by Nancy Bush
“Eliza, I need to at least know about the child’s father.”
“He’s dead.” She pulled away from him, as if the memory alarmed her. “Someday I’ll tell you everything,” she said. “I promise.”
Joseph wondered if he really wanted to know.
She glanced at Tremaine. The boy, as if feeling her eyes on him, dragged his gaze from the diminishing shoreline and looked her way. She smiled. “The barmaid was right,” she said softly. “He will be a heartbreaker. Those eyes…”
Joseph Danner gave his son a long disturbed look. Those eyes had seen far too much, he thought. They had seen his mother die. They had watched the decay of his father’s life.
What, Joseph wondered, would those eyes see in the uncertain future ahead of them?
An excerpt from
Book II: Miracle Jones
by Nancy Bush
The Cascade Foothills
September 1893
Miranda “Miracle” Jones slapped the reins on her slope-backed team. Curse and rot them! The miserable beasts could barely put one hoof in front of the other. The hot September wind shrieked around her peddler’s cart. Bottles and tin ware rattled inside the wagon as Gray and Tillie momentarily picked up the pace, only to fall back into a depressingly slow clop, clop, clop.
Miracle sighed in disgust and was answered by a steady snore from behind the wagon seat. Uncle Horace was dead to the world and had been since long before noon. Miracle had tried to change the old reprobate’s ways time and again but to no avail. Now she almost envied his drunken peace with the world. She was tired, too. They’d been on the road for hours, and her spine hurt.
“Giddyap, you,” she muttered to the plodders. Night was falling, and Miracle wanted to be safe in Rock Springs before it grew dark.
The snapping of a twig somewhere to her right made her whip her head around. She peered through the dusky evening shadows, searching the thick fir forest. Branches waved, throwing dark flickering images across her path, but no one was there.
Drawing a sharp breath, Miracle frowned. She’d been warned in the town of Malone about the highwaymen who hunted this stretch of road. Several young women from neighboring towns had disappeared before reaching their destination; one body had been found floating facedown in the Clackamas River; another had never been seen again.
Even knowing the risks, Miracle had chosen to set off for Rock Springs. She was used to taking care of herself. Hadn’t she done so for most of her nineteen years? Neither “Uncle” Horace Jones, who had befriended her after he’d caught her attempting to filch a bright shiny buckle from his peddler’s wagon, nor his sister, “Aunt” Emily Darcy, the lonely old woman who’d raised Miracle, had ever succeeded in fully taming her. She’d run wild when she was a young child amid the remnants of a once-powerful Chinook tribe, and she’d never completely adjusted to the white man’s rigid social structure.
“Giddyap,” she urged again, slapping the reins. She wasn’t really afraid, but there was no need to tempt fate. The team responded with a woefully weak burst of speed, settling back again as soon as Miracle loosened the lines. “You’re lucky I don’t sell you both for horse meat!”
Uncle Horace snored on blissfully. Useless old bounder, she thought with a smile. Miracle, who’d learned a great deal about being a half-breed in a white man’s world, was quite prepared to protect herself. Her eyes darted to the Colt .45 lying on the seat beside her. If she had to, she would use the revolver, but truthfully she wasn’t all that handy with a gun. She was better with a knife and consequently had one strapped against her upper thigh beneath her crinoline skirt.
The rhythm of the wagon was comforting, a rhythm Miracle had grown used to during the years she’d sold elixirs and potions with Uncle Horace throughout Oregon’s rural countryside. She’d been called everything from a quack to an angel of mercy to a shaman. She knew more about herbs and medicine than half the so-called doctors in the state. And she knew more about love and grief than all of them put together.
For years she’d thought both her parents had died when she was young. No one, neither the white men nor the scattered tribe of Chinook Indians, had told her about her birth. Aunt Emily, who had known the truth all along and later confided in Uncle Horace, had kept the lie well hidden. Only when one of the town bullies had spat on Miracle and called her dead mother an “Injun whore” had Miracle forced Aunt Emily and Uncle Horace to confess.
“Your mother was a whore,” Uncle Horace had admitted gently. “A goodhearted woman, but a whore nevertheless.”
