“Long winters in Montana leave you with little but washing, sewing, and memorizing Scripture. If you want to have a holy war of words, throwing out verses to support your hateful ways, I’m more than happy to answer the call. However, be advised, I don’t merely quote the words of God, I believe in following their meaning as well.”
“Well, I never!” Cordelia said, stepping back a pace.
“I didn’t suppose so,” Dianne said, knowing her tone was insulting. “My point here is exactly this: Cole and I are married. We are one flesh. God brought us together, and God will severely punish the person who seeks to drive apart what He has joined together.”
“You don’t frighten me with your memorized Scripture,” Mary announced. “You are no woman of God or you wouldn’t act in such a manner.”
“I do admit,” Dianne began, “that there have been times when I’ve been less than charitable. For those times, I ask your forgiveness. However, I have had nothing but good intentions toward you, and still you reject my kindness and help. God knows the love I’ve offered you has been cast aside as worthless.”
The older woman folded her arms against her chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve invited you to come live with us in Montana. I’ve encouraged you to stay with us and enjoy your latter years in rest instead of work.”
“I have no desire to live in Montana. I couldn’t leave my daughters.”
“That’s right,” Cordelia said, her pink striped gown swishing loudly as she whirled around to take hold of her mother’s arm. “We need her here. We enjoy her company far too much to lose her.”
“Then let her come live with one of you,” Dianne suggested. “It’s obvious she cannot farm this place alone.”
“That’s why Cole should stay,” Laurel answered haughtily. “Mother knows she’s welcome to live with either of us, but she loves the farm. It reminds her of Father.”
Dianne nodded. “Then let her take on a hired man, as Cole suggested.”
Both girls seemed surprised by this and looked to their mother, whose face contorted in anger. “This is my son’s inheritance. He now owns this farm, and he should be the one to live here and work the land. Not some hired man. Besides, I couldn’t begin to afford a hired man.”
Dianne was ready for this. “Then Cole and I will pay for him.”
Laurel and Cordelia were speechless, but Mary had little trouble in answering. “I wouldn’t take your money.”
“Maybe not, but you think to take my husband. You think to steal away the father of my children.” Dianne knew her temper was getting the best of her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish baking these cookies and start supper. The children will be home from school shortly, and I’d appreciate it if you would act civilly toward them instead of insulting them from their first appearance.”
“Oh, you are such a rude, ruthless woman!” Cordelia declared. “My brother shall hear of this conversation.”
“I would expect as much,” Dianne said, preparing the cookie dough. “Just remember, God is overhearing each word you speak. He knows what transpired here, and He won’t allow the righteous to suffer forever.”
The trio stormed from the room with that. Dianne realized she was nearly panting for breath. Her anger had set her heart to racing, and her head felt as though it would burst. “Lord,” she whispered, “I am trying so hard not to argue with them, but they sought me out and, well, you already know what happened, so I won’t go over it again. I’m begging you for help, Father. I’m a willful woman with a temper, and it’s hard to remain softspoken.”
Elsa Lawrence had had about as much of Jamie Vandyke’s temper as she could stomach. The man was constantly harassing her, very nearly denouncing her character. His attitude at breakfast had been the final straw, and she now intended to call him to answer for it.
Marching across the yard, her yellow-plaid dress dragging along the ground due to her failure to wear a bustle, Elsa was determined to put Jamie in his place once and for all. Why her brother thought this the safest place for her to hide was beyond her reasoning. For all intents and purposes, Jamie was nearly as much trouble to live with as her father.
Elsa approached the corral where Jamie was working and demanded his attention. “Come here at once. I’ve had all I will tolerate of your insults. Your behavior at breakfast was abominable. You criticized me for everything from the clothes on my back to my love of potatoes.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “What in the world is this all about? Can’t you see I’m working?”
“I see you standing around while that stallion gets the best of you,” she retorted.
Jamie threw down his rope and climbed over the corral fence. “If you think you can do a better job, be my guest.”
Elsa was never one for backing down from a challenge. “I’ll prove to you once and for all that I can earn my keep and be just as good at ranch work as you are. I’ve been ranching all my life. I know plenty.” She hiked up her skirts and crawled between two lower rails of the fence.
“Get out of there,” Jamie commanded. “You’re gonna get hurt.”
Once inside the corral, she eyed the angry horse. “You have to gain his trust, and you must never look him in the eye.”
“My uncle wouldn’t agree with you,” Jamie answered from behind her. “He thinks such notions are silly.”
“Then he doesn’t know horses as I do.”
“Ha! He was the pride of the Blackfoot village. They called him Takes Many Horses because of his ability to steal ponies from his enemy.”
“Stealing ponies and making them into good saddle horses are two entirely different things.” Elsa approached the stallion from the side, making sure he could see her, and began talking to him in a low tone. “I won’t hurt you, fella. I’m your friend.”
“That’s a laugh. You haven’t been friendly to anyone since you arrived.”
