by Kari Trumbo
“He won’t let you see me, or anyone else for that matter. This is your last chance, Elizabeth. He’s coming over here. If you go with him, I can’t promise to keep you safe.”
Elizabeth would not be told what to do and Robert couldn’t understand her desperate need. She squeezed his hand and patted it as a goodbye.
“Thank you for looking after me. Hopefully from here on out, I won’t need protection.” She turned and waved her handkerchief at the gruff looking man. He leered at her, limped over and looked at Robert. His smell arrived well before he did and Elizabeth’s eyes widened and her stomach lurched.
“Who you think you are, talking to my girl?” he spat a large gob of tobacco just to her right.
Elizabeth jumped back and shrieked at the spittle coming from his mouth, causing Robert to reach for her.
“So sorry Axle, Elizabeth was traveling alone. I cared enough to make sure she arrived safely.” Robert stood erect and though both men were roughly the same height, Robert seemed more imposing.
“You tryen’ to steal ‘er from me?”
“I don’t steal Axel. You know that. I will say one thing, if I have to come out to your place again, you won’t like it. Treat this one well. You’re out of chances.”
“You got nothen’ to say ‘bout my business.” He reached for Elizabeth and she shrank back against Robert’s arm instinctively.
“My trunk is here. Is there a place in town for me to stay?” Elizabeth broke in, not wanting Axel to be angry once they were alone.
“You brought a trunk too? I’m running outta room in my house.” He grumbled.
“You didn’t expect me to come with nothing, did you?” she asked, her ire spread across her whole face.
“All you ladies bring a bunch of nothing. Don’t need such like here.”
Elizabeth didn’t understand what he meant, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. The trip had taken almost two weeks. She had to be married soon or she risked someone from home figuring out her plan.
“Axel, where’s the preacher? You never bring them home unmarried.” Robert looked at Elizabeth with eyes of steel. She knew he was trying to get her to understand something, but her brain was just too uncooperative to hear.
“You stay outa’ our business. The preacher was busy. We’ll come back into town tomorrow.”
“Elizabeth, there is nowhere to stay here in town. Could I take you across the river to the doctor?”
“No!” Axel yelled. “You keep your notions to yourself, we’re going home.”
Elizabeth shook with fear. She nodded a goodbye to Robert and before she even realized what was happening, she was in Axel’s wagon. She secured herself as best she could. Clinging onto the seat as far from Axel as possible, exhausted after the long journey. Too tired to fight.
Chapter Nineteen
Meg and Jax both packed lightly for their trip, knowing speed meant they may have to go by rented horse for a while, or even walk. A trunk or even a heavy bag would be out of the question. Meg felt like she should go alone. She’d hired Jax to look over her ranch. She trusted her father, but he might be too old to handle everything. She’d acquiesced because the cattle had been sold and the number of animals was manageable, but if she had her druthers. Jax would stay.
Jax sat at the table next to Meg. He was holding some train tickets. Meg thought he looked happier than the seriousness of the journey should warrant. He had a strange half-smile and spring in his step today that Meg hadn’t seen there before.
He handed her the tickets. “I checked with the railway. If we are ready in two hours, we can take the fast coach with only three stops. It ends in St. Paul, Minnesota. I asked the ticket salesman and he said he sold a ticket to Elizabeth right after Thanksgiving. He remembered asking her if she would be traveling with anyone. I guess she gave him an unforgettable piece of her mind.” He chuckled. “I am guessing Gus never checked with them or maybe the same man wasn’t working when he asked.”
“Good. We know we’re on the right track.” She laid the tickets down and covered them with her hands. “Minnesota? I guess she did go to find that man in the ad. That’s terrifying.” She reached out and touched his arm without thinking. “We have to hurry.” Concern wrinkled her brow.
Jax pulled her hand. “That’s why I insisted on the faster route.” He went to go get the wagon.
