“She’s even prettier close up than I thought. We may honestly be in trouble here, Mose. I’ll probably forget which end the harness goes on.” He went back to cooking with a sigh. “How are we ever gonna keep our teamsters focused on traveling?”
An hour later, as they were cleaning up and rolling out their beds, there came a small cavalcade of horsemen to their camps. Looking up, Trace caught the eye of the Sheriff in the lead. He and Trace and Mose had known each other for three years, having met on their first trip through St. Joe. Trace had actually helped put the Sheriff back together after being shot when the regular doctor had been out of town. Apparently, Trace had done a far better job than the regular doctor and the Sheriff had tried to talk them into staying in town permanently.
On seeing him, the Sheriff came right over and gripped his hand. “Trace, didn’t know you were part of this train. It’s good to see you again. You can’t be talked into staying here yet, can you? We’d still love to have you.”
Trace smiled at him, but the smile disappeared when he saw who the Sheriff’s companion was. Trace addressed him without extending his hand, which the Sheriff picked right up on. “Filson. What brings you to St. Joe? I thought St. Louis was your town. You coming to swindle the people here now? What, did they catch on to you in St. Louis?”
There was no welcome in his voice whatsoever. He turned to the Sheriff. “Jim, you’re in poor company here. What’s a good man like you doing with a crook like this?” There was disgust in his eyes that Filson glared at, but didn’t challenge.
Filson turned to the Sheriff. “Ignore this man, Sher’f. He’s just sore because he came out the loser in a business deal once.”
“An underhanded, crooked business deal that you cooked up, Filson. If I’d known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have touched a deal with you with a hundred-foot pole. At least I can say I was honest with those people and made it right. That’s a whale of a lot more than you can say.” While they talked, Mose and four of their other men came up to Trace’s side.
Obviously uncomfortable with this talk, the Sheriff tried to change the subject. “Have you got a young, Dutch girl traveling with you? Filson here says that she stole something from him. I’m here to arrest her.”
Trace looked coolly at Filson. “Yes, she’s here, but once you meet her, you’ll never believe Filson’s word over hers. She’s as obviously honest as he is sneaky. Her wagon is right over here.”
As a group, they headed to the VanKomen wagon where Trace spoke quietly to Josiah, asking that he get Giselle to come out. Josiah’s glance hardened when he saw Filson. Apparently he was familiar with Filson’s character as well. He called her out and Trace was surprised to see this proud and confident young woman pale visibly when she saw Filson. Trace gave her a hand to climb down from the wagon and she immediately moved to stand behind his shoulder away from Filson.
Filson’s gaze was sickening as he looked Giselle over, and Mose moved closer to Trace in front of her while their men fanned out on both sides of them. Filson immediately turned to the Sheriff. “That’s her Sher’f. She’s the one that done took my money. Come right into my hotel room. I saw her leaving as I came up the hall, but I couldn’t catch her. She went down the back stairs.” Filson gave Giselle a disgusting grin and she raised her head almost proudly to address the Sheriff.
“That is a lie! I have never taken anything from this man and I would not want to! I haven’t even been in a hotel here in this town. We’ve been here only yesterday and today and I have only been in the general store and the Chinaman’s cafe. My grandparents can assure you I tell the truth.”
Filson sneered, “She’s lying. She took it. I saw her. Take her in, Sher’f.”
The Sheriff turned to Filson and said brusquely, “I’ll thank you to let me handle my job, Filson.” Turning to Giselle, he gently said, “I’m sorry, miss. I’m afraid that I’ll have to take you in until I get to the bottom of this.”
At this point John Sykes walked up and Trace asked, “How long will that take, Jim? We were heading out at dawn trying to make it to California before it snows.”
Filson smiled wickedly. “Too bad, Grayson! You’ll be leaving without one little, Dutch thief. She stays here to serve her time and return my money!”
The Sheriff turned on Filson. “That’s enough! You aren’t making any decisions here. Let me do my job. In fact,” he turned to his deputy, “Walt, take him back into town with you while I finishup here.”
Filson started to protest, but the Sheriff raised a hand to stop him, and then turned his back to him to address Trace. He glanced back at Filson who had yet to leave, and at the Sheriff’s pointed look, Filson finally turned and followed the deputy. When he was well away, the Sheriff turned to Trace. “On second thought, Grayson. I don’t want to haul this girl in on that snake’s word. Would you be willing to be responsible for her until the morning when I can get to the bottom of this?”
Trace glanced back at Giselle. “Is that okay with you, Miss VanKomen?”
She nodded. “Yes. Certainly.” She turned to the Sheriff. “How much money does he say I have stolen?”
“Two hundred dollars.”
Giselle looked horrified. “That’s a lot of money! What do we have to do in the morning before I can go?”
Scratching his head, the Sheriff looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure exactly. Filson is really kicking up a fuss. He’s insisting I not let you leave until I have a trial, but so far I have no evidence except his word. I’ll know better in the morning after I can question some people. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. In the meantime, stay where Trace can keep an eye on you.” With that he turned to go.
