A Home at Trail's End (5 page)

Elizabeth forced a smile as she reached for one of her father's shirts, giving it a good shake before she pegged it to the line. “Not really. I just couldn't find him and I thought he might have come over here.”

“No. Your father thought maybe he was going to give a hand with the rafters, but he hasn't been by.” Clara pegged the last damp towel up.

“Oh…” Elizabeth tried to conceal her concern.

“Are you all settled in at Malinda's?”

“Yes. It's been lovely having a real roof overhead.” Elizabeth held up the basket. “Would you folks like some bread? It comes out a little nicer than what you can make in the outdoor oven.”

“That would be lovely. Jess is making blackberry jam today. Perhaps we can enjoy some on this. Which reminds me, did Jess tell you that she got a letter from Ruby?”

“No. So how are Ruby and Doris doing?” Elizabeth still missed these two women, but she did understand their decision to remain in Empire City for the winter. Their plan was to open a restaurant, and according to Matthew, they wanted to liquidate some of the merchandise they brought with them from St. Louis. They hoped to make enough money in Empire City to join the others next summer, stake a claim, and build a house.

“It sounds like they're off to a good start,” Clara told her. “They've opened their restaurant in a little cabin that's down near the docks, and it sounds like they're making good money.”

Now Elizabeth updated her mother on all that she and Malinda had been doing the past couple of days, as well as all the plans that Malinda had for them yet to do. “I think she's trying to catch up with everything she'd let go after John died.” She sighed. “I remember how that was.” She smiled. “Thank goodness you were nearby when I needed you.”

“Well, I'm sure Malinda is happy to have you with her now. But it'll be a busy place with all those children staying there. You two will certainly have your hands full. Although the older girls should be of some help around the house. I assume they're done with their schooling by now.”

“Amelia is still in school, and Belinda has been helping Mrs. Taylor with the younger children. So the girls won't be around very much during the weekdays.”

“Perhaps that will be nice for you and Malinda. I'm sure you both have plenty to do to prepare for your upcoming nuptials and whatnot.” Clara made a happy sigh.

“So when does Father think your cabin will be finished?” Elizabeth asked as a distraction from speaking of weddings. She didn't want her mother to guess she was worried about Eli.

“Your father still thinks we'll be able to move indoors by mid-November. I sure hope he's right. Once the rains we keep hearing about start to come…well, I'm afraid that living in the tent will turn into a rather soggy affair.” She scowled at the tent. “I told Asa that I might move into the house whether it's finished or not.”

“Poor Mother.” Elizabeth put a hand on her shoulder. “You have been very patient through all this.”

“I suppose my patience is starting to wear a bit thin.” She rubbed the small of her back and sighed. “Or else I'm just getting too old for all this outdoor living.”

“You are not too old.” Elizabeth thought for a moment. “And I'll tell you what. If the weather changes and you're still not in your cabin, I'm sure Malinda will be glad to take you in.”

Clara made an amused smile. “That's sweet, dear. But poor Malinda—her house will be full to overflowing.”

“She has a barn too,” Elizabeth reminded her. “I'm sure we could make room for you in there. Maybe I'd join you.”

Clara laughed. “Well, I suppose if it comes down to that…I might be willing to sleep in a barn.”

They went into the tent, making themselves comfortable in the chairs and visiting a while longer, but the whole time Elizabeth's missing betrothed was lodged firmly in the back of her mind. Where was Eli? Why wasn't he working on their house? Where was her team? And what about her wagon?

“Well, I should get back to Malinda's.” Elizabeth slowly stood. “She's probably added half a dozen more chores to her list by now.”

Her mother chuckled as she hugged Elizabeth. “Thanks for the bread, dear. And don't worry about Eli. He's a good man.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I know he is. I just wish I knew
where
he is.”

“Well, if anyone can take care of himself, he can.”

“That's true enough.”

As they emerged from the tent, Elizabeth could see that the men were still intently getting a rafter into place. “If I do see Eli, I'll encourage him to come over here to help Matthew and Father,” she promised.

“And the sooner they get these houses finished, the more help Eli will have for your house.” Clara's eyes twinkled. “And the sooner you two can have that wedding.”

“I suppose. But getting started so late in the year…” Elizabeth shook her head. “Well, the children and I might be the ones who end up living in Malinda's barn this winter. At this rate, our wedding might not be until the end of next summer.”

“Oh, dear.” Clara frowned. “I hope not. Let's pray that house goes up quickly, Elizabeth.”

“Well, God willing…maybe that will happen.”

Elizabeth did pray as she walked back to Malinda's. She prayed that Eli was all right. She knew it was senseless to be worried about him. Her mother was correct about Eli. If anyone could take care of himself, it was Eli. He'd proven that to them on the trail over and over. Not only did he take care of himself, he helped take care of all the travelers as well. Surely, Eli was just fine.

“So how was your little picnic?” Malinda asked when Elizabeth came into the house.

Elizabeth set the empty basket on the table and sighed. “Actually, I didn't see him.” She explained that the wagon and team were gone. “So I dropped the bread and other food at my parents'. My mother was most appreciative.”

Malinda looked up from where she was sewing on the quilt she hoped to finish before Will's girls arrived. She planned to put it on the bed that Belinda and Amelia would share upstairs. “Where do you suppose he went?”

“Maybe he found a better section of land to get timber for the house.” Elizabeth removed her bonnet.

“Yes…that must be it.”

Elizabeth sat down beside her and threaded a needle, and for a while the two of them just stitched together in silence. “Malinda…?” Elizabeth began tentatively.

