by Cassie Hayes
“I know what you’re thinking. Hope springs eternal and all that, but that’s fine. You can call me a romantic or a fool — they so often go hand-in-hand — but I’d really like to give this marriage a chance to succeed. I just wish I knew if she felt the same.”
A clump of shrubbery up ahead rustled, and Kelu stopped mid-step. Dermot’s reactions weren’t as lightning fast and he nearly bumped into the tracker before he managed to stop himself. An arctic fox poked its head out from its hiding spot and looked directly at them, then disappeared into the foliage. Kelu motioned for Dermot to follow.
“You’re probably wondering why I don’t just ask her, aren’t you?” Dermot continued. “It’s not really that simple. Our argument our first night as a married couple was a doozy. We both said things… Well, I hope they were things neither of us meant deep down, but they’re hard to forget. Besides, I’m still sort of getting used to this idea of marriage.”
Kelu stopped again, pointing at another print that seemed to have moved off the trail. Whipping a knife from a scabbard hidden under his ratty wool coat, Kelu followed the new path more slowly. He hadn’t shushed Dermot, as he had on previous occasions, so Dermot prattled on, just a little more quietly.
“I’m kind of ashamed to say I honestly didn’t think through the idea when Jonathan brought it up originally. I know, what was I thinking, right? I guess I sort of thought it would be nice to have some company, especially on those cold winter nights, but nothing really beyond that. Only once we were standing in front of the preacher did it hit me. We had a bumpy start, but I must confess, Isabelle has really grown on me. I’d hate to see her leave.”
The trail they followed wound through trees and across a stream, before tapering off on a rocky outcropping. Kelu prowled around, eyes intent on the ground beneath him. Dermot tried to pick up the big cat’s tracks, but he simply didn’t have the skills. Apparently neither did Kelu, because after ten minutes, he finally shrugged, sheathed his knife, and waved at Dermot to lead them back.
Dermot plowed through the trees boldly, not at all worried about getting lost. His sense of direction was getting better and better the more he trained with Kelu, but beyond that, Kelu could always find his way home if Dermot took a wrong turn. What bothered him more was that the cougar was still out there, potentially threatening people’s lives. Of course, living with wild creatures was a way of life in the Yukon. It was either respect them or go back to the city. Up until recently, he’d thought going back to the city was what he wanted.
“You know, Kelu, I never really felt like I belonged here before, but lately…I don’t know, it seems more like home to me every day. Huh, now that I think about it, ever since Isabelle arrived. That’s a funny coincidence, don’t you think?”
Kelu surprised him by speaking for the first time during their excursion. “No coincidence. You love her.”
Dermot stopped short. He’d never heard the man use such a difficult word before, and was shocked that he even knew its meaning. All this time he’d been yammering on as if the man didn’t understand, but if he knew ‘coincidence’, he understood everything Dermot had just confessed.
“Y-you understood all that?” he asked, dumbfounded.
Kelu brushed past him, a smirk on his thin, wrinkled lips. He didn’t need to answer; Dermot knew the truth. In some ways it was a relief, though in others, not so much. Gossip spread through Kelu’s village faster than a wildfire, and by nightfall, every member of the entire Kaska band would no doubt know about Dermot’s inner turmoil.
In for a penny…
“I love her? I never really considered that, but you know what? I think…I think you’re right, Kelu. I can’t believe it. I love her!”
He waved his arms as he bounced down the trail, completely overtaken by the fact he was in love. Then worry rolled over him again.
“What do you think I should do? Maybe pretend I can’t go anywhere for some reason. That way she won’t be able to leave till next week. What do you think?”
Kelu stopped and gave Dermot one of his patented expressionless expressions. “I think you worry too much.”
“But what if she leaves?”
Finally something other than utter blankness flitted across Kelu’s features. It looked almost like a smile. “She not leave.”
Dermot wanted to believe that more than anything. “How do you know?”
