by Dana Alden
Cal laughed. “I could say the same about you.”
They stood there, looking at each other for a moment. Memories of home, of growing up, assailed Cal. He didn’t miss it often, but right then, the innocence and dreams of childhood were remembered and missed.
He stepped back and gestured to the bench. They needed to talk and the bench was as good a place as any.
“I’m sorry you’ve been waiting on me. I didn’t know until two days ago that you had arrived.”
“It’s not your fault, Cal. I left home at pretty much the same time your father sent the letter informing you of the plan.” Delia gave him a wide-eyed look.
“Still not good at waiting, then, are you?” he asked.
“Not particularly,” she said with a grin. “I haven’t minded terribly waiting here, for you, because I was on the road—and river—for so long. But I’m looking forward to getting home, wherever that is now, and staying in one place again.” Delia gave him a hopeful look.
“About that,” said Cal. He felt like a cad. “I know we said we’d see if we suit when you got out here, but it’s not going to work.”
Delia shrank back from him, gripping her hands in her lap until her knuckles were white. She looked mortified.
“Oh, no!” said Cal. “It’s not you. You’re lovely. You’re beautiful. It’s just that, well, I’ve met another woman. I feel something special for her.”
He watched the mortification drop from Delia, but it was immediately followed by a look of defeat. Her shoulders slumped, and her death grip on her hands lessened only slightly.
“I suppose… then, I suppose I will…” She looked around as if a new path would open up for her right then and there. It looked like she was about to cry.
“I won’t leave you high and dry, Delia.” He shook his head. “I’d like you to go to Virginia City. My business partner J.B. will help you get settled. But, as soon as you leave here, you’ve got to stop telling people we’re engaged.” He took a deep breath. “Remember our childhood romps, when I was a knight rescuing the damsel in distress?”
Delia nodded.
“Well, I’ve found one and fallen for her. But she’s in a heap of trouble.” Cal paused for a moment to consider Amanda and her trouble. He hoped she was safe back at the hotel.
“I’m sorry, Delia. I was honest when I made the plan with you. I figured we would suit. But I hadn’t counted on meeting Amanda.” He told her about Amanda.
“So you’re pretend-engaged to her, too?” Delia raised her eyebrows at him.
“Don’t give me that look. You always gave me that look when you didn’t like what I’d done.”
Delia didn’t change her expression, but no longer looked so fragile. She had pulled herself together after the shock.
“Why don’t you give me a little time to arrange a room for myself and dinner for us?” he asked. “We have a lot to talk about before I head back to Bozeman in the morning.”
“So soon?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Cal had left Delia sitting on the bench. In his hotel room, he wrote out a quick note to J.B., asking him to come to Gallatin City to collect Delia and bring her back to Virginia City. He gave it to the front desk to post. He also asked about Samuel Emerson and Ned Bart. He didn’t learn anything new.
When he and Delia met again an hour later for dinner in the dining room, he explained all about Amanda, as well as one could explain a woman and her crazy situation. Delia told him of her reasons for moving out West, including her widowing. He enjoyed being reminded of their childhood antics, but as the sky darkened he couldn’t help but think of Amanda, alone.
Chapter 18
Two scruffy, dusty men stood outside Amanda’s door. She didn’t recognize them.
“Miss Amanda, we’d be obliged if you’d come with us,” said the shorter man. The taller man fingered a gun holstered at his side.
“No, thank you,” she said quickly as she tried to close the door. She’d already traveled with two strange men this week and didn’t see how going with these two would result in anything better. A booted foot in the door stopped her, and a hand pushed the door open.
“Are you going to make this hard?” the same man spoke. The other gave her a small, unpleasant smile. She wanted to say yes but saw the taller man fingering his gun again. She might get shot by these men right here, or there, wherever there was. But if she started screaming, whoever came to help her might get shot, too.
Cal was due back. She cared too much to let him get hurt. Maybe she could meet Ned, tell him Samuel was dead and she had no information about the gold. Maybe she could end this all that same day?
