Montana Sky: Isaac (Kindle Worlds) (Letters of Fate Book 2)

by Paty Jager

“I’ll make more. You need both of those to get your strength up.” He tossed the smoking black cake out the door and poured more batter into the pan. This time he stayed at the fire until he had three hotcakes on his plate.

  Walking to the box by Allie, he watched her finish one of her hotcakes. This was the first food since her fall that she’d eaten with gusto. “It’s good to see you eatin’,” he said, sitting on the box and placing his plate in his lap.

  “I haven’t been hungry until this morning.” She sipped the tea and made a face.

  He motioned to the cup with a rolled up hotcake. “That have a bad taste?”

  “Yes, but I know it will help me heal.” She sipped again. “A neighbor boy broke his leg and we didn’t see him outside for over a month.” Allie stared at her legs under the blanket. “Are we going to be stuck here that long?”

  This was the perfect time to start the conversation he didn’t want to start, but had no choice. Isaac carefully rolled up another hotcake, but looked at it instead of taking a bite. He cleared his throat. “We don’t have enough supplies to stay here a month. The way I see it we can do things one of two ways.”

  Out of the corner of his eye he caught Allie watching him. He’d never been a coward. Best look her in the eye cause either way she was going to think he was cutting out on her just like she knew he would.

  He set the hotcake back on the plate and the plate to the side of the box. Isaac leaned forward, capturing one of Allie’s hands. “Allie, Darlin’, I can take you on the mule, but we’d have to leave the gold—”

  “No! We’re not leaving the gold. Someone might come along and then we couldn’t return it.”

  He’d figured she’d say as much. “Then I can either load up the gold and head for Helena, turn it in and come back for you, or I can take the mule and find the nearest settlement and buy enough supplies to last us until you can walk.” He peered into her eyes. What was going on behind those coffee brown orbs?

  She slowly slipped her hand from his. Her lashes lowered, concealing her eyes from him. “How long to get to Helena and back?” she asked.

  “I figure there’s still three days—could be four—to get there, then the same back.” He didn’t like the idea of leaving her here alone for that long.

  “A week.”

  The flat way she said the words, he wondered what she was thinking.

  “There has to be a settlement or even a homesteader between here and Helena. I’d like to try that. I could be back in a couple of days.” He tipped her chin up, hoping she’d open her eyes and look at him.

  When she did open her eyes, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her as if both their lives depended on the connection…because they did. She had to believe he wasn’t abandoning her.

  Drawing out of the kiss, he spotted a tear at the corner of her eye. “Don’t cry. I will be back for you. I’m not your father or the other men in your life who let you down.”

  “I want to believe that,” she whispered.

  “Then do.” He kissed her again before releasing her chin. “Eat. I’ll make you a better bed, hunt, and get food made up for you to eat easily, before I leave.” He picked up his plate and stared into her eyes. “And I will be back.”

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Alamayda sat with her back against the wall watching Isaac carry the boxes of gold out to the mule. They’d argued last night over the gold. He’d insisted he was only going to go to the first settlement and come back. But she’d told him she’d feel safer if the gold wasn’t left with her. And it made more sense for him to go on to Helena, get rid of the gold and come back for her.

  Isaac finally gave in this morning. He walked back into the shanty unbuckling his holster. “I want you to put this somewhere out of sight just in case someone does come along.” He walked over to the soft pallet he’d made from grass he’d pulled and rolled up in the tarp.

  He’d stacked the meat he’d cut off a deer and dried in the fireplace in a pot next to her along with a sack of dried apples, cans of beans and an opener and her cup and plate. He’d carved holes in a board and shoved short sticks in to hold the filled canteens within her reach.

  To her embarrassment, he’d even thought about her having to do her business. He’d made her a crutch from a tree limb and used the firewood for a makeshift seat over a hole he’d dug in the dirt floor in the corner where the rain had made the ground muddy.

