by Val Wood
She closed her eyes for a second as if still reliving the scene, and then continued, her voice weakening at the enormity of what had happened.
‘Ted has allus been particular about keeping our hotel safe. He says he saw enough fires when he was a lad to know you’ve got to have water handy; course those houses back home didn’t have dry timber like we have here, which catches fire in a minute.’
Clara nodded. Just as she had told James Crawford, she thought.
Caitlin took hold of her mother’s hand. ‘But we’re all right, Ma,’ she said softly. ‘And nobody has been hurt, which is a miracle when you think about it.’
‘Yes,’ Kitty agreed. ‘Except for that couple who’ve gone missing. Nobody seems to know where they are.’
Jewel and Clara glanced at each other. So how did James Crawford know about the trail above the tree line? Perhaps it was only a rumour, but they hoped not.
Kitty took a sip of coffee. ‘I’m sorry your last day has been spoilt,’ she said, ‘but Caitlin has come over to spend it with you. Ted and Robert said they’d try to come over later, but right now they’re busy helping to clear up the debris. Yeller is just a blackened mess, and we feel so lucky that we’ve escaped without any damage that we must do what we can for those who’ve lost everything.’
‘Ma’s set up the kitchen to provide food for everybody,’ Caitlin said. ‘The guests we were expecting at the hotel won’t be coming now, so some of the men will sleep at our place or else here in Dreumel.’
Jewel nodded and thought that the Allen family hadn’t completely escaped misfortune. Thanks to Ted’s foresight the hotel had avoided devastation, but for a while at least their business would be virtually non-existent. Who would want to stay in a fire-ravaged town? She glanced at Kitty and thought how tired she looked, as if she hadn’t slept all night. Which she probably hadn’t.
‘Could Clara and I stay and help, Aunt Kitty?’ she said quietly. ‘We don’t have to leave tomorrow. There’s no urgency at all.’
Kitty gave a wan smile. ‘Why, bless you both; it’s kind of you to offer, but no. Lots of women have stayed on to help; it’s ‘younger ones with little bairns who’ve left. The women here are strong; they’re used to a hard, primitive life. They can work alongside their menfolk in rebuilding their homes and cook a meal and wash their clothes at the same time.’ She smiled. ‘They’ll not be set back by a bit of a fire.’
She kissed both girls goodbye and said she was going home to rest for an hour. ‘All of our guests have left,’ she said, ‘which is why we’re here. If you come back to Dreumel after your travels, we’ll meet again, but if not, then I hope it won’t be so long next time before you return.’
‘It won’t be,’ Jewel promised. ‘I haven’t any plans for after California. I realize now,’ she said slowly, ‘that we must take life as it comes.’
Clara swallowed. She would be going back to England, no matter what Jewel decided. This country, where everything was so much bigger and wider and higher than anything she had ever known, she had taken to her heart. But it wasn’t home.
‘Having heard so much about you, it’s been very nice to meet you, Mrs Allen,’ she said. ‘I do hope we’ll meet again.’
Kitty grasped her hand. ‘So do I,’ she said tearfully. ‘Take a look at Hull through my eyes, will you, Clara? Look at those mean streets where I once lived, and ’Market Place where I used to shop for my ma afore I went to work for Georgiana’s aunt. And Hull Fair,’ she said eagerly. ‘Does it still come every October?’
‘Oh, yes!’ Hot tears ran down Clara’s face. ‘Some things never change. I know the old streets very well. My mother—’
‘Of course,’ Kitty said softly. ‘She knew how it was. She wouldn’t forget.’
‘No.’ Clara shook her head. ‘She hasn’t. She says she never will.’
Kitty said her final goodbyes and the three girls stood on the porch and watched as she untethered her horse from the hitching rail and jumped lithely into the saddle before waving to them and riding off in the direction of Yeller.
‘How does she do that?’ Clara asked in admiration.
‘What?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Oh, you mean mount! She learned to ride when she first came out here. It’s second nature to her now. She’s a better rider than Da.’
Amazing, Clara thought. I must remember to tell my mother!
