Far From Home

by Val Wood

  ‘Why did you come, Isaac?’ Kitty asked. ‘Did you come for gold?’

  ‘Sure I did. Bin all over lookin’ fer it. Trekked over mountains and through river beds. Took a waggon one time, stocked it with tools, biscuits and meat, then one of my horses died on the trail. Fair wore out she was. I joined a pack train. Took up claims, pitched my tent, dug and panned, lived on bread ’n’ beans, but never earned more ’n a hundred dollars.’ He coughed and cleared his throat as if to spit, but then thought better of it. ‘Went to Californy in ’49, but every strike I got to had just run out. Thousands of men, there were, all lookin’ fer the yeller stuff.’ He shook his head and sighed. ‘I’m gittin’ too old fer diggin’ anyway. Then I met young Ted here on the trail and he said they wanted somebody smart to keep guard on a camp. I reckoned I could do that well enough.’ He gave a yellow-toothed grin at Dreumel. ‘And Bill here says I’ll git a percent’ of whatever they bring out.’

  ‘Might not be much, Isaac,’ Dreumel warned. ‘We told you that there’s been nothing much for weeks. Now with the news of the railroad—’

  ‘Better git blastin’, then,’ the old man said. ‘Afore them railroad folk come and do it for you.’

  The next day Wilhelm Dreumel asked Georgiana if she’d like to go with him up to the mine. The other men had already gone ahead. They started at dawn and didn’t finish until dusk. ‘Yes, please,’ she said. ‘I would like to see it.’

  Kitty didn’t want to go. She said she would rather stay at the camp and sort through the groceries. Dreumel laughed and said he would make her kwartier-meester.

  ‘What does that mean?’ she asked.

  ‘You are in charge,’ he explained. ‘You are the officer who looks after the provisions and feeds the men. I regret, however, that I cannot pay you,’ he added.

  ‘Oh, I don’t want paying,’ she answered cheerfully. ‘I’m enjoying myself and what would I buy if you did? Besides,’ she said, ‘Miss Gregory pays my wages.’

  ‘You could buy a piece o’ dirt and start diggin’.’ Isaac had overheard the conversation. ‘You jest might find gold.’

  ‘I’d be better off planting potatoes,’ she told him. ‘Come on, Isaac. Will you give me a hand with these sacks?’

  ‘She’s a good girl, that one,’ Dreumel said as they saddled up the horses and prepared to leave. Georgiana agreed that she was. Kitty had cleaned out their cabin, washed the grubby blankets that had been left and hung them out to dry in the sun. Isaac had removed the tools which the previous occupant had left lying around, and the cabin was now habitable even though they couldn’t quite call it home.

  The sky was a brilliant blue and the creek sparkled as it rushed along. ‘Where is the creek’s source?’ Georgiana asked as they cantered by its banks. ‘And where does it fall?’

  ‘It’s a tributary,’ he said. ‘And eventually falls into the Ohio river. But its source,’ he pointed ahead to the mountains, ‘the head waters, are somewhere beyond these mountains. But you will see when we come to the end of the valley that in fact it isn’t the end.’

  ‘I rode down here,’ Georgiana said. ‘But I could only see where the waters ran in through the gap beneath the rocks.’

  ‘You have to ride into the water to trace it. Don’t worry.’ He smiled. ‘It isn’t deep at that point! But that is for another day. Today we’ll go to the mine so we must climb a mountain.’ He looked across at her. ‘I hope that Henry is capable of it.’

  ‘She’s called Hetty now.’ Georgiana patted the mare’s neck. ‘And I trust her to climb anything.’

  When they reached the end of the valley, Dreumel said, ‘You will see as we climb where the creek comes through the rock. That is the canyon which Ted mentioned yesterday when he said we should blast through. If we do, we will alter the water flow and it will run swifter, maybe even flood the valley.’

  ‘Unless you open up the rocks at the other end to let it out,’ Georgiana said. ‘But that would be major work!’

  ‘Oh, we can do it,’ he said. ‘The men are experienced in explosives, but it’s a big undertaking.’

  They climbed upwards on the track which Georgiana had previously seen. Dreumel pointed out blackened areas where small explosions had been set to clear some of the bigger rocks, to make the route easier. The trail wound upwards, then curved back when the sheer face of the mountain wall made it impossible to climb. Then it wound back again to become a more accessible terrain.

