No Place for a Lady (31 page)

Bill Alden lived next door to the community church in a small
house provided by the generosity of Jim McBride. Though nothing fancy, it was adequate. Crystal slowed the horses to a walk
before entering the churchyard. She noticed another horse and
buggy standing outside the gate. Then she spied Beth, basket in
hand, standing by the well and looking up at the skinny pastor.
The thought struck her that they made a fetching picture, with the
sunlight glinting off Beth's deep auburn hair, her bonnet trailing
down her back, and the preacher smiling down at her. Crystal
watched as he lifted a blue napkin from the basket and took a
deep breath. Ahh..' When he lifted his head, he saw Crystal
approaching.

"Well, hello there, Crystal:" His face flushed as she observed
their interchange. Beth spun around.

"Reverend ... Beth" Crystal nodded to them. "I hope I'm not
interrupting. . "

"No, no. . "Beth's face blotched red. "I just brought over some
fresh homemade bread to the reverend. I was just leaving:'

"Don't do that on my account. I just wanted to give you this:"
She climbed down from the wagon and handed him an envelope.
Crystal was chuckling inwardly. So ... there's been some real sparking going on during my time on the trail drive.

"What's this?" Bill reached out a bony hand to take the envelope.

Crystal cleared her throat, and her eyes rolled upward. He
nodded as if he got the message. He tucked the envelope into his
hip pocket. "How about I make us some coffee to go with this
delicious-smelling bread?"

"Not for me, thanks." Crystal held up her gloved hand. "I want
to get back to the ranch ... lots to do." She picked up her skirts
to climb back into the buckboard.

"Will we be seeing you at the bazaar this coming weekend?"
Beth asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything" Crystal waved over her shoulder and left the two of them alone.

Feeling deeply satisfied that she had paid off the debt and made
her tithe, she was lost in thought on the dusty road back to the
ranch. In the distance, she saw a horse and rider appear on the
road. She knew at once that it was Luke by the way he carried his
shoulders and held his reins. She was excited that he had made
it back from Denver.

"Whoa." Luke pulled his horse up and called out to her. He
tipped his hat back, leaned forward, and rested his arms on the
saddle horn. "You're up and about early."

Crystal slowed to a stop. "Good morning. I was just taking care
of business. And yourself? Paying a morning call to April?"

"I was. Did you just come from there?"

"In a roundabout way. The ranch is clear of debt, at least for
now. When did you get back?" Crystal swallowed hard. So he was
going to be with April. No doubt to make plans on building their
home on the Blue River.

"Late last night:" Luke straightened in his saddle to leave. "See
you back at the ranch, Crystal" He tipped his hat at her and dug
his heels into the horse's flanks.

Crystal loved the way he said her name. His voice was deep and
husky. I hope April will be good to him. She is such a little snippet!
Immediately she chided herself for having such thoughts. They
didn't reflect a very Christian attitude. She'd just try harder where
April was concerned.

The day of the bazaar was a spectacular and pristine one. There
was not a cloud in the sky, and an Indian summer breeze dropped
in just in time for the merriment, food, and fellowship for the little
white church. The steeple was visible on the hilltop in resplendent
autumn color offered by surrounding aspen trees. Carmen and
Crystal, their buggy laden with their pies and jams, were one of
the last ones to arrive in the churchyard.

Things were in full swing with booths set up for displays of
quilts, homemade jams, and leather ware. Rusty was playing his fiddle while couples danced on the lawn adjacent to the booths.
Children played in groups, and older boys were trying to outdo
one another with kick balls.

The women placed their pies on a side table along with pies
of different varieties that were to be auctioned off to raise funds
for an organ. Sara Johnson wrote their names on the bottoms of
the pie plates.

"That's some mighty fine-looking pies you made," Sara said.

"Thank you, Sara" Carmen pointed to the big basket of preserves she carried and said, "I'll take these over to Mary Franklin
and get them tagged. I can't wait to look through the pottery that
I spied:"

Crystal was glad to hear the cheerfulness in Carmen's voice.
She knew Curly's death had hit her hard.

Kurt made his way over to her side to offer his assistance, and
to Crystal's surprise, Carmen took his arm.

Flo arranged their pies along with other desserts on the plank
tables that were draped with pretty checkered tablecloths from
her cafe. "I'm so glad to see you're back, Crystal. That was a pretty
brave thing you did, going on that trail drive:"

"It was an eye-opener. I feel a little rough around the edges now,
considering my tanned skin and broken nails:" Crystal laughed
good-naturedly.

"I think you look gorgeous, Crystal. Don't you agree, Sara?"

Sara paused in her task long enough to give Crystal a quick
glance. "Indeed I do. Now you fit in just like the rest of us women
of the West. Tough and determined:"

Crystal felt a warm glow. "I'll take that as a compliment,
Sara"

"It was meant as one" Sara smiled as she looked at Crystal.
Crystal knew that they accepted her as one of them now.

"You be sure to sample some of my fried chicken, and let me
know if it tastes as good as the Southern way." Flo led Crystal to
the main food table holding every variety of good eats.

"Looks delicious, Flo"

"Now, you get some of this in you, and it'll put a little meat
back on you after the trail drive:" Flo snapped her fingers, "Oh,
excuse me, Crystal. I left some roastin' ears on the pit I've got to
see to"

Flo lumbered off, and Crystal wandered around to look at all
of the booths. The quilts showed exquisite needlework, but she
paused at the booth of leather wares.

