Ella

by Sadie Conall

  It was obvious he was in a hurry. The way he ate, his occasional glance out the door to where his horse grazed in a field near the barn, as if his mind were elsewhere. He also watched Jasper, clearly curious about him, but Marrok made no mention of the lean, black man who sat quietly eating his food.

  When Ella finished her meal, enjoying every delicious mouthful of the feast, she reached for her mug of coffee and glanced once again at the stranger. He would be gone soon enough, for this was obviously not a courtesy call. His clothes intrigued her, for he wore buckskin pants and shirt along with soft moccasins, suggesting a man more familiar with living in the wild.

  “Martha said you’re here on behalf of Willard, yet why buy all these supplies for us?” she asked, bewildered by his generosity.

  Marrok sat back, reaching for his own mug of coffee before turning to look at her. Ella almost flinched from the intense look in those coal black eyes and for a brief moment thought his eyes like those of a hawk. Gloriously dark, aware of everything, seeing it all.

  “Willard actually paid for them,” he said, his voice that same deep baritone. “And obviously he didn’t know about your father’s death. But I figured if I bought enough for eight people, I’d have plenty to share,” he paused before adding the real reason he was here.

  “I also reckoned on Martha returning with me to Independence. I was hoping we could take one of the steamboats up the Missouri River from St Louis, which would get us back to Independence in just over a week. But for that, we’ll need some supplies.”

  Ella glanced across at Jasper and saw the look of shock on his face. She knew her own face must surely look the same. “I don’t understand,” she said, her voice sounding weak with dismay. And she hated that.

  Martha leaned towards her. “The long and short of it is Ella, that Willard wants me to go and live in California with him and his family. But I’ve told Mr Gauvain that I have no intention of doing any such thing, especially not now when everything here is such a mess.”

  She paused, thinking Ella suddenly very pale. “According to Mr Gauvain, Willard sent me a letter a year ago, but I never received it. It was about their plans to head west to California and their hope that I would join them in a place called Independence. When my son and his family arrived there and I wasn’t there to meet him, he sent Mr Gauvain to find me. All he had was this address. And I’m grateful that even though it must have crossed Willard’s mind that I might have died or moved on, he sent Mr Gauvain anyway.”

  Ella looked out at Jasper again, for the man had moved to stand, looking in at Martha. But Willard’s name was a familiar one to Jasper, for they had worked together on the ranch alongside Quentin, when Ella had been a child of ten.

  “Independence?” Ella asked. “But I’ve heard of it! Everyone has. It’s a town on the Missouri River, where people gather before heading out west in wagon trains for California or Oregon.”

  Marrok nodded. “Which is where Willard and his family are waiting on Martha at this very moment,” he said. “Perhaps it might help if you understand my own role in this. The company which Willard and his family have paid to take them to California employs me as their scout. The company aims to leave Independence in the last week of May and as I’ve three wagons of my own in that company, I’m eager to get back there as soon as possible. And make no mistake about the urgency, for when I left just over a week ago, there were already hundreds camped out ready to roll and when those wagons start to move out, they won’t wait for anyone, certainly not me, nor any of you.”

  Ella turned to Martha. “But of course you must go Aunt! And although it will break my heart to see you leave, I won’t hold you back.”

  Marrok saw the emotions flicker across Ella’s face. She was clearly devastated by this news, yet she wouldn’t hold Martha back. He admired her for it, especially under the circumstances. She would stand here and fight alone with Jasper. Although Marrok didn’t hold out much hope of their success and thought Ella would probably be married to her neighbor within weeks.

  “Honey, I’ve no intention of leaving you here alone!” Martha said with some heat to her words. “Anyway, there might be a better way around our problems.”

  “There can’t be Aunt. We’ve been through it all over the past six months. There is no other way.”