“Yes?” Malinda kept her eyes on her sewing.

“You wrote about the Indian skirmishes…that happened last year. Remember? In the letter I received while we were traveling.”

“Yes.” She nodded as she tied a knot and then clipped the thread.

“Well…I haven't seen a single Indian since I arrived here. I assumed that they've moved on. Is that right?”

Malinda frowned as she measured of a new length of thread. “Yes…that's mostly right.”

“Mostly?”

“It's not something people care to speak of much, Elizabeth. But yes, the Indians have been relocated.”

“Relocated?”

“Yes. After the troubles…well, the army came out and rounded them up. They took them up north I believe.”

Elizabeth felt a mixture of emotions now. Her first feeling was one of relief. Her fears that Eli had been ambushed by savages who had stolen her horses and wagon seemed to be unfounded. But her next concern was for the Indians. “All of the Indians were rounded up?” she asked. “Even the women and children?” She thought about some of the Indian women she'd seen along the way. She remembered the old woman that she and Ruth had purchased moccasins from. And she remembered Eli telling her about many of them being so peaceful…about them taking him in…about his wife.

“That's what I understand. Well, except for Charles Levine. Remember I told you about him—the one who took up with the Indian woman. From what I've heard, those two are hiding out somewhere. But if the army finds them, she'll probably be taken up north too.”

“Do you think that's fair?” Elizabeth asked quietly.

“Fair?” Malinda looked up. “Some of those Indians ambushed settlers, Elizabeth. Do you not recall those stories?”

“Yes…I do recall.” Elizabeth nodded. “But that was only
some
of the Indians, right? And certainly not the women and children. Wouldn't that be like some of our men doing something wrong or illegal and then all of us being rounded up and put in prison with them? Would that be fair?”

Just then the children came bursting into the house, and the question and the conversation became lost in the noise and commotion. Elizabeth tried to console herself that Eli was safe—he hadn't been taken by Indians. But at the same time, she felt disconcerted to think that Indian women and children had been forced off their land. Furthermore, she knew that Eli would feel even more upset to hear of this…or perhaps he already knew. After all, it was an old story in this new country…a very old story.

Chapter Four

O
n Thursday morning Elizabeth convinced JT that it was time for him and Ruth to start walking to school with their cousins. “It was one thing to ride Molly from our property, but you're much closer to school here at Malinda's,” she told them. “If Susanna can make the walk, then it seems Ruth is big enough as well.” Of course, her real reason for this was so that she would have the use of Molly. Her plan was to ride to her property, and if Eli wasn't working on the house as she expected he would be, she would ride all around the area to search for him.

After helping Malinda with the morning chores, Elizabeth saddled Molly and set out. She had been unable to sleep the night before, worried that Eli had been injured while felling timber or attacked by a wild animal or possibly even a renegade Indian. In the dark of the night, anything seemed possible. But now, by daylight, she felt more hopeful. In all likelihood she would arrive at her homesite and find that Eli was busily at work on the house. If that was the situation, she would simply act as if she were out for a ride, spend some time with him, and then return to Malinda's.

However, when she arrived on her property, everything looked exactly as it had the previous day. Eli, the team, and the wagon were nowhere to be seen. So she rode Molly all about the property, sometimes calling out for Eli. She even followed the creek to the river, thinking perhaps he'd been fishing and had fallen in. But her searching was in vain. Eli seemed to have vanished into thin air—along with her beloved team and her wagon.

“I don't know what to make of it,” she told Malinda after she'd turned Molly out to pasture. “Eli was nowhere to be found.”

Malinda looked up from her churning with concerned eyes. “What do you suppose has become of him?”

Elizabeth removed her riding jacket and just shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“How well do you know Eli?” Malinda asked.

“How well?” Elizabeth hung her jacket on a peg on the door. “He was our scout coming across the Oregon Trail…I'm sure I mentioned that to you already.”

“Yes, I know. But before that. What sort of life had he lived?”

“He'd been a trapper,” Elizabeth said absently. “So he definitely knows how to live off the land and survive.”

Malinda frowned. “I don't want to sound critical, Elizabeth, but trappers are an unusual sort. Very independent of society. And some of them seem to live by their own rules.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it possible that Eli is a dishonest man?”

“No,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Of course not. I trust Eli implicitly.”

“Well, your team and your wagon are very valuable around here. Mrs. Levine's husband traded his team of horses for 500 acres of valuable river land several years ago, and I'm sure your lovely Percherons would bring—”

“No.” Elizabeth firmly shook her head. “Eli would not do that. I know it for a fact. Eli is a good man.”

Malinda focused her attention on the churn, and Elizabeth went outside to check on her livestock. At least that is what she told herself as she left the house. Mostly she wanted to get away from Malinda's suspicious accusations. Malinda did not know Eli the way Elizabeth did. As Elizabeth went out to the chicken coop, she tried not to let Malinda's words do any more damage. Still she felt perplexed. Where was he?

Elizabeth hadn't told Malinda about Eli's previous marriage to an Indian woman. Just hearing Malinda speaking of the local Indians convinced Elizabeth where Malinda's sympathies lay. And if Malinda was suspicious of Eli now, how much more so would she be if she knew everything about him? Which brought Elizabeth back to Malinda's piercing question—how well did she know Eli?

Was it possible she had agreed to marry a man of low character? Had her heart tricked her? Eli was certainly handsome and charming, and she was definitely attracted to him. But really, how well did she know him? And yet she had accepted his proposal of marriage. She had allowed him into her world—and her children's. Was it possible that she'd made an enormous mistake?