by Paty Jager
Alamayda released the pencil, and Isaac drew lines on the picture, sectioning the mountain.
He counted. “Twelve sections. Some of these will take more than one day to thoroughly cover. Those sections we’ll camp on the mountain.”
Having a plan made looking for the mine feel like they were finally getting close to the goal. “Will we start on the side closest to the camp?” she asked.
Isaac held out his hand. “Let me see your pa’s map again.”
She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Isaac. He unfolded the map and held it next to the one she drew.
“See how the X is set toward the middle of the lake? I think we should start in these sections first. If this is a map of where there is a mine, then I believe it’s more in this area.” He circled his finger in the middle of the mountain.
Alamayda didn’t miss his ‘if’. “What do you mean if? Do you think we won’t find a mine?”
Isaac pushed his hat up off his forehead and stared into her eyes. She could see he was skeptical before the words came out of his mouth.
“Darlin’, your pa told me lots of stories and none of them were about a mine he found. All the stories were about wasting his time and health trying to find gold. The way he liked to tell stories, I find it hard to believe he held his tongue about this mine.” Isaac covered her hand on the sketch pad with his large, warm hand.
Tears burned in her eyes. She didn’t want to go home or write home and say this trip had been a folly and she’d wasted the money she’d saved up. “Maybe he didn’t tell you about the mine because he had found gold and wanted to keep it a secret for us.”
Isaac squeezed her hand. “Darlin’, I hope for your sake that’s true, but I don’t want you to be too hopeful. I know what it’s like to think you have what you want and have it taken away.”
She saw the loss in his eyes. What had been taken away from him? His family? She wanted to ask, but even though they had shared kisses, she was still too shy with him to ask him questions that were painful.
“I’m going to sit here and draw for a while,” she said.
“I’ll go to the camp and get my fishing gear. How does fresh trout sound for supper?”
“Delicious.” They’d eaten a lot of trout and wild game after her father left. It was free. But she didn’t want to dash Isaac’s attempt to be the provider. It was one of the faults in men that she’d had to deal with. Many older men had proposed to her when she was under twenty. It would have eased her troubles, but she refused to be married to a man just for security. Especially when she knew they could walk out of her life at any time leaving her nothing. She’d much rather depend on herself.
Watching Isaac’s retreating back, she found him to be different from the others. He told her he was going with her and appeared to have no interest in the gold other than helping her find it. But after they found the gold and she was settled, he’d leave her. He had no reason to stay with her.
Her heart thumped against her chest, one hard knock. This was why she’d avoided men’s advances and remained a spinster. When your heart ached it affected your whole being. She stared down at the white page of her sketch pad and couldn’t think of a thing she wanted to draw.
Isaac returned with a long stick. He tied string to one end and cast the line out into the lake.
She enjoyed watching his arms move as he worked the pole and the line. His long legs and torso stood solid as a statue. The sunlight highlighted his ridges and threw shadows in the planes of his face and body. This was something she could draw. Using only her pencil, she sketched Isaac fishing.
Then she wrote a short poem, placing it in the lake of the drawing.
Smooth lines, long lines, lean lines.
Shining, glimmering, gleaming.
Strength, compassion, caring.
Man, lake, fish.
Turning the page, Alamayda started drawing the lake. The sun was moving lower in the sky and casting more shadows on the water. A slight breeze made her shiver. She’d never been on a mountain before and had learned when the sun went down the air became cool.
Standing, she shook out her legs and headed toward camp. Within seconds, Isaac was by her side.
“Finished?” he asked, lifting a string of three trout.
“Yes. It’s cooling down and I’d like my jacket.” She continued walking. Isaac fell into step beside her.
At the camp, Alamayda put her pad and pencils in the tent and retrieved her coat. Stepping out of the tent, her gaze landed on Isaac, kneeling at the stream, cleaning the fish.
Best get the skillet ready. She set to work preparing to fry the fish for their supper. There were still biscuits left from earlier.
