Tamera Alexander - [Timber Ridge Reflections 01]

by From a Distance

  “How do you do that? You’ve always shot farther and thrown longer than anyone I know.”

  “I had to have something. You could outwrestle me and every other man in Tennessee.”

  For a moment, neither of them said anything, and Daniel’s thoughts centered on Elizabeth and what she would do next. She obviously wouldn’t be going on the expedition, which was a good thing in his mind. It was a dangerous undertaking. Not for the weak of heart—or lungs.

  Standing there, a familiar sense of ease settled between him and James.

  “It’s good . . . to be doing this again.” James gestured between them. “It’s been too long.” He stared out across the lake. “Which makes what I have to say all the more difficult.”

  Daniel attempted to read his expression, and couldn’t.

  “When I became sheriff, I took an oath to do everything in my power to keep the people of Timber Ridge safe. And it’s not safe for Miss Westbrook or Josiah to be in this town right now.”

  “So send her to Denver for a while. Josiah too. Until things blow over.” As soon as he’d said it, Daniel realized he hadn’t suggested sending her back to Washington. And from the look James was giving him, so had he.

  “I could do that. But I’ve spent quite a while talking with her just now, getting to know her better, weighing her options . . . and only one makes any real sense to me. And, for what it’s worth, I talked with Josiah earlier, and he’s in agreement.”

  The moment seemed to hang.

  Realization crept over him and Daniel shook his head. “No . . . James. I won’t do it. I’ve already told her I wouldn’t take her, and I gave her my reasons.”

  “I’m not just thinking of her, I’m also thinking of you. Have you considered that her father’s a U.S. senator? You’ve been writing those letters for how many years now? Three . . . four?”

  “Seven. But I’m not going to use her just to get to her father.” Though that thought had occurred to him.

  James frowned. “I’m not suggesting that and you know it. I’m asking you to use this opportunity. Show her the territory. Let her know what you’re trying to do. You’ve said yourself, countless times, ‘If those people in Washington could only see this land, they’d do something to protect it.’ Well, let them see it! She can do that for you. And she would, if you’d just ask her.”

  Daniel raked a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe they were having this discussion. “Even if she got there, she has no camera. There’s no reason for her—”

  “We’ve already worked that out. Timber Ridge has wanted a school for a while now, and it seems her father is sending everything but a teacher. He’s already provided the books and slates, and Miss Westbrook tells me furniture is on its way. Seems only right that the town should buy her a camera and some equipment in exchange for all that. We’ll order the camera and supplies from back east—then all we’ll need is to find a way to ship it from New York to Mesa Verde.”

  The freighter he’d recently met came to mind, but Daniel wasn’t about to mention him. “You saw her last night, James. She’s not healthy enough to make the trip, and neither is Josiah.”

  “You may be right about Josiah. The doctor seems to think it’s possible he could travel. He’ll make the call when the time comes. But Elizabeth is determined to do this, and I think she can. What’s more—” James laughed softly—“I want to help her do it.”

  “Then you take her!”

  James shot him a look. “Brookston thinks her problem yesterday was the chemicals in the room. Keep her away from the concentrated fumes and that shouldn’t happen again.”

  Though he was out in the open, Daniel felt as if walls were closing in on him. “It’s too hard a trip. Too risky for someone like her.” He scoffed. “I don’t even know if she can ride!”

  James turned to face him. “You know . . . you’re not the same man you used to be. You used to claim you could hunt anything, climb anything, teach anybody to do the same—and it wasn’t a lie. You could. But now—” Something akin to pity clouded his eyes. “Now you seem scared of stepping too far from your own shadow.”

  James always had a way of getting to the truth. It was infuriating at times, like now, and heat poured through Daniel as he recalled a childhood wish. To be able to knock James McPherson—just once—flat on his face.

  “What are you afraid of, Daniel?” James asked the question as if he already knew the answer.

  “I’m not afraid of anything.” Daniel’s throat tightened and he turned away.

