Distant Heart

by Tracey Bateman

“What’s so funny?” Fannie asked with a silly grin. “Oh, never mind. I have a pretty good idea who you’re laughing at.”

  “Did you come for a visit, or to start packing up your things?”

  “Oh, Toni. That’s the only difficult part about marrying Blake. Having to leave you all alone.”

  “I’ll be fine. And when we get to Oregon, I’ll hand the wagon right over to you.” She gave a short laugh. “Provided there’s anything left of it after we cross the mountains.”

  “Don’t be silly.” Fannie waved toward the wagon that she had spent a whole year saving up for in order to escape the cruel man who had held her as an indentured servant much longer than her contract specified. “I want you to have it. You’ll have to have a place to live until you get a home built, anyway. Blake says most people live in their wagons or tents for awhile.”

  Toni’s heart gave a lurch. She hadn’t even thought about what she’d do once she got to Oregon. How would she get a house built before winter? She’d have to hire it done, so first she had to take in enough sewing or laundry to pay someone. It was all so overwhelming. “Well, let’s get you packed up so you can move to your new wagon.”

  Toni paused. “Do you want me to keep Kip and Katie here for a few nights?”

  Fannie’s face grew pink. She shook her head. “I want to get them settled in and used to Blake being part of the family.”

  Again, Toni’s heart gave a lurch. Suddenly she was no longer part of this little family. She had grown so close to Fannie and the twins that she’d truly learned to love them as a sister. But the fact was, she wasn’t part of the family. Blake was.

  Sam had an idea. He hadn’t failed to notice Ginger’s near-hero worship of Toni since she told the whole wagon train that she would no longer be treated like a soiled dove. Sam himself had been more proud than he ever thought possible. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned about Toni being all alone. How would she drive the oxen all alone, take care of her own chores, gather her own water, and so many other things that most families split two, three, four, or even more ways? Most single women, like Miss Sadie, hired camp boys to help with chores, but he knew Toni had no means with which to do so. So after prayer and meditation, Sam had devised a plan. A plan that involved Ginger.

  He found her inside the fort, stirring up her own brand of trouble. “What do you think you’re doing, mister?” she sputtered, pushing back wet hair from her face. Her eyes blazed with anger. The storekeeper dunked her in the horse trough for what appeared to be not the first time.

  “You ever going to steal from me again?”

  “I didn’t steal!”

  He dunked her again and left her under until Sam felt he might have to step in. Thankfully, the man wasn’t bent on murder. He let her up. She gasped and coughed. “You varmint. You lowdown snake of a slimy rat-faced pig snout!”

  Sam fought back a grin as the group of soldiers watching the event set up a howl of laughter. “Stop laughing!” she screamed. She reached for her Colt and lifted it out of the holster. Her hand shook as she pointed the gun at the storekeeper.

  “Hey, now. You put that thing away before you hurt someone,” the grizzled man said.

  “You should have thought of that before you dern near drowned me, mister.”

  Stealthily, Sam moved in. He knew he’d only have one chance to stop the foolish, prideful young woman from doing something that would leave her swinging from the end of a rope.

  “You made a big mistake with me, mister,” she continued her threatening diatribe.

  “Listen, young lady. It’s all right. You just go on and keep that licorice. I don’t need it.”

  “I told you. I didn’t steal no dadblamed licorice. I was going to pay for it.”

  Even staring down the barrel of a Colt revolver, the storekeeper couldn’t hold back a snort of disbelief.

  The girl’s shaking hand suddenly steadied and Sam made his move. Just as the gun fired, Sam threw off her aim and the bullet plugged a nearby pole. “What the…”

  The storekeeper’s eyes were wide and all traces of amusement had gone.

  Ginger whipped around and glared at Sam. “What do you think you’re doing? I missed on purpose. I ain’t no murderer.”

  Sam smiled, took hold of her shoulders, and turned her around. He leaned closer to her. “Shut up. Come with me.”

  “I don’t go anywhere with strange men. And I especially don’t shut up.”

  She tried to get loose, but he held her fast, knowing by the outrage growing on the faces of the men in the crowd that the next few seconds would be key in this woman’s future. “Do not be foolish.”