  “You already gave me the shotgun.” She pointed to the shotgun cradled in limbs that he’d put in the wall like the one holding the canteens. It, too, was within easy reach of her pallet.

  “They can see the shotgun. Put this where only you know it is.” He leaned over her, shoving the holster between her pallet and the wall, with the handle sticking up easy to grab.

  Isaac didn’t straighten. He grasped her hands in his and stared into her eyes. “You have to believe me, I’m coming back. I’ll be back in a week, I promise.”

  Her heart squeezed. She wanted to believe him. He’d believed in her from the beginning and followed her. She believed he planned to come back, but once he got to Helena he’d find something or someone that would capture his attention and she’d be forgotten. “You can’t make it there and back in a week,” she said instead of offering him what he wanted.

  “I’ll travel all night and day.” He patted the inside pocket of his vest where he’d put the certificate they’d found with the gold. “I have my money. With it and the mule, I should be able to pick up a couple good mounts.”

  “If you travel all day and night you’ll be too exhausted to come back for me.” Alamayda felt tears burning the back of her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry. She wanted to believe he’d come back but her mind kept playing over the times her father said he’d be home or he was only going to the store and not return for days or weeks and then after Ma died—years.

  “Allie, I love you and I will come back for you.” Isaac lowered his head and kissed her. Not the hot drugging kisses she’d received when they made love, but a soft, endearing kiss that melted her heart and allowed the tears to slip down the side of her face.

  “Don’t cry.” Isaac kissed the sides of her eyes. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.” He kissed her again briefly on the lips and stood. “Keep the guns loaded and don’t go outside this shanty.”

  She nodded and wiped at the tears.

  Isaac stopped at the door. He studied it and turned to her. “I’m going to close this then push the leather back through the hole to the inside. That way no one can get in easily. They’ll have to knock the door in and you’ll be ready for them with the shotgun.” He grinned. “Just don’t shoot me when I come back.”

  Alamayda swallowed the knot in her throat. “I’ll try not to.” All his talk about coming back, maybe he would. The little spark of hopefulness dried her tears. Isaac wasn’t like her father. He’d proved it over and over again since meeting him.

  She smiled. “Be careful.”

  He touched his hat. “I will. Rest. Your leg should be good enough when I get back I can show you how much I missed you.” He winked and stepped out, closing the door. A second later the leather strip that was used outside to pull the board on the inside up, slipped through the hole and dangled on the inside of the door.

  Alamayda took a deep breath and settled back against the wall. “What am I going to do for a week sitting in this spot?” She picked up the knapsack with her sketch pad and pencils.

  ***

  Isaac was true to the words he told Allie. He and the mule traveled all day and night, walking into a bustling town around noon the next day. He noted three hotels, a post office with the sign Elkhorn across the front. Several general stores, ice houses, and a barber shop. He ran a hand over his beard. There was a blacksmith and at the end of the street he saw a livery. Streets ran off the main street with more businesses, as well as homes and cabins. A sign on the far side pointed toward Elkhorn mine. Near the sign was a small train depot.

  Stopping in the midd
le of the street, Isaac caught the attention of a trio of boys about nine or ten-years-old.

  “Hey, Mister! You looking for work?” one said as the three approached him.

  “No. Is there a sheriff and a bank in this town?” he asked. On his long walk, he’d decided to put the gold in a safe place, tell the local sheriff how they found it, and then head back for Allie.

  “Don’t have a bank. My pa owns the mine. He takes care of money for people.” The boy dragged his gaze from Isaac’s hat down to his dusty boots.

  “What about a sheriff?’ he asked, not sure he wanted to leave the gold with someone he didn’t know who wasn’t a lawman.

  “The small building next to the post office.” The smallest of the three boys said. “He’s my pa.” The three took off down the street.

  Isaac wondered why they weren’t in school and led the mule over to the hitching rail in front of the post office. Standing in front of the building he saw the lean-to off the post office with a small sign that read “Sheriff.”

