Sagebrush Bride (33 page)

Elizabeth cried out in panic, finally discovering
her voice. “Please—sit back for me!” she instructed, on the brink of
hysteria. Immediately she slid from Cocoa’s back to the ground, hurrying
forward, until she stood just below the child’s window, looking up. She
struggled to focus her vision.

All at once she was stricken dumb, blinded to
everything but the child above her. The most beautiful, if somewhat blurry,
little face looked down at her where she stood... small, pert nose, it
seemed—like Katherine’s, she thought with melancholy. Dark hair, a mass
of ringlets—perhaps her father’s? And the eyes? At this distance, she
couldn’t tell.

As Elizabeth stared, transfixed, hot tears pricked
at her own eyes. Her throat constricted.

“My name is Katie Lizabeth,” the child declared
impulsively, her voice precious.

And again Elizabeth’s heart leapt. A sob escaped
her tightening throat as she whispered the name reverently. Katie Elizabeth.
Katherine hadn’t forgotten her, after all. Against her will, her vision began
to cloud. It had never bothered her much that her vision wasn’t perfect, but at
the moment, she loathed that fault in herself.

Elizabeth gulped down the knot that rose in her
throat. “Katie Elizabeth?” Elizabeth repeated hoarsely.

The child nodded once, with fervor, smiling.
“What’s your name?” she asked boldly.

“My name?” Elizabeth’s voice broke with emotion.
“My name... is... is Elizabeth, too,” she answered slowly, her eyes stinging
and raw.

“Oh,” Katie replied thoughtfully. She wrinkled her
nose prettily, considering that fact a moment. “Well... ” She wagged a finger
down at Elizabeth brashly. “But I bet you din’t know I hadda aunt named Lizabeth,
and she’s coming to get me—my grandpapa says so.” Suddenly her eyes
widened. “Oh! Are you my aunt?” she asked hopefully. And then, with a bit of
skepticism, she added, “You’re not my aunt, are you?”

Elizabeth’s heart welled with emotion. Yes! she
wanted to shout. Yes! Oh, yes! “Well,” she began slowly, her stomach fluttering
wildly. She attempted a tremulous smile. “Yes,” she said, at last, choking back
her tears. And then, with more force, she repeated, “Yes, Katie, I am.”

With a shriek of delight, Katie surged forward,
clapping her hands, and kicking the brick at her feet.

“No, Katie! Sit back before you fall! Where’s your
grandfather?”

“Don’ worry,” she boasted to Elizabeth, “I never
fall!” But in that moment, Cutter caught her attention. She peered down at him
curiously, teetering further.

Elizabeth bit her lip as she watched Cutter
quicken his pace, only to slip when a rotten slat gave way. Feeling blindly
with the toe of his boot, he regained his footing and began the climb once
more. Silently Elizabeth urged him to hurry.

“Is that my uncle climbin’ up the house?” Katie
wanted to know. “I climbed up and up, before, but my mama spanked my butt,” she
said gravely, nodding. And then her eyes widened in speculation. “I bet you’re
gonna spank his! Aren’t ya?”

Elizabeth heard Cutter’s soft chuckle, but had no
idea how to respond, even had she been able to. Her thoughts were focused only
on Cutter’s ascent. The higher he climbed, the slower he seemed to move, the
more the trellis swayed.

“I bet you din’t know that I was this many!” Katie
exclaimed suddenly, meeting Elizabeth’s gaze once more. She held up what
appeared to be five fingers, and then struggled to get down the fifth. Failing
miserably in the endeavor, she thrust her thumb down forcefully with her other
hand, releasing the sill in the process... losing her balance.

“Katie!” Elizabeth shrieked, but just as the child
toppled forward, Cutter reached her, placing a steadying hand to her small
chest.

“Easy there, little gal,” Elizabeth heard him say.

“Oh, but I never fall!” Katie exclaimed
indignantly. “I never do!” she insisted at the rise of Cutter’s brow.

“Well, I do,” Cutter imparted. “Fell out of a tree
once when I was just a mite bigger’n you. Been scared of heights ever since,”
he swore with so much emphasis that Elizabeth found herself smiling.

Katie gasped. “You’re not scareda heights?” Cutter
nodded slowly, and Katie giggled, as though it were a ridiculous notion. “Not
me!” she boasted, her hands going to her hips. “I bet you’re scared now. Aren’t
ya?”

