“Why ain’t you drawing, Joey? I done got some good pictures of Chimney Rock,” Benny said.
“I wanted to check and see if Hope is all right.” Joey was standing beside Sarah as she fed a bottle to the baby.
“She’s fine, Joey. She’s eating good and she’s about to go to sleep.” Sarah smiled at him.
“Aunt Fiona puts her on her shoulder and pats her back. So did Aunt Rose.”
“I’m going to do that, too. I want her to drink a little more first.”
“Why do you call your ma Aunt Fiona? I thought she was your ma.” Benny looked puzzled.
Joey looked scared. As if he’d said something wrong. “She is my ma.”
“Then why don’t you call her ma?”
“’Cause I like to call her Aunt Fiona sometimes.” Joey moved back to the corner of the wagon where Benny sat with paper and pencil. “Let me have a paper to draw on.”
Benny handed him the paper and said, “If she’s your ma, I don’t see why—”
“Benny,” Sarah interrupted him. “Joey can call his ma anything he wants to. Now quit asking so many questions.”
“But, Ma...”
“You heard me.” Sarah put Hope on her shoulder and it wasn’t long until she let out a big burp.
Benny and Joey both giggled. “She can make a lot of noise for such a little kid,” Benny said.
“You should hear her sometimes when she’s mad or hungry. She can really yell.” Joey laughed again.
Sarah put the baby in the crate her father had taken from the Larson wagon and covered her with the soft blanket. Straightening up, she turned and said, “You boys play quietly now. You don’t want to wake Hope up. She might start letting out those yells you’re talking about, Joey.”
“She can do it, too.”
“I’m going to get a cup of coffee, but I’ll be right outside the wagon if you need anything.”
“We’re not babies, Ma.” Benny gave her an indignant look.
She smiled and climbed out over the tailgate.
Her father was sitting near the opening. “Have you heard anything?”
He shook his head. “I probably should have gone with them.”
“You know Clint wanted you to stay here to guard the children. Looks like you’re doing a good job.”
“I intend to sit here all night if I have to. Nobody’s going to get near this wagon.”
Mattie walked up and handed Herman a cup of coffee. She looked at Sarah. “The baby asleep?”
“Yes and the boys are busy drawing pictures.”
“Good. Maybe it’ll keep Joey’s mind off things.”
“He’s still concerned. He was watching closely to make sure I took care of Hope the way Rose and Fiona did.” She chuckled.
Mattie smiled. “The perfect big brother, wouldn’t you say?”
“Mama, Joey’s not her brother.”
“Not yet, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
Mattie cocked an eye at her. “Let’s go over to the fire and join Hannah. You look like you could use some coffee.” She turned back to her husband. “Yell, if you want anything, Rufus.”
“I’ll do that.”
* * * *
Sarah stared at her mama after Mattie finished telling her some of the things she’d learned when she was helping Rose give birth to Hope.
“Mama’s telling the truth, Sarah,” Hannah said. “I heard most of it, too.”
“So the man Rose’s daddy shot was really Hope’s father?”
“I’m afraid so, Rachel.”
“But why keep it a secret now, Mama? He and Rose are both dead.” Rachel was still confused.
“We’re going to keep it a secret because that’s the way Clint wants it to be. Rose told me he promised to give her baby his name and he’d help her raise it as his own. For Hope’s sake he doesn’t ever want her to know that he’s not her natural father.”
“But now that Rose is gone, do you think he’ll do it? Wouldn’t it be easier to send the baby to Rose’s mama and he wouldn’t have the responsibility of it?”
“I think maybe that’s what Rose thought might happen so she asked Fiona to take her baby if anything happened to her. Maybe she had a premonition.”
“And Fiona promised she’d raise the child if anything did happen to Rose,” Hannah added.
“I think Rose hoped if she didn’t make it Clint and Fiona would get married.” Mattie shook her head. She had a worried look on her face. “I thought they might, then this happened.”
“They’re going to find Fiona, Mama,” Hannah said.
Mattie nodded. “I hope they do before it’s not too late.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sarah turned her head and stared at her mama.
“According to what I’ve heard, Luther Markin is a wicked man. I don’t suppose he’s going to let Fiona keep her virtue intact very long.”
“Mama!”
“Don’t look so shocked, Hannah. His type would have no qualms about raping her as soon as he gets her away from here. Men like him don’t care what a woman is or what they need or want. All he wants to do is take his pleasure out on them, then he...”
“He what, Mama?” Sarah asked quietly.
“He’ll probably kill her.”
Hannah and Sarah both gasped.
“I’m praying it don’t come to that.” Mattie stood. “We better bed down. Zeke said we was heading out in the morning. Your Papa is going to hitch up the Larson wagon and one of you can drive it. As for tonight, he’s going to sleep in our wagon with the boys and the three of us are going to sleep in theirs.”
“What if Clint finds Fiona and brings her back?” Hannah poured out the remains of her coffee.
“Then we’ll move and let her have the wagon back. I’ll be one happy woman to see that sweet young lady come back here where she belongs.”
* * * *
The moon was almost full and Mac was having no trouble following the trail Fiona left. According to Zeke, he was only an hour or so behind Clint and the Fritzes. He figured he was probably gaining on them since he was tracking alone and moving at a pretty good clip. In case Markin heard them approach him, Mac knew he wanted to get close, but not catch up. It would be better if he could keep the advantage of surprise on his side.
Mac pondered what could be happening to Fiona Webb. He knew Luther Markin was a vicious and unscrupulous man. There was a hole in his side to prove that. A hole that was made from the bullet fired at his back. Mac had faced a lot of ruthless men in his day, but none of them had been coward enough to shoot him in the back. This was a man who would take no pity on a woman. It didn’t matter if she was innocent. In fact sometimes the innocence made them treat a woman rougher and more vicious.
He didn’t understand what made men like Luther Markin operate. A man who could take his pleasure at the expense of a woman’s pain was a man Mac couldn’t fathom. Sure he’d had his share of women. Some had been whores. Some had been plain women and at least one was a sweet innocent young woman. A woman who, on their wedding night, had given herself to him with love and trust in her eyes. And a year later had given him a beautiful little daughter, but sacrificed her own life in bringing their child into the world.
A child who had grown into a beautiful young woman. A woman who was now married to a rancher down in Texas. A woman who had given him two beautiful grandchildren. Grandchildren he hadn’t seen in a couple of years.
But this situation had changed everything. As soon as this train was safely in Oregon, Mac was heading to Texas to spend some time with that daughter and those grandchildren. He might even take his son-in-law up on the offer to become his partner on the small ranch he owned. At forty-seven, it was about time he settled down. Then he wouldn’t have to contend with the losses and hurts of the people who joined these trains to find their dreams in distant places. Places which were not a lot different from those they left behind.
Mac twisted in the saddle as the trail suddenly turned to the right. He pulled on the reins and turned his horse toward the ridge. As he started to climb, he paused. “I bet he has her in one of those caves I saw when I scouted this area the other day.”
After a few minutes consideration, Mac turned slightly to the east. He knew the best way to approach this problem was to come in at an angle nobody would suspect.