Per knew she was supposed to want a wedding with a voluminous pearl-seeded gown, 10 bridesmaids, a massive bell choir and hundreds of guests. What she experienced instead was a simple ceremony with two strangers for witnesses, and somehow it was perfect, another symbol of how she meant to go on. The minister was kindly and perhaps understandably insightful, picking up on her nervousness and doing his best to make her feel comfortable. When the “I do’s” were completed and the preacher pronounced them man and wife, Gus leaned over and kissed her full on the lips with a passion that shocked her and kicked her own passion up to goose-bump level. Her one thought was: Eleven days might be too long.
For his part, Gus was also stunned at the response he got from his obviously virginal young wife. He had to admit to himself, up to this point he liked her. This was no biddable maiden. She had a sense of humor and was no shrinking violet. It annoyed him that she called him out on his bad behavior, yet he also respected her for it. As travel-worn as she was, she was still beautiful. Eleven days is going to be a long, long time.
They signed the register, Gus paid the minister and they thanked him and his lovely wife, who had handed Per a bouquet of lilies just before the ceremony began. She had to laugh when the woman took the flowers back after the wedding. Then she saw another young couple sitting in the second pew and understood. They were obviously in love, as they held hands and could not have sat any closer together unless she was in his lap. Per felt a tinge of sadness. Or was it envy? Gus picked up her valise, which they had left on the first pew, and they were off to start their new life.
“I got you a horse,” Gus said as she walked with him down the street.
“Oh, Gus, thank you. That is so thoughtful.”
He didn’t respond, and she took the opportunity to look at the town. The street was wide and rutted from wagon tracks. They passed the Vale Citizens Bank, a feed and grain store and the Vale Community Room, whatever that was. Then she saw the mercantile and had a thought.
“Gus, wait.” She grabbed his arm.
Although he stopped, he looked impatient.
“I need to buy some boots. I can’t ride in these.”
She raised her dress up a bit to reveal her black slippers. He lost focus for a moment while gazing at her ankles before getting back on track. He realized she had a point.
“Okay, but don’t dally.”
“Yes, sir,” she said as if responding to a general, grabbing her bag from him and climbing the two steps up to the entrance.
“Hold it.” He dug in his pocket and held out some bills.
She waved him off. “I’ll take care of it.”
Without looking back she marched into the store. He wasn’t sure what to make of his new wife. He didn’t want her paying for things that were his responsibility. His wife, bloody hell. What was he thinking? In three years his only female companions had been harlots and squaws, and sometimes harlot squaws. Always willing women, of course. He had forgotten how to treat a lady, not that Per was like any lady he had ever known back in Maryland. She was feisty and he could see that stubbornness she wrote about in her first letter. At least she wasn’t afraid to speak up and tell him what she needed, except for the wedding night jitters. Though she wasn’t a large woman, she looked sturdy enough. Maybe it would work out. He sighed. And maybe it wouldn’t.
When Per emerged from the store 10 minutes later, which he had to admit was quickly for trying on and buying boots, she was wearing her dusty blue gown with her new purchase. She had chosen well. The leather boots, although he could only see the feet, looked well-made. Once again she lifted her dress to show them off. They were dark brown and hugged her shapely calves. She also looked ridiculous in the combination of dress and boots.
She lowered the dress and walked right past him carrying the valise. After enjoying the view of her from behind for a few seconds, he caught up with her and pulled the valise from her hand.
“Nice outfit.”
“Thank you.” It was no doubt an insult, but she didn’t really care at that point. She was not going to walk down to the livery in her slippers and change into the boots there. That was just a waste of time since she already had them on.
That’s all he said before he took off and she caught up to him. Gus walked like he was on a mission, and she didn’t want to upset him. They passed several more storefronts, one vacant, a blacksmith who was pounding on a horseshoe and then arrived at the livery.
A boy of about 14 was pitching hay into an empty stall and looked up. His eyes widened when he saw Per, and then he saw the stern look in Gus’s eyes.
“I…I fed and brushed your horses, just like you said, Mr. Burgen. Saddled ‘em about five minutes ago.”