The camp routine was becoming second nature to her. She enjoyed being outdoors and having less to clean up by cooking outdoors as well.
After the meal, Alamayda retired to the tent. She took a fresh bucket of water with her and washed as best she could before putting on her night clothes and slipping into her bedroll. The firelight filtering through the tent threw Isaac’s shadow on the canvas as he moved about getting ready to call it a night himself.
A wolf howled, standing the hair on her arms to attention. In the tent she was safe from most predators, but Isaac… Her heart squeezed thinking he could be in danger sleeping outside. But she’d put his bedroll in the tent and he’d been the one to pack it back out. Men. She didn’t understand them.
Chapter Twenty-five
Alamayda woke the third day of their trips up the mountain, rubbing aching muscles and hoping they found a hot spring. If they didn’t, she was going to sneak to the lake in the evening and get her bath. She couldn’t stand her itchy skin or the rank smell of herself.
They’d spent the last two days traipsing up the mountain, zigzagging back and forth, and back down to the camp. They searched overhangs, ledges, and any place that could be a hole in the earth. Isaac led the mule with tools and their noon day meal over terrain she had trouble navigating.
This morning, Alamayda stepped out of the tent and noticed Isaac loading more items on the mule.
“Get your bedroll and pack up the cooking stuff along with enough food for a couple days,” he said, putting his bedroll on the mule.
“What about the tent?” Alamayda had found comfort sleeping in the tent.
“We’ll leave it here. There may not be enough space anywhere up there to set up a tent.” Isaac took the cook box as she handed it to him.
“What about the morning meal?” Her stomach rumbled. All their climbing about on the mountain was making Alamayda hungry. She ate more, knowing she needed the energy to keep up with Isaac and the mule.
Isaac grabbed the knapsack they’d used the last two days to hold their noon day meal and pulled out two biscuits. “The area we’re covering today and tomorrow is more rugged. I want to get up to that point up there.”
Alamayda followed the line of his finger and spotted a rocky outcropping a good distance up the mountain. “That’s where you want to be by tonight? I doubt Father would have climbed that high to look for gold.”
“Not above the outcropping, under it. There’s a good chance a mine could have been dug under that ledge. If nothing else it would make a good place to spend the night.” Isaac headed out of camp leading the mule.
Alamayda dashed back in the tent and grabbed her sketch pad and pencils. She had them in another knapsack that she carried on her back. The last two days she’d seen things and stopped to sketch them out quickly and add only enough color to remind her of the scene later.
When this was over and she was settled in a cozy house, she would make all of her sketches into beautiful paintings.
They traveled steadily in a zig zag pattern up the side of the mountain. Isaac stopped often asking if she needed a drink or something to eat. She’d learned to drink and eat as often as possible as the work of climbing mountains was draining.
The sound of water splashing and gurgling caught her attention at one
of the stops. “What is that? That sound of water?” she asked, handing the canteen back to Isaac.
“Sounds like a waterfall.”
Her excitement tickled her insides. “I’ve never seen a waterfall. I’ve only read about them and looked at pictures. Can we find it?” She turned pleading eyes to Isaac.
He studied her a minute and sighed. “We can have a look. I’ll leave the mule here.” Isaac tied the mule to a tree, shifted his rifle to his left hand, and grabbed her hand with his right. “Come on. The sound is coming from this direction.”
She held his hand and followed alongside Isaac as they moved through patches of honeysuckle and huckleberry plants just putting on leaves. The trees this high up the mountain were also sprouting new leaves. The only thing in bloom was the dogtooth violet. The fir and pine trees were scarcer as the ground was more rock than soil.
Isaac stopped and pointed.
Water tumbled over a ledge ten feet above and splashed into a small pool below. Water trickled over the edge of the pool on the downhill side.
“Oh! This has to be a good place for a bath.” She clung to Isaac’s hand and pleaded.