  Georgiana grew hotter and hotter and Dreumel, seeing her discomfort, passed his hat for her to wear. ‘We have been up here in the winter, when the snow was so thick and the air so cold that we couldn’t feel our frozen feet,’ he said. ‘And sometimes we had to stay at the mine for weeks when we couldn’t get down.’

  They reached a plateau and halted to look back and give the horses a rest. Behind them was the valley and the camp alongside the creek. Georgiana could see figures moving about which had to be Kitty and Isaac, but from up here were so small as to be unrecognizable. She looked down to where the creek flowed into the valley, filtering through a narrow canyon, splashing and gurgling as it forced its way through the rocky outcrop. Her gaze followed its course back down the ravine to trace its wellspring, and she opened her eyes in astonishment as she saw another wide valley with elk grazing on the grassland and a river running through it.

  She gasped and looked at Dreumel. ‘But this is as big as your valley! This is another secret place, enclosed by the mountains!’

  He nodded. ‘I don’t know why it hasn’t been found. There are land speculators all over the region, and have been for half a century, but somehow this has been missed.’

  ‘And Lake showed it to you,’ she murmured, taking in the lonely splendour.

  ‘How did you know it was Lake?’ Surprise showed on his face. ‘Did he tell you?’

  ‘No,’ she confessed. ‘He only said that a half-breed had shown you the valley in return for his life. I guessed that it was his life he was meaning.’

  ‘It was,’ he agreed. ‘But I don’t talk about it. I did nothing more than any other man would do. Let’s move on.’ It was as if he was embarrassed and wanted to change the subject, and Georgiana reluctantly withdrew her gaze from the vale below. Looking up to the rugged mountain above them, she urged Hetty onwards.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  They climbed for another half-hour and then began the slow descent down a track which wound round the other side of the mountain to lead them towards the second valley. From their high vantage point, Georgiana could see a shaft with a windlass over it and at its side a towering pile of broken rock. The area was strewn with mining equipment: troughs, sluice boxes, rocker frames, picks and shovels. Water ran in streams from the surface of the hillside down into the creek. To one side, away from the working area, a canvas tent was pitched and a small fire burned beside it.

  Dreumel cupped his hands around his mouth and hailed. A man’s head popped out of the tent, then the rest of him emerged. It was Ted. He waved an arm in response. In his other hand he held a beaker from which he took a drink. Jason appeared from behind a rock, buttoning up his trousers, and Ellis was half hidden by the windlass wheel.

  ‘You amaze me, Miss Gregory,’ Ted said in a low voice as they arrived, and she guessed that he was conscious of the other men’s presence. ‘You’re quite an intrepid woman.’

  She slid off Hetty’s back, hot and sticky but glad of the loose cotton garments which Dekan’s wife had loaned her and which she was still wearing. They were stained and creased but very comfortable.

  ‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘This is not how I would normally have spent my day had I been in England! But then yours too would have been very different,’ she couldn’t help slyly commenting. ‘I imagine,’ she added, for the benefit of the other men.

  ‘Sure, we’d all have been doing somep’n else,’ Jason chipped in. ‘I’d have been on the farm helping out my pa. He was right mad at me when I said I was setting out to look fer gold. Intended going to
California but I ran out of money afore I was two days out of Virginia!’

  ‘Why didn’t you go back home?’ Georgiana questioned, and gratefully accepted a scalding hot cup of coffee from Ted.

  ‘And have my mammy and pappy laugh and say told you so? No, ma’am! I lived rough fer a while and then met up with Pike and we travelled together. Then we came across Mr Dreumel, who asked if we’d like to join him and Ted in a mining exploration, and we came on up here.’

  Georgiana leaned against a rock and watched the men as they discussed the day’s activities. They gazed into the shaft, scratching their heads, and then looked down into the valley. Dreumel came across to her. ‘I’m going down with Ted to look at the canyon. It’s difficult, we can’t take the horses, but if you think you can manage it—?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said without hesitation. ‘I’m sure I can.’

  There was no regular path, only a rough trail made by the men on previous journeys down to the creek. She slipped and slithered, for it was mainly scree on this side of the mountain, with many sharp rocks which cut into her boots. Her hands were scratched and bleeding as she clambered after the men, but she insisted she was all right as Dreumel constantly looked back enquiring after her. She was determined to make the descent on her own, without asking for assistance.