She shook her head, grabbed her hat and stepped out of the room. She pulled the door closed behind her. The shorter man put his hand between her shoulder blades and gave her a shove in the direction of the stairs.
The men put Amanda onto an ancient pack mule. The talker held the reins and led the mule, while the man with the gun rode behind. She’d half expected them to tie her hands. Though she could see no way out of this mess, she was grateful she hadn’t been tied.
They had tried to put her on Cal’s packhorse; it disturbed her that they’d watched her enough to know she’d traveled with Cal and this was his animal. But she had refused, explaining she wouldn’t be party to horse thievery. She could tell they went along because it suited them not to have a scene, but she so disliked the amused glances they shared.
All she knew was that she might not be allowed to come back. No need to take Cal’s horse. No need to give him another excuse to chase danger. But it didn’t matter. She expected he’d come for her.
She desperately hoped he wouldn’t.
She desperately hoped he would.
They followed a trail alongside the creek until they reached a narrow river. It wound through gnarly cottonwoods and red-stemmed willow bushes. At some point, they turned off to a fainter side trail, clearer than a deer track, but not especially. Amanda looked around but the mountains were too far away for an accurate measurement and there was nothing remarkable otherwise. She thought she could probably find her way back, if she was allowed to go back. They hadn’t done anything to prevent her from seeing the way. She wasn’t sure if this was a good sign, that they didn’t intend her harm or a very bad sign. Maybe it wasn’t a lair in which Ned would want to remain hidden. Maybe it was a way station. Who knew?
They arrived at a camp under a stand of cottonwood trees. A small creek muddled through on the way back to the river. From the trampled grass, Amanda could see this was a regularly used camp. There was a fire ring of stones, a fallen log bench, and a tree stump tabletop. Sitting on the bench there and talking to two men was bear man, the big hairy man who’d accosted her in the huckleberry patch.
He rose to his feet, slapping his thighs. “Well, well. We meet again.” Amanda stared at him, wondering if he expected some kind of social niceties from her.
He approached her with a smile, but a hard one that didn’t make her feel welcome, or even safe.
He reached up to grab her off the horse. He kept his hands on her waist a little too long, her feet barely brushing the ground as he held her. He leaned toward her, speaking low into her ear. “You cost me a nice bounty, little miss. You owe me.”
Before she could respond, or even think about how to respond, he slammed her down hard and spun her around. He shoved her toward the two sitting men. One of them, a young man with a pockmarked face, stood and slinked off. The other sat there, appraising her. He looked… like a regular man, a man of the frontier, at least. He had muttonchop whiskers, hair smoothed down, typical miner’s town clothes. But he had an intensity. She was reminded of Cal’s stories of mountain lions. She whispered to herself, “You’ll never see them until it’s too late.”
* * *
Cal unsaddled his horse at the stable. Though the town had put itself on the map, it was still more dream than reality. There was no livery stable, offering a fellow to leave your
horse with. Cal didn’t mind. He liked knowing his animals were cared for the right way.
The right way. He was having dreams of a future with Amanda, but he wasn’t sure it was the right way. He remembered the little farmhouse he grew up in, with cousins down the road and a schoolhouse only a three-mile walk away. He thought of town socials with fiddles and horns, and Sunday morning church. Here, he had land and even a little money. But there was no bank to put the money in. No school. No church, few women. He had a cabin that was little more than a shack.
He planned to tack up newspapers and animal pelts in the fall, to help get through the cold winter in his new home. Was it right to even consider asking Amanda to be with him? He wasn’t sure it mattered that the other fiancée was now history. Would Amanda even consider settling down with him while Ned still hunted her?
In Gallatin City, he’d found out nothing new about Samuel or Ned. Nothing that could help Amanda. He imagined what he could say. “Amanda, even though there’s another woman recently claiming to be my fiancée, would you marry me—if we can even find a real preacher—and live in my shack and we’ll try not to freeze to death this winter?” But with the way he felt, how could he not ask her?
