by Nancy Radke
Both Gage and Travers looked purty good to me, right then. I guess I wasn’t comfortable starting off alone anymore.
Travers ran up and thrust his muzzle in my hand, his way of greeting a person.
“What you doing here, Ruth?” Gage asked, stopping his team next to me.
“My company got sold, and the workers paid off. I took a stroll and ended up here.”
“That’s about a five mile stroll. Were those shoes up to it?”
“Not like my traveling shoes, but these are purty comfortable.”
“Get in and come around back with me.”
Gage set the brake, jumped down and helped me up into the wagon. He joined me, and Travers jumped up on the other side, so I was between the two. It was fun.
Gage loosed the brake and started the horses. I could tell they were glad to be back at their stables, as they jerked that empty wagon to life and pranced around the corner of the building, down an alley and into the yard.
“They don’t seem very tired after the trip,” I said.
“They get new life on the way home. Going out, they’re loaded and pulling uphill. They act half dead when we get to the mines. But coming back they get a second wind and by the time we get home, they’re clippin right along.”
“Travers looks content, riding with you,” I said.
“He’s a help. If I have to leave the wagon a minute, for sure nothing gets stolen. Men just leave my cargo alone.”
“Maybe they should pay him wages as a guard.”
He laughed. “He’s worth it, but I doubt they’d do that. What do you plan to do next, Ruth?”
“I was a-thinking about that as I walked down here. I’m wonderin if’n I should go see some of California before I start another job. I especially want to see those trees.”
“Sounds good to me. I need to see my folks.”
His comment made me happy. Sounds like I wouldn’t be making the trip north alone.
He turned the gold dust over to the foreman, then went on to the stable area and unhitched the horses. I had on my work dress, but it warn’t made for this kind of work, so I just watched while Gage watered and fed them, gave them a brush down, and put the harness away. It were the most pleasure I’d had in a long time.
We rode back together in a cab, with Travers sitting at our feet, looking out the window.
“I worry some that someone will shoot him,” Gage said, reaching down to stroke the dog’s head. Travers looked up at him and licked his hand.
“Most of the stuff people worry about never happens. If’n we don’t take chances, we’d never do anything, maybe never find happiness. I’d take him along, just to get him out where he can run. He was a’frettin in that small yard. He’s happy with you.”
“He was. But he’s eager to come back to you at the end of each trip, Ruth. As am I.”
“This is a good place to stay, ” I said, motioning towards the boardinghouse. We pulled up and stopped.
“Wouldn’t matter where you stayed. Tennessee or California. His heart is with you.”
I smiled at Gage, not quite catching his drift. I got out of the cab and started to go inside. He caught my hand and held it.
“So is mine.”
I looked at him, puzzled. “So is your what?”
“My heart, Ruth. I love you. I been hinting, but you don’t take hints.”
Love? He loved me? Since when?
“I don’t take plain talk either. I’ve heard you swear your love to every girl in every holler and then some.”
He put his face in his hands. “Ahh!” He slapped his hips as he looked back at me. “Ruth, you never would let me get close. You were always working. You wouldn’t let me help you. You sent the boys off with Mary. I joined that group, hoping I could get close to you. “
“Oh.”
“I finally gave up and went around looking, but not finding. I come back to Mary’s wedding and you’re still all prickly and independent. Do you ever plan to get married?”
“Of course.” To my Boaz.
“Would you marry me?” He sounded right put out.
My first proposal. It didn’t sound at all like I thought it should. Not sweet and flowery. More exasperated. Why ask me?
“Gage, you can have your pick of any woman in San Francisco. Why would you ask a plain one like me?”
“I’m like Travers. I want to be where you are. And you aren’t plain, Ruth. When you laugh, your whole face lights up, and your eyes dance. To me, you’re the prettiest girl in the land. You can run circles around the other women.”
I looked at him skeptically. I couldn’t believe him. Me? Pretty? “I thought you already had you a girl in California.”
