Journey of Honor A love story (2 page)

They’d made better money with every trip they’d taken across the trail in the last three years, and Trace had somewhat set his medical goals aside to enjoy being in business for himself. Being his own boss had done something for him. He was more confident now than he’d ever been after knowing he could be successful in whatever he faced from coast to coast. This was the first time they’d tried two trips in one year, but they thought it was realistically possible if they could just get on the trail. Supposedly, whoever John had found was in the same hurry to leave and could be ready first thing in the morning; which was vital if they were to make it safely through the mountains in the west before the winter snows.

Thinking back on the beautiful girl he’d just seen, he almost wished that they were still waiting. He’d never had a girl affect him like that. He’d almost wanted to walk right up to her and introduce himself and ask her to come west with them on the spot. He smiled at himself, a little embarrassed at the whole idea. He was still smiling when Mose rounded the corner from the blacksmith shop in front of him.

Mose looked at his expression and asked, “What are you so all fired happy about?”

Trace shook his head and grinned at him. “I saw a girl.” He chuckled and admitted to his friend, “I almost asked her to marry me right there on the boardwalk. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that you needed me to make it across all those miles of trail. Am I loyal or what?”

Mose laughed. “Must have been some girl. To test your loyalty and all.”

Still feeling a little silly because the smile was stuck on his face, Trace said, “She was. Blonde, slim and graceful. With these eyes! Blue so bright I could see them clear down the boardwalk. And walks like royalty.”

Glancing sideways at him, Mose laughed again. “Tarnation, Trace. This
really
must be some girl. I can’t wait to see the female who has this kind of effect on an old lone wolf like you.”

“I’m not a lone wolf. I’ve just never found the right one.” He laughed at himself and brushed the whole situation off. “I’ll probably never see her again. We’ll be long gone in the morning. But, much as we’ve wanted to leave, I almost wish we were still delayed.”

Sobering, Mose replied, “If this is truly unsettling, other drivers can be found, man. You can stay here and we’ll take the wagons across without you.”

“What, and miss all the fun? Not a chance! I wouldn’t miss all the dust and mud and lightning and flood swollen rivers and…”

“All right, all right. I get the idea. Enough of the palaver. You’re going to make
me
decide not to go. Did Sykes have any news?”

Trace slapped his forehead. “I completely forgot to tell you. He got the last wagon. Some Dutch people. An older couple and their granddaughter in fact. He said they were Mormons. We’re leaving at first light tomorrow. I’m surprised John was willing to take a woman and child along, but he said they wanted to go this year enough to pay him to let them come along. There are no other trains going this late, so they were as desperate as we are.

“John said they seemed to be steady and dependable. The Mormons are supposedly a little weird, but I hear they’re pretty quiet-living. At least we won’t have to deal with any more rannies like the other teamsters who came on day before yesterday. Those boys are trouble.”

Shaking his head again, Mose gave him a hard time. “You’ve clean lost your mind, boy. The news we’ve been waiting for and you almost forget to mention it. I wish I could have seen this girl. She must have had some amazing love potion or something.”

Trace waved a gloved hand. “Naw. Give me a long stretch of nothing but dust and heat and my mind will come right back. I’ll be fine.”

They finished their last minute errands, and picked up the mule team Mose had left at the blacksmith’s to be shoed, and headed back to the rendezvous spot on the riverbank near the ferry. After rounding up their other five drivers, they cautioned them to be ready to roll at dawn. Then the two of them settled in to make dinner and get bedded down early. Tomorrow would be a big day.

Just before dark, another big Conestoga wagon rolled up and Trace and Mose watched the husband begin to unhitch. They went over to the wagon to say hello and lend a hand. Trace was just unbuckling the harness on the far mule when he heard the sound of women’s voices. Turning, he looked toward the back of the wagon where there were two women walking toward him.

It was her. It took him a minute or two to get his mind to understand that the girl he’d seen was the granddaughter of the Dutch couple who would be traveling with them. He looked up and caught Mose’s eye and nodded at the girl, and then almost laughed out loud when Mose made a perfect O with his lips. Their own personal brand of communication without speaking was interrupted by the wagon master approaching.

