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I’ve been given so much. I can’t help but aid others as I find need.
~ Seth
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SETH COULDN’T HELP the defeated feeling in his gut as he pushed through the tree cover later that day. No one in the cluster of tents knew of a woman headed north alone. No one even knew of a woman camping alone. One fellow who looked to be half-Indian said he’d seen another tiny campsite set away from town. Tidy and well-hidden.
May have been just what they were looking for.
If they could have found the place. They’d traipsed pretty far from town, checking behind every tree and over each ridge. But still hadn’t found any sign of her.
“Wait. Did you hear that?” Samuel’s low voice caught Seth’s steps short.
He stilled his breathing as he strained to hear. A voice, higher than a man’s but...something about it didn’t ring like a woman’s tone.
The talking sounded just ahead through a patch of cedar and heavy underbrush. He stepped forward, slower than before, keeping his tread light.
Except... maybe he should allow her to hear them coming. The last thing he wanted to do was surprise an unsuspecting woman. If she knew how to shoot a gun, he’d hate to meet the business end of her rifle. To survive this far, she surely knew how to shoot one. Of course, it’d be even worse if she didn’t know how to handle the weapon.
If only he knew her name, he’d call out to announce himself. Maybe best to call a greeting anyway.
“Hello. Anyone out here?” It’d be nice if she would answer. Sound a friendly response.
But of course she didn’t. Was she running from the law? Afraid of men? Did she have a violent husband chasing her?
A cluster of bushy spruce sat a dozen strides ahead, so he moved that direction. “Is anyone here?” Surely she’d heard his first call, but he still didn’t want to give her the idea they were sneaking up.
A horse’s snort sounded on the other side of the trees. Definitely someone there.
Samuel’s breath warmed the back of Seth's neck as he reached to push the branches aside, giving them both a glimpse of what lay beyond.
His view made him recoil.
“What do you want?” The woman on the other side of the rifle spoke with a tone edged in steel.
“We mean no harm, ma’am." He eased his hands up. "Just came to ask a question.”
“Step out here where I can see you, then ask it.” She edged backward, giving them room to comply.
He and Samuel both obliged her, keeping their hands out and well away from their own pistols. Seth wasn’t particularly concerned, as they didn’t plan to do anything that would encourage her to pull the trigger. Even so, when a man is staring down the barrel of a Henry rifle at close range, it was better to take precautions.
He wrangled away the urge to step back into the trees.
“What’s your question?” Now that his view of the woman wasn’t blocked by branches, he realized she was much younger than he’d expected. Maybe somewhere in her mid-twenties, a couple years younger than he and Samuel. And she’d be pretty too, if she didn’t wear such a look of...well, hatred was the word that sprang to mind.
She had absolutely no reason to dislike them that much, and for some reason, he had a sudden urge to prove himself worthy. Once she got to know him, he’d make sure she fully changed her mind about him.
He cleared his throat to get his dry mouth to work. “Ma’am.” He nodded in greeting. “My name’s Seth Grant, and this is my brother, Samuel. We were in the trade store today, and the fellow there said you might be headed north through the mountains. We’re going that way too, so we came to invite you to join our group.”
Her hard eyes widened, but the gun never wavered.
He hurried on. “We’ve one other man riding with us. Elias Benbow. He’s lived in this land for a lot of years. A good sort. He’s gonna show us the route, then he’ll drop out when we reach his cabin right below the line into Canada. We plan to go on to our brother’s place a week or so into that country.”
He stopped to catch his breath and give her a chance to speak.
Silence filled the space between them. Was there something else he should add? More details she’d need to know to see the wisdom in joining forces?
“Is that everything you came to ask?” Her words held no sign of emotion. No sign of whether she was leaning toward a yes. Although the lack of sentiment probably meant she wasn’t convinced.
“Yes, ma’am. We thought it made sense to travel together. You know the old saying, ‘many hands make light work.’ They also make for better protection.”
“I appreciate your offer, boys, but no thank you.” She spoke with a flat tone.
And she called them boys.
“Why wouldn’t you want the protection?” He couldn’t help the bite of irritation in his tone. She must be touched in the head to deny their offer. She didn’t look half-witted, but perhaps that was truly the case. Unless...was she afraid of them? He glanced down at his shirt and trousers. Clean enough. Maybe he should’ve shaved and washed better, but he’d have been dirty again by now with all the searching they’d done to find her.