They sat down on the bench on the porch and Caitlin asked what they would like to do on their final day. Clara waited for Jewel to speak.
‘Well,’ Jewel said slowly. ‘This perhaps will sound very strange.’ She took a deep breath. ‘What I would like to do is visit the Chinaman.’
Caitlin turned to look at her. ‘Which? The one here in Dreumel, do you mean? Old Sun Wa? His son had the laundry in Yeller, but that’s burnt out. He’ll probably be living here now.’
Jewel shrugged. ‘Either of them. I don’t mind.’
‘Why do you want to see them?’ Caitlin frowned. ‘Do you need some medicine? There’s a doctor here in Dreumel.’
‘No. No, I don’t need medicine. I’d just like to talk to them.’ She glanced at Clara, knowing she didn’t have to explain to her, but she told Caitlin that she wanted to ask them something.
‘All right,’ Caitlin nodded. ‘I’ll take you. The store is just along the road. Do you want to go now?’
‘Please,’ she said. ‘Will you come, Clara?’
Clara hesitated. At some point Jewel would have to make her own decision about what she wanted to find out about her life. She would value her opinion, she knew, but it was unlikely that she would ask for Caitlin’s. The younger girl didn’t yet know of Jewel’s quest.
‘Do you mind if I don’t? You won’t be long, will you? I’d like to start packing a few things ready for tomorrow.’ She smiled. ‘And I’m sure that Caitlin would like to have you to herself for an hour or so.’
‘Sure would,’ Caitlin agreed. ‘There’s so much I want to ask you before you leave.’
‘All right,’Jewel said. ‘I’ll just go upstairs for my parasol.’
‘I’ll get it,’ Clara said, standing up. ‘I won’t be a moment.’
She hurried into the hall, almost bumping into James Crawford. ‘Sorry,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I was about to dash upstairs. Not very ladylike, am I?’ She laughed.
He looked down at her. ‘May I have a word with you at some time, Miss Newmarch?’ he said quietly.
‘Yes, of course. In five minutes if you like. Miss Dreumel is going out and I’m just fetching her parasol.’
She watched Jewel and Caitlin walk down the road, Jewel half hidden by her parasol and Caitlin’s red hair tossing and gleaming in the bright sunshine. The weather was not as hot today; the storm had cleared the air, leaving a freshness in place of the stifling heat of the day before.
When she turned to go inside, James Crawford was standing by the hotel door. He had his arms folded in front of him and he looked very serious. Glum, even. Perhaps he’s worried about the future of the Marius, she thought. When word got out about the fire, it was possible that people would avoid coming to Dreumel’s Creek as well as Yeller.
‘Is something worrying you, Mr Crawford?’ she asked. ‘You look rather anxious.’
He gave her a smile which didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘Not anxious, but a little melancholy.’
She nodded in sympathy. ‘Because of the people of Yeller who have lost their homes and businesses?’
‘That, yes, of course. But in this instance I have become low-spirited because special visitors to the hotel have come to the end of their stay and are taking their leave.’
Clara felt her cheeks flush. ‘We have enjoyed our stay,’ she said quietly. ‘Apart from last night,’ she added. She wondered what else he had to say as he ushered her into the hall and asked if she would come through to the office behind the reception desk as he had something to show her.
It was not a large room and most of the space was taken up with another desk and two chai
rs, but there was a very large window which looked out over the back of the hotel towards the mountains.
‘When Mr Dreumel built this hotel, he insisted that whoever used this room to work in must have plenty of light and a view of the mountain range,’ he explained, ‘rather than just the four walls.’
She nodded. Wilhelm was a most considerate man, but she was still left wondering what that had to do with her.
James Crawford put out his hand for her to come over to the window and when she did so she saw a telescope on the sill. He picked it up. ‘You have been curious how I knew about the missing couple.’
‘Yes, I was. So you saw them through this?’
‘No. I didn’t see them, but I saw a signal which told me they’d been found.’
‘Oh!’ She gave a puzzled frown. ‘From them?’
