“You’re very brave, and reckon you’re mighty hungry. What say we cook you something to eat then we’ll take care of your pa?” Zach stood and turned to Alice. “Better sit while I get our animals under shelter. Soon as they’re squared away, I’ll get us some food.”
“I’m a pretty good cook.” The state of the room repulsed her and the smell near made her puke, but she’d make do. “While you’re outside I’ll see what I can do in here.”
“If you’ll get a fire going, I’ll bring in our grub and help.”
She nodded and coughed. Might as well speed up getting warm food inside the boy. She turned to go back for supplies, but Zach stopped her.
“I’ll bring the food in, you stay inside.”
He left and Alice went to the wood box by the hearth. Only a few pieces of bark remained inside. “Where’s the wood pile?”
“Ain’t much left out there, but I’ll get some.” Seth reached for two sacks.
Then she noticed he wore no shoes even in the frosty cabin. He sat down and slipped a sack onto each foot, then wrapped a bit of rope around each ankle to secure the sack. He started for the door, apparently planning to go without a coat or hat and with only canvas sacks to protect his feet from the snow and cold.
“No,” Alice said. “Tell me where and I’ll get the wood.”
He looked up at her. “Man said you’re sick.”
Before she could protest, he slipped out. Suppressing a shudder, she wondered if she should ignore the body or lay the man out proper. A scowl froze on the dead man’s face and Alice wondered about a man who’d threaten to eat a child’s pet instead of hunt for game. She shook her head and questioned what would happen to the boy now?
Chapter Nine
First things first, Alice decided. She poked at the fire, tossing the bark bits and chips onto the coals. The dead man lay on the floor near the only bed. A dirty blanket on the stone floor near the dog must be the child’s pallet.
The cover on the single bed looked every bit as dirty as the one on the floor. She supposed it belonged to the deceased, so she used it to drape the body. That done, she searched for water and found an almost empty bucket with a dipper.
Seth returned with Zach. The boy carried a load of wood and Zach had a sack of food as well as her carpetbag. The boy fed wood to the fire.
Zach picked up the bucket. “If the spring’s not frozen solid, I’ll get water so you can make that tea.” He went back out.
She rummaged in the sack Zach had brought. “You have any rags to clean with? I need to wipe off the table before we eat.”
And scrub anything food might touch in this dirty room. Thank goodness, Zach had included his pans so she wouldn’t have to scour that filthy kettle on the hearth before they ate. Good, he’d brought in some soap for cleaning later.
Seth looked surprised at her question about scrubbing, but pawed through a pile of rags on the floor in the corner. “We always just brushed it off with our hands.”
“Don’t bother, I’ll use my bandana.” Alice forced herself to work on a meal for the child. Cooking wasn’t easy with a dead man in the room and she didn’t know if she could eat with a corpse nearby in the confined small cabin. But Seth looked thin as a rail and, from the sound of it, he hadn’t eaten in a while. For herself, she sure needed that tea.
Alice had bacon sizzling when Zach returned with a bucket so full the water sloshed over the rim as he moved across the room.
“Good spring here.” He set the pail on the shelf near the fireplace. “I’m looking forward to a hot cup of coffee.”
Zach set the kettle on the hob for her tea and dug out the sack of grounds and coffeepot. She mixed corn pone. As soon as the kettle started a boil she busied herself washing plates, cups and utensils. Having an arm in a sling slowed her down, but she made progress. Zach helped her with the tasks, then paced the room and looked restless as a mockingbird in a nest of rattlers while he waited for the food to cook.
Finally he knelt in front of the boy. “Seth, how old are you?”
“Purt near ten. Had me a big party my last birthday. You should have seen the cake and all the boys what come to wish me happy birthday. Got lots of presents too.” He looked around the cabin. “Uh, had to leave ‘em when we came here. Gave ever’ last one of ‘em to a orph’nage.”
Alice figured he wasn’t a day over five or six and doubted he’d ever been to a party, much less had one of his own.
