Daliah

by Danni Roan

“Are you sure?” the boy asked. “I’m hungry now.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Spencer chided a mixture of fear, gratitude, and irritation coursing through him. He seldom spoke up to his son, but this time he was sure that only Daliah quick reflexes had saved him from a terrible scalding.

  “He’s a growing boy,” Daliah said, standing from where she’d bent to talk to Chad. “We’ll have supper in a jiffy,” she finished placing the boy’s hand into his father’s larger ones. “Just be patient a little longer.”

  Spencer looked down into the soft featured of the young woman as she met his gaze and that little butterfly in his middle seemed to struggle harder to escape it carapace. “Thank you,” he said lamely, letting his eyes convey his thoughts.

  Daliah looked up into Mr. Gaines eyes seeing something there that she didn’t recognize. The man had been extra attentive to the Hamptons, and she appreciated the fact. Chad, though often into one scrape or another made her smile, and she realized that he was missing having a mother to care for him.

  Daliah didn’t doubt that Mr. Gaines loved his son, but tying to raise the boy on his own had to be difficult.

  “Stew’s ready,” Mrs. Hampton called. “Let’s take everything over under the trees and eat.”

  “Gather round folks, gather round!” Mr. Hampton called. “Bring what you have to share and we’ll celebrate this restful place. Olive’s brought stew and Daliah has dessert. Tonight we celebrate the blessing of our safety so far,” he finished as others came forward bringing with them what they had to offer. Tonight no one would go to bed hungry.

  Daliah watched as the others filled their plates, chatting and commenting on the bounty that the impromptu dinner had yielded. Patiently she dished out spoonfuls of her sticky dessert smiling and nodding at her friends as they found places around a fire to eat.

  “I think you’ve missed someone,” Mr. Gaines said, stepping up to her with a plate full of food.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Gaines I didn’t realize you wanted any,” Daliah said, preparing her spoon.

  “I was talking about you,” he said, handing her the plate. “You need to eat too.”

  Daliah dropped her eyes embarrassed at the attention but Mr. Gaines pressed the plate into her hands. “Thank you.”

  “Hey, where’s my dessert?” Chad called racing up to his father. “I thought you said I could have some when it was ready?” he continued, glaring at Daliah.

  “It’s right here,” Daliah said, reaching for a tin cup full of fluffy dumplings covered in a smooth brown sugar sauce. “I saved it especially for you.”

  “You did?” Chad looked up his bright eyes full of shock. “Why?”

  “Because you are my special friend,” Daliah said.

  Chad dug his fork into his cup of sweets with a shrug. “Okay,” he said, shoving a bite of the mixture into his mouth as he walked back toward the other children.

  In the background Mr. Franco began to play a reel and several couples rose beginning a dance.

  Daliah tapped her foot to the music as she ate her meal. More couples stepped out onto the flat grassy plain moving to the lively tune of the fiddle with delight.

  “Why don’t you dance Daliah,” Olive said, stepping up to her and Mr. Gaines. “Perhaps Mr. Gaines will be kind enough to take a turn.

  Daliah looked up into the handsome face of Spencer Gaines her heart in her throat as she wondered if he would go along with Olive’s request.

  As Spencer looked down into the young woman’s face seeing a glimmer of hope in her eyes, he couldn’t say no.

  “I’d be pleased,” he said, taking the empty plate from her and handing it to Mrs. Hampton as he led Daliah into the crowd.

  ***

  Daliah placed her hand in Mr. Gaines rough one as he swung her toward the music, his other hand taking her waist. It had been ages since she’d danced, and her feet felt heavy at first, but the lean man in the dark Stetson moved her smoothly through the step.

  “I haven’t danced in so long,” Daliah said, trying to keep pace with the music. “You must think me useless.”

  “I think you just need to relax and enjoy the music,” Spencer said. Daliah felt so right next to him. He had almost forgotten what it was like to enjoy the company of a woman.