“I do. You. I been chasing you all the way from Tennessee. And you been running so fast I could hardly keep up.”
Time to defend myself. “I been looking for my Boaz.”
“Who? Boaz? You’ve already got someone?”
Now, if’n I had any doubts left about Gage, that took care of them. He looked like someone had pole-axed him. I’d never seen a man collapse as completely as he did, except when a man would get news of his wife or child dying. The disbelief, followed by complete anguish, over the loss of a loved one, couldn’t be faked.
Gage loved me! Here I’d been praying for my Boaz, and he’d been a’chasing me clear across the country.
God must think I was dumber than a block of wood. Here He had been trying to answer my prayers, and I couldn’t see it. He must be laughing at me right now.
I started to chuckle, bemused.
Gage just shook his head in misery, and turned and walked away.
“Gage. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at me. I was too blockheaded to see what you were up to.”
He stopped. Turned around. “But this other man. This Boaz.”
“I’m Ruth, Gage. Like in the Bible. Preacher Rowe told me to go find my Boaz. My other half. I been looking. Just not behind me. There is no other man.”
“Then I got a chance?” He looked so happy, I wouldn’t have been able to tell him “no,” if’n I’d have wanted to. Besides, this was Gage, the man, talking to me. I’d come to know his qualities during our trip out here.
“If you don’t mind a girl who can’t read sign,” I said.
“Then you will? Marry me?”
I barely hesitated. I trusted him and knew he wouldn’t betray that trust. Did I love him? I wasn’t sure. But I was already starting to picture little boys with Gage’s eyes and way of laughing. Gage would back bring the sunshine into my life that I’d lost with Mary. “Yes.”
He took and kissed me. I’d never been kissed like that before, like I had pushed him to the end of his rope, and he was going to tie a knot in it before I took off again.
I decided I liked it. So this was what Mary had been doing.
My heart started thumping and I kissed him back. Love? It was swooping down on me like a chicken hawk on a chicken. I wanted Gage. I wanted to be married to him. And I wanted to join with the man that God had picked out for my husband.
My Boaz.
Thank you, God.
We got married that weekend. Lila helped me pick out a fancy white dress and did my hair. She was my maid of honor. I have my wedding photo. I was so extremely happy, I looked beautiful. And Gage looked prouder than I’d ever seen him.
Gage quit his job and took me north to where his pa and ma lived. I wasn’t disappointed in the trees. They looked like they could sweep the sky clean, pulling the clouds to the earth. And Abigail beamed that she would finally get some grandchildren from Gage. She’d given up hope on him.
Jacob had a place by the ocean, where the soil was deep and black, but I told Gage I’d prefer the hills, if’n he didn’t mind.
After spending two weeks with Jacob and Abigail, we went on to Walla Walla where Trey and Mally lived. It overlooked the valley, a well built place that Gage had helped him start. Trey and Gage had brought logs down from the mountain slopes last
fall, long straight Ponderosa pine, and Trey had taken off the bark and flattened the sides, ready to build.
The wood had cured out, but he was waiting for help to put up the home he planned. He had several neighbors who were coming over. They could raise a house, or barn, in a day, if the material was ready. Trey had even cut some planks to make a floor, splitting the wood with wedges, then finishing them off with an adze. He’d made nails during the winter, cutting the metal to length, then hammering on a head and a point.
Smaller poles formed a corral, and a temporary home had seen them through the winter.
My brother welcomed us and just about doubled over laughing. “You two? Married? I’d never have guessed.”
Gage grinned at him. “You should have. I spent a lot of time at your place.”
“We all thought you were sparkin’ Mary.”
“Ruth wouldn’t pay me no attention, so I had to have some reason to come around.”
“I’m glad you won her.”
“So am I.”
They shook hands, and Mally and I just smiled delightedly at each other.
“I figure on getting us some land around here, if it’s still available,” Gage said.
