Amethyst

by Lauraine Snelling

  “I see.”

  But she could tell he didn’t see, and at moments she wondered if she did. Was she putting her lotions before her own happiness? But he had not mentioned anything about caring for her. So did he? And she’d not dared to ask if he still drank. Such a personal question. If he’d asked to court her before she left Medora, would things have been different?

  If she didn’t care for him, why did she find herself waking up from a dream with tears drying on her cheeks? The dream of a certain dashing, one-eyed man with a limp.

  No matter how busy she kept herself during the day and how resolutely she refused to allow herself to think of him, at night he came riding into her mind.

  It seemed to be getting worse, not better.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  “Rand, any chance you could go look at a place with me on Saturday?”

  “Of course. What time?”

  Jacob thought a moment. “How about nine o’clock or so? I need to finish up some things around the Robertson place before I go.”

  “Teaching school kind of cuts into the chore time, doesn’t it?” Rand tipped his hat back, the better to look up at Jacob on his horse.

  “Pa?” Per called from the gate to the porch. “Pa, come, peese.”

  “Please, eh? That boy knows how to get what he wants.” Jacob waved. “Hi there, Per.”

  Per waved back and jabbered out an answer that made both of the men smile.

  “He can talk a blue streak, but we don’t understand too well.” Rand stepped back. “See you Saturday morning, then.”

  “Thanks.” Jacob turned his horse and headed up the rise. Besides looking at the abandoned ranch, he had something else to discuss with Rand.

  “All right, class, put away all your things, and let’s talk some more about the Christmas pageant.” On Friday afternoon, Jacob had as bad a case of the restless willies as his pupils. He usually finished the day with reading a story, but today that hadn’t been enough to settle them. Someone yanked Ada Mae’s braid, and she spun around to pay them back and tipped over an ink bottle. Now there was a black splat on the floor and spots on her dress and the Paddock boy’s shirt. And he swore he didn’t pull her hair.

  Knowing that no one would tattle, Jacob put away the book and turned to the Christmas program. “Starting on Monday, Mrs. Hegland is going to be here two days a week to begin practicing the music. I’m sure you’ve all been memorizing your parts….” The guilty looks on their faces told him that was an impossible dream. “All right, I see that has not happened. Do I need to send a note home with each of you?” Several shrank down in their seats. “Well, starting Tuesday, you’ll be reciting. I’ll just call on whomever I think should be ready, and that will be everyone beyond the third grade. I suggest you pair up and drill each other before then. Recess would be a good time to do that.”

  Someone groaned, but he paid no attention. “That’s it for today. I’m letting you out fifteen minutes early. Perhaps you could spend that on your memory work.” He smiled. “I didn’t mean that, about the memory work, that is. God bless you all.”

  The room emptied immediately just in case he came up with something else. He knew the feeling. He was having as hard a time as his students thinking of Christmas coming. Indian summer had strode across the hills right on the heels of Jack Frost. Sitting in the school was hard when the geese and ducks could be heard singing their way south.

  We need a harvest festival, he thought. But when? And what to do? He’d have to set the women on it. They’d come up with good ideas. Of course a barbeque would be wonderful. He’d heard tell of Rand’s skill at that. Perhaps they could do a deer or two instead of a steer, since no one had any extra beef. And they’d have dancing. He could dance with Opal again. When would he find time to practice the fiddle? Somewhere between ten and midnight? After he’d finished his lessons for the next day?

  He shut the school door behind him with the same feeling of relief he’d seen on the children’s faces.

  “So do you think I should go ahead and buy this?” Jacob gestured at the soddy with a log cabin attached. “Or do you know of any other vacant places within an easy ride of the school?”

  “Not with land around them. There are houses in town.”

  “Opal and Joel would not take to that, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s if Opal agrees to marry you.”

  “Right. That’s something else I want to talk with you about, but let’s get this ranch thing done first. What is it I need to do?”

  “I’d say you check to see if the previous owners ever purchased the land from the railroad. This here is railroad land, or it was until folks started buying it up. De Mores bought up quite a bit.”

  “In Dickinson?”

  “That’s where I went a few months ago to file for homestead rights on my place. That wasn’t railroad land out there.”

  “So if I find that someone filed?”

  “Then I’d see if they gave a forwarding address. Most people who left didn’t. I think the man who lived here worked for the abattoir. Perhaps de Mores let him live here, and this was part of his land. I don’t rightly know. But you start at the land office in Dickinson.” Rand studied the house. “Going to take some work to get it habitable. Interesting how a house goes to pieces when no one is living there.”

  “You think I’d do better to just start from the ground up?”

  “No. It would be easy to add on to the log section if you want. Just cut a door through that south wall.”

  “Add some more windows. And a porch.”

  “You could do a shed like at the schoolhouse for your horses, right off that corral. When would you like to move in?”

  “Not until the school year is over. I promised Mrs. Robertson I’d keep on helping her. But I won’t be able to stay at the line shack this year.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find someone.”

  They turned the horses toward home.

  “What else did you have in mind?” Rand asked.

