A Dream for Tomorrow (20 page)

“Thank the good Lord for Asa,” Flo said. “Speaking of Asa, I’ve a mind to ask him to speak to my Mahala for me.”

“Mahala?” Lavinia asked.

“I’m afraid she’s caught the eye of a young man in unit one.”

“That’s not surprising,” Elizabeth said. “Mahala is a very pretty girl.”

“And eager to wed,” Lavinia said.

“Well, she
is
eighteen,” Elizabeth reminded her. She looked up past Jess and Fiona to where the younger girls in their unit were all walking together, scurrying about and stooping down at regular intervals to collect buffalo chips. Hearing that some folks were running short on fuel, Asa had announced a contest this morning. “The youngin who finds the most chips wins a prize.” Of course, no one knew what the prize would be, but Ruth had borrowed Elizabeth’s old apron to collect the chips in. “It’s like an Easter egg hunt,” she’d said with enthusiasm.

“Believe me, I know she’s eighteen.” Flo sighed. “Hannah teases her constantly, calling her an old maid. An old maid at eighteen?”

“So tell us, Flo, what’s wrong with this young man in unit one?” Lavinia inquired.

Flo scowled. “I don’t like to pass judgment on anyone. But there is something about this man that bothers me.”

“How so?” Elizabeth pressed.

“Well, my first impression was that he has shifty eyes. But it’s more than just that.” Flo held up a finger. “For one thing, he is traveling alone.”

“What difference does that make?” Elizabeth asked.

She held up a second finger. “And two, he is traveling very light.”

“Oh…” Lavinia got a knowing expression. “Do you think he’s running from the law?”

Flo had a grim expression. “And three, he just acts plain sneaky.”

“What kind of sneaky?” Elizabeth asked.

“Instead of coming around to visit Mahala in the light of day and politely acquainting himself with her family, he sneaks around. He meets up with her behind our backs. The man reminds me of a slippery snake. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plans to run off with Mahala and marry her on the sly.” She shuddered. “If he even intends to marry her!”

“Oh, dear.” Elizabeth felt very concerned now. “What does Bert say about all this?”

“Bert is so durned busy in his spare time. Oh, I shouldn’t complain, because all this blacksmithing work is going to feather our nest once we settle. But all the same, I just hate to trouble him with this. After all, I might be all wrong.” Flo let out a loud sigh. “And one thing I forgot to mention about the young man…”

“What’s that?”

“He’s devilishly handsome. Dark curly hair, dark eyes.”

“Oh…” Elizabeth and Lavinia exchanged glances.

“Will you tell me this young man’s name?” Lavinia asked. “I certainly don’t want to see him trailing around any of our young ladies.”

“He goes by Jack Smith.” Lavinia scowled. “But I wonder if that’s his given name.”

“Jack Smith in unit one,” Elizabeth said slowly. “I’ll let my father and brother know to be on the lookout for him.”

“And I’ll tell Hugh and Will and our boys too,” Lavinia said.

“With all these fellows watching out for Mahala, she should be safe.”

“’Ceptin’ that she seems to like the attention…and, as I said, he is devilishly handsome.”

“Have you tried just talking with her?” Elizabeth asked.

Flo laughed. “Until your Ruth gets a few more years on her, I reckon you have no idea what it’s like to talk to a daughter Mahala’s age.” She turned to Lavinia. “Do you understand my meaning?”

Lavinia chuckled. “My Evelyn’s only sixteen, but she thinks she’s all grown up. She likes to tell me what to do.”

“Mahala thinks I don’t know what I’m talking about half of the time.”

“Even my sweet nieces, Belinda and Amelia…they do give me a bit more respect than Evelyn, but they don’t heed my advice the way they used to.”

“I suppose I should be thankful that Ruthie is still young.”

“Count your blessings,” Flo told her.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t say this…” Lavinia spoke cautiously.

“Say what?” Flo asked eagerly.

“Can I trust you not to repeat it?” Lavinia eyed them both.

“Certainly.” Flo nodded. “You have my word.”

“Well…I happen to know that your Mahala caught the eye of my Julius months ago, back when we first started out on this journey.”

“Truly?” Flo looked hopeful.

“However, besides being partners for an occasional dance, I don’t know that Mahala has given my poor boy any encouragement. And poor Julius…well, he’s a little shy around the ladies. Especially the ones he’s fond of.”

“Julius is a very nice young man,” Elizabeth intervened. “Both he and Jeremiah are well spoken and polite.”

Lavinia nodded. “I’d be the first to agree with you on that.”

“How old is your Julius?” Flo asked.

“He’ll be twenty in November.”

Flo looked hopeful. “I sure do wish that Mahala would look his direction instead of batting her eyelashes at that slimy Jack Smith.”

“But what if you’re wrong about Jack?” Elizabeth tried. “It’s so easy to misjudge people. Remember when everyone thought Jess was a man?”

They all laughed. Just the same, Elizabeth was determined to inform Matthew and Asa to be on the lookout for this notorious Jack Smith. She hoped Flo was wrong about his character. But it wouldn’t hurt to do some quiet investigating. In fact, the next time she saw Eli, she would ask him his opinion on this matter. He seemed a pretty fair judge of people.