“Yes. It’s now about ten dollars an acre. I know an area close by that no one’s considering yet. I’ll show it to you. Do you have money?”
“The bank gave each of us a reward for saving their money for them, that’ll set Ruth and me up pretty well.”
“We read about it. In our paper. Is that Travers?”
“Yes,” I said. “He sort of brought us together.”
So we had to tell them about the trip, correcting the spots the reporter had exaggerated.
“Also,” Gage said, “I was best man at your cousin’s wedding. Matthew’s.”
“So he made it, then. Good.”
“He says, “Thank you for the horse. And his life.”
“He’s welcome.”
“He’s planning to send you some of Hero’s colts.”
“I’d like that.”
“Matthew claims that Hero is the smartest horse in Texas.”
“He is smart, for a horse.”
“And Mary wed a Yankee. A captain of a ship,” I added.
“How ‘bout Jonas?”
“He asked Josephine to marry him.”
“I wondered when he’d do that. Cousin Mark?”
“He and Luke are leaving the mountains soon. They were going to help their folks a little first.”
“Who else?”
“Well, cousin John came back early from the war, without an arm. He’s going to stay with his folks for a bit. On our side of the family, other than Jonas, y’all left and never came back. So I don’t know about y’all.”
“Any other news?”
“Yes,” Gage said. “My pa showed up and took Ma to California. They got them a sweet spot near the ocean. So I won’t be bringing her here to live. We saw them on our way. Our families are scattering out.”
“Building a country,” said Trey. “One people will be proud to live in.”
My brother had filled out with Mally’s cooking. He was right handsome now. And Mally told me she was five months along with their first child.
“Mally’s been riding all over the countryside, taking care of sick folk and delivering babies,” Trey said. “She’s getting a reputation for being quite the doctor. People see her pony outside a place and know someone’s either sick or having a baby.”
“Gage said you used to care for your mother,” I said.
“I did,” she replied. “We don’t have a doctor around here, and if we did, we couldn’t pay for him. My aunt had a doctor book in the wagon, Doctor Gunn’s work. So I go and help.”
“She hasn’t lost a baby yet,” Trey said. “She’ll have to stop for a bit while she has ours.”
“Stay here with us,” Mally said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me. “Trey and the neighbors plan to put up our house this coming week. You can look at the place Trey is talking about, buy what land you can now, and then we can do your home. We help each other here, and log houses go up quickly. We’re building strong,” she said.
“One home at a time,” I agreed.
I liked Mally. I liked this part of the country. And I loved my Boaz.
THE END
But not the end of your reading, if you wish to read a short story. There is one included in this book that is part of The Traherns Series, called The Prettiest Gal on the Mountain, a story about Abigail Courtney. To find it, use the menu in this book. There are also a couple of prologues from other books.
Thank you for reading “The Prettiest Girl in the Land.” If you enjoyed this book, I would appreciate it if you'd help other readers enjoy it too by recommending it to friends, readers' groups, and discussion boards, or by writing a short review on Amazon. Thank you.
MAIN MENU
OTHER WORKS BY NANCY RADKE
(Prologue) Songs for Perri
The Prettiest Gal on the Mountain (Short pioneer story)
WORKS BY OTHER AUTHORS
(Prologue) Kill to Inherit
THE SISTERS OF SPIRIT SERIES
SHOW & TELL BIBLE SERIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONTACT INFORMATION
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
DEDICATION
OTHER WORKS BY NANCY RADKE...Sisters of Spirit Series
Boxed set of #1-4 of the Sisters of Spirit novels. This gives you four super reads, ranging from a simple love story in Turnagain Love to a life and death struggle in Courage Dares. All are sweet, contemporary romances with lots of action but without the language or sex offered by many authors. These are safe to give to teenagers, grandparents, and anyone wanting pure romance.