Life in Montana Territory was hard and if she said no because of the house, or the hard work, then he’d know she didn’t really belong there… at least, she didn’t care enough for him. If she said no because of Ned, well, Cal could work on that.
If her brother and his store had been a respectable choice, he’d have courted her while she worked and lived with Samuel. Or, maybe not. Every Tom, Dick and Harry would be courting her too. Why give them the opportunity to push him out of the picture?
It didn’t matter. The situation with her brother was bad news. It was as bad as he’d feared, and it was plain there was no future for Amanda with Samuel.
A selfish part of him was glad. But he didn’t want her to accept a proposal from him just because she felt she had no other choice. But then, he thought they’d make out fine together, so maybe a little push wasn’t so bad. He realized on this point that he had little pride. He was looking at this in a self-serving manner and cared for Amanda enough that he’d do what he could to make her want to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her. On the other hand, he cared for Amanda enough that it was more important to make her happy than to end up happy himself.
And now, Cal realized he was just standing there, at Miss Molly’s side, simply staring into space as all these thoughts bounced around his head and his heart. Cal slapped the flank of his horse to send her off, then turned to walk out of the stable.
One way or another, he’d do his best for Amanda.
Amanda didn’t answer her door. The room was unlocked and empty. Cal headed back out and found Rumor Rob at the bar, busy soaking his hand in a bucket of water.
“What happened to you?” asked Cal.
“I got stepped on by Buster this morning,” said Rob, referencing his mule. He held up his dripping hand. It was bruised and swollen.
“That needs ice,” said Cal.
“If only we had some. I’ll make do with the cold creek water.”
Cal nodded. “Miss Amanda’s not in her room.”
“The first time she left—” said Rob.
“First time?” Cal interrupted.
“Yes. She left with Mr. Carston. He was slinking a bit, but you can’t go unnoticed here.”
“Who is Carston?”
“He’s a shady fellow, hanging on the outskirts of trouble.” Rob saw Cal’s alarm. “Not so bad as Ned Bart and his crew. I’m talking card cheat, some thievery. But he was friendly with Samuel, I’d heard. That Pastor Frank brought him in and up to Miss Amanda’s room.”
Cal wondered why she’d go off with a man she just met. But then, she’d gone off with him…
“They were gone about five hours, yesterday. Then today, two fellows who work for Ned showed up. Miss Amanda left with them not long after. Down the crick.” He pointed north.
Cal felt anger and panic and worry—and a whole slew of emotions rising up inside him. While he’d been daydreaming, his love was entering the den of the lion.
Rob continued, “Ned thinks no one knows, but he’s got a camp off the Gallatin, about five miles west. Beans to butter, that’s where they’re headed.”
Cal wanted to shake Rob, shout, “Why did you let her go?” but all he said was, “Thanks, Rob.”
Cal took two steps toward the door when Smitty and Pastor Frank walked in. Smitty walked right up to Cal and poked him in the chest.
“Where have you been? Your Amanda’s gone and left with Ned Bart’s men. Are we going to go get her?”
Rob said, “Take a moment, Cal, to get collected and you can have even more company. Some other townsfolk have had about enough of Ned and this is as good a reason as any to say enough is enough.” He paused only a moment. “I can see you wish I’d kept her from leaving with them, but, well, y’know… I was alone and with this hand, I’d have been more of a danger to Miss Amanda than a help.”
Cal didn’t want to wait beyond the time it took him to saddle up, check his ammunition and prime his gun, but Smitty grabbed his shirt as he tried to pass.
“Getting yourself killed won’t help Miss Amanda. Like Rob said, take a moment.”
Cal felt the tide of fear and anger rising inside of him.
“I have an idea,” said Pastor Frank, hesitatingly. “I can go to this Ned Bart fellow and ask him to let Amanda go.”
“Why would he listen to you?” Cal snarled.
“Because I’m a man of God,” said Pastor Frank, his hesitation fading in his conviction of God’s grace. He squared his shoulders. “I know there’s risk. I want to do this, for Amanda.”