Meg said her farewells to Margot then went out meet Jax and her father for the trip. Meg had considered carefully that morning what she would wear. She shouldn’t wear her personalized riding skirt, nor could she be allowed the ease of pants like men. In the end, she’d decided to just wear her regular black skirts. If she had to hike them up a bit to ride, it would only show her boots, and only as much as it showed when she went up or down stairs.
They arrived in town and Meg noticed there were almost no people out in the streets. Gus walked them to the train, it would be leaving in a few minutes. Meg hugged her father close and whispered her goodbye in his ear. She hoped the trip would be a short one and they could bring Lizzy back in time for Christmas.
Their tickets afforded them the use of a stateroom which had an upper bunk and a lower bunk for sleeping. It also had a small booth for sitting, like two wide padded benches sitting one facing the other. It would be about as comfortable as possible for a train ride. They knew how important it was to go quickly. Lizzy had left so long ago.
They got comfortable and prepared for the porter to come and check their ticket. The train lurched, moved a few feet, and then stopped, letting off a great whoosh of steam. They heard a commotion in the car ahead of theirs. Ladies were screaming and men were yelling. In the uproar, Meg heard one thing, “Jackson McCartney”. Jax leapt up to his bunk and closed the sleeping curtain, leaving Meg alone. She tried to remember where she’d heard that name before?
The thin man Meg had seen at the boarding house pushed himself into the doorway of their small cabin. It jogged her memory. He’d been looking for Jackson all those months ago, her foreman, Jax. The intruder held an old, dirty side arm with spots of rust. Meg worried what would happen if he actually attempted to fire the thing. That was one consolation, perhaps it wouldn’t fire due to neglect, not a chance she wanted to take, though.
He yelled at her. “Well, lookee here. Looking for yer foreman. Got a tip ee’d be with you on this train. Give ‘im up and you can go on yer way.”
“I don’t know any Jackson McCartney, which is who you were asking for in the other car. I suggest, if you don’t want to find yourself with more holes than God intended you to have, you should leave.” She pulled her pistol out of its holster, finger off the trigger, and laid it across her lap pointing away from the intruder while letting him know she meant business.
“We aren’t leaven’. If Lars don’t find ‘im we’ll just ride this ‘ere train until ‘e shows ‘is face. Then we’ll shove ‘im off the back. I know ‘e’s ‘ere cause the ticket man told me ‘e seen yer furman.” The man chuckled down at her.
“You’re looking for my foreman? I thought you were looking for a Jackson?” She did her best to look confused, “My foreman left ahead of me yesterday. I’m after him. I love him and he left me.” The lie escaped her lips easier than she thought it would.
“Well, maybe we oughta work together finding him. We are pretty good at it. Been tracking ‘im fur years. Always find ‘im.”
“Oh no, when I find him I’m not sharing.” Meg shook her head and did her best to sound possessive.
The man growled down at her and bent at the waist, putting himself right in her face. She cringed back slightly at his foul breath. “Just remember the same goes for us. If we find ‘im first, we aren’t sharin’ and chances are, you will find yourself in a heap ‘o trouble with ‘im.” He turned and stormed out of the small room.
When the commotion had settled down, Jax climbed down out of his bunk and closed the shade on their compartment for privacy. Meg looked up at him twenty questions all over her face.
&nbs
p; “Found you.” She pursed her lips.
He looked at her, pleased, but said nothing.
“Well, Jackson. I think it’s about time you tell me what’s going on. Does this have anything to do with the window on Thanksgiving?”
“How are you so sure I’m really the guy they’re looking for?”
“Because I recognized that man from the boarding house when I met Margot, and he already knew me even then. They were watching me, apparently. I’ve never seen you run from anything, and I’ve never seen you leave me without cause. Not to mention, Jax is close enough to Jackson that it gives it away.” She sat calmly, her gun still draped over her lap.
“Rose never told you? I told Rose about my situation with Lars, not everything. There are some things you don’t need to know.” He looked out the window, his attitude stubborn.
