Chapter 13
“Curtis!” Ellie screamed, running to the bank as Moses leapt from his horse and jumped into the river, powerful arms battling the wild water as he went after his friend. Ellie ran along the bank as fast as she could, but lost time from the mud that built up on her shoes, making her stumble. Dense underbrush growing along the river frustrated her. The rain felt as hard as bullets, but she didn’t stop. She had to find Curtis.
It seemed like hours, but must only have been minutes, before the rain slacked off. Pushing damp hair out of her eyes, Ellie stumbled along on boots caked with mud, praying that Moses would be able to pull Curtis out to safety. Maybe he could reach the shore at one of the riverbends.
She wouldn't think that they may not escape the wild water. She would find them, and they would be alright.
“Where are you going?” Jesse’s angry voice was such a welcome sound that Ellie turned and smiled up at him. Behind Jesse was David on his piebald horse.
“Go!” she yelled, pointing downstream. “Curtis and Moses got washed away! Go find them!”
Jesse leaned down and stuck his hand out toward Ellie.
“Come back for me later!” Ellie yelled, “Go, go!”
Jesse kicked his horse and continued along the river.
David hung back. “I don’t want to leave…”
“Just go find them!” Ellie commanded.
David stared at her for a moment, then rode on, slower than Jesse, with frequent glances backward.
The only thing that mattered was that Curtis was alright.
Ellie kept going, until she saw David holding the reins of his piebald and Jesse’s bay, but Jesse was nowhere in sight. Turning toward the river, Ellie saw Curtis and Jesse kneeling beside Moses, who was face down, propped up on his elbows, coughing as if he’d swallowed half the river. Curtis gave him a mighty thump on his back.
“Are you alright?” Ellie called..
Curtis and Jesse looked up at her at the same time. “Yes,” they both said, then looked at each other in momentary confusion. “It’s Moses who forgot that he’s not as good a swimmer as I am.” Curtis finished.
“Since the river’s pulled him closer to our house, we figured on taking him there,” Jesse said. “Let’s get him on my horse and take him to Ma for more doctoring.” Jesse grinned as he helped boost Moses to his feet and aimed him toward Curtis’s horse. “If he happens to needs a little stitching, Mama can put her best work forward.”
“That’s not funny,” Ellie protested. “He looks really hurt.”
“It’d be alright if she uses pink thread,” Moses croaked, then coughed as if trying to get all the water in Colorado out of his lungs.
Curtis dragged him up to Jesse’s horse and pushed him up onto the saddle, where Moses sagged sideways.
“You’d better get up there and hold him on,” Jesse said.
Curtis’s gaze captured Ellie’s and held. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Ellie said. She was, knowing that Curtis was safe. Putting her hand on his strong arm and giving him a little push, she said, “You take care of Moses now.” The sense of familiarity she felt for him seemed right and proper.
Without warning, Curtis reached out and embraced Ellie, holding her tightly against his sodden chest. “I wasn’t sure I'd ever see you again,” he whispered hoarsely. “You have to know…”
“Come on!” Jesse cried, struggling to hold Moses in the saddle.
Curtis’s gaze lingered on Ellie a second longer, her heart soaring as his eyes said more than he had spoken. Then he whirled around, stepped in the stirrup, and swung himself up behind Moses, his strong arms on either side of the thin man, offering rock-solid support. Then he headed toward Ellie’s house.
Ellie didn’t realize she was staring until David said in a somber tone, “You really like him, don’t you?”
She turned, surprised to remember that David was even there. Realizing that she might have lost Curtis for good gave her the courage to speak what her heart was shouting. There was no point in pretending she didn’t feel as she did. “Yes,” she admitted.
“But I like you.”
“David, I…”
“If he’d never come, then you would still like me,” David declared.
“David,” Jesse said, looking tired all of a sudden. “Let’s not worry about that now,”
“Then when can we worry about it?” David asked, turning to face Jesse.
“Well, according to Moses, the girl has to have a say in it,” Jesse said. He ran his hand through his wet hair, then shivered. “I’m ready to get out of these soggy clothes. Are you coming, Ellie?”
Ellie turned to follow Jesse along the river.
“Take my horse,” David called. Ellie turned to see David heading toward his house, damp shirt clinging to his rounded shoulders.
“Thank you,” Ellie called.
David raised a hand, then dropped it back to his side without looking back.
When Ellie and Jesse got home, Jesse took David’s horse to the barn. Ellie found Moses on the sofa, covered with a blanket, his one eye opened as Linnea fussed with a spoon and a bottle of elixir.
