The Prettiest Girl in the Land (The Traherns #3) (8 page)

“How long did you hire on for?”

“We never agreed on that.”

“You’d have to at least work off the cost of your trip before
you could go on to other things.”

“I saved him that before coming out.”

“So you aren’t really obliged to work?”

“I made an agreement. So I’m obliged. At least for a spell. He
knows I want to see some of California. I thought I’d go see your folks, see
those trees your pa was talking about.”

“Pa tends to stretch his stories some.”

“Those trees had to be mighty big for him to stretch them that
far.”

“Just don’t be disappointed.”

“I won’t. What do you plan to do?”

“Look around. See if Pa’s place is special. I sure like the
Walla Walla country where Mally and Trey settled. Made me think I should cut me
out a place before all the good spots are taken.”

“Do they cost a lot?”

“Trey’s cost almost four dollars an acre.”

“Where did Trey get that kind of money?”

“He took a herd north and sold it.”

“I remember.”

“And Mally had some she inherited from her uncle. They had
enough left to pay me, and buy supplies. Would you like to go see their place?”

“I suppose so. I got to see California first.”

Night fell and we dropped down into some forested area. In them
trees, it was darker than the inside of a wolf’s mouth at midnight. The men
took the lanterns off the stage, then took turns walking ahead of the mules to
light the way. The road was narrow in places, with a sheer drop off on one side
and a high bank on the other. We all walked through those places, as we all
knew how a skittish horse had no sense when it came to keeping all four feet on
the ground.

Travers took off barking after something, and we could hear a
growl of protest, then a loud crash followed by a series of crashes as whatever
it was went over the side and dropped down to the canyon below.

“That was a black bear,” one of the men carrying the lanterns
called out. “Our animals would have gone crazy, meeting it.”

As it was, they snorted and trembled and had to be led past the
spot, for they could smell bear, and they didn’t like it.

Gage and I dismounted and helped lead the pack animals through
the area.

Just past that, we ran into a place where they’d had a landslide
after the last coach had passed. The men took shovels and threw off some of the
dirt, then pushed the bigger rocks over the cliff. Several big boulders
couldn’t be pushed. The men took the long poles off, that the coach had tied to
it for such a purpose, and used them as pry bars to move the boulders off the
road.

I think the passengers should have been paid for the trip, not
the other way around. We had pushed that stage up the mountains, now we had to
hold onto it with ropes, going down places where the brakes couldn’t keep it
from running over the mules.

We got to the next station at midnight, coming up on it
suddenly, so no one had a chance to blow the horn and alert them we were
coming.

But they had the mules ready to change and did so swiftly. They
had no way to care for the wounded men, so asked us to take them on to the next
station, which was a fort.

“They are the law around here. They’ll bury the dead outlaws and
probably hang the wounded ones. Give your statements to them. There should be a
driver there who will take you into California. They might even give you an
escort, because of the money you’re carrying, but I doubt it. You seem able to
take care of yourselves.”

“Will we be close to San Francisco?” I asked.

“No, Ma’am. You still have a ways to go. California is a large
state and you just crossed into it.” 

I’d never studied it on a map, so I didn’t know how big or small
it was. I thought Tennessee was big until we crossed Arizona and Utah. Or maybe
it was just the fact you could see so far, and so much of nothing. And what you
could see, it took a long time to get
to.                                

As we dropped down out of the mountains it warmed up, but not so
warm it was unbearable. I decided I liked California, and said so to Gage. But
when we reached San Francisco, I saw that other people liked it, too. A whole
passel of people, all trying to live in one spot. It was worse than Memphis.
Too many people for my comfort.

The stage let us all out at the end of the route, and a
sorrier-looking bunch would be hard to find.         

All the men had full beards by now. We were rank from sweat,
pale from not having ate well, and jaded from having slept sitting up in our
clothes. Gage and the other outrider had had to somehow sleep while riding. I
knew it could be done, just not very restful.

“Now that was an adventure to write about,” the newspaper gent
told me. “Check your paper in the next day or two. I’ve already got the
headline.”

I just shook my head, thinking it would be a long time before I
forgot the discomforts of that trip. I had figured, being a mountain girl, that
I could stand anything, but being cooped up in that coach for pert near a month
was an ordeal worth forgetting.

I looked about for Gage. He had told me he would get a cab to
take us to some boarding houses, where I could find lodging. I didn’t see him
anywhere, so asked our last driver if he had seen him.

“No. He left just after we got here.”

I looked outside, at the mass of people walking about, all
seeming to be about their business, and decided to wait for Gage inside. The
girls were pretty, with their hair done in curls and dressed in lovely clothes.
I glanced down at my filthy garment. Perhaps Gage had seen someone he knew. I
reminded myself that he was quick to go to another. He hadn’t been very upset
losing Mary, just grabbed another girl to flirt with.

I walked over to pick up my pack and realized Travers wasn’t
with it and forgot completely about Gage.

Now when I told Travers to “keep” something, he guarded it. And
I had set my sack near the door and told him to “keep” it.

He had ridden into town on top of the stage and hadn’t jumped
down until I called him. Now he was nowhere to be seen.

“Travers!” I called, loudly, and when he didn’t come I put two
fingers in my mouth and whistled, like Trey had taught me. I’d only had to
whistle the dog up twice in Tennessee when we were on the trail. And now.

How could he have vanished so fast?

I remembered the man warning me about dogs being kidnapped for
dog fights. But Travers would have made so much noise, everyone would have
known.

