California Romance (28 page)

“Don’t you be fretting, miss. I’ll see to it that you don’t get left behind,” her new friend promised. He kept his word, both in Chicago and at the other stops along the way. But after they reached Denver and were well into the snow-clogged mountains, an anxious look replaced his usual caring expression. “When did you say your brother’s wedding was to take place?”

Dori felt wings of apprehension brush against her nerves. “On Christmas Day. Why?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t look good. We just got word that avalanches ahead are causing delays.” Worry lines creased his forehead. “We may have to turn back.”

“We can’t go back,” Dori protested, appalled by the idea. “If I’m not there for Matt’s wedding, he will never forgive me.”
Even though you know in your heart it’s the last place you want to be
, a little voice mocked.

“Surely they will postpone it. They know you’re coming, don’t they?”

Dori clasped her gloved hands. “Yes, but not which train I’m on. I was in such a hurry when I left Boston, I forgot to send a telegram.”

“That’s actually good,” the conductor comforted. “If they don’t know you’re on this particular train, they won’t be concerned about you.” He scratched his head. “The only thing is, wouldn’t the headmistress inform them?”

Hope died. “Probably. Although”—Dori brightened—“under the uh…unusual circumstances, the Babbling Brook may have decided to keep mum. She couldn’t very well tell my brother I was sent home for refusing ‘dear Stancel’s’ unwelcome advances.”

The conductor chuckled. But he wasn’t chuckling a few miles up the track. The screaming of brakes followed by a rumble and a roar brought Dori out of a sound sleep. Dazed and only half awake, she landed in the aisle amidst screams from other similarly afflicted passengers. She scrambled up, rubbed an aching elbow, and grabbed the arm of the porter, who was helping people to their feet. “What’s happening?”

“Avalanche.” His mouth set in a grim line. “Thank God we were traveling up instead of down. If we’d hit that pile of snow at full speed, we’d all be goners.” He freed himself from Dori’s frantic clutch and hurried on to assist others.

Dori’s heart sank. How long would it take to get tracks cleared so they could go on? She pressed her nose to the window but saw nothing except swirling white. It made her feel even colder than during the last two winters in Boston. The door of the car burst open. A blast of freezing air rushed in. Dori shivered and huddled deeper into the blue velvet cloak she had purchased shortly after reaching Boston and discovering how miserable their winters could be. Yet in spite of its warm lining and the glowing fire in the box at the end of the car, she still felt chilly.

It seemed like hours before the conductor appeared. When he did, Dori could see in his concerned face the news was not good.

“A huge mass of snow came down on the tracks,” he told the passengers.

A murmur arose, but he raised his hand. “Help is on the way, but we don’t know how long it will take for them to get here and dig us out.”

“Then take us back to Denver,” a high-pitched, hysterical voice ordered. Others joined in, muttering complaints against the railroad, the weather, and the conductor.

Dori felt like jumping up and ordering them to be quiet, but decided prudence was more desirable than defending her new friend.

He blew out a great breath. “I’m sorry to say it won’t be possible to go back. There’s also been an avalanche between here and Denver.”

“You mean we’re trapped! We’re all going to die! Why did I ever leave home?” the speaker shouted above the clamor that arose. Dori remained silent while the conductor attempted to calm the passengers’ fears, but her heart echoed the frantic cry:
Why did I ever leave home?

“Well, Lord,” she prayed under cover of the furor. “There’s no use crying over spilt milk, even though the cowcatcher is evidently stuck against a mountain of snow.” She shivered again and sent the beleaguered conductor what she hoped was a comforting smile. How anyone could blame him for an act of God was beyond her.

“If you’ll give me a shovel, I’ll help dig,” she told him. He just laughed and shook his head before going on to the next car.

The train remained snowbound all night. Unable to fall asleep again, Dori had ample time to consider her precarious position. She might miss the wedding, but unless help came, she and others could lose their lives. The conductor had reported that a work train was being sent to them from the next station, but how long would it take to get there? What if other avalanches came? They could be buried alive.

Dori’s fear of being confined in small spaces rose to haunt her. She paced the aisle when it was clear, silently asking God to deliver them. She also reached a decision.
Even if I reach Madera in time for the wedding, I won’t let anyone at the Diamond S know I’ve been expelled. There will be time enough when Matt and Sarah return from their San Francisco honeymoon for them to learn I won’t be going back
.