Whatever her reservations, he needed to convince her to drop the crazy notion of traveling alone through this wilderness. He forced his voice to calm. “We mean you no harm, ma’am. We’ve been in California for the past half-dozen years, but before that we hailed from Yorkville, a little town in South Carolina. From good folks, a family of nine children.” He scanned his memory for something else that might help, then looked to Samuel for assistance.
His brother straightened. “Our folks are farmers. They raise corn and cotton mostly. We didn’t even have slaves before the war. We worked the farm ourselves.”
Her face remained stoic. Unimpressed. Stone. If she was afraid, she had the best poker face he’d ever seen. And he’d seen more than he cared to remember.
Maybe she was touched in the head. Or on the run from the law.
As Samuel’s words faded into silence, the woman raised her chin a notch. “I pity your poor mother for having to raise such a brood. Now, I think we’re done here. You asked your question, I answered. You can be on your way.” Her vivid green eyes held such resolve, there seemed to be nothing left but to turn and leave.
“If that’s what you want, ma’am. We’ll be leaving Fort Benton morning after next. If you change your mind, meet us at the small gate behind the trade store at sunrise.”
“I already gave you my answer.” The gun raised a hair, giving the impression they’d best leave.
Seth stepped back. “The offer still stands.” Then he made himself turn away. Forced himself to put his back to the gun. To prove he wasn’t afraid of her.
Because he had an inkling fear was, indeed, the motivation behind her bluster. The comment about his mother made him think she’d experienced her own hard life and could sympathize with another woman whose path wasn’t easy.
A woman as young as she was couldn’t know what hardships his mother faced, but she must have her own story. Didn’t everyone?
As he and Samuel trekked back toward town, the possibilities of what an innocent young woman might’ve endured flashed through his mind. Stomach-churning possibilities. Enough to make him want to turn around and force her to travel with them.
He couldn’t compel her to make the safe choice, though. The only thing he could do now was put her in God’s hands.
Lord, protect her. Do what I can’t.
~ ~ ~
RACHEL STARED AT THE descent before her, trying to still the roiling in her middle. God, help me do this.
“You want me to lead, ma?” Andy reined his horse forward to move up beside her.
She swallowed. “No, I can do it. I just didn’t expect the mountains to be so steep yet.”
“I think this is only a hill. At least, compared to those over there.” He pointed straight ahead, and she squinted to make out the massive forms shrouded in fog.
As her eyes adjusted, the peaks took shape with startling clarity. Yes, peaks. Rising at least twice as high as the terrain they rode now, capped with white and looming tall enough that a fall from them would kill a person without question.
Could she lead them safely through such heights? She had to. There was no other choice if they were to have the new life she'd promised. She and Andy had to fade into the obscurity of these mountains until they reached Fort Hamilton. Once they found Henry, he would help them.
Until then, they had to undertake this journey alone.
Squaring her shoulders, she nudged her gray gelding forward. “Come on, Winter. We can make it.”
The horse didn’t seem concerned about the descent, tucking his hind legs under him as he shifted steadily downward. Andy’s mare, Summer, did just as well.
Still, Rachel had a white-knuckled grip on the saddle by the time they reached the bottom.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Andy’s tone held a lightness she couldn’t help but envy.
She shot a look at him. “One down, twenty more to go?”
He wrinkled his nose. “More like two hundred.” His gaze slipped sideways. “Hey, is that the men who came to the camp?”
She followed his focus. Skirting the base of a hill ahead, three men rode in single file, their horses loaded with enough supplies to last for weeks. The two men in the rear had similar builds—at least, similar ways of sitting atop their horses.
Those broad shoulders, squared as if charging into adventure, did look an awful lot like those of the men who’d come stomping into their camp two days before. Seth and Samuel Grant. They shared similarities that made no doubt of their claim to be brothers. Seth must be the older, from the way he'd naturally taken the lead.
A bit of impulsiveness in that one. Probably a tendency that had snared him into more than one unhappy ending. She knew the type too well. Had been married to one with that same propensity to do whatever notion swept into his mind at the moment.
