Texas Brides Collection (35 page)

The anguished cry burst from deep within. The baby kicked, and Jenny stalked down the length of the barn.

“I’m so sorry,” Charles called after her. “Ben’s death cured me. I’ve never bet again, and I never will. I’m sorry for everything.”

She pushed open the barn door and stomped into the near-freezing night. Stars spattered the dark sky, and she let the grief flow until she could weep no more. “Why, Lord?”

A whinny from the barn, the hoot of an owl, and a shooting star across the universe.

“How can I trust You, Lord, when You’ve taken everyone away and left me with all this?”

Sal joined her and groaned at her feet. Tom’s dog, who had changed her allegiance to another man.

But that man had accepted the responsibility of the dog and trained her, turning her into a sleeker, more helpful farm dog. That same man had been a better example to her brothers, all her brothers, than her husband. Like her father, Charles had a deft and steady hand with horses.

She longed to trust him, to take the burdens off her shoulders and hand them to a capable man not requiring her supervision. “But how can I trust him, Lord?”

The night lay silent with a chill hush across the land. A thin line of light crept from the barn door. Jenny bit her lower lip and tasted blood. His strong hands, his concern for her, and his skill with horses. How could she not trust Charles?

Had Colonel Hanks sent him? Or had God? Jenny sighed. There was only one way to find out.

Caleb was talking to Charles about a math problem when she returned. With steel in her spine, Jenny marched up to Charles. “Why are you here?”

Charles glanced uneasily at Caleb. “Room and board?”

“Why here, on this farm? How did you have the nerve to come here and face us?”

“What are you talking about, Jenny?” Caleb’s voice cracked. “He’s here to help us. God sent him, obviously.”

Sal wagged her tail.

“Is that true?” Jenny demanded. “Did God send you?”

Charles scratched his ear, as if listening to something she couldn’t hear. “Yeah,” he finally said, “I think maybe He did.”

December

C
harles strapped the final bag of oats onto Archer’s back. Caleb brought the other five geldings over on their leads and climbed aboard Willow. Jenny handed up his filled canteen. “We’ll be praying for you. Keep safe, and make sure you study your schoolwork.”

Micah glowered from the porch. Stuck behind to care for the womenfolk and attend school, Micah clung to Sal, who wanted to go, too.

Ma Duncan brought out a bag of hot fried chicken. “This should keep ya going for a while.”

“Thanks.” Charles attached the bag to his saddle and faced Jenny. “Any last words?”

“I plan to pay you,” she said.

“Micah, make sure Jenny attends church on Sunday, that’s my pay.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jenny frowned. “You’ll get a share from the sale.”

“This is my payback for Fort Delaware. If Ben had come home, he would have made this trip.”

Jenny glanced over her shoulder. Ma Duncan stood beside Micah. “If Ben had come home I never would have married Tom,” she whispered.

“Then when I return, we’ll be square.”

“Can I trust you to come back?”

Charles laughed. “I’m taking your brother and leaving my dog. I’ll be back.”

“Sal’s my dog, but it’s a deal.” She put out her hand.

Charles considered her outstretched hand. He then met her eyes and crushed her to his chest.

And kissed her speechless.

As Ma Duncan and Sal both howled from the porch, Charles released Jenny and swung onto Bet. “Let’s go.” He chuckled all the way to the road.

Charles and Caleb headed west by northwest following an old trail out of Anderson County. The boy’s horse pranced with excitement, and Caleb’s laugh rang out on the comfortably warm morning. Charles’s spirits soared.

It had been difficult since the hard conversation in the barn, but the colonel, as usual, was correct. Confession had been good for his soul. Now that he didn’t have to shield Jenny from his past, he could move forward into an honest relationship. Losing the dice meant he no longer had a physical object to touch, but he could always appeal to God for help.

“Think she’ll go to church now?” Caleb asked.

“She said she would if we drove the horses to the Army. You got any reason to think she won’t?”

“Naw. She’s been wanting to go for a long time. Pride got in her way, and then you and Rachel forced her hand.”

Charles stared at the kid.

“Rachel told her the church needed her to play the organ. She said Jenny was keeping her lamp under a bushel for no good purpose. Jenny won’t break her deal with you. Besides, Ma Duncan’s always nicer after church. She’ll go.”

They took the two hundred miles to Fort Griffin at an easy pace, twenty-five miles a day with plenty of stops for the horses to graze. During the stops, Charles drilled Caleb on his schoolwork. Colonel Hanks had sent word Charles could return to the classroom after Christmas. Leaving his father’s old dice behind with Professor Stovall had convinced the school board he’d changed his ways.

Did he still want to teach? Charles considered the question as they rode through sunny days. He liked sharing the things he knew and answering his student’s questions. He wasn’t content, however, with the physical aspects of the job. It reminded him too much of prison—done voluntarily, but indoors.

Training the horses for Jenny reminded Charles how much he liked horse farms, especially without the pressure to produce a racing winner. He knew all too well this horse farm came with a very pretty and capable owner. He admired her more than any woman he’d known before.

