by Zoe Matthews
Colleen had taken her time trying to pick a name for the horse. Kimberly could tell she took this decision very seriously. She finally decided to name the horse Spirit. Colleen explained it was because the horse was more in tune with nature than other horses. She had learned about it from a woman in a nearby Indian tribe. "Every living thing has a spirit. And this horse knows it." She said in her matter-of-fact tone.
Thinking about that horse Kimberly had ridden, Honey, made her think of Patrick. He had asked her a few days ago if she was ready for riding lessons. She had given him a vague answer. For some reason, she was reluctant to agree to learn to ride until she made the decision to stay. Even though the four-hour ride to Denver was difficult for her, she knew she would enjoy learning to ride, especially if she had her own horse. Kimberly knew Patrick was disappointed in her answer, but he hadn’t asked her again.
When Kimberly took her walk around the ranch, she always ended up at the puppy enclosure. Daisy would always come bounding up to her, and Kimberly was growing fonder of her every day. However, she tried not to get too attached because she knew that it was just a matter of time when Patrick would sell her to another rancher or farmer around the Denver area.
She felt someone walk up behind her and turned to see Patrick approaching her. She watched as he vaulted himself over the fence and soon he was standing next to her.
“Are you enjoying your walk?” Patrick asked her with a smile. She nodded at him, noticing that her heart jumped when she saw him. He was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen, with his wavy auburn hair that almost touched his shirt collar. He had removed his cowboy hat and hooked it on a nail on the fence. She could see the tell-tale signs of the band of his cowboy hat around his head. His light green eyes seemed to sparkle at her.
“What do you have there?” he asked, indicating the puppy in her arms.
“This is…” she stopped herself before she told him she had named the dog. “Just one of the puppies I like to hold.”
Patrick lifted the dog from her arms and held her at arm’s length as if looking her over. “This is the runt of Summer’s litter.”
“She might be small, but she is very sweet.” Kimberly defended the small dog.
“She won’t be a good cattle or farm dog. She probably won’t even be a good guard dog. She’s too calm. She’s what I would call a pet dog. I usually give these type of dogs away. In fact, I’m surprised she survived. Most runts don’t.”
Kimberly didn’t know what to say. She knew these cattle dogs were part of the ranch business and he saw them as such, but she wished she could convince him that Daisy had potential, even though she was small.
“Would you like to keep her for your own?” Patrick asked with a grin as he handed the puppy back to her.
“You mean, you won’t sell her? She’d stay here on the ranch?” Kimberly wanted to make sure she understood what he was offering.
“Sure.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We used to have a dog that was a pet, but he died a year or so ago. I think it’s time for a new one.”
“I would love to keep her,” Kimberly told him with a smile. “Thank you so much.” She threw her arms around Patrick’s neck to give him a hug. The puppy was still between them and she started wiggling around in excitement. Kimberly set her down and watched the puppy bounce around the two of them. “I’ve always wanted my own dog.”
“Well, now you have one. I can help you train her if you want, so she can go into the cabin. She needs to be able to come when you call her and…” Patrick stopped talking when Kimberly didn’t remove her arms around his neck. He pushed her away slightly and looked into her eyes.
Instantly, his eyes darkened and he bent as if he wanted to kiss her. He paused and Kimberly wanted to pull his face to her own, to hurry things along. But something in his eyes stopped her. There was a closeness developing between them and she could tell he felt it, too. He touched her cheek with his hand and then kissed her lightly and tenderly. He deepened the kiss when she responded, but then pulled away. She knew he was trying to keep himself under control.
Kimberly smiled at him, letting him know she enjoyed being with him, then stepped away to give Daisy one last hug. As they left the enclosure, Patrick took her hand, and they walked slowly towards his cabin. “What are you going to name her?”
Kimberly grinned at him. “Her name is Daisy.”
“And how long has she been Daisy?” he asked, grinning back at her.
“For a few days now.” She continued to smile at him. “I know I shouldn’t have named her, but I couldn’t help it. She looks like a Daisy and she is so sweet.”
“When you name an animal, it becomes yours,” Patrick told her as he squeezed her hand.
****
Later that morning, Kimberly helped Bridget in the garden. Colleen also helped for about an hour, but Kimberly could tell she really wanted to go ride her horse. She smiled when Bridget finally told her she had helped enough and gave her permission to go find Shaun.
“Pa told me he’d help me with Spirit,” she told Kimberly and Bridget as she ran off.
“She is a sweet girl,” Kimberly commented as she pulled another weed from the ground. “I was wondering, where is her mother?”
Bridget glanced at her sharply and at first Kimberly thought she wasn’t going to answer her. “Her mother is dead.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kimberly wished she hadn’t asked. “Colleen must look like her. Her hair is much darker than Shaun’s.”
