Blue Moon Promise (10 page)

The little girl shrank back and put her thumb in her mouth. Her blue eyes sought her sister’s face. “I want Lucy.”

Nate nodded. “Let’s get inside, and then you can go out the back door instead of traipsing through the snow.”

His voice was gentle when he spoke to Eileen. Studying him, Lucy thought he might make a good father once he lost that gruff exterior. He wasn’t nearly as hard as he tried to convince everyone he was. She followed him into the cabin and looked around.

Her first impression was of dark, dingy wood and dust. The floor was unpainted plank. It needed a good cleaning more than anything else. A hastily constructed table and a single chair were shoved against the wall by the woodstove. A wood box beside the stove was heaped with kindling that had spilled onto the floor.

She walked to the kitchen. The stove needed scrubbing and several dirty plates and cups sat in a dishpan on the dry sink. She shivered, not so much from the temperature as from the coldness of the room’s atmosphere. But she would fix that.

“I know there aren’t enough chairs, but I wasn’t expecting company.” Nate pulled the single chair out from the table and nodded toward it. “Have a seat.”

“I need to take Eileen out back.” Without waiting for a reply, she took Eileen’s hand and quickly stepped to the back door. The privy was sturdy and well made. While she waited for Eileen, Lucy glanced at the back of the cabin. It was well constructed too. Nate seemed competent in whatever he decided to put his hand to.

She could only pray he’d decide to put his hand to being a good husband.

NINE
 
 

A
fter lunch, Nate handed Jed an ax. “Just break the ice up in any troughs you see.” He pointed at the open range where the cattle stood forlornly in the blowing snow. “I’m going to haul some bales of hay out for them.”

Jed nodded and tucked his coat around his neck. His bare hands gripped the ax with determination, and he started off toward the first trough. “Hold up,” Nate called. When the lad turned, he tossed him some gloves.

“Thanks!” Jed tugged them on and tromped off in the snow again.

Nate headed for the barn, then stopped and stared back at the cattle. He counted heads. He only saw fifty in this section. There should have been two hundred. And what about his bull? He yanked open the barn door and stepped inside. The silence was his first clue that something was very wrong. His bull usually snorted at first sight of him. Sure enough, the bull’s paddock was empty. He wanted to throttle someone. Was this Larson’s handiwork?

He checked on the calf but waited to feed it until he had Eileen with him. He hauled some bales of hay to the field, then turned to look for Jed. The lad had his head down against the wind and was walking toward him. The boy would have to learn anyway, so when Jed reached him, Nate told him about the missing cattle.

“What can we do?”

“Maybe nothing. Sometimes the rustlers ship them out of town right away, and I haven’t counted heads in a couple of days. The cattle had water and food and there was no need.” But he intended to check out Drew Larson’s property.

Jed clenched his fists. “Someone
took
them?”

“They didn’t just wander off by themselves.” Nate stared at the boy hard. “Now you know what it feels like to have someone steal something.”

Jed’s face went scarlet. “I know it was wrong.” He paused. “I think there’s more trouble coming our way.”

Nate’s senses went on high alert. “What kind of trouble? You’ve done something else?”

Jed shook his head. “It was something my dad asked me to do. He said some bad men might come looking, but that I was supposed to keep it safe. A man showed up before we left Indiana.”

“Keep
what
safe?”

Jed’s eyes squinted to narrow slits. “Dad made me promise not to say. I can’t even tell Lucy.”

Nate didn’t want to press the boy to break a promise, but if danger was coming, he needed to be prepared. “How am I supposed to protect Lucy and Eileen if I don’t know what’s going on?”

Jed hesitated. “Just watch for any strangers. And if they ask who we are, don’t tell them.”

“That’s not good enough, boy. You can’t leave me in the dark. If I know the whole story, I can help you figure this out.”

“Don’t ask me because I can’t tell you.” Jed smacked his forehead. “I can’t remember, all right! Something bad happened the night Dad died, and I just can’t remember.” The boy’s voice broke and he ran out of the barn.

What kind of trouble could Jed be in? And why would a father embroil his son in something dangerous? Nate needed to find out more about Lucy’s parents to see if he could figure this out. But first he needed to find his bull.

He walked across the sparse vegetation in the field to the hill on the west side of the ranch. A few cattle grazed in the valley below, but no bull. And not enough cattle. Rustlers had definitely been busy. Getting the cattle back would be close to impossible when he didn’t know where to look. He was most upset about the bull.

Could it be at Larson’s? He’d hired someone to try to burn down the barn, so Nate wouldn’t put anything past him. He changed course and jogged back to the barn where he saddled a horse and rode toward Larson’s small plot of land. The place appeared deserted when he leaned back in the saddle half an hour later and surveyed the small cabin and barn.

He whistled to see if his bull would respond. When the sound faded, there was only an answering trill from the quail dashing to a bush. Nate wanted to search the barn, but he couldn’t bring himself to trespass with only suspicion on his side. If his bull had answered his whistle, he would have shoved open that barn door in a heartbeat.

All he would be able to do was report the theft. But it didn’t feel like enough.

LUCY PUT HER hands on her hips and surveyed the room. They could put some beds against the west wall and there was space for some extra chairs by the fire. The loft overhead was empty. It would serve as the main bedroom.

Heat scorched her cheeks at the thought of sharing a room with Nate.
Not yet, Lord,
she prayed. She wasn’t ready yet. It was a blessing from God that Nate was so uncertain about the marriage. Time would help them both adjust to the thought that they were tied for life.