Zach took a deep breath and she thought he would scold the child for lying. Instead he merely nodded. “Then I reckon you’re old enough to understand what I have to say. Son, you know when a person dies, his spirit goes on but his remains get buried in the ground, right?”
The boy nodded and his face puckered like he wanted to lean his head on Zach’s shoulder and bawl, but he stood tall. “He’s too big. I was gonna take him outside and bury him, but I couldn’t lift him. Couldn’t even move him.”
Zach said, “Wouldn’t have helped. Ground’s frozen solid, so I can’t dig your pa a proper grave. You have family hereabouts we can take him to? Is there someone we need to notify?”
Seth shook his head. “Reckon not. Ma died a long time ago. She’s a angel now.”
Over Seth’s head, Zach’s gaze met Alice’s. “Well, guess we’ll have a little service for him right here, then I’ll put him in a safe place. You know your father’s full name?”
She had to admire the way Zach talked to the boy. Soft and patient, but like Seth was important and grown up.
Seth stared at his feet. “Felton Barnes.”
Looked to her as if they’d be here at least a few more hours. Using water and Zach’s supply of jerky, Alice started stew for another meal. She tossed in some beans and dug out an onion from his saddlebags. He saw her struggling to peel the onion and took over, and then produced a potato to add to the broth.
Outside the wind whistled and buffeted the cabin, rattling the windows. Inside with the fire blazing, the snug cabin interior transformed into a cozy shelter--except a dead man lay stretched out not five feet from the table and benches. Could they eat with his body so near and the stench filling the cabin? From the looks of Seth, he needed food fast, so they’d all have to make do.
“Food’s ready,” Alice said and set the corn pone on the table’s center. “Let’s eat if we can, then we can have the funeral.”
Harry whimpered and she gave the dog a slice of bacon before she slid onto a bench with her back to the deceased. Seth sat beside her and Zach took the bench across from them. She helped her plate and Seth’s and passed the food to Zach. He served himself corn pone and bacon. He hastily ate before his glance slid to the body. He met her gaze and frowned.
“No use putting this off any longer.”
Zach stood, turned the blanket back and went through the man’s pockets. He emptied everything into a pile on the bench by Seth, who had stopped eating but looked everywhere except at his father. When Zach had finished, the boy moved the effects to the table beside his plate and sorted through the bits and pieces between bites of his meal.
A pocketknife and two coins went into his pocket. He turned the pocket watch and chain over in his hand before he pressed the button to open the timepiece. He closed it and slid it into another pocket. Seth pushed aside the few papers.
“Cain’t read.”
“We’ll get to them later.” Zach tugged the boots off the body and set them on the floor. “Son, you leave the sacks on your feet and these should do until we get to a store.”
“He can add the socks in my carpetbag,” Alice offered.
“Right. Later.” He tested the man’s weight, then lowered him and drew the blanket over the deceased’s face. “Body’s loosening up some. With the cabin warmed up I reckon I better get him out of here before he gets any riper.”
“I can help,” Seth volunteered.
“No, thanks. Guess there’s nothing to be gained by taking him to town. Suppose we better have a few words here, then I’ll lo
ad him on Solomon and take him into the cave. Your pa have a Bible, son?”
Seth scooted near the hearth, lifted a loose floor stone and extracted a cloth bundle. “It was my Ma’s. I kept it hid. After she died, Pa was so tore up he burned all her things, but I saved these.” Almost reverently, he unwrapped the fabric to reveal a Bible, a few pieces of jewelry, and a tiny portrait in a metal frame.
Zach opened the Good Book. He leafed through to the family entry section and showed it to Alice. Seth would be seven in two weeks.
Zach asked, “Either of you have a preference for scripture?”
Seth shook his head without looking up.
Alice said, “When Mama died, we read the Twenty-third Psalm. It was her favorite.”
Zach found the passage. “That’s what it’ll be then.
Alice thought Zach’s voice sounded real nice when he read the Psalm and offered a brief prayer for the soul of Felton Barnes and the well being of those gathered around him. She looked at the bruises on Seth’s grimy face. The man who would do that to his own small son needed more prayers than one man could say.
