Where the Trail Ends: American Tapestries (32 page)

He stood up, hope dawning on him again.

What if he could stay here in the wilderness? Was it possible? He could build a house and plant seeds. He could learn how to harvest crops and raise animals instead of trap them.

Like the Americans.

There was another knock on his door, and he cringed. Had Lord Stanley neglected to deliver all of the bad news?

He moved slowly toward the door and opened it, but instead of Lord Stanley, Miss Waldron stood on the other side, dressed in her long coat and moccasins. Tears brimmed in her blue eyes, and her lips trembled. Compassion overwhelmed him at the sight of her tears.

Her gaze pleaded with him, but he didn’t know what was wrong. He wanted to take her in his arms as he’d done at the river. He wanted to rescue her from the pain she’d borne so resolutely and continued to bear.

He reached for her hand, grazing her fingers, but he pulled back before he held it. For heaven’s sake, couldn’t he be as kind as McLoughlin without showing his affection for her?

Tucking his hands behind his back, he leaned toward her. “What happened?”

“Micah—” Her voice shook. “He’s gone.”

He glanced down the hallway. “Where did he go?”

The burden Samantha carried was so heavy, she could scarcely walk. The weight of it pressed firmly against her lungs, stealing her breath away. She was too terrified to consider the possibilities of what could happen to her brother.

She pulled her hood over her head and forced herself forward as they slogged across the muddy piazza, propelled by Alex’s lantern light and his assurance that they would find Micah.

Micah never left the room at night. He didn’t even go out in the daylight without permission.

I’m sorry, Mama.

She’d tried her best to keep him safe, for two thousand miles overland and then for five months here at the fort. Micah loved Boaz as much as she did. She should have guessed that he would try to sneak out and find him. If only she’d taken the slightest precaution, locking the door to their bedroom. If she’d locked it, she would surely have heard him leave their room.

But she hadn’t heard the door open. She hadn’t even known he was gone until she’d awakened from her sleep and reached down to check on him in the trundle. Her hands searched for his arm below her, as they did most nights, but tonight he wasn’t there.

She’d bolted upright in her bed.

She had hoped it was a bad dream, but now she and Alex were out in the cold, in the rain. Micah was gone, and she didn’t know where he went.

Alex thought Micah had to be inside this fortress, but she had a terrible feeling that he’d gotten out. If he had wandered far—dear God, she didn’t know what would happen to him.

Alex checked the front gate first, and the lock was secure. Daniel was asleep in the small hut beside the gate, and Alex shook him. The man woke with a start, looking between her and Alex. “What is it?”

“Have you seen Micah Waldron?”

The man shook his head. “I haven’t seen anyone out except you tonight.”

“He is not in the big house.”

The man grabbed his gun like Alex had done. “I’ll help you look.”

The watchman slipped between the buildings as Samantha eyed the locked gates. She started to turn away but then stopped. Stepping forward, she pushed on the postern. It swung open.

Alex swore and then reached down, picking up something that had kept the door cracked open. She watched him examine it with his light, and then he held it out to her. Her fingers wrapped around the wooden object, and then her tears flowed. It was Micah’s wooden elephant.

Anger bubbled inside her along with the fear. Micah hadn’t waited to make sure the door was closed. He’d waited to prop it open. Her brother had planned all along to go back out tonight and find their dog.

She fell back against the palisade. “Micah’s out there.”

Out in the wilderness that never ended. Out with the wild animals and the unforgiving rapids, with endless forests and dangerous cliffs, with natives who might steal him away.

The sight of his body, crumpled up at the bottom of that cliff on the trail, rushed back to her. She began to slide to the ground, but Alex caught her.

“I am taking you back to the house.”

“This door is supposed to be locked,” she said.

“Daniel must not have checked it after he visited Miriam.”

She pounded his chest. “You said Micah would be safe outside.”

“Not alone.”

She felt sick. “I’m going to find him.”

“It is not safe for you either, Miss Waldron.”

She grabbed the lapels on his cloak, clinging to him. “I can’t leave him out there—”

He held her in one of his arms, lifting the lantern to illuminate her face. “Micah is in trouble because he went to find your lost dog. If you go, I am afraid... If you get lost searching for him...” His voice broke. “I must search for him alone.”

The anxiety in her heart began to taper.

Alex wasn’t going to leave Micah out there alone to fend for himself. She could trust this man to do everything he could to find her brother.

“What can I do?” she asked, begging him for a task.

“You need to return to the house.”

“I can’t—”

“You must trust me,” he said.

She took a deep breath.

“And pray that God will guide me to him.”

She slowly released his cloak. “I will pray, Alex.”

Then he hurried through the door.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Giant trees loomed above him, their branches draping over Alex’s head like hundreds of fingers trying to capture him. Rain crashed against the leaves, drowning out any other sound, and the darkness was so thick he could barely see his next step in the lantern light.