Miracle’s blue eyes had widened in hurt and shock. She refused to believe him, turning instead to Aunt Emily, silently pleading for it not to be so.
“She was no whore,” Aunt Emily had maintained sharply, shooting Horace a quelling look that would have turned a lesser man to stone. “She loved your father, but he wouldn’t have an Indian bride. He was a cold, callous man who thought a tin box of money was payment enough for her services.” She sniffed her indignation. “His soul is blacker than hell. Promised her marriage time and again, but he was already married. He sired you, then left her for good. She never was the same.”
The news has been a staggering revelation to Miracle. “You – knew my mother?”
“She was a beautiful girl who stole our hearts,” Uncle Horace admitted softly. “We only knew her a short while. Didn’t see her, or your brother, much after she took up with your father. But she was a special woman.”
“My brother?” Miracle could scarcely believe it.
“Blue was ten when you were born,” Aunt Emily said, tight-lipped. “He’s your half-brother and only part Chinook. Your mother knew a few men, Miracle, but had the poor sense to love your father.” Unlike Miracle, Aunt Emily felt the circumstances of the girl’s Indian birth should remain buried. For Miracle’s sake, she thought it would be better if she acted as if she were white. “And he was a proper little hellion. So jealous, he tried to cut out your heart when you were born. That’s what your mother said. That’s why you have that scar.”
Miracle had often wondered about the small moon shaped scar above her left breast. “Where is he now?”
Aunt Emily shrugged carelessly, but Uncle Horace said, “He left the Chinooks soon after he attacked you.”
“Tell me more,” Miracle had pleaded, and Uncle Horace then related all he knew about her heritage, which wasn’t all that much more. She soon realized he was carefully omitting any further reference to her father, however, and it only served to pique her interest.
“Who is my father?” she demanded. “What’s his name?”
The hesitation between Uncle Horace and Aunt Emily was telling. “We don’t know, dear,” Aunt Emily finally admitted. “He was a mystery to your mother, too. He just came to her at his convenience, and she never had the strength to turn him down.” At that point she had glanced around guiltily and made the sign of the cross, as if the weakness of the flesh were some insidious disease which could be caught by gossiping. “Your mother died giving birth to you,” she added in a lower voice. “She left you the money.”
Now Miracle glanced toward the locked metal box, cleverly concealed amongst the hanging tin wares. She’d never used the money, though she’d been tempted more than once. She wanted to find her father first and learn the truth from his own lips. She didn’t believe he was the bastard Uncle Horace and Aunt Emily made him out to be. She couldn’t believe it. After all, he had wanted to marry her mother. And Miracle wanted a family of her own too badly to give up hope.
When she found her father she would use the money, not before. And now she was close. She could feel it! Her search had led her to Rock Springs, Oregon.
Tillie suddenly pricked up her ears, snorting. Miracle glanced around. Only the wind stirred the dense firs and pines, making their needles whisper and rustle.
Tingling fear turned her arms to gooseflesh. She strained to listen. Nothing. Then she heard a soft thump. The back of the wagon lurched, and her hair stood on
end. Sucking in a startled breath, Miracle swung around. She could see nothing, hear nothing but Uncle Horace and the gusting wind. Spooked, she snapped the reins with extra fervor, and for once the horses broke into a gallop.
The wagon sped forward, rattling and clanging. Wind streamed Miracle’s black hair away from her face. Her eyes burned and teared. How far was it to Rock Springs? Ten miles? Twenty?
Two dark, smelly shadows suddenly reached down from the roof of the wagon, clutching at her. Miracle gasped. They were huge grasping hands! They grabbed her hair and covered her face before she could move.
Miracle bit into flesh. A man howled furiously. Her fingers scrambled for the revolver, knocking it from the seat to the floor. The horses tore wildly forward. The grimy hands shoved Miracle roughly against the seat back, squeezing her neck, choking her, and a dark body tumbled off the roof onto the wagon seat beside her.
“Doan’ move and I won’t kill you,” a male voice said with cruel malevolence. She heard the click of a pistol and felt the cold barrel pressed to her temple. Heart thudding in panic, she sat like a stone.
The man twisted around to grab the reins Miracle had dropped. His gun never left her head. Her own revolver was too far out of reach, and her knife was useless against the speed of a bullet.