“Thanks, Brian.”
Gus flipped him a coin, which he caught. The boy grinned and tried to look at Per again without appearing that he was looking. Gus led his bride to the back of the livery, where she spied a magnificent black stallion in one stall and a gorgeous red mare quarter horse in another. She was flabbergasted.
“Gus,” was all she could say. She had tears in her eyes.
He saw the tears and thought she was upset. “You don’t like it?”
“This…” She could barely get her thoughts together to speak. “This is the most wonderful gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you.”
She threw herself into his arms and practically squeezed the life out him. They had only been married 20 minutes and already she was starting to worm her way into his heart. He didn’t like it and had to put a stop to it. He removed himself from her clutches.
“Yeah, well, we are starting a ranch so I want all our horses to be top quality.”
She got the message. She was being too effusive, making him uncomfortable.
“You have a wonderful eye for choosing stock. Does she have a name?”
“I’ll leave that up to you,” he said as he started leading the stallion out of its stall.
“I’m going to ride her for a while before I decide. See how she handles.” She unlatched the stall door and grabbed the mare’s reins, following Gus out of the stable.
And then a thought occurred to her.
“Hold my horse. Please.”
She handed him the reins, grabbed her valise from him and headed back to the last stall before he could say anything. There, she quickly changed out of her traveling dress and into brown breeches and a blue plaid shirt, which she tied at the waist. After she put the boots back on, marveling at how comfortable they already were, she folded the dress and stuffed it into her valise. She passed the stable boy, seeing his jaw drop and also caught Gus’s look, which was somewhere between shock and amusement. Ignoring him, she handed him the valise and snatched the mare’s reins. Without any warning, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her into the saddle, ignoring her little squeak of surprise.
As much as Gus seemed eager to consummate the marriage, he appeared to be uncomfortable when she hugged him. She thought about that as they rode out of town in silence, coming to the conclusion that he most likely wanted to engage his body but not his heart. She also came to another important conclusion. Her trip west had taken 10 days, so her mother already knew she was missing. She had left a note explaining that her mother’s life was not for her and she would be in touch in the future. She had no doubt, however, her mother had already hired a private investigator to track her down and most likely haul her back home. He might be able to find her in less than eleven days from now, and if the marriage hadn’t been consummated yet, it could be annulled.
“How far is it to our campsite?” she asked after they had ridden a mile or so.
“About 38 miles, some of it hard riding.”
“Oh.”
She was definitely going to have a sore behind when this day was over. They were in open country now, with low grass as far as the eye could see, with forestland and mountains in the distance. “Why don’t we let them run?” she asked with a grin.
He smiled. “All right.” He pointed. “Just to the top of that rise.”
He barely got the last word out before she took off, kneeing her horse to a gallop. Her bonnet flew back and her hair started to come out of its chignon. She reached back and pulled out the pins, trying to stuff them into a pocket, but she dropped one or two. Her black hair whipped in the wind and she laughed. This was freedom. This is what her soul craved.
Gus galloped up to his wife in utter astonishment. While riding her horse at top speed, she had undone her hair and it was flying in the wind. She looked like some kind of avenging angel. He could not get over the fact that this beautiful woman had traveled across the country to marry and live with him in the middle of nowhere. While appreciating his good fortune, he could not help but be suspicious. He could understand why an ugly woman would answer his matrimonial advertisement, but this specimen of female perfection? Something wasn’t right. Of course, he wasn’t planning on sharing his past with her either, so he recognized he was being a little unfair to judge her. He just didn’t want whatever she was hiding to come back and bite him.
He passed her just before they reached the crest of the little hill. He was competitive by nature and couldn’t let her win the race. She was laughing and so joyous when she reached him, Gus couldn’t help but smile. Then his smile faded. She wouldn’t be giddy when she realized how hard the work would be to build the ranch.
They rode for another couple of hours before he pulled up near a little creek. “Let’s give the horses a rest, and we can eat. I brought some apples, cheese and beef jerky.”