Kelu patted his arm with his gnarled, leathery hand, then turned back down the trail. Dermot stared at the man’s back, leaving him to wonder how he could possibly know. A few steps down the path, Kelu finally explained.
“Because she love you too. She just not know it yet.”
Chapter 7
“Isabelle!”
Maryanne rushed to her as soon as Isabelle hopped down from the small wagon and pulled her into a tight hug. Lisa — not limping too badly, Isabelle noticed with relief — joined them. All three clung to each other as if it had been years since they’d last been together, instead of just a week.
Dermot cleared his throat. “I’m going to unhook Star from this contraption, then go meet with Wesley, Preston and Jonathan. Nice to see you again, ladies.” He tipped his hat, then led Star off to tend to her.
Lisa waited until he was out of earshot to whisper to Isabelle. “How are things? Better?”
Isabelle hadn’t gone into specifics the previous week, but her friends knew her well enough to see married life wasn’t all daisies and butterflies. She’d even confessed her initial desire to go back home. The others had been shocked, but none had judged her for having misgivings.
“Yes, quite a bit. After we decided to help each other, everything has been much more pleasant. In fact, he was downright chipper the whole ride here, whistling and what not.”
Lisa and Maryanne exchanged a meaningful look between them, speaking their silent, secret language. Isabelle wasn’t exactly jealous of their close friendship, but she truly hoped she and Elaine would grow that close. They lived farther apart, but they tried to visit several times a week, and their friendship was growing.
“Sounds like a man in love, if you ask me,” Lisa teased.
She’d always been a sassy one, which was one of the reasons Isabelle adored her. “Oh hush. Now, I brought presents, but it doesn’t seem fair to hand them out until Elaine arrives.”
“Did someone say presents?” Elaine ran up to them and hugged each woman fiercely. “Maybe we can take this inside? It’s brisk out here today.”
Once settled in Maryanne and Preston’s tidy cabin, with hot tea brewing on the stove, Isabelle passed out the gifts.
“They’re just things I stupidly brought with me, but I thought of each of you as I went through all my things.”
Maryanne tore into her package first, ripping the brown paper before bothering to untie the string. She held up one of Isabelle’s favorite dresses, a dark blue silk dress her mother had brought back from a trip to Paris. Tears welled up in Maryanne’s eyes as if she’d never seen anything so beautiful. The truth was, she probably hadn’t, having grown up so poor.
“Oh…oh my…” she whispered, then flung herself into Isabelle’s arms.
Laughing, Isabelle hugged her friend. “Now, now, don’t get too emotional. It was just taking up room in our cabin. You’re doing me a favor—“
“Stop with all that,” Maryanne interrupted, wiping tears from her cheeks. “You have such a generous heart, Isabelle. Do you know that?”
Isabelle flushed at the compliment, but waved it away. “Nonsense. Anyway, it’s your turn, Elaine.”
Elaine was much more thoughtful in unwrapping her gift, then burst out laughing when she saw what it was. “A hat!”
“A wool hat,” Isabelle noted. “You always talk about how cold your head is when we go on walks. Now you can stay warm.”
“But it’s too fancy to wear! Just look at all the feathers ringing the crown. How did you even get it here without smashing? It’s so big!”
Isabelle grinned. “A mag
ician never reveals her secrets. Try it on.”
Elaine put on the blue wide-brimmed hat and swiveled her head to model it. It really was the height of fashion — Isabelle had bought it just before leaving Ottawa, and had never worn it.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Lisa said, clapping in delight. “The color matches your eyes.”
“Now it’s your turn, Lisa.” Isabelle pointed to the small package in Lisa’s lap.
“Is it a hat pin?” she asked as she unwrapped it. “Because I certainly don’t have a hat grand enough to—“
She fell silent when she saw her gift.
“Show us,” Maryanne demanded, leaning forward to get a better look.
Her face slack, Lisa held up a gold chain with a solitary pearl pendant dangling at the bottom. The others gasped.
