by Danni Roan
“That’s Fiona,” Katie spoke confidently, “she’s our baby sister.”
Fiona grinned at the sound of her name, showing her little teeth and reaching for the strange woman, which sent her teetering.
Camilla grasped the little girl before she hit the floor, swooping her up and snuggling her close. “There you are sweet-heart,” she said, placing a cheek against the little girl’s curly head.
“She likes you,” Katie piped up, resting a hand on her hip. “I guess we can all be friends.”
“Me too!” called Meg, tipping her head back and leaning forward to look at Camilla.
Behind them, a titter of laughter could be heard from Camilla’s mother.
“We don’t have much room, but please have a seat,” Joshua offered.
Together Mr. and Mrs. Leone moved to the table while Camilla bounced Fiona, cuddling her close.
Billy plunked several tin cups on the table and began pouring coffee. “I’ll fetch the milk in a minute,” he said, placing the coffee pot back on the stove and filling it again. He grinned widely, showing the gap of his missing tooth.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to stay at least for the night,” Joshua spoke. His eyes strayed to the young woman rocking his baby girl with soft swaying motions, and sorrow mixed with joy in his chest. His little girl seemed to love the attention.
“What happened anyway?” Benji spoke up from where he stood at the door.
“We were traveling with a small wagon train. The guide wanted to leave early to beat any bad weather. As we moved across the prairie my wheel hit a rock hard and cracked the wood rim. I wanted to stop to fix it, but Mr. Tucker wouldn’t stop.”
The men crowded around the room looked at each other significantly. “That man’s still leading trains?” Brion growled.
“You know this man?” Bianca spoke up, her tin cup half-way to her lips.
“He took off with our money and left us in the middle of nowhere last year,” Benji replied, his deep blue eyes flashing.
Isadoro shook his head. “If he had let me stop, then I could have fixed the problem and gone on, but he threatened to leave us behind and when the wheel completely broke, that’s what he did.”
“He is a terrible man,” Mrs. Leone spoke again, her dark eyes flashing. “If he is not brought to justice soon he and those with him will meet a bad end.” She shook her head, grimacing.
“So that is how we came to be here,” Isadoro spoke again.
“Mr. Leone,” Joshua began again.
“Call me Is or Issy,” The man said, lifting his hand as if cutting his proper name short.
“Alright, Is.” Joshua smiled, “If you stay tonight we’ll take a wheel from one of our wagons and carry it along to yours in the morning. We can then come on back here and with the help of Deeks,” he paused, nodding toward the other man. “He’s a blacksmith and fine craftsman. I reckon you can fix your wheel.”
“It is very kind of you,” Is replied. “My family is in your debt.”
“Ain’t no need for no debt,” Billy said as he walked in carrying a crockery pitcher dripping with beads of water. “Folks he’ps each other. That’s what folks do.” He nodded, jutting his chin in punctuation.
Is smiled, his light brown eyes sparkling. “Thank you.”
“Now let’s see about gittin’ that wagon wheel,” Joshua said, finishing his coffee and rising.
“You men go along,” Bianca said, watching her daughter now sitting in a chair with the little girl. “We’ll watch the children.”
“Thank you,” Joshua said, lifting his hat and placing it on his head.
“Not me Pa, I’m coming too,” Katie called, jumping to her feet from her place on the hard-packed floor. “I’m with you.”
“Don’t you want to stay with us?” Bianca tried leaning down to look at the little girl.
“No, I always stay with my Pa,” the girl said and dashed out the door after the men.
Chapter 17
TOGETHER, BENJI, JOSHUA, and Isadoro set to work, raising one of the land schooners that still stood behind each sod shack. They tilted it at an angle and wrenched the large, iron-rimmed wheel from the axle.
They worked through daylight and into the sunset. Sweat dripped from each brow as an end-of-day breeze stirred the dust at their feet.