A rattle of firewood falling into the kitchen woodbox made Ellie jump. “Plug your nose,” Jack suggested to Moses while dusting off his hands “That’s what I do when she tries to give that to me.”
Curtis caught Ellie’s eye and smiled. She smiled back as warmth spread through her in spite of her damp clothes.
“Jack, build up the fire so these men can get warm.” Linnea turned toward Ellie and said, “Ellie, go get into something dry. I have enough people to doctor as it is.”
Ellie obeyed, going into her room and taking her carving knife and finished rabbit out of her pocket before peeling off her damp dress, chemise, and knickers. Then she wrapped a blanket around her body for a few minutes, letting it warm her from the outside in while the warmth of Curtis’s presence spread from inside her heart outwards.
Once she’d quit shivering, she pulled on some dry clothes. She never felt fully dressed without her carving knife and a piece of wood to whittle, so she chose her nearly completed eagle and dropped it in her pocket. She added the figure of Papa, then opened her door.
Jesse and Jack were nowhere to be seen. “Where did they go?” Ellie asked.
“To town to fetch supplies for me,” Mama replied.
Moses appeared to be sleeping, lying so still that Ellie studied his chest, making sure that she could detect the slight rise and fall of his breathing. His injured eye was not quite closed, making Ellie wonder again at the incident that created the mangled eye socket.
“If you’ve got something else to do, you could come back for him,” Linnea said to Curtis, nodding at Moses.
“Actually, I do have some business I should conduct,” Curtis said.
“Changing into something dry would be a good start,” Linnea suggested. “You could come on back for supper. I hope you like trout.”
“I expect so,” Curtis replied. “I sure do like catfish.”
Linnea stood and dusted her hands down the front of her apron. “We’ll have potato salad and walnut muffins, too. Now, Ellie, I went and sent your brothers off without noticing that I’m nearly out of black thread, of all things. I need you to go get some at the general store.” She reached into a little bag tied beneath her apron, pulled out a coin, and handed it to Ellie. “Three spools.”
Ellie headed to the door, but Curtis beat her to it and held it open for her. “Thank you,” Ellie said.
Curtis shut the door behind them. “I’ll walk with you.”
Perfectly content to be in his company, Ellie was surprised by his next words. “I’ve heard that you are a good hand at carving.”
“Who told you that?”
“Jesse likes to talk.”
“I enjoy doing it,” Ellie admitted.
“I am interested to see what you’ve done. Will you show me?”
“I have some finished ones hidden in my
room,” Ellie replied uncertainly.
“Hidden?”
“You know Mama doesn’t much like me spending time on them,” Ellie reminded him.
“Oh, of course.”
Ellie reached into her pocket. “But I like carrying some to work on. This one isn’t done yet.” She pulled the eagle out.
“May I?” Curtis’s voice was gentle.
Ellie glanced at his outstretched hand, which appeared more inviting than demanding. She held up her carving of an eagle in flight. “It’s not finished.”
Curtis lifted the wooden bird, turning it this way and that, examining it. Ellie tried to read his face, but he looked so serious that she began to wish she hadn’t shown him her work. She didn’t want him to think badly of her. But carving was a part of her that she was tired of hiding.
“Yes, this will do nicely,” Curtis announced, lowering the eagle and smiling at Ellie.
“Do for what?” Ellie watched his fingers curl around her carving, wishing those fingers were curled around her own hand.
“For exporting.”
Ellie moved her gaze from his hand to his eyes. Was he making fun of her? He gave her a steady look in return. “People would want to buy that?” Ellie asked.
“Oh, yes. There is an intense interest not only along the Eastern seaboard, but also in Europe about things from the Wild West. I assure you, I can sell all you make.”
Ellie’s mind spun with possibilities. Would Mama frown on her carving if it brought an income? How could she call it useless if it helped put food on the table? “But it’s not finished,” Ellie protested.
Curtis handed it back to her. “Don’t take too long on it. Rugged carvings would fetch a handsome price, even more than polished pieces. Buyers are interested in experiencing the rough, wild adventure of the west. Do you have any more?”
Ellie hesitated, then pulled out her carving of Papa. Curtis took it from her and turned it this way and that. “Very lifelike,” he said. “You have a real talent.”
Ellie took the carving back. “I would never sell that one,”
“How do you feel about trying your hand at carving Indians?”
Startled, Ellie said, “I don’t know that I could.”
“If you can carve that,” Curtis said, gesturing toward her pocket, “then you could carve anything.” Just then, the hotel came into sight, and Curtis asked, “Do you mind waiting a moment while I change?”
“Not at all.”