  Hoping that meant there was little crime in this town, Isaac walked into the sheriff’s office.

  “What can I do for you,” a man of about fifty years, with gray hair and bushy gray mustache asked while lounging behind the desk.

  “Are you the sheriff?” Isaac asked, noting there was only the one room in the office, no jail, and nothing that looked like it would keep the gold safe.

  “Sheriff Mahon. And you are?” The man pulled his feet off the desk and sat up straighter.

  “Isaac Corum. I have gold that needs to be returned to the Helena Assay Office.”

  Sheriff Mahon stood. “Gold from the Assay Office.” His hand moved to his holster. “How’d you come by it?”

  “My wife had a map her father left her when he died. We thought it was a gold mine. Turns out we found a strong box with gold bricks and this certificate.” Isaac pulled the certificate out of his inside vest pocket and handed it to the sheriff.

  The man pulled a pair of spectacles out of his vest pocket and read.

  He set the certificate on the desk and looked up at Isaac. “From the dates, I’d say this was from the stage holdup outside of Castle seven years ago.”

  “That fits with the time my wife hadn’t heard from her pa in a while.” Isaac had a tingle in the back of his neck. “How many men were in the holdup?”

  “Three was all they recollected.” The sheriff handed the certificate back to Isaac. “You planning on taking the train the rest of the way to Helena?”

  Isaac hadn’t thought about a train. That would get him there and back faster and not have to worry about someone here stealing the gold while he went back for Allie. She’d made it clear the gold had to go back to the Assay Office. She wanted her father’s wrong made right.

  “Is there a train headed that way today?” Isaac like the idea of the train.

  Sheriff Mahon flicked open his pocket watch. “Should be pullin’ into the station in the next hour.”

  “I’ll go get a ticket. Could I have you watch over the gold while I take my mule to the livery?” Isaac asked, walking to the door.

  “I can do that. How are you going to transport it? You shouldn’t leave it in baggage all alone. That’s a lot of gold. Could tempt a curious railroad worker.” Sheriff Mahon closed the door to his office and followed Isaac to the mule.

  “I’ll put it in the baggage compartment and stay with it. Less people to get curious about my boxes.”

  They walked to the depot. Isaac purchased a ticket and baggage pass. He noted the platform was getting busy as he stacked one box on the other and added Allie’s bag near the other baggage waiting for the train. He’d put four bricks in Allie’s bag to make the boxes easier to handle.

  “I’ll get back as soon as I can. Don’t let anyone load any of this or they’ll know what’s in it,” Isaac said in a low voice to the sheriff.

  “I’ll keep it here until you get back.”

  Isaac put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

  He grabbed the mule’s rope and led the tired animal across the street to the livery.

  “Afternoon, stranger,” a short, thin man greeted him at the stable doors.

  “Afternoon. I’d like my mule to be fed and stabled until I get back from Helena. Should be tomorrow afternoon when the train pulls in.” Isaac handed the rope to the man.

  “It’s fifty cents a day to stable and feed a mule,” the man said, holding his hand out.

  Isaac pulled a silver dollar out of his pocket. “In case I don’t make it back tomorrow.”

  The man grinned, pocketed the coin, and led the mule away.

  Rubbing his hand over his beard, Isaac wished he had enough time for a shave. He’d look more respectable when he arrived at the Assay Office. The shrill whistle of the train pulling into the depot had him striding toward the train depot.

  He stopped beside Sheriff Mahon. “Telegraph the Assay Office and let them know I’m coming in with this. It will be easier if they meet the train than me hiring a wagon to get it to them from the station.”

  “I’ll telegraph them as soon as you’re on the train.”

  Isaac held out his hand. “Thanks. This will get me back to my wife a lot faster.”

  “Where’s she at?” Sheriff Mahon asked, as the train steamed and squealed to a stop at the depot.

  “She’s in a shanty about two days ride from here. She broke her leg, but told me to keep going with the gold. She wanted it returned without delay once we found it.”