Then Zach donned his coat. “I’ll bring Solomon around to the door, then load Mr. Barnes.” He clamped on his hat and left.
In only a few minutes Zach returned. He hefted Mr. Barnes over his shoulder, which meant he had to stoop to get through the door that Alice closed behind him.
He returned in a minute and knelt in front of Seth. “Son, I’m sorry about all of this. I’m taking your pa into a cave a ways back. Is that all right with you?”
Seth nodded, tears trickling down his cheeks.
“Can you understand you won’t ever see him again?”
“He’ll be a angel like Ma?”
Alice noticed Zach didn’t answer that.
“Don’t you worry. We won’t let anything else bad happen to you.” Turning to Alice, Zach said, “I’ll take Mr. Barnes to that place we came by, just past the big room on this side.”
She figured he meant to drop the body off the ledge. Horrifying memories of that part of the cave sent shudders through her. “Please be careful of yourself.”
Seth stared at the closed door when Zach had gone. “What happened to the man’s face?”
“He didn’t say.” She’d wondered the same thing, but hadn’t been brave enough to ask.
While they waited for Zach’s return, Seth ate as if he hadn’t seen victuals in a long time. She couldn’t stomach food herself, and only wanted gallons of hot tea. To keep up her strength, she took a piece of the pork and a slice of the cornbread. Zach had taken out only a small portion so she let the boy polish off the remainder. Seth saved the last bit of cornbread and bacon to offer the dog.
“Here, Harry. This will help you get well.” The dog licked Seth’s hand before he wolfed down the food.
“What’s wrong with him?” Alice asked.
Seth opened his mouth as if all set to launch into another of his outlandish tales, and she sent him a stern look. The boy pressed his lips together, then took a deep breath. “Won’t stand up none now. Pa kicked him real hard. I tried to help Harry, but Pa sure was powerful mad. That’s when he....” Seth shrugged.
Alice wanted to hug the child to her. His experiences the past day or so would have terrorized an adult. He probably wouldn’t welcome coddling and she feared touching an injury, so she restrained her impulse. She swallowed the last of her tea then poured more coffee for Seth.
Zach returned and stomped snow from his boots and shed his coat and hat. Giant snowflakes clung to his clothes.
“It’s colder than you’d ever believe out there. The animals are huddled together in the barn.” Even the gust of cold air entering with him didn’t chill the cabin for long and the fresh air sweetened the staleness inside.
Alice coughed. For the past few days she’d thought she would never be warm again. With a fire blazing in the fireplace and hot tea in her body, she felt better. The lamp burning on the table added its heat to the snug room.
“Goodness, it’s warm in here.”
She’d shed Pa’s coat and hat to fix their meal, but left Zach’s fine muffler around her head and neck. Now she unwound the long scarf and folded it into a neat square. The blue wool was the softest she’d ever seen and she smoothed it with her fingers.
Wishing for her hairbrush, she fluffed her hair with her hand, then remembered Zach had brought in her carpetbag. She stood to retrieve it, and fumbled through her belongings. When she had it in her hand she turned and realized both Zach and Seth stared at her. She stilled.
How could she have forgotten her stupid mistake?
Seth said, “Gosh, lady, I ain’t never seen nobody with green hair before.”
Chapter Ten
Alice pulled a strand of her hair forward and looked at it. The sight of her pale green tresses elicited a sigh. Nothing she’d done since Pa died had turned out right. Nothing except for throwing in with Zach Stone.
“I never saw green hair neither, least not ‘til mine a few days ago.” She laughed, but that started another spasm of coughing.
Zach rose and brought her a sip of water. “What happened to your hair?”
“Pa and me had this idea I could disguise myself by dying my hair brown. I made up some walnut dye to use on the trail.”
“What’s that mean, ‘disguise’ yourself?” Seth asked.
“It means make yourself look different so no one will recognize you.”
Seth nodded, his eyes still round with awe. “Guess that’s a good disguise then ‘cause you sure ‘nuff look different.”
Zach’s blue-gray eyes twinkled. “What went wrong?” He scrubbed a hand across his face, and she could have sworn he suppressed a laugh.