Ellie waited in a red upholstered chair in the hotel lobby until Curtis returned from his room, looking much more comfortable in dry clothes. Then Curtis took her hand and led her outside, heading toward the general store. Ellie was glad of his touch, even if he did it just to help her cross the slippery road.
Ellie gazed longingly at the activity going on at train station across the street from the hotel. Several men stacked crates, preparing to load them on the expected train while people milled about on the platform, some coming, some going. Ellie didn’t even know Curtis was watching her until he asked, “Would you like to go take a look?”
“I can’t… the station master…”
“Will say nothing if you are in my care,” Curtis announced, wrapping his arm around her waist. “I will take full responsibility for keeping you off the tracks.”
Ellie felt a perverse satisfaction as she walked up onto the station platform again, feeling emboldened by the sound of her boot heels clacking against the rough wooden flooring. She studied the crates being loaded and piled up, imagining her carvings packed inside with soft dried grass surrounding them to keep them from cracking or chipping in transit.
When she looked up, she noticed middle aged Mrs. Demar sitting on the station bench, a hat on her head with flowers tucked in on top of the brim, and a satchel at her side. Mrs. Demar was rather colorless, her beige dress a close match to her skin, which was a similar shade to her pale hair. Moving closer, Ellie said, “Hello, Mrs. Demar.”
Mrs. Demar glanced up and nodded. “Hello.”
Remembering her manners, Ellie said, “Mrs. Demar, have you made the acquaintance of Mr. Curtis Locken?”
Mrs. Demar glanced up at Curtis, then straightened her back and patted a bit of beige hair at the back of her neck. “No, I don’t believe I have.”
Curtis took Mrs. Demar’s gloved hand. “My pleasure, ma’am.” He bent over and touched his lips to the back of her glove.
Mrs. Demar gave a slight smile in return, her cheeks blushing a becoming shade of pink. Ellie decided that her pink dress would have done wonders for Mrs. Demar’s complexion.
“Are you taking the train?” Ellie asked.
“I am going to visit my sister,” Mrs. Demar said, folding her hands carefully in her lap so that the back of the kissed hand was on top.
“I hope all is well.”
“She’s feeling poorly, but I will soon set her to rights.” Mrs. Demar absently stroked the back of her hand with one finger, a smile slipping across her mouth.
“We’d better finish that errand for your mother.” Curtis said. Before turning away, he said to Mrs. Demar, “I wish you a pleasant journey,’ and gave her a sweeping bow.
Mrs. Demar flashed him a bright smile. “Thank you.”
“Get offa there!” Sheriff Childs yelled.
Startled, Ellie looked up to see the sheriff moving toward her with short steps, favoring his left leg a little. “I tol’ you ta stay away from the station!”
“She’s with me,” Curtis said, taking a step in front of Ellie.
“That’s not what I tol’ her,” Sheriff Childs said, standing squarely in front of them, sticking his thumbs into his waistband, close to his guns. “I said no comin’ ta the station.”
“For what reason?” Curtis asked.
“What reason?” Sheriff Childs sputtered. “Because she falls on the tracks, creates a disturbance, is bad for bizness.”
“I will keep her off the tracks,” Curtis said, pulling Ellie’s arm into the crook of his elbow. “She will not disturb anyone while I’m with her, and we are considering buying train tickets. How can that be bad for business?”
“Well, if you’re taking her away from here, then that’s different.” The Sheriff made sure to give Ellie a disapproving glance. “If’n you’d listen, Missy, you’d live longer.”
“What’s going on?” Jesse called, hurrying across the station platform toward them. Jack followed more slowly, carrying a sack of flour and a bulging cloth bag.
“She’s not suppos’ to be on this here staton platform,” the sheriff said.
“Is there a law against it?”
Sheriff Childs pulled himself up taller, although he was still shorter than Jesse. “On my say-so.”
“But is there a law?”
Sheriff Childs pointed at the platform. “The station master’s in charge of this here station, and the trains, an’ he said keep her off.”
“I do believe it would be the train owners who are in charge of the trains and the station,” Jesse reasoned.
“Excuse me,” Jack said. “Will you give me a hand, Jesse? We still have to go to the milliners.”
Jesse glanced at his brother, “You carry the food, I’ll carry the hat.” He grinned. “Possession is nine tenths of the law.” Then Jesse turned to Ellie. “Are you alright?”
Ellie nodded as Curtis said, “We have the situation in hand.” Jesse glanced at her hand secured in his elbow and smiled knowingly. “Goodbye, Sheriff,” Jesse said.
Sheriff Childs grunted and moved off the platform, his spurs jangling while Jesse followed his brother.
Ellie turned to looked at Curtis as he steered her toward the general store. “We’re buying train tickets?” she asked.
