Then there was Mason. How could she have been so wrong? She’d felt certain Mason was beginning to care for her.
But she must have been wrong.
Growing up in the wilds of Arkansas had not prepared her for dealing with men. She knew she couldn’t tell him goodbye without collapsing, so her only other option was to leave while he was riding in the Run. That’s what she’d do. Get Ella to watch over the children and she’d be free to leave and chase her dream.
So why was her heart breaking?
seventeen
Mason sat astride the prancing gelding, studying the starting line of the race. As far as he could see in both directions, thousands of people were lined up to the sides and rear, ready to grab a section of free land. Resembling a long, slithering rattlesnake, the line of people, animals, and all manner of vehicles glided back and forth as if it were alive.
Like he and Jake, many folks were mounted on sleek horses bred for speed, while others sat in covered wagons or buckboards filled with all their worldly possessions. A few men dared to venture the untamed land on the back of a contraption they called a bicycle. Mason shook his head, wondering how a man could stay on one of those strange two-wheel ditties.
Give me a horse any day
The noise was deafening. People yelling, horses neighing, children crying. He wondered how they would ever hear the army bugle indicating the start of the race.
He glanced at his brother-in-law. Jake was more animated than two roosters in a cockfight. He bubbled with excitement over the prospect of winning the land of his dreams. Mason had to admit his excitement was contagious.
He hadn’t wanted to ride in the Run, but now he was glad that he’d be a part of history. Win or lose, he would have something to tell his grandkids.
That thought suddenly threw a bucket of cold water on his enthusiasm. Would he ever have grandkids?
Someday. Maybe. But first a man needed a wife.
His thoughts turned to Bekah. Jake had agreed to propose to her if he won his land. All night long, Mason had wrestled with the desire to claim Bekah for his own. If Jake didn’t win the land, he’d have no place to call home. Bekah and the kids couldn’t live in a tent or hotel room forever. He scouted the land before him. He had to get a claim so he could ensure they had a home.
Jake leaned toward him, his eyes twinkling. “Yep, that Rebekah’s a fine-looking woman, Mase. She’ll be cozy to cuddle up to on a cold winter’s night. I’m right glad ya didn’t want her for yourself.”
Mason’s indignation grew. Did Jake have to rub his nose in the fact that he was marrying Bekah? Had Jake actually asked her? And had she said yes?
He closed his eyes and pulled back on the reins to steady his prancing mount. If only he could steady his heart. How could he let Jake marry Bekah? It was time he faced the facts—he was in love with her. He loved Rebekah.
What a fool I’ve been to push Bekah into Jake’s arms. I can’t let him marry her. I won’t
Hope soared like the eagle floating lazily in the sky high above him. If he won a plot of land, he could build a home for the two of them—and Jimmy and Katie, if Jake decided not to stay. He could farm the land. It was good land with rolling greens hills, apple trees promising a good fall harvest, plenty of decent-sized creeks that could support a family—though not this sudden influx of thousands of people. The Indians had well-named Oklahoma the beautiful land
In his mind he heard a bugle, then rifle fire and a huge roar. Yanked from his introspection, Mason realized the race had begun. His horse jerked the bit with his teeth and took off like he’d been shot from a cannon. Mason almost lost his seat because his mind had been on Bekah.
“He-yah!” Mason lashed his horse with the reins. Jake was already topping the hill and disappearing over the other side. The roar of the multitude and thunder of hooves echoing across the land matched the throb of his heart in his ears. He would ride for Rebekah. He would win the land; then he’d return and ask her to marry him—not Jake.
Rebekah bit back the tears as she watched the huge crowd of home-seekers disappear into a cloud of dust. Mason was out there somewhere, probably at the front of the pack, racing away from her—seeking land he didn’t even want.
It had taken a monumental effort to keep a smile on her face all morning when her heart was breaking. Who ever would have thought following her dream would be so painful? Mason had looked at her strangely a couple of times, and she was afraid if he asked what was wrong that she’d burst into tears and tell him how she felt. But it would be too mortifying to tell him of her love only to have him reject her.