Want more sweet romances, this time with a strong suspense element? Try out COURAGE DARES, #4 Sisters of Spirit Suspense, sweet, contemporary. Mary prays for courage to overcome her tragic past and finds her answer in the dangerous present. “This story really kept me guessing. I never knew what would happen next.” Allison D.
All sweet, all contemporary, and this one with mystery and suspense. The Sisters are in danger again. Pick up SPIRIT OF A CHAMPION, #7 Sisters of Spirit Romantic mystery, contemporary. Stormy is a veteran crusader, and when she discovers the danger her brother faces, she flies to the rescue. No one believes her. She gets help from Hugo and her cousin, Perri, whom you met in Songs for Perri.
SAMPLE: SONGS FOR PERRI
PROLOGUE
Tragedy gave no warning.
Slamming the door on her mother’s new Range Rover, twenty-six year old Perri Linn started to pull on her much-traveled suitcase, then paused to watch the swiftly approaching car.
Her stepfather's home was perched on the edge of the mesa near Phoenix, and was the last house on the road. If the car passed the next driveway...which it did...it must be coming here, to his place.
Squinting to see better through the heat waves, Perri recognized Walt's silver gray Mercedes. She knew they weren't expecting her yet, so why would he and her mom be coming home in the middle of the day? Could it be an emergency—they were traveling awfully fast?
They must slow down to turn into the driveway!
As if in defiance, the car roared on past and smashed into the large rocks set as a barricade on the mesa's edge. Red dust swirled upward towards the hot Arizona sun, cloaking the twisted metal.
With a noiseless scream, Perri raced down the gravel drive. A woman lay half out of the car on the driver's side, her light golden hair, so like Perri's own, revealing her identity.
The wreck burst into flames, but Perri ignored the furnace-like heat and half-carried, half-dragged her mother out of danger; then used her hands to snuff out the fire on Crystal's dress.
Blood. Everywhere. Flowing from Crystal's face and arms and body—mainly her head. Perri yanked off her own blouse to press against the deepest wound. "No...no...no," she whimpered, trying vainly to stop the torrent. Wasn't anyone around to help? She di
dn’t have her cell phone, she had dropped her purse as she ran.
"Papa? Was he with you?" she shouted.
"No. He's...he's still working..."
Perri sighed in relief. Her stepfather was deaf, but that wouldn't have hindered his escape if he wasn’t injured.
"My pendant." Her mother yanked at the large ivory pendant around her neck as if it were choking her. A favorite piece of jewelry, it had been given to her by a friend working in Africa.
"Leave it, Mom." Frantic, Perri looked toward the nearby homes. Hadn't anyone heard the crash?
"Take it," Crystal insisted, in a voice so weak Perri had to concentrate to hear. "Take it to..." She faltered, recovered, tried to speak again; all the time struggling with the pendant's leather thong.
Her actions pushed Perri's hand away; started the flow of blood again. "Mom, please. Lie still."
But her mother fought the thong until Perri unscrewed the ivory clasp. With the pendant's removal, Crystal relaxed and let Perri reapply the compress.
"You go—” Her words were slurred.
"I can't. You'll bleed—”
"No. You go. You go... must have it..." Crystal's eyes glazed and she seemed to lose her thoughts.
"Mom!" Perri shouted, desperate to keep her mother conscious. "Mom, what happened?"
"Scorpion."
Perri kept the shirt pressed against her mother's head as she glanced over at the burning wreck. A scorpion in the car? No wonder her mom had crashed. She had an excessive fear of all snakes and bugs and spiders.
"It's cooked now," Perri assured her, looking back down. Her mother's next words were almost too faint to hear.
"No. No. Pendant. Take it. Inside..." Giving a small sigh, Crystal dropped into unconsciousness.
"Mom!"
The crunch of gravel next to her caused Perri to look up, seeing her parent's nearest neighbor, a nurse, running to them. Crouching down, the woman took Crystal's wrist, feeling for the pulse.