“Reckon so,” Cutter admitted soberly.

“Ohhhh, you pooooor thing,” Katie said with so
much parental concern that Elizabeth had to giggle. Nodding gravely, Katie
added, “Do ya want me to pull ya in? Do ya? I can save ya!” she declared
solemnly.

“Can you really?”

“Oh, yes!” Katie swore with vigor, her eyes
sparkling. “You just watch me and see! Give me your hand,” she demanded.

“Oh... I dunno,” Cutter said, resisting the urge
to do just that. His foot was hurting like hell, and standing out on the trellis
wasn’t helping any. “Maybe you should get in and pull? I believe I’m too afraid
to give you my hand unless you’re safe inside your room. That is your room,
isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh... but why?”

“ ‘Cause we might both fall,” he explained, “and I
sure wouldn’t wanna break my arm again.”

“Oh!” Katie exclaimed. “Dat mussa hurt! Good
idea!” She scrambled down from the sill. “And know what? I think I will be
stronger in my room. But why did ya climb up if you’re so darned scared?” she
wanted to know.

“Darned?” Cutter reproved.

“Uh-huh. My granpapa says it all the time,” she
explained somberly. “Din’t ya never hear that word a’fore? People say darned
when they’re reeeeal mad, you see, and sometimes they even say...” She
whispered a word.

“You don’t say,” Cutter remarked, managing to
sound only mildly amused. He glanced down at Elizabeth and sent her what
appeared to be a wink.

“Oh, sure,” Katie said matter-of-factly. “Din’t ya
never hear that one, neither?”

“ ‘Fraid not,” Cutter lied.

Katie chatted incessantly, but with Cutter’s help,
she was soon standing safely within her room. Once inside, she thrust out her
hand.

Astounded at the scene unfolding before her,
Elizabeth watched as Katie held out her little wiggling fingers for Cutter to
grasp. And she couldn’t help but giggle as Cutter pretended to let Katie pull
him within, grunting and moaning. Feeling a sense of wonder, she stared at the
pair in the window. When Cutter was on his feet inside, he spoke to Katie
softly, patting her head. And still Elizabeth stared, feeling an affection in
her heart that startled her in its intensity.

From what she could tell, Katie looked much as she
remembered Katherine had looked at that age. And Katherine had been a beautiful
child. The only difference she could discern in them was the hair. Katherine’s
had been as rich a gold as wheat before the harvest, and as straight as her
own.

It wasn’t until Cutter had been inside a full
moment that she began to wonder if he didn’t intend to come back out. Her
expression turned suddenly disbelieving.

“Cutter?” No reply. There was only the blur of an
open window. “Cutter!” she hissed. The dog barked behind her, but Cutter never
reappeared.

“Cutter!”

“You can’t just leave me here!’’ Elizabeth shouted
up to the empty window. “Cutter McKenzie! You come back out here this instant!
You can’t—”

Abruptly the front door flew open and a woman’s
unfamiliar round face peered out, looking first bothered, and then stunned. As
she stared, her chin dropped and her eyes widened. Suddenly she cocked her
head, as though in question.

“Uhh... uh... h-hello,” Elizabeth stammered.
“I-I-”

“Lands!” the woman declared suddenly, so loudly
that Elizabeth leapt back a step. Her face was pale, as though she were looking
at a specter. “But no! It couldn’t be!” she continued, as she slowly came forward
and did a half circle around Elizabeth.

Elizabeth watched her warily, following her steps
with question, turning as she turned.

“My, what an uncanny resemblance!” the woman said
at last. “You must be Elizabeth!”

Elizabeth nodded slowly.

The woman nodded, too. And with an abrupt shriek
of delight, she seized Elizabeth by the hand. “Oh! But isn’t that always the
way!” she exclaimed. “We’ve been expecting you, but Mr. Bass isn’t here just
now! He was called away on business, wouldn’t you know.” She patted Elizabeth’s
hand reassuringly, then released it. “But do come in, and don’t mind me! Lands
sakes, I just can’t believe my eyes! Katie will be so glad to see you, finally.
And goodness, if you don’t look so very much like her mother!”

Elizabeth’s brows furrowed. She did? Katherine?
But she didn’t recall that as so! At a complete loss for words, she followed
the woman inside, and was led into a large foyer. From it, two pillared
doorways led, one right, one left, and a double stairwell curved upward from
its center, joining above them to form a loft of sorts. Beyond the stairwell,
there was what appeared to be a small parlor.