Alice brushed her hair back from her face. “Don’t know. I was sure enough in a hurry. Reckon the water was too cold, or maybe I didn’t leave the dye on long enough.” She looked in the corner where she’d laid her things. “Turned the fingers of my gloves a real nice brown.”
Zach picked one up and turned it over. “Did at that. I see where the dye touched the leather. Thought maybe they were stained by wear.” He returned the glove to its mate.
Seth touched a curl on her shoulder. “It’s kind of a pretty color. Is it gonna stay disguised like that?”
She shook her head, and the action sent the room swirling. She gripped the table to steady herself. “Soon as I have a chance to heat me some water and wash it with my lye soap, it’ll be back to normal.” At least, she hoped so and wondered how long it would take to grow out if she was wrong.
Zach sent her an appraising frown. “Best wait until you’re feeling better and both arms are fit.”
Alice checked on their stew, then tidied up from the late breakfast.
She couldn’t find a broom but didn’t feel like sweeping anyway. When she wiped down the shelf where Zach had set the water bucket, she felt something carved into the wood. She moved the lamp near and saw initials there. Z.G.S. No wonder Zach knew the cabin was here and expected it to be empty.
What would have happened if they had come here when Mr. Barnes was alive? Worse for Seth, what if she and Zach hadn’t come here at all? She shuddered at the thought.
Zach slid onto the bench by Seth and touched the papers. “Want me to read these to you?”
Seth nodded.
Zach unfolded one packet. “It’s a notice of the sale of the Barnes farm on April 1, 1868.” He lifted the sheet to reveal another. “This is the sheriff’s order of eviction. Was that your farm?”
Seth slumped and leaned his elbow on the table. “Yeah. Pa took to drinking too much. Didn’t have enough money to pay the bank, so we had to leave. I don’t remember much, ‘cept Ma sure was tore up about it.”
The next was a letter. “It’s from someone in Arkansas. Says your father’s family all died of cholera.” He refolded the papers. “These are both sad reminders, but you should save these with the Bible. When you’re older, you might want to have them.”
“Don’t have to hide Ma’s things no more.” Seth replaced the floor stone and took a metal box off a shelf. “I can put ‘em in here now. This was Pa’s strong box.” He picked a key from the things piled on the table.
When the lock turned, he opened the lid. On examination, they found more papers, a portrait of a young man, a packet of needles, two buttons, and a piece of string. He retrieved the other painting and placed the two side by side. The frames matched in size and design.
Seth picked up the man’s portrait. “That was Pa when he met Ma.” Tears rolled down his cheeks. He turned to hide them and brushed his cheeks with his sleeve.
They reminded Alice of the photo in her carpetbag of her parents wedding portrait. She didn’t have a photo of Pa, but she had his memory in her heart. That and other memories haunted her. Losing her father, the hard life she and Mama lived until Pa married Mama and took them to his ranch. No matter what others said, to her Pa was a knight in shining armor.
Alice nodded at the photos. “They were both nice looking. I see where you get your fine features.”
Seth turned back to face her, his wide brown eyes shining with moisture. “You poking fun at me?”
“Not a bit. You’re a mighty fine looking boy. I reckon you’ll make a handsome man when you’re grown.”
His lip quivered. “Pa said I was a ugly brat and he didn’t know why he brought me with him.”
Alice longed to comfort him for all the abuse he’d lived through. She wished she could rock him in her lap and cosset him until he’d forgotten all the bad things he’d experienced.
Zach said, “I suppose your father was so upset at losing your mother and his farm and his family in Arkansas that he lashed out at you. People do that sometimes when they’re real sad. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”
Seth brushed more tears away. “Reckon not?” A ray of hope lit his eyes.
“I’m sure of it. Bet he was real proud of you. I sure would be if you were my son.”
Seth took a few minutes to digest that, then slid off the bench to check on his dog. Watching Seth pet the injured dog, Alice realized Harry hadn’t moved from his place since she and Zach arrived. “Think he’d let me check him over?”
High Stakes Bride, Men of Stone Mountain Book 2 Page 6