Читать книгу A Home for His Family - Jan Drexler - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Replacing the axle was easier now that Nate had figured out how to work with Charley. The boy’s nimble fingers slipped the ironings into place as Nate held the axle against the bolster. Even so, it was late afternoon before he had the horses hitched up and they were ready to drive to the MacFarlands’ cabin.

Instead of the shorter route up the steep hill on the north end of Williams Street, James had recommended the more gradual ascent up Main Street to Shine, and then to Williams. Nate and Charley had led the team down that route before picking up the new axle, and it was still going to be a hard pull for the horses with the loaded wagon.

Charley climbed up onto the seat next to him and Nate chirruped to the horses. Before too long they reached the outskirts of the mining camp, where tents crowded along the road. Miners of all description watched them pass. Groups of young men, old sourdoughs, even a couple families. Soon they’d be heading to their claims, now that the snow in the hills was melting. Men who had secured claims along Whitewood Creek were already at work, standing knee-deep in the rushing water with their pans, or shoveling dirt and gravel into rockers.

Nate glanced at Charley, who watched the miners with wide eyes.

“They’re sure working hard, aren’t they?”

The boy nodded. “I thought gold miners just picked nuggets up off the ground, but what they’re doing doesn’t look like much fun.”

“Mining is dirty, backbreaking work. And not too many find success.”

“Then why do they do it?”

Nate watched two men shovel gravel into a sluice. “They’re looking for an easy way to get rich, but they’re learning the only way to success is hard work. The ones who keep at it will do okay, but others will give up before the month is over.”

“That’s why we’re going to be cowboys, right?”

Nate nudged Charley’s knee with his own. “That’s right. We’ll be working hard, too, but at the end, we know we’ll have something to show for it.”

They passed the wheelwright’s shop and Chinatown. The street was crowded as they approached the Badlands and Nate slowed the horses to a walk, threading their way between freight wagons unloading their goods and the crowds spilling off the board sidewalks into the mud.

Once they moved past the Badlands, the crowds grew thinner and the going was a bit easier. A flash of color on the board sidewalk caught Nate’s eye. Three girls dressed in red, yellow and purple silk dresses jostled each other as they paraded down the walk. High-pitched laughter rose above the general noise of the street. With their attention all on themselves, they pretended not to notice the stares they were garnishing from the crowds of men around them.

Nate’s stomach roiled, but out of habit he studied each face, looking for the familiar features. He looked again at the girl in red. She was too young to be Mattie, but she looked so much like his sister that he stared. She wasn’t laughing along with her friends, but glanced this way and that, a frightened rabbit surrounded by hounds.

Just as the wagon drew close to the girls, the team halted, unable to move past a freight wagon stopped in front of them. At the same time, a large, balding man approached the three women. When they saw him, their laughter died. The girl in red stepped behind her friends.

“Good afternoon, girls,” the man said in a loud voice, commanding the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

The girl in purple giggled as the one in yellow, the older one, sidled up to the man, caressing his arm. “Hello, Tom.”

The man shrugged her away. “That’s Mr. Harris to you, Irene. What are you girls doing out here on the street this time of the afternoon?”

Irene pushed away from him as the purple girl giggled again and dangled a package in front of him. “We’ve been shopping, Mr. Harris. But we’re on our way back to the Mystic right now.” She waved at the crowd of men around them. “And maybe we’ll bring some customers with us.”

Nate turned his head away. The girl was inebriated, or drugged. He had seen her kind too often in his search for Mattie. Past the watching crowd, crossing the intersection of Main and Lee, were the MacFarlands with Olivia and Lucy. As Sarah stopped to watch the altercation, Nate’s attention was pulled back.

“Fern, I want you and Irene to head back to the Mystic right now.” The girls did his bidding, pushing past him. Fern and Irene waved to the men as they made their way down the boardwalk toward the Badlands, but Harris reached out and grabbed the girl in red. “Not you, Dovey.” He pulled her closer than a man properly should. “I’ll escort you back. We wouldn’t want you to get lost now, would we?”

The look on Dovey’s face as she tried to pull away from Harris was more than Nate could stand. Girls like Fern and Irene were one thing—they seemed to be having a good time—but Dovey wanted no part of Harris’s plan for her.

He handed the reins to Charley. “Stay here.”

Nate jumped onto the boardwalk, facing Harris. “It looks to me like the young lady doesn’t want to go with you.”

Over Harris’s shoulder, Sarah’s face caught his eye. She urged him on with a nod.

Harris looked at Nate and then turned to the surrounding crowd. He laughed with the tone of a man who knew he had the upper hand. “I don’t know who you are, but this matter is none of your concern.”

Dovey looked at him with Mattie’s eyes, pleading. “It’s all right.” Her voice was almost a whisper. “Don’t...”

“Do you want to go with this man?”

Harris laughed again. “Of course she does, don’t you, my dear?” His right hand was in his pocket, where the outline of a derringer showed through the fabric. Harris’s face grew hard. “And truly, it’s none of your business.” He held Nate’s eyes with his own as he pushed past, pulling Dovey along with him.

