Dorothy Garlock - [Wabash River] (8 page)

“Yo’re jist as purty as a button, Sis. Ya ain’t agoin’ to have no trouble a’tall gettin’ any man ya want after I’m gone. Jist don’t be in no hurry choosin’, ’n jist don’t be lettin’ the one ya want see how good ya can shoot, if ’n ya like him a’tall,” Juicy had said one afternoon after she had brought down a duck on the wing. “Fellers ain’t alikin’ to be bested by a button of a gal.”

“Oh, poo! That wouldn’t bother Rain,” she had replied.

“I’m atellin’ ya fer yore own good, missy. If ’n ya set yore sights on a man, don’t be ashowin’ him up. Not that I reckon ya could best Rain at anythin’ a’tall. Stay soft, missy. Ya can get more flies with honey than ya can with vinegar.”

“I put the dress on last night and it didn’t do a damn bit of good,” she hissed aloud to the old man’s image that floated in her mind. “So much for being soft. I can’t be what I’m not, not even for Rain. I’m me. Amy. He’ll know it if I start playacting.”

*   *   *

Amy placed the bucket of milk on the doorstone, ran her sweating palms down the smooth, soft leather of her long shirt and tightened the belt at her waist. Her insides were shaking, but her features were composed when she lifted the doorlatch, picked up the bucket and went into the kitchen.

Liberty was bending over the iron spider where breakfast meat was sizzling. Farr and Rain sat at the table. One quick glance told her Rain had shaved and was wearing a soft linen shirt instead of the buckskin he’d worn the night before.

“Morning,” Amy said to everyone in general and put the bucket on the counter. “What can I do, Libby?”

Liberty looked up, saw her sister’s still face and noted that she wore the britches and long shirt. Her heart lurched with pity. There was no coyness or pretense in Amy. She was no longer the outspoken child who blurted her feelings. She would hold them inside, waiting for Rain to make a move. Liberty hoped and prayed he had a special feeling for her sister and would tell her so. He and Farr were so busy talking he had scarcely looked up when Amy came in the door.

“You can get a crock of milk out of the cellar.”

Almost before Liberty had finished speaking, Amy was lifting the trap door in the floor. She took a candle from the mantel and went down the steps into the cold cellar. Knowing it would be foolish to linger and let the cold air up into the kitchen, she picked up the crock and went quickly back up the steps. Her eyes met Rain’s as she came up into the kitchen. She stopped breathing for an instant. Then his dark eyes left her face and moved back to Farr’s as if she were no more than a stranger.

Amy would have been surprised to know the thoughts that raced through Rain’s mind: Well, what do you know? Little Amy in britches. Rain had seen only one other woman wearing men’s pants, and she hadn’t looked half as fetching as Amy. She was the woman of a French voyager who was as big and as rough as her man. He had to admit that there was no comparison between Amy and the Frenchman’s woman. He wondered what folks here in the settlement thought about a female in pants. It must be a good topic of conversation for the ladies as well as the men, he mused. Then it occurred to him that Amy was the “boy” he had met down the road. Had he changed so much she hadn’t recognized him? he wondered.

With an effort Rain brought his attention back to what Farr was saying.

“Liberty teaches reading. Amy teaches writing and ciphering. Besides our three, there are a dozen other children. Mercy teaches some of the young ones. Someday there’ll be a real schoolhouse, but for now they come here three mornings a week.”

“You’ve made a lot of progress here, Farr.”

“Yes, but the challenge is gone. Libby and I talked about it last night, Rain. We’re boxed in here and we’re considering going on west, across the Mississippi and into the Missouri Territory.” Liberty stopped behind her husband and placed her hand on his shoulder. He reached up to cover it with his. “We’d like to know more about your high valley, Rain, if you’ve got a mind for our company.”

The words dropped like a stone in the quiet room. Amy straightened, her head turning to look over her shoulder at the two men at the table. Liberty looked quickly at her sister and saw the frozen look on her face.

“I sure as hell do have a mind for your company! I was hoping you still had the yen to cross rivers and climb mountains, but was afraid—”

Farr chuckled. “Afraid Libby would hold me back? Not on your life! She’s the one that suggested we pull up and go with you. She’s afraid I missed out on something by marrying her and tying myself down with a family. Even if I’d not met Libby, and God forbid such a thing would have happened, I still couldn’t have left Juicy. He had been ailing for years and deserved some comfort in his old age.”

