by Karin, Anya
“Can’t make sandwiches without any biscuits.” He smiled that dashing, almost painful smile and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “And without sandwiches, we don’t have much of a picnic.”
He hovered above my face for another moment. I closed my eyes, unable to look at him any longer for fear of my heart giving out. The brush against my lips was so soft, so gentle, that it might well have just been a breeze coming through the house and caressing me.
Slowly, I opened my eyes just in time to see Eli’s lids part and his sky-blue orbs pierced my soul.
And that’s when my helplessness really struck. In the space of a couple of weeks, I’d gone from adventurous and independent to a puddle of a girl in this man’s embrace. But there was something comfortable, something safe, about how he made me feel. Somehow, even without any words, I knew that as long as I had Eli, nothing could hurt me.
“Biscuits?” he whispered.
I felt my eyes flutter in time with the pounding of my heart. “Uh-huh,” I answered in a hollow voice. “They’re, uh, right this way.”
Never in my life had I witnessed a man – any man – so neatly trim and slice a shank of ham, or butter and arrange left-over biscuits with such care. His eyes moved back and forth from me to the bread as he inserted the tip of a kitchen knife and cut three biscuits in half.
“Why three?” It was all I could think to say as he arranged three thin cuts of ham on the bread.
“I’m a growing boy, Miss Clara.” His eyes twinkled and I, as usual of late, barely kept myself upright. “Might I trouble you for a basket?”
The muscles of Eli’s arms and back strained his shirt’s hard, plaid material. Every line of his body captivated me. I imagined his hands in my hair, gripping my shoulders and holding me down. Flushing, I forced myself to return my attention to more proper and present things.
“Basket?”
A half smile curled his lips. Eli cocked an eyebrow, pulling me out of my stupor with that one simple gesture.
“Of course,” I shook my head. “Basket, yes, right over here.”
I followed Eli out to the porch, closing the door behind me. His horse was lashed out front. “Are we going far?”
“No,” he said. “Not too far, just to a little place outside of town a few miles. Your pa said you’d started keeping the horses at old Crick’s stable in town, right?”
I nodded. “Oh, no.” A terrible sinking feeling weighed me down. “I just remembered.”
“What is it? You look like you’ve just seen a dead man rise from the grave, Miss Clara.” His hand shot to my arm and he squeezed. Oh did he squeeze.
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just that Father put my horse in for a shoeing today. I’m afraid we won’t be able to use her.”
Eli pursed his lips. “Well,” he said. “That’s fine. We’ll just have to share the saddle.”
“Share?” I blushed. “No, that wouldn’t be proper, Eli, you know that.”
“Hmm. Only other thing I can think of is you can take Martin here, and I’ll jog along beside. But that’d turn a luncheon into a half-day of activity. What’re you worried about? I don’t think anyone in Deadwood, of all places, is going to have their eye out for things a New Yorker would find improper. You have seen the Gem, have you not?”
I giggled behind my hand. “Well yes, but,I’m just not sure, Eli. What if Father sees?”
“He’s an hour’s ride away, working on his claim.” Eli’s eyes darkened in thought. “What if I sit astride the saddle, and then you can recline across my legs sidesaddle? Nothing improprietous about that, I wouldn’t think.”
“I’m not sure that’s a word, Eli,” I said with a grin. “I just don’t know. Sitting on your lap? We’re not even married. Even if we were I don’t know if such a thing would be a good idea.”
“I’m afraid, then, we’re at an impasse. I’m fairly certain those are all words.” He chuckled softly. “And the worst part of all is that I’m starved.”
“You’re always hungry,” I said with a grin.
I looked back and forth, quickly, smiling despite my misgivings.
“See?” Eli hopped into the saddle and stuck out his hand. “All alone. No one will see except you and I. Come on up.”
Eli’s leather riding glove was somehow rough and soft at the same time. As his fingers closed around mine, and I stepped off the ground, the whole world seemed to spin around me. The most comfortable way for me to sit astride Eli’s lap had my head very near his, one of my hands grasping the reins, and the other with nothing much to do.