One hand held his lantern, dripping from the rain, and his other hand clutched his gun. He knew Miss Waldron would be faithful in her prayers, and he was glad of it. He’d never been outside the fort alone at night—their company’s fur parties always traveled in the safety of a brigade. He needed the guidance of the Holy One to find this boy.

Only God could find a child out here.

He stopped for a moment, trying to decide which direction Micah would have traveled. Miss Waldron said they’d already been to the village this afternoon, so he didn’t repeat that path. And he doubted Micah would have gone back down to the river. So Alex hiked east toward the gorge, hollering the boy’s name as he climbed over boulders and fallen trees.

He could find his way back to the fort—all he needed to do was walk south until he reached the river and then turn west. But Micah wouldn’t know how to get back.

Alex trod carefully through the woods. Hopefully the wild animals had hidden themselves away in caves tonight to stay dry.

How far would the boy travel to find his dog? If he was as persistent as his sister, Alex figured he might travel all night.

He wouldn’t stop searching until he found the boy.

Samantha clung to Micah’s elephant for the remainder of the night, praying as she’d never prayed before that her brother wouldn’t meet the much bigger “elephant” on the trail, that God would protect him and Alex wherever they were.

Morning dawned slowly, chasing away the rain, but Samantha didn’t move from the sofa, didn’t stop praying. The servants bustled through the house to prepare breakfast, but she didn’t budge until Lady Judith and Miriam emerged from their room.

Miriam greeted her, and she blinked as she looked up at the maid, wishing to find consolation in a friend.

Should she tell Lady Judith that Alex was gone, out searching for Micah? Her mind bristled at the thought of how her Ladyship might respond. She couldn’t stomach the woman’s coldness, and she didn’t want to answer any questions about why she had walked across the piazza to ask for Alex’s help instead of knocking on Madame McLoughlin’s door.

The truth was, she hadn’t once considered asking anyone else for help. The moment she realized Micah was gone, she’d thrown on her cloak and moccasins and rushed to Bachelor’s Hall. Second floor, third window from the left.

This morning she wrapped her fur cloak over her calico dress and walked outside into fog that clung to the buildings. The front gate was already opened, but she didn’t walk toward it. She turned to the back gate, hoping to see Alex and Micah walking toward her, but there was no one.

She wandered through the gate, out into the gardens. Fog dipped over the arbors and settled on the plants. She couldn’t see the trees yet, but she heard something in the distance, something that sounded like a bark.

She cupped her hands, yelling, “Boaz!”

Her dog bounded toward her, crashing into her open arms. She toppled over as she clung to his neck.

“Where have you been?” she scolded, burying her head into his fur.

She sat up and examined his right back leg. The fur was mangled and bloody, as if he’d gotten stuck in a crevice or some rocks.

It didn’t matter what happened, she supposed. She was glad he was home.

She lifted her head again, scanning the fog behind him. Her heart ached for a man and boy to emerge behind Boaz. She stood waiting, praying they would follow him home, trusting the Lord with all her heart. But no one else came through the trees.

Forty men fanned out from the fort after breakfast. Madame McLoughlin reassured Samantha that these men knew how to track all manner of creature. They could certainly locate her brother.

What neither of them dared to question was whether they would find Micah alive.

Samantha sat under a gazebo in the gardens, watching one of the men disappear into the forest. She’d told Madame that she wanted to join the men in their search, but the older woman’s wisdom cut through the rubble of Samantha’s scattered mind. When Micah returned, as Boaz had done, she needed to be here to care for him.

She groaned as she waited, the ache in her chest returning.

Why hadn’t she stopped Papa from coming to Oregon?

She should have told him that Micah was too young, that they should wait a few years. Papa had wanted them to be one of the first families out here, but in doing so, he’d given up his life. And if Micah were lost too, even his legacy would be gone.

She couldn’t bear to think about Micah crossing the river before she did, joining Papa and Mama on the other side of those heavenly gates. She wished she could be content for Micah to join their parents, but she couldn’t muster the slightest bit of joy at the thought of losing her brother. She wanted him to live his life on this earth and grow to be a man. She wanted him to carry on Papa’s legacy. She wanted them to be a family.

“Trust Me
.
”

Did she really trust God, after He took her father from her? Did she trust Him enough to care for Micah?

Her body trembled at the thought of letting Micah go, at the thought of him hurt or stuck some place as Boaz had been, of him calling out to her when she couldn’t hear him. She balled her legs to her chest, begging God for relief from her fear, begging Him to rescue Micah.

She’d thought she could protect Micah from harm, but she wasn’t the Sovereign One. God’s messengers were their only real protection until their Father called one of His children home.