  “I wondered if you would give some thought to allowing me to court Opal this winter? I’m not asking for an answer today, but that you pray about this and take into consideration that I can now afford to have a home and a wife, not that you’d said anything about that when we talked before. But I’m thinking this might be something for her to look forward to, to prepare for. I know she’s not as sad and quiet as she was earlier, but she’s still not back all the way.”

  “You gave your word.”

  “I know. And I’ve lived by that and will abide by whatever you decide.”

  “All right. I’ll talk it over with Ruby and pray. And I’d ask the same of you. Not that you talk it over with Ruby, but the prayer part.” His slight smile said he was teasing.

  Jacob grinned back at him. “Oh, I have been. Maybe I’ll ask Mrs. Hegland if she would teach in my place for a couple of days while I go to Dickinson.”

  “Opal could go watch the children for her. Have you seen the plans Carl has been drawing for the church?”

  “Not yet. I hope he’s including a basement for the Sunday school rooms.”

  “He’s doing it in stages.”

  “He’s one smart man.” Jacob waved as Rand headed on down to his own spread and he toward the Robertsons’. If only he could be talking all this over with Opal. And yet he was hesitant to show her the house and tell her his plans. He and Joel would have a home there whether Opal joined them or not. Please, Lord, let it be so.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  November

  “So what do you think?” Jeremiah nodded to the peaked-roofed barn.

  “You sure got that finished in a hurry.” Rand rubbed his chin. “Looks mighty fine and ready for those horses.”

  “Thanks to Carl and all of you who helped me.” McHenry tipped his hat back with one finger. “I’ve never hammered so many nails in my life. And the way Joel, Opal, and Ada Mae spent every minute they had splitting shakes for the roof, why, I got to think of somet
hing special to do for them.”

  “You paid them. That’s enough.” Rand took his leather gloves out of his back pocket. “Getting right chilly again. When do you leave to pick up the horses?”

  “Tomorrow. But, Rand, I need some more advice.”

  “About?”

  “What to do about Amethyst.”

  “Why don’t you come on over for supper tonight, and we’ll think about it on a full stomach. I promised Ruby I’d bring home something for supper, so I need to see what I can bag.”

  “Going up to the beaver pond?”

  “Start there. We need more venison too. Got to keep that smokehouse going.” Rand mounted and smiled down at his friend.

  “All right. I’ll see you tonight. And thanks.”

  When Jeremiah rode up to the Harrison ranch house late that afternoon, Opal was gutting a deer strung up on a bar between two trees out behind the house.

  “Hey, Opal. Rand get that or did you?”

  “Hey, yourself. I got it on my way home from Pearl’s. Rand isn’t back yet. Did you finish that last bit of roof?” She set the heart and liver in a pan, tossing the kidneys to Ghost, who sat waiting patiently. With the insides stripped clean, she started on the skinning.

  “Sure did. Got an extra knife?”

  “In the kitchen. But you don’t have to help.”

  “I know.” Jeremiah tied Kentucky to the back hitching post and headed for the porch. When his foot caught on the first step, he gritted his teeth and righted himself. Here he thought that stumbling was gone. He’d not stumbled climbing the ladder for over a week or two. That’s what happened when you got cocky.

  “Hi, Ruby, you got another skinning knife?” he asked, entering the house.

  “Of course.” She pulled open a drawer and handed him a slimbladed knife along with the whetstone.

  “Rand tell you he invited me for supper?”

  “No, but it’s no trouble to put another plate on the table. Good to see you for a change.”

  “I know. That barn took up my every minute from the time the sun came up until darkness fell.” He spit on the whetstone and began sharpening the knife. “Still have more to do inside, but I can do that after the horses come. Old Kentucky will be right glad to have company.” After testing the knife against his finger, he handed her the whetstone and headed for the door.

  “Tell Opal to be sure to keep the intestines. We need them for sausage.”

  “Will do.” He joined Opal at the deer carcass. When he passed on Ruby’s message, Opal made a face. “I hate cleaning the guts.” She nodded toward another pan where she had saved the ropey mess.

  “Me too. But I do love sausage.” They skinned the deer in silence but for the swishing of the knives.

  “So tell me about your new horses.”

  “You’re going to love them. I’m thinking the stallion might make a good cow pony with some training. You up for taking him on?”

  “A blooded horse?” She shook her head. “I don’t know about that.”

  “But you’ll give him a try? Morgan horses are known for being quick on their feet and highly intelligent, good workhorses.”

  “If you want.”

  “And after the foal is born in March, we’ll have a baby to train.”

  “Okay, let’s pull.” Together they took hold of the hide and striped it down the front legs, like pulling off long johns that had been on a body for months. After cutting off the hooves, she tossed them to Ghost. “Now she’ll have bad breath, but she sure loves to chew on those.” Opal folded the hide, hair in, and tied the bundle. “I’ll save the brains to use for tanning the hide, the way that Little Squirrel taught me.” Opal shook her head. “I sure miss her and Linc. Where do you think he went?”

  “Wish I knew, and I’d go talk him into coming back.”