She had finished taking inventory of the house by the time Nate and Jed came back inside. She’d never succeeded in getting the fireplace to do more than smoke. Both fellows seemed pensive and distant, but she didn’t question them as she went to try fixing the fire again.

“Let me do that.” Nate stepped outside, then returned with smaller kindling. The fire began to flare, then heat began to ease the chill of the room.

“Thank you,” Lucy said. “I’ll need hot water for my work.”

“Work? There won’t be anything to do today. The cattle have been fed, and Jed broke the ice for them to water. You can stay inside and keep warm.”

Lucy waved a hand. “Look at this place. We can’t sleep in this filth.”

Nate’s brows drew together. “Filth?” His voice went up at the end of the word. “There’s nothing wrong with my cabin. It’s not the fanciest home in the Red River Valley, but it would suit any other woman who was used to homesteading. I knew a city girl like you would turn your nose up at it.”

Lucy refused to let him rile her. “The accommodations are fine, Nate. It’s the lack of cleanliness I object to. We’re going to need some beds too. See what you can do. When you get back, you’ll see how much better it looks.”

Nate’s mouth hung open and he stared at her.

“I wouldn’t argue with her, Mr. Stanton.”

Lucy didn’t wait to see if Nate would take Jed’s advice. She took Eileen by the hand, grabbed a bucket, and headed for the door. “I’ll need some water for scrubbing.”

“I’ll get it.” Nate roused from his stupor and snatched the pail from her. “The pump is out back, but it might be hard to start. I haven’t used it for a few days. Just stay put and don’t touch anything.”

Lucy nearly smiled at the alarm in his voice. Jed followed him out the door.

She found an apron in her bag and tied it on. “Eileen, would you like to help me?”

The little girl nodded. “I can do the dishes.”

“All right. As soon as Mr. Stanton gets back with the water, I’ll heat some and you can wash up.” Lucy looked around again. There wasn’t even a broom.

The front door opened, and Nate and Jed stumbled inside with the scent of moisture and a blast of cold air. Nate stomped the snow from his feet, then carried a bucket of water to her. “Where do you want it?”

“There by the stove. Do you have a pan to heat it in? And I need a broom.”

“A broom?” Nate said the words as if he’d never heard of a broom before. He looked around the room as if a broom might materialize from the mere thought.

“I need to sweep.”

“It’s just a rough plank floor. Sweeping won’t do any good.”

“Even a plank floor can be kept clean, Mr. Stanton.”

His bewildered expression deepened. “But why? You just walk on it.”

The corner of Lucy’s mouth turned up, and she bit her tongue to keep from laughing. “Just find me a broom, and you’ll see what I mean.”

Nate scowled. “Let’s go, Jed. There’s no pleasing a woman.”

“I’ll be very pleased with a broom,” she called after them. Smiling, she went to heat the water. By the time the water was hot, Nate was back with a makeshift broom of straw.

When he gave it to her, she handed him the bucket again. “I need more water.”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t protest. Jed giggled. “I think you’re getting domesticated, Mr. Stanton.”

Nate widened his eyes. “I’m just doing what needs done for my own protection, Jed. Your sister may be small, but she’s determined.” He dropped the bucket and swung Eileen into his arms. “Hey, honey, there’s a new calf in the barn. You want to see it after we’re done with the cattle?”

Eileen squealed with delight. “Can I pet it?”

“He might suck your fingers.”

Eileen looked doubtfully at her hand, then turned her sunny smile back to Nate. “I don’t mind.”

“Can I come too?” Lucy asked. The thought of a new calf was suddenly much more appealing than cleaning.

“Sure you can spare the time from your sweeping?” Nate’s grin clutched at her heart.

“I’ll take the time.”

“Just don’t blame me if you have to sleep with the spiders.”

Spiders? Lucy eyed the room. There were a great many cobwebs. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“The cleaning or the calf?”

“The calf,” she said reluctantly.

His grin widened, and he went to the door with Jed following behind. “You don’t know what you’re missing. Come on, Eileen. We’ll go see that calf.”

This was a side to Nate she hadn’t seen before. But sometimes duty was more important than fun. Broom in hand like a sword, Lucy swept through the cabin like an avenging angel. Spiders scuttled from her attack. Stomping and shouting, she killed all she could find and swept the room clean of dirt and cobwebs. At least she saw none big enough to be a tarantula. When the water was hot, she washed the dishes, then used the still-warm water to scrub the floors, swirling the water around with her broom before mopping it up on her hands and knees.

All that was left was the loft. She was almost afraid to check up there where she suspected she’d find even more spiders. With shaking knees, she climbed the ladder. Poking her head over the top, she looked around. It was as she feared. The entire loft was crisscrossed with spiderwebs laden with fat bodies, alive and dead. Shuddering, she backed down the ladder. There was no way she could do that herself. She would get Jed to make the first pass. Or maybe even Nate.

The thought of Nate’s derision was almost enough to make her go back up, but she couldn’t quite make herself mount that ladder again. She should have cleaned upstairs first. Now some of those spiders would probably come down here.

Her earlier euphoria vanished. Maybe she really wasn’t cut out to be a cattleman’s wife. If she couldn’t face up to something as small as a spider, what would she do with a bull? But the thought of a bull wasn’t nearly as daunting as those plump bodies upstairs.

She looked around her new kitchen. She could at least start the midday meal. She went to the small pantry and opened it. She backed away, a scream lodged in her throat. She shrieked with all the breath in her lungs and bolted for the door.