Dori groaned. Although she vowed not to spoil Matt’s special day, the secret hanging over her was almost more than she could bear. She refused to consider what she’d do if Sarah disliked her and didn’t want her on the ranch. Right now, surviving the avalanche was the most important thing in Dori’s world.

Late the next morning, the beaming conductor appeared, “Good news, folks. The work train is here, and it looks like we will be on our way in a few hours.” Loud cheers resounded through the train.

Most of the passengers let out whoops of joy. But a few well-dressed men continued to complain. They threatened to write to the railroad company, their congressmen, and even President Chester A. Arthur about the “inexcusable inconvenience and suffering” caused by the delay.

Dori had had enough. She leaped to her feet and faced the grumblers, feeling hot blood rush to her face. Scorn dripped from her unruly tongue. “I didn’t hear any of you offering to lend a hand.”

“Did you?” a portly man who looked like he’d never done a day’s hard work barked.

“She sure did.” A wide grin spread over the conductor’s seamed face. “As soon as this spunky young lady knew about our predicament, she volunteered to help dig us out if I’d give her a shovel.”

Laughter echoed throughout the car. The man who had challenged Dori subsided, and peace was restored.

Once the train was free to go on its way, there were no more delays. After what felt like an eternity, the
clackety-clack
of the great wheels slowed and stopped at the Madera station.

The prodigal sister had come home.

R
ide ’em, cowboy.” Curly’s stentorian yell, accompanied by raucous laughter from Bud and Slim, who were perched next to him on the top rail of the Diamond S corral, made Seth Anderson grin. He leaned forward in the saddle, tightened his legs against the pinto mare’s sides, and waited for the next buck. The mare obliged, but after a few half-hearted pitches she stopped short, turned her head, and surveyed her rider as if to say she’d had enough.

“Easiest horse I ever broke,” Seth mumbled. “Open the gate,” he called to the heckling trio. “I’ll give her a good run and see what kind of ginger she has.”

Curly whooped and sprang to obey. Seth and the mare raced out of the corral and down the road toward Madera as if pursued by a grizzly bear. Wind whistled in his ears and he bent over the horse’s neck. “Go, Splotches. I’ll eat my Stetson if Dori Sterling isn’t crazy about you. Matt couldn’t have found a better Christmas present for her.”

He laughed. “You’re a far cry from the nags Dori’s probably been forced to straddle in Boston. Riding sidesaddle, bound up tight in a fancy riding habit, and plodding along at some fool ladylike trot? She may as well have been riding a rocking chair.” The freedom of the range surged through Seth and aroused his pity for Dori. It must have been frustrating for a girl used to the wide-open spaces to be so constrained. “Say, Splotches, if she isn’t thrilled with you, I’ll keep you myself. You’re the prettiest little pinto in the country, and you move right along.”

The mare’s ears pricked up. She stretched into a ground-covering gallop. Seth let her run, feeling wild and free, the way he had ever since coming to the ranch. At last he reined Splotches in beneath a huge oak tree. “Time to take a breather.” He slid from the saddle and patted the mare’s neck. She rewarded him by rubbing her nose against Seth’s shoulder. Would Dori appreciate the pinto? He hoped so for Matt’s sake.

He stroked Splotches’s mane. “No matter. She’ll be heading back to Boston after the wedding, and I’ll ride you.” He chuckled. “Just so Copper doesn’t get jealous.” Seth’s happiness faded. His faithful sorrel gelding, companion and friend for many years, had stepped in a gopher hole a few weeks earlier and pulled a ligament.

“My fault,” Seth grumbled. “I should have been paying attention instead of thinking about Dori coming home.” The swelling on Copper’s leg had been reduced with hot packs, and Matt said the horse would be fine, but Seth’s guilt remained. Now he raised his head, removed his wide hat, and gazed into the blue December sky. He watched a hawk circle in the clear air before confessing, “Lord, I have an even bigger problem. I’ve been judging Matt’s sister by the trouble she’s caused him.” Seth heaved a great sigh. “Even if Dori turns out to be as wayward and heedless as Matt says she is, I need to respect her because she’s Your child.” Seth scratched his head. “I reckon the best way to do that is to just keep out of her way.” He paused and allowed the silence to fill him. “Thanks for listening, God.”