“I can’t possibly—“
Isabelle placed a hand on her friend’s bad arm. “Yes, you can, and you will. You all helped me so much back in Ottawa, or tried to. I just wouldn’t believe, but you never scolded me or even said ‘I told you so’. I just wanted you all to know how much I love you.”
The four women embraced for a few moments, and not a few tears were shed between them, then sweet little Sophie barked to be let in on the fun.
Lisa scolded her beloved dog. “Sophie, hush.”
“No, she’s right. I brought something for her too.”
Isabelle pulled a hunk of dried rabbit meat from its paper wrapping and fed it to the dog. “Now I made this myself, so don’t eat it all in one b— Oops, too late!”
Warm laughter filled the cabin, and the women fell into reporting on the past week. The others could hardly believe Isabelle was the same woman who’d arrived at Miss Hazel’s with far too many bags and far too little interest in learning to cook…or clean…or sew…or…
“I know, I can hardly believe it myself,” she said. “But I found an excellent teacher in Janey. I’m not sure I’ll ever have the nerve to kill my catch, though. Janey has to do it for me.”
“I can’t imagine going hunting in the first place,” Maryanne confessed.
“I think I could,” Lisa said, “if it weren’t for my bum leg and arm. That’s okay, though. I’ll leave the hunting to Wesley, and I’ll focus on getting stronger.”
“Are you kidding?” Elaine said kindly. “You’re the strongest one of all of us.”
The rest agreed, but Lisa sniffed at them. “I’m just surviving, like the rest of you.”
Isabelle smiled. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing more than surviving. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m living.”
“Is that because you’re in looooove?” Lisa teased.
Isabelle’s cheeks flamed with heat, but she said nothing. Of course afterward, it was all she could think about. Was she in love? When she’d first met with Miss Hazel, she’d claimed she wasn’t sure if love really existed, but she loved these women, didn’t she? Every time Dermot walked into the cabin, her heart fluttered so fast she thought it might take flight. And when he was gone, a deep ache sat like a stone in her belly. Was that what it felt like to love?
“—okay, Isabelle?”
“Huh? What?” She’d been so caught up in her thoughts of love, she hadn’t heard what they were talking about.
“Clara,” Lisa said. “You’re still going to take her for a bit, aren’t you? Her leg’s much better, but it’s not fully healed. She’s such a little love, I can’t stand the thought of just leaving her out in the woods all by herself.”
Maryanne pulled Clara’s crate from under the bed and passed the little tan and brown-speckled furball to Isabelle. Lisa fetched a bowl of milk and a rag so Isabelle could feed the poor baby.
“Awww,” she moaned as the little one suckled at the rag. Her paws, big for a kitten, but probably tiny for a cougar, wrapped around her hand and hugged tight. An image of her cradling her own baby the same way flashed in Isabelle’s mind so unexpectedly that she started.
“Of course, I’ll take her,” she said when she’d collected herself. “Elaine, if Dermot catches on, will you be ready to care for her? I don’t think she needs much longer, and you pointed out the cougar that’s been prowling around the villages is probably her mother.”
“I already have a spot picked out,” Elaine said.
“I’ll put a jar of milk and a suckling rag in the crate,” Maryanne said.
“Well, we’d better go hide her while the men are busy,” Isabelle said once Clara had finished eating.
After gently setting the sleepy cat back in the crate, being mindful of her leg, they all walked in a big clump to Dermot’s wagon to hide the crate from any curious eyes. No one seemed to be around, but the others had said the local Indians had keen eyes and seemed to know about Clara’s presence immediately. Almost as soon as they’d covered the crate with a blanket Dermot always kept in the back, he and the other Mounties sauntered out of their office.
Once again, Isabelle’s heart fluttered at the sight of her handsome husband. Judging from the happy smiles on her friends’ faces, their hearts fluttered the same way.
“You got two letters,” Dermot said with a grin, his big dimples dazzling her. “Lucky lady.”
