by Vivi Holt
“No, I do not. My husband died as well.”
Aurora’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
Lotte stood and glanced around to find Deirdre and Frank. Frank was still speaking to the men from the railroad, but Deirdre hurried her way. “Lotte, can you believe it? We’re not going to Utah after all. Frank has decided to buy land from the railroad!”
“That is wonderful, Deirdre. But what about the free land from the government?”
Deirdre’s nose wrinkled. “The railroad men said that land isn’t nearly as fertile or rich as the land they’re selling. They have the prime real estate and the government gives away what they can’t sell. So we’re staying in Nebraska! I’m almost giddy!”
Lotte laughed. “You sound it.”
“We’re going with the men now to take a look at the land that’s available. I can’t wait! Will you be able to get back to camp on your own?”
Lotte nodded. “Yes, of course. Do not worry about me. I will be fine.” Yes, everyone seemed to be getting land except her. And little Aurora.
13
Lotte watched Deirdre and Frank leave with the Union Pacific man, then turned to walk back to Elmo. She wandered through the town to see the sights, holding the package containing her new riding pants.
Aurora had said the town was called North Platte – which made sense since Antonio called one of the intersecting rivers the same thing. Every structure but the station was made of canvas, though some had wood-frame facades to give the impression of a solid structure. She passed a dentist’s office, a makeshift bank, dining halls, repair shops, dance halls and bawdy houses. The last made her blush as she caught sight of a woman with her bodice untied sitting on a chair in the doorway. She kept her eyes straight ahead and quickened her gait.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find that Aurora had followed her. Aurora took a step back, stopped and grinned. “What are you doing, Aurora?” asked Lotte with a frown.
“Going with you, Miss.”
“You cannot come with me. I am not staying in North Platte – I am leaving this very moment. You will have to stop following me or soon you will find yourself stranded on the prairie.”
Aurora crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. “I don’t care, I’m coming with you. I don’t want to stay in North Platte.”
Lotte sighed and rolled her eyes. “I cannot take you with me, child. I am traveling with a cattle drive. We are camping and driving cattle – it is a hard life. We are headed to Montana Territory, and the weather will be very cold there.”
Aurora’s eyes darkened and she tipped her head to one side, not saying a word. Lotte turned with another sigh and continued on her way. The girl really was being impossible. She couldn’t take her on the trail with them.
A group of men and women stood on the outskirts of town, talking amongst themselves. Several broke away from the group and hurried into town, but as they passed Lotte, she heard a few words and her eyes flew wide. They were speaking Dutch, she was sure of it! She hurried toward the rest of the group and stopped in front of two women, both tall with long blonde hair stacked beneath their bonnets and blue eyes twinkling as they laughed. “Excuse me,” she interrupted. “Are you from Holland? All of you?”
The women smiled at her. One spoke up. “Ja, we are. I am Katarina and this is Johanna.”
“Lotte Velden – pleased to meet you both.” She shook their hands. “What are you all doing here?”
“We have just purchased a large property a few miles away,” replied Katarina. “We will farm it together.”
Johanna grinned and clasped her hands in front of her chest. “We will be a community. What about you – where have you come from?”
“I am traveling north from Texas to Montana Territory with a cattle drive. I … my husband and family were killed in Texas.”
Katarina’s face fell and Johanna’s brow furrowed. Katarina grasped Lotte’s arm. “I am so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
“You should come with us!” declared Johanna, eyes gleaming.
Katarina clapped her hands. “Oh yes, you should! We will have plenty of room and some of the men are single.” She winked. “And very handsome.”
Lotte’s cheeks flushed as she scanned the group. The men certainly were attractive – tall and strong with wide shoulders, all dressed in canvas trousers and woolen shirts with brand-new ten-gallon hats on their heads. They talked excitedly with one another, obviously waiting for something. “They are,” she agreed. “What are you all waiting for?”