  Marrok was astonished to see the spirit go out of the girl like a flame had been doused and he wondered what else she had endured in this house, since her father’s death. He hated to see that girl who strode so defiantly into this kitchen in her wedding dress less than an hour ago looking suddenly defeated. So before Martha could reply, Marrok found himself answering her.

  “There is a way. If you and Jasper come with us, to California,” he said.

  Ella heard Jasper’s sharp intake of breath, but she couldn’t look away from Marrok. “How can I possibly go west? I have no money and no prospects until I sell this ranch and there’s little chance of that happening unless I marry a man old enough to be my grandfather.”

  And there it was, the fire back in her eyes. Marrok almost smiled. He thought she would do just fine on the trail west.

  “I’m inclined to disagree with you, Miss Torray,” he said, then nodded towards the yard outside and the barn beyond. “I saw a decent looking wagon out there. There’s no reason why you can’t take it west.”

  Ella stared at him in confusion before turning to Martha, her eyes wide. “Go west to California? But how is that possible when I have to sell this place? And I won’t walk away from it. I can’t. It’s all I have. It might be all I ever have.”

  Martha reached across the table to take her hands in her own. “I know that well enough girl, but Mr Gauvain thinks there might be another way around this, one that doesn’t involve your uncle.”

  Ella felt ill. Her mouth was suddenly so dry she couldn’t speak. She reached for her cup of coffee but found it empty, so reached for Marrok’s half empty glass of water instead and took a sip, unaware of the look of surprise which crossed his face.

  “California!” she said again, her hands trembling as she set Marrok’s glass down on the table. “Yet California’s on the edge of the world. Whatever will I do out there?”

  Marrok leaned towards her. “May I make a suggestion?” He paused, wondering why he’d even considered this, for having her and Jasper along would give him a whole lot of work on top of the load he was already carrying.

  But he couldn’t think on that now. The words were out there, the plan in motion. And he wasn’t a man to take back what he’d started.

  “From what I understand, from what Martha’s told me, you have a half share in this ranch. It has to be sold and preferably today, for I can’t wait around. So instead of waiting on your uncle to make the rules and decide on your future, what’s stopping you negotiating the sale with your neighbor instead? Do the deal behind your uncle’s back if you must, for I understand he hasn’t honored you. And with the money you get from the sale, you and Jasper can join Martha and her family, because from the little I’ve seen while I’ve been here, I think you’ve got enough to make the journey west on your own, with your own wagon. Although you’ll need six oxen to pull it, and at least three men as your teamsters. And your wagon will have to be caulked to make it waterproof and framed with hoops and canvas. But I can help you once we reach St Louis. And what we don’t get done there, we can finish off in Independence before the wagon train rolls out in seven weeks.”

  He looked around the kitchen and what lay before them on the table, then waved his hand around the room. “You’ll need to take all of this. Kitchen utensils, plates, cups, kettle, bread pan, frying pan and a dutch oven if you have one. All your candles, candle holders and candle molds,” he nodded towards the bottled preserves of onions, pickles and tomatoes, alongside the dried fruit of apples and peaches on the shelves above the bench.

  “And all of those, including any other food you have. And needles, sewing thread and material to make clothes. Indeed, everything you us
e here, you take with you except heavy furniture. You’ll also need your mattresses and pillows, as well as blankets.”

  He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. “I’ll give you a moment to talk it over. Then you either ride to your neighbor to negotiate a sale, or I ride out of here alone. But if you do decide to come with us, then Martha and Jasper can start packing while we ride over to see this Jebediah Crawley.” He moved towards the kitchen door and looked at Jasper.

  “I’ll come with you to see what you’ve got. You’ll need tools, water barrels, bridles, reins.” He glanced back at the women still sitting at the kitchen table, staring at him. “I’ll go and take a look at the wagon and see what condition it’s in, while you both think on what you want to do.”

  The women nodded but before he headed for the steps, Ella stood up from the table. “How long have I got?” she asked him. “To make up my mind?”