Curtis lifted his shoulders an inch and then dropped them. “At some future point in time, I am likely to buy a train ticket. You may buy a train ticket. I did not say to the sheriff that we would be buying tickets on the same train at the same time, although that is something I would c
ertainly look forward to.”
Ellie could find no fault in his reasoning.
Once they bought the thread, Ellie stepped out the door and stood on the porch, looking up at Curtis expectantly.
Curtis returned her gaze for a moment before asking, “Do you have something else you need to do?”
“No. I thought you did.”
“Why, no, I don’t believe I do.”
“You told Mama you had some business to conduct.”
“Ah, yes,” Curtis said. “I am almost finished with that. There’s one more thing I need to do. This way, please.”
He led her back on the path toward her home. “Where could you possibly conduct business outside of the center of town?” Ellie asked, glancing at the trees on either side of the road.
“Didn’t I talk to you about selling your carvings?” Curtis asked gently.
“Well, yes.”
“That was business.”
“Yes.”
Curtis turned from the path, leading Ellie to a place behind a copse of young trees that shielded them from the road. “And this is the other part of my business.” He gazed at her with such loving intensity that Ellie felt like she’d be happy looking into his eyes forever. Still focused on her face, he lowered his mouth to hers. She didn’t move as his warm lips touched hers, moving slightly as he cupped his hands behind her head.
Heart beating warm and happy, she responded as naturally as as if she was born to slide her hands up his muscled arms to lock behind his neck and move her mouth against his. The curls at the ends of his hair slid across her fingers as his lips lingered on hers, making her so happy she felt weightless.
When he pulled back at last, Ellie’s breath came fast and shallow as she stared up into his blue eyes in wonder. Keeping his gaze fixed on her, Curtis lowered himself until he was kneeling on the ground.
“Wha…?” she began.
Curtis pressed a finger to her tingling lips. “Hear me out, please.” Grasping her hands, his warm voice flowed over her, filling her with a desire to hear it for the rest of her life. “Miss Eleanor Ransom, you have intrigued me ever since I met you.”
Ellie looked down at his handsome, earnest face uncertainly. Was this real? How could she even think that with the kiss he’d just bestowed, the love that showed plain in his soft blue eyes, making it so she almost couldn’t breathe? She wanted to carve that expression in a piece of wood so that she would have it to gaze on for the rest of her life.
What would Papa think of him? Certainly better than he thought of the children who’d called her “Skunk Girl.” Even in better times, Indians coming into town to trade had stepped back from her, staring. When Ellie asked, “Why are they looking at me like that?” her mother’s awkward fingers tried to tuck Ellie’s white streak deeper into her braid.
“It’s because they’ve never seen such beautiful hair,” Wilburn said.
“Except on a skunk.”
Wilburn looked shocked. “My daughter, a skunk?”
“The kids say I am.”
“You mean they don’t know you are a beautiful gift from heaven, sent with a streak of angel light? They just wish they could show that they’re loved clear up to heaven.”
Ellie gazed down at Curtis. Was his love for her as big as Heaven? It didn’t matter that she’d only met him a couple of weeks ago. She was certain that she loved him with all her heart. She felt like she belonged with him, and would go anywhere to be by his side. She’d even leave Mama and Papa.
If only Papa were home where he belonged. Ellie felt a catch in her throat. If Mama loved Papa like Ellie loved Curtis, then a whole new chasm of loss opened up in Ellie’s imagination.
“It’s true we haven’t known each other long,” Curtis said, “but in my life I’ve learned that waiting too long to act can create unnecessary sorrow. I admire your kind of beauty, the one that never fades, in your concern for your friend and your love toward your mother, brothers, and even your father.”
And you. What if I ever lost you like Mama lost Papa? Ellie’s face crumpled as her eyes filled with tears and her heart ached with loss. Pulling her hands free from Curtis, she hid her face behind them and wept.
Curtis was on his feet in an instant, his arms around Ellie in an effort to comfort her. What had he done? He’d intended to ask her to be his wife, even though he didn’t know if she would agree. He’d planned to ask Linnea for permission, of course. If Ellie didn’t feel ready, he was going to ask permission to court her until she was convinced that his love for her was enough for both of them.
But now, before he could even ask the question that burned in his heart, he had said something that brought her to tears. Sometimes it was good for a woman to cry, but not on the brink of a marriage proposal. He pressed his beloved against his chest, wishing he could erase her tears. He had made a personal vow to never intentionally bring her pain, and here he was, trying to hold her together from heartbreak he’d inadvertently brought to her.
Now there was only one thing he could think of to do.