She cringed at the looks Jake had given her this morning, like he was already envisioning them married. They reminded her of the same looks Giles Wilbur had given her. How could Mason think she would agree to marry a man she didn’t love? Not even for Jimmy and Katie could she do such a thing.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Ella asked.
Rebekah looked at her friend and nodded. “I have to do this. Mason wants me to marry Jake, but I can’t. As much as I love Jimmy and Katie, I won’t marry someone I don’t love.”
“You should marry Mason. Can’t imagine what’s goin’ through that boy’s mind for him to tell Jake to marry you. Anyone can tell he’s in love with you hisself.”
Rebekah shook her head. “You’re wrong, Ella. He doesn’t love me.”
Her things were packed, her train ticket was burning a hole in her pocket, and all that was left was to say good-bye. She knelt in front of the children, studying their cute faces, memorizing every inch.
“But I don’t want you to go, Webekah.” Katie said, burying her face in Rebekah’s shoulder.
“I know, sweetie, but I have to.”
“Why can’t you stay and be my mommy?” Katie grabbed her around the neck so hard that Rebekah nearly lost her balance.
“It’s complicated. I’m not in love with your father, so I can’t marry him.”
“You could marry Uncle Mason,” Jimmy said, his cheeks turning a bright red. “You love him, don’t you?”
Rebekah gasped. Were her feelings obvious to everyone? She glanced at Ella. The older woman crossed her arms over her chest. An I-told-you-so grin tilted her thick lips.
“Even if I did, Jimmy, he doesn’t love me. You need to have two people who love each other to have a good marriage.” She smiled at him and cupped his cheek. “I do love you and Katie, though. I’ll never forget you. When I get settled in Denver, I’ll write to the post office here—surely by then they will have one—and you can write back to me. Okay?”
Jimmy didn’t look too appeased. Katie still clung to her neck for dear life, her tears dampening Rebekah’s dress and her tight grasp making it hard to breathe. Rebekah gave Ella a beseeching gaze. The older woman sighed and moved forward, looking disappointed.
“C’mon, kids. Rebekah has a train to catch.”
An hour later, Rebekah waved at Ella and the children as the near-empty train lurched out of the station. She grasped the wooden arm of the seat with one hand while pressing the other hand against her churning stomach.
Her heart finally beat normally again after its frantic pace at nearly missing the train. The unimaginable swarm of people getting off when it first arrived had pressed them back away from the station. There had even been people riding on top of the train, clinging perilously to the ventilators. Rebekah, Ella, and the children had been forced to stand under the shade of an old oak tree while the throng of people hurried by, anxiety and hope written on each face—hope that they could still get free land, anxiety that they were too late. She felt thankful that she didn’t have to be the one to tell them they were.
Now Rebekah raced toward her own dream: Denver. She felt grateful for the time in big-tent city. Being around so many people allowed her to prepare for the congestion of city life. She felt the same anxiety and hope of those just arriving. Hope for a new beginning—a new home where no one could force her to marry against her will. She f
elt anxiety over leaving the children … and Mason. And she felt concern about what the future held.
She watched the landscape speed by. Trees, bushes, and hills blurred into splotches of green and brown as her eyelids sagged. Worry and thoughts of never seeing Mason again had stolen any hopes of sleep last night. She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. The swaying motion and clackety-clack of the rails soothed her like a lullaby as she drifted to sleep with thoughts of what could have been on her mind.
“Miss … uh, miss?” She felt a hand shaking her shoulder as she awoke. “Miss, we’re coming into Wichita.”
“Oh.” Rebekah sat up. “Oh, thank you, sir.” The thin man smiled and moved on down the aisle. Rebekah picked up her old carpetbag and hugged it to her chest, blinking her eyes to moisten them.