“Slow down, you swaybacked mules!” he yelled at the horses, yanking viciously on the reins.
Snorting and tossing their heads, Tillie and Gray gradually slowed, their breath rasping through their nostrils, steaming in the soft September night. Uncle Horace, disturbed, lifted his head and said thickly, “Miracle? Whad’ya doing?”
Quick as lightning, the gun was removed from Miracle’s temple and slammed hard against Horace’s forehead. With a sickening thud, Uncle Horace fell silent.
“Damn you!” Miracle cried furiously, wrenching out of her captor’s grasp. He backhanded her, stunning her, and the gun barrel was thrust ruthlessly against her temple once more.
“Shut your mouth, girlie, if’n you want to stay alive a while longer.”
“Uncle Horace!” she choked out, struggling.
The gunman clamped an arm across her chest, pinning her against the bare wooden seat, this time leveling the gun between her eyes. “He’s all right. Smells like the bottom of a whiskey keg, but he’ll live. At least as long as you behave.”
With a last jerk of the reins, the team stopped. The wagon ground to a halt. Miracle eyed the dirty, bearded man tautly. “What do you want?” she demanded.
He grinned through stained teeth. “Whatever you’ve got to give.”
She almost spat in his face. Prudence forced her to remain calm. If she could only get her fingers on the Colt.
She didn’t have a chance.
Grabbing her by the hair, the man jerked her up from the wagon seat. Tears of pain blurred her eyes as she was flung to the ground beside the wagon. Her knees and palms scraped against hard, sharp pebbles. She heard her skirt rend, the sound loud even with the blowing wind.
Scrambling to her feet, she ran three paces before he caught her easily around the waist. The knife, she thought, but she had no time to grab it before clattering hoofbeats caught her attention. Two men on horseback appeared. Miracle’s captor kept the gun against her head.
“Doan’ move,” he warned.
“Whatcha got there?” one of the newcomers asked, sliding from his horse. He strode toward Miracle.
“A woman. Doan’ know what she looks like yet.”
A match sizzled. A lantern glowed. Through the yellow light Miracle glimpsed two of the men’s faces, wavering evilly in the uncertain illumination. They stared back equally curiously at her.
“Sweet Jesus,” the one with the bushy eyebrows exclaimed.
Miracle had no way of knowing that her Indian heritage was clearly visible in that moment. Her black hair hung long and straight to her waist. Her eyes, a soft, slumberous blue, were hooded by the encroaching night, hiding their color. High cheekbones rose above smooth, full lips. Pride and determination shown from the thrust of her small chin.
“A goddamned Injun, Jeb,” he said on a whistle. “And she’s a beauty.”
“Lemme see.”
Miracle’s head was jerked cruelly around until she thought her neck would snap. Jeb, the man who’d captured her, stared down at her through small, lecherous eyes. Miracle’s heart lurched, and she shrank back.
“By God! She’s the best so far. Look at them eyes!”
“Better get her on the horse,” the man who had not spoken yet said in a gruff voice. “We don’t got time to lose. Too bad the chief’s not around. He’d like this ‘un for himself, but we gotta make some money.”
“The hell with him,” Jeb growled, yanking Miracle closer. The gun barrel swiveled from Miracle to his two companions. “This little girl’s mine.”
Miracle’s right arm was pressed hard against Jeb’s side. She was sick with fear for Uncle Horace and consumed with anger for these three filthy outlaws. If she could just wiggle one hand free…
The other two men bristled. “Let her go, Jeb,” said the man with the bushy eyebrows, his hand touching briefly on the gun at his hip. “They’re waitin’ at the barn, and I’m not givin’ up no hundred dollars – or maybe more.”
“I want her first.” Jeb was insistent. “They doan’ expect us yet.”
Miracle kept the fear out of her face. She wasn’t so much of an innocent to misunderstand. Jeb wanted to use her for his own lustful pleasure. Instantly she decided she was safer with Bushy Eyebrows and his gruff-voiced companion. She had no idea what her fate might be with the people waiting at the barn, but she preferred chancing it to being left to Jeb’s mercy.