  “I had hoped you’d already made it,” Marrok said, then followed Jasper down the stairs and out into the yard, but as they headed for the barn, Marrok noticed again that odd way the man had of walking.

  He waited while Jasper washed his plate and mug at the outdoor pump.

  “That was a mighty fine thing you did for us this mornin’. We ain’t had a meal like that for a long time, not since Ella’s daddy passed away. As for the wagon, well, me and Mr Quentin always took real good care of it. We put it away in the barn most nights so even though it’s a few years old, I reckon you’ll like it just fine.”

  As they headed for the barn, Marrok watched the man walk, that strange gait where he swung his hips while his knees seemed to bend inwards, but if the man were in pain from his deformity, he didn’t show it.

  “How far away is this Jebediah Crawley?”

  “Not five miles southwest of here.”

  Marrok nodded, cursing under his breathe. Even if they left now, they wouldn’t be back before mid-afternoon which meant little hope of reaching St Louis tonight. Unless of course the girl decided to stay. Which would mean Martha stayed as well. And although Marrok half wished it, for his own sake, the thought was quickly followed by a curious feeling of disappointment. Which surprised him.

  *

  Martha said nothing for a moment then pushed herself away from the table. “Well, before any discussion takes place on anything, this kitchen’s got to be cleaned up. So go grab some water Ella so we can start washing up.”

  But as Ella went to take a bucket to the pump outside, she turned to Martha. “If I decide not to go, I want you to leave with Mr Gauvain, because you’ll never get another chance, Martha. And I’ll be fine. Once I sell this ranch and leave with Jasper, we’ll head north up to Illinois, maybe to Chicago. I heard it’s a mighty fine place up there on the lake. So you don’t need to worry about us. Jasper and I will look out for one another.”

  Martha frowned. “Chicago! You’re talking about a place that’s barely more than a frontier town. And cold as hell I reckon. And I don’t doubt you’ll be fine, Ella. But I ain’t leaving you. My sister would turn over in her grave if I walked out on you now. And although it’s not for me to tell you what to do, I will ask you this. What have you got to lose?” She paused for a moment, then leaned towards her niece. “Think on it carefully Ella. For who knows what might lie ahead for you, when you take a chance.”

  For a moment there was only silence in the room, the dishes forgotten, then the girl shook her head. “But what do I say to Jebediah? How do I negotiate with a man like that?”

  Martha shook her head. “I don’t confess to being any kind of a business woman, but I’m sure Mr Gauvain will help you figure it out. Now, go get some water. We got a lot of work to do, either way you look at it.”

  7

  They rode hard without speaking until they came to the boundary where Quentin Torray’s land stopped and Jebediah Crawley’s began. Ella reined in Bear and as Marrok came up beside her, he leaned forward in his saddle.

  “He has no railing up. How did your father keep his cattle off Jebediah’s land?”

  Ella shrugged. “We didn’t bother about it too much. We never ran too many head anyway, so it worked more in Jebediah’s favor than our own, for his cattle were always grazing on our land.” She nodded towards a large two-storey house way in the distance.

  “He runs an empire from there. Everyone who works for him, works from within that house. Some say even the county Sheriff is based out there when he’s around. And from what I heard, Jebediah only leaves the place once a month to visit the girls and saloons in Chesterfield.”

  “Martha told me a little about him when I first arrived at your ranch. But what’s your thinking on him?”

  Ella frowned, then shrugged. “The same as everyone else, I guess. He’s greedy, unkind and a bully. He’s not popular in the territory, but people are inclined to bow and scape to him because he’s so wealthy. He could do a lot of damage to someone if they made an enemy of him.”

  Marrok peered across the land to a dusty road way in the distance. “Is that the only way in and out of his property?”

  Ella raised herself slightly in the saddle and nodded. “Yes, that road takes him north to Chesterfield. Although there’s a crossroads not a mile from our gate. From there you can head in any direction you want.”

