The Fugitive Son (30 page)

The evening stars were already popping out across the darkening sky as they entered the town. Trip pulled in at what had to be the Plaza and signaled for Elsie to draw her rig in as well. A lamplighter was already at work, hoisting a long flaming pole that poked skyward. She watched in awe as he sparked the bowls of whale oil atop the fluted posts around the plaza. The sky still wore streaks of pink and yellow in the west with gold-rimmed wisps of clouds hovering on the horizon. Coupled with the glow from the faint shadowy yellow of the street lamps, the entire area was bathed in an ethereal light.

Trip pointed at one of the street lamps. “I have an idea for you, for your mercantile. For years, merchants have made a fortune selling whale oil for those lamps, and I suspect you’ll want to stock some for your store. But I read about the Dietz brothers who just this year came out with a flat wick for coal oil. It makes a brighter light, isn’t as smelly, and is a whole lot cheaper than whale oil. If you could be the first around here selling the wicks and coal oil, not only for the street lamps, but for everybody’s lamps, you could have quite a business.”

Elsie looked at him in wonder. “How do you know this?”

“Back when I was in Kansas City, it was in all the newspapers. It’s already in use back East, and they say the whaling industry is going to fade out within only a year or two.” He grinned broadly. “So, if you just listen to ol’ Uncle Trip’s advice here, you can get your merc off to a good start with progressive, cutting-edge service!”

“It’s something to think about. But right now I’m more concerned with finding my brothers. The only address I have for them is Santa Fe. How do I go about finding them?”

“No problem. They just live a mile or two out of town, so we’d best head out that way before it gets any darker. Climb back up and follow me,” he insisted. “Try to stay close because it can be treacherous in the dark.”

Elsie looked at him quizzically. For someone who didn’t know her brothers well, Trip seemed all too familiar with the path to their ranch. She shrugged her shoulders as she resumed her seat on the hard wagon bench. She was about to be reunited with her brothers! And she could sleep tonight in a real bed – without thinking of another day’s journey in this wagon. Nothing else mattered at the moment.

“Let’s go,” she called to Trip, picking up the reins for what she hoped was the last time for a long while.

The nearly full moon was already rising in the eastern sky. As Elsie’s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, she could see the ridges of the mountains against the horizon. Thankfully, she could also see the sides of the narrow road without too much difficulty.

After just a little more lurching and bumping, Trip pulled his rig onto a lane and stopped outside an elaborately carved gate. Elsie followed his lead. Gazing upward at the wooden sign hanging high over the gate, she read “Condit Brothers Hacienda.” She noticed it also had a ranch brand, a conjoined “P” and “N” encircled by a larger “C”. How clever! It was just like Ned and Peter to use their initials in creating their brand, she thought.

As she sat there taking it all in, two men mounted on horseback rode up and studied the sign. They appeared to be asking Trip for directions. Watching them, Elsie gasped as recognition dawned. That black horse! It looked like Pepper! And in the darkness, the man on the horse even looked like Isaac – tall, dark, and broad-shouldered.

The man talked with his companion as he dismounted. When she heard his voice, Elsie let out a yelp. It was Isaac! She jumped from the wagon in a very unlady-like fashion and ran to where the men were standing. “Isaac! Isaac!” She shouted, running and throwing herself into his arms. “You’re safe!”

Isaac hugged her close. “Oh, Elsie… I prayed that you would get here safely. When those bounty hunters captured me, I thought it was all over for our dreams of Santa Fe. But here we are, living, breathing, and…” he paused, visibly shaken by emotion. “Free!”

Trip broke into the reunion. “I guess these men are telling the truth about who they are. So this is the long-lost Isaac?” He held out his hand to Isaac; then he looked over to the other man. “And you?”

Isaac rushed to introduce his friend Andy. “We’re practically blood brothers,” he said. “He saved my life; then, later on, I returned the favor. We’ve been traveling together for a while now.” Motioning toward Elsie, he said to Andy, “And this is Elsie, the lovely lady I’ve been telling you about.”

Andy offered Elsie his hand. The simple touch electrified them both, and they just stood there, wondering what on earth had happened. They quickly withdrew their hands and looked down in embarrassment, ignoring Isaac’s broad grin as he looked at one and then the other.

When Andy regained his composure, he managed to mumble, “It’s good to finally meet you, Miss Elsie. Isaac has rattled on about you for days!”

She felt the heat rush to her face. Feeling ridiculous because she couldn’t get her lips to cooperate in forming words, she just stood there blushing – and trying not to giggle at Andy’s formality.

Isaac came to her rescue. “God must have sent a whole herd of angels to look out for us. We didn’t know how we were going to find Ned and Peter when we got to Santa Fe, and here we are, right at their gate!”

Isaac’s little diversion enabled Elsie to get control of her thoughts. “Do angels come in herds now?”

Everyone laughed. “Guess they do, on a ranch,” Andy joked. “Isaac’s right, though. With the two of us out wandering in the wildest wilderness you’ve ever seen, with no compass but the stars, we sure needed God’s guidance. Sometimes I wished for God to send a pillar of fire and a cloud like Moses had to guide the Israelites across the Sinai.”

Elsie considered his statement. It appeared that Isaac’s new friend knew the Bible and the God of the Bible intimately. That was surely a good sign. “Since we know this is the place, let’s get on up to the house. I’m anxious to see my brothers again. It’s been too long.”

“Let’s tie our horses on to the wagon,” Isaac suggested. “I’ll drive Elsie’s wagon and give her a rest. If we slide together, we’ll have room for all three of us on the driver’s bench.”