  The creek, wider in this vale, foamed and swirled around the rocks which formed the canyon, its undertow spinning into a whirlpool before gushing through the narrow opening and into the next valley. Dreumel and Ted ventured into the water, balancing precariously on the rocks in the deep current.

  ‘There’s barely room for a man to get through,’ Dreumel called as he peered into the gorge. ‘But I can see to the other side.’

  Ted joined him and after a moment’s hesitation Georgiana took off her boots and followed them. The water was ice cold, which at first was refreshing but then numbed her toes. Ted put out his hand to help her across and this time she didn’t refuse assistance. As she joined them, close to the whirling vortex, she bent to look through the canyon where the water was surging, splashing great plumes of spray high up the rocky walls. Its exit opening up, it fell into the other valley in a bubbling, sparkling cascade.

  Dreumel waited for her as she sat down on the hillside and put her boots back on. Ted started the climb back up to the mine. ‘Ted wants to sink another shaft but also blast through this canyon, so that it will be easier for us to get to the mine. It wastes time climbing up and down the mountain and it’s difficult carrying supplies,’ Dreumel told her.

  ‘He really believes in this, doesn’t he?’ Georgiana said as she pulled her boots onto her cold wet feet. ‘Why is he so convinced that there is gold here?’

  Dreumel shook his head. ‘He thinks it’s right down below the bedrock. He can’t give a rational explanation; just a feeling he has. Believe me,’ he said, ‘I would have given up by now, but he’s so sure, I feel I would be letting him and the men down by abandoning it. But,’ he took a deep lingering breath and put out his hand to help her up, ‘if Charlesworth isn’t willing to go ahead, and we’ll need more money for explosives and equipment, then I can’t carry on. I am a cautious man, Miss Gregory. I have mortgaged the Marius. I dare not mortgage my newspaper business, for I shall have nothing left.’

  The following day when the men, including Wilhelm Dreumel, but not Isaac, had gone up to the mine, Georgiana decided to wash her clothes. ‘I don’t think I am nice to be near, Kitty.’ She laughed. ‘So I will wrap one of those clean blankets around me and wash this shirt and skirt.’

  ‘I was thinking ’same, Miss Georgiana,’ Kitty said. ‘About myself, I mean,’ she added hurriedly. ‘So give them to me and I’ll give all our clothes a dip in the creek. There’s some soap, so I’ll give ’em a scrub.’

  ‘Do you think—?’ Georgiana spoke thoughtfully. ‘Do you think we could get rid of Isaac for an hour and take a dip ourselves? Wouldn’t that be nice?’ she added with a wide smile.

  ‘Ooh, miss.’ Kitty put her hand to her mouth. ‘Could we? Dare we? Would anyone be able to see – the men, I mean, up the mountain?’

  ‘No!’ Georgiana assured her. ‘Not from up there. Besides, they’re on the other side of the mountain and won’t be coming down until this evening.’

  ‘All right,’ Kitty said. ‘I’ll send Isaac off fishing. He’ll be glad to go because I’m allus finding him jobs to do. He grumbled yesterday after Mr Dreumel made me his kwartier-meester!’

  Isaac went off happily with a wooden rod and a line fashioned out of twine, a piece of rotten beef and sardines for bait, and a net. ‘I’ll do what I can,’ he said. ‘I ain’t promising nuthin’. I’ll go upstream anyhow, away from you chattering wimmin.’

  ‘He’ll have a sleep in the sun as well, I expect.’ Kitty laughed as she watched him go, and they both turned back into the cabin to undress.

  Georgiana kept on her underdrawers and chemise and carried her clothes for washing under her arm, but Kitty, on reaching the creek, pulled her shift over her head and impulsively jumped naked into the water, then came up shrieking and spluttering, her eyes tight shut and her arms and legs flailing.

  ‘Oh!’ Georgiana gasped softly. Dare I do that? She looked warily around. When she had assured Kitty that no-one would be watching, she hadn’t thought of being stark naked.

  Oh, heavens, she thought. Why ever not? She pulled off her chemise and unfastened her drawers, and with a swift backward glance slipped them down and plunged into the creek.

  The freedom she felt as the water slid over her bare flesh was something she had never before experienced. A warm bath in a tub, with a maid holding a bath sheet at the ready to cover her nakedness, was not the same. Not in the least, she thought, as she submerged completely and the cool water floated over her head. I now feel totally liberated.