“Darlin’, that is snow melt. Your skin’ll turn blue.” Isaac squeezed her hand.
“Please, let me feel it. If I can just stay in long enough to get the worst of this dirt off I’d be happy.” She dug at her neck where her dirty collar rubbed.
“Can’t hurt to go down and take a look.” Isaac held onto her hand, guiding her down the rocky cliff to the pool.
Standing at the edge of the pool, listening to the falling of the water and the splash as it landed, her heart beat along with the rhythm. Calm seeped into her mind. This place was better than anywhere she’d ever been. The tranquility of the place held her as if in a wonderful dream.
Isaac crouched and dangled his fingers in the water.
“How does it feel?” she asked, crouching beside him and sticking her fingers in. She welcomed the surprise of barely cold water. “How come it’s not cold?”
“All I can figure is the water up there is falling into a hot spring pool.” He nodded to the water falling from the ledge. “That has to be snow melt. But down here, this has to be a hot spring.”
Alamayda giggled with delight. She put her hand over her mouth. She’d giggled. I never giggle. The idea a bath could make her this giddy was a huge surprise. She started unbuttoning her shirt.
“You want me to keep guard up top?” Isaac asked, standing and drawing her to her feet.
Remembering she shouldn’t be seen nude by a man, her fingers froze. She was so excited to get clean she’d nearly forgotten. And had become that comfortable around Isaac.
“I’d like to wash my clothes too,” she said, glancing at him.
“I guess I’ll take a bath in there tonight.” He scanned the area. “I think you’ll be safe to stay here by yourself. I’ll go scout around for several hours and come back and get you.” Isaac glanced at the pool then into her eyes. “I’ll leave my rifle in case you do need to scare off a critter. I’ll high-tail it back here if I hear a shot.”
“I’ll be fine.” She put a hand on his prickly, whiskered cheek.
“I’ll be back in three hours.” He turned his head and kissed her palm.
“Thank you,” she said as he strode back to the cliff and started climbing.
She should have waited until he topped the cliff and disappeared but the itching felt a hundred times worse. She started unbuttoning and tossing her clothes in a pile on a rock near the pool.
She didn’t have soap or anything to scrub with but she could use her shirt as a cloth and scrub the dirt, sweat, and grime from her body and scratch her fingers through her hair.
***
At the top of the cliff, Isaac looked back down at the pool. Allie’s creamy white back, round bottom, and legs were disappearing into the water. She was tall, thin, and had a hint of curves. He had no doubt if she ate more she’d have the soft curves most men desired.
She stood waste high in the water, then dove in and came up again. This time she faced him. Her long hair hung about her shoulders, hiding her small breasts.
His body heated at the innocent image of Allie standing in the pool, water to her waist and her hair falling halfway down her body. She always kept it pinned up in a bun. He hadn’t realized she had all that hair. She pushed it out of her face, and revealed her pert breasts.
Isaac spun on his heel and headed back toward the mule. His body burned and throbbed from the sight. The two ladies he’d last bedded had lush full bodies. Why did seeing Allie’s thin body and pert breasts affect him more than memories of the fuller bodied women?
His mind continued to compare the married woman who’d broke his heart and Allie as he lead the mule up the mountain toward the overhang he planned to use for their stay on the mountain tonight.
By the time he reached the outcropping, he’d found more faults with his past infatuation and realized what he felt for Allie was more than her physical appearance. He enjoyed her company, her wit, her quick temper, and the way she saw beauty in everyday things.
The outcropping was wide and shallow in depth. Stepping out of the sunlight and into the shaded area, Isaac noticed rocks in a circle like a fire ring. Someone else had stayed here at one time. He inspected the walls looking for carvings by Indians or a sign who had inhabited the area. The walls were bare except for a word scratched about knee high on the left side.
Isaac ran his fingers over the scratches in the rock. He thought the first letter was a W. His heart started pumping. Was this the mine Alan told his family about? Isaac followed the next scratching. His finger moved in a circle, but he couldn’t tell if it was an A or an O.
