Cowboy to the Rescue (4 page)

“Charlie—he’s my husband—he’ll see what your pa needs.” Miss Pam set a pitcher of warm water on her mahogany washstand. “You go ahead and clean up. Is that your fresh dress?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Susanna held up the one dress the thieves had managed to overlook in their destruction. They’d stolen her favorite pink calico, so this green print would have to do.

“It’s a pretty one.” Miss Pam gave Susanna a critical look up and down, her gaze stopping at her hair. “Do you have a brush?”

“No, ma’am.” She tried hard not to sigh, but a little huff escaped her. Almost everything she depended upon to make herself look presentable was gone or ruined.

Miss Pam gave her a sympathetic smile. She reached into her bureau drawer and retrieved a boar-hair brush with a tortoiseshell back, holding it out to Susanna. “You take my spare one.”

“Oh, my.” Her heart warmed at this woman’s generosity. While Susanna could afford to buy her own if she found a mercantile nearby, it seemed best to accept the brush and pay Miss Pam back later. “Thank you.”

While she helped Susanna brush her hair and fasten the back buttons on her dress, Miss Pam chatted about the big anniversary party coming up in July. “Out here, we’re always looking for something to celebrate, but this one is going to be special. Colonel and Mrs. Northam have done so much for this community, bringing in a preacher and building a church, just generally taking care of everybody. The Colonel says he has a doctor arriving next month. Too bad he’s not already here for your pa, but Charlie’s pretty good at tending injuries, being a former mountain man. You know how they have to be self-sufficient living out in the mountains by themselves the way they do.”

Not giving Susanna a chance to comment, she went on to list various ways Nate’s parents had helped folks. Every word and tone suggested only respect and affection for the Northams, especially lauding the Colonel’s leadership, but that still did not diminish Susanna’s apprehensions about meeting the man.

In less than an hour, Susanna felt sufficiently refreshed, and Miss Pam’s husband had taken care of Daddy. Charlie offered his expert opinion that Daddy’s left leg was indeed broken, as were several of his ribs. He made a splint for the leg, wrapped torn sheets around Daddy’s ribs and gave him a dose of medicine to ease the pain. Nate told Susanna that while the community awaited the doctor’s arrival, Charlie was often called upon to help folks out.

After they had enjoyed some of Miss Pam’s delicious gooseberry pie with a splash of thick fresh cream over the top, they headed south. Unable to bear riding inside the schooner another minute, Susanna sat beside Zack on the driver’s bench watching the beautiful green landscape dotted with occasional farmhouses nestled among the trees.

In less than an hour, the two wagons passed under a majestic stone archway emblazoned with an intricate cattle brand and the name Four Stones Ranch. A long drive between two fenced pastures took them toward the two-story white ranch house built on a stone foundation. To one side were a giant red barn and numerous outbuildings. Susanna noticed the addition Nate had mentioned, also two-storied, on the north end of the main structure. A wide brook ran some fifty yards from the house, and young elm and cottonwood trees grew in clusters around the property.

Nostalgia swept through Susanna at the sight of the beautiful ranch. Back home, magnolias would be in bloom, and maybe a few spring gardenias would still be filling the air with their lovely perfume. Catching a whiff of roses, she searched without success for the source of the fragrance.

As if someone had blown a trumpet to announce their coming, several people poured forth from the barn, while a solitary man emerged from the house.

Nate jumped down from the wagon and gave instructions to his cowhands, who took charge of his wagon and drove it toward the barn. Then he turned toward the other man.

An older version of Nate, and just as tall as his son, the dark-haired Colonel exuded authority before he even spoke a word. Susanna could hardly breathe as she listened to Nate’s brief explanation for the presence of the prairie schooner and its inhabitants. All the while, the older man glared at her through narrowed eyes. No one had ever looked at her with such disdain, perhaps even hostility. Yet she didn’t dare reveal her own bitter feelings against this Union officer. Maybe it was just those feelings speaking to her mind, but he looked like someone who would chase women and children from their plantation house and burn it to the ground.

“So I thought they would make a fine addition to our community, Colonel.” Nate sounded a little breathless, and from the way his right hand twitched, Susanna thought he might salute his formidable father. “Being homesteaders, that is.”

The Colonel walked to the back of the schooner and threw open the flap, then returned to face Nate, eyeing his son with obvious disgust. “What’s the matter with you, boy? These are no homesteaders. Where’s their furniture? Where are their clothes? All I see is a pickax and two gold pans. Can’t you tell a money-grubbing prospector when you see one?”