  “Foolish? How foolish is it to sneak up behind a girl with a gun, you crazy half-breed.”

  “If you insult my mother and father once more, I’ll leave you to these men,” he whispered against her ear.

  She seemed to notice the anger for the first time. Sam heard her gulp. “For mercy’s sake. No offense meant.”

  “She ain’t going nowhere.” The storekeeper stepped forward.

  “Listen folks. Let’s be reasonable. Now, this little girl isn’t worth getting in an uproar over.”

  The poor private who had been standing closest to the pole that now held a healthy sized slug, shot forward. “She blamed near killed me.”

  “H-he threw off my aim. I-I wasn’t really going to shoot anyone.”

  “She’s a thief.” The storekeeper had lost all sense of grace. “And would have killed me if she could have shot a straight line.”

  A gasp tore through Ginger’s throat and Sam clapped his hand over her mouth before she could blurt out whatever she was thinking.

  “Listen, obviously there’s been a mistake,” Sam said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Miss Ginger didn’t mean any harm.” He was almost certain, anyway.

  “Maybe not. But she caused her share just the same.” The storekeeper looked around at the highest-ranking soldier in their midst—a lieutenant who, from what Sam could tell, might have just started shaving a year ago. “What do you plan on doin’ about this attempt on my life?”

  The soldier looked like he’d rather die than arrest a lady. “Are you sure you want to press charges?”

  “You know I do! Else why’d I be askin’ what you intend to do about it?”

  The lieutenant swallowed hard and stepped forward, his face clouded with dread for the task he was being forced to carry out. Sam stepped in front of Ginger. “Listen, folks. How about if I take this young lady off your hands once and for all?”

  “You ain’t taking me anywhere half-br—mister.” At least she was a fast learner.

  “That’s right. I want justice.” The storekeeper didn’t look like he was in any mood to be reasonable short of “justice.” But Sam couldn’t leave Ginger at the mercy of a mob of irritated men.

  “Mr. Lyons,” the lieutenant said. “Perhaps we can let the young lady leave with the wagon train with Mr…. uh,”

  “Two-Feathers.” Sam smiled.

  “Mr. Two-Feathers.” He turned back to the storekeeper, his eyes almost pleading. “I see no reason to detain the lady. There was no real harm done, was there?”

  “I promise I’ll never set foot in this fort again.” Finally, the young woman had realized how dire her situation was about to become. “I-I truly was going to pay for the licorice, but I got sort of distracted by something outside the window and I forgot I had it in my hand.”

  “It’s all right, Ginger,” Sam assured her. “All you have to do is pay for it now and I’m sure Mr. Lyons—was it?—will let you go.”

  “Uh,” she cleared her throat and leaned in close. “I don’t exactly have any money.”

  “Then how were you plannin’ to pay for the licorice?” the storekeeper demanded.

  Ginger sent a scowl around the crowd. “Fine. I wasn’t going to actually pay for it.” She swung around to Sam. “Happy?”

  “I’ll pay for the licorice.” Sam turned to the sound of Grant Kelley�
��s voice. He reached into his vest pocket. “How much does she owe you, sir?”

  “Two bits.” The storekeeper took a breath. “And another two bits for the trouble.”

  Ginger gasped. “That’s highway robbery! You belong in jail!”

  Sam pressed her elbow and murmured. “Easy, Miss Ginger.”

  Grant Kelley didn’t even blink at the ridiculous price. Rather, he turned over the coins and nodded to Sam and Ginger. “Ready to go?”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you two.”

  “Miss Ginger, I have a proposition for you.”

  “No thanks. I’m not that sort of woman.”

  “And I’m not that sort of man.”

  “Then we understand each other. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be pushing on.”

  Before Sam could detain her, Grant grabbed her arm in an iron grip. “Would you shut up for once and just listen to the man?”

  “Thank you, Grant.” Sam turned to the stunned woman. “Ride along with us to the wagon train and at least hear me out. If you’re not interested, you’re free to go.”