He went out to the mule and started bringing in their overnight supplies. Judging from the way the sun was moving to the west, he needed to head back to the pool and gather up Allie.
***
Alamayda sat on a rock beside the pool drying her hair and waiting for her clothing to dry. She ran her fingers through the long brown strands allowing the air and what little of the sun was still filtering down to the pool to help it dry. Her clothing lay on bushes.
A cooler breeze blew against her back and legs, sending a shiver through her body. The union suit was made of thinner material, it should be dry by now. She stood and stretched, enjoying the freedom of no clothing and the seclusion of the pool. Flipping her hair over her shoulders she sauntered over to the bush covered with the red union suit. It was almost dry, only the underarms and crotch area were still damp.
Alamayda picked the garment up and waved it in the air. She’d stopped bleeding two days ago and after the bath, her body and mind felt fresh. The singing of the birds stopped. Only the sound of the water rushing over the ledge above and falling into the pool could be heard. Even the breeze had stopped. She knew birds would silence if danger was near.
She quickly shoved her legs into the union suit, then her arms, and buttoned it up. The rifle leaned against the rock where she’d been sitting. Walking to the rock put her in the open, but she wanted to have the rifle in her hands.
Running over to the rifle, she grasped it in both hands and scanned the area beyond the pool. A rock slid down the cliff. She spun that direction and saw a man sliding down the side of the cliff, his gaze locked on her.
Alamayda raised the rifle, pointing the barrel at the man’s chest making him stop as soon as his feet were on level ground.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot,” she said, keeping her voice firm and strong.
“You don’t need to shoot me. I’m happy to stand here and look.”
The voice and the lecherous smile started panic squeezing her chest. This was the man who waited for her in the school house in Morgan’s Crossing. What was he doing out here? Had he hurt Isaac?
She narrowed her eyes and peered down the barrel of the rifle. “I don’t like you looking at me. Go on back up that cliff.” She motioned with the rifle.
&nbs
p; That was her mistake.
He leaped at her, shoving the rifle up, but not before she pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twenty-six
Isaac heard a rifle blast as he neared the cliff edge. His heart lurched and his legs moved faster. Carrying him to the edge.
Down below he saw Allie clawing and kicking at a figure he knew. Tulley.
With a roar, Isaac jumped off the cliff and rode the loose shale to the bottom. He bounced to his feet and raced to where Tulley straddled Allie on the ground and was tearing at her clothing.
Isaac grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and hauled Tulley up into the air, shook him, and threw him against the large rock by the pool. He straddled Tulley, raised his hand and struck the man as hard as he could in the face.
“No!”
He couldn’t throw another good blow with Allie’s arms wrapped around his arm and her weight pulling back.
“Don’t. Isaac, look at me.” Her voice pleaded.
Rage, red and hot wanted to beat the man and leave him here to die. He tried to shake Allie free, but she was as tenacious in clinging to him as she’d been trying to get away from Tulley.
“Isaac. Don’t. He’s not worth having the law after you.” She released his arm and grasped his face between her hands, making him look at her. “Isaac. Don’t kill him.”
He placed his hands over Allie’s and stared into her wide, worried eyes.
“Please,” she whispered.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. Her lips quivered. He raised his gaze to her eyes. She shivered. He dropped his gaze and realized her union suit was wide open to her belly. But her small pert breasts were hidden.
He scooped her up in his arms and stooped to pick up the rifle on the ground beside the rock where an unconscious Tulley splayed.
“Where’s your clothes?” he asked.
“Over there. I don’t know if they’re dry yet.” Her arms looped around his neck.
He liked the feel of her arms around him and her slight body in his arms. Isaac spotted her clothing over some bushes. He set her down. “Slip your boots on.” He took off his duster and placed it over her shoulders. “Wear this. We’ll take your clothes and finish drying them at camp.”