  Daliah smiled and the motion flashed into her eyes as she relaxed. Warmth pooled across her back, and the tension that had made her stiff evaporated.

  Spencer could see a flicker of joy reach out and touch Daliah transforming her usually serious face. Had life been so hard that she had forgotten how to smile, how to enjoy the simple things. Instinctively, he pulled her closer quickening his step as the song whirled toward its end.

  Daliah gasped then laughed as Spencer spun her quickly to a standstill releasing her as everyone clapped for Mr. Franco.

  “That seems to have done you some good,” Spencer said, not knowing where the words came from. “You should laugh more often.”

  Daliah ducked her head again as together they walked toward the fire where Mrs. Hampton was handing out cups of coffee.

  “I’m afraid I’ve been a little too busy to dance or laugh,” Daliah admitted.

  “Life has a way of doing that to us all,” Spencer said, thinking of the days that seemed to have passed without his notice.

  Chad was growing like a bad weed, and days seemed to come and go with eminent sameness. If he hadn’t had his job and his son, he suspected that he would have long ago disappeared into the wilds.

  “You look very pensive,” Daliah noted taking a cup from her friend.

  “I was just thinking on how life has been very much the same thing day after day, at least until recently.”

  “Why is that?” Daliah asked handing him a cup of coffee.

  Spencer took the cup then reached out taking her elbow and leading her to a stump. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I had hope.”

  “What do you hope for?” Daliah asked. This was the first time that she had truly carried on a conversation with Mr. Gaines. Before he had always been polite and grateful for her help with Chad, but this was different.

  “We’re getting closer to our goal,” Spencer said. “We’ve had good travel with no more than the usual bad luck, and folks are getting along pretty well.”

  “You think we’ll make it to Texas soon then?”

  “Should be a few more weeks,” Spencer said.

  “What will you do when we get there?” Daliah asked.

  Spencer looked up into her pretty face and shrugged. “I’ll work on my brother’s ranch I guess.”

  “Don’t you know?”

  “Dan said he needed folks to help build the town and work the ranch, so we organized this arrangement to see if we could bring him what he needs,” Spencer said gesturing around him with his mug.

  “But what would you like to do?” Daliah asked.

  Spencer shrugged again. “I’ll just be glad to be settled somewhere. It’s time for Chad to have a real home.”

  “I’m sure he’ll like that,” Daliah admitted, “and he’ll get his own pony.”

  “Yes, he’ll get his own pony,” Spencer agreed with a slight chuckle.

  Daliah finished her coffee with a grin then blinked as one of the single men traveling with them stepped up, hat in hand.

  “Would you care to dance Miss Owens?” he asked the skin around his collar going a delicate pink.

  Spencer glared at the younger man but Daliah rose taking the outstretched hand as Jim Wallace led her to the dance area.

  Something hot rolled over in Spencer’s stomach and he growled low in his throat as he pushed the feeling away. It was ridiculous to think of a woman like Daliah as anything but a travel companion, but he seemed to have made some connection with her.

  Between her care of others, the help she provided for the Hamptons, and her quiet ways Daliah had somehow made an impression on him. Still it was none of his business who she danced with, or what she did once they got to the end of the
trail. He would work with his brother. No woman would want the rough life offered by a ranch full of wild cowboys and wilder cows.

  Daliah tried to carry on a polite conversation with Jim as they made a turn around the dance space but felt stiff and awkward once more. Somehow, Mr. Gaines had been able to put her at ease, but with Mr. Wallace, she felt out of place.

  The dance ended, thankfully fast, and Joe wondered away to ask one of the teens in the party for the next round.

  “Daliah,” Chad tugged at her skirts as she eased back into the shadow of a wagon to catch her breath.

  “Yes Chad?” she said, leaning down to listen to the boy.

  “Trey says his arm hurts,” the boy said.

  “Why don’t we go check on him then,” Daliah said, taking Chad’s hand and heading back the way the boy had come.

  Trey Script sat on a barrel his arm rutched up at an odd angle and a scowl on his face.

