On the Mountain (12 page)

“Peter!”  Prescott brought his horse alongside Wade, calling out for the boy.  “Wade, it’s far too dark in here.  There’s no way we’re going to find him.”

“I know that,” Wade admitted, but continued on his search.  Out there in the cold woods, the boy was shivering and all alone.  He wasn’t sure what had happened tonight, but one thing was for certain and that was the boy’s pain.  And the realization that whatever it was Wade had done, had caused that pain.

Joe rode up beside him.  “I’m sending Frank back to see if the boy returned to town.”

Wade gave a curt nod before turning his strained eyes back into the darkness looking for any sign.  The remaining four men continued to search the surrounding area until at last Wade decided it was best they split up.

“There was a trail back a ways that forked to the right.  Prescott, take your horse and follow it.”  He reined Sty to a halt and looked back at Joe and Neil.  “One of you take the north and one of you take the west.  I’ll keep on this trail.  If anyone sees anything, fire your rifle.”

With their instructions they rode off and Wade found himself alone.  A cold breeze swept through his slick and as Wade drew it closer, he thought of the night before when the boy used it to keep warm.  Tonight he had nothing to brace him from the cold elements.  He would be freezing.  Even with the added protection, the boy had nearly frozen the entire night away.  His attempt to control his chattering teeth, had kept Wade awake far into the night, until eventually exhaustion took over and he had drifted off to sleep.  Only to find the boy snug and warm in his arms the following morning.

He couldn’t recall how he had gotten there.  Whether Wade had pulled him in or the boy had ventured in on his own when he could endure the coldness no longer, Wade wasn’t entirely sure, but he did remember the feel of the boy against him.  He was the smallest boy he had ever seen and was all skin and bone.  It was no wonder he was half-frozen.  He only prayed to God the boy had found somewhere to keep warm tonight.

The night dragged on with no sign of the boy and Wade knew he couldn’t ask his men to keep looking.  Frank had come back from town to inform them the boy had not returned.  Wade felt a sense of dread overcome him and wondered if they would find the boy dead in the woods in the morrow.

He released Joe and the other two men and told Prescott he may as well return to town as well.  If the boy was out there and could hear them hollering, he didn’t want to be found.  It was the hardest thing to do, but Wade turned Sty around and headed back to town.

* * *

He figured he should have stayed out searching for the boy, for all the good coming back to town did him.  He laid wide awake in his bed waiting for the first sign of sunrise.  There wasn’t a sound to be heard when he slipped out of the saloon and headed for the livery.  There was no sign of Chuck Rhodes, but he was startled to find Joe already there.

“Figured you’d get back out as soon as there was light.”

“Thanks Joe.”  He gave his lead hand a grateful slap on the arm before saddling up Sty.

The two lone figures rode out of town and into the woods surrounding the small village.  Like the night before they split up with Wade taking the same route he did the night before.  Though it was still dark, there was enough light amongst the trees to see clearly.

He had not gotten far when a rifle exploded into the silent forest.  He reined in Sty and looked in the direction of the shot.  A school of birds flew out of the treetops crying and flapping their wings in protest.  He kicked his spurs into Sty’s side and took off at a fast canter through the winding path until at last he caught sight of Joe’s horse.  At first there was no sign of the lead hand until he rounded a bend and saw the man leaning low into a thicket.  Beside him, lying on the earth was the boy.

Without even stopping, Wade leaped from his horse and ran to the pair.  “How is he?”

“Cold.”  Joe grimaced, stepping aside for Wade.

He crouched down and touched the boy.  He lay unconscious beneath a huge oak, his body an icy fortress.  The skin over his pronounced cheekbones was deathly white and his lips a bluish purple.  Quickly checking his pulse and receiving a faint beat, Wade snatched the boy into his arms and carried him over to his horse.  The ride back to town was by far the longest he could ever recall.  He held on tight to the boy who lay against his chest as he rode Sty at speeds that otherwise could bring serious harm to the animal in such a wooded area.