“Pa,” Katie came racing along the yard. “Billy says super’s ready.” She’d been flitting between the soddy and where they’d been working all evening, but now came to rest next to her father, taking his hand in hers. “He said Mrs. Leone is helpin’.” Her voice was cheerful.
“We’ll be in in a minute,” Joshua replied, ruffling her blonde head. “Run along and get washed up,” he added, sending the girl back to the shack.
“You have a nice place here,” Isadoro spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and looking out across a prairie painted gold by the rays of the setting sun. “Good land, good home.”
“We’re doing our best to make it a home,” Joshua said his icy stare heavy with self-doubt.
“A man can make a real start. The barn is good but ugly.”
Joshua turned, stunned at the man’s blunt words.
“I do not mean to offend, but I have seen these mountains. There is wood, you have many men. You could build a good house, a good barn.”
The older man turned to look up at Joshua. “I was a builder in my home country. In Italy, we build with stone, but here you can build with wood.”
Joshua removed his hat and ran a large hand through his stark blonde hair. “Maybe in time,” he said simply and turned toward his sod home.
Behind the sod shack, small tables had been lined up to accommodate all the men, and now women, who would be sitting down to eat. Some would have to sit on half logs or boards propped on chairs, but overall a table had been set for dinner.
“Something smells good,” Benji commented, walking around the edge of the hut, drying his hands on a handkerchief.
Both Billy and Mrs. Leone smiled.
“Mrs. Bianca pitched in and he’ped,” Billy said. “Sure will be nice eatin’ someone else’s cooking for a change.”
Everyone laughed as they settled around the table, and Brion lifted a prayer of thanksgiving.
“That sure was a fine meal,” Benji said, nodding toward Mrs. Leone, “I’m much obliged.” He stretched, rubbing his sides contentedly.
“You are welcome. Mr. Billy is a very accommodating Cookie,” she said, smiling as the others grinned.
“I done told her she can call me Cookie but seems like it’s done become some sorta’ title.” He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Sure was nice ta have someone else fix the vittles.”
Billy stood, looking toward the girls. “Reckon it’s about bedtime for you girls,” he said, swiping his hand toward the soddy. “Come on now and git warshed up.”
“Alright,” Katie said, her words as unenthusiastic as her pace. “Come on Meggie, time for bed.”
“I’ll help you,” Camilla said, standing and taking Fiona from where she sat on Brion’s knee. “It’s the least I can do to help.”
“Do you know any good stories?” Katie asked, walking along beside Camilla. “Billy’s are getting’ kinda’ old.”
“Hey!” Billy groused from in front of them.
“Well I have heard them all a few times,” Katie replied honestly.
“Fair enough,” Billy said, shaking his head.
“I know some stories,” Camilla answered. “Stories my father told me from his home.”
“Can you tell them to us?” Katie looked up at the young woman.
“I’d be happy to.”
“TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE thinking, Issy,” Bianca’s Leone’s voice was smooth and lyrical, speaking her native language. She sat on the edge of the narrow bed in the little sod shack as she brushed out her long, black hair.
Isadoro watched his wife as she pulled the brush through her hair, moving it from the top of her head to the very tip that hung below her hips. Gent
ly he lifted a strand into his hands, smoothing the tips. Several streaks of silver glimmered in the soft light of an oil lamp.
“This is a good place,” he answered.
“Yes, it is a beautiful country,” Bianca agreed, still pulling the brush through her hair. The soft rhythmic swish, swish, of stiff bristles smoothed each strand as she waited for more.
“It is a long way yet to Oregon.”
Bianca smiled, brushing, and waiting.
The bed straps squeaked as Isadoro stretched out on his back, examining the roof above them.
“We could settle here.”
“What would we do?”
“Build, farm, live.”
Bianca smiled, remembering the way her daughter had watched their tall, blonde host with the transparent blue eyes. “I know someone who would be glad to stay,” she said.
“Would you like to stop traveling?” Isadoro asked, pushing himself up on his elbow.
Bianca shrugged. “I think I would like to see what comes of this Wyoming.”