  “You know these mountains better than anybody. You’ve made the trip to Mesa Verde several times.”

  “By myself!” Too late, Daniel realized what his quick response had revealed.

  The ripple of wind over water filled the empty space between them.

  “So that’s what this is about. Still . . . after all these years . . .”

  Daniel looked anywhere but at James. “I won’t be responsible for something bad happening to her, James. Josiah either.”

  “I could stand here and tell you that nothing bad’s going to happen. That you’ll all get there safe, but we both know that may not be the truth. But I do know this—if anything happens along the way, it won’t be due to your negligence or lack of experience. Elizabeth and Josiah couldn’t be in better hands. Why do you think I’m entrusting you with this?”

  Daniel stared out over the partially frozen lake, glad he didn’t have to respond.

  “The war is over, Danny,” James whispered. “You’ve got to find a way to move past what happened back there.”

  Daniel shook his head, hoping his voice would hold up. “You think I haven’t tried?” He winced. “I still see Benjamin’s face . . . every day. Him looking up at me for the last time. I carry that inside me, James. That and my mother telling me, over and over, not to let anything happen to him.”

  A frosty breeze carrying traces of pine caused Daniel to turn up the collar of his coat. He willed his friend beside him to hear the silent question he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

  James studied his boots for the longest time. “I wish I could tell you that I put all that behind me, Danny. But I still carry it with me too, every day. It just doesn’t rule me anymore like it used to. At first, I cried so many tears I wondered if I was still a man. But it was either that or . . . stay there on that battlefield in my mind, lying among my fallen brothers. Except they only died once, Danny, with glory and honor. You’ve been dying every day since then, holding on to the past, to something you can’t change. Let Benjamin’s death mean something. Be the man he saw in you, the man who he loved.” James’s tone grew more resolute. “And about Miss Westbrook . . . I’m not asking for you to do this anymore. I’m relying on your honor.”

  Recalling the debt was like a knife in Daniel’s gut. “You know that doesn’t count for this. It can’t.”

  James laughed softly. “You mean your honor has limits now?”

  “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “Your pledge years ago was that if I ever needed anything, anything, you’d be there. And I need this. Because I can’t afford to have something go wrong. Not like it did before in this town.”

  Daniel knew what he referred to. He could probably see the graves from where he stood if he turned, but he didn’t.

  “Rachel and the boys depend on me now. That’s a burden I willingly took on. I love my sister, and I love those boys. But trying to enforce the law in a place like this while having the responsibility of a family . . .” Sincerity layered James’s voice. He’d never been one for anything less. “That gives some people a target. I’m fine with them coming after me. I knew that risk when I took this job. But if my trying to protect someone else resulted in anything happening to one of them, I don’t know what—”

  “I’ll do it,” Daniel whispered, only too aware of the price Thomas and Rachel, and their sons, had already paid for their decision to move west, and at his encouragement, no less. “But if Elizabeth Westb
rook shows the least sign of being unable to make this journey—same for Josiah—or if the passes are too risky, I’m turning back. I’ll take them to Denver and get them situated there.”

  James held his stare. “Agreed.”

  As they walked back to James’s office in silence, all that could go wrong on such a journey ran through Daniel’s mind. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to her along the way. Elizabeth Westbrook already meant more to him than any woman ever had, and far more than he’d ever imagined she would.

  29

  She stared up at him with eyes the fragile blue of a robin’s egg, frowning as if she thought she’d misunderstood him. “So . . . you’re taking me?”

  “I am.” Daniel detected suspicion in the way she glanced at the door, then back at him. And it only fed his irritation.

  “Is Sheriff McPherson forcing you to do this?”

  “It’s my choice, Elizabeth.” He moved to James’s desk.

  “But you told me you wouldn’t. Remember that day when you said leaving early was a bad idea. I—”

  “The reasons I gave you before for not wanting to leave that early in the season are still valid. And leaving a week earlier is even worse. But circumstances have changed, so we’ll adapt. Where are your supplies being stored?”