The trio laughed and joked as they drove down the long narrow lane. The outline of a sprawling house soon came into view in the semi-darkness. Trip turned onto a gracious curved driveway and stopped in front of a house so big it actually made the plantation at River Bend seem small in comparison.

“It ‘pears God’s been good to the boys!” Isaac exclaimed.

Elsie agreed. “Does this really belong to Ned and Peter?”

“Their name is on the sign, so they must own the place,” Andy surmised. “Didn’t expect anything like this, though.” Turning to Isaac, he asked, “Do you really think they’ll take in a couple of strays like us?” He looked down at his tattered and travel-weary clothes, then over at Isaac’s disreputable appearance.

Isaac followed his gaze and grinned. “I’m no stray. Once they figure out it’s Elsie and me, they’ll throw open their arms wide enough to hug us all.”

While the men tied the horses and mules to hitching posts, Elsie gazed in wonder at the magnificent house. A long, arched portico stretched across the entire middle section, matched by a balcony that ran the length of the top story. A red-tiled roof covered the massive structure. A tall pinyon gave off its lovely scent in front of the west wing, while manicured shrubs shrouded the opposite wing.

Trip started to reach for the iron doorknocker just as the heavy wooden door flew open and a lovely Indian girl rushed into his arms. “Trip! You’re home!” Her eager smile and sparkling eyes advertised her delight at having him home.

Late October 1857
Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory

B
EFORE ELSIE
could consider the hug the girl was giving Trip, a blur of orange, white, and brown fur bounded across the portico, nearly knocking her over in an eagerness to get to her.

“Bennie!” Elsie lowered herself to the tiled floor, where she hugged the dog while trying to fend off its slobbery kisses. Her voice exuberant, she crooned, “You remember me! I can’t believe it, but you do remember me!”

Bennie wagged his tail, sounding a steady thump, thump, thump on the tiles.

A deep, throaty voice chastened Elsie playfully. “So a mangy cur gets all the attention while the lonely brothers stand aside, totally neglected.”

Elsie giggled and jumped up to hug her brothers. “I declare, it’s so good to see you two! When you left River Bend, I thought I’d never see either one of you again.”

She quickly introduced Andy to the group, and then turned her attention to Trip. “He tells me he barely knows you, but it looks like she knows him quite well,” she said, nodding toward the Indian girl.

“Lolani is our house girl,” Peter offered. “She’s been with us a long time, so she’s part of the family. She and Trip have a cabin out back…”

Elsie gasped. Looking directly at Trip, who was trying to avoid her gaze, she challenged, “You told me you barely knew my brothers, and you live here? And you said you weren’t married…”

Trip squirmed uncomfortably. “I might have avoided the truth a couple of times, but I had good reason.”

“A couple of times? More like dozens of times! And what could possibly be a good reason?”

He looked toward Ned and Peter for help. “They told me not to let you know I worked for them.”

More puzzled than ever, she asked, “How did they even know we would accidentally meet on the trail? And why shouldn’t I know you worked for them? Why would that be a secret? You haul freight for most everyone between Santa Fe and Kansas City. I more or less figured you delivered goods to them, too.”

“We didn’t ‘accidentally’ meet on the trail. I was looking for you. They hired me to see you safely through from Kansas City, so I was headed there to meet you. But they didn’t want you to think they didn’t trust you to make it on your own…”

Ned cut off Elsie’s protests. “We know how independent you are, but coming across country is no easy feat for anyone – especially a young lady and a freedman. These are dangerous times.”

Trip nodded his agreement, picking up his story again. “You and Isaac made better time than I figured, so I met you when you were already a day or two out. And it’s a good thing I came along, young lady, or you would have been in big trouble!”

Elsie reminded him that the Fanchers had come along shortly after he got there. Her eyes flashing with anger, she ranted, “I was doing quite nicely on my own and didn’t need a rescuer, thank you.”

She then turned her anger toward her brothers, eyes bright. “And you fellas. How many times have I told you I’m not your ‘Baby Girl Elsie’ any more? Who do you think took care of the entire plantation when Papa was so ill? Who supervised the field hands and the house staff, paid the bills, managed the ice cutting operations and the timbering, and who oversaw the freeing of all the slaves and selling everything we owned?”

When she paused for breath, Isaac came to her defense. “She’s right. She grew up when you two left. You should be proud of her. And the way she took charge of everything in Kansas City was a marvel!”

Her anger still not assuaged, Elsie continued her tirade. “You thought you had to hire someone to make sure I got across the big, bad country by myself? Let me tell you something, and don’t either of you forget it. I’m a grown woman now, a woman totally capable of taking care of herself! I need big brothers for friendship – not to take care of me. I’m not only self-sufficient, I’m now a full-fledged pioneer!” She emphasized the word, proud of what she had accomplished.

Trip winked at the brothers. “I see what you mean about her spitfire temper. That vindicates your reason for not telling her I’d been sent to take care of her.”

Calming down a bit, Elsie looked directly at Trip and Lolani. “But that still doesn’t explain why you lied to me about not being married.”

“I didn’t. Lolani and I aren’t married. What we have works for us.”

Elsie saw the hurt look that crossed Lolani’s face. “It might work for you, but I think she might feel differently. Try asking her about it sometime.”

Ned broke the tension. “We were just sitting down to dinner. I’m sure Lolani has plenty for everybody. She always does. Let’s eat before it gets cold, then we’ll show you to your rooms and get you settled in.” He lifted Elsie’s chin and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “Please forgive me?”