The ticket agent ambled to the front of the coach, rocking back and forth with the sway of the train. “Rock Island Depot, Wichita,” he called out, as if she weren’t the only person in the whole coach.
Wichita. Why did the name of the town send chills down her back?
Wichita! Curtis’s hometown. She straightened in her seat, fighting back a panic that threatened to overpower her. Why hadn’t she remembered that?
She turned her gaze toward the city, the first big city she’d ever seen. Rebekah felt her mouth drop as she surveyed the tall buildings and huge houses—some even three stories high. Surely in a town so big, one could go unnoticed. Even if by chance Curtis’s family still lived here, they wouldn’t know her. She’d never met any of them. And Curtis had no reason to think she’d come here. She drew in a slow, steadying breath. Things would be okay.
Minutes later, the train screeched and groaned as it pulled to a stop at the Rock Island Depot. She covered her face, hoping to block the unpleasant odor of the coal plume streaming from the engine. Her clothes were hopelessly covered with a gritty layer of soot.
Gathering her courage, she stood and followed the ticket agent to the door and down the three steep steps to the wooden platform. For the first time in her life, she was in Kansas. Even the massive tent city she’d just left hadn’t prepared her for the enormous town of Wichita. She took a breath and looked around, spotting the ticket booth after a few moments.
Making her way through the waiting crowd, she finally reached her goal. She waited in line, listening to the conversations around her. Over and over, she heard the Land Run mentioned. She sincerely hoped all these people weren’t wasting their money on a ticket there.
She’d heard Wichita was a big cow town, and as she looked around, she saw evidence of the Western influence. Cowboys dressed in denim and boots stood next to men in fancy three-piece suits. Occasionally she caught a whiff of the stockyards when the wind gusted.
Half an hour later, Rebekah sat on the bed in her room in the Occidental Hotel, probably the biggest structure she’d seen so far. The whole three-story building was built of brick, and huge, white pillars supported the ten arches along the front. She’d never imagined staying in a place so fancy. The little house in the backwoods of Arkansas paled in comparison to this fine place.
The brocade bedspread, the color of ripe wild raspberries, matched the ceiling-to-floor draperies. An ivory-colored desk with an opulent chair sat between the room’s two windows. A small divan and two end tables rested along the wall across from the bed. Never in her life had she seen anything so luxurious.
As amazing as the room was, Rebekah had a hard time enjoying it. Though her body wasn’t in Oklahoma anymore, her heart certainly was. Yawning, she eased onto the fancy bed and closed her eyes. Thinking back over the last few weeks, she breathed a prayer of thanks. “Thank You, God, for keeping me safe on the trail and for sending Mason to watch out for me. Thank You for showing me how to make the money I needed. Please show me how to deal with the pain of losing Mason and the children. Keep them safe, Lord.”
Like lemonade without enough sugar, the words left a sour taste on her tongue. “What’s wrong with me?” She pulled a fluffy pillow out from under the bedspread and tucked it under her head. Tears blurred her vision. Instead of facing Mason and telling him how she felt about him, she’d taken the coward’s way out and run away—again.
Mason would be furious with her. But why? Why would it matter if she were gone? He probably didn’t care. He’d be happy to be rid of her. Immediately she felt guilty and shook those thoughts from her head. Mason may not love her like she did him, but she knew he cared what happened to her. It was his way. He might be gruff and bossy at times, but in his heart, he was a caring person.
So what now?
The words she’d heard out on the trail reverberated in her mind.
“Go back.”
“No, I can’t. Don’t ask that of me.” She wrapped the pillow around her head as if to keep the words at bay.
Why had she ran from Mason this time when she’d stood up to him so many other times? She knew the answer. She couldn’t stand to find out he didn’t love her. But wasn’t it better to know for sure than to wonder the rest of her life? “What do I do, Lord?”
“Go back.”
Rebekah sat up and wiped her tears. Resolve was winning the battle over doubt.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The words from the Bible seeped into her mind, filling her with warmth like a cup of hot coffee. The only way she’d have peace and be able to set up a new home was to know the truth. She had to face Mason, tell him how she felt, and see if he felt the same.