The woman stopped at the foot of the right
stairwell, calling upward, her voice shrill but warm, “Katie, dear... please
come down!” She then turned to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth merely stared, her thoughts whirling.
Folding her hands in front of her nervously, she smiled, and the woman tittered
happily, coming forward to take and pat her hand once more.

“I should tell you that that child upstairs has
wanted to know, every single day since your telegram came, just when it was
that you were arriving. She just couldn’t wait!” And then, with a catch to her
voice, she added, “You’ll have your hands full with that one, I fear.” Her eyes
sad, she averted her gaze. “Katie!” she called again, glancing upward
uncomfortably.

Elizabeth looked about anxiously, silently cursing
Cutter for leaving her alone. He was sure to come down the trellis and find her
gone. And then what? Surely he would realize that she was inside? He would
knock, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t just leave her? She grimaced at the thought.
With the mood he was in lately, she wouldn’t put it past him. Her gaze was
drawn helplessly to the stairwell. What on earth could he be doing up there for
so long? she wondered peevishly.

“You’re so quiet,” the woman marveled, watching
her. “Your sister was so chatty—bless her soul—like her daughter,
I’m afraid.”

Elizabeth remained speechless, nodding mutely,
remembering that her sister had, in fact, been very talkative as a child.

“Goodness!” the woman said suddenly, frowning as
though recalling something at last and chiding herself for not remembering
sooner. “How remiss of me.” She left Elizabeth abruptly and went to the door,
snatching it open.

Peering out over her shoulder, Elizabeth searched
for a glimpse of Cutter. Finding none, she frowned.

The woman turned to Elizabeth, nonplussed. “Well,
now, I thought there were two horses out there. Where’s your husband?” she
asked with genuine puzzlement.

Elizabeth’s brows lifted in surprise. “H-Husband?”
she repeated stupidly. “Oh, yes! My husband!” Looking about uneasily, she
wished Cutter a dozen ways to perdition. “Well!” she began, her mind racing
wildly. Impulsively she extended her hand. “I—I am Elizabeth
B-B—McKenzie,” she amended quickly. She nodded uncomfortably, having no
idea what else to say.

The woman appeared amused, her smile enduring.
“Yes,” she said, her eyes alight with kindness. “Yes, I know. And I am Mimi,”
she returned, proffering her own hand in welcome. Elizabeth grasped her
fingers, shaking them absently, all the while heaping blasphemies on Cutter’s
head. She gritted her teeth.

Mimi continued to smile benignly. “He did come
with you, didn’t he?”

Elizabeth smiled back, though she felt like crying
and screaming. “Oh, yes,” she conceded nodding absently. Miss Mimi began to
nod, as well, her brows lifting. She waited patiently for an answer Elizabeth
didn’t have, and Elizabeth despised Cutter in that moment. Elizabeth continued
to nod, her mind racing.

“Your husband?” Miss Mimi prompted.

“Oh! Well, you see,” Elizabeth continued uneasily,
“he’s... he... well, you see, he—”

“I saved him! I saved him, Miss Mimi!” Katie’s
voice called out above them.

Both Elizabeth’s and Miss Mimi’s gazes were drawn up
at once—Miss Mimi’s to find Katie bouncing with glee on a dark stranger’s
shoulders, her hand tucked neatly under his chin, throttling him.

It was another moment before Elizabeth could
actually see the faces, and it felt as though her eyes crossed before they
focused. “Cutter!” she gasped with horror.

“I saved him!” Katie exclaimed happily, hugging
Cutter’s neck.

Miss Mimi gasped in surprise, her gaze skidding
back to Elizabeth’s, her expression clearly shocked and a little distrustful.

Recovering quickly, Elizabeth offered a meek smile
of apology, a warm stain rising high upon her cheeks. “Uhhh... m-my—” she
tried not to think of the lie as she spoke the word, and closed her eyes
briefly “—h-husband,” she stammered, nodding grimly as she opened her
eyes. “He’s... he’s... well... he’s already in... inside,” she said as brightly
as she could. Still, Miss Mimi said nothing. “As... as you can see.”
Elizabeth’s face burned, but she managed to meet Cutter’s dark eyes, and he
reassured her with nothing more than a wink.