  ‘Miss – miss!’ Kitty called as Georgiana rose up gasping. ‘Oh, I thought we were going to drown!’ She was doing a frantic doggy-paddle, thrashing the water with the flat of her hands and kicking wildly with her feet. ‘Can you swim?’

  ‘I can, after a fashion.’ Georgiana breast-stroked to the side of the creek. ‘We were at Scarborough one year and I went into the sea in a bathing machine and someone taught me.’ She laughed and ducked her head under again. ‘But it wasn’t like this,’ she spluttered, coming up for air. ‘We were fully clothed in our bathing dresses.’

  ‘I’ve never swum before.’ Kitty doggy-paddled to the bank, where she pulled their clothes into the water and proceeded to rub them. ‘Some of ’bairns used to swim in river Hull, but my da said I hadn’t to. Full of disease, he said, and besides,’ she pulled a face, ‘there was all sorts of stuff floating in it. I wouldn’t want to tell you what, miss.’

  ‘I can guess, Kitty,’ Georgiana interrupted. ‘You don’t need to explain!’ She rolled over onto her back and floated, wondering vaguely what Kitty would think of her apparent abandonment, but Kitty seemed quite unperturbed and continued chattering as she, as naked as Georgiana, dubbed and rubbed at their garments.

  Georgiana looked up at the blue sky and the mountains as she floated and pondered on how she had changed since coming to America. Or have I? she mused. Am I the same person that I was, but taking advantage of the opportunities that have arisen? Certainly if I was still in New York, then I would have to behave with more decorum than I do out here in the wilderness. But in this vastness there seems no point in being particular about niceties.

  She rolled over and looked down the creek towards the mountain where they had had their first glimpse of the valley. Part of it was in shadow as the sun rose higher in the sky, but close to its base she thought she could see movement. She trod water and narrowed her eyes. A wolf? No. Not in daylight. A horse! Two horses! And people riding them. She gave a shriek. ‘Kitty! Someone’s coming! Quick. Quick!’

  Her sense of liberation fled from her as they both splashed and hauled themselves out of the creek. ‘The blankets!’ she shrilled. ‘Where are the blankets?’


  ‘Oh, miss. We’ve left them back at the cabin! I’ll run.’

  Kitty, naked and pink as the day she was born, scuttled back to fetch the blankets to cover them, whilst Georgiana slipped back into the water. The riders, still a good way off, had crossed the creek and were heading down the grassland towards the cabins.

  ‘Here, miss.’ Kitty clutched her blanket around her and held out another. ‘Quick. Quick. They won’t see anything. Look, I’ll hold the blanket out like when you get out of the bath.’ But Kitty found that impossible as she wrestled to keep her nude form covered, and Georgiana grabbed the blanket as she leapt out of the water and wrapped it around her.

  ‘It’s Lake,’ Kitty said, ‘and another gentleman! And we’ve no more clothes to put on!’

  ‘Mr Charlesworth, I think,’ Georgiana replied, glancing towards the approaching riders. ‘And our clothes will soon dry if we spread them out. But not where they can see them,’ she said hastily. ‘I do not want them to see my underdrawers!’

  Kitty started to giggle and picking up the bundle of wet clothing dashed away behind the cabin, leaving Georgiana to hurry, in as dignified a manner as was possible, to untangle her wet hair and adjust her blanket ready to meet the visitors.

  ‘I beg your pardon, gentlemen.’ She stood at the cabin door as they rode up. ‘I’m afraid you have caught me at a disadvantage. If you would care to go to the longhouse, Isaac will be back soon and will offer you refreshments.’

  She was aware of how fatuous her greeting sounded and of how both men were staring at her. Charlesworth’s eyebrows were raised in astonishment, whilst Lake’s eyes, wide with undisguised amusement, coolly roved over her, from her hair hanging in wet tendrils around her face, to her bare shoulders and down to her feet.

  Kitty suddenly appeared at her side. She had acquired a long shirt from somewhere which covered her completely and hung around her ankles. ‘Gentlemen,’ she said, her voice wobbling as she tried to contain her laughter. ‘If you will come with me, I’ll make you a pot of coffee,’ and she marched purposefully on bare feet, red wet curls bobbing, towards the longhouse.