She reached in her pocket, fingering the ticket to Denver. In her mind, she calculated how much money she had left. If she was very careful, she could go back to Oklahoma and still have enough money to make it to Denver. She’d arrive penniless, but she could worry about that when she got there.
That’s what she’d do. She’d go back and face Mason—one more time.
Mason rode slowly back into town. Both he and his horse were exhausted after riding all day in search of a plot of land that hadn’t already been claimed by those sneaky Sooners. Time and again, he thought he’d found unclaimed land, only to end up with a rifle in his face, urging him to look somewhere else.
He’d tried to keep up with Jake, but after spotting him riding over that first hill, Mason had lost him in the swarm of racers. The directions Jake had given him to the land he wanted weren’t as clear in reality as they had been when Jake first drew them in the dirt by their campsite. Mason sincerely hoped Jake had secured his land.
He rubbed the back of his neck as he guided his horse back to camp. Already the town looked much different. The population had shrunk enormously, and now there seemed to be mostly women and children left behind while their men raced for their future. Pieces of broken wagons littered the initial race area. It looked as if some people’s dreams had died before they’d gotten out of town.
For a time, he’d allowed himself to get caught up in the excitement of Jake’s scheme. If he’d won a claim, he could have asked Rebekah to marry him, and they could have settled there. But what now?
Mason didn’t like feeling as if he’d failed. He didn’t know how to deal with failure. All his adult life, except for when his wife had died, he’d pretty much been able to control things around him—other than the weather.
The smell of fresh-cooked beans and salt pork tickled his stomach as he rode into camp. He couldn’t wait to hug the children—and Rebekah. The thought of her waiting for him wrapped around him like a warm blanket on a chilly night. When had he fallen in love with her? When he’d found her helpless on the trail? When she’d stood in his face, refusing to allow him to tell her what to do? He didn’t know when; he just knew it had happened.
His gaze searched the campsite as he dismounted. He wondered where everyone was. His mount’s head sagged with exhaustion as Mason removed the saddle and rubbed him down. The horse was a fine animal. Maybe he’d see if Jake would swap him for a couple of his draft horses. A decent saddle horse would suit him better on his trip west tha
n one of the big, slow-moving horses. But was he still going west? No, not unless Rebekah would go with him—he knew that much.
“Uncle Mason!”
He spun around to see Jimmy running toward him, closely followed by Katie. Both children looked upset—red eyed, as if they’d been crying. Mason squatted so he could look them in the face. “What’s wrong, pardner?”
“Rebekah’s gone. She left on the train.”
eighteen
Rebekah was gone?
The words crashed into Mason as if the locomotive had physically run him down.
A tearful Katie crawled up into his lap. Standing, he tucked her to his chest as Jimmy wrapped his arms around Mason’s waist. He hadn’t seen the children this upset since their mother died.
“When?” he whispered, his voice cracking.
“This morning,” Jimmy said, wiping his damp face against Mason’s stomach.
“Why did she leave?” It hurt him more than he could say to know she’d run away again.
“She—she didn’t want to marry Pa.” Jimmy looked up at him. “She said two people had to love each other for a good marriage to work—and she doesn’t love Pa.”
She knew about his crazy suggestion for her to marry Jake? How?
He gritted his teeth. He knew why she’d ran away. Rebekah surely felt he was pushing her into an unwanted marriage to Jake just like Curtis had tried to force her to marry that Wilbur guy. A sharp pain gutted his midsection. How could he have done that to her?
“She wuvs us,” Katie said as she raised her head off his shoulder, rubbing a fist in one of her damp eyes. Her little face was splotched with red—obviously she’d been crying a lot today. “She wuvs you but not Pa.”
Mason blinked. Rebekah loved him? How could Katie know that?
“What makes you think that?”
Sooner or Later Page 15