“The country’s opening up. A man with trade goods can do business anyplace along the river.”

Amy turned her back to lift plates from the shelf. A chill touched her spine. Would Libby and Farr pull out and leave her here? If Rain didn’t invite her to go, what would she do?

“What do you think, Amy?” Farr’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Do you have a yen to cross rivers and climb mountains?”

Amy turned slowly. Her eyes passed over Rain and settled on Farr’s smiling face. “I . . . hadn’t given it much thought.”

“Of course, if you’ve got plans to marry Tally Perkins . . .” he teased.

“I’ve no plans to marry that jelly-head and you know it,” she said quickly.

“Well then?” Farr’s green eyes were alight with excitement.

“I don’t exactly favor staying here by myself,” Amy said crossly.

Rain watched Amy and listened to the exchange. He wondered why she was snapping at Farr. Did she have her cap set for Tally Perkins after all? Maybe he hadn’t asked her to wed him and she was hacked. Rain remembered Tally as a towheaded, big-toothed, clumsy kid. Even back then he seemed to be always trailing after Amy.

Daniel came in from the side room and spoke to Farr in low tones. “The feller’s awake and he’s got to go.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Rain said and stood.

As soon as Rain and Daniel went into the other room, Liberty put her hand on her sister’s arm.

“What’s the matter, Amy? I thought this was something you would want to do too. Farr and I feel we’ve become boxed in here. We’re looking forward to going to a new land where there’s plenty of room. It isn’t as if we were greenhorns like we were when we came out here from Middlecrossing. Farr and Rain will take care of us.”

“Oh, I’ve no doubt Rain can take care of most anything that comes along,” she said sarcastically. “I just don’t like feeling like a third thumb, tagging along uninvited.”

“Uninvited?” Farr got up from the table. “Hell, Amy, you’re part of our family.”

“I’m a grown woman living in my sister’s house, and that’s the bald truth of it.”

“You’re a partner in all we have. Juicy and I started this place together. If we can’t sell it, we’ll have to use your cash money to buy stout wagons and pay for river crossings. Colby may come here and take over. If that’s the case I’ll take his note and it’ll be a while before we see any coin.”

Amy looked from Farr’s face to her sister’s. Liberty had a worried look on her face. She was feeling sorry for her, Amy thought. Oh, Lordy! She knew how she had looked forward to Rain coming back. Libby knew she expected him to be as glad to see her as she was to see him.

“I’m sure Rain assumed you’d go with us,” Liberty said softly.

“Assumed? Why in hell should he assume anything about me? He acts as if he doesn’t even know me.” She kept the hurt out of her voice by sheer willpower. A thousand words filled her throat, all things she wanted to say about the years she had waited for Rain to return, but nothing came out. Her hands shook as she brushed her hair back from her face and picked up a cloth to pull the pan of bread from the baking oven.

“Is this something you want to do or not, Amy?” Farr asked. “If you’d rather stay here—”

“I’ll go, if . . . if you want me to.”

“You’d better be sure, Amy. I’ll not bring you back if you change your mind. This is my last trip across the big river.” Rain had come back in the room and stood with his thumbs hooked in his belt.

“If I decide to come back, Rain Tallman, I’ll not ask you to bring me,” she snapped.

“Are you pining for someone besides . . . jelly-head?” Rain didn’t know why he asked that. He just had the sudden urge to rile her. “I’d like to look over whoever it is you want to bring along. We’ll not carry any dead weight on this trip.”

Blazing amber eyes met Rain’s dark, serious ones. “You haven’t gotten one bit smarter, Rain Tallman. You’re still just as dumb as ever if you think I’d tie up with a stupid dolt. The man I tie up with will be as much—or more—of a man than you are.”

Rain lifted his brows and shrugged. He turned his back and sat down at the table.

Amy’s hands were shaking so hard she could scarcely hold the pan of bread and Liberty took it from her.

“Heavens. I’ll have to fix something for that boy in there to eat. Daniel,” she called, “come to breakfast.”

Amy was aware of the years that had passed when she was seated across the table from Rain. She was no longer a twelve-year-old listening with rapt attention to what the tall, quiet boy had to say when Farr or Juicy drew him into the conversation. Rain still spoke quietly, but he was far more confident than he had been seven years before. Cool, remote and confident. In fact, she’d never seen a man, other than Farr, who was so sure of himself.