There was silence for a few moments after he left and then Giselle looked up at Trace. “I have stolen nothing. I give you my promise. I will be in my grandfather’s wagon.” She turned and went back to the rear of the wagon again and he heard her long sigh as she went.
Josiah turned to John Sykes and said, “My granddaughter is honest and she has been with my wife and me every moment, but I’m afraid if they insist that she stay that we must too. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we must stay with her. Henry Filson is a horrible man and he can’t be allowed to get near her. If she can’t go in the morning, then neither can we. Please forgive us.” He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving John and Trace and Mose staring at each other in disappointed disgust. The other men headed back to their bedrolls while the three of them tried to think of a solution to the mess that might cost them their whole trip.
Finally, Trace said, “I’m going into town to talk to Jim and find out what our options are.” He turned to go get his horse where it was picketed. When he returned to the fire, both Mose and John had their horses as well and the three of them swung into their saddles and headed out at a trot. At the Sheriff’s office, they found Filson, still storming around, mad that they hadn’t dragged Giselle in and locked her up as he had demanded.
“You’re going to let her get off without even checking into this, aren’t you? I’m going to go over your head! I’ll go to the governor if I have to! You’re not going to get away with this just because she blinks those eyes and sways her hips a little. I demand that you treat her just like any other thief caught in the act!”
The Sheriff turned to the deputy again. “Walt, take his statement and find out if there is any other evidence, or witnesses. See if anyone else can remember seeing her in the hotel. Then get him outta here.” He turned to the others. “Come into my office a minute would you?”
Once inside with the door shut, he looked at the three of them and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure what this guy wants, but I think it has something to do with keeping her from going west. Hopefully,we’ll have something more bymorning.”
Trace asked him right out. “What are our options, Jim? If she doesn’t go, her grandparents won’t either and they’re a large part of our train. The army isn’t going to let us leave without at least twenty wagons, and
her grandfather is paying us to help them. Without them, we’re stuck while our chance to make it past the mountains before the snow dwindles. What can we do to be able to take her? If we offer to put up a two hundred dollar bond he can keep if you prove it was her, would that work?”
Sadly, Jim shook his head. “I doubt it. He wants her, not his money. I have to at least make a show of following the law.”
“What if we left with provisions to bring her back if she’s proven guilty and you send a rider for her?”
The Sheriff thought about that for a minute. “No…I’d have to have a more concrete guarantee that I could show him to keep him from raising a ruckus clear to the state capital. She either has to stay until this is settled or you have to get Filson to give up trying to keep her here.”
Mose was thoughtful. “What does he want her for? What’s the reason that he doesn’t want her to go west?”
Trace gave a disgusted sound. “You and I both know what he wants from her, Mose. You could see it in his face. You could see it in her face. She’s apparently had dealings with him before. She was terrified of him.”
The Sheriff looked at Trace. “You really believe he thinks if she doesn’t leave, that she’ll agree to be with him?”
Trace shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t think he cares if she agrees or not. I think he thinks that he can do as he pleases. We knew him in St. Louis, and he thought he was untouchable. He’s got someone there with the law who lets him get away with running amok. And they’re Mormons. Remember? You can do anything to a Mormon in this state and get away with it. The Governor himself signed an order that they should all be killed.”
The Sheriff was appalled. “That’s disgusting!”
Trace shrugged. “You saw him. He’s disgusting. So what can we do to be able to take her?”
John joined in for the first time. “It sounds to me like what we need to do is to make her seem unattainable enough that Filson will let her go without a fuss.”
All three of them turned towards him and the Sheriff asked, “What have you got in mind, John? I’d have to guard her night and day to keep her safe if what you think is true, and I haven’t got that kind of man power. And the soonest we could hold a trial would be a few days at the least.”
They were all silent for a time and then Mose said, “What if she was married? Could you let her go if we personally guaranteed that we’d bring her back and pay if she really turns out guilty? We know darn well she’s not. If she was married and Filson didn’t think he could get away with harassing her anymore, wouldn’t that work?”
After thinking about it, the Sheriff nodded his head. “I think that would work. Have her bring her young man in early. We’ll have them get married before it ever gets light and you can be gone before Filson hauls his lazy butt out of bed in the morning. Barring any solid evidence showing up between now and then, it should get him off her back and mine.”
Mose said, “We’ll do. We’ll see you early.” He pushed John and Trace out the door before they could reveal the fact that none of them thought there was a betrothed anywhere near.
They walked their horses down the main street of the town in silence for several moments, and then finally John asked the obvious question, “So, who’s she going to marry?”
Trace gave a humorless laugh. “Forget that. Who’s going to approach her?”
“This was Mose’s idea. You marrying her, Mose?” John looked over at him in the dark.
Mose’s deep chuckle sounded in the awkward pause. “Me? I’m the only one who’s for sure not getting married. But think about it. She may love this idea. This might be the best thing that could happen to her if he’s been bothering her. If it was understood that it would just be annulled when we get them to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, she might be thrilled that Trace is willing to give up bachelorhood for her.”
“Me? Why me? Mose Brown, I am not bracing her with this idea. She might love it and she might just be thoroughly insulted.”
