Ride ’em, cowboy.” Curly’s stentorian yell, accompanied by raucous laughter from Bud and Slim, who were perched next to him on the top rail of the Diamond S corral, made Seth Anderson grin. He leaned forward in the saddle, tightened his legs against the pinto mare’s sides, and waited for the next buck. The mare obliged, but after a few half-hearted pitches she stopped short, turned her head, and surveyed her rider as if to say she’d had enough.
“Easiest horse I ever broke,” Seth mumbled. “Open the gate,” he called to the heckling trio. “I’ll give her a good run and see what kind of ginger she has.”
Curly whooped and sprang to obey. Seth and the mare raced out of the corral and down the road toward Madera as if pursued by a grizzly bear. Wind whistled in his ears and he bent over the horse’s neck. “Go, Splotches. I’ll eat my Stetson if Dori Sterling isn’t crazy about you. Matt couldn’t have found a better Christmas present for her.”
He laughed. “You’re a far cry from the nags Dori’s probably been forced to straddle in Boston. Riding sidesaddle, bound up tight in a fancy riding habit, and plodding along at some fool ladylike trot? She may as well have been riding a rocking chair.” The freedom of the range surged through Seth and aroused his pity for Dori. It must have been frustrating for a girl used to the wide-open spaces to be so constrained. “Say, Splotches, if she isn’t thrilled with you, I’ll keep you myself. You’re the prettiest little pinto in the country, and you move right along.”
The mare’s ears pricked up. She stretched into a ground-covering gallop. Seth let her run, feeling wild and free, the way he had ever since coming to the ranch. At last he reined Splotches in beneath a huge oak tree. “Time to take a breather.” He slid from the saddle and patted the mare’s neck. She rewarded him by rubbing her nose against Seth’s shoulder. Would Dori appreciate the pinto? He hoped so for Matt’s sake.
He stroked Splotches’s mane. “No matter. She’ll be heading back to Boston after the wedding, and I’ll ride you.” He chuckled. “Just so Copper doesn’t get jealous.” Seth’s happiness faded. His faithful sorrel gelding, companion and friend for many years, had stepped in a gopher hole a few weeks earlier and pulled a ligament.
“My fault,” Seth grumbled. “I should have been paying attention instead of thinking about Dori coming home.” The swelling on Copper’s leg had been reduced with hot packs, and Matt said the horse would be fine, but Seth’s guilt remained. Now he raised his head, removed his wide hat, and gazed into the blue December sky. He watched a hawk circle in the clear air before confessing, “Lord, I have an even bigger problem. I’ve been judging Matt’s sister by the trouble she’s caused him.” Seth heaved a great sigh. “Even if Dori turns out to be as wayward and heedless as Matt says she is, I need to respect her because she’s Your child.” Seth scratched his head. “I reckon the best way to do that is to just keep out of her way.” He paused and allowed the silence to fill him. “Thanks for listening, God.”
Seth got to his feet and stretched. Talking with his Trailmate always made him feel better. Besides, it should be easy enough to avoid Dori for the short time she would be home without his avoidance becoming obvious.
What about when she comes home permanently? a little voice taunted. Seth shrugged. Summer was a long way off. Anything could happen before then. He swung into the saddle and turned Splotches toward home, but the sound of hoofbeats stopped him. Seth looked back and stared at the rider. When freckle-faced Johnny Foster raced a horse like that it usually meant bad news.
“Trouble, Johnny?” Seth called.
“Yeah.” The boy pulled his horse to a stop. “Evan Moore said to get this telegram to Matt right away. Evan told me what it says. Miss Dori is on her way home, but that ain’t all.” He gasped for breath. “Evan got word the train is stuck in the mountains somewhere this side of Denver. Avalanches are blocking the tracks. The message said the railroad don’t know how long it will be till they can get a work train and crew there and dig the passenger train out.”
Seth’s heart turned to ice. “Give me the telegram. My horse is fresher than yours.”
“Okay, Seth.” Johnny handed it over. “I sure hope those folks, ’specially Miss Dori, get rescued real quick. It’d be awful if she has to miss Matt and Sarah’s wedding.” He turned his horse and headed back to Madera.
Missing the wedding is nothing compared with what could happen, Seth thought grimly. Being trapped in a snowbound train for who knows how long could claim lives. He flinched. He’d seen snow storms cripple St. Louis. What would it be like in the Colorado mountains?
Seth goaded Splotches into a run and spoke from a heart filled with fear. “God, there’s nothing any of us here can do for those stranded passengers and the crew. Please deliver them.” A scripture learned in childhood crept into Seth’s mind. Moses, reminding his people of God’s goodness to Jacob, said: “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness…he kept him as the apple of his eye.”
“Lord, be with everyone on that train and those sent to rescue them,” Seth prayed. “Keep them as You kept Jacob. They are also in a howling wilderness and desperately need You.” He paused and whispered, “In Jesus’ name, amen.”
