Savage storm (33 page)

There were Indians about, many hoping to be hired to paddle travelers down the river in their canoes, but Gabrielle was careful not to attract the attention of any braves, handsome or otherwise. She thought the journey down the river would provide more excitement than several of the brides could bear, but the prospect of making the trip in a canoe was terrifying. She stood on the riverbank and watched as Jason supervised the launching of the rafts, giving each a headstart before the next was ordered to shove off. He did not want the rafts themselves to pose an additional hazard along the way. As always he had such confidence that no one questioned his advice, and with a warm handshake and a cheerful promise to see the travelers in Oregon City, he waved them all a hearty farewell.

Turning away when she was overcome by the sadness of the departures after so many months of shared joy and pain, Gabrielle went to find the Duffys so she might bid them a more thoughtful goodbye. The little girls danced around her happily, while Timothy came forward shyly to give her a kiss upon the cheek. There were tears in Amanda's eyes as she tried to say thank you one last time.

"I cried when Johanna came to say goodbye earlier this morning and Tm going to do it again. It's silly, I know, when we might find ourselves neighbors once we all reach the Willamette Valley, but I will never forget what you girls did for our family," she said.

"It was nothing more than you would have done for us," Gabrielle responded with a warm smile. She gave the slender woman a fond embrace, then turned to her husband. "Well, Sam, I do hope Amanda is right for I would love to see all of you frequently. Mr. Home has a home right in Oregon City, and he'll know where all of us have gone so we can keep in touch."

"You'll not be with Mr. Royal?" Sam was so astonished he did not realize how his question had sounded until Gabrielle turned pale. "I mean, well, I just thought . . ." He grew silent then, knowing he'd already said far too much, but his wife and

son were giving him such curious glances that he knew he was in real trouble.

'Tm certain Mr. Royal will know my whereabouts too,'* Gabrielle responded, as though she'd misunderstood his question. With a light kiss, she left Sam staring after her, as dumfounded as he'd been the morning he'd seen her and Jason cavorting playfully in the nude in the pond above Bear Lake.

Jason had determined the order for launching the rafts and had purposely made Gabrielle's the last since he planned to ride with it. She had shown none of the signs of uneasiness she'd displayed when they were approaching the Platte, but he wanted to take no chance that she might be badly frightened or come to harm. She had not argued with his decision to send Sunrise down the river with Duke on one of the rafts constructed specifically to transport livestock, but he knew she hadn't been pleased that he would not allow her to travel with her beloved horse. He had expected her to fight him on that issue. However, she had seemed satisfied, knowing that such an arrangement was practical for Duke and would be equally satisfactory for her horse. That he could still not accurately predict her reactions pained him, and while he knew no man would ever know the sensual side of her nature as well as he did, he longed to know what secrets she hid behind those haunting blue eyes which always seemed to see to the very bottom of his soul without providing him with the slightest glimpse of hers.

Paul escorted his charges upon the raft when their turn finally came. He was as eager as they to see the lengthy journey end, but he felt a deep pang of sorrow because the pretty young women he had grown to love would soon be going their separate ways.

"We'll all get mighty wet, but this part of the trip is like no other. Now we'll nearly fly compared to the way we crept across the desert."

Grabbing the other long pole, Jason was quick to agree.

'That's true, ladies, think of this as a magic carpet ride/' With that teasing remark, he dug the end of the pole into the mud and, with Paul's help, guided the raft out into the current. Damp spray filled their hair and soaked their clothing, hut to Jason's delight Gabrielle's eyes glowed only with excitement and not a trace of fear. That she loved the wild thrill of the rapids as greatly as he came as no surprise. She is still the best of the lot, he thought to himself, the very finest woman I ever hoped to meet. And he kept a close eye on her until their journey upon the river finally came to an end.

^na/i/ejo Juj^l/

When the weary contingent of brides arrived at Clayton Home's Oregon City home, they went straight to bed, and it was long past noon the following day before the first one stirred. The house was a large two-story frame structure, and the second-floor bedrooms had been furnished with all manner of borrowed beds and cots. Still, each young woman had a comfortable place to sleep if not much space in which to move around. Not even Iris complained about the cramped quarters, because the house seemed like a palace compared with the Conestoga wagons they'd shared for nearly five months. The young women were so excited over staying in a real house at last that they thought the accommodations more than satisfactory and thanked Clayton profusely for his hospitality.

Their luggage littered the hall upstairs, but it was soon sorted into clothing to be kept and garments which had seen such hard use during the trip they were unfit to be more than cleaning rags. The pretty new dress each prospective bride had brought had to be aired or laundered to restore its freshness, and Clayton summoned Jason to help him string more than a dozen clotheslines through his back yard to provide enough line on which to dry the gowns and the young ladies' frilly lingerie. The colorful apparel attracted considerable notice, and within minutes the bachelors who'd waited impatiently

throughout the long spring and summer began to appear at the front door to inquire if they could be of any assistance to the brides. Their motive in being so helpful was obvious to the young women who peeked through the upstairs windows for glimpses of the men who would soon be their husbands. They were delighted to find they could name each one as he came up the walk, and the boldest girls even called out greetings to their favorites.

Gabrielle sat on the edge of the double bed she'd shared with Erica and tried to get the vivacious young woman to hold still. She was trying to alter the waistline on Erica's green silk gown for a better fit. Taking another pin, she cautioned her to stop wriggling. "I am going to poke you, and if you bleed all over this beautiful dress, you'll never forgive yourself. Now stop jumping up and down!"

"I am not jumping! It is just that I am so excited I simply cannot hold still."

"Well, you must. If you don't I'll make a poor job of this and then you'll be sorry when you must attend tomorrow night's party looking like you're wearing a borrowed dress." Gabrielle placed the last pin in the luxurious fabric, then patted Erica on the hip. "There. Now you may take it off, but be careful not to loosen the pins or we'll not know how much to take in at the waist."

"I'll be extremely careful," Erica promised with exaggerated sincerity, and she slipped the shimmering green gown off over her head without disturbing the pins Gabrielle had placed in the garment with such care. "Who's next? We might as well do a fitting for everyone. Then we can all sit down and sew together. It will be fun, just like a quilting bee."

Marlene came forward with a pale blue dress which made her fair hair all the more lovely. "Will you help me too, Gabrielle? I tried to do it myself but I couldn't reach the darts in the back."

"Of course I'll help you. Just turn around and I'll have the

darts taken in in a minute." Gabrielle had often helped her aunt make dresses, so it was a simple matter to do no more than adjust the fit of these gowns. "We're all quite a bit thinner but a few well-placed tucks should set everything right once again. We'll be the best-dressed women in Oregon City."

'That's only because there are so few women in Oregon City!" Erica responded with a giggle. She was so delighted to actually be there that she had kept her companions laughing all afternoon with her teasing.

Finally Margaret spoke up hesitantly. "Aren't any of you as nervous as I am about meeting the men tomorrow night? I can't think of a single thing to say, and I'm afraid no one will even notice me."

"They will all notice you