“I am lucky,” she said, smiling up at him from under her lashes. She knew from experience that men were helpless when a pretty lady batted her lashes at them. She almost laughed when his jaw went slack.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to read my letters now,” she said, swishing her skirts as she spun away and hurried over to a nearby tree.
She ripped open the first letter greedily. It was from Tilly, and it said all the things Isabelle had hoped to hear. She’d written her family’s former cook as soon as she’d arrived in Moose Lick, apologizing for her parents’ behavior and hoping she’d share some of her famous recipes. Tilly had accepted the apology and filled her in on the life of a Mountie’s wife. She’d also included two recipes that looked complicated to Isabelle, but the letter promised would be relatively simple.
Glowing with happiness, she tore open the next letter with slightly less enthusiasm. Her mother had written, and Isabelle suspected it would be full of reprimands.
It wasn’t.
Dear Isabelle,
I hope this letter finds you well. Your father sends his regards. We had to release another maid yesterday. Good help is so hard to find.
I’m writing in hopes you’ve found the life you’ve chosen to not be what you imagined. You were not born to become the wife of a police officer, and hopefully by now you’ve come to realize the same. To that end, I believe I’ve secured your future brilliantly.
Though he was reticent at first, a prominent gentleman with a stellar reputation has become available, and he has agreed to accept you as his bride. He does not come without a totally unfavorable past, but he has rid himself of a bad marriage and is ready to wed again.
I understand you were concerned about finding a match as distinguished as Rodney Barwillow, but I think you will agree this man is equal to the task. Point in fact, he is Rodney Barwillow!
You see, after only a few short weeks of wedded misery, Mr. Barwillow realized the error of his ways. He has begged our forgiveness for putting us in an awkward position, and has agreed to take you as his bride in compensation, even as soiled as you are by now.
Please hurry home, because a man of Mr. Barwillow’s standing and wealth will not remain unclaimed for long. He will make some lucky young lady a handsome prize, and he will shower her with all the gifts his great wealth can afford. Do not delay!
Regards, Mother
Dermot kept one eye on Isabelle as he and the other Mounties discussed the ongoing issues of the fur trappers causing issues within the Kaska band. He’d woken up happier than he had in months, all because he could finally admit to himself that he loved her. Kelu seemed to think she loved him right back, and if true, she almost certainly wouldn’t go back to Ottawa. With that threat all but gone, his heart felt as light as a zeppelin.
“I swear, if I catch Toussaint LaFleur trying to ply the villagers with his rotgut one more time…” Jonathan said, his tone frustrated.
“I understand completely,” Wesley, their commanding officer, replied, “but you can’t get physical unless they threaten someone.”
“I know, I know,” Jonathan huffed. “I would never do anything, I’m just beyond frustrated.”
They all were. Dermot was about to add his own story of running off devious trappers when Isabelle joined them.
“Dermot, can we go now?” she asked, staring coldly into the distance. “We don’t want to be out after dark or we might get lost.”
Dermot was stunned into silence. All he could do was watch as she spun on her heel and headed for the buckboard. The other men snickered behind their hands, knowing perfectly well about his penchant for getting lost.
Clenching his teeth in embarrassment and irritation, he said his goodbyes to his friends and their wives, then hitched Star back up to the buckboard. She whinnied and pranced around, agitated about something, but Dermot couldn’t figure out what. She only behaved that way when there’d been signs of a wolf or other predator.
Pulling the mare’s face down to his, he murmured in a calming tone and stroked her muzzle the way she liked. She settled some, but tension came off her in waves. Strange that he could interpret his horse’s moods so easily, but his wife’s remained a mystery. Hopping into the seat next to Isabelle, he gave the reins a snap and waved as they trundled off toward home.
Both were silent as they trundled along, though Dermot yearned to say something…anything. When she stuffed her hands into her pockets, he saw his opening.
“Are you cold?” he asked, reaching behind him for the wool blanket he stored in the back just in case the weather turned, as it often did in the far north.