  She scrutinized him, perusing his expression. Sam highly doubted she’d have known if he had been lying, but he had to admire her for at least thinking it through before agreeing.

  “All right, Mr. Two-Feathers, I’ll go with you.” She glared at Grant. “I’m not going because of you.”

  Grant’s lips twitched. “I won’t presume to believe you have anything but the deepest of disdain for me. Although I’m at a loss to know why.”

  “Good. Because that’s exactly what I have.” She frowned. “Disdain, that is. For you. And I got my reasons.”

  “Thank you for your candor.”

  Eyes narrowed, she peered closer. “You laughing at me?”

  “Why no, Miss Ginger, I’d be afraid of your sharpshooting eye.”

  “Why, you…”

  “I’ll ride on ahead so the two of you can talk.” Grant rode away, leaving Ginger sputtering after him.

  “I’ve never met anyone with such bad manners.”

  Sam suffocated the urge to laugh out loud. He decided to get straight to the point. “I’d like for you to travel with Toni as her companion.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Miss Rodden.”

  “I know who Toni is. But I travel alone.”

  “What’s a woman like you doing all alone in a rough place like Fort Laramie?”

  “I reckon that’s my business.”

  “I’ll grant you that, miss. But we both know you haven’t been at the fort long, which leads me to believe you were waiting for the wagon train. Why would a woman do that if not to join up and travel the rest of the way under the protection of a wagon train the size of ours?”

  “My, uh, husband passed away not long ago. We live a few miles from here. I only go into the fort to trade.”

  She was lying again. Sam didn’t even have to wonder. It seemed just about every time she opened her mouth a falsehood flew out.

  “Supposing you do have a place.”

  “You calling me a liar?”

  Sam sucked in a breath. He reined in his horse and grabbed her bridle. He commanded Ginger’s gaze. “I don’t want to insult you. But yes, I’m guessing you’re not telling the truth. That no husband died recently and you don’t have a ranch anywhere near here.”

  Her face reddened. “I never said it was a ranch.”

  “Are we ready to be honest with each other?”

  “All right, fine. I want to stay close to the train. I wasn’t going to ask to travel with you though, because I didn’t want to have to do chores. Satisfied?”

  “Toni needs a companion. Someone to talk to during the day, and divvy up the chores when we set up camp each night. What do you say?”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  Sam shook his head. “I can’t pay much. But I could come up with a little.”

  Interest sparked in her eyes. “How much?”

  “I’ll pay you twenty dollars at the end of the trail as long as you do your share and live up to the bargain.”

  “Ten now. Ten at the end.”

  Sam smiled at her audacity. “Five now. Fifteen when we reach Oregon.”

  The girl nodded and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

  Relief sifted through Sam. In his absence, he knew this girl would look after Toni.

  “One more thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t ever let her know about our arrangement.”

  Seven

  A sting pinched her neck, and Toni let out a yelp.

  “What happened?” On the wagon seat beside her, Ginger fought with the oxen, a lot more successfully than Fannie had, to be honest. Though Toni felt disloyal even entertaining the thought.

  “Horseflies. I’d forgotten how miserable those dadburn insects can be.” Toni hated to complain, but truth be told, Ginger was getting on her nerves something fierce. The girl had a stench about her and didn’t see the need to bathe. A fact Toni had every intention of remedying at the next creek they came to. One way or another.

  Toni swatted at her neck again, but it was too late to do anything about the would-be assassin that had targeted, bit, and buzzed away like the tiny harassing bully it was. Bad enough to be layered in dust every single day for the last three months, nearly swept away by gusty prairie winds, but the horseflies…they were the worst. Next to Ginger’s odor, anyway. Still, she had no real reason to complain, considering the alternative. She preferred the wind and caked-on dust—even the horseflies and Ginger’s incessant presence—to the life she’d left behind.

  Still, what had Sam been thinking, suggesting this girl for her traveling companion? She didn’t like to seem ungrateful, but for goodness sakes, she was very close to losing her breakfast. Not to mention the nonstop conversation. At least Fannie knew the value of silence. Ginger seemed as nervous as a bride on her wedding night.

  “That Sam, he prays a lot, don’t he?”