Chapter Four

N
ate saw the hurt in Susanna’s eyes and the way she cringed almost as if she’d been slapped. He ground his teeth as protectiveness once again roared into his chest. He had long ago learned that arguing with the Colonel was a useless exercise, but he’d never tried to beat some sense into the man. His hands ceased their nervous twitching and bunched into involuntary fists as if they wanted to do that very thing. Only by hooking his thumbs over his gun belt did Nate manage to control the impulse. How would he ever learn to control his temper when his father continued to rile him this way?

“Nathaniel!” Mother bustled out of the house and down the front steps, her fuzzy brown hair streaked with flour and her white cotton apron stained with jam. “You’re home at last.”

At the sight of her, Nate’s anger softened, replaced by the joy her presence always brought him. Spreading his arms, he welcomed her eager embrace. “Mother.” He held her tight and savored the aroma of fresh-baked bread that clung to her like perfume. Her nicely rounded form reminded him of Susanna’s need to put on a few healthy pounds. But if the Colonel had his way, the Anders family wouldn’t be enjoying any steaks at the Four Stones Ranch.

Mother leaned back and brushed a flour-covered hand over his cheek. “Angela and I have been baking all day, but I didn’t know when to have her cook your favorite— Oh! What’s this?” She broke away and moved toward the prairie schooner. “Why, Nate, you’ve brought us a guest.” She glanced at the Colonel. “Frank, help this young lady down so we can be properly introduced.”

Nate gulped back a laugh. His father never tolerated so much as a grin when Mother took charge this way.

“Of course, my dear.” His face a mask, the Colonel stepped over to the wagon and held out his hand. “Miss?” Even his offer sounded like an order.

Susanna eyed him with confusion, then gave Nate a questioning look. He returned a short nod, hoping she would accept the Colonel’s curt invitation. With a graceful elegance Nate hadn’t known she possessed, she lifted her chin like a duchess, then rose and stepped to the edge of the driver’s box to place her hand in his father’s.

“Thank you, sir.” Her posture stiff, her voice coldly polite, she permitted him to assist her to the ground beside Mother.

Nate usually waited to be addressed by his father. This time, however, he approached the little group and said, “Mother, Colonel, may I present Miss Susanna Anders? Miss Anders, Colonel and Mrs. Northam.”

Her expression filled with warmth and hospitality, Mother gripped Susanna’s hands. “Welcome, Miss Anders. Do come in the house. Supper will be ready shortly, and I’m sure you would welcome a chance to—” She started to usher Susanna toward the house, but the young lady gently resisted and turned back toward the wagon.

“Thank you, ma’am, but my daddy requires my attention.”

“Oh.” Mother didn’t bat an eyelid. “Another guest. Is he ill?” She shot a look at the Colonel. “Frank, my dear, don’t just stand there. We must help these people.”

The Colonel also didn’t bat an eyelid. “Of course, my dear.” His expression unchanged, he once again walked to the back of the wagon. “Nate, get over here and help me.”

Nate had to turn away and regain his composure before obeying. Mother and the Colonel rarely did battle, but when they did, Mother never lost.

* * *

Susanna threw dignity aside and pulled down the tailgate so she could scramble into the back of the schooner. Finding Daddy sound asleep, she lifted a prayer of thanks he hadn’t heard that awful Colonel’s rude words. Daddy wasn’t the slightest bit money-grubbing. He didn’t need to be because he already had plenty of money. And what on earth was wrong with being a prospector? Suddenly, camping beside the road they had just traveled seemed a better idea than accepting the hospitality of this Yankee family.

“Dearest.” She gently touched Daddy’s cheek. “We’re here at Nate’s house.” Only by thinking of it as Nate’s could she consider going inside.

“Hmm?” Daddy raised a bruised hand and swept it over his eyes. That medicine Mr. Williams had given him had probably muddled his thinking. He inhaled deeply, then winced. “What?”

Susanna glanced at the three Northams, who were peering into the wagon with varied expressions. She decided to ignore the pity in Nate’s eyes and the hostility in his father’s, and concentrate on the warm concern beaming from Mrs. Northam’s sweet, round face.