She had no idea what beef jerky was but wasn’t about to admit that. They unsaddled the horses and ground staked them by the creek. He unrolled a blanket that had been secured behind his saddle and spread it on the ground. They sat and ate the apples and the jerky. She watched the way he ripped off a portion with his teeth and chewed, and she did the same. It actually was rather tasty, a little bit spicy as well as beefy.
“Tell me about trapping. How long did you do that?”
“I came west in ’69. It was kind of the end of the trapping era. Many of the regions had been trapped out.”
“Trapped out?”
“Not enough animals left to support the number of trappers. And the market in England for beaver had dwindled. I did it for a couple of years, mostly getting beavers and foxes, but started to take on scouting missions to augment my income.”
She took a bite of her apple. It was hard and crispy, just like she liked her apples. “Where and what did you scout?”
She noticed he was always scanning the area, on the lookout for danger, she suspected. She felt safe with him.
“I did quite a bit of work for the Army. And I scouted for a wagon train from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon Territory. That’s how I found the land I bought.”
Per wanted to have that conversation about consummating the marriage, without telling him why, but hadn’t quite screwed up her courage yet. “That sounds interesting. I’d like to hear more about both those ventures, particularly the scouting.”
He stood and held his hand out to help her up. She took it and felt a kind tingling heat when his calloused hand grasped hers.
“Some other time. We need to get going.”
As soon as she was standing he let go, almost as if he had been burned. She took that to mean he had felt something, too. She should have felt hurt or insulted that he apparently did not want to fall in love with her, but she decided to approach it as a challenge. And she welcomed challenges. It wasn’t like she loved him now anyway. She did like him, though, despite his borderline civility. Or maybe because of it. She smiled at that thought.
After another hour of riding, the landscape gradually changed from grass to trees. As they followed a worn path through the forest, the temperature dropped noticeably. Gus was riding ahead of her and she called out to him.
He reined in.
“I need my bag so I can get my sweater.”
She couldn’t gauge his look. Was he annoyed that she couldn’t stand the cold? Frustrated that they’d had to stop? Well, too bad if that was the case. God forbid she slowed them down by two minutes. As she quickly rifled through the bag and pulled out a gray sweater, she wondered about the path they were on.
“How did this trail get here?”
“It’s an old Indian path.”
She handed him the valise and donned the sweater as he secured the bag behind his saddle.
“I hope that means only old Indians use it.” She mounted without his help, although her foot could barely reach the stirrup.
He chuckled as he vaulted back into his saddle so gracefully she almost sighed.
Then he looked at her, all humor aside. “Do you know how to shoot?”
“As a matter of fact, I do, although I’m not a sharpshooter. I learned in Spain, but I don’t have a gun.”
He leaned over and unbuckled a saddlebag, reaching in and pulling out a pistol. He handed it to her. “It’s a Colt .45 single-action Army revolver.”
She nodded. “The Peacemaker.”
He raised an eyebrow. She was surprisingly knowledgeable about things he would not expect her to know. “Yes. Be careful. It’s loaded.”
“Wouldn’t do much good if it weren’t,” she smiled, placing the gun in her waistband.
No, she wasn’t like any debutante he had ever met.
The next time they stopped, in a clearing near another little stream, she wasn’t sure her legs would support her when she dismounted. Her thighs and butt ached, and her back was a little sore. She would be damned if she would let Gus know that, however. Locking her knees, she climbed off the horse, holding onto the saddle to steady herself.
“Leave the saddle on,” her husband said. “We’ll just be here a few minutes.” He took her reins and led her horse to the creek.
She gratefully sank to the ground, leaning back on a juniper tree. A few minutes later, Gus returned and tossed her a hunk of cheese. He sat cross-legged nearby.
Per thanked him and tried to muster all the energy she could. “Are we almost there?”
“Yes. It’s no more than a couple of miles.”
Uh-oh. It was time. It was now or never. She had to say it. “Gus?”
“What?”
“Uh, I’ve…I’ve changed my mind.”
He knew it, dad blast it. She wasn’t cut out for this. Couldn’t even make it to the campsite.
“You might have said something before we said the vows.” He stood and started pacing, holding his hand on the back of his neck.