She set her jaw against the painful memories and guided Winter closer to a stand of cedars. The men rode far enough ahead they probably wouldn’t look back and notice her and Andy, but they’d do best to stay out of sight anyway.
Although maybe...if their guide was as good in these mountains as they claimed, perhaps she and Andy should follow their trail. Shadowing the men could be the wisest way to ensure she didn’t get herself and Andy lost in this wilderness.
Because from the looks of things, the Montana Territory was vast and treacherous enough to swallow them whole.
~ ~ ~
“WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES again?”
Rachel motioned for Andy to quiet his whisper even more, then moved close to his ear. “The younger man by the fire is Seth Grant. The older is Elias Benbow. The other brother by the horses is Samuel Grant.” Though she’d been terrified when they’d come to ask their question, she’d made a mental note of every detail.
Andy nodded, his gaze never leaving the men setting up camp in the little clearing.
Maybe she shouldn’t have brought her son along, creeping close to the men’s camp to see what they were about. But she’d not been able to suppress her curiosity about how they behaved themselves. After all, if she’d answered differently, she and Andy might be sitting by that fire, even now.
Seth had something simmering in the pot—beans, from the smell of it—and was spooning cornmeal batter into a sizzling pan. Somehow, she hadn’t expected him to be the one cooking, tending to women’s work. But then, they didn’t have a woman among them to attend those duties. Had that been the reason they’d offered to have her along? Maybe now the men planned to take turns at the job.
Within minutes, Seth was handing out tin plates of food, first to Mr. Benbow, then to his brother, who came to sit by the fire. They filled cups from a metal carafe, the kind used to brew coffee. She heard Seth mention water but hadn't caught the full sentence.
Were they truly only drinking water with the evening meal? This close to the fort, they should still have whiskey they’d surely packed for the journey. The wretched stuff had been much more readily available than clean water around the fort.
She couldn’t pull her gaze from the scene as the men ate, speaking a bit here and there. Mostly, they seemed to enjoy the food and companionship. An easy camaraderie slipped around them, and they didn’t pass a whiskey flask once.
Finally, Mr. Benbow set down his plate and spoke an appreciative comment, then rose with a groan loud enough for all to hear. “Reckon’ I’ll stretch my legs a spell. Don’t forget to pack all the foodstuffs so we can hang it up away from the bears.”
Andy tugged her sleeve. “Let’s go.”
The boy was right. They’d spent more time watching these men than they should have. She still had to force herself to turn away from her curiosity, to creep behind her son as they retraced their steps up the rocky incline. She stumbled on a loose stone in the darkness but caught herself. She flinched as the noise of the skittering pebble seemed to echo in the darkness.
It wasn’t like her to be so careless. She and Andy had become masters at moving soundlessly in the night, even sneaking up on a few Indian camps on their journey along the Missouri.
The ability to remain unseen was a skill that had served her well for many years. Until now. She could only pray the men hadn’t heard.
~ ~ ~
“MA, WAKE UP.”
Rachel jerked at her son’s sharp tone, springing upright as she blinked away the haze of sleep. A low rumble seemed to fill the air around her, and she struggled to focus on where it might be coming from.
“I think it’s a bear.” Andy clutched his rifle tight against his shoulder.
She spun to face the direction he stared. Something stirred in the darkness, and the rumble took on more definition.
The crashing of heavy feet echoed through the woods. A surge of unhappy growling sent skitters down her back and arms.
Pushing the blankets aside, she leaped to her feet and reached for her own rifle. They’d paid dearly for these two guns, using the tiny profit from selling the homestead to buy these and the horses. But she’d been thankful every day since then.
“I’ve got the first shot.” Andy’s legs were braced in his shooting stance so the force of the Henry’s recoil wouldn’t knock him to the ground.
The gun was almost as long as he was, and the sight of him there, her twelve-year-old son playing the part of a grown man, made the burn of tears surge up her throat. She shouldn’t rely on him so much.
The hungry grunts and growls grew louder. Closer. The shadow moved, then took shape, padding toward them on all fours.
A scream built in her throat, but she held it in as she pumped the lever on her own rifle and raised it to her shoulder.
Andy’s gun exploded, ripping through the night.
The bear roared, surging up on its hind legs to a height that froze the blood in her veins.