“The government man is bringing us the deed to the property and a map to show where the boundaries lie,” explained Katarina. “Our wagons are just outside town, and we will head to the property as soon as we have the documents. We have already purchased the supplies we will need, and the men will come back for the lumber and other building supplies on order.”
Lotte’s brow furrowed. Perhaps she should join this group and remain in Nebraska. Just the idea of being around others from her homeland made her heart soar. She could speak to them in her native tongue, eat the foods she loved and they would understand her. But … what would Antonio think? “Thank you for asking me – I will have to think about it. And there is someone I must speak with first. Do you mind waiting a few hours?”
Johanna nodded. “We will not leave so soon – we will camp the night outside town and head off in the morning. Look for our campsite, and if you are there before sunrise you may come with us. We would love you to!”
Lotte embraced the women, then waved goodbye as she hurried off. Her heart raced and she was smiling so wide it almost hurt. It would be so easy to say yes, to ride with them to their new land and set up a home with them.
Small footsteps echoed behind her again, and she turned and found Aurora once more tailing her. “I told you that you can’t come with me. What do you intend to gain by following me?”
Aurora grinned, showing the gap in her teeth. “Supper?”
Lotte frowned, then laughed and tousled the girl’s hair. “Supper, is it? All right, come with me. But you cannot stay, and you cannot come with me when I leave here. I haven’t much of anything, I barely know where I am going and I need to figure out my own life.”
Aurora nodded. “Yes, Miss.”
They found Elmo resting in the shade. Lotte climbed onto his back, then pulled Aurora up behind her. The enormous horse didn’t mind the extra weight, since together they were lighter than a tall man. Lotte turned Elmo around and galloped back to where the cattle grazed and where Antonio waited. Her heart grew heavier the further they rode, as she thought about telling him her idea. She imagined the look on his face when he realized she’d be leaving him – and didn’t think she could bear it.
Antonio sat in the saddle and stared up into the sky. It was getting late – he’d hoped Lotte would be back by now. Not just because it was almost time for supper and he missed her cooking. He missed her. They hadn’t been apart for this long since she ran away from him in Mason. And he didn’t like how it made him feel. What if something had happened to her?
He straightened and grasped the reins in both hands, his heart pounding. If something had gone wrong, he should head into town to see if he could find her. With a dig of his heels, Hans shot forward and Antonio leaned over his neck with a hiss.
Within a few moments, he saw Elmo heading toward him, Lotte on the tall bay’s strong back. He pulled up on the reins, slowing Hans to a trot. She was fine after all. He chuckled to himself – he’d let his imagination get the best of him. He should know better than to fret over things that hadn’t happened – he had enough troubles without making up imaginary ones.
She pulled up alongside him, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. There was a girl riding behind her, about ten years old, maybe younger. She was dressed all in rags, and stared up at him through greasy tendrils of long dark hair. He nodded in greeting.
“Antonio – there you are.”
He smiled. “And who i
s this?”
Lotte turned in the saddle to look at the girl with a grin. “This mischievous bundle is Aurora. She is here for supper.”
“Oh.”
She seemed to think it explanation enough. “I will get to work on the food. Then there is something I must speak with you about.”
“Fine. I will let Adam know. He can come and eat first, then I will take my turn after his.”
She smiled. “See you then.”
By the time Antonio made it back to the campfire for supper, darkness had swamped the prairie and the flames leaped orange and yellow through the blackness to guide his path. Lotte was alone, wiping bowls clean. He glanced around the campsite. “Where is the girl?”
Lotte smiled. “She is putting the food away in the chuck wagon. With a full stomach – for the first time in a long time, I think.”
He grinned. “So you really did bring her here to feed her.”
She nodded. “She was hungry. Her parents died a while ago. I found her in North Platte begging for money and food.”
“That is the name of the tent city – North Platte?”