  “I’ve been praying he is all right. He sure loved her. He would have done anything for her.” She reached up for one end of the bar that fit through the hamstrings on the back legs. “Grab that, would you, please, and we’ll carry this over to the springhouse. If it were a bit colder, I’d leave it hanging here.”

  “Opal, you sure have come a long way from that little pigtailed girl whose only wish was to ride a horse. You’re an amazing young woman.”

  “Thank you.”

  He chuckled inside at the red flush that bloomed on her cheeks. As they left the springhouse after settling the bar on the hooks Rand had set up, she took the milking pail with her.

  “You want me to milk?”

  “You know how?” She slanted him a teasing grin.

  Ghost left her hoof and ran barking around the house.

  “Rand is home.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She has a special bark just for him.”

  Rand rode around the end of the house. “Hey, I brought in a deer.” He patted the feathered bodies slung over Buck’s withers. “And two geese. There aren’t many left out there now.”

  “Any excuse will work.”

  “You weren’t there, so quiet. You want to help me dress it out?”

  McHenry glanced at Opal. “If she’ll let me off the hook. I told her I’d milk—oh, and we just finished hanging Opal’s deer in the springhouse.”

  Opal rolled her eyes. “Let him clean the intestines for sausage. He said that’s his favorite job.” She strolled off, swinging the milk pail “Hey, Ghost, go get the cow.” The dog tore off on command. “She sure minds better than some people I know,” she called over her shoulder.

  Laughing, Rand dismounted, and the two men went about dressing out the deer, using the same pans that Opal had left on the bench.

  “Supper will be ready in a couple of minutes,” Ruby called when they were about done with the insides.

  “We’ll leave it with the hide on. I see Opal plans on taking the hair off hers. Think we’ll do this one as a robe. Could have used more robes to cover the windows last winter.”

  “I have five beautiful coyote pelts and a couple of wolves’. Miracle there are any deer left with the number of scavengers out there. You want the coyote ones to add to Opal’s robe?”

  “Give them to her yourself.” Rand paused. “Little Squirrel sewed the pelts into the robe she has. She did it the old way. Made holes with her awl and used sinew thread. We don’t make sinew thread like that.”

  “How hard is it?”

  Rand shrugged. “Don’t know. Never tried it.”

  “Can you tell me how?”

  “I think Ruby knows.”

  “I’ll take any wolf pelts you hear of.” The two men finished washing at the bench and carried the pans into the house to be dealt with later.

  McHenry took part in the give and take around the supper table, but at the same time he also felt as if he were standing back watching. The teasing between Rand and Ruby, the way she laid her hand on his shoulder when she leaned over to set a platter on the table, Opal making sure Per used his fork, and Ruby giving Mary a strip of bacon rind to gum to help with her teething—all the normal things of family living he envied.

  Lord, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. I want this too, and I think Amethyst is the woman for me. Tell me…show me what I need to do to win her.

  “How about I clean out those intestines for you?” Rand asked his wife after the meal was finished.

  “Thank you. I know how much you love doing that.” Ruby smiled up at her husband. “While Opal does the dishes, I’ll put the children to bed so we can have coffee and dessert later.”

  “Or I’ll get Per ready for bed, you take care of Mary, and we’ll do the dishes together?” Opal nudged her sister. “Sounds fair.”

  “And here I thought I could get out of doing the dishes.” Ruby sighed, which made Opal chuckle, which set Per to giggling, which set off Mary.

  “It don’t take much to get them going,” Rand said as he headed out the door, chuckling at their antics.

  And please add the laughter, Lord. My house needs laughter. Jeremi
ah thought a moment. And love.

  “You don’t have to help me.”

  “I know.”

  They carried the pans out to the pump and, dumping out the old water, added new.

  “Pew.”

  “Smells almost as bad as a skunk.”

  “You got any more advice for me? The last didn’t work too well.”

  “What would you do in the army if a frontal assault didn’t work?”

  “First I’d have to consider how many men I had still standing.”

  “I’m talkin’ general principles here, McHenry.”

  Had it been lighter outside, he was sure he would have seen Rand’s eyes roll, but the droll tone said it all. “I’d regroup and most likely attempt a flanking movement.” He thought a moment. “Or I’d throw my efforts into a siege.”

  “So?”

  “So I don’t know. What did you do?”

  “I licked my wounds and kept showing up.”

  “I see.” They carried the pans of cleaned intestines up to the house and into the kitchen to set on the counter of the cupboard Carl had made for the house. Rand sprinkled salt into the water and stirred it around so it would melt. “Have a chair.” He motioned toward the two rocking chairs nearer to the fireplace.

  “So keep showing up, eh? Somehow I think there’s more to this than that. And besides, Chicago is a lot farther away than your ranch is to Little Missouri.”

  “True. But—”

  “Right, Rand, that worked so well for you.” Ruby raised her eyebrows as she handed them their coffee cups.

  “Now—”

  “You two. Jeremiah McHenry, there is one thing a woman loves to hear.”

  “Really?” He waited, but when she didn’t answer, he was forced to ask. “What?”

  Ruby’s sigh spoke of long-suffering. “Have you told her that you love her?”

  Jeremiah pulled on his earlobe. “Umm. Well, sort of—but not exactly.”