The smithy, Lars, greeted her. "See anything you might be interested in?"

Crystal fingered a beautiful tooled-leather belt. "What's your
asking price for this belt?"

"That one would be $5.00" He picked it up and handed it to
her. "Nice one too"

"Would you take $4.50?" Crystal thought this would be a good
Christmas present for someone in the future.

"Best I can do is $4.75. Take it or leave it"

Crystal handed him the money, and he rolled the belt, then
placed it into a small sack for her. Later she found a beautiful
shawl and purchased it for Carmen. This was the most fun
she'd had in a long time, and it felt wonderful to be under
the canopy of a clear blue sky and watch the townsfolk enjoy
themselves after a week of hard work of harvesting their fields
or rounding up cattle. Crystal was glad that the trail drive was finally behind her, and she had a certain lightness in her heart
this fine day.

Emily and Beth called out to her and fell into step beside her.
"We are so glad you're back!" Emily said. "You'll have to sit with us
for lunch and tell us all about the trail drive. What was it like?"

"Did you sleep out under the stars too? Did you have to cook?"
Beth joined in with her own questions.

"Whoa, one at a time. I'd loved to sit with you and tell you
all about it:" Crystal linked arms with Emily and Beth. "But I'm
famished. Shall we eat?"

They sat at a long plank table surrounded by laughter and
conversation. Luke and April joined them, then Kurt and Carmen. Jube hurried over with his plate and sat next to Emily with
a look of pure adoration on his face. It wasn't long before Reverend Alden showed up to squeeze in next to Beth, who blushed
a becoming pink.

Crystal felt like the odd one out. Everyone was paired with
a sweetheart, and it pierced her heart. There was much talking,
laughing, and flirting. Fighting back her tears, she folded her
napkin and tried to appear interested in their conversation. She
wished josh were here, but she had not seen him among the crowds
today.

Flo yelled out to the crowd that it was time for the pie auction.
"Now, you men, we need to fetch a good price for these pies. You
all know it's to raise money for the church's new organ. So all you
gather around near the pie table, and we'll start the bidding:"

Flo moved over to the pie table. Folks satiated from the fried
chicken made their way toward the auction.

"Remember, if you are outbid, sit down. If your bid is accepted, you must take your dessert and claim the maker of the pie to share
it with her. Okay? Let's get started:'

Sara picked up the first pie and held it up high for all to see. The
bidding started and ended before Crystal could catch her breath. The
first pie was none other than Beth's, and the folks enjoyed watching
as the young preacher played a bidding war with a couple of cowboys
until he won. He walked up front to receive his pie.

"Name's on the bottom, Reverend, so all is fair;' Flo told him
as he lifted the beautiful pie up to read Beth's name on its bottom.
"So, whose pie is it?" Sara teased.

"It's Beth Johnson's. Beth, would you do me the honor of sharing this pie?" His Adam's apple bobbed up and down when he
talked, and he smiled at Beth. Beth stepped out to meet him, and
they made their way through the crowd to a shady spot under a
cottonwood tree.

The bidding continued with fun and frivolity as the men tried
to guess whose pie they were bidding for. Crystal waited and
wondered who would pick her pie, if anyone. No sooner than
she had the thought, her apple pie was lifted off the dessert table
by Sara to start the bidding.

"I'll bid $1.50." Josh raised his hand. Crystal hadn't seen him
earlier, but she was quite pleased that he was there after all and
bidding on her pie.

"I'll make that $2.00." Crystal heard a familiar voice behind
her. Without turning around, she knew it was Luke.

"$2.50;' Josh said quickly.

"$3.00." Luke spoke again without looking at josh.

"I'll give you $3.50:"

"Make it $4.00"

The crowd was into it now and egging them on.

"Don't give in, Josh," April said loudly enough to be heard
above the crowd.

"$4.25," Josh said.

"$5.00"

"$5.50. And that's my final."

"$6.00!"

"$6.00;' Flo said. "Going once ... going twice ... sold for $6.00
to Luke. Step right up and get your pie" Flo handed the pie to
Luke, and when he was close enough, Crystal heard her say, "Wise
choice, my friend"

Luke lifted the pie to read the name and called out, "Crystal
Clark!" His voice held surprise. "Would you care to share your pie
with me?"

Crystal, embarrassed that anyone would spend that much on
her pie, made her way forward. "I accept your invitation."

Crystal stole a look at April, whose face was like stone. April
stood with her arms crossed, and Crystal realized she was probably agitated with Luke for not bidding on her pie. Crystal's heart
skipped a beat, and her mouth went dry as she followed the tall
cowboy past the cheering crowd. She smiled weakly at Josh, but
he stared back at her with a wounded look in his eyes.

"Hope that pie was worth spending $6.00 on." April spoke
through clenched teeth.

"Would you care to join us, April?" Luke asked.

"Yes, please do, April;" Crystal said.

"No thanks, I'm sure my pie will fetch a fair price when the
bidding starts. Too bad you will miss out, Luke." April's tone was
bitter.

April tossed her long silky locks and sucked in a deep breath,
then whirled around to listen to the next bidding. Her sad-looking
pie, frothy meringue now melting under the heat, was the next
one up. As Crystal watched from the back of the crowd before
leaving with Luke, she noticed that no one was bidding. April's
father made a halfhearted attempt to get the bidding going but
wound up with the dubious-looking dessert in his possession.
April's face clearly showed her embarrassment, but she followed
Jim McBride out of the spotlight.