She’d said she had never loved Tom.

Charles mulled over that news through the rolling hills of eastern Texas. Why had she married him then? He eyed his young companion.

“It’s a shame Tom died. He could be making this ride instead of us,” Charles said.

Caleb spit. “Tom never would have taken this trip. He hated horses unless he needed one to ride.”

“Why did your sister marry him?”

“No one ever asked her before, and with so many men dead after the war, she was worried she’d be an old maid. She thought Tom was her only chance.” Caleb made a face. “Why? You interested?”

Charles laughed. “I guess you’re the man of the house. I’d have to ask you.”

“Take her. You’d make everyone happy.” Caleb’s face flushed. “Except Ma Duncan, but nothing makes her happy.”

“I’ll take your words under advisement.” Charles basked in the information the rest of the day.

They reached Fort Griffin on December 14 and made their way to the quartermaster’s office. The blustery, red-faced Quartermaster Stewart inspected the horses and letter carefully. “Looking a little lean.”

“We brought them two hundred miles. They’ll fatten up soon enough,” Charles said.

Stewart eyed him. “Where’d you get that scar?”

“Cave City, Kentucky.”

“Looks like a bayonet cut. Morgan’s men fought there. You one of them?”

“Yes, sir.” Charles knew to keep his answers short when speaking with Union Army officers.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Were you on the great raid north into Indiana?”

“Yes, sir. I was captured in Ohio.”

Stewart stared at him. “Did you learn anything?”

“I learned to be careful who I followed, sir.”

Stewart examined the horses once more. “Where’s your allegiance now?”

“To God and the United States of America.”

He grunted. “Watch yourself tonight; not all these soldiers believe the war is over.”

Charles sent Caleb outside the fort to water and forage Bet and Willow while he and the horse master spent time with the six geldings. Afterward, he collected the payment and sought Caleb. Once out of eyesight of the fort, they mounted and rode off at a gallop. Charles wanted to put as much distance as possible between the money and the fort. He’d learned the hard way not to trust a soldier.

Charles thought about the dreadful day Morgan’s raid turned bad. Hounded by Union forces, they’d tried to forge the Ohio River too late in the afternoon. With darkness closing in and Union gunboats firing at them from the river, he’d urged his exhausted horse into the water, General Morgan riding hard behind him.

In the chaos of bullets, screaming horses, drowning men, and smoke, they nearly made it across. The general, however, turned back when it became obvious a large part of the command wouldn’t make it. Charles tried to follow his leader and was captured.

Prison camp at Fort Delaware became his duty station for the rest of the war.

Had he followed the right man? Morgan was charismatic and bold, but he courted danger. A gambler, just like Charles was then. Or was Charles a gambler because of the company he kept?

Maybe Hanks and Stovall were right. Living in an environment and prone to gamble, carrying those dice might be too dangerous for him. He’d never considered that angle before.

Charles and Caleb arrived in Neches six days later, trotting down the main street on a slow Sunday afternoon. Colonel Hanks was locking up the church when they passed, and he waved them over.

“Success? Any problems?”

“A good trip,” Charles said. “Caleb held his own very well.”

“What’d you learn, Caleb?”

The boy opened his eyes wide. “The quadratic formula. Isn’t that what I was supposed to learn?”

The colonel nodded. “School’s not out until Wednesday; I think you’ll fit in fine tomorrow morning.” He and Charles both laughed at Caleb’s surprise.

“Railroad men have been in town this week. They liked your work, Moss,” Hanks said. “They’ll hire you next summer if you want to do some railway surveying.”

Charles couldn’t read Hanks’s face. “What route?”

“They’ve got two in particular to choose from.” He nodded at Caleb. “One’s across the Peck place.”

“No,” Caleb said.

“Your sister will need to make the call.” Hanks looked pointedly at Charles. “She’s been getting lots of advice.”

“How’s that?” Charles asked.

“The widow Duncan’s been entertaining most of the unmarried bucks in the county now the news is out. She has until spring to choose.”

“But she’s pregnant,” Charles said.

“With a baby and also the possibility of a lot of cash. A fellow might be willing to overlook another man’s child if he wins a pretty woman and a pile of money, too.”

“Jenny wouldn’t marry another man for convenience,” Charles said.

Hanks raised his eyebrow. “You’re the gambler. You tell me.”

Charles spurred Bet. “I’ll race you home, Caleb.”

And he took off like a shot.

Late February

W
atching the rain pour down, Jenny thought of all the changes in her life the last nine months. As her time approached, it grew hard to imagine the innocent woman she’d been last spring. With Pa gone and Tom, too, she’d lost her anchor but also her chain.

Which is why she shook her head over the three men who had been courting her since Christmas. Why would she settle for another marriage of convenience? She knew the would-be suitors were waiting for the railroad trustees to make their decision about the tracks. If the railroad wanted her land, she’d get three marriage proposals on the spot.