As if the older woman realized how the situation appeared from Susanna’s viewpoint, she gave Nate a little shove. “Go on inside, son. Tell Angela to get your bed ready. We’ll put Mr. Anders in your room. Then come back and help your father.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He disappeared, and the thumps of his hurried footsteps resounded through the canvas walls of the wagon.

Daddy caught sight of their hosts and tried to rise. “Help me up, daughter. I should greet our company.”

A faint growl sounded in the Colonel’s throat, and Susanna gulped back sharp words, while Mrs. Northam shushed her husband. As she helped Daddy to a sitting position, Susanna gave a little laugh that sounded a bit too high and a bit too nervous in her own ears. “Actually, dearest, we are the company.”

As if he finally grasped the situation, Daddy’s eyes cleared. “Ah, yes, of course.” He nodded toward the Yankee couple.

Susanna briefly considered presenting Daddy to them, as would be proper, since they were the hosts, but something inside her refused to comply. After all, the prairie schooner
was
her and Daddy’s home. “Daddy, may I present Mrs. Northam and Colonel Northam?”

If he noticed her breach of etiquette, he didn’t indicate it. “How do, ma’am, sir?” He leaned into Susanna’s shoulder. “Edward Anders.”

“We’re pleased to meet you, Mr. Anders,” Mrs. Northam said. “You just rest a minute, and Nate will be back to help you inside.” She looked up at her husband and raised one eyebrow.

The Colonel cleared his throat and pursed his lips. His wife elbowed him in the ribs. “So you met up with horse thieves, did you, Anders?”

Daddy coughed out a wry laugh and grimaced. “Indeed we did. Took most of our belongings and supplies and did their best not to leave a witness.” He patted Susanna’s hand. “The good Lord protected my daughter, as she was off fetching water when they came.”

“Oh, my.” Mrs. Northam’s eyes reddened. “Praise the Lord.”

“That I do, ma’am. That I do.”

Slightly out of breath, Nate appeared once again beside his parents. “Angela was waiting by the door. She’ll have my room ready by the time we get there.”

“I don’t want to put you out, Nate,” Daddy said.

“Not at all, sir. I—” Mrs. Northam began.

“They won’t be here long,” the Colonel said. “I’m sure Anders is anxious to get on his way to the silver fields.” He waved Nate toward the wagon. “Get on in there and help him out.”

Instead of the instant obedience Susanna expected to see, Nate fisted his hands at his waist. “He’ll need to recuperate for quite a while before he goes anyplace. And they’ll need another team of horses.” His father started to respond, but Nate hurried on. “We need Mr. Anders to give us a good description of those horse thieves so we can put the word out to everybody. They’re a threat to the whole valley. If they get away with what they did, all sorts of criminals will think—”

“You think I don’t know that?” The Colonel silenced Nate with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Now, let’s get this done.”

Despite her outrage over the Colonel’s behavior, Susanna could not fail to be impressed by his and Nate’s strength as they lifted Daddy’s cot from the prairie schooner and carried it toward the house. Daddy was not a small man, so they set him down and summoned two men—she guessed they were called cowboys—to help carry the invalid up to the second floor of the house. Susanna didn’t have time to notice much as they entered and climbed the stairs, but what she did see impressed her with its beauty and grandeur, much like the mountains surrounding this high valley. While she wouldn’t call it a mansion, it certainly was an imposing domicile.

Within ten minutes, Daddy was resting in a charmingly masculine room, where guns and antlers decorated the walls, and pine furniture and woven rag rugs contributed to the rustic atmosphere. Above Nate’s handsome pine secretary, a glassed-in bookcase held several leather-bound books. Susanna didn’t take time to read the titles, but she longed to know what he read besides Dickens.

“And now for you, Miss Anders.” Mrs. Northam took Susanna’s arm and led her down the hallway to another bedroom very different from Nate’s. Frilly white curtains fluttered in the breeze wafting through the two windows. A pink-and-blue patchwork quilt covered the four-poster bed, and a blue velvet overstuffed chair sat nearby on a patch of carpet. The scent of roses filled the air, although none were in the cut-glass vase on the bedside table. “This is our daughter Rosamond’s room. When she returns from her friend’s house, she’ll be pleased to learn she has a roommate. Maisie’s coming with her to spend the night, but we can bring in an extra mattress.”

“You’re so very kind, ma’am.” Susanna’s eyes stung. Would these other girls truly welcome her? Would Rosamond be like her mother or more like her inhospitable father?

Sudden weariness filled her, and she eyed the feather bed with longing. As if reading Susanna’s mind, Mrs. Northam gave her a brief hug.

