by Vivi Holt
Gracie’s hand found hers and squeezed it. “Truly, Mama?”
Claudine put her hand under his nose. There was no breath, no sound, no movement, and her shoulders sagged. “Truly.”
“Are we sorry for it, Mama?” asked Gracie, her eyes wide.
“Yes, honey. We’re sorry whenever one of God’s children dies.”
“Well, I’ll try to be sorry, Mama. But maybe I’ll be able to feel more sorry when I’m not so cold.” Her teeth chattered.
Claudine shook her head with a chuckle. “I understand that, honey. Let’s get everything together and see if we can go south and find some shelter. There’s no point in hunting until we can light a fire, and I don’t imagine many creatures will be out in this weather anyway.”
“I wish we hadn’t lost that last rabbit,” grumbled Gracie. “I was looking forward to eating it.”
“So was I, honey. So was I.” But then, Claudine mused, she’d been looking forward to a lot of things – and she hadn’t seen too many of them yet.
Dan ran his hand along Goldy’s neck before mounting up. He’d slept well and felt refreshed, though his gut still felt as though a stone was wedged in it. He couldn’t stop thinking about Claudine and Gracie and what might’ve become of them.
He and the Wilcoxes set off after a cold breakfast. It had rained for hours – a sharp, stinging, frozen rain – and he was numb with cold. Mrs. Wilcox and Angela had disappeared into the back of the wagon to eat breakfast and stayed there. Mr. Wilcox packed up camp and fetched the horses, backing them into the traces, his slicker shining black in the dull morning light. “Ready to go?” he asked Dan.
Dan shrugged. “Ready when you are.” They’d agreed to travel together to Fort Caspar, where the Oregon, Mormon and Montana Trails converged – it wasn’t far off. Dan hoped he might pick up Claudine’s trail along the way, but with this weather he didn’t think it likely. If the local tribe had them, there’d be no way to take them back on his own – he’d have to find reinforcements. And he’d get no help at Fort Caspar, which had been abandoned a few years earlier. Perhaps if he rode to Fort Phil Kearny, he’d find some assistance there.
He pushed Goldy into a trot and headed out in front of the wagon. There was a break in the clouds on the horizon, and blue sky shone through it. The rain soon slowed, and he shook the water from his hat brim, spraying it in a ring around him.
He could see two riders approaching in the distance. He spun Goldy around and hurried back to the wagon. “Riders ahead.”
Aberdeen frowned. “Thanks for letting me know.” He reached for the shotgun at his feet and checked it was loaded, his fingers slipping over the safety latch. Dan checked his own six-shooters, then spurred Goldy forward. He’d meet the riders first and assess them before they reached the family.
As he drew closer, he realized that one of the riders looked like a child, a girl. Her skirts billowed out around her frame and over both sides of the gray horse. The other rider appeared to be …
“Claudine!” Dan sent Goldy into a gallop, his eyes fixed on the riders. When he reached them he dismounted in a flash, and Claudine tumbled into his arms. Gracie soon followed, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his coat.
“So Angus is definitely dead?” asked Dan, leaning back against his saddle and staring into the campfire. Evergreen boughs merged overhead to protect them from the elements, and the lip of a curved rock wall jutted outward to form a shallow cave, providing them with a cozy hideaway. They were past Fort Caspar, and they and the Wilcoxes had parted ways.
Claudine nodded. “Aren’t you happy?”
He shrugged. “I guess. I wanted to see the look on that lowlife’s face when … dang it, never mind. What’s done’s done.”
She sighed. “He wasn’t all bad, you know.”
Dan frowned. “What do ya mean?”
“He took care of me and Gracie. When the Indians came, he didn’t just leave us there to die. He chased them off and made sure we got away.”
Dan’s stomach churned. “But he killed Dolly …”
“I know. And I can’t imagine how that felt for you. But … well, people are complicated.”
He ran a hand through his hair, thinking over his own life and the choices he’d made. “True ‘nough.” He scanned the campsite, a habit developed over years of trail living. He was always on the lookout for whatever might come next. His gaze landed on Gracie’s bedroll inside the cave, her small form curled on top of it. The bedroll was piled with blankets and coats and covered with her slicker, and puffs of steam emerged from beneath the covers where her button nose stuck out.