“She comes the way she is. If’n she’s a virgin, she’s worth that much more.” Bushy Eyebrows strode forward to wrest Miracle from Jeb.
“She’s Injun,” Jeb sputtered. “She ain’t no virgin.”
Then everything happened at once. Jeb’s arm lifted. Bushy Eyebrows lunged at him. Jeb’s gun clicked and fired, stinging Miracle’s nostrils with acrid smoke.
Bushy Eyebrows collapsed in utter silence at Miracle’s feet. Blood pooled in the dust.
There was a moment of surreal calm. Then Miracle yanked herself free and ran for the wagon. A cry of fear and anger filled her lungs, never uttered. Her chest felt like bursting. A bellow of rage sounded behind her. Footsteps pounded. She was on the bottom step when hard arms grabbed her. Kicking and spitting, she fought with all her might. She’d kill them all, she would! Miserable, stinking outlaws. Blast them to hell!
“Goddamn…” Jeb growled, slamming his gun against her head. Lights exploded against her skull. Her legs crumpled beneath her. Black oblivion swam upward, and Miracle knew no more.
Harrison Danner balanced on the back two legs of his chair, his Stetson pulled low over his eyes. He could have been asleep for all anyone knew, but the truth was his mind was on both the cards in his hands and the events about to transpire tomorrow morning. His own wedding. To Kelsey Garrett.
And that would make Jace Garrett his brother-in-law.
“Your card, Danner,” Jace pointed out.
Harrison lifted the brim of his hat with one finger, squinting against the thin cigar smoke wafting from Garrett’s cheroot. He grimaced distastefully. Jace was a rattler, smooth and sleek and cold, with a nasty way of making noise. The Garretts had too much money and too much clout. Harrison could scarcely believe Kelsey was one of them.
Jace sighed. “I’m not much for poker, but since this is the night before your wedding…” He shook his head dolefully, his hands clutched tightly around his cards. He wanted his sister to wed a Danner about as much as Harrison wanted to marry a Garrett. Bad blood existed between the two families for as long as Harrison could remember. It hadn’t helped when Harrison’s sister, Lexie, had scorned Jace’s offer of marriage and accepted Tremaine’s instead. Ten years had passed, and since then Jace had taken a wife. But Jace had never forgiven Lexie, or any of the other Danners, for
stomping on Garrett pride. It had been an unforgivable mistake. Harrison’s marriage to Kelsey had been arranged more to keep the peace than because the prospective bride and groom were wildly in love.
But at least he liked Kelsey. She was one of the two women in the world Harrison actually trusted. He’d learned that lesson the hard way. Isabella Weatherby had been an excellent teacher.
He frowned. At one time, when he’d been green and newly starting his practice, Isabella had seemed like an angel, the woman of his dreams. He’d been in love with her in the worst way. But then the truth about her affairs with other men had come to light. It was Harrison’s brother, Jesse, in fact, who’d told him the truth.
“Don’t trust women,” Jesse warned. “Ever. Isabella’s been sleeping around.”
“With you?” Harrison asked coldly, stung by Jesse’s harsh words. His younger brother’s reputation was notorious.
Jesse’s blue eyes narrowed. “No. But not for lack of interest on her part…”
Three weeks later Jesse disappeared from Rock Springs, leaving in his wake a string of broken hearts and several juicy scandals that had kept the collective tongues of the Ladies Aid Society wagging to this day. Shortly thereafter Isabella’s roving eye had returned to Harrison. But Harrison had taken Jesse’s advice to heart. He’d stopped seeing her.
And she’d married someone else within the month.
Now Harrison flicked a glance at his own cards. Dismal. The other players at the table were showing only casual interest in the proceedings – a lie, considering the current stakes. The simple bachelor party which had begun at the Half Moon Saloon and was somehow finishing in this deserted barn had turned into a rousing card game complete with whores and rotgut liquor. Harrison, who suspected Garrett cheated, decided to end the evening once and for all by flirting with lady luck. “I’ll take two,” he drawled, dropping two cards from his hand.
Garrett chuckled. “You Danner boys aren’t too smart. You expect to beat me, playing like that? Didn’t anyone tell you it’s better to bluff?”