He regained his footing and, straining farther, he reached the trunk of the small, thick shrub.
Eliza kept hold of his other arm.
Working together, they pulled him onto the hillside.
He lay on the ground and she sat beside him. The roaring water drowned out the sounds of their panting.
Dizziness overcame her…and Eliza collapsed against the hill beside Daniel.
Chapter 26
Several minutes passed before Eliza’s breathing slowed and she ventured to sit up.
Daniel’s entire body trembled, his teeth clattering.
“Daniel?” She rotated onto her hands and knees, leaning close to his face. “Daniel?”
He didn’t open his eyes or answer her.
She shook him hard. “Daniel!”
He blinked and stared at her, eyes glazed. “Eliza?”
She shrugged out of his coat and laid it over him. He needed her coat, too. Her gloved hands shook so hard, her fingers kept slipping from the buttons. She ripped the gloves off. Her bare fingers made quick work of undoing the rest of the buttons. Yanking her arms from the sleeves, she ignored the frigid air that replaced the coat’s warmth as she laid it on his torso.
His eyes had closed again.
She shook him. “Daniel, wake up.” Her whole body shook as she leaned over him. “L-Look at me.” She fought back the drowsiness trying to reclaim her.
He opened his glazed eyes again. “Eliza.” He blinked and his gaze grew a bit clearer. He gaped at her. “W-where’s your c-coat?” He looked down, grabbed the garment and started to lift it off.
She pressed it down. “You n-need it more than I d-do, now.” He was well enough to protest. That was good. But his legs were still soaked. He needed to get out of his wet clothes and into something warm and dry.
She considered the dark, cloudy sky. Would it rain?
Judging by the flooding gorge, it was raining higher in the mountains. If it rained here, they would need their tent. None of the nearby bush-like trees would provide them much cover with their thin, widespread limbs.
Daniel’s teeth chattered, his eyes still open.
“Daniel, w-where are the horses?”
He rolled his head and she followed his gaze. Their mounts were not too far away on the same side of the creek as they were. Praise the Lord! She patted Daniel’s shaking hand where he clutched her coat. “S-stay here. I’ll be right b-back.”
She forced her shivering muscles to obey her commands as she stumbled to the horses, pulled the bedrolls free, and returned to Daniel’s side. She threw both bedrolls across Daniel’s legs before shuffling back to the saddlebags to retrieve the heavy canvas tent.
Thank you, Lord, that my time in the mining fields made setting this up second nature.
After checking the direction of the wind, she angled the canvas to release smoke but not let rain in, should it come. She staked the back wall to the ground, blocking the chilling winds. Her stiff fingers, relentless shivering, and groggy mind, reduced her usual efficiency, but she managed to rig the canvas in a roughly triangular formation large enough to shelter her and Daniel.
At Daniel’s side once more, she helped him to a sitting position. “We n-need to get you ins-side the t-tent.”
He rolled his head toward their tent and gave a small nod.
She grabbed the blankets and stuffed them under her arm. Then she pulled his arm across her shoulders and, together, they staggered to shelter. They crawled inside and as soon as he lay down, she spread the blankets across his legs again. She tugged off his wet boots and socks.
“N-now remove your t-trousers.”
“No.”
“D-don’t be stubborn. You are perfectly covered by t-two blankets, and if you d-don’t get warm, you might d-die. Are you going to leave me alone in this wilderness for the s-sake of modesty?” She pivoted away from him. “Here, now I can’t even s-see you.”
He made an unhappy noise with his throat.
Was that agreement?
The jingle of his suspenders followed by the rustle of fabric sent her thoughts wandering where they shouldn’t. Oh no. Think of something else. What did she need to do next?
Fire. They needed to get warm. She needed to collect kindling and tinder. Then they’d need dry clothes and warm food. Did they have any potable soup left?
He grunted and there was a soft thump. “Done.”
She faced him.
He lay beneath the blankets, still shaking from head to toe.
“I’m going to gather wood for a f-fire.” Her body begged her to rest, but she pressed on. Daniel’s life was at stake.
Plenty of dry branches and a small patch of dead grass lay beneath a large bush near their makeshift camp. Thank you, Lord.
She retrieved the tinderbox from the saddlebags and got a good-size fire going. As the temperature rose inside the tent, Daniel’s shivering slowed, as did hers.
He smiled, his eyes no longer glazed. “Thank you.”
Thank you, Lord. She smiled. “You’re welcome.”
A minute later, it began to pour.
Daniel awoke to near silence. The howling winds and rumbling waters were no more. A soft crackling of fire and the twittering of morning birds were all that broke the stillness. The sun crested the mountain peaks, casting warm rays of gold and orange into a pale blue sky still mottled with rainclouds. Rolling over, he found Eliza curled beside him, her serene face close enough to reach out and touch. His fingers moved of their own accord. Could her skin feel as soft as it appeared?
Her eyes popped open and she flew to a sitting position.
He jerked his hand back.
“Oh!” Her fingers pressed her lips with a gasp. “I fell asleep.”
“What do you mean?”
“I meant to stay awake and…and…well, watch you, but I…” She gnawed her lip as tears filled her eyes.