Isadoro smiled and laid back down, stretching an arm toward his wife as she blew out the lamp and curled up next to him, her head pillowed on his chest.
Wyoming could be a good place to make a home.
“I’ll talk to Joshua tomorrow,” Issy said, pausing to accommodate a yawn.
Camilla crept silently into the little earthen building that Billy had loaned them for the night. He was a sweet old man, even if he came across as rather grouchy sometimes. She'd helped him put the little girls to bed, telling them stories until they went to sleep, then sat by the cookstove in the other hut while the men talked.
There was something compelling about the strange, pale-eyed man, Joshua. He was handsome, striking really, with his lean powerful build, almost white blonde hair and icy gaze.
But there was something more. She could sense it, a sorrow, a doubt that seemed to weigh him down. Even as her heart had gone out to the three girls in their ragged, if clean, dresses, she'd also felt a pull toward Joshua James she couldn't quite understand.
Her parents were already asleep, so she quietly crawled into the bedroll they'd placed on the floor. She wondered what tomorrow would bring, and for the first time was no longer excited about the prospect of traveling on to Oregon.
Snuggling into her blankets, she thought about the trip so far. They'd left New York City far behind, traveling to Missouri by rail and then signing on with Mr. Tucker’s wagon train. Although born and raised in New York, there hadn't been a day that Camilla had missed the dirt and grime of the big city.
They'd lived in a community of other immigrants and many people took the time to look out for each other, but for the most part, they were so busy trying to keep bread on the table that they barely had time to know their neighbors.
Her father had worked long hours in a foundry, and on the side, taken jobs helping to build new tenements and warehouses when he had even a scrap of time. There would be weeks on end that she would only see him as he ate a quick meal and fell into bed, exhausted.
Her mother had taken on any job she could. Watching children, doing laundry and mending, and even cooking special items for a fancy Italian restaurant in the better part of the city.
Camilla herself had learned at an early age to sew, and her small, even stitches had gained her work from a variety of clients. Wealthy women were often in a hurry and impatient to have a special dress made or altered, and she'd quickly learned how to leverage these desires to get top pay. The work had been grueling, though, and allowed little time for other pursuits.
The whole family had worked to save so that they could leave the noise and pollution of the big city for a better life. The thought of marriage or a home of her own had never even crossed her mind until tonight.
Camilla sighed heavily at the silly thought. "Cammy Leone," she whispered to herself, " you are not a foolish young girl with fairytale dreams, so stop this nonsense." She smiled sadly, then lifted a prayer to heaven that God would bless them with safe travels to their new home.
As she slipped into slumber, a pair of sad, ice-blue eyes seemed to swim before her.
Dawn crept over the horizon in a flurry of bird song and a whisper of mist that promised a cool day.
With darkness still lingering, the soft sounds of daily activity could be heard as the crew of the little settlement set about their tasks.
"Camilla?" Bianca's voice was soft as she roused her daughter. "Come, we will help with breakfast while the men prepare to fetch the wagon."
"Ugh," Cammy groaned softly, rolling over, only to leap to her feet with a scream as she came face to face with the brown nose and jutting tongue of a snake.
Issy bundled the blankets together around the animal that had recoiled onto itself and raced through the door before the animal had a chance to sink fangs through the thick blankets.
"What's the commotion?" Billy asked, one hand still holding a milk bucket while the other strayed to his gun belt.
"Snake," Issy said, tossing the blankets away from him and looking for a club or stick to kill the deadly-looking creature.
"Snake, ya say?" Billy walked over to peer at the reptile as it began squirming its way out of the blankets on the dew-damp ground. "Ah, that ain't nothin'." He turned bright eyes to the wiry man who'd just raised a shovel. "That there's only a bull snake, they're the kind you want 'round because they eat the snakes that you don't want around."
He pushed his hat back on his head with his empty hand and scratched, squinting as the animal slithered away. "Did he scare the women?" The old man stretched his neck closer to Issy and chuckled.
"The women? it scared me as well."