I ran outside and whistled. Nothing.

“Miss.” It was the employee at the counter, the first one I’d
spoken to.

“Yes?”

“I just saw your dog. He’s out back where the coaches are.” He
pointed towards a door behind the counter.

I went out the door and found a group of men standing around
Travers. One pointed at me.

“Hey, Miss. This your dog?”

“Yes.”

“The men were telling us how he saved everyone on the coach by
barking. And chasing off a bear.”

“And attacking the outlaws,” another said.

“We could use him on the runs.”

“That’s up to him,” I said. “He chooses who he wants to go with.
I’m surprised he came out here.”

“He came out with that gent over there,” the first one said, and
pointed to where Gage was talking to one of the crew.

So now I had them both found again. It cheered me up no end to
see Gage. I had felt deserted, and now knew I wasn’t. It was a comforting
feeling. I began to think I could depend on him.

I had handled everything myself in Memphis, but it had been
sheer luck I’d found a good boarding house.

I walked over to where Gage was.

“Ruth, this is John Whitteman, the foreman here. I asked him
about places for a young lady to stay that were reasonable but in a good part
of town. He’s told me several places, but one he recommends above the others,
so we’ll go there first.”

“Thank you,” I told him.

“No bother, Ma’am. They have a big fenced yard where your dog
would be happy. Maybe he’d be,” he added doubtfully, looking over at the size
of Travers. “They have a cab stand across from the office. Give them this
address. And give this note to the landlady.” He wrote on two pieces of paper
and handed them to Gage.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, to both of you. According to the other passengers,
you saved them and the coach. Take three days to rest, Ma’am, before you go
down to the freight offices. You’ll find you’ll need it.”

The cabman didn’t want Travers up with him, so I called him
inside and shut the door.

“Make sure he doesn’t chew up anything,” the cabbie said, then
started his horse down the street.

“I will be so glad to stop riding in anything,” I told Gage.

“I know what you mean.”

It was probably two miles to the boarding house. The lady at
first refused to have Travers, but Gage handed her the piece of paper the man
had given him, and she let us right inside.

“What did it say on that paper?” I asked Gage, as she showed us
to some rooms.

“Didn’t look.”

“Here, Miss, you can have this room. It has an outside door, so
your dog can come and go.” She opened it up and I looked out into her yard.

 “I hope he doesn’t dig holes.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him dig. But he will protect
this house while we’re here.”

“This way, sir,” she said, and turned to lead Gage away.

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

I nodded, already asleep on my feet. I wanted to bathe and
change clothes and sleep for a week. I sat down and tried to untie my boots,
and realized I had fallen asleep in the chair when I heard a knock.

“Yes?”

A maid entered, gave me a curtsey, and said, “Where would you
like your bath, Ma’am?” She held the door wider, to let in a man carrying a
large metal bath and another one with jars of water.

“Anywhere,” I said.

She motioned to a corner, then jumped when she saw Travers. She
clasped her hands to her breasts. “Oh. He scared me, Ma’am. Mrs. Jones said you
had a dog, but....” She stopped.

“He is a little big for a house,” I agreed.

“I’m Lila, Ma’am. Can I help you?”

“Lila, I’m so tired I can’t even untie my boots, If you could
undo them—”

“Course, Ma’am,” she said, and knelt to unlace them. “Your gent
said to take complete care of you. That is some trip. Not one I’d like to
take.”

“How did you get here?” She had an accent of some kind, sort of
like the English gent.

“I accompanied a lady from England. On a ship. When she left, I
stayed. There I’d always be a maid. Here I can work my way up to where I own my
own boarding house, or maybe I’ll marry one of the rich prospectors. Or a
stagecoach driver. In this country you can do anything you’ve a heart and mind
to do, so that driver could end up owning his own company. People treat you as
an equal. Why, the banker’s wife apologized to me the other day when I tripped
over her foot. She was concerned I’d hurt myself.” Lila pulled off my boots.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, looking at my poor wrinkled, white but
dirty-looking feet. “I haven’t had them off for twenty-five days.”

She started undoing my blouse and skirt.

“Wait. I can do that myself.”

“I always did it for my ladyship, so don’t mind doing it for
you. I’ll get your bath ready.”

I undressed as she poured the water into the tin bath. “I’ll put
your clothes out to wash, Ma’am.”

“No. Don’t. I need to mend them first.” Actually, I needed to
take out the coins I still had sewn into the skirt. “I have another dress in my
pack. If you could get it ready by tomorrow, I’ll wear it.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll bathe myself.”

“Of course. But something my ladyship loved for me to do was
give her head a rubbing. You have beautiful long hair. Let me wash and do it
for you.”

“Thank you, Lila, but I can hardly stay awake.”

“I’m fast. Get in the bath.”

I did, throwing modesty aside. I’d mostly bathed in buckets, and
the large bath felt wonderful. As I began to scrub, she washed my back, then my
hair, rubbing my scalp until I practically melted into that water.

“Lila, you have magic in your hands. What do I owe you?”

“Nothing, Ma’am. You saved the life of the landlady’s son,
Martin. He was driving the coach. The first driver you had who was shot. You
folks took him to the fort and they took out the bullet. He’s doing well.”

“That was the landlady’s son?”

“Yes. That’s why she’s allowing your dog to stay here. Her son
sent word that he alerted everyone to danger.  Martin wrote that he ducked
just as the man shot, so that he was wounded instead of killed. She said royal
treatment for all of you.”