His own eyes stung. “Eliza. Of course you slept. You were exhausted. And in any case, look at me.” He spread his arms above the blanket. “I’m all right. You saved my life.”
She blushed, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “You need to dress.” She pulled his clothes from a makeshift drying rack assembled from branches.
She must have built it while he slept. The woman was incredible.
“Here.” Handing him his dry clothes, she crawled toward the tent opening. “I’ll be outside.”
Daniel finished dressing and they ate a simple breakfast of hard tack. Then they dowsed the fire, packed their belongings, and led the horses down the slope. The creek, already returned to its previous size, trickled through the narrow gorge with no hint of the roaring monster it had become the evening before. Only the wet walls of the gorge and the debris scattered about hinted at the truth.
They reached the river an hour later and he exhaled a long breath as they turned north. After the narrow confines of the creek’s gorge, the ravine through which the river ran seemed spacious. Now if the rain would just hold off. He checked the sky again. A scattering of small white clouds remained, but the strong winds had pushed the heavier rainclouds over the mountain tops.
Still weary from their previous night’s ordeal, they stopped to rest two hours later.
Taking a long swig from his canteen, Daniel glanced downriver and nearly choked.
A small group of Indians walked south along the riverbank Daniel and Eliza had just traveled. They weren’t more than a hundred feet away. Where had they come from? Were they peaceful? Farley had said the townsfolk’d hung two of them for murder. Had anyone else mentioned the local tribes while he was in town? He couldn’t recall. The Indians didn’t seem to have noticed Eliza and him. Yet.
Forcing the water down his throat, Daniel tapped Eliza’s shoulder.
She set her canteen down. “Wha—”
Daniel raised a finger to his lips. He pointed toward the Indians and took her hand. Slowly rising to his feet, he pulled her up with him. The Indians may not be dangerous, but better
not to take a chance. Daniel and Eliza led their horses behind a group of large bushes, wincing with every clop of hooves on packed dirt.
Watching through the branches, they waited as the strangers continued downriver. Daniel prayed the Indians wouldn’t look back before reaching the next bend.
Chapter 27
Daniel slumped in his saddle, fatigue urging him to stop for dinner. He scanned the riverbank, the slopes of the ravine, the mountain crests surrounding them. No sign of human life. The Indians didn’t seem to be following them.
Daniel and Eliza had spent what seemed like an eternity, peeking between the branches of those bushes, waiting for the Indians to disappear around a bend in the river. The small group showed no sign of having noticed Daniel and Eliza. But Daniel couldn’t be sure. Why hadn’t he asked more questions about the native peoples in this area? He ran a hand through his hair.
Fool.
He scanned the area again, this time searching for a place to rest.
The glint of sunlight on water drew his attention to the right of the river. He straightened. Another bend in its course? He urged the horse to walk a bit faster. No. Another creek feeding it from the east. This one appeared wider than the last and was full of large rocks. To the western side of the river was a line of boulders in the side of the hill. They sat almost perfectly opposite the mouth of the creek.
“Woo-ha!” He swiveled to share the good news.
Eliza was hanging sideways in her saddle and struggled to right herself.
He tipped his head. “What happened?”
She regained her seat and shot him an accusing glare.
Oh. He must have startled her. She’d been almost asleep in the saddle the last time he’d checked on her.
“Sorry, but look.” Keeping his focus on her, he pointed to the creek and then across to the line of boulders.
Slowly, her scowl changed to a grin. Her beautiful brown eyes sparkled. She sat taller in her saddle. “You found it!”
Her eyes locked on his. There was such joy there, such gratitude, such…his chest constricted. Was that…?
She looked away.
Urging her horse closer, she leaned forward and squinted up the creek.
Forget the creek. Look at me. He tilted sideways in his saddle, trying to catch her attention. I couldn’t have seen what I thought I saw. He cleared his throat. He needed to be sure.
She continued staring at the creek.
He tapped a finger on his thigh. “We should eat before we go any farther.”
Finally, she faced him, but her gaze flitted about before settling on the reins in her hands. “Of course.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. Why was he torturing himself? He was promised to Alice. Whatever Eliza felt…
He was better off not knowing.
Eliza excused herself for privacy while Daniel prepared their meal.
She walked uphill until she reached a bush dense enough to hide her from view. Moving to the side opposite from Daniel, she sat on the ground and buried her face in her hands.
I love him? When had she let her guard down? How had she let this happen? She shook her head. No. I can’t be in love with him. He’s leaving. He’s engaged. Yet there’d been something the moment her eyes met his. Try as she might to deny it now, the truth had struck her.
She loved him.
She rubbed her arms against a sudden chill. She loved him, and he was taken. He was leaving. As soon as they found Pa.
Which would be soon. Her lips tugged up on one side. Soon she would be with Pa.
And she’d lose Daniel.
Her head sank into her hands. He wasn’t hers to lose. Not truly. He was a good man doing the right thing.
This can’t be love. It’s something else. Loneliness, perhaps? Gratitude? Yes, that’s it. She was grateful, and she’d let it go to her head.
She pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dust from her skirt. She was being silly. She was overtired from their ordeal and letting her emotions confuse her. Now that she’d recognized it, she could control it. She nodded. It wouldn’t happen again.
Eliza pulled her mare to a stop, considering the narrow stretch of land they would have to follow alongside the creek that ran between the steep walls of the gorge. “I don’t see how we’ll get the horses through.”
“We won’t. We’ll have to continue on foot, but not now. Let’s camp for the night. I saw a plateau a few yards back that seemed big enough for us and the horses.”
The next morning, they rose while the sun still hid behind the mountains, but enough light escaped to turn the black sky to gray. After a quick breakfast, they fed and watered the horses before tethering them to trees on the plateau.
Daniel removed the saddles and hid them beneath some nearby shrubs, then shouldered his satchel and led the way up the creek. There was a knife sheathed at his hip and a coil of rope about his torso.
Eliza lifted her carpet bag and followed him. “What’s the rope for?”
“In case we need it.”
What could they possibly need such a long rope for? Before she could inquire further, her full attention was needed to scramble over a waist-high boulder.
Keeping her balance on the uneven and unstable rocks that covered the bottom of the gorge was challenging, but she managed, thanks to Daniel. He was quick to point out any loose rocks. When they needed to scale large boulders, he would scale them first, then help her up. Still, it wasn’t long before her muscles ached and sweat trickled down her back.
“Let’s rest here.” Daniel sat and leaned against a large rock.
She sank to the earth beside him with a loud sigh.
Their shoulders touched as they chewed their salted beef and sipped from their canteens.
She shook her foot, dislodging a large ant scaling her boot. “Do you think we’re following the right creek this time?”
“I certainly hope so.” He shooed a gnat from the mouth of his canteen and took another swig. “That line of boulders must be what Farley was indicating with his little row of dots.”
She took another sip of water. Pa would be so happy to see her. Assuming he was still here. Was he well or suffering? Why had he not written her? Her throat tightened and she cleared it. She needed to think about something else. “Tell me how you came to be traveling first-class on the Virginia.”
Daniel blinked at her. “Well…that really has to do with my trip to San Francisco in ’49.”
“Oh?”
“When I first decided to come to California in search of gold, my cousin Johnny—my best friend in all the world—insisted on coming with me. My father made us wait six months before giving his permission. Looking back, I realize he taught me many things in those six months, which have served me well.”
Daniel’s face lifted toward the sky and several seconds passed in silence.
He shook his head. “We were just apprentices at the time and barely scraped together the funds for steerage tickets on the cheapest, shoddiest vessel there ever was. Captained by the meanest man ever to captain a ship.” Daniel shuddered. “By the time we got to Panama, we were both weak from lack of food, and Johnny had acquired a cough that wouldn’t quit. We both caught the yellow fever, but Johnny…” Daniel’s voice cracked, and the tears gathering in his eyes reflected those in her own. A muscle in his jaw flexed. “When I got to California, I swore the only way I’d ever board a ship again was as a first-class passenger under a captain with an unimpeachable reputation.” He tossed another small rock. “I got it half right, at least.”
“Oh, Daniel, I’m so sorry for your loss.” Without thinking, she took his hand in hers.
He jerked away and jumped to his feet. “Thank you, but we’d better get moving.” He lifted the saddlebags and set off up the creek.
Chapter 28
Two hours later, Eliza dropped her bag to the ground. She shifted to stand with one foot on a rock the height of a footstool, considering the giant boulder in their way. “However will
we get past it?”
Wedged between the sloped walls of the surrounding mountains—so steep they may as well have been cliffs—the large boulder left no way around.
“We’ll climb it like we did the others.”
She stared at the giant rock that rose a good five feet taller than Daniel. “But it’s so much bigger and looks so smooth.”
“There are handholds here and here.” Daniel pointed at small divots and cracks in the rock. “I’ll use those to climb up first. Then I’ll find some way to secure the rope and throw an end down for you to climb up.” He studied her booted foot resting on the rock. “It’s a good thing you don’t go for those prissy little things your aunt wears.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea? What if you fall?”
“I won’t fall. My brothers and I used to dare each other to climb things all the time back home. I got quite good at it.” Daniel grinned.
She crossed her arms. “What kinds of things did you climb?”
He dropped his satchel on the ground, wedged the toe of his boot into a crack, and jumped for the first handhold before answering. “Trees. Mostly.”
“Trees!” She threw her arms up as he continued to climb. “That’s hardly the same.”
He moved his foot to the next crevice and stretched for the next handhold. “Sure it is.” He sounded winded.
“It most certainly is not.” She gasped as he made a small lunge for the next handhold and missed. “Daniel!”
His hands scrambled for a hold on the rock a moment before finding it. He barely managed to stop himself from plummeting to the ground.
“What are you thinking? Get back down here this minute, before you get yourself killed.”
Daniel ignored her, climbing higher still.
She clutched her hands together. Please, Lord. Please get him safely to the top. Don’t let him die for my folly. Would everything she did bring harm to someone she cared about?
Waltz in the Wilderness Page 18