  “In Ben Mullins’s back room.”

  “I need a list of everything you’ve already purchased. Once we leave Timber Ridge, it’ll be two weeks before we pass another settlement. And it’s not really a town, more of a miners’ camp, but they sometimes have supplies, depending on how long it’s been since the freighter came through. Do you have gloves?”

  She nodded.

  He looked at the pair lying atop her reticule. “Other than those?”

  She shook her head.

  He picked up the quill and a piece of paper. “From there, it’ll be another two weeks until we reach Mancos, which is near the cliff dwellings. So whatever we need, we take. Or we do without.”

  The delicate lines around her eyes and mouth framed her smile, and chipped away at his frustration. “I promise I’ll follow your lead, Daniel, like I said I would. I won’t be difficult and I won’t complain.”

  He dipped the quill. “May I have that in writing, please?”

  She slipped it from his hand. “The list of what Hawthorne purchased is in my room. Should I contact him about not—”

  “I’ll do that. If there’s anything you can think of that you need, write it down. Starting with gloves. We’ll go to the store first, then to your room at the boardinghouse, then to check on Josiah. We’re staying with James and Rachel for the night, and we leave at daybreak. Do you know how to ride?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know how to cook?”

  She blinked. “Of course.” She quickly bent over the paper. The scratch of the quill filled the silence. A stained indentation marked the inside of her third finger on her right hand, where the quill fit perfectly.

  He hadn’t known what to expect when he’d walked back in here to tell her the decision, but whatever he’d imagined, he hadn’t been prepared for the submissiveness he was seeing now. Neither was he fool enough to think it would last.

  At the moment, Elizabeth Westbrook was beaten and bruised, as surely as Josiah was down at the clinic. Only her bruises didn’t show. But you could still see their effects, in the way her gaze wouldn’t hold his overlong, in the quick way she agreed with everything he said, and in the lack of fire in her eyes.

  She raised her head. “What about Josiah?”

  He wondered when she would pick up on that. “He might not be well enough to travel. We’ll make that decision tomorrow morning.”

  “But I can’t—” She caught herself and gently closed her mouth.

  Her restraint was admirable, and Daniel could see her filtering what she’d been about to say.

  “Perhaps we could wait a few days until Josiah’s well enough to join us?”

  “I’d prefer to do that, but we don’t have the time.” He gestured to the window. Snow had started falling as he and James had walked back. “We either make it across the pass and out of here tomorrow, or we’re stuck here for a while.” He grabbed his coat, indicating for her to do the same. Beau jumped up from his spot by the coal-burning stove.

  The temperature outside had dropped in the last hour, and the wind made it seem colder than the twenty-seven degrees registering on the gauge hanging outside Mullins’s store. Daniel left Elizabeth at the counter with Lyda Mullins searching through a thick catalog for a camera, while he spoke with Ben about the supplies and freighter in the back room.

  Mullins nodded. “Brennan told me whatever you wanted shipped within his territory was to be done at no charge. I’ll see to it for you, Ranslett. You just tell me what and where.”

  “Thank you, sir. Miss Westbrook is making her selections right now. I’ll be back in a couple of hours with a wagon to get these supplies.”

  After a stop by the telegraph office for her to wire Goldberg, they went to the boardinghouse and packed what she wanted to take with her. It took three tries, but they finally pared down the wants to the needs and fit them into one large duffle. He was encouraged when she tucked a journal entitled RECIPES inside. Years of bachelorhood had forced him to learn how to cook, but it would be good to share that responsibility. Especially since most everything else would be on his shoulders.

  The snowfall was steady. Almost to the doctor’s clinic, they heard the shouts before they rounded the corner. He spotted James on the boardwalk, his hand poised on the gun at his hip. A dozen or so men pushed their way up the stairs while James and two of his deputies barred their way.

  Daniel took hold of Elizabeth’s arm and pulled her back into an alley. “Change of plans.”

