by Vivi Holt
Lotte flashed across his mind and he jolted awake.
He sat up with a sigh and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted from a long day driving cattle after saying goodbye to Lotte and Aurora that morning. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared into the fire. He shouldn’t have let her go, should have said something to make her stay. But it was too late now. She’d be better off with her countrymen, he was sure, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d missed an opportunity. And now he’d have to live with that knowledge.
He lay back on his bedroll and pulled the blankets up around his chin against the frigid air. With a shiver, he rolled onto his side and gazed out into the darkness. They were near the border with Wyoming Territory now. He’d seen the snow-capped mountaintops in the distance all day long as they trudged upstream beside the North Platte River. Home was closer than ever.
Something made a noise in the grass, not far from the camp. It wasn’t the cattle – they were in the other direction. He reached for his pistol – always kept close by while he slept – stood quickly to his feet and cocked it, raising it to shoulder height as he stared into the blackness. He couldn’t see it, but something was definitely coming closer.
Eyes narrowed, he stepped out of the fire’s circle of light and held his breath to listen. It sounded like wagon wheels rolling over the grass, and the plod of hooves on the soft ground. “Who is there?” he shouted, his pistol aimed toward the noise.
“It is us,” came a soft reply. “Is that you, Antonio?”
He lowered the gun, uncocked it and shoved it into the back of his pants, almost choking with relief. “Lotte?”
The sound of the wheels stopped. He heard footsteps running toward him, and she was there, leaping into his arms with a grin from ear to ear. “Lotte!” He wrapped his arms tight around her, not wanting to let her go. “What are you doing here?” He saw Aurora step slowly toward him, watching him carefully, twisting her hands together in front of her.
Lotte stepped back, eyes gleaming. “We decided not to go with them.”
He frowned. “But it would have been good for you. I am not good …”
“Yes, you are!” she insisted, and kissed him full on the mouth. Antonio’s eyes closed as her soft lips silenced his, her sweet breath warming him to the core.
14
Lotte yawned and covered her mouth, then absent-mindedly stroked the back of one of the mules.
“Here he comes,” shouted Adam.
She saw Antonio riding down the hill, away from Fort Laramie and its high walls and the flag that flapped intermittently overhead. He waved, and Hans broke into a canter. When he pulled up beside the chuck wagon, he dismounted with a grunt. “The Bozeman Trail is closed.”
“Really?” Lotte’s shoulders hunched. She was tired. They’d journeyed through the entire state of Texas, then north along the Chisholm Trail, west on the Oregon Trail and into Wyoming Territory – so very close to Montana, their final destination. The last thing she wanted to hear was that it might take longer than it already had. “Why?”
“Red Cloud’s war has made the trail too dangerous. The Army has closed it to all civilian travelers.”
“Who’s Red Cloud?” asked Aurora with a frown.
“He is a powerful Indian chief, allied with many other tribes,” Antonio explained. “They do not want us riding through their land, and they attack anyone who does. We cannot go that way.”
“But you have traveled it before?” asked Lotte.
He grinned. “Si, but we were not supposed to do it. The captain says we should take the old Montana Trail. It will take us a little longer, but it leads directly to Paradise Valley, so in the end it is perhaps better for us.”
Lotte chewed her lower lip. “Well, then I suppose we should keep moving.”
He laughed and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Do not worry so, mi querida. We will get there when we get there. And if the snows come first, we will walk through the snow. We bought the fur coats from the trader a few days ago just for that, si?”
Lotte frowned but held her peace. Though she was tired and hungry and ready to take a long nap in a warm cozy bed, she was also excited to be so close to their destination. Antonio had told her so much about Paradise Valley that she couldn’t wait to lay eyes on it.
And Aurora seemed to feel the same way. The girl had blossomed since they left North Platte – regular meals and baths and some new clothes made her look like a different child. She fairly glowed with health and spent her days exploring the prairie while they walked. Lotte had even given her a few riding lessons on Elmo, who seemed to take the task very seriously – he strode slow and steady, careful not to unseat his small charge.