“Yes. It is a strange place – everything you could imagine, but the only real building is the train station. They are giving away land – or selling it cheaply – and people are arriving by train and lining up to take it.” Her eyes gleamed as she fetched a clean plate and piled it high with steak and fried potatoes. She handed him the plate and sat next to him by the fire.
“Is that so?” he said, eyeing the steak as his stomach rumbled. His mouth watered, and he pulled a Bowie knife from his pocket and unsheathed the blade.
“Yes, and I was thinking … I would like some of that land. Wouldn’t you?”
He glanced up at her with a frown. “What?”
“Please listen … we could take these cattle north to a ranch we do not own and you are not sure will even have a job waiting for you. Or we could stay here in Nebraska and get a parcel of land free from the government. All we would have to do is stay on it for five years. The sign said even unmarried women can apply – we could each have our own piece of Nebraska prairie if you do not want to share.” She laughed.
He sliced the steak easily. “I do not know about that. I feel like Paradise Valley is my home. I miss it. I miss the people at the ranch. I miss the mountains – you should see those mountains. They are so beautiful …”
Her shoulders slumped and the light in her eyes dimmed. “I understand.”
“It is not that I do not want to. But … when you know where home is, you do not want to be anywhere else.”
She nodded. “I think I am going to stay.”
Antonio dropped his knife onto the tin plate with a clatter. “By yourself?”
She shrugged. “There is a group of Nederlanders who have claimed property together – they are setting up a community, and they said I could go with them.”
His heart fell. “Oh.”
“It sounds very nice. And if you do not have any objections … I suppose that is what I will do. I can claim a piece of land close by the rest of the group and build a home and a life for myself here in Nebraska.”
Antonio stuck the end of the knife into a piece of steak and shoved it into his mouth. She was leaving him, and there was nothing he could – or should – do about it. It was best for her, certainly better than anything he could offer. He chewed slowly and stared into the night, feeling her gaze boring into him, until she turned with a sigh and wandered away.
The wheels of the chuck wagon rumbled over the uneven ground, and Lotte glanced behind her to see Elmo striding after them, the rope joining him to the back of the wagon swinging loose beneath his muzzle. Antonio had told her to keep the wagon, since he and Adam would hardly be able to drive it and the cattle at once. He’d taken as many supplies as the two of them could fit in their saddlebags and tipped his hat as she drove away. He hadn’t even kissed her goodbye.
Aurora hummed on the wagon seat beside her and chewed intermittently on a piece of beef jerky. The girl hadn’t stopped eating since supper the night before, and Lotte didn’t have the heart to make her. Against her better judgment, she’d agreed to let the girl travel with her. She wasn’t sure what else to do, since she could hardly send her back to the streets of North Platte to beg for her supper. And she figured she’d need help if she managed to secure a piece of land of her own.
When Lotte told her, Aurora had been beside herself with glee, kissing up and down Lotte’s arms and all over her cheeks and promising to behave all the while. Lotte had laughed and patted her back, begging her to stop and sit still a while so she could comb the snarls out of the girl’s freshly washed hair.
She clucked her tongue and the mules stepped forward, eager to get moving. Lotte leaned to one side to peer back – it was no use. She couldn’t see the herd any longer, nor Antonio and Adam. They’d left them behind and likely wouldn’t see them ever again. Her eyes flooded with tears and she sniffed as she searched out her handkerchief. She hadn’t wanted to let Antonio see her cry, but now that he was gone she allowed a sob to escape.
Aurora glanced up at her in alarm. “What is it, Miss Lotte?”
Lotte shook her head. “Oh, nothing. I just did not know how much I would miss him.”
“Who, Miss Lotte?”
“Antonio,” she whispered.
“Mr. Antonio the cowboy?” queried Aurora, her eyes widening. “But why did you leave him, then?”
Lotte’s eyes narrowed. “Because he did not try to stop me.”