The time between leaving Johnny and reaching the Diamond S felt like an eternity. When Seth and Splotches thundered up to the corral, Seth leaped to the ground, threw the mare’s reins to one of the vaqueros and ordered, “Take care of her, will you?” Then he sprinted toward the ranch house. He didn’t stop to knock, but burst into the hall and raced to the sitting room where Matt, Sarah, and Solita were gathered. “Telegram. Evan sent Johnny with it.”
Apprehension sprang up in Matt’s eyes, and he bounded to his feet. “Now what?” He snatched the telegram, ripped it open, and read aloud,
DOLORES ON WAY HOME STOP LETTER FOLLOWS STOP GENEVIEVE
BROOKINGS.
Matt’s shoulders sagged in obvious relief. “So what? Dori evidently decided to surprise us by coming earlier than planned. It’s just like her.”
Hatred for what he must do filled Seth. “There’s bad news, Matt. The train Dori is on is snowbound west of Denver. It can’t move until help gets there to dig it out.”
Matt stared at him. “Dear God, no!”
Sarah echoed his prayer, but Solita put both hands over her head and wailed, “Dios be merciful to our senorita and the others.”
Matt staggered to a chair and dropped into it. His shoulders shook as if he had palsy. “I don’t know how Dori will stand it. Confinement in small spaces terrifies her. It always has.” He groaned. “How can she stand being shut up inside a cramped railroad car with no way to escape?”
Sympathy for both Matt and his sister emboldened Seth. “God will be with her.” His voice rang loud in the great room. “He has promised never to leave or forsake us.”
“Yes,” Sarah agreed. “He is our rock and our strong salvation.” She knelt beside Matt and held her hands out to Seth and Solita. “We need to pray.”
If Seth lived to be a hundred, he would never forget what followed. One by one, they stormed heaven on behalf of Dori and the others held in a prison of snow hundreds of miles away. The fear Seth had seen in the others’ faces and felt in the air itself gradually lessened. Peace and the assurance all would be well tiptoed into Seth’s heart. He raised his head. “I can’t help but believe they’ll be all right.”
Solita and Sarah smiled. Matt gripped Seth’s hand until it hurt and brokenly said, “I hope so. Now all we can do is to wait—and continue to pray.”
Hours passed. Night fell. The four huddled close to the fireplace and each other. No one suggested going to bed. Seth had passed the word about Dori’s predicament on to Brett Owen, and the foreman had promised to tell the hands. No good-natured banter or voices raised in cowboy songs sounded from the bunkhouse. Seth shuddered. The usually rollicking Diamond S felt like it was already in mourning. Still, he clung to the comfort that had come to him during the prayers—and continued to pray.
The dark hours passed. Dawn came. As soon as it was light enough to ride, Matt and Seth headed for Madera. They hung around Moore’s General Store and Post Office until they received word that the work train had reached the passenger train and the railroad expected to have the tracks cleared in a few hours.
The bald storekeeper-postmaster’s eyes twinkled. A wide grin spread across his round face. “Looks like that sister of yours will be here for the wedding, after all.”
“Thank God!” Matt exclaimed, but Seth saw in Matt’s eyes that the heartfelt cry of gratitude was for a lot more than Dori not missing the wedding.
The time between receiving the gladsome news and the train’s arrival gave Seth the opportunity to reflect. Like it or not, his life was bound up with Dori’s. Any dislike on his part was a breach of loyalty to Matt. Despite all that had happened, Seth still had misgivings about Dori and didn’t want to be present when she came. But when Matt made it clear that his heart was set on Seth going to the station with him, Seth agreed.
The train pulled in. Passengers streamed off. Where was Dori? Seth’s mind spun. Had Miss Brookings’s telegram been wrong? Had Dori missed the train she was supposedly on? Had all of his, Matt’s, Sarah’s, and Solita’s distress been for nothing? Seth caught sight of Matt’s set jaw and clenched his hands. If that dratted girl had once again caused her brother to suffer, Seth would—
“Dori!” Matt deserted Seth and hurtled toward the train, leaving Seth to gape at the young woman daintily holding her long skirts up enough to step down from the train. The black-and-white picture on the mantel at the Diamond S had often caused Seth to wonder how such an innocent-looking girl could be so troublesome. Now that picture came alive in glorious color—and Seth wondered again. Curly dark hair peeped from beneath a stylish bonnet and framed a lovely face. Dori’s sapphire velvet cloak was no bluer than her tear-filled eyes. She was one of the prettiest fillies Seth had ever seen. As pretty as his sister, Sarah, with her red-gold hair, or dark-haired, dark-eyed Abby Sheridan, who worked at the Yosemite Hotel.
Seth shook his head to clear his thoughts. Could this glorious creature whose head reached her tall brother’s shoulder be the bothersome girl who had caused Matt so much worry? The girl Seth considered childish and inconsiderate? Seth’s ability to size up those he met with a single lightning glance now served him well. With all her shortcomings, Dori was devoted to Matt. It showed in her eyes, in the way she flung herself into his arms, and her joyous cry, “Oh Matt, I’ve missed you so much!”
Yet in spite of her obviously sincere greeting, Seth’s keen gaze caught a shadow in Dori’s eyes that betrayed her. All was not well. Something was disturbing the long-awaited visitor. Was Matt in for even more trouble?