he pushed himself up. “S’all right, Josh, you wait here, I’ll go wrangle him.” She walked on and Josh nodded, glad for the opportunity to gather his strength. He watched her
make her way downstream, slightly clumsy on the rocks, arms at her sides for balance.
Josh had to ask himself, Am I dreaming? She’s amazing, and so friendly! She must be new to the area, so many settlers coming west! And she’s capable, even more than I am! She saved my life, she must have! I didn’t crawl out of that water on my own, and all that water in my lungs, her soaked clothing. I was drowning and she saved my life, it’s the only thing that makes any sense.
And what kind of fool must I seem? Lost my horse, wound up face down in a creek? She must take me for a blunderer! What interest would a world-class beauty like that have in a clumsy buffoon like me?
As she returned with the palomino, Patches, Josh pushed himself to his feet, unwilling to appear any more ridiculous than he knew he already did.
“I was … I was up on that slope; a rattler spooked my horse, and he fell back, I … I don’t remember exactly what happened next.” A pain shot up his ankle to match the one in the back of his head. “I think he dragged me away.”
“You must have fallen free on the banks where I found you.”
Josh nodded. “I suppose I owe you my life. Thank you.”
Bella shrugged with a smile. “I’m sure you’d have done the same.”
Josh rubbed the back of his head. “I’m still not sure what happened in total.”
“What matters is that you’re safe and well.” After a tender pause, she asked, “Are you all right to make it back? Do you have far to go? You’re welcome to come to my house; it’s not far. My brothers are about your size; they’ll have plenty of dry clothes.”
Josh quickly reviewed the facts she’d already revealed; her house was near the creek, and she had brothers, at least two. Please don’t let them be twins, he thought.
“Brothers,” Josh said.
Bella nodded. “Twins, matter of fact. You’re a little bigger than they are in the shoulders, but at least you’ll have something dry to wear.”
Josh nodded. Twins. I should have known.
But he had to be sure; extending his hand to say, “How rude of me to be so informal. Josh Callahan.”
Bella’s smile melted away from her pretty face, which Josh took as an extremely bad sign. She extended her hand, but her instantly nervous air told Josh what he’d already deduced.
“Bella … Archer,” she said with a soft, resolute tone. She seemed to know as much about his name as he did about hers, and that would mean death for any chance of their new romance to blossom.
“Your father is Elroy Archer, currently involved in those negotiations, about the grazing rights.”
Bella nodded. “And your father represents the ranchers.”
“He ... he and your father are working together ... in a way.” Josh hoped she’d see it that way; that maybe the two great men themselves would see it that way. But a cold stone in Josh’s gut told him that it wouldn’t be the case. There was already a mountain of mounting tension between them, family interests to consider. There was too much to think about, and he certainly wasn’t ready to appear in the Archer home, not under those circumstances.
“Well, I’d better get back,” Josh said, “our own place isn’t far. Are you okay to get back to your family’s place?”
Bella crossed to Glory, climbing up onto the saddle. “I think I’ll be fine.”
“Thank you again,” Josh said, climbing onto his own horse. “I hope we’ll meet again under better circumstances.”
Bella nodded and turned to ride off, Josh’s heart sinking as he watched her return to her family, her life; her life without him. Josh turned Patches around and gave him a little kick, the palomino carrying him back to the Callahan house on the other side of the creek.
Chapter 11
Saul Decker’s ranch was many times bigger than the Callahan Ranch, a sprawling complex of pens and stables and corrals, guest houses and hands and servants’ quarters, and of course, the main house; three levels of whitewashed pine, oak, and walnut. The finest furniture that could be shipped from back east filled the place, much of it imported from Europe.
Saul Decker himself looked to Josh like the very picture of American success. He puffed on big cigars whose names Josh couldn’t pronounce and didn’t care to. He wore a red jacket that looked more like a bathrobe, with satin lapels, and cradled a snifter of brandy in one hand.
Otis Remington and Parker Bristol sat nearby in matching easy chairs, exchanging nervous glances that seemed to become more frequent as the meeting proceeded.
“And as Mr. Remington and Mr. Bristol here were saying before you arrived,” Saul said with a casual wave of his hand to indicate their presence, “the difficulties between the ranchers and the homesteaders seems to be escalating to dangerous levels of tension. I’d hoped you’d be able to prevent that, Barton.”
“I’m doing what I can,” Barton said, Josh eyeing him with a scrutiny he hoped was coming across to his father and to the rest of the men. “There was another incident. If you could manage to impress upon the others how important a mutual peace will be, perhaps they could adhere more closely to the spirit of our previous agreements.”
“Don’t you think I’ve done just that?” Saul puffed a few times on his cigar, a cloud of white smoke filling the parlor. “I can’t control their every movement, Barton.”
“We’ve told them that,” Josh said. “They don’t seem to believe it.”
A little smile cracked on Saul’s face. “My reputation precedes me.”
“It does,” Josh went on. “And that of ranchers everywhere.”
“Is that so, young man?”
Josh felt the weight of the men’s attention, their scrutiny every bit as evident as his own. But he knew it was too late to remain silent, and in truth, Josh felt he’d been silent for too long.
“Yes, Mr. Decker, it is. If the ranchers continue to appear unreasonable and unreliable, as they have done, public opinion will turn against them.”
“Public opinion,” Saul repeated, “what do I care about that? Public opinion!”
“It may be well enough for you to be so careless about it,” Josh added, trying to ignore his father’s angry glare. “But these ranchers, they’re citizens of Barnock, they have neighbors and friends, a society they’ll want to be a part of.”
“A part of it? They’re the biggest part of it!” Saul fixed his stare on Josh, a snarl on his clean shaved lips. “Now you listen to me, young fella. This nation is built on business, on success, and that’s the deciding factor here. The country needs more cattle, and more cattle it shall have. They don’t need more carrots and peas! These homesteaders are either going to accommodate or they’re going to have to get out of the way. But if they stand against us, well, have you ever seen what a cattle stampede can do?”
Otis said, “The lad makes a fair point. A lot of these ranchers, and homesteaders as well, make up a good part of my clientele. I’ve seen the way they interact, and it truly would be in everybody’s best interests for them all to get along, amongst themselves and each other.”
Saul sneered and waved off the notion, wrapping his glistening lips around the cigar.
Josh said, “I don’t argue the power of cattle as an industry, Mr. Decker, but … perhaps it’s time the ranchers made some accommodations as well.”
“The weaker herds can’t travel so far north,” Saul said, “and they can’t always make it through those swollen creeks. Trust me, if they’re grazing on that land, it’s because there’s no real choice. Now if I start trying to force other ranchers into risking their herds, well, this is a fairly tightly knit industry, like most industries. People talk. They’re already agitated at having to overgraze their own land! If I take issue with this over and over again, I’ll be shut out of the markets! There are other cattle for slaughter. I won’t become a pariah in my own industry; I won’t have my own cattle be degraded just because some upstart homesteaders don’t know their place!”