  She opened her mouth, then promptly closed it. If he’d known she could be this compliant, he might have been tempted to agree to the trip from the very beginning.

  “You’ll see Josiah, but not now.” He led her through a series of back alleys to his horse behind the sheriff ’s office. Fifteen minutes later, they were atop the ridge overlooking the town on their way to Rachel’s. He looked in the valley below to see if he could tell which building was the doctor’s clinic and found it easy to distinguish. It was the one with the crowd gathered out front.

  For the tenth time in half that many minutes, Elizabeth pushed the curtain aside and stared out the front window into the darkness. A slivered moon’s pale light illuminated millions of feathery flakes as they drifted downward. Thankfully the wind had died some.

  Rachel came alongside her. “James won’t let anything happen to him. You can count on that.”

  Elizabeth wanted to be certain but couldn’t. There had been so many men and only James and two deputies—and Daniel, who had gone back to town with the wagon to get their supplies. Their supplies . . . She couldn’t believe they were leaving tomorrow. Daniel had seemed none too pleased when telling her his decision earlier that day, but—whatever caused him to change his mind—he had given her back her dream. And she was determined to do everything within her power to see it succeed. Now if she could only get word about Josiah.

  Rachel’s sons were seated at the kitchen table with their dinner.

  She assumed Mitchell’s and Kurt’s red hair reflected their father’s coloring since Rachel’s hair was dark brown. Although they did have their mother’s eyes.

  She’d shown Rachel the newspaper article earlier, wanting to be honest with her too. She’d hoped she and Rachel Boyd would be good friends. And still did. If Rachel’s kind response to her confession had been any indication, that hope still held promise.

  “Are you hungry yet, Elizabeth? The stew’s ready.”

  “No thank you. Not quite yet.” The silence lengthened. Elizabeth glanced up, then away again. “I-I’m sorry about the loss of your husband, Rachel.”

  A fleeting smile. “Thank you . . .” Her voice went hushed. “I miss him, very much.”

/>   “Have you ever thought about returning to Tennessee?” The question was out before Elizabeth had thought it through. She reached out. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that your staying here was in any way—”

  Rachel gently shushed her. “It’s a perfectly normal question. I did think about it, at first, but . . . with both sets of our parents gone, and with James and Dan—” Her jaw went rigid. “I decided to stay here and give our sons the life Thomas wanted them to have. That we both wanted them to have.”

  A distant pounding brought them both to their feet.

  Elizabeth raced to the door with Mitchell and Kurt on her heels, but Rachel put a hand against it before she could pull it open. Elizabeth turned, and her eyes went wide.

  The graceful Southern belle cradled a rifle in her arms. “Just until we’re sure who it is.”

  Elizabeth couldn’t help but be impressed. So much for the little derringer in her pocket. “Is that something you learned out here?”

  “No, I just grew up surrounded by boys.” Rachel motioned for her sons to stand around the corner, then peered outside. They waited, and her face gradually brightened. “It’s Uncle James.” She threw open the door.

  McPherson and one of his deputies reined in.

  Elizabeth met them at the bottom of the stairs, careful of the ice and snow. “Where’s Josiah?”

  McPherson dismounted. “Daniel’s got him. Dr. Brookston should be with them too.”

  “Should be?” Elizabeth looked between him and the deputy who’d stayed with her earlier. “So you saw them leave?”

  “No, ma’am.” Fatigue lined McPherson’s features. “And hopefully nobody else did either.” He motioned for them all to go inside.

  They gathered around the fire. The sheriff and deputy wrapped their hands around cups of hot coffee and stood close to the hearth as Mitchell fed another log to the flames.

  McPherson blew across the top of his mug before taking a sip. “Some of the men in town were upset this afternoon. They got the impression that Mr. Birch had done something he hadn’t.” His carefully chosen words were confusing at first, until Elizabeth saw Mitchell and Kurt sitting on the edge of their shared seat, in rapt attention. “So I talked with them and let them know that they were mistaken.”