She was pretty certain he was misunderstanding what she was trying to say.
“I’m not taking you back to Vale now, and it might not even be in the next two weeks. You’ll just have to wait until I can get there again.”
“I don’t want to go back to Vale.”
“Well, where the hell do you want to go?”
“I didn’t change my mind about the marriage or the move, Gus.”
“Oh.” Now he felt like a complete jackass. “What are you talking about then?”
“The eleven days.”
He sighed. She probably wanted to make it a year now. He wasn’t cut out to be a husband, that was awfully dang obvious.
He stopped and looked down at her. “How many days do you want it to be?”
She hesitated, admitting to herself it was just to toy with him since he had thought the worst of her. Then she looked up at him and said, “None.”
He swallowed. Surely he had not heard her correctly. “None?” His voice sounded higher than usual.
She smiled. “None.”
And then he ogled her with such undisguised yearning, she panicked. “Not here!” she exclaimed.
He burst out laughing. “I promise you, I’m not going to ravish you on the ground, at least not without a blanket under us. We need to get home and set up camp before dark. There’s only a few hours left in the day.”
He headed off toward the horses and she breathed a sigh of relief. She realized it wasn’t that she didn’t want to couple with him. She actually did. It was that she was utterly inexperienced, although she understood the act, having witnessed those horses copulating on Lindy’s farm. She didn’t want to disappoint her husband. Then again, he might be disappointed if you were experienced. That made her feel better.
She got up and glanced over at the creek, where he was untying the horses. Just then she caught a movement in a tree off to his left. She was about to yell to him but realized there wasn’t time. She took two steps as she pulled out her revolver. That’s when the cougar sprang from the tree. She fired twice, hitting it both times. Gus turned, pulling out his pistol as the cat landed with at his feet. The horses both shied away, whinnying, and he fought for control of the reins until they finally calmed down as he led them away from the dead cougar.
That’s when he looked at Per and saw the blood had drained from her face. He quickly tied the reins to a bush and rushed over to her. She was still holding the gun and her hand was shaking. He carefully removed the gun from her hand.
“That was some nice shooting. You may have saved my life.”
“I…I never shot a living thing. Just targets.”
He couldn’t help it. He put an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. “It’s not the same, is it?”
“No.”
“A good rule is, don’t point your gun unless you’re willing to kill if worse comes to worse.”
Then she turned and looked up at him with those blue, blue eyes. “Are you all right?”
“Me? I’m fine, thanks to you.” Seeing that her color was back, he let her go. “We’d better get going.”
“Should we bury the mountain lion?” she asked him as he brought the horses over.
“Nah, the predators will take care of it.”
He helped her mount. “There’s bigger predators in these woods than that?” she asked in semi-horror.
He had started off but turned back. “Well, the cat’s dead, so the predators don’t have to be bigger.”
That was comforting. Kind of. The last two miles went quickly, with no talk between the newlyweds. And then they came out of the forest to a clearing that was part meadow and part cleared forest, with mountains in the distance. She spotted a stream about a hundred yards beyond the campsite. It truly was an awe-inspiring spot.
Gus had stopped to survey his property, and Per rode up next to him.
“Oh, Gus, what a wonderful, gorgeous spot you picked. How many acres do you have?”
“We have 160. And we’ll be able to claim 160 more. Much of what we have now is forestland.”
She could see a large tent, a circle of stones where he built his campfire and a corral. Nearby stood a lean-to, presumably where the horses could get out of the weather. The shed next to that probably held his tools and feed. To the right of the cabin, a garden area looked to hold a variety of vegetables. Off to the left was a massive pile of logs, which he obviously would use to build a cabin or ranch house. What effort it must have taken to chop down all those trees and haul and strip those logs. And he apparently had done it all himself.
“I know I’m going to love it here,” she gushed, but she could see he was dubious.
He didn’t know that to her, the sky looked bluer, the grass looked greener and the trees were more beautiful than any she had ever seen. She breathed in the pure western air and felt her soul expanding.
“Let’s go,” she beamed and led the way into the clearing.
He shook his head and followed. Now the real test began.