The crowd closed around the pair and they disappeared. Nate pulled at the handkerchief knotted around his neck. If it had been Mattie, that confrontation might have been different. He liked to think he would have risked a shot from that derringer to get her away from Harris.

Sarah appeared at his side as the crowds of men dissipated, holding Lucy by one hand. “Do you know that girl?”

Nate picked up his niece and held her close. The little girl snuggled in on his right side, away from the scars. “No. She reminds me of someone, though.”

“I applaud you for stepping in like that. Those poor girls need a champion.” Sarah had a fire in her eyes he hadn’t seen before. She looked down the street where Harris and Dovey had disappeared.

James and Mrs. MacFarland caught up with Sarah, Margaret ushering Olivia in front of her. “Sarah, this just isn’t proper. Not at all.” Margaret hissed her words, reaching out for Sarah’s arm.

“But, Aunt Margaret, this is just the kind of situation Dr. Bennett told us we may run into in this wild town. Can’t you see? That poor girl obviously needs someone’s help.”

Margaret’s head switched this way and that, daring any of the men still watching the scene to say anything. “That may be true. But not here, and not now.”

Sarah bit her lower lip and Nate smiled. In any other woman, he’d take that to mean that she was unsure of herself. But Sarah MacFarland? She was holding back whatever words were dancing on the tip of her tongue.

James put his arms around both women and turned them toward the city stairs that led between Lee Street and Williams, where the cabin stood.

“We need to go home, ladies. We’ll meet you up above, Nate, and we’ll lead you to a fine camping place.”

Nate touched his fingers to the brim of his hat in answer and climbed back up onto the wagon seat, settling Lucy next to Charley. He’d hate to be on the receiving end of whatever comments were waiting to come out of Sarah’s mouth.

* * *

Sarah held Olivia’s hand as they climbed up the steps leading to Williams Street. Partway up, Olivia stopped to look behind them and clutched Sarah’s hand even tighter.

“We’re already as high as the roofs on Main Street.”

Sarah looked back. Even here the noise and dirt of the mining camp seemed far away. “We need to hurry if we’re going to get back to the cabin before your uncle Nate.”

Olivia started climbing again, taking one step at a time. “Will we get to stay with you again tonight?”

“I think your uncle will be setting up your camp, but you can eat supper with us.” Sarah paused for breath at the top of the steps. Uncle James and Aunt Margaret were far ahead, walking arm in arm past the cabins perched along the trail. Their cabin was farther on, around the bend of the hill.

It was just as well. Arguing with Aunt Margaret about the scene down below wouldn’t be fruitful. She let Dr. Bennett’s words bolster her strength. Choose your battles wisely, she had said many times during the Sunday afternoon meetings in her parlor on Beacon Hill. We fight against a formidable enemy. One who is not willing that any of these unfortunate souls would slip from his grasping fingers. Sarah smiled at the memory. What fire that woman had, and what a way with words!

“Is our campsite far away from you?”

Sarah looked down into Olivia’s face and smoothed back a wisp of blond hair that had escaped her braid. “No, not very far at all. We’ll be able to see each other often.”

Olivia smiled at that and turned to follow James and Margaret. She was a sweet girl. Sarah hurried to catch up with her. “We’ll have to ask your uncle about the reading lessons. At the very least, I’ll be able to loan you some books to use.”

“Do you have the Third Reader? That’s the one I was reading from at home.”

“Yes, I do. How far along are you?”

“Nearly finished. I memorized ‘The Snowbird’s Song’ for our Christmas program, but that was our last day at school.”

“I know that poem. It’s all about how God takes care of the birds and provides for them.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Olivia fiddled with the end of one braid. “But Uncle Nate said we have to take care of ourselves.” She flung the braid back over her shoulder and looked up at Sarah. “Is he right? Won’t God take care of us?”

Sarah stopped and faced the girl. “What makes you think He wouldn’t?”

Olivia blinked her eyes, as if she was trying to hold back tears. “Mama always said He would, but then she died. If God was taking care of her, wouldn’t He have rescued her from the fire?”

Feeling her own tears threatening, Sarah looked past Olivia to the buildings below them. But Olivia took her hand, bringing Sarah’s gaze back to her.

“And when Lucy cries, I tell her what Mama always told me, but how can I know?”

Sarah pulled Olivia to a log lying along the trail and motioned for her to sit next to her. “One thing I always hold on to is that God promised He would be with us. Jesus said that in the book of Matthew. And God always keeps His promises.” She swallowed past the lump forming in her throat. She remembered questioning God just like Olivia was doing. How did she get past the questions to the faith she had now?

“But what about Mama?”

Sarah smiled and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “You can be certain that God is still taking care of your mama. I don’t know why she died, and I don’t know why God didn’t rescue her then, but I do know that He never abandoned her. Sometimes it’s very hard to understand, but you can trust that God’s ways are best.”