She ignored him and focused on the animal. “I won’t hurt you.” She didn’t raise her hands or head, but rather watched from hooded eyes. The bay calmed. He was no longer laying his ears back, but instead he turned to watch her, shifting his ears to hear her.
“Good boy,” she murmured. “You know I won’t hurt you.”
Elsa rejoiced as she finally stood in front of the horse. He seemed mesmerized, transfixed. Elsa let him nudge her gently, then she carefully touched his shoulder with her hand. “Easy. I won’t hurt you.”
“He doesn’t understand a word you’re saying,” Jamie declared, jumping up on the fence. “Now get out of there before he decides to stomp you into the ground.”
The bay startled at Jamie’s actions and backed up. When he came in contact with the fence, he began to snort.
Elsa wanted only to calm the animal, but already Jamie’s presence in the corral had broken the mood between her and the bay. She turned abruptly to reprimand Jamie, only to realize the horse had put a hoof down on her skirt. Fighting for balance, Elsa was unimpressed when Jamie rushed forward to catch her.
Unfortunately, the speed with which he approached caused the bay to rear. He whinnied loudly, stomping and snorting in protest. His flailing hooves barely missed Elsa’s face.
“Get out of here,” Jamie said, pushing her toward the fence.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she protested as she regained her footing. She turned to say something more, but just then the bay’s left hoof made contact with Jamie’s forehead.
Elsa screamed, frozen momentarily by the sight of blood as it splashed down Jamie’s face. She ran forward, waving the beast off. “Back! Back!” she cried over and over.
Jamie staggered. “I knew you’d be nothing but trouble,” he muttered and fell to the ground. The bay wanted no part of either of them and began to rear again.
It was George who saved the day. Elsa was never so grateful to see anyone as she was to see Jamie’s uncle.
“What are you doing in there?” George demanded as he jumped into the corral.
He grabbed Jamie’s rope and expertly threw a loop around the stallion’s legs. Pulling the rope tight, George dug in his heels. Elsa watched in fascination as the horse lost his footing and dropped to the ground.
“Get Jamie out of here,” George commanded.
Elsa went to where Jamie lay. He was unconscious and the head wound bled in frightening consistency. This is all my fault. I caused this. If I hadn’t been so angry at him, I would never have risked either of our lives to prove something that didn’t need proving.
Elsa took hold of Jamie’s arms and pulled with all her might to drag him to the edge of the fence. For such a tall, skinny man, he sure weighs a lot, she thought. George continued controlling the stallion as Elsa crawled back out between the rails and somehow managed to pull Jamie out under the bottom rung.
“We’re out!” Elsa shouted to George. “Please hurry. He’s bleeding badly.”
George released the horse and leaped over the fence in a single bound. He came to where Jamie lay and scooped the boy into his arms as though he weighed nothing. “Go get Koko. She’ll know what to do.”
Frantic to not make another mistake that might further endanger Jamie’s life, Elsa hiked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could to the Vandyke cabin.
“Koko! Koko, where are you!”
Susannah and Koko appeared from the pantry. “What is all this commotion about?” Koko asked.
“It’s Jamie. The horse … struck him,” Elsa said between gasps for breath. “George … George has him.”
At that moment George came into the cabin with the unconscious Jamie in his arms. Koko cleared the table. “Put him here,” she instructed. “Susannah, get some hot water and my herbs. Elsa, go to the chest in my room. You’ll find an old sheet. Bring it and we’ll tear it for bandages.”
Elsa hurried to the room, admiring Koko’s ability to put aside the fact that her son was bleeding and tend to only what was necessary. Rummaging through the chest, Elsa spotted the sheet and hurried to take it back to Koko.
“It’s all my fault,” she muttered as she caught sight of the bleeding lump on Jamie’s head. “I’ve killed him.”
Koko looked at her oddly. “Nonsense. The horse barely clipped him. He’ll be fine.”
“He doesn’t look fine,” Elsa said, tears streaming down her face. “He was trying to rescue me. I was in the corral and I fell. He caught me. Then when the horse tried to trample me, Jamie threw me to safety while leaving himself open to danger. Oh, I can’t bear this. If he doesn’t make it, I will have killed him.”
Jamie moaned and Koko chuckled. “If he dies from this, he’s not as tough as I thought.”
Elsa sobbed into her hands. “I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. It was my pride that did this. I had to show him that I was better than he was at working with horses. I was just so mad at him because he thinks I’m nothing but a ninny. Oh, maybe I am.”
“It was foolish to be sure,” George said. Elsa looked up and met his compassionate gaze. “But I doubt you’ve killed him.”
“Jamie is always doing something like that,” Susannah offered. Her expression was as loving as her uncle’s.
Elsa stood amazed that they weren’t hateful and angry with her. Her own father would have whipped her for such foolishness, even though she was a grown woman. Elsa moved to where Koko tended her son. “Let me help. It’s the least I can do.”
Koko simply nodded. “Tear the sheet into strips.”
“She hasn’t left his side,” Koko told George as she came into the kitchen.
“She’ll make a good nurse.”