He shook his head. ‘From my brothers.’
Clara’s lips formed another Oh, and then realization cleared her head. ‘You mean – your—’
‘Yes.’ He gave her the telescope and with his left hand turned her to the window. ‘Look up to the tree line and then let your gaze search higher.’
She did as he suggested, conscious that his hand was still on her shoulder. ‘I can see the tree line,’ she said huskily, ‘but nothing else, just a dark forest of pines.’
‘Can you not see a small rocky area where there are no trees growing?’ His head was close to hers and she was aware that her breath had quickened, although she did not feel at all threatened by him.
She searched again, only higher this time, and then she spotted a rocky outcrop jutting out from the side of the mountain. ‘Yes,’ she said triumphantly. ‘I see it.’
In one movement she lowered the eyeglass and turned to find him gazing at her.
‘I beg your pardon.’ Swiftly he took a step back and turned to glance again out of the window. ‘My brothers are often in the forests above Dreumel’s Creek and every day I look for a sign from them.’
‘Are these your real brothers or members of your – your community?’
He laughed. ‘Tribe, do you mean, Miss Newmarch?’
‘I don’t know what I mean,’ she confessed. ‘I’m sure that in England we’re not given a true picture of the Indian situation. I have heard a little of the Seven Years War, which is now part of history, and of various treaties which guaranteed land to your people, but learned more about the gold rush of 1849.’
‘Then I’m impressed,’ he said, ‘for you appear to know more than might be expected of you.’
She blushed. ‘I admit that I did some reading about the founding of America before I left home, but there’s little written about the Indians; and in the articles I have seen . . .’ She hesitated, not wanting to offend.
Looking down at her, he said softly, ‘We are described as wild savages?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Which is plainly untrue.’
Quite untrue, she thought. Of him at any rate. I can’t begin to consider the rest of his nation. I can only look at him and see someone who is trying to integrate, to make something of his life. But more than that, he is a most attractive man and it’s as well that we are leaving tomorrow because when he stands so close I can feel my senses pounding and I wouldn’t trust myself to remain in control if we stayed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
James Crawford turned again to the window. ‘Behind the escarpment is another trail, obscured and rarely used. Mr and Mrs Thompson must have got lost in the forest and come across it by accident. It was fortunate that they were found. They wouldn’t have easily come down the mountain by themselves. My brothers do not often venture so far above Dreumel, especially at night, but,’ he shrugged, ‘perhaps they sensed something; the older men have keen powers of perception.’
‘The fire, you mean?’
‘Yes. Fire is a forceful element; it affects us all.’
‘Do your brothers live near? Is there a settlement here?’
‘The nearest settlement is No Name, which is where I was born. My mother is mixed race, my father a true Iroquois.’ He gave a wry grimace. ‘They lost me for a while after I came over to the other side, especially when I went to Philadelphia; but since I’ve lived in Dreumel’s Creek they come regularly to check up on me in the hope that one day I’ll return to my rightful place.’
Clara was fascinated and couldn’t keep her eyes from his face. He’s from another world, she thought. An ancient community so much older than ours.
‘The Iroquois confederacy was formed many years ago and the different nations are disbanded, but there are still small groups of Mohawks, Senecas and Oneidas who try to live as our ancestors did and strive to claim their land back.’ He was speaking quietly, almost as if to himself.
‘And will you?’ she asked softly. ‘Go back to them? You can perhaps be of use to them: a spokesperson, a bridge between two communities.’
He turned towards her and, as if on impulse, leaned forward and kissed her tenderly on the mouth. ‘If I cannot find what I want here,’ he murmured and transfixed her with his dark eyes, ‘then yes, I think I will.’
A flush suffused Clara’s cheeks. She was overwhelmed by his action, but rather than being angry or insulted she felt as if her bones had melted into water. She wanted more than anything to reciprocate, to put her arms round his neck and let him kiss her again.