“Such as? You mean you would keep things from.” she batted her eyelashes, “the one who is pining after you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
She caught a brief smile before he hid his face behind the brim in his hat. “Yes, even ‘the woman who is pining after me’ has to be kept out of a few things in my life. Just understand I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know how for sure but he seems to have the law on his side, no matter where we are. He wants me dead because of something I know. He thought he had me cornered here in Little Springs, but now I’m headed for far off Minnesota. He probably figured I was trying to skip town farther than usual.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were once you realized you could trust me? Didn’t you worry after they’d been out to the ranch that it might be dangerous for all of us? But especially me, alone on the ranch with everyone gone? Didn’t you care?”
“I’ve lived too long protecting who I am. I don’t even know how they knew I would be on this train, he has friends everywhere one of them must be the ticket salesman. That is why I do my best to stay on the ranch and send others into town for me. I’m sorry Meghan, I should’ve told you. Rose pointed out how I put you in danger by being there and she was right. But I didn’t want to leave. I told your father at Thanksgiving, but he already suspected after hauling me out of Lars’s room at the boarding house.”
“I wouldn’t have sent you away, Jax, but I should have been told.”
“You wouldn’t have…”
Someone knocked on the door and Meg got up to check who it was. When she saw the uniformed porter and not a gun-toting bully, she let him in. He checked and punched their tickets and left, eager to get this part of his job done. Though he didn’t know it, he had effectively put a stop to their conversation.
Meg sat back down and looked out the window at the passing landscape of brown grasses, trees and tiny houses. This was the first time she’d been alone with Jax since he’d moved to the bunkhouse she had no idea what to say. She trusted him, but this type of situation could ruin a woman. Conversation had always come so easy for them, but now she felt awkward and silly. Meg walked over to her bag where she’d left it on her bunk and grabbed her knitting. She couldn’t figure out why she felt so jumpy and overexcited, it had to be the confinement of the stateroom. She focused on her knitting and shut him out.
~~~
Jax looked at Meg, so pretty and flushed. She looked embarrassed about something, but he certainly couldn’t figure out what it was. He hadn’t planned on starting the journey with an argument. Sitting back in his seat, he smiled at her. At least for this trip, they were on equal footing. He’d make the most of this situation and see where it led.
“Meghan?” he asked, louder than he needed to just to watch her jump.
Meg dropped a stitch she was so startled. “Yes…Jax?” She gave him an irritated look.
“Are you going to ignore me the whole trip?”
“The trip has just started. I’ve hardly begun to ignore you.” She directed her needle back through the loop of yarn sticking out above her work.
“Still, a valid question. You seem uncomfortable. Want me to open a window?” he asked with a grin, knowing it would let in smoke, dust and cold air if he did.
“No.” She sat, a calm veneer over the jitteriness she couldn’t hide. “I simply didn’t have any immediate conversation so I thought I’d work on the cold weather bonnet I’m making for Minnesota. I’m assuming it’ll be much colder there?”
“Yes, it might even be snowy. Meghan, if it bothers you to call me Jax…it would be all right if you called me Jackson…I suppose.”
“I’m used to Jax. I don’t mind.” She sighed.
He knew she wanted to be left alone, but he just couldn’t do it.
She knit in a steady rhythm, doing her best to ignore him. Her focused gaze on her knitting gave her away.
He sat there watching her, staring at her face. Grinning like a schoolboy.
The speed of the wood needles hitting each other increased and her brow knit along with her. He could feel the tension from her building.
She sped up, like a pan of water about to boil. Time to add a little salt.
“Meghan.”
“Jax!” She threw her knitting on the seat next to her and scowled at him.
He laughed, clapping his hands in front of him. She pursed her lips, his game at her expense not half as amusing to her as it was to him. Her fingers shook and she tried to hide it by pressing on her skirt. Jax stood up, picked up the discarded knitting, and moved next to her on the narrow seat. He squished himself in next to her and looked at her bonnet. She had only just begun, but they had a long trip. There would be plenty of time to finish it, if he would let her.
Jax felt her whole body go tense next to him. She was agitated and holding her breath.
“So, how do you do that?” he asked, smiling at her mischievously, touching her knitting careful to avoid moving the needles.