“Put that one on my shoulder,” he said as he eased Martin into a slow trot.
“Ooh! Was that a rock?”
He smiled softly and shrugged. Eli grabbed my hand and led it to the back of his sun-tanned neck. “See? Hold the reins, just like that. Good. Been on a horse a time or two? Keep that other hand on my neck. I’m not gonna let you fall off, and neither is Martin. He’s an older fella, real gentle.”
I was lost in the ocean of Eli and had no canoe. Somehow, that was exactly where I wanted to be.
The rest of our ride was rather quiet except for the sounds of the world around us. There was a certain tension I can’t describe that kept me from my normal nervous prattling, and Eli constantly occupied himself looking about at every bird, plant and tree. The slow roll of Martin’s cantor
“Look over there,” he said as we passed a small pond.
A smug looking group of multicolored ducks caught my eye. “What are they? They’re gorgeous.”
“Mallards, but they’re nothing compared to you, Clara. Fine looking ducks.” It all came out in one breath.
“What did you say?” I asked, knowing full well he wouldn’t repeat himself. “Do you mind if we stop here? I’d like to watch them. They’re a funny bunch. Look, that big fat one seems upset!”
One of the ducks began putting on quite a show of his irritation with another one, quacking wildly and carrying on for a moment.
“You first,” Eli said with a little laugh. “Unless, of course, you want me to hop off and dump you unceremoniously to the ground.”
He took my hand and held it in his. “No, I don’t think that would be very pleasant,” I said, refusing to look at Eli for fear of what I might do.
Slowly, he cradled me by the waist and eased me to the ground. As soon as my feet touched, I busied myself setting out a blanket and arranging our meal so I wouldn’t have time to make a fool of myself.
A time later, after we’d settled down and tucked into our food, I found I could hardly eat. Any time I went to take a bite, I just watched Eli and then put my sandwich back on the blanket.
“You were serious about that appetite,” I said as he swallowed the third, and final, bite of his first sandwich and immediately unwrapped the second.
He smiled, chewing slowly. “Claim working is hard business for hard men. Your father is doing better than I imagined he would when I first saw him. I thought he’d wash out like so many others who come this way with wild visions of gold dancing before their eyes.”
“Father is driven, if nothing else. And there’s some kind of problem with the bank, though he won’t say what it is.” I finally took a bite. “Is something wrong?”
A cloud passed in front of Eli’s face. He shook his head. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it? Nothing bad, I hope?”
“I’m not sure. What I mean is, it is bad, but I’m not sure what to make of the rumors what’re going around. Never been the sort to have gossip spread about me.” He took another massive bite then dropped his biscuit. “It’s new for me. I seem to have made an enemy in another life who has decided that there’s no time like the present to get revenge on me for something he himself did. He just got caught for it, and blames me over the mess.”
“Back up,” I said holding a hand out and inadvertently touching his. “I’m not following. Someone’s out to get you? You brought me all the way out here and swept me of
f my feet to tell me someone doesn’t like you?” My cheeks burned, though I was more irritated with myself for letting my emotions show in such a display than I was with Eli.
He squeezed my hand. “No, it’s not that at all.” That easy smile came back. “I just want you to know what’s happening in case I have to make a hasty retreat. I want you to know that it’s nothing to do with you. Understand?”
“No, not entirely. For someone who wanted to explain a situation to me, you’re being awfully vague. I can’t help but think there’s a reason for it.”
Eli laughed. “Yeah, you could say that.” He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling it with a long sigh. “All right, here goes. You remember the Sioux raid I told you about? Took place a week before we started our trip from Yankton?”
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
“Well, as it happens, Itan led it.”
“What does that have to do with you? You can’t control your friend.”
“Brother,” he said. “And you’re right. But someone has it in their mind that I put him up to it. Or rather, someone figured out we were connected, and wants to hang it on my head so he can get back at me.”