“The Wilcoxes were nice enough,” Claudine said suddenly, pulling her wool cap lower over her ears and rubbing her gloved hands together as close to the leaping flames as she could.
Dan shrugged. “They’ll likely do well in Utah. Even so, I was glad to see the back of ‘em. It feels good to be just the three of us again.”
She chuckled. “We agree on that. So you’re done with Cheyenne?”
“Yep. Done with this whole territory.”
“There’s no one left to take revenge on, I suppose.”
He heard the pain through her words. “I … I’m sorry it happened the way it did. I lost sight of myself and all I’ve worked so hard to build these last years. I can’t say I wouldn’t do it again, but I wish I hadn’t.” He blinked, surprised by his own words.
“But if you hadn’t come riding in when you did, I don’t know where Gracie and I would be. You’re a good man, and you’ve been mighty good to us.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know how good I am at this point, but I’m glad I was there when you needed me. So what about you? What’s next for you and Gracie?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. That sheriff will likely be after us, so we should probably head north to Canada, like we’d planned.”
“Actually, I spoke to Sheriff Fisher, and he promised not turn us in. In fact, I think he quit his post – he was talkin’ about it, and when I went back to Cheyenne to get my guns, his office looked abandoned. I don’t think he’ll be turnin’ anyone in, certainly not there – they might figure out just what kind of lawman he really was. So you’re free to go wherever you choose.” He watched for her reaction.
Fear gave way and relief swept over her. “You really think so?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“Where will you go?”
“Home. I’ve had enough of this – I can’t wait to get back to Paradise Ranch and see Coop and Ost and Dusty, Cookie, Tom and Genny and all the rest of ‘em. Might even stop in Bozeman and check on little Emily. Would be somethin’ special to see her li’l face again.” He swallowed and rubbed his bearded chin. “Are you still gonna go to Canada?” His heart pounded as the question left his lips – he knew what he wanted her to do, but he couldn’t make the choice for her.
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know …”
He faced her and took her hands in his. His thumbs caressed the tops of her hands and he turned them over to kiss each palm gently. “Well, if you ain’t got other plans, maybe you could come to Paradise Ranch with me?” Her brow furrowed, and he continued. “You see, I wouldn’t feel right ‘bout going back there without you.”
Her eyes met his, reflecting a question she seemed afraid to ask. The one she did ask was “Why not?”
“Because I don’t rightly know how I could live without you after everythin’ we’ve been through together.”
She laughed softly. “Oh. I guess I feel kind of the same way. But … you know folks won’t understand. They won’t accept us.”
“I gave up worryin’ what most folks think a long time ago. I do as I please, and I don’t intend to change that for no one.”
She swallowed and took a breath. “But this is … we’re different. Some places, there’s even laws against it. And as I told you before, I’m not the kind of girl who’d …”
He chuckled. “What, did you think I wa
s just gonna have you follow me around and not make it official? I wanna marry you, Claudine Hopkins. I want us to be a family – us and Gracie. And if they won’t do the deed in Montana Territory, we’ll whip across the border, do it in Canada and come back. What do you think?”
Tears glimmered in her eyes. “A family … that does sound good. Are you sure that’s what you want? Because I don’t know if I’m strong enough to deal with all the looks, the hurtful words, the pain you’ll feel every time anyone …”
“Like I said – people will think what they wanna. It ain’t like anyone’s ever really approved of me anyhow. Ever since I left home, I gave up worryin’ about it. No one wanted me to be a wanderin’ cowpoke, sure not my folks. They had big plans for me back east, but their plans didn’t suit me. Now you’re the one I want to spend my life with. I could find someone else, someone that everyone else approves of, but that wouldn’t suit me neither. I’d miss you, that’s the truth of it.”
She bit her lower lip and stared into his eyes, her own full of love. “You want to spend your life with me?”
“Ain’t that just what I’ve been sayin’?”