  “I’m sorry to bother you Miss Daliah,” he said, “but my arm is hurtin’ and itchin’ something fierce.

  “Let me see,” Daliah said, concern showing in the wrinkle of her brow as she helped Trey out of his shirt.

  “It’s a little puckered here,” Daliah said, looking at a spot where a blister had collapsed and pressed against the skin. “You’ll need to soak it in tea more often,” she continued.

  “Trey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Mrs. Script called walking around the wagon. “Oh Daliah I’m so glad you’re here. I just finished cooling the tea. I got a bit caught up what with all the activity tonight. I think the tea is helping though.”

  Daliah smiled at the other woman. “Your timing is perfect,” Daliah said softly. “Trey needs to put a compress on this again so the skin stays soft and smoothes out. Wrap it if you need to for the drive tomorrow.

  “My mother said it was the tannic acid in the tea that softened the skin and kept it from scaring,” she finished.

  A few minutes later Trey was wrapped in tea soaked rags while his mother fussed over him and Chad tugged at Daliah’s skirt once more.

  “You should dance with my pa again,” the boy said, turning innocent eyes toward her. “He smiled when you danced before.”

  Daliah’s heart skipped in her breast. Was what the boy said true? Mr. Gaines had been a man of few words and now that she thought of it he seldom smiled.

  Still pondering the statement Daliah blindly followed Chad across the open space until he stopped in front of his father once more.

  “Daliah wants to dance,” the boy said, plopping her hand into his father’s without warning and making her start.

  “Oh dear,” Daliah gasped in embarrassment, “I didn’t, I mean Chad, well he said...”

  A rough chuckle rumbled from Spencer’s chest as he squeezed Daliah’s hand. “We might as well humor the boy,” he said rising from his seat and leading her back to the dance area. “It’s kind of nice to just enjoy the evening and not think about tomorrow,” he added as the music picked up and he whirled his pretty partner around the now dusty circle.

  Chapter 13

  The dancing lasted into the night as people unwound; releasing the cares of their road weary days and laughter was common on the night air.

  Fresh water, good grazing for stock, and the pulling together of a community lifted spirits as much as knowing they would have a full day of rest on the morrow.

  As campfires burned down and children were tucked in for the night, Spencer walked the camp checking for trouble, as he tried to settle his own busy mind.

  Spencer had enjoyed his dances with Miss Owens far more than he would like to admit and couldn’t help but smile at how his son had wrangled her into another dance with him. As one of the leaders of the train, Spencer tried to keep himself distant from people in case some conflict arose, but he had to admit that he gravitated toward the Hamptons and the young lady traveling with him.

  Was he starting to like Daliah? He pondered the question as he gazed up into a star lit sky. He could admit he admired her. She had been a constant help to anyone who had suffered even a minor injury as the wagon train had steadily wound south west toward their goal. Her quiet nature and soft voice put people at ease, somehow filling them with confidence as she worked toward easing their pain.

  The young woman with the dark eyes and golden locks was hard working, and he had never heard her complain even after the longest day of travel. Spencer really wasn’t sure if the Hamptons would have fared nearly as well if the young woman hadn’t accompanied them on this journey. True, they were still strong and healthy for their age, but they were no longer young.

  Settling on a stump near the glistening spring,

  Spencer removed his hat, running his fingers through his dark locks then looked back toward the heavens as if seeking some answer he couldn’t find on his own.

  Daliah Owens was a mystery to him. Was she a young woman following the Hamptons because she had nowhere else to go or was there some credence to the rumors he had heard about her and her dismissal from her job at the bank a few short months ago?

  No matter how Spencer worried the problem he couldn’t match the young woman he had come to know with any shred of those rumors. She seemed to be exactly what you saw. A lone young woman doing her best to survive in a world that could be sometimes as cruel as it was beautiful. Even if she had made mistakes along the way, didn’t everyone? The west was a place for hope and new beginnings, what was past should stay in the past.

