The Traherns #1 (25 page)

I didn’t like to see Travers cooped up in that back yard, so I
asked Gage to take Travers with him.  We both liked the idea. He could
jump off and run beside the wagon when he wished to.

The next morning I went to work, wearing my new work dress. That
seamstress really knew how to sew, and my dress was the equal of any of the
other women on the streets.

The company was all men. Mr Debras’ brother showed me the
shipping manifests and I went through them, correcting the mistakes, costing
them some money, but saving more.

“I never was one for figures,” he said. “I’m glad Henry sent
you.”

“What else do you want me to do?”

“Well, you just did in two hours what takes me the whole day. So
I don’t know what to have you do. Why don’t you figure out the wages? I pay the
men once a week, and if you can make sure that is being done right, it would be
a big help. How much is Henry paying you?”

“We never talked about it. He said I’d saved him enough to pay
for my trip out, and then sent me.”

“I’ll give you the same as any day clerk. And I’ll assign a man
to walk you to and from the cab area. This part of town can get rough,
sometimes.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome. I thought Henry was out of his mind, sending a
woman, but I see you are exceptional. I need to protect you here. The men in
the company will help guard you; it’s the riffraff in the streets who are the
danger.”

I nodded. “It don’t look right, in this dress, to be carrying my
rifle.”

He chuckled. “A lot of women carry a derringer in their purses.
But if you get caught in a mob, you only have one shot.”

“Are there mobs around here?”

“Yes. They form quickly for the slightest of reasons. The
country is still on the move now that the war is over, and people haven’t
settled and found their place. The restless, shiftless ones gang together. They
can be dangerous.”

I told Gage this when I next saw him. He didn’t want me to go
back working there, but I told him I felt obliged to put in a few weeks to fill
out my agreement. Two weeks later I went in and found that Mr. Debras had sold
the company to Wells Fargo.

His brother explained that Henry figured with the railroad being
pushed through that freight companies would go out of existence, except for the
side routes. He sold while the price was still there and invested it in the
railroad.

I lined up with the rest of the workers as the foreman sat next
to a man with a money box, paying everyone their weeks’ wages, plus a full day
for this day even though we hadn’t worked. He was also giving out letters to us
all, recommending each as a good worker. He had the letters all written, and
just put the person’s name at the top.

Most of the men figured to rehire with Wells Fargo. They asked
me what I was going to do.

“I don’t know. I figure an outfit as big as Wells Fargo will
already have a person to keep their records.”

“You could try a bank.”

“Maybe. I got me some thinking to do. If I hire back on, I won’t
be free to go see more of California.”

“That’s what you want to do?” one asked.

“That’s my intention.”

“Good luck then.” They all wished me well. They were a fine
bunch of workers.

I put my wages and my letter inside my purse and then took me a
long walk to do me some ponderin.

Wages were high here and I’d just been paid more for a week than
I could earn in a month elsewhere. I knew how fast money could leave when none
was coming in, but I also knew that if I didn’t live in San Francisco, my money
would last me a whole lot longer. I could go see Gage’s folks and look at those
trees, see something of California, and then go back to work.

I hadn’t forgot I was looking for my Boaz. I didn’t see how I
could find him here. Everyone was in such a hurry, you didn’t get a chance to
really know anyone. I remembered the ladies at home setting down and making
quilts together. Y’all learned all the news and then some that really shouldn’t
have been repeated. But long walks and serious-like talk didn’t seem to be a
part of city life.

I just plain missed the mountains and the mountain folks.

It was time for me to move on. I’d look the rest of the country
over. If’n I didn’t find Boaz, I’d go back to the mountains. Just not to Jonas.
Maybe to one of the settlements.

I’d been walking a long way and realized I was headed towards
the company where Gage worked. So I continued walking and got there an hour
before he was due in. I picked me a spot in the shade where I could see down
the street, sat down in a chair placed in front of the building, and enjoyed
watching the people pass by. This warn’t the best part of town, but it was
probably the busiest.

I wondered if Gage would want to go north with me. I’d gotten
used to traveling with him and really wasn’t looking forward to going it alone
anymore. In fact, I’d really miss him.

Then I wondered if Travers would stay with Gage or go with me?
Without either one, the trip sounded lonely and not inviting at all. If I had
to do it alone, I’m not sure I wanted to.

I had come to enjoy Gage’s companionship. Yet, even if he didn’t
want to leave San Francisco, perhaps I should leave. I didn’t want to make
myself dependent on him. When he found the girl he was looking for, he’d settle
down and I’d still be needing to find my Boaz. I doubted I’d find him here in
this town. I should set my course and get myself going. Maybe my company being
sold was God’s way of moving me on. How was a person supposed to know? It were
a puzzlement. “God help me find my Boaz.”

“Are you all right, Miss?”

I looked up at the man standing there. Where had he come from? A
well-dressed stranger, but concerned with someone looking sad and a little
lost. I’d been praying silently, but moving my lips, so maybe I looked strange
to him.

“Yes, thank you. I’m waiting for the wagon to come in from the
mines. I know the driver. Gage Courtney. He’s got a big dog with him.”

“He came in awhile ago. He’s already unloaded. They don’t come
here in the front.”

“Did I miss him?” I jumped up from the ladder-backed chair.

“I don’t know. You want to come around and look?”

Now freshly green out of the hills, I would have walked with him
through the empty building and out back without question. But I’d been in
Frisco long enough to get myself some caution. My derringer only had one shot,
and it was in my handbag, not my pocket. Wisdom said I was safer out in front
of the building where people passed by than in the back.