"Best go tell them it ain't nothin', ya get critters in a soddy sometimes, ain't no point bein' squeamish."
Camilla and Bianca stepped through the door of Billy's sod shack cautiously, eyeing the ground as they moved.
"He's done gone now," Billy said, "just a bull snake, nothin' to get excited about. Come on and we'll get some breakfast started while Deeks collects the eggs."
Together the small group turned toward Joshua's soddy, leaving the bedding just where it was in the grass.
"What's all the noise. Billy?" Joshua asked as he scooped a heap of coffee into the old, blue-enameled pot. “I thought I heard ya yelp."
"I'm afraid that was me," Camilla spoke up, her cheeks bright with embarrassment. Joshua had half-turned at the sound of her voice and now pulled his shirt closed with one hand, but not before she'd caught a glimpse of a well-muscled chest.
"Sorry, I didn't see ya come in, Miss Camilla," he said, buttoning his faded work shirt.
"Call me Cammy," the young woman said, still mesmerized by his every movement. "I saw a snake."
Joshua James raised an eyebrow.
"It wasn't nothin',” Billy said, walking past Camilla where she stood and placing the milk bucket on the table. "Just an old bull snake. They look like what they eat though, bout the same's a rattler on'y no rattles."
"I'm sure that was still quite frightening," Joshua offered as he pressed the final button closed. "I've never been a big fan of snakes of any kind, myself. Are you sure you're all right?"
Bianca Leone patted her daughter on the shoulder. "We cook; she will be fine." She beamed. "Nothing like cooking to settle the nerves."
She hustled to the little stove. "What do we make today?" she asked Billy.
"I think pancakes would be good," Billy twinkled back.
"Cammy, please strain the milk," Bianca asked, pulling a heavy crockery bowl down from a roughhewn shelf.
It took most of the day to ride out and bring back the Leones wagon. Deeks drove his wagon with the extra wheel and tools in the bed while the others rode, leading the heavy team along with them.
“Mr. James,” Isadoro spoke, looking a little uncomfortable on the back of one of his big draft horses, “May I speak to you?”
“Of course,” Joshua replied, matching his pace to the other man’s mount.
>
“You have a very good piece of land,” the wiry man started. “Good grass, water, not far from trees.” He nodded toward the far-off foothills cloaked in swaths of deep-green pines and silvery aspens.
“I think we can make a go of it here,” Joshua agreed.
“I do not know what the land laws are here in Wyoming, but I am thinking that perhaps my family and I, we can stop here.”
For a few moments, the two men rode on, the sound of hoofbeats and squeak of saddle leather the only sound.
“Wyoming territory was only authorized by Congress this past year, so things is kinda’ wide open yet. I checked with the clerk at the fort and a family can have one hundred and sixty acres an’ keep it if they can prove it up in five years. You got to build a house and you’ll have ta’ pay eighteen dollars to register and such. You can just pay a dollar twenty-five an acre if ya don’t think you can do all that in five years.”
“You seem to have made a good start already,” Isadoro said.
“I got plenty a folks ta help me.” He looked up at the others moving out across the prairie. Benji, Brion, and Deeks had all come along to help, while Billy had stayed behind with the woman and children.
“Do you think you’d have room for a few more?” Isadoro asked.
Again, Joshua was quiet as he thought. “We do things a little different,” Joshua said, removing his hat and running a hand through his hair. “We all sorta joined our hundred sixty together makin’ a big spread, but workin’ together.”
Isadoro nodded in understanding. “It makes sense to be together.”
“We’re talkin’ about cows as well,” Joshua added.
Isadoro’s horse paused as he pulled back on the reins in surprise. “Cows?” he questioned, his eyebrows trying to reach his hairline.
Joshua chuckled. “Beef cattle,” he said, grinning. “My brother down in Texas has beef and from what we heard in Laramie, cattle are a good cash crop.” He watched Isadoro processing the information, then continued.
Isadoro finally nodded understanding. “If you have room, I think my family and I would like to join you.”