  “So the purchase of your ranch would obviously give him more land, but if he were to build a road through it, that would give him better access to anywhere in this county. Which would save him considerable travelling time.”

  Ella nodded. “Yes, of course. But my father would never have allowed Jebediah to build a road through our land.”

  Marrok said nothing for a moment, then he turned to Ella. “I would use that to bargain with him. And another thing you could use, tell him I’m a buyer. And tell him you’ve leaving for Boston to live with Martha’s family, but you want to strike a better deal over what he offered Milton. If Jebediah’s unwilling to meet your price, tell him you’ll sell the land to me.”

  “And what if he doesn’t care about my selling the land to you? What if he only wanted the deal so he could marry me?”

  Marrok saw the stress on her face and found it disheartening to think that two grown men were manipulating this young woman into a life she wanted no part of. It made him angry.

  “Then our bluff fails. But I doubt it will,” he paused, looking back towards that distant house. “You know, a cattle man loathes the thought of sheep grazing anywhere near his cows so it wouldn’t hurt to tell Jebediah I’m planning on running them, and not cattle.”

  Ella looked at him in bewilderment. “Sheep?”

  Marrok laughed suddenly, a deep pleasant sound. Then he shrugged. “Why not? Sheep eat a lot of grass. And cattle men hate the idea of sheep scab. I would imagine the thought of sheep grazing anywhere near a man’s cattle would keep him awake at night. Indeed, it might be an idea to tell him I plan to bring in five hundred ewes within the month,” he paused and looked across at her. “Do you feel confident doing this?”

  Ella shook her head. “No, but I’ll do it. And if I recall, Milton negotiated the sale of our ranch at $3 an acre. Which included the land, the buildings and the horses.”

  “And you,” Marrok added. “Which was a bargain.” He frowned and looked out across the ranch. “Milton was foolish. He should have asked for so much more. But a bare acre of land closer to St Louis sells for more than $2, so perhaps you could offer Jebediah $2.80 an acre which would include the land and the buildings, leaving you to claim ownership of everything else. Which is the two horses and the contents of both the barn and the house,” he thought on it for a moment, as Ella also added up the sums before racing him to the total.

  “Which comes to a total of around $1,120. Once I split the difference with Milton, I’ll have nearly $600, including what’s left of my father’s housekeeping money. But will it be enough to get me to California?”

  Marrok nodded. “It will be enough if you’re careful. But I’m willing to help you in St Louis
and Independence and make sure you pay a fair price for everything,” he pulled on the reins and steadied the horse as the animal danced about nervously, eager for a run but as Marrok glanced back at Ella, he saw the fear on her face. And he decided then that it wouldn’t hurt to scare her a little, just in case she lost her nerve while negotiating with Crawley.

  “The deal must be done today Ella, for I can’t hang around. So if it all goes wrong here, if he decides not to buy it, then you could end up with nothing. Or a marriage you don’t want. So you’ll have to reel him in, make him think he’s getting a bargain, that others want it, that once this chance is lost to him, he won’t get it back.” His tactic worked, for even though he saw Ella blanch with fear, he also saw the grim determination in her eyes.

  “Once Jebediah signs the papers and gives you the cash, let him know you’ll be gone by tomorrow. Although I’m hoping we can pack the ranch up and be gone by this afternoon.”

  “What if he doesn’t have that much cash on him?”

  “He’ll have it. You said he has men working from the ranch, so I’m sure he’ll have his lawyer there as well as a bookkeeper. Anyway, we’ll know soon enough. If a small army rides out to greet us, we’ll know Jebediah keeps that sort of cash in his house. Besides, a man as successful as Jebediah likes to do deals and I doubt he’d waste his time travelling into town every time he has to sign a contract or handle cash.”

  Ella thought of her father. Quentin would have been well pleased to know his ranch was worth $2.80 an acre.

  “Come on, let’s get this done,” Marrok said, and kicked his horse on.