Cal felt an unusual emotion swirling inside him. It was possessiveness. He didn’t want Pastor Frank to rescue Amanda. He wanted to rescue her himself. She was his.
Cal took a step forward, the sound of his boots echoing on the wood floor. He looked at Pastor Frank. Frank stood his ground but leaned back ever so slightly at Cal’s menace. He looked like he might start trembling at any moment.
“I… I mean, I don’t think he’ll just hand her over! I’ll delay him a bit… while you fellows get a posse together,” said Pastor Frank, his voice trailing off.
Cal still didn’t like it. He didn’t want to stall. He wanted to tear after Amanda, screaming a warrior’s call, weapons poised. He wanted to rescue her now. He wanted to know she was safe.
He wanted what was best for Amanda.
Cal exhaled his pent-up frustrations and hotheaded ideas, giving a curt nod.
Smitty said, “Good. I’ll go alert Richard and Scamp.”
Rumor Rob said, “I’ll go see if Sheriff Mendenhall is back in town and get anyone else I can find.”
Cal said, “After you tell Pastor Frank where to find Ned’s camp.”
“Right,” said Pastor Frank with a look of surprise. “I need to know that.”
Cal wondered if this naïve man could really help Amanda. Well, one thing was for sure: they would soon find out.
“I’ll go saddle the horses,” said Cal, “starting with yours, Pastor Frank.” Anything to feel like he was making progress toward Amanda. “You have one hour. We’re leaving here in one hour to follow, whether it’s just me and Miss Molly, or the whole town.” He wasn’t going to leave Amanda there unprotected a moment longer than necessary.
Chapter 19
Amanda wished she had screamed her head off when those two men had shown up at her hotel room. She should have screamed loud and long. Because, as scary as it was to imagine what bad things could happen, she was pretty sure it paled into insignificance compared to what Ned would do to her if she didn’t produce a treasure soon.
How foolish of her to not demand a solution from Samuel!
He’d siphoned off Ned’s stolen money and then gone and shot Ned’s cousin. It was Samuel’s fault she was in this mess.
Okay, being honest
with herself, maybe that wasn’t the whole truth; she’d come out West without proper planning. She didn’t receive any kind of sign from Samuel that she was wanted, or even that she might stay with him short term, even if she wasn’t wanted. And now, she’d foolishly agreed to meet Ned, or at least not been dragged out of her hotel room kicking and screaming.
She sat on the ground at the base of the cottonwood tree. Its huge branches and leaf canopy gave her a pleasant shade from the strong sun bearing down on the valley. Ned hadn’t even bothered to tie her hands. She thought about their introduction. The big bear man—Ned called him Ollie—had shoved her to sit beside Ned on the downed log.
“You are far too pretty to be the sister of Big Em.”
It gave her chills just to be under observation by Ned, with his golden eyes.
“He was my half-brother.”
“Was?”
“I—I heard you shot him.” Shoot, she didn’t know if it was better if Ned thought Samuel was alive or dead.
“Think he’ll come out of hiding if he hears I have you?”
“No. We are not close.”
“But you came out here to work with him,” Ned said, pulling Amanda’s own letter from his vest pocket; the letter she’d written to Samuel, telling him she was coming West to work with him. “He must have a soft spot for you if he agreed to that.”
“I didn’t… I didn’t wait for his response…” she said, “because I wasn’t sure he would agree.” It felt wrong to be conversing with this criminal, but she couldn’t see how it would help her to do otherwise.
“You’ve got gumption!” Ned threw back his head and laughed. Then, in an instant, the humor dropped from his face and he swiveled his piercing eyes back to hers. “But, it doesn’t help me. I want my money. I want my respect.”
His low tone sent chills up her back.
“I don’t have your money.”
“No. What you don’t have is the proper respect for me.” He leaned in close. “Because you seem to think you can lie to me. You seem to think you can wriggle your way out of this situation. But you can’t.” His eyes drilled into hers.