I sat forward on the balls of my feet. “Be clear, Eli, this sounds serious. That amounts to treason if Eustace tries to hang it on you.”
“How’d you know it was him?”
“I heard your exchange at the claim. I just assumed that –”
“Well you’ve got the right of it. We go back, old Goldtooth and I. We both worked Hearst’s Comstock after the War, you know.”
“I’ve heard such,” I said. “What did he do?”
Eli grimaced. “It’s a long story, longer than I’ll tell at present. The short version is that he decided to try and sabotage the Comstock. He wanted to blow out one of the tunnels.”
“What? Wouldn’t that kill a lot of people?”
“He’s not the sort to care. He figured if he could cave one of the tunnels in, Hearst would be pressured to close down the mine before it was tapped. He tried to recruit me into his little cabal, with the intention of buying the mine when Hearst was ruined.”
“So he’s a lunatic?” I cut in.
“And dangerous. Any rate, I told one of the foremen about it, more out of an interest in keeping my friends safe than in protecting George Hearst.” He spat. I took his meaning. “So if I get hauled off to jail, or if I catch wind of that happening and vanish, you know why. You’re the only one. I couldn’t stand to leave you not knowing.”
“Will I see you again?” I had to stop myself and collect my thoughts to keep my words from getting jumbled. “If that happens, I’ll see you again. Tell me I’ll see you again. Please, Eli! Tell me you’ll come back for me!”
For the second time since he had come to visit, my emotions got the best of me. It didn’t matter. I needed to know that my heart wouldn’t vanish with him.
“I promise, Miss Clara. Whatever happens, I’ll come for you. I, uh, feel rather foolish for laying all that out on you. We’ve not even known one another for a month, and here I am telling you my deepest fears. So much for quiet strength, hm?”
“I’m glad you did,” I said. I couldn’t finish my statement the way I wanted – I feel the same way, I couldn’t bear to see you go – no matter how much I wanted to do just that. So I just smiled.
He stood up and offered me his hand. “I see my sandwich wasn’t to your liking?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that at all,” I stooped over, grabbed it and took a big bite to show him.
I finally got to see his smile again. “All right, Miss Clara, let’s head on back. I’ve got some business to attend.”
Gracefully he pulled me back into the saddle, across his lap.
“Say it again, Eli,” I whispered after a few minutes of silent trotting. “I need to hear you say it again. Tell me that if anything happens that I don’t have to worry about you coming back for me.”
His eyes caressed my face and settled on my lips. “Never,” he said. “Nothing could keep me away from you. I can’t say why, I can’t say how, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone in my life, Clara James. No matter what happens, I won’t leave you wondering.”
Eli’s words were slightly vague, but there was nothing clearer than what happened next. He let Martin slow to a stop, dropped the reins and wrapped both his arms around me. “I’ll be back for you. If I leave, I’ll be back.” He closed his eyes, and I closed mine.
Warmth spread from where his lips touched mine, and trickled all the way to my fingertips. He held me tight, close against his chest, and penetrated my very soul with his kiss. What seemed like an hour later, he pulled away, and studied my face.
“Promise?” I asked before he kissed my cheek, then my lips a second time, harder and deeper.
“Words can lie,” he whispered. “But...”
I held his face between my hands. “But what, Eli?”
“But love never does. Love,” he pressed his lips to mine again, running his fingers through my hair. “Love never lies.”
Eight
September 22, 1878
Deadwood, Dakota Territory
“Father, is that Mr. Bullock? He seems quite bothered by something.”
It was just past noon, and Father had taken the day away from the claim to handle some business with the bank. Of course, he wouldn’t say what it was, but when he was finished, we found our way to the single inn’s luncheon buffet only moments before Mr. Bullock tromped toward the door.
“Where’s Eli?” he said, resting his hands on our table.
Father regarded him with a bit of surprise. “Good afternoon to you, Sheriff Bullock.”
“I apologize. I forget my manners on a near constant basis. Afternoon Mr. James, Miss James.” Whatever bothered him, I knew it was serious when he neglected to kiss my hand.