  Spencer dropped his head as his own thoughts pricked his heart. Hadn’t he been holding on to the anger and bitterness of his own loss? He’d allowed the pain of losing his wife to cloud his heart and his mind making life the simple drudgery of survival, work, and care.

  The wall around the lean man’s heart seemed to crack and shatter as he realized he had been going through the motions of life without actually living.

  Rising he gazed at the stars one more time twirling his hat in his hand as a heavyweight eased from his heart. With a smile he turned back to his fire to check on Chad. Tomorrow was a new start for both of them.

  ***

  Daliah wrapped herself in her bedroll under the wagon and peered out at the bright starts above. The smell of wood smoke, and prairie grass filled her nostrils as the cold air of evening began to descend upon the quiet camp.

  Her mind drifted back to Mr. Gaines and the dances they had shared that night. She had danced with a few of the other men in the train that evening, but had ended up in Mr. Gaines arms at the end of the night.

  She smiled remembering the feeling of his strong hands on her waist, and the smile that played across his face as they had glided over the ground. For the first time in many months, even years, Daliah felt safe, when Mr. Gaines took her into his arms.

  Daliah had been devastated after the loss of her parents, but having her older brother, her security, her safety, had gotten her through that. Together they had clung to God and His promises as they had moved on mourning yet trying to live the life they were meant to have.

  When her brother had died, Daliah’s world had shattered into a million pieces and if not for the kindness of the Hamptons, and the desperate realization that she must work or star ve Daliah feared she might have given up completely. It was as if she had been hanging on a high wire looking down at a crowd far below, and someone had ripped her safety net away.

  Now even after years of living without him, Daliah still missed the energetic, self confident and dedicated assurance of her brother’s presence.

  Gazing at the stars above, a soft smile flickered across Daliah’s full lips as she thought of her family, her heart filled with a gentle love that seemed to drown out the bitter pain of loss. As her eyes picked out the brightest stars in the heavens, she thought of each tiny flickering light as a remembrance even while her mind turned back to Mr. Gaines and young Chad.

  “God, I know I’m not much account on this earth. I haven’t lived as well as others and I’m only a simple girl, but I pray for Mr
. Gaines and young Chad. I pray that you will watch over them and keep them safe and bring them to this new home where they might find love and peace.” She paused gazing more closely at the stars and picking out the constellations her brother had taught her so long ago. “Amen,” she whispered as she closed her eyes and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter 14

  The extra day of rest near fresh water and good feed was exactly what the party needed as they rolled out onto the prairie at the crack of dawn a day later with bright smiles and rested bodies.

  A golden sun was peaking over the eastern horizon as the wagons trundled across the dusty prairie toward the promise of hope, home, and happiness.

  Daliah lifted her face to the warmth of a new day like a daisy turning its yellow head toward God. She was clean, and warm, and well fed and her heart was filled with the hope of a brighter future.

  The sound of a galloping horse made her smile as she caught a glimpse of Mr. Gaines riding toward her.

  “Chad asked if he could walk along with you a bit,” the man said, meeting her gaze. “Would you mind?”

  “I’d count it a privilege,” Daliah said, with a grin as Spencer swung his son into the dew drenched grass. “I’ll see you at lunch,” he said. “You mind Miss Owens,” he finished touching his hat politely then wheeling and galloping toward the front of the line.

  “Aren’t you tired of walkin’ all the time?” Chad said, trudging along beside her. “Maybe you could ride along with my pa sometime if your feet get tired.”

  Daliah suppressed a giggle at the boy’s words. “I think I’d take up more room on your pa’s horse than would be good,” she said instead. “Besides, I like walking.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, it gives me time to think.”

  “About what?”

  “Everything,” Daliah answered stretching her arm to encompass the prairie. “I think about where we’re going, and what it will be like there. I think about my family and friends, and sometimes I talk to God.”

  The boy shot her an odd look making her grin again. “Does God answer?” he asked.