“Can I ride Elmo again?” Aurora squealed behind her, as though the girl could read her mind.
Lotte smiled. “If you are careful.”
“I will be.”
She showed Aurora again how to saddle Elmo, then helped her mount. She looked like a small bump on a tall mountain, staring down at Lotte with round eyes. “Are you sure you can ride on your own?” asked Lotte.
She nodded. “Yes, Miss Lotte.”
“All right, then. You ride ahead of the chuck wagon so I can keep an eye on you.”
They pulled away from Fort Laramie, Adam leading the way with the longhorns trailing behind him. Antonio had let the boy take the lead a few times in recent weeks and he seemed to relish the responsibility. His chest swelled and he pulled his hat down as he rode off, the cattle trotting behind him. When Lotte first brought Aurora into the camp, Adam had barely said two words to the girl. But now she caught him staring every now and then, a question on his face he didn’t seem ready to ask.
Well, when he asked, she’d answer it. She clucked her tongue to the mules and they headed forward, following close on Elmo’s heels. By now they knew their place and were accustomed to the daily routine. They rode for several hours as the sun moved slowly west. Lotte alternated between riding in the wagon and walking beside the mules.
Then a sound like a gunshot echoed from beyond a tall abutment nearby. The mules leaped and jostled in their traces, and Elmo jogged sideways, his eyes widening and the whites showing. Lotte scanned the landscape, looking for some sign of where the noise had come from. She saw dust rising at the base of the abutment, and realized it must have been a rock fall.
The mules rocked the chuck wagon, and it rode over a large stone, tipping it to one side. “Whoa!” called Lotte, patting the neck of one of the mules and grabbing for the traces to pull them up. There was a crash as the contents of the chuck wagon tumbled, and a loud bang as the Dutch oven slid from the wagon and landed hard on a rock behind it.
Elmo reared on his hind legs with a snort, his eyes rolling back in his head, then took off at a canter. Aurora fell from his back and landed on the ground as Elmo disappeared past the herd. “Aurora!” cried Lotte. She couldn’t release the mules, who were still shaking their heads, itching to run.
Antonio turned Hans around and headed for Aurora, and Lotte sighed in relief. He dismounted and hurried to the child, kneeling beside her and pulling her head into his lap.
Lotte calmed the mules, then released the traces, picked up her skirts and ran to join them. “Is she all right?” she cried as she drew near.
Antonio smiled. “Si, she is fine. She only had the wind knocked from her lungs.” He patted Aurora’s arm as she stared up at him with wide eyes. “Never mind, little one. You will regain your breath soon. You are lucky you did not hit your head on a rock, si?”
That night Antonio sat by the fire, glad for a chance to rest after a wearying day. He loved this time of the evening, when he could stare into the flames and think through everything that’d happened that day.
He was grateful they were so close to home. Already the landscape had changed. Evergreen trees lined the riverbanks and formed groves. The mountains hovered on the horizon and birds sang all day long. When he’d gathered wood for the fire, there had been sticks and logs
as well as plenty of kindling. The prairies would soon be behind them and the lush valleys and peaks of Montana would surround them.
He jumped as something bumped into his side. When he raised an arm to look and see what, he saw a small dark head nestled there. “Hello, little one.”
Aurora looked up at him and grinned. “Mr. Antonio, do you have any more beef jerky?”
He laughed. “Si.” He pulled a pack from his pocket, and she licked her lips. “Here you go.”
She took a piece and bit into it like a starved wolf, then lay her head against his side with a smile. He shifted his arm around her awkwardly, his throat tightening. Consuela had been about the same age when he’d left. Feeling Aurora embrace him this way reminded him of what he’d missed all those years he was gone – and what he’d never have again. “Do you know I had a daughter once?”
Aurora looked up at him, still chewing.
“She … she died of smallpox.” His voice caught and he coughed.