Immediately, my thoughts went back to the last time I saw Eli. I grabbed my elbows, not feeling terribly well.
“All right,” Father said. “Now, what is it you need with Mr. Masterson? I haven’t seen him since, oh, a day ago? Tuesday, must’ve been. Is something the matter?”
“No,” Mr. Bullock said. “Everything is fine. I just need to ask him a few questions. You look pale, Miss James, are you faint?”
I cooled my neck with a glass of iced water briefly and regained my composure. “I’m fine, thank you. Just had a bit of a spell.”
“If you need a doctor, I can escort you.”
“No, no need. Thank you, Mr. Bullock.”
He turned back to my father. “You’re sure you haven’t seen him? Neither has Al Swearengen or that prospector who wears the fancy hats. Your claim neighbor, whose name escapes me at the present.”
“Davis Clark?”
“There’s the one. Well,” he stood, brushing off the table where he’d dirtied it with his dusty palms. “I apologize for interrupting your meal. Thank you both.”
Mr. Bullock turned to leave, but I stopped him with a light touch on the elbow. “I’m sorry to bother you, sheriff, but are you going to look for him?”
Both men looked at me a bit dumbfounded. Father had his suspicions about Eli and me, but as far as he knew, suspicions were all they were. Seth, of course, was rather in the dark.
“I suppose I will. Can’t just leave matters like this lying.”
“May I accompany you? I’d do well to take some air after my faint spell. If you don’t mind, of course.”
“I may have to ask you to stand away when I speak with Mr. Masterson. Legal business and all,” he said quickly when he saw my confusion. “But I don’t mind the company. If, of course, your father this is acceptable to your father, of course. I’d hate to tear you away from a pleasant luncheon only to drag you around in the dirt. I fear the hem of your dress may become soiled.” His voice was strained and hurried.
Father nodded. “We were just about finished anyway. Could you escort her back to the house when you’re finished whate
ver business you’ve got with Eli?”
“Yes sir, much obliged.” He turned to me, with a dark look on his face. “You’re sure?”
I nodded and he lead me to the door, holding it open for me, then offering his arm as we stepped into the street. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” he said quietly to me. A horse slid by us, splashing a bit of muck on his trousers. “Normal law work doesn’t happen very often in this place. Usually things are well and settled, meaning someone has a bullet in them, by the time I’m summoned.”
“Yes, sir,” I said with a grin. “I took your meaning.” We strolled past a man being sick beside the Gem. Mr. Bullock drew my attention away from the unfortunate fellow.
“How are you liking the camp? Present issue excused, of course.”
“It’s all very new, still. I’ve spent a couple of days with Father at the claim,” I paused to skirt around a muddy hole. “And I’ve certainly become more nimble about dodging that sort of thing. I’ve met people who simply don’t exist in the city. There are inconveniences, to be certain, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“I’ve not known anyone so enthusiastic about Deadwood unless they’d found a vein. Or a girl they like at the Gem.”
He clapped his hand over his mouth, but I laughed. “It’s fine, Mr. Bullock. I’m a grown woman, and I live here. I’m aware of what goes on. Mostly anyway. Father’s found some gold, though I’m sure Mr. Star’s told you.”
“Actually, he hasn’t. Though with his recent string of absences, I assumed something like that must be the case. Clara, look out!” He pulled me to the side, lifting me off my feet and turning me about like we were dancing.
As soon as he set my feet back on the ground, I had to catch my breath a bit. “Well there’s something to write about, I suppose. Why didn’t that man stop?” The carriage which had almost taken my head off simply bobbled on down the road, hit a hole and just about pitched over before righting itself.
“Unless I’m mistaken, the town doctor almost found you.” He had an easy half-smile. “He didn’t mean nothing by it, I’m sure. Doc Craig is a little distracted much of the time.” Mr. Bullock pushed his hat back on his head and wiped his brow. “But at any rate, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been run down myself, and I’ve been here long enough to know better.”