  Toni followed Ginger’s gaze and smiled. Sam sat on his horse, facing the horizon, his head bowed. “Yes, he does.”

  “I never had much use for it, myself. Prayer, that is.” She stopped struggling with the oxen a second, long enough to yank a long piece of straw from her teeth and toss it to the ground. “Near as I can tell, the Almighty never did nothin’ for me and my family.”

  “How can you tell?”

  Ginger’s eyes narrowed at the question and she stared past the beasts she drove. “I figure if He did, He did a pretty poor job of it. And if that’s the case, who needs a God like that tellin’ me what to do?”

  Something tripped in Toni’s heart and she placed a hand on the girl’s filthy buckskin shirt. “I can’t pretend to know everything about God. Or even much for that matter. But I do know that a few months ago I was a worthless whore in a worthless town with no hope. And now I’m free and looking forward to a future without being forced to do things I don’t want to do.”

  Ginger gave a pointed look toward Toni’s scars. “What happened to you?”

  The blunt question was like a slap in the face. “Let’s just say I have outward scars now instead of heart scars.”

  “Heart scars?”

  “I can’t imagine anyone living the way I have without enduring wounds on the inside. I was beautiful on the outside and bleeding on the inside. Now I’m scarred on the outside, but God sees me as beautiful on the inside.”

  “Who said you ain’t beautiful on the outside? Did that half-breed tell you something like that? Or that wagon master. Don’t pay no attention to him. He only has eyes for that little red-head.”

  Toni wasn’t used to being championed. And to be championed by this rough girl was disconcerting to say the least. The hot-headed, gun-toting young woman would as quickly plug someone as look at them and Toni certainly didn’t want to be responsible for bloodshed. Thankfully, Blake had taken her gun from her. Still…the girl had confided that he’d missed an enormous knife she had tucked b
eneath her shirt—one reason she wouldn’t unbutton the jacket and give her body a little air over the cotton shirt beneath.

  “Sam has been nothing but a gentleman. As a matter of fact, if he hadn’t come after me when the man I ran away from kidnapped me, I’d be dead right now. He helped tend to me and nursed me until I was better.”

  “Oh.” Ginger fell silent. And remained so. The silence was a mercy as far as Toni was concerned, but she had a feeling the girl had gone to a place deep in her memory where her own scars were bleeding.

  “Tell me about your family.”

  Ginger’s eyes blazed as she whipped around to face Toni, and for an instant, Toni shrank back.

  “I ain’t got no family left and there ain’t no sense discussing it. So let’s just leave it there.”

  “I understand not wanting to talk. But if you ever change your mind, I’m a good listener. And I don’t gossip so your secrets are safe with me.”

  The girl’s doe-like eyes softened for just a minute, then hardened again. “The only safe secrets are the ones no one knows. And I plan to keep all mine right here.” She tapped her temple. “So don’t try to get me talkin’.”

  Toni nodded. She truly understood. “I’ll just get down and walk for awhile, if you don’t mind. When I come back we can trade places.”

  “You’re going to drive these animals?” Toni wasn’t crazy about the skepticism in the girl’s tone.

  “You’d be surprised at the things I’m capable of doing.” Toni sent her a wink and a grin and climbed down.

  Sam noticed Toni climb down from the wagon, and alarm seized him. They were being followed. Most likely by the Cheyenne war chief Swooping Eagle. The Indian agent, Fitzpatrick, had his own thoughts concerning the settlement of the West. So he wasn’t exactly friendly. The agent had confirmed Swooping Eagle had gathered more warriors and would be making one more raid on the wagon train.

  Even armed with that, Sam couldn’t be sure it was Swooping Eagle. Most of the tribes in these parts were getting restless, even frustrated, with the settlers and even more recently those who were flooding the Black Hills, panning for gold. One thing Sam knew for certain. The wagon train would be meeting up with the band of warriors again before much longer. But the memory of the look on the Cheyenne chief’s face when he was forced to ride away without his prize was branded into Sam’s memory. And it worried him more than he’d like to admit, despite the time he spent in prayer, searching for wisdom and peace.