When he broke through the clearing that led to the village, Prescott was on his horse and headed in their direction.  “Good God.  What happened?  Is he alive?”

“Barely.”

“Come, bring him to Elizabeth.  We can warm him by the fire and get him something strong to eat.”  Wade was grateful for Prescott’s offer.

The woman was only too happy to assist and scurried around Wade and the boy like a concerned mother.  Somehow, Wade knew the kid would like that.  As he placed him in a chair in front of the fireplace, the boy moaned and Wade felt a flood of relief.  Elizabeth pulled two blankets from a storage box and wrapped the boy up warmly.  He stirred and slowly started to open his eyes.

“I’ll go and fetch him a mug of hot coffee.”  Elizabeth hurried away and Wade looked down at the boy.  He found him staring back at him.  Something flashed across his young face aging him in that brief moment, before looking away.

“Hey, you gave us one hell of a fright.  Thought we lost you.”  He tried to smile, but found the corners of his mouth were far too heavy.

Elizabeth returned with a steaming mug and held it out to the boy’s lips.  One small shaking hand slipped out of the blanket and held the mug as he took a sip.  “I’ve heated up some leftovers and some warm soup.  How does that sound?”

The boy vaguely nodded.

Elizabeth took his hand and studied the fingers.  “You’ve nearly frozen your fingers off.  What in tarnation could possibly send you into the woods without a coat or shoes when temperatures are below zero?”

His eyes briefly shifted to Wade.  Elizabeth looked over at him.  She was by far too astute, not having missed the boy’s swift glance.  But she was too much of a lady to comment.  Instead, she said, “Why don’t you leave the boy here for a while?  Let him have something to eat and get warmed up.  You can come and fetch him before you leave.”

He didn’t like the idea but realized his presence wasn’t welcome.  Whatever had upset the boy, was no doubt related back to Wade somehow.  He nodded and got to his feet.  Staring down at the boy, he felt he ought to say something.  He just wasn’t sure what.  Turning on his heel, he left him sitting by the fire.

* * *

Anna watched him leave.  She had an overwhelming urge to cry.  But tears were nowhere to be found.  Inside she felt empty.  Numb.  A coldness had settled over her heart and the feeling was frightening.  She wondered if she would ever feel joy and happiness in her life again.  Or was she destined to live a life of suffering.

“Are you feeling strong enough to eat?”  The friendly woman looming over her offered a bright smile.

Anna recognized her as being Prescott’s love interest, Elizabeth.  She gave a nod and was grateful when the woman brought a plate of her wonderful cooking.  She didn’t even mind when the woman took the seat across from her.  So much better was her company than those at the saloon. 

A shiver had her drawing the blanket closer before surveying her surroundings.  They were unfamiliar and it took a few minutes after she awoke to recall what had happened.  The moment she looked into Wade’s eyes, however, and the whole revolting memory of the night before came flooding back.  She squeezed her lids shut in an attempt to shut out the sight of the naked saloon woman standing over Wade on his bed.

Her throat squeezed inward and she urged the tears to come once more.  To no avail.  She had wanted to cry or scream, but found neither solace.  Instead she had done the only thing left to her and that was to run.  Her pain had consumed her entirely and it was without thought or concern that she entered the dark forest.  It didn’t take long however for the realization that she was lost to break through her consumed grief.

She had tried for hours to gather her bearings and find her way out of the woods.  However, after that most of her memory was vague.  She could remember being cold.  Very cold.  Colder than she had ever been in her life.  Sleep had beckoned and Anna recalled how the sudden welcoming of the dark embrace felt and would lead her away from all the hurt she felt to the core of her heart.  The next thing she knew, she awoke in Elizabeth’s parlor.

“So, how do you enjoy the Circle H?”

Anna nodded before filling her fork with food.

“The Haddock brothers are quite the pair.  Not too many gentleman like themselves in this area.”  Anna chewed her food, but watched the woman.  “Raised by an English gentleman and his wife.”

She listened.