They found the Dutch group easily enough. Just as the women had told her, they were camped outside town, their covered wagons pulled in a tight circle. Blonde, blue-eyed children ran after one another with hoops they rolled through the dirt and sticks to push them along. Lotte pulled the chuck wagon to a halt and climbed down, swallowed the lump in her throat and forced a smile. “Hello, Johanna!” she cried, spotting her friend in the middle of the group.
Johanna came over to greet her, then stopped short when she spied Aurora standing shyly behind Lotte’s skirts. “Lotte – so good to see you. And who is this?”
Lotte smiled and patted Aurora’s head. “This is Aurora. She’s coming with me.”
Johanna’s eyes widened and one eyebrow arched. “Oh.” Her gaze traveled slowly over Aurora.
Katarina joined them, welcoming Lotte with an embrace. “Lotte, you made it. I was just telling my husband ‘I wonder if she’ll come’ and here you are.”
Lotte nodded. “We made it.”
“We?” questioned Katarina.
Aurora stepped out from behind Lotte, her eyes downcast.
“This is Aurora,” explained Johanna with a frown.
“And who, may I ask, is Aurora?” Katarina’s eyes narrowed.
“I found her here in North Platte – she lost both parents, poor thing. She was begging for food, so I said she could come with me.” Lotte put an arm around Aurora’s shoulders and winked at her. “She hasn’t stopped eating since!” she laughed.
Aurora risked a tentative smile.
“So she is not your daughter, then?” asked Katarina.
Lotte shook her head. “No, I do not have any children.”
“And no relation to you?” added Johanna.
“No. Her family was from Italy. In fact, I forgot to ask – what is your family name, Aurora?”
The girl kicked a naked foot at the dirt. “Rossi.”
“Aurora Rossi – what a beautiful name,” said Lotte.
Katarina’s nostrils flared. “We will have to speak to the group about this. They agreed to allow you to join the community, but you did not tell us about this child.”
Lotte frowned. Katarina was no longer the friendly, welcoming Dutchwoman she’d appeared to be. Her face was drawn and Lotte noticed for the first time dark circles beneath her ice-blue eyes. She hurried off to speak with some of the others, and they whispered back and forth in hushed tones, glancing every so often in Lotte’s direction.
&nb
sp; When Katarina returned, her smile was frozen. “Lotte darling, I have spoken to the others and we have a little problem.”
“Oh?” Lotte crossed her arms. She didn’t like where this conversation was headed and anger swelled in her breast.
“Do you see that man over there?” Katarina pointed to a man with a wide chest and locks of dark hair beneath his wide-brimmed hat. His hands were on his hips and his eyes studied her beneath thick dark eyebrows. “That is Pim De Vries. The reason the group agreed you could come with us is that Pim said he would marry you. He is in want of a wife to help him build a home and bear his children, and he was willing to take you in.”
Lotte’s eyebrows headed skyward. “But I didn’t agree …”
“Lotte dear, be reasonable,” Johanna interrupted. “How could you come with us unless you were married to one of the men? There is no place on the frontier for a woman living alone. How would you build a home, work the land, hunt for food –survive? It is not sensible. And none of the women would agreed to it – a beautiful woman like yourself, living alone close by. No. It could not be.”
Lotte’s mouth fell open as she tried to understand what was happening. “But …”
“I know how much you want to come with us. And we want that too. You belong with us, and together we will make a home. You and Pim can marry and raise a family together, and our children will be playmates. You see – it would be perfect.”
Lotte nodded slowly. “Perhaps, but …”
“But the girl cannot come.”
Johanna’s words hit Lotte like a slap. “What?”
“Pim will not have it. He will not take in and raise some homeless Italian street urchin. You understand.”
Antonio’s eyes rolled shut. The lowing of the cattle and the crackle of the fire burning up straw, twigs and buffalo chips lulled him into semi-consciousness. It was his turn to sleep, but instead he’d been laying awake thinking. He could hear Adam singing softly to the longhorns in the distance and the chatter of creek water as it danced down the shallow rapids nearby. His breathing slowed and his mind slipped into a dream state.