She nodded and laughed. “I just want to make sure you know what you’re in for. There are two of us you’d be taking on, and we’re a handful.”
He chuckled. “Don’t I know it. I been shot at more since I met you Hopkins gals than my whole life before.”
“Now to be fair, those bullets weren’t all on my account. You had a hand in that yourself.”
Dan threw his head back and laughed. “I can’t argue with that. So is it a yes?” he asked, leaning in closer.
“Yes, Dan. I’ll marry you.”
His heart soared as he stood, lifting her with him, his arms around her narrow waist. He pulled her close, his pulse racing and stared down into her deep dark eyes. “Then you’ll make me happier than I’ve any right to be.”
“Dan Graham, you deserve all the happiness in the world,” she whispered. “And if I can give you just a little, I’ll do it every day for the rest of my life.”
Dan kissed her, savoring her flavor, her scent, her soft warmth in his arms. When she responded with a soft moan, he deepened it, his body flooded with desire for more. When they parted, she gazed into his eyes with a smile, then rested her head against his chest, their bodies swaying in unison to an unheard melody that enveloped them and warmed their bodies, accompanied by the soft soughing of the branches overhead.
16
“How much longer ‘til we get there?” Gracie moaned as she walked beside Bolt. Her and the horse’s heads both drooped.
Claudine couldn’t help smiling at the sight of them, though her own rump felt raw from riding. “Just a few more days.”
Gracie whimpered but kept walking.
They came to the base of a hill and scaled a steep bank into a grove of junipers and hemlocks, their boughs weighed down by a fresh snowfall from the day before. The trail wove its way through thick, frozen forests, up rises and over crystal-clear creeks, their icy waters making the weary travelers shiver when they crossed. Claudine had never seen anything like Montana Territory before. Memphis was flat and warm year-round, nothing like these soaring mountain ranges’ snowy peaks or the azure lakes with surfaces as still as the face of a looking glass.
“Mount up,” Dan called over his shoulder.
She sighed and climbed onto Sam’s back. Her rear end was so bruised, she shuddered as she set it in the saddle. She wasn’t used to so much riding, and she knew Gracie felt the same way. They would be mighty glad when they finally arrived in Paradise Valley.
Gracie stood motionless beside Bolt, staring up the embankment.
“You can do it, honey,” Claudine encouraged, forcing a smile as her legs throbbed in pain. “Come on now.”
“I don’t know, Mama. It’s so steep. Maybe Bolt won’t be able to climb it. What if we fall?” Her voice shook.
Dan was already scaling the rise on Goldy’s sturdy back, and they watched him. “See, Goldy’s doing it. I’m sure Bolt will be just fine too.”
“Yes, Mama.” Gracie nodded reluctantly and climbed into the saddle.
Claudine watched her daughter set off up the hill, the pony lumbering up one steep pass, then traversing to another rise. She set off after her, feeling Sam’s legs pushing against the soft, snow-covered ground. The steepness of the incline left bare patches of brown dirt and exposed rocks all the way up the hill, and she bit her lip and held her breath as her horse carefully picked his way upward.
Dan and Gracie were waiting for her at the summit. She grinned at them, finally letting go of the breath she’d been holding. She inhaled deeply and patted Sam’s neck. “Good boy, good job.”
Dan smiled. “Ya two are gettin’ to be quite the horsewomen. You’ll be roundin’ up longhorns ‘fore ya know it.”
Claudine grimaced. “I’m not sure I’ll ever ride again once we arrive at Paradise Ranch. I’m not sure I’ll even be able to walk, let alone ride … my hindparts are no long speaking to me.”
He guffawed loudly, slapping his thigh. “I’d forgotten how much pain ridin’ can bring when you’re not used it. Been years since I’ve suffered that way, but you reminded me of my first cattle drive. Woo-ee! Every night ‘round the campfire I had to stand to eat supper. And I could barely sit for a week after we arrived.”
Claudine laughed along with him, and she could hear Gracie’s quiet giggle as well. She sidled Sam up alongside Bolt and smiled at her daughter. She was such a pretty girl, sometimes Claudine had to look at her awhile just to remind herself that she was the baby she lost all those years ago. And looking long enough always helped her spy something in Gracie’s features – the way she smiled, or the sound of her laughter – that reminded Claudine of herself. Her heart would swell all over again with the knowledge that she’d finally found her baby.