“Please go tell him I’m here.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m the dog’s owner.”

“There he is.” He opened the door and pointed inside. I could
see through the building out an open doorway into another outside area. Had
Gage just walked past?

“I don’t see him.”

“I did. Come on.”

“I’ll wait here,” I said.

He shrugged and walked away, down the street.

I watched him go. Was he a worker here? Or had he just known
about Gage and Travers from seeing them on the street? Or the newspaper
picture?

I opened the door into the building and whistled. If Travers
were anywhere around, he’d hear me.

Nothing. I could hear men working out back. The temptation to
walk through and find out for myself was strong.

“Ruth,” I spoke to myself, out loud, like I used to do in the
hills. “There’s bravery and there’s foolishness. You’ve faced wolves and bears
when the emergency ‘rose. But you’re in no position to face a handful of men
with one bullet and no dog. This is not the part of town for you to be in, so
get yourself to a cab and go wait for Gage at the boarding house.”

I turned and looked down the street. There were two cabs,
waiting to pick up workers.

Also, a wagon coming in with a big dog setting next to the
driver. Travers looked right proud of his position. I waved, Gage waved, and
that dog came flying off with one bound, past the startled horses and up the
street to me.

Both Gage and Travers looked purty good to me, right then. I
guess I wasn’t comfortable starting off alone anymore.

Travers ran up and thrust his muzzle in my hand, his way of
greeting a person.

“What you doing here, Ruth?” Gage asked, stopping his team next
to me.

“My company got sold and the workers paid off. I took a stroll
and ended up here.”

“That’s about a five mile stroll. Were those shoes up to it?”

“Not like my traveling shoes, but these are purty comfortable.”

“Get in and come around back with me.”

Gage set the brake, jumped down and helped me up into the wagon.
He joined me, and Travers jumped up on the other side so I was between the two.
It was fun.

Gage loosed the brake and started the horses. I could tell they
were glad to be back at their stables, as they jerked that empty wagon to life
and pranced around the corner of the building, down an alley and into the yard.

“They don’t seem very tired after the trip,” I said.

“They get new life on the way home. Going out, they’re loaded
and pulling uphill. They act half dead when we get to the mines. But coming
back they get a second wind and by the time we get home, they’re clippin right
along.”

 “Travers looks content, riding with you,” I said.

“He’s a help. If I have to leave the wagon a minute, for sure
nothing gets stolen. Men just leave my cargo alone.”

“Maybe they should pay him wages as a guard.”

He laughed. “He’s worth it, but I doubt they’d do that. What do
you plan to do next, Ruth?”

“I was a-thinking about that as I walked down here. I’m wonderin
if’n I should go see some of California before I start another job. I
especially want to see those trees.”

“Sounds good to me. I need to see my folks.”

His comment made me happy. Sounds like I wouldn’t be making the
trip north alone.

He turned the gold dust over to the foreman, then went on to the
stable area and unhitched the horses. I had on my work dress, but it warn’t
made for this kind of work, so I just watched while Gage watered and fed them,
gave them a brush down, and put the harness away. It were the most pleasure I’d
had in a long time.

 We rode back together in a cab, with Travers sitting at
our feet, looking out the window.

“I worry some that someone will shoot him,” Gage said, reaching
down to stroke the dog’s head. Travers looked up at him and licked his hand.

“Most of the stuff people worry about never happens. If’n we
don’t take chances, we’d never do anything, maybe never find happiness. I’d
take him along just to get him out where he can run. He was a’frettin in that
small yard. He’s happy with you.”

“He was. But he’s eager to come back to you at the end of each
trip, Ruth. As am I.”

“This is a good place to stay, ” I said, motioning towards the
boardinghouse. We pulled up and stopped.

“Wouldn’t matter where you stayed. Tennessee or California. His
heart is with you.”

I smiled at Gage, not quite catching his drift. I got out of the
cab and started to go inside. He caught my hand and held it.

“So is mine.”

I looked at him, puzzled. “So is your what?”

“My heart, Ruth. I love you. I been hinting, but you don’t take
hints.”

Love? He loved me? Since when?

“I don’t take plain talk either. I’ve heard you swear your love
to every girl in every holler and then some.”

He put his face in his hands. “Ahh!”  He slapped his hips
as he looked back at me. “Ruth, you never would let me get close. You were
always working. You wouldn’t let me help you. You sent the boys off with Mary.
I joined that group, hoping I could get close to you. “

“Oh.”

“I finally gave up and went around looking, but not finding. I
come back to Mary’s wedding and you’re still all prickly and independent. Do
you ever plan to get married?”

“Of course.” 
To my Boaz
.

“Would you marry me?” He sounded right put out.

My first proposal. It didn’t sound at all like I thought it
should. Not sweet and flowery. More exasperated
. Why ask me?

“Gage, you can have your pick of any woman in San Francisco. Why
would you ask a plain one like me?”

“I’m like Travers. I want to be where you are. And you aren’t
plain, Ruth. When you laugh, your whole face lights up, and your eyes dance. To
me, you’re the prettiest girl in the land. You can run circles around the other
women.”

I looked at him skeptically. I couldn’t believe him
.
Me? Pretty?
“I thought you already had
you a girl in California.”

“I do. You. I been chasing you all the way from Tennessee. And
you been running so fast I could hardly keep up.”