Aurora nodded sagely. “I’m sorry she died. Just like my Papa and Mama.”
He smiled. “Yes, just like them.”
She reached around his stomach and nestled closer still. “Aren’t you glad we got each other now?”
He nodded, unable to speak.
“I’m glad,” she whispered, then took another bite.
His eyes smarted and he rubbed them, then let his hand drop to his side. He looked up and saw Lotte watching them from across the fire with an odd look on her face. She stepped carefully around the fire, sat next to him, leaned against his free side and tucked her herself beneath his arm.
Antonio looked down at the two small heads laid against him and his heart swelled.
Lotte gazed up at the mountain range alongside them, the crests rising in a majestic line, white peaks reaching skyward. Her breath caught in her throat as they passed a lake that was as blue as her mother’s eyes. Paradise Valley was even more stunning than Antonio had described – in person the impact it had on her couldn’t be put into words.
“There it is!” cried Antonio, pointing to a hill in the distance.
She gasped and her eyes widened in delight. They’d finally made it to Paradise Ranch, something she’d been dreaming of for months.
It was several hours before they finally rolled up to the base of the hill. In that time, they’d passed several hulking barns, and fields that Antonio said grew oats and wheat during the summer months but now sat bare and empty. They’d pushed their cattle past grazing herds of inquisitive longhorns and clumps of horses who lifted their heads high and pricked their ears to watch the newcomers trundle by.
Lotte pulled the chuck wagon onto a long drive that wound up the hillside. She could see the outline of a long wooden building at the top, smoke curling from its chimney, and her stomach growled at the thought of what might be simmering in a pot within those snug walls.
Antonio rode over. “Stay here. I will go see who is home –”
There was a shout, and a man came jogging down the hill, a tan Stetson pulled low on his head. Antonio dismounted and walked to meet him, and they threw their arms around each other, the other man slapping Antonio on the back. They headed back down the hill together, Antonio grinning. “Thomas O’Reilly, this is Lotte Velden and Aurora Rossi. Over behind the longhorns is Adam Hunt.”
Tom held out a hand and Lotte shook it shyly, feeling her cheeks warm. “Nice to meet you, Lotte. I’m so glad y’all are here – I can’t quite believe it.”
Another cry from up the hill, and a woman carrying a small child hurried down, with three men in her wake. She embraced Antonio with tears on her cheeks. “Vaquero, you came home,” she said between sniffles.
“Well, well, well – the weary traveler has returned,” said one of the men, then pulled Antonio into a quick hug. The two other men shook his hand and slapped him good-naturedly on the back, asking questions faster than he could answer them. Finally Antonio introduced Lotte to Cookie, Ost and Dan, as well as Genevieve and her baby Frances Rose.
Genevieve sidled over to her while the men discussed Antonio’s herd and what to do with them. “I’m so happy to meet you, Miss Velden.”
“And you as well, Genevieve,” replied Lotte.
“Oh please, call me Genny. Everyone does.”
“I will.”
Genny grinned and shifted Frances onto her other hip. “You must be tired. Let the men take care of the wagon and come up to the house. I’ll get you a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about yourself while I fix supper.”
Lotte glanced at Antonio and he waved her off with a smile, so she and Aurora followed Genny back up to the homestead.
When they reached the top of the hill, Lotte realized there were two structures on its flat top – a long squat wooden building and a sprawling ranch house. “That’s the bunkhouse over there, where the men sleep,” said Genny, pointing to the shorter structure. “And this is our home. Thomas and the men built it for us when we first arrived and we’ve been adding to it gradually ever since.”
“It’s beautiful,” murmured Lotte, taking it all in with awe. She turned, her gaze traveling over the full vista surrounding the ranch house – mountains, a yellow-and-green valley, the brown river meandering through it all. It was breathtaking.
“Thank you. I love it here.” Genny held the front door open with her foot. “Come on in.”
Lotte and Aurora followed her inside and were immediately enveloped with warmth. “It’s so nice in here,” said Aurora, rubbing her arms.