Sam side-stepped suddenly and snorted. The whites of the animal’s eyes showed, and she gathered up the reins more tightly as he fought her. “Whoa! What’s going on?” Then Goldy did the same thing. Dan searched their surroundings on the narrow path through the thick woods. The dark trees grew close together, the thick pine-straw carpet and the smattering of snow littering the ground.
There was a snarl above them, so soft it could barely be heard. Claudine frowned and squinted up at the interlocking branches.
“Cougar!” Dan hissed. “Let’s get out of here!” He slapped Gracie’s horse on the rump and it shot forward down the trail, eager to get moving. Claudine kicked Sam in the sides. The horse took off after Gracie, and she heard Goldy’s hooves thundering behind her. She leaned to the left as Sam rounded a curve, then sharply to the right. A branch whipped across her face and she cried out as it scratched her cheek.
Finally, Gracie pulled up beneath a massive hemlock tree, its trunk blocking their path. Her voice shook. “Is it gone, Mama?”
Claudine tugged the reins, then sat back in the saddle, her pulse still racing. “I don’t know, honey. I hope so.”
Dan maneuvered around them in the tight space to take the lead. “I think we lost it, but ya never know with those cats. They can leap through trees like they’re running on land.”
Gracie glanced upward, face stricken and eyes wide.
“Don’t worry, honey. Let’s just keep moving, huh?” Claudine took a deep breath, glanced over her shoulder at Gracie – and saw the mountain lion poised above her daughter on a low tree branch, its eyes shining in the dim light. “Gracie! Look out!”
Gracie responded instantly, leaning forward and kicking Bolt’s sides. Her mount jumped forward into a headlong gallop, close behind Dan and Claudine. The path wasn’t wide enough for them to ride alongside one another, so Claudine looked back over her shoulder every chance she got, her heart pounding in her chest.
Bolt stumbled over a tree root, catapulting Gracie over the animal’s shoulder. The mountain lion launched itself at her as she fell. He caught her shoulder with a large claw, and she hit the ground
with a grunt, even as Bolt galloped onward. The cougar landed on Bolt’s back, its claws digging deep into the animal’s hide.
Claudine tugged hard on Sam’s reins, pulling him up – the horse propped several times before stopping – just as Bolt rushed past, the saddle catching Claudine’s leg. She cried out in pain, her eyes fixed on the cougar. It crouched on Bolt’s saddle, its body moving with the horse’s. She’d never seen a cat so big before, its tan hide supple and rippling with strength.
The horse barreled past Dan, who drew his shotgun from its sheath, but by the time he’d taken aim the cougar was hidden from view by a bend in the path and the thick trunks of the evergreens. Dan gave chase on Goldy and soon disappeared as well.
Claudine dismounted and ran to Gracie’s side. The girl lay on her back moaning, holding her injured shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut. “Are you all right, honey?”
Gracie moaned in response.
“Here, let me take a look.”
Gracie removed her hand from the wound and Claudine’s eyes widened. Four large gashes tore through the girl’s coat and dress and deep into her flesh.
“Is it bad, Mama?”
Claudine shook her head. “Not so bad, honey. But I think we should get you out of here in case that cat comes back.”
Goldy trotted back down the trail, his nostrils flaring as Dan put the shotgun back into its scabbard. “It’s gone.”
“What about Bolt?” Gracie asked.
He took a quick breath. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t find him and I wanted to get back to you. Are you injured?”
Gracie sobbed and tears rolled down her cheeks. “It hurts!”
Claudine sighed and wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding the girl in her lap and rocking her gently. “Shhhh … there, there. Let’s take a look and see if I can bandage it up some. You’ll be fine, child.” She kissed Gracie’s head as she sobbed.
Dan stood to one side, Goldy’s reins in his hand. He set his hat on the horn of his saddle, squatted beside them and gently patted Gracie’s head. “You’re gonna be just fine.”