John weighed in. “Mose is right, Trace. You’re the only one who I could support this idea with. There’s no one else I’d trust to do it other than Mose here, and mixed race marriage would be lethal in this state. You’re the man.”
Trace groaned. “So… What’s plan B?”
Mose asked. “How bad do you want to leave? And what’s the problem anyway? You told me you almost asked her to marry you on the spot the first time you saw her. Now’s your chance.”
“You’re not all that funny, Mose. We’re in a fix here. Be serious.”
In a sober tone Mose said, “I’m being plumb serious. I’ll approach her, but it will make you look like you’re afraid.”
Trace gave a small laugh in the dark. “I am afraid. Terrified! Both of her and of marriage.” After a moment he relented. “I’ll approach her. But you two owe me. You owe me fierce. I’m going to be spending the whole trip across thinking about what I want from you, so be ready, ’cause it’s going to be whoppin’.”
John sounded relieved. “Good. So do we ask tonight? Or wait until mornin’?”
“Tonight. I’m not waking them all up in the middle of the night to ask a woman I just met to marry me. Not only that, but they need to be able to be planning whether they’re staying or going. We owe them that.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence. As they approached the gathered wagons, Mose started humming a wedding march and then peeled off toward their own fire while Trace continued on toward the VanKomen’s. He didn’t know whether to be thoroughly worried or euphoric about this whole idea. He’d soon find out.
He pulled up and got off his horse and was just about to speak when he heard the sound of a cocking gun. The wagon flap moved and the barrel of a pistol appeared, followed by Giselle’s head. When she realized who it was, she dropped the muzzle of the gun and took a deep breath and then whispered with her accent, “Oh, Mr. Grayson, you frightened me. I thought you were Henry Filson. What are you doing?”
That’s exactly what he was asking himself just about now. “Uhm, you’re not going to believe this, but I’ve come to see if you would consent to marrying me.” He put up a hand. “It’s just to be able to get you away in the morning, and we’ll have it annulled when we get to your valley. It’s either that, or stay here and deal with Filson and a trial, and waste more time getting started west.”
She looked totally confused for a minute, and then said, “Just a moment.” Her head disappeared back inside the wagon cover and he could hear her whispering quietly to someone and then a bare foot and lower leg appeared through the flaps. He realized she was getting out.
He went forward to help her down and she turned to look at him with big eyes in the darkness. She was wearing a nightgown covered with a long robe and her hair was loose and hanging around her shoulders. She was even prettier than when she’d been all dolled up and he questioned again to himself what in the world he was doing while he waited there to see if she was going to laugh or cuss at him.
He was completely amazed when she looked up at him in wonder and asked in a soft, sweetly Dutch voice, “You’d do that for me? Truly?”
He didn’t know what to say to that. He’d never experienced anything in his life that would help him figure out what to do in this situation. Finally, he just said, “Uh, yes. I would. But honestly, it’s not being totally unselfish. Without you and your grandparents, we can’t leave either until we find someone else to take your place. The army won’t let trains of less than twenty wagons start out.”
He paused for a minute and then decided that being absolutely forthright was in both of their best interests. “I give you my word to be a gentleman. I wouldn’t expect anything other than your help in getting underway. You needn’t worry.”
She laughed a sweet laugh at him in the dark and said with her intriguing accent, “Worry? You have just taken a huge load of worry off of me! I don’t doubt that I can trust you. I knew that the moment I saw you on the hotel boardwalk. And I fully inten
d to help all the way across this great journey. I will be glad to. I am more grateful to you than I can say right now. I would love to marry you to get started in the morning. I would be thrilled!”
For a second, he thought she was going to come right up and hug him. Just when he felt relieved that she didn’t, she actually did. Then as quickly, she pulled back and looked up at him with a sober face. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
Still a bit shaken, he simply said, “Be ready to go into town a little before sunup. We’ll meet with the Sheriff, get married and be back and ready to leave at first light.”
All she did was look up at him with those wide eyes and say, “Okay.” With that, she turned around and climbed back into her wagon without a backward glance at him. He walked away in the moonlight in a stupor. He got clear back to his wagon before he remembered that he’d left his horse at the VanKomen’s, and he had to go back and get it. Gathering his reins, he was turning to go when she poked her head out again.
Feeling a little sheepish, he said, “Sorry. Forgot my horse.” After a thought, he turned back around and said, “Miss VanKomen, you can go to sleep and rest easy. My dog will be right here between our wagons and he’s an excellent watch dog. If any one was to approach, he’d let us know and we could handle it before anyone could get near your wagon. And all of my men will be alert for trouble too. You can sleep without worrying about Filson.”
She took a deep breath and smiled at him. “Thank you, Mr. Grayson. That will help me. Good night.”
Chapter 2
The next morning, as he felt the sun climb the sky and shine warmly upon his back, Trace was still wondering what had happened. Walking his horse alongside the cavalcade of white-topped wagons strung out along the road after crossing the wide Missouri River, he realized that, although yesterday he had never even met her, today he was married to the beautiful girl from Holland who he had thought so striking on the boardwalk. Granted, it was a marriage in name only, but still, what a turn of events!
Journey of Honor A love story Page 2