“Oh yes – we keep the fire lit from now until March,” said Genny with a laugh as she bustled ahead of them. She set Frances down on the floor of a spacious kitchen and hurried to the stove. The girl stood awkwardly to her feet and toddled after her mother. “You just wait – when winter comes, you’ll be even more glad of the fire. Coffee?”
Lotte nodded. “Yes, please.”
Genny smiled at Aurora. “And how about milk for you?”
Aurora nodded and sat at the solid kitchen table, folding her hands together nervously in front of her. Lotte knew she likely hadn’t drunk a glass of milk in a long time.
Genny walked over to the table, poured milk into a tin cup from a pitcher and scooped some cream in as well, making white liquid splash over the sides of the cup and onto the table. Aurora’s eyes widened and she licked her lips as Genny laughed. “I guess everyone likes a little cream in their milk, right?”
Aurora nodded. “Thank you, Miss Genny.”
“You are most welcome, my dear.” Genny pulled a stool forward and patted the seat. “Why don’t you sit, Lotte dear – you must be so tired. I’ve made that journey before, and let me tell you, I hope to never make it again.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Now tell me, where did you and Vaquero meet?”
Lotte didn’t know how much of the story she should share. Likely Antonio would want to do that his own way in his own time. But it was hard to resist Genny’s sparkling blue eyes and contagious smile. “We met outside of Fort Worth, Texas.”
“Fort Worth? That’s where I’m from – I spent much of my childhood there, though I was more than happy to leave.” Genny set the coffeepot on top of the stove, then opened the stove door to push a small split log inside.
“Well, we met on the road and he kindly let me travel with him.”
“That’s our Vaquero.”
“Why do you all call him that?”
Genny frowned. “Hmmm … I think he introduced himself that way when we first met him. He didn’t tell us his name for the longest time.” She chuckled. “He doesn’t say much, does he?”
Lotte shook her head with a smile. “No, he does not.”
“And Aurora – is she your daughter?”
Lotte shook her head and whispered her reply so the girl couldn’t hear her. “No, we found her in North Platte, Nebraska. Her parents died after a locust plague wiped out their crops. She was begging in the streets for food and followed me back to the campsite.”
; Genny’s eyes grew wider with each word. “Oh my. Now isn’t that a story?”
Lotte chuckled. “Oh, we have plenty of stories to tell. Though I am sure Antonio would rather tell them to you himself.”
The back door to the kitchen swung open and Ost poked his head inside. “Excuse me, Genny. Tom wanted me to ask if there’s anything I can do to help.”
Genny took the hot coffee from the stove top and set it on the kitchen table. “Thank you, Ost. I believe our guests would love a nice hot bath. Do you think you could draw one in the guest room?”
Ost nodded, took off his boots, hat and coat, and hurried through the kitchen and down the wide hall, disappearing through a door.
“A bath?” marveled Lotte, feeling as though she’d stepped into a fantasy.
“Well, I figured that’s exactly what I would’ve wanted right after a steaming cup of coffee, when I came off the trail. Will it suit?”
Lotte and Aurora both bobbed their heads joyfully. “Yes, please!” they said together.
Antonio stared around the dining table, almost unable to believe he was home. Jane and Dusty had come to the ranch house from their cottage. Bill and Sarah were there as well, with their two small children. Cookie, Dan, Coop and Ost, along with Genny and Tom – everyone was there. He had to swallow hard to dislodge the lump that’d formed in his throat.
Tom lifted his glass high into the air. “Vaquero … ahem, excuse me. My wife informs me we should call you Antonio from now on. So Antonio, it’s truly a blessin’ for all of us to see your face. We honestly weren’t sure we’d ever hear from you again, seein’ as how you’re so lazy about sendin’ letters …” He cleared his throat as his eyes twinkled. “Be that as it may, we’re delighted to have you here and glad you’ve returned safely.”
The rest of the men beat hands or forks against the table and shouted their agreement as Antonio grinned.