They gazed at each other, Clara breathing as if she had run up a flight of stairs, not out of breath but exhilarated by the climb. He took hold of her hand and pressed it to his lips. ‘I know I am behaving irresponsibly,’ he whispered. ‘But I am totally intoxicated by you. By your beauty, your manner, your sensibility. Forgive me.’ He stepped away from her. ‘I don’t mean to offend you.’
She put her hand to her throat and felt a pulse throbbing. ‘What do you want of me?’
He shook his head. ‘Everything – and nothing. That you haven’t spurned me is enough.’
He closed his eyes for a second and then, opening them, said softly, ‘It is the first time I have kissed a woman.’
There was a silence between them. Clara didn’t know what to say or to do and neither did she want to break the spell. A sense of warmth enveloped her, light, protective, and yet at the same time releasing and liberating her. She had always thought of herself as emancipated because she had been brought up by sensible parents, yet she was still bound by convention and propriety. She suddenly thought of Thomas. Though they had been friends since childhood he had never so much as kissed her cheek or her hand, and she would have been astonished if he had.
And it would have been nice if he had done so, she thought, for then I might have been prepared for this. With that experience behind me I would have known that a simple kiss could take me into another place. One of sensuous anticipation of something more.
As they stood close and, though not touching, aware of each other’s nearness, a noise from outside brought them from their reverie. There was the sound of hooves and cheering. They both blinked, and it was as if they had awoken from a dreaming state; both stepped back, and had anyone come into the room it would have appeared that there was an insurmountable chasm between them.
‘The Thompsons,’ he murmured. ‘They’ve been brought down from the mountain. They’ve come into Dreumel, not Yeller.’
Clara wanted to ask him how he knew, but her tongue appeared to be locked. But then, she thought, why would I ask and what would he say? He just knew.
At the front of the hotel a crowd had gathered around the Thompsons and they seemed overcome by the welcome. As they haltingly told their story, it seemed that they had decided to ride up into the mountains from Yeller and take a look at the town from above, probably following the same track that Jewel and Clara had taken with Caitlin the day before, but then they had continued higher into the forest trail. On turning round to come back they realized that they had taken the wrong path and were quite lost.
It was as darkness was falling and they were still searching for the way out that
they heard the crackle of fire and were at first terrified that the forest was alight, and again plunged deeper into the trees; they could smell burning pine and see the columns of smoke, and then they heard the shouts of men. It was a relief followed by dismay when they realized that it was not the forest that was on fire, but the town below them.
‘We followed the light of the flames to find our way back to the tree line,’ Bert said, ‘and saw the whole of Yeller ablaze, but we still couldn’t get down. The horses were as nervous as we were; they were snickering and snorting and very restless, so we took them back into the forest and tied them up, and then we sat on the ridge and watched. We couldn’t have come down anyway because by then it was pitch dark and we couldn’t see the path at all.’
‘And then,’ his wife said, taking up the story, ‘the horses quite suddenly became quiet and when we went back towards them we saw—’
‘Indians!’ Bert said. ‘They were standing by the horses and talking to them and breathing into their nostrils.’ He glanced up the steps to the boardwalk and then to the porch, where James Crawford was standing with Clara and some of the hotel staff. ‘And,’ he continued, ‘they said they would bring us down this morning and let someone know that we were safe before a search party was sent out.’
‘They gave us food,’ Sarah said. ‘And water and a blanket to wrap round us. We’re very grateful,’ she added huskily. ‘We might have died.’
‘Don’t often see Indians in this neck o’ the woods.’ A man chewing tobacco spat out a stream of brown spittle. He too glanced up at James Crawford. ‘’Cept tame ones,’ he added in a low voice. ‘The wild ones mainly stay on their own land.’
James Crawford had heard. He lifted his head, showing his muscular neck, and without a word, though his lips were set in a tight line, he turned round and went inside.
‘Why’d ya say you want to meet the Chinaman?’ Caitlin asked as they walked down the main street. ‘Do you need some medicine? If it’s that time of the month I’ve got aspirin.’
‘No. No, it’s not that, thank you.’ Jewel flushed at Caitlin’s frankness. ‘I want to talk to him. About the Chinese and how they came to be in America.’