“The Haddock’s are the wealthiest and most prestigious family in the area.  They own most all the land around here.”  Elizabeth told her and from what Prescott had already recounted of his family’s history, didn’t surprise Anna.  “Did you know they are the sons of an Earl?”

Anna’s hand froze midway in the process of delivering food to her mouth.

“That mountain is named after him.”  She gestured out the window toward Mount Louis.  “Louis Haddock came here as a young and eager Englishman, and like every other prospector wanted to buy all the land he could get his hands on.  He fell in love with the area and eventually was able to buy all the surrounding land.  Including the mountain.  He obtained the legal ownership slip and named it after himself.”

A sinking feeling of horror drained from her face.  Anna couldn’t believe of all the places for her to end up, she had landed on that man’s property.  Admittedly, she knew nothing of him except that what her parents had told her.

When Anna was still in her mother’s belly, her parents had traveled west from the banks of the Red River.  Gold in the mountains had lured them along with two hundred other pilgrims.  Her parents planned on striking it rich.  Along with a great number of other prospectors when word spread of gold being discovered along the banks of the Cariboo Trail.

The journey, however, took far longer and proved more difficult than they had ever imagined.  Hardships along the way had forced them to sell or trade everything they owned and provisions had completely run out when their journey finally ended for them on the property owned by the Earl of Lorden.

Of course, at the time, the drifters had no idea the land was privately owned.  When discovered, disagreements erupted between the Earl and the drifters until finally the Earl had begun proceedings to have the peasants evicted.  But before anything could be resolved, he met with an untimely death.  The travelers fled to the sanctuary of the mountain where they built homes and began their own community.  Nothing ever came of the eviction threat and so they believed it had died along with the Earl.

Anna blinked and realized Elizabeth was still speaking.             

“As a matter-of-fact, many young females here would be happy to call either one of those men their own.  In particular Wade, being the oldest.  With the death of his father, he became the sole heir of all his land as well as Mount Louis.”

Anna felt a heaviness in her chest.  Wade was not her savior, but the enemy.  His father had wanted her people off that mountain twenty-four years earlier and now, finally, he had his wish.

“Not to mention all the property and assets in England.  He became a wealthy young man at the age of twenty.  Not to mention an aristocrat.”

An aristocrat?  Her confusion must have been evident for Elizabeth clarified. “Wade Haddock is actually the Earl of Lorden.”

Anna looked away.  This couldn’t be real.  A fleeting thought crossed her mind that maybe she and Elizabeth were thinking of two separate men.  Prescott, possibly, but Wade?  He was a big burly cowboy, not a member of royalty.

“However, I’ve always been keen on Prescott, but he was a married man,” she said.  “My own husband passed away early on and left me this here restaurant.”

For some reason, she thought of Wade’s Marion from the saloon and she felt herself grow hot with anger.  She was glad Prescott’s woman truly loved him.  Someone as kind and moral as Prescott deserved happiness.  Wade, she thought, deserved to burn in hell.

“I reckon Wade won’t ever make that trip down to the altar.  It hasn’t lured him yet, and I daresay it probably won’t anytime in the near future.  So, if someone were to think they would make a fine Countess of Lorden, they would be sadly mistaken.”

Anna’s eyes shot up and found the woman studying her closely.  She suddenly felt very uncomfortable.  Was she sending a hidden message?  If so, had she guessed Anna’s true identity?

The woman smiled and got to her feet.  “I’m afraid I’ve talked too long.  I must open the restaurant, but feel free to stay as long as you need.”

Anna nodded, then watched the woman leave.  She felt suddenly very weary and prayed if the woman suspected anything she wouldn’t say a word to Prescott.  Prescott was all types of a gentleman.  But a silent one.

* * *

The day had brought milder temperatures and the sun attempted many times to break through heavy clouds.  The cattle moved ahead of the wranglers who herded them through the steep decline of the Durand Pass.  They looked in fine form and were behaving with little disturbance.  By late afternoon, they reached the northern gathering pastures and broke early for camp.  Anna could hear Wade tell Joe it would give the horses a well-deserved rest as the rocky declines in that part of the territory were quite hard on their hoofs.