“You…well…I don’t know how to teach you.” she tried to scoot closer to the window even though she was already as close to it as she could get. “Can you move back on your side? You’re making me nervous.”
“Nervous?” He shifted a little closer to her, pinning her to the wall. “Meghan,” he whispered in her ear, but did not put his face to hers.
She stood up and flounced to the chair he’d vacated.
Jax let every bit of mischief he had in him out. He couldn’t help himself.
“So.” He reached over to the bag Meg had left behind on her seat. “What does a woman pack when she packs light?” He took out her brush and inspected it, then reached his hand in again.
Meg stood up to retrieve her bag from his prying fingers when the train went around a bend and she lost her balance. The shift in her surroundings made her lose her balance. Jax stood and grabbed her to prevent her from hitting her head. He righted her, but he didn’t back up into his own space right away. He was so close. Her mouth just close enough.
Meg flushed crimson and looked away. She couldn’t hold eye contact with him. Something was going through her mind and he wished he knew what it was. She hadn’t responded positively to his teasing or playing. Perhaps he’d been wrong. She must still think Mark was his fault, or worse as the cause of all this mess with Lizzy.
Jax pulled back, but only a step. He handed her the bag he’d opened and sat back down, leaving her to decide where she’d sit. Meg looked confused for a minute, now that she had her footing. She stared down at him. He looked back at her willing her to pick the seat next to him. He saw the moment she softened. The moment she realized he really wanted to be near her.
Meg sat down next to him and he relaxed next to her. He reached over and handed her the knitting, letting his hands linger on hers just a moment longer than they had to, and enjoying the hitch in her breath at the contact.
Meg paused, “I was really worried about you when you were gone on the cattle drive.”
“You were?” he replied. “I didn’t figure you would. Kinda hoped so though.”
“I did. When I didn’t hear from you for so long, I started going into town every day.” S
he looked at him and blushed again, then quickly looked down at her hands, weaving her fingers together, then apart.
He wanted to make her comfortable to speak more to him, but she suddenly looked far away from him again. He reminded himself again that Chase hadn’t even been gone a year. She might not be ready, even now. Jax watched Meg stare out the window and wondered what kept her so deep in thought. It would be a long three-day trip if she spent the whole time daydreaming. He didn’t want to push her too fast. She still mourned her husband, though she didn’t cry anymore. He’d hoped the cattle drive would give her the time to heal she needed, and it seemed to. She thought of Chase when someone reminded her of him. Certainly sadness crept onto her face when that happened, but he’d noticed she seemed to have healed very well in those months of solitude. He’d hoped she would put away the mourning clothes at least for this trip, but that hadn’t happened.
~~~
Meg was in all new territory. It was like she’d never been married. Like she’d never even been in a real relationship. Chase had been so kind, but not attentive. He’d never joked with her, or been playful like Jax. He’d certainly never looked at her with eyes like Jax had that long-ago morning. Strangely though, had she never lost it, she would’ve been completely content in that life. Losing Chase had seemed like the end of the world. Now she looked at her life and wondered if she should’ve married Chase at all. Jax was the one the Lord seemed to lean her heart toward.
Meg looked at the handsome man next to her and wondered how in the world he could find her half as desirable as he was to her. All the men who’d asked her father for her hand had, in some way or another, let her know it was the ranch they loved. She’d been the oldest so they had come for her first. Her father had asked her then which one she’d been interested in the most. She’d told him Chase was the most kind.
Her father had pressed her then if Chase loved her and just as important, did she love Chase? After watching her parents her whole life, what did she know of love between a man and wife? She was sure he must and also that she loved him in return. Her father hadn’t been so sure and had developed a deed for the ranch. The deed would only transfer upon two conditions; his daughter had to be married and she had to have a son. The first daughter to do those two things would inherit the ranch. Since Meg had been the most interested in it, and it seemed like she would be the one to fulfill the deed, Gus had let her and Chase live there and continue his legacy while he, his wife, and his other daughter moved into town.