He pulled Trace and Mose along to the couple and the girl. “Oh, good. I see that you’ve already met.” He turned to the Dutch man. “Josiah, these are the two young men who I was telling you about. Trace Grayson and Mose Brown. They and their men are the ones you’re going to want to travel near. Or my own drivers. They’re much more respectable types than the other teamsters. The other ones aren’t going to be all that pleasant for your women folk I’m afraid. Stick near these two and you’ll be fine.” Turning back towards Trace and Mose he said, “You two keep an eye out for them, will you?”

Grinning, Mose said, “Shore, we’ll keep an eye out for them Sykes, but we’ve only met Josiah here. We haven’t had the pleasure of meeting the women.”

Trace was still a little thunderstruck about traveling with the girl, but he stepped forward and took the women’s hands smoothly as Josiah introduced them with a thick Dutch accent. “This is my wife Petja VanKomen and my granddaughter Giselle VanKomen. They are goot women and we are grateful to have some respectable men to travel with.
Bedankt
. Thank you.”

“It will be our pleasure I’m sure, sir.” Trace met Giselle’s eyes. “We’ve never had the good fortune of traveling with such lovelyladies.” He could almost swear that she wanted to roll her eyes when he said it and he grinned at her. “Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you.” Her accent was milder than her grandfather’s and her hand shook his honestly without any of the flirtatiousness women often used to greet him with. “Tell me, are you Mr. Grayson or Mr. Brown?”

“Grayson. Please, call me Trace. There is certainly no need to stand on ceremony in a wagon train. And this is my brother, Mose Brown.” She raised her eyebrows as she tipped her head to take in Mose standing beside him, black and three inches over Trace’s six foot one. Trace grinned again and said, “He’s adopted.”

She laughed a pretty laugh, filled with sincere humor, as she moved to take Mose’s hand. “So I see. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Brown.”

He cleared his throat. “You’d best call me Mose, ma’am. Trace is right, and if you call me Mr. Brown I won’t have any idea who you’re talking to.” He flashed her a wide smile that gleamed white against his dark chocolate skin. “You need anything, you just holler. We’ll hep you right out.”

“Thank you. I may do just that. I’m afraid I’m new to this wagon train travel. I have a great deal to learn.”

Josiah put his arm around her. “You’ll do just fine, Elle. You always do. I’m sure you’ll learn fast.”

After the brief introduction, Trace, Mose and John went back to their own respective camps. Once out of hearing of their Dutch neighbors, Mose turned to look at Trace with a grin. “You had enough of your mind to remember your name back there. I’m right proud of you, Trace. Now if you can just remember how to harness and drive a team, we may be okay this trip.”

“She’s even prettier close up than I thought. We may honestly be in trouble here, Mose. I’ll probably forget which end the harness goes on.” He went back to cooking with a sigh. “How are we ever gonna keep our teamsters focused on traveling?”

An hour later, as they were cleaning up and rolling out their beds, there came a small cavalcade of horsemen to their camps. Looking up, Trace caught the eye of the Sheriff in the lead. He and Trace and Mose had known each other for three years, having met on their first trip through St. Joe. Trace had actually helped put the Sheriff back together after being shot when the regular doctor had been out of town. Apparently, Trace had done a far better job than the regular doctor and the Sheriff had tried to talk them into staying in town permanently.

On seeing him, the Sheriff came right over and gripped his hand. “Trace, didn’t know you were part of this train. It’s good to see you again. You can’t be talked into staying here yet, can you? We’d still love to have you.”

Trace smiled at him, but the smile disappeared when he saw who the Sheriff’s companion was. Trace addressed him without extending his hand, which the Sheriff picked right up on. “Filson. What brings you to St. Joe? I thought St. Louis was your town. You coming to swindle the people here now? What, did they catch on to you in St. Louis?”

There was no welcome in his voice whatsoever. He turned to the Sheriff. “Jim, you’re in poor company here. What’s a good man like you doing with a crook like this?” There was disgust in his eyes that Filson glared at, but didn’t challenge.

Filson turned to the Sheriff. “Ignore this man, Sher’f. He’s just sore because he came out the loser in a business deal once.”