Seth got to his feet and stretched. Talking with his Trailmate always made him feel better. Besides, it should be easy enough to avoid Dori for the short time she would be home without his avoidance becoming obvious.

What about when she comes home permanently?
a little voice taunted. Seth shrugged. Summer was a long way off. Anything could happen before then. He swung into the saddle and turned Splotches toward home, but the sound of hoofbeats stopped him. Seth looked back and stared at the rider. When freckle-faced Johnny Foster raced a horse like that it usually meant bad news.

“Trouble, Johnny?” Seth called.

“Yeah.” The boy pulled his horse to a stop. “Evan Moore said to get this telegram to Matt right away. Evan told me what it says. Miss Dori is on her way home, but that ain’t all.” He gasped for breath. “Evan got word the train is stuck in the mountains somewhere this side of Denver. Avalanches are blocking the tracks. The message said the railroad don’t know how long it will be till they can get a work train and crew there and dig the passenger train out.”

Seth’s heart turned to ice. “Give me the telegram. My horse is fresher than yours.”

“Okay, Seth.” Johnny handed it over. “I sure hope those folks, ’specially Miss Dori, get rescued real quick. It’d be awful if she has to miss Matt and Sarah’s wedding.” He turned his horse and headed back to Madera.

Missing the wedding is nothing compared with what could happen
, Seth thought grimly.
Being trapped in a snowbound train for who knows how long could claim lives
. He flinched. He’d seen snow storms cripple St. Louis. What would it be like in the Colorado mountains?

Seth goaded Splotches into a run and spoke from a heart filled with fear. “God, there’s nothing any of us here can do for those stranded passengers and the crew. Please deliver them.” A scripture learned in childhood crept into Seth’s mind. Moses, reminding his people of God’s goodness to Jacob, said:
“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness…he kept him as the apple of his eye.”

“Lord, be with everyone on that train and those sent to rescue them,” Seth prayed. “Keep them as You kept Jacob. They are also in a howling wilderness and desperately need You.” He paused and whispered, “In Jesus’ name, amen.”

The time between leaving Johnny and reaching the Diamond S felt like an eternity. When Seth and Splotches thundered up to the corral, Seth leaped to the ground, threw the mare’s reins to one of the vaqueros and ordered, “Take care of her, will you?” Then he sprinted toward the ranch house. He didn’t stop to knock, but burst into the hall and raced to the sitting room where Matt, Sarah, and Solita were gathered. “Telegram. Evan sent Johnny with it.”

Apprehension sprang up in Matt’s eyes, and he bounded to his feet. “Now what?” He snatched the telegram, ripped it open, and read aloud,

Matt’s shoulders sagged in obvious relief. “So what? Dori evidently decided to surprise us by coming earlier than planned. It’s just like her.”

Hatred for what he must do filled Seth. “There’s bad news, Matt. The train Dori is on is snowbound west of Denver. It can’t move until help gets there to dig it out.”

Matt stared at him. “Dear God, no!”

Sarah echoed his prayer, but Solita put both hands over her head and wailed, “Dios be merciful to our senorita and the others.”

Matt staggered to a chair and dropped into it. His shoulders shook as if he had palsy. “I don’t know how Dori will stand it. Confinement in small spaces terrifies her. It always has.” He groaned. “How can she stand being shut up inside a cramped railroad car with no way to escape?”

Sympathy for both Matt and his sister emboldened Seth. “God will be with her.” His voice rang loud in the great room. “He has promised never to leave or forsake us.”

“Yes,” Sarah agreed. “He is our rock and our strong salvation.” She knelt beside Matt and held her hands out to Seth and Solita. “We need to pray.”

If Seth lived to be a hundred, he would never forget what followed. One by one, they stormed heaven on behalf of Dori and the others held in a prison of snow hundreds of miles away. The fear Seth had seen in the others’ faces and felt in the air itself gradually lessened. Peace and the assurance all would be well tiptoed into Seth’s heart. He raised his head. “I can’t help but believe they’ll be all right.”