“Why don’t you lie down? I’ll send our girl Rita up to wake you when it’s time to eat.”

“How can we ever thank you?” And how could she think any evil of this sweet Yankee lady?

* * *

“I will speak to you in my office, Nate. Now.” The Colonel didn’t grant Mr. Anders so much as the courtesy of a parting word, but strode from the room toward the front staircase. The two cowhands followed after him.

Nate gritted his teeth as he watched his father leave. Pasting on a more pleasant expression, he turned to the bed where Mr. Anders lay, his gaze on Nate.

“You get some rest, sir.” Nate bent forward to adjust the quilt. “If you need anything—”

“You’ve done a lot, young man.” The look of approval in his eyes caused a stirring in Nate’s chest. How would it feel if his father looked at him that way? “You’re a true Good Samaritan, just like the Good Book says.”

Nate cleared his throat. He wanted to say
aw, shucks,
like his youngest brother might. Instead, he offered, “Don’t mention it, sir. I’m glad to help. We all are.”

Mr. Anders coughed out a laugh, then grimaced and clutched his ribs. “I wouldn’t say
all,
son, but I’ll let it go at that.”

Nate took his leave, shutting the door behind him and offering a prayer for the old man’s recovery. At the top of the stairs, he hesitated. The Colonel had ordered him down to his office, but Nate couldn’t just go off and leave Susanna. He walked to Rosamond’s room and tapped on the door just as Mother swung it open.

“Nate.” She reached up to give him another welcoming hug. “Oh, it’s so good to have you back home. I miss you so much when you make these long trips for supplies. I don’t know why your father can’t just send some of the hired men.” She cast a quick look at Susanna, and her eyebrows arched briefly. She opened and shut her mouth as though she had started to ask him something, then changed her mind. Instead, she patted his cheek. “I’m going downstairs to finish helping Angela and Rita with the baking. Then we’ll prepare supper. You may stand right here in the doorway and speak to Miss Anders for two minutes. Then I expect to hear your boots on the downstairs floor fifteen seconds after that.”

Nate pursed his lips to suppress a grin. “Mother, Susanna and I have been out on the trail together for two days, with her father looking on the whole time. You don’t have to worry about any improper behavior.”

“Susanna, is it?” Mother looked at her. “And I suppose you call him Nate?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Susanna returned a sweet smile. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

“Hmm.” Mother got a speculative gleam in her eyes. “No, dear, not at all.” She swept past Nate, wearing a soft grin and watching him the whole time as she headed for the back stairs that led to her kitchen.

All of a sudden, the kerchief around Nate’s neck seemed awfully tight. Mother often teased him about girls. It seemed to him that was what most mothers did to their sons. But she’d never said anything so bold in front of a young lady.

“I hope you don’t mind her.” He leaned against the doorjamb, crossed his arms and offered Susanna an apologetic grimace.

“Not at all.” She untied her bonnet and hung it on the back of Rosamond’s desk chair. “She’s very kind and hospitable.” Now serious, she leveled a steady gaze on him. “I’m afraid your father is not quite so pleased to have us as guests.” Biting her lower lip, she stared out the window. “Maybe we should go back to the café. It seems Mr. and Mrs. Williams would be—”

“No.” Nate spoke more sharply than he intended, and she blinked. “I mean, they’re the salt of the earth, but they run their place without help, so it might be a burden for them. We have servants and cowhands and a big family.” He rolled his hat in his hands. “Besides, I feel it’s my responsibility to see that your father gets back on his feet.” That thought had just come to him. Yet hadn’t the biblical Good Samaritan taken responsibility for the beaten merchant even after taking him to the inn? Nate knew he could do no less.

Susanna’s blue eyes were rimmed with tears. “I don’t know what to say.”

He barked out a laugh that didn’t sound quite as cheerful as he intended. “I do. We’re having steak for supper, and I can’t wait to bite into a big juicy one.”

Smiling again, she laughed, too. “You mean no beans?”

“Nathaniel Northam!” The Colonel’s voice thundered up the staircase.

Nate gave an artificial shudder. She didn’t need to know how much he was truly quaking inside over his father’s angry summons.

“That’s right. No beans.”

Her soft feminine laughter followed him all the way down the stairs, and he barely had time to wipe the grin off his face before stepping into the Colonel’s office for his scolding—undeserved but nonetheless expected.