Koko laughed. “Or a good wife.”
His head snapped up. “Wife? They can’t stand each other. All they do is fight.”
“I have a feeling things will be different after this,” Koko mused. “I have a feeling this might go far beyond nursing a sick man to health.”
George shook his head. “I’ll never pretend to understand women. Just when you think you know where everybody stands, a woman will up and change the situation every time.”
She laughed. “We only change things until they suit us.”
Zane listened with only moderate interest to his twin’s tales of adventure while hunting mountain goat. Normally he would have found Morgan’s supper conversation to be refreshing, but things had changed since Mara entered Zane’s life.
“Roosevelt actually managed to bag another two goats before we headed back. He’s really quite a determined man. He’s overcome great adversity, including sickness. He’s struggled with a weak constitution all his life.”
“That must be hard,” Zane muttered. Truth be told, Zane’s mind was absorbed with the fact that he was to be married. He hadn’t even had a chance to tell Morgan yet, and he worried that perhaps the news would be discouraging or depressing for his brother. Still, he had to tell him.
“You might say that my hunt went well too,” Zane finally threw out. “I bagged me a wife.”
Morgan’s forkful of steak stopped midway to his mouth. “You what?”
Zane laughed. “Maybe it would be more accurately said that Mara Lawrence bagged me. We’re to be married.” He sobered and looked hard at Morgan. “I didn’t know how else to tell you. I hope I haven’t … well … you know.”
Morgan ignored this and put down the fork. “When? Where?”
“Virginia City. Before the first of November.”
“That doesn’t give much time for a wedding,” Morgan said, rubbing his bewhiskered chin. “Am I supposed to be there?”
Zane laughed. “I kind of hoped you’d be my best man.”
“I suppose that means I’ll need a bath and a haircut.”
“I’d appreciate that. I think Mara would too.”
“Married,” Morgan muttered. “I can’t believe you’ve gone and gotten yourself caught and hitched.”
“Well, the hitching hasn’t exactly taken place yet, but yeah, I guess I’m pretty well caught.”
“Do you love her?” Morgan questioned, his brows drawing together. “I mean, really love her?”
“I do,” Zane admitted. “She’s all I can think about. I still think I’m too old for her, but the thought of her with any other man makes my blood run cold.”
Morgan drew back and cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, I guess I know how that goes.”
“I’m sorry.” Zane leaned forward. “I didn’t think about what I was saying. I sure didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t mean anything by it, Zane. Don’t give it another thought. You should be happy about your marriage to Mara. It’s a good thing, and I’m not sorry about it. I’d have to be a pretty petty fellow to begrudge my brother the same happiness I would have eagerly taken for myself.”
Zane eased back against the ladder-back chair and sighed. “You don’t have to be my best man—not unless you want to. It wasn’t very thoughtful of me to impose that on you.”
Morgan shook his head. “We’re brothers. And besides, I’m doing fine. Trenton and Angelina are happy. That’s all that matters. If the good Lord has another woman for me, she’ll come along in due time. I don’t expect it will happen, but I won’t say no if it does.”
Zane brightened. His brother had always implied before that there was no other woman in the world for him. Zane had actually envisioned his brother growing old and dying alone. “Great. I’m heading back to Virginia City in a week. Will you stick around and go with me?”
“Guess so. It’ll take me that long just to scrub off the dirt and get myself looking respectable.” Morgan touched his hand to his shoulder-length blond hair. “Guess you better point me in the direction of a good barber.”
CHAPTER 15
“YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT DIANNE,” CORDELIA declared to her brother.
Cole had just finished mending one of the harnesses when his sister bounded into the barn. He put the piece aside. “What’s wrong now?”
She shook her gloved finger at Cole. “You should know very well what’s wrong
. She’s hateful and mean. She has deeply wounded our mother by her constant threats of returning to Montana.”
“But Cordelia, we are returning to Montana,” he said softly. He watched the expression on his sister’s face change instantly from anger to sorrow.
“You cannot mean it. You simply cannot leave us. Mother has so come to depend upon you, and if you leave it will be the end of her.”
“Oh, come now, Cordelia. Mother isn’t quite that fragile.”
Cordelia bit at her lower lip and looked to the ground. “I didn’t want to say anything, but …” She paused and after a long pregnant silence looked up. “The doctor told me that Mother isn’t well. Her nerves were tested during Father’s illness, and now with you being uncertain about staying …”
He shook his head. “But I’m not uncertain about staying. I’ve already told Dianne we’ll leave in the spring, and that is what I intend to do.”
Despite the fact he was covered in dirt and straw bits, Cordelia took hold of him and embraced him tightly. Cole found it rather remarkable that she would risk her stylish outfit. She usually seemed so completely bound up in worries over fashion and elegance that he was surprised she’d even come out to the barn.
“You aren’t going to change my mind, Cordelia. My home is in Montana. I’ve already promised my wife.”
“Then this is all her fault,” she snapped, practically pushing him backward as she let go of him. “I told you she was mean.”
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