“I’ll get the kid out of here as soon as he can ride. He seems a mite better this morning. Good biscuits, Libby. Guess you can tell I’ve had a bellyful of my own cooking.” Rain speared another biscuit and grinned at Liberty. Smile lines changed his stern features drastically, and Amy wondered if he knew how handsome he was.

“No hurry about the boy leaving,” Farr said as he passed the meat platter. “When do you plan to head back?”

“March. But now that I know you’re going with me, I can wait a few weeks if that’s too soon. I’ll go on and fetch Miss Woodbury. I told Will I’d be back by the first part of June. You could run into trouble with Hammond Perry, Farr. I heard he’s moving in along the Arkansas River.”

Farr frowned. “I’ve been wondering if I could leave Libby and the children at the fort until I get a place ready.”

Before Rain could answer, Liberty spoke with a firmness she used when there was absolutely no chance of her changing her mind.

“You can forget that. You’re not leaving me and the children anyplace at all, Farr Quill. Our place is with you, and with you we’ll stay. We’ve handled Hammond Perry before. We can do it again. Have some honey with the biscuits, Rain.” Smiling gently at Rain, she pushed a small crock across the table.

Farr gazed lovingly at his wife, then lifted his shoulders. “You see how it is, Rain? When the White Dove of the Wabash sets her mind, there’s no changing it.”

Rain looked from Farr’s smiling face to Liberty’s and remembered the day long ago when Farr had calmly announced at the same table that he and Liberty had been wed by the Sufferite preacher down the road. Liberty and Amy had planned to take over the abandoned homestead, but an old enemy had followed them from New York State and had taken over the place. They had had no place to go. Rain wondered if Farr had loved Liberty then or if love had come to them after they were wed. There was no doubt that she was now the center of his world and that he loved her fiercely.

“The only settlement is at the fort. There are eight women there who are married to or living with soldiers. They serve as laundresses. It’ll be a hard trip, Libby,” Rain said quietly.

“I know. But it’ll not be nearly as hard as the trip Amy and I made out here from New York. We’ll have Farr with us. And Amy is no slouch at—” She stopped speaking abruptly when she saw the quick frown on her sister’s face.

Zack came down the stairs holding up his nightshirt and rubbing his eyes.

“Ma, the pot’s full.”

Liberty started to get up from the table, but Farr reached over and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Sit still, love. I’ll take him.” He swooped his son up in one arm and went into the room where the injured boy and Daniel and Rain had slept. “Your feet are like chunks of ice, son. Didn’t you have time to put on your shoes?”

Amy bent over her plate, trying to hide her red face from Rain’s amused gaze. She’d caught his eyes when Zack first spoke and had seen the amusement there. He had changed, she thought. At one time he would have flushed with embarrassment, but now he smiled good-naturedly at her own confusion.

*   *   *

Farr and Rain left the house immediately after breakfast to walk down to the sawyer camp and then to the river so that Rain could see the place Farr thought suitable for a gristmill if Colby was still interested in building one at the station.

While Zack and Mercy ate, Liberty told them about the plans to leave Quill’s Station and resettle in the mountains of Arkansas. Zack went into a frenzy of excitement at the prospect, but Mercy was quiet for a long moment before she spoke.

“I’ll never see Grandma Maude again if we leave here.”

“It will be a long time, if ever,” Liberty said gently.

“Why don’t Grandma and Grandpa come with us?”

“No!” Amy spoke more sharply than she intended and all eyes turned to her in surprise. “They’ve got their own farm and they’re too old to pull up and move into the wilderness.” Heaven forbid, she thought. She would not be able to endure her father’s complaining all the way to Arkansas as he had done coming from New York State. And having to look at the cowlike expressions on Tally’s face every day would make her sick.

“I know why you don’t want them to come with us. You’re afraid Tally will spoil your chances with Rain,” Mercy said saucily with the wisdom of an observant nine-year-old female.

“You’ve got a smart mouth, Mercy.” Amy was stung to speak sharply again. “If you don’t want your bottom whacked, keep your opinions to yourself.”

“I may not even go. So there! I may stay with Grandma Maude.”

Daniel had been watching quietly, as was his way. He, more than anyone, understood Mercy’s feelings. He had come to terms with the fact that he was an orphan and not a real son of the family, but of late her not being a blood relative had began to eat on Mercy, especially since the birth of Mary Elizabeth.