“You might as well know. Shaun isn’t her father.”
“Oh,” Kimberly didn’t know what to say, but she was curious about Colleen’s past and was glad when Bridget continued.
“Colleen’s mother was an Indian. She was from a tribe that lives deep in the mountains about ten miles from here, although they are only there for the summer months. They travel south for the winter.
“Colleen’s father was a mountain man who got her mother pregnant and then left her. We have no idea who he was. Her mother never told us.
“When Colleen was a few months old, her mother died in some type of accident. We are actually not sure what happened. Her brother brought Colleen to Shaun, telling him that his sister had requested Shaun raise her daughter if anything happened to her.”
Kimberly was amazed at what she was hearing. “Why didn’t her uncle want her?” she wondered.
“She’s half Indian, half white. I guess he figured she would fit in our world better than theirs. Their tribe doesn’t treat children like her very kindly. She would have had a hard life if she stayed with them, especially with her mother gone.”
“Does her uncle ever visit her?”
Bridget nodded her head slowly. “Sometimes, but not very often. It might seem strange to us, but their ways aren’t our ways. Shaun gladly took over her care.”
“Can I ask why her mother choose Shaun instead of…?”
“Instead of a woman?” Bridget grinned at her. “Shaun always got along with the Indians. He has a very good reputation with them. He was very good friends with Colleen’s mother, as well as her family and her brother.”
“Colleen seems very happy.”
“Of course she’s happy.” Bridget said matter-of-factly. “She is Shaun’s daughter. She is my niece. She is a part of this family.”
Bridget stood straight and rubbed her back with her hand. “I need to get started on the noon meal.”
“I’ll keep weeding, if you would like,” Kimberly offered. She hoped that the little that she could do helped Bridget a bit. She knew if she decided to stay, she would insist on learning all she could about this time of Patrick’s.
As Kimberly kept weeding, she thought over Bridget’s story and about Colleen. She knew that children who had an Indian parent and a white parent in the 1890s were often called half-breeds. They weren’t really accepted in the white or Indian culture. She wondered what Colleen’s future held. She was safe and protected here on this ranch, far away from the near
est city, but would it stay that way, especially as she grew older?
She admired Shaun for taking over the care of Colleen and for the entire family to accept her as their own. Kimberly kept at her job, but was starting to feel very hot, and was glad when Bridget rang the bell signaling the noon meal was ready. She brushed her hands on her apron as she walked towards the cabin, admitting again that she hadn't gotten used to the dresses, and probably never would. She wished she could wear a pair of her favorite jeans she had left behind, just for a few hours.
Chapter 19
The next day Kimberly was taking her daily walk, only this time she had taken Daisy out of the enclosure and was walking the puppy with her. She was trying to teach her to stay near her side, when suddenly she heard her name being called.
“Kimberly,” someone called her in a loud whisper. Kimberly looked around, but didn’t see anyone. She almost had decided she had been hearing things when she heard her name again.
“Kimberly, over here.” She looked towards the edge of the puppy enclosure. She was surprised to see Collins, Mrs. Hilton’s butler, standing there. What was he doing here? Was something wrong? She hurried towards him, leaving Daisy to follow, tumbling over her paws as the puppy ran alongside her.
“Hi, Collins, what are you doing here?” she asked him.
“Shh,” he held a finger up to his mouth. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”
“Okay,” Kimberly thought he was acting strange, but nodded her agreement to be quiet and to keep his arrival a secret. “Is something wrong?”
“Your friend, Nicky, and her brother, have been very worried about your disappearance. She has been frantically looking for you.”
“But I left her a note,” Kimberly tried to explain.
Collins interrupted. “Yes, but either she doesn’t believe what you wrote or she just wants you to come home. She has contacted the police a few times and…”
“The police!” Kimberly exclaimed. What kind of trouble was she going to be in if the police were involved and looking for her?
Collins held out a hand to silence her. “The police are not actively involved at this time. They feel since you left a note, that you left by your own choice.”
“Well, I did.”
Collins reached into his jacket and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. “I traveled to your time yesterday and found Nicky on Mrs. Hilton’s porch, preparing to stay there until she found out where you were. I tried to reassure her that you are fine and you are safe and happy, but she didn’t believe me. I finally told her that she could write you a letter and I would deliver it for her.” He gave her the envelope.
Kimberly accepted it, feeling eager to read it right then. The only people she missed from her time were Nicky, Justin, and Garrett. She wished that there was a reliable way to keep in touch with Nicky.
Nicky had always been a great friend since they first met when they were both 16 years old. Nicky tended to be dramatic and bossy, but Kimberly loved her like a sister and did miss her.
“I will wait over there, by those grove of trees, for you to read your letter and respond if you would like. I will make sure she gets it,” Collins offered.