  “She must be a strong woman to remain by herself.”

  Isaac smiled. “She is the toughest and smartest woman I know.”

  The doors to the baggage car opened and the conductor stepped across to the platform.

  “I’ll load my boxes,” Isaac told the man.

  Once the boxes and the bag were loaded, Isaac sat on the floor of the baggage car next to them and waited for the train to start moving again.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Alamayda counted the days in tally marks on the back of her sketch pad. Isaac left four days ago. He should arrive in Helena today if his calculations were correct. Would he stay or would he come back to her? She had four more agonizing days to wait and see. She’d been sipping the water and had only used one canteen. She dearly wanted to pour some on a cloth and wash away the sweat.

  The first night when they needed the fire to dry out their clothes and get her warm had been the only time a fire was needed. The days in the shanty were hot and suffocating. The only air came from the cracks in the walls, the hole in the roof, and the chimney, all of which didn’t draw out the heat. In the evenings, the cottonwood shaded the roof. She knew this from the hole in the roof.

  Sipping the water and eating only small portions twice a day, eliminated too many trips to the makeshift commode. But she was going crazy laying around. A fresh breath of air would be good for her constitution she rationalized.

  This seventh day from her accident, her leg hurt less. She’d sipped on the coffee pot full of willow bark tea Isaac had left for her, but preferred to only drink it at night when she couldn’t sleep for worry and pain.

  Sliding her legs over the side of the pallet, Alamayda shoved her left side up against the wall, pushing under her right arm with the crutch and using her left leg to help force her to a standing position. It took several tries, but she finally stood. Her body welcomed getting up and moving. Her leg throbbed.

  Ignoring the throbbing of her leg, she awkwardly hopped and leaned on the crutch until she was at the door. Lifting the board holding the door closed, she shoved it open, leaned against the door frame, and inhaled the fresh air.

  The birds singing, the fresh air, and even the babble of the creek eased the weariness she’d felt the last few days. She scanned the meadow and searched the tree line for wildlife. It was a beautiful place. “What made the people who lived here leave?” The peacefulness and beauty filled her lonely heart.

  She could envision a well-bui
lt house, a barn, and animals. This would be a perfect spot for Isaac to start his cattle ranch.

  The babbling stream to the side of the shanty seemed to call to her. “Not today. I’ll try walking farther tomorrow.” Not wanting to return to the pallet, but feeling her energy draining, Alamayda shuffled back inside looking for something she could sit on by the door.

  Her gaze landed on the commode. The structure was in a corner close to the door. She picked up a piece of wood with her right hand, cradled it under her left arm and hopped to the door on her left leg.

  She placed the piece of wood beside the door on the outside of the shanty and slid her body down using the building for support and sat on the upturned wood. The seating area was small, but she managed to rest in the open air until she’d regained energy to retrieve her crutch and lay back down.

  ***

  Sounds that she hadn’t heard in days woke her. Alamayda sat up and listened again. The dusk she saw through the hole in the roof said night was closing in. There the sound was again. The snorting of a horse and jangle of a bridle. It was too soon for Isaac to have returned.

  Her gaze went to the door. She’d closed it but not put the board across. Carefully, she tucked the revolver deeper down between the pallet and the wall and lifted the shotgun off the wall.

  “I told ya. Their tracks were headed this direction.”

  She didn’t know the voice and didn’t care who it was as long as they kept on riding.

  “See. There’s the track of the mule. They were here.” More jingling and horses moving.

  “I’d say we’re three maybe four days behind them.” The same voice said.

  “Where do you think they’re headin’?”

  A shiver raced up her spine. She knew that slow, whiney voice. Tulley!

  She reached down, pulling the revolver closer to her. She only had two shots in the shotgun. If there were more than two of them she wanted to be able to defend herself from the third person.

  The door creaked and opened.

  She wasn’t waiting for introductions. Her finger pulled on the trigger and the rifle jerked up from the blast. The acrid scent of gun powder filled the air.