Chapter Thirteen

B
y the end of the next day, the landscape had changed dramatically. They had entered a very wet grassy area that was perfect for grazing the livestock. Even the air was moist and cooler than usual.

“I wish we could camp here for a week,” Clara said as she and Elizabeth set up their outdoor kitchen. Asa had taken the children for a walk. Naturally, their initial reaction to walking at the end of the day was not enthusiastic.

“It’s to see an interesting sight,” he’d told them with a twinkle in his eye. And that was all it took to get them on their feet. Then, like the Pied Piper, Asa stopped by other campsites in their unit, inviting all the other children to join him. Even some of the young people went along as well.

Out of habit, Elizabeth almost called out to remind the children to pick up buffalo chips on their way. But then she remembered they were still well stocked from yesterday. Ruth had been the winner of Asa’s “Easter egg” contest. Elizabeth wasn’t sure if it was due to Ruth’s persistent diligence or if the older girls had helped her when they saw how hard she was working to win. But to Ruth’s delight, the prize was a half dollar to spend as she liked in South Pass City on Saturday. A virtual windfall.

Supper was nearly ready by the time Asa and the children returned to camp. But the way they were giggling and carrying on over something in a bucket made Elizabeth very curious. “Did you children bring home a frog?” she asked.

“No,” JT told her. “Something even better.”

“You both have to guess,” Ruth said.

“Is it a turtle?” Clara asked as she dished out a plate.

“No.”

“Berries?” Elizabeth ventured as she poured Asa a cup of coffee.

“No. But we might want to have some for dessert,” Ruth said.

“What is it?” Elizabeth demanded, coming over to peek in the bucket.

“Ice!” both children said at once.

Sure enough, it did look like a big chunk of ice. Elizabeth touched it. “Where on earth did you find this?” She eyed her father.

“Captain Brownlee told us about Ice Slough a few days ago,” he explained. “That’s what this place is called. And over in the ice caves you can find ice year-round.”

“Oh, my.” Clara came over to see for herself. “What do you know!”

“Can we make shaved ice with sugar for dessert?” Ruth asked hopefully.

“We can do even better than that,” Clara told her. “But first let’s eat our supper before that wonderful ice melts.”

Elizabeth covered it in towels to help keep it cold while they ate supper. Then, while Elizabeth and Clara cleaned up afterward, Asa helped the children to make bowls of shaved ice, topped with sugar and some berry juice that Clara had preserved on the trail. The results were cool and delicious.

Unfortunately, their stay in Ice Slough was brief, and the next day they were moving through dry, hot, barren land again. But at least it was easy traveling. Elizabeth had decided to ride Molly this morning. Feeling surprisingly refreshed from their short stay at Ice Slough, she’d even taken the time to put on her full riding outfit. As well as her best hat.

“Don’t you look nice,” Clara had told her when she rode past where her mother was walking with Ruth and Jess. Elizabeth thanked her and waved. She also waved at where JT and Brady were driving her wagon. Then she nudged Molly into a trot and then a canter. It was fun feeling the cool morning air in her face. And Molly seemed to enjoy this bit of freedom as well.

Elizabeth continued riding on up, hoping to get ahead of the wagon train, where she could ride without breathing the dust the wheels and hooves stirred up. She was nearly to the front when she observed a young woman walking alongside one of the wagons and talking to the driver. Upon closer inspection, she realized the young woman was Mahala Flanders. And of course, she must have reached unit one by now because they were in front this week.

Slowing her horse, Elizabeth reined Molly closer to Mahala, hoping to get a peek at what she assumed could only be the mysterious Jack Smith. And sure enough, the man had dark curly hair and dark eyes. But he didn’t appear as young as Elizabeth had assumed he would be. In fact, unless she was mistaken, this man was probably in his thirties.

“Mahala.” Elizabeth feigned surprise. “My goodness, what are you doing way up here?”

Mahala looked up with a startled expression. “Oh, hello, Elizabeth.” She made a stiff smile. “I was just out walking this morning. I didn’t notice that I’d gone so far ahead of our unit.”

“I was just enjoying a ride.” Now Elizabeth slid down from the saddle, and holding the rein, she walked next to Mahala. Then looking up at the attractive stranger with what she hoped seemed a natural interest, she smiled brightly. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Elizabeth Martin and a friend of Mahala’s.”

“Pleased to meet you, Elizabeth.” He smiled back at her. “Name’s Jack Smith.”

“Pleased to meet you too. Are you traveling with your family?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m not that fortunate. I’m traveling alone.”

“Oh.” She nodded with sympathy. “And where is your final destination, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“California,” he told her. “Off to find my fortune like everyone else.”

“So you’re one of those who will be parting ways with this train before too long.”

“Yep. I’ll be heading south soon.”

Elizabeth eyed Mahala. “You probably know that Mahala and her family are headed for Oregon.”

“So I’ve heard.” He glanced down at Mahala and then back at Elizabeth with what seemed growing interest. As if he was really looking at her—but in a way that made her truly uncomfortable. Still, she was determined not to show it.