Kimberly looked Collins straight in his eyes. “I am probably going to stay with Patrick, if he still wants me to after he finds out I am from the future.” She wanted Collins to know she had made her decision and she wanted him to let Victoria know.
Collins nodded his head in his usual formal way, but Kimberly could tell that he looked pleased at her choice. He turned and disappeared into the clump of trees. Kimberly quickly put Daisy back with the other dogs and then hurried to her cabin. Once inside, she sat down on her bed and ripped open the envelope. The letter Nicky had written was short, but panicked.
Reading it, she could tell that Nicky was upset and very worried about her. Nicky thought something had happened to her and that she had disappeared by force. Nicky wanted to know if she was okay.
Kimberly quickly pulled out her drawing pad. She picked a page that she had drawn of Nicky a year ago, of her sitting in a park watching children play on the swings. She hoped Nicky would remember that day. They had taken Garrett to the park and while they watched him play with the other children, they had talked about what it would be like once both of them met someone who they could love and would want to spend the rest of their lives with. They had promised each other that if one of them met a man they wanted to marry, that they wouldn’t let their friendship interfere with the marriage. Kimberly turned the drawing over and started to write.
Dear Nicky,
I am so sorry that you have been so worried about me. The way I left couldn’t be helped. I have traveled to meet Patrick and have fallen in love with him. I plan to stay and marry him. I don’t know when, or if, I will be able to come back home.
Patrick is a wonderful man and he has a great family. They are good to me. Please know that what Collins told you is true, that I am safe and I am happy. Please be happy for me.
I will write again if I get a chance. Say hello to Justin and Garrett for me, and give Garrett that stuffed dog that is in my room. I know he is probably too old for it, but I would still like him to have it.
Love,
Kimberly
She paused, then grew teary as she scribbled, I miss you, at the bottom of the page. She wished she could write more, but didn’t dare because she knew Collins was waiting for her, and she didn’t want him to be accidentally seen. Right now, both Patrick and Shaun were working on the far end of the ranch, and she knew that Bridget and Colleen were in the cabin working on a new dress. Keegan still couldn’t get around very quickly yet because of his injury. She assumed he was studying at the kitchen table.
She wiped her eyes, quickly folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope Nicky had used for her letter. She crossed off her own name and replaced it with Nicky’s. She hoped that Nicky would be satisfied with what she had said. She hoped her friend would understand what she was saying by giving her the drawing she had made that day at the park.
She left her cabin quickly, not realizing she left her door partially open. She half walked and half ran towards the forest where she had left Collins. When she arrived, he came out from behind a large tree, took her letter, and then disappeared without a sound.
****
Keegan pushed himself out of the kitchen chair and sighed. He was tired of not being able to work around the ranch. He had always loved to study and learn, but at the moment he wished he could go round up some cows or something.
“I’m going to walk around a bit,” Keegan called to Bridget who was in their living room sewing with Colleen. “My leg is getting a bit stiff. I need to move around.”
“Okay,” he heard Bridget call back. “Don’t push it; you know your wound started to bleed last time you walked too much.” He nodded his head, even though last time his wound bled was about a week ago. Bridget was known to mother everybody since she was the only woman around the house. Keegan had never minded it, but hoped it might change now that there was another woman around. He smiled when he heard Colleen giggle at something Bridget said to her.
Keegan left the cabin and started to walk around. As he moved, his leg started to loosen up, and soon he was walking almost without a limp. It definitely was getting better, thanks to Kimberly.
Where was Kimberly? He wondered. He hadn’t seen her all morning. He knew she liked to go for a walk around the ranch after breakfast every morning, but she was normally back by now. She usually would come into the cabin and ask him about what he was learning. Sometimes if he was carving, she would sit and watch him for a few minutes.
He sat down on a chair that had been placed on the porch. He suddenly saw Kimberly run into her cabin and closed the door.
That’s strange. Kimberly is usually so calm and never runs around like that. He noticed that a few minutes later she left the cabin, only this time she seemed to be in such a hurry, she forgot to shut her door all the way. He wa
tched as Kimberly quickly left the cabin, running towards the edge of the ranch near the forest.
I might as well walk over there and shut the door, he muttered to himself. No reason to leave a door open and let the wildlife in. He headed that direction, but when he reached the half-open door, he couldn’t resist a look inside. He wondered if she had any interesting books from when she went to school to be a nurse. He saw the trunk open with some clothes spilling out of it. He looked towards her bed and saw an open book on the colorful quilt. He knew he shouldn’t go inside, but curiosity got the better of him and he slipped into the small cabin. He held his breath, thinking he had really lucked out. He could tell it was larger in size than the books he usually read. This would distract him from his leg for hours. His heart dropped when he saw the cover of the book; it had no indication that it was a medical book. His eyes started to wander again.