“An underhanded, crooked business deal that you cooked up, Filson. If I’d known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have touched a deal with you with a hundred-foot pole. At least I can say I was honest with those people and made it right. That’s a whale of a lot more than you can say.” While they talked, Mose and four of their other men came up to Trace’s side.

Obviously uncomfortable with this talk, the Sheriff tried to change the subject. “Have you got a young, Dutch girl traveling with you? Filson here says that she stole something from him. I’m here to arrest her.”

Trace looked coolly at Filson. “Yes, she’s here, but once you meet her, you’ll never believe Filson’s word over hers. She’s as obviously honest as he is sneaky. Her wagon is right over here.”

As a group, they headed to the VanKomen wagon where Trace spoke quietly to Josiah, asking that he get Giselle to come out. Josiah’s glance hardened when he saw Filson. Apparently he was familiar with Filson’s character as well. He called her out and Trace was surprised to see this proud and confident young woman pale visibly when she saw Filson. Trace gave her a hand to climb down from the wagon and she immediately moved to stand behind his shoulder away from Filson.

Filson’s gaze was sickening as he looked Giselle over, and Mose moved closer to Trace in front of her while their men fanned out on both sides of them. Filson immediately turned to the Sheriff. “That’s her Sher’f. She’s the one that done took my money. Come right into my hotel room. I saw her leaving as I came up the hall, but I couldn’t catch her. She went down the back stairs.” Filson gave Giselle a disgusting grin and she raised her head almost proudly to address the Sheriff.

“That is a lie! I have never taken anything from this man and I would not want to! I haven’t even been in a hotel here in this town. We’ve been here only yesterday and today and I have only been in the general store and the Chinaman’s cafe. My grandparents can assure you I tell the truth.”

Filson sneered, “She’s lying. She took it. I saw her. Take her in, Sher’f.”

The Sheriff turned to Filson and said brusquely, “I’ll thank you to let me handle my job, Filson.” Turning to Giselle, he gently said, “I’m sorry, miss. I’m afraid that I’ll have to take you in until I get to the bottom of this.”

At this point John Sykes walked up and Trace asked, “How long will that take, Jim? We were heading out at dawn trying to make it to California before it snows.”

Filson smiled wickedly. “Too bad, Grayson! You’ll be leaving without one little, Dutch thief. She stays here to serve her time and return my money!”

The Sheriff turned on Filson. “That’s enough! You aren’t making any decisions here. Let me do my job. In fact,” he turned to his deputy, “Walt, take him back into town with you while I finishup here.”

Filson started to protest, but the Sheriff raised a hand to stop him, and then turned his back to him to address Trace. He glanced back at Filson who had yet to leave, and at the Sheriff’s pointed look, Filson finally turned and followed the deputy. When he was well away, the Sheriff turned to Trace. “On second thought, Grayson. I don’t want to haul this girl in on that snake’s word. Would you be willing to be responsible for her until the morning when I can get to the bottom of this?”

Trace glanced back at Giselle. “Is that okay with you, Miss VanKomen?”

She nodded. “Yes. Certainly.” She turned to the Sheriff. “How much money does he say I have stolen?”

“Two hundred dollars.”

Giselle looked horrified. “That’s a lot of money! What do we have to do in the morning before I can go?”

Scratching his head, the Sheriff looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure exactly. Filson is really kicking up a fuss. He’s insisting I not let you leave until I have a trial, but so far I have no evidence except his word. I’ll know better in the morning after I can question some people. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. In the meantime, stay where Trace can keep an eye on you.” With that he turned to go.

There was silence for a few moments after he left and then Giselle looked up at Trace. “I have stolen nothing. I give you my promise. I will be in my grandfather’s wagon.” She turned and went back to the rear of the wagon again and he heard her long sigh as she went.

Josiah turned to John Sykes and said, “My granddaughter is honest and she has been with my wife and me every moment, but I’m afraid if they insist that she stay that we must too. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we must stay with her. Henry Filson is a horrible man and he can’t be allowed to get near her. If she can’t go in the morning, then neither can we. Please forgive us.” He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving John and Trace and Mose staring at each other in disappointed disgust. The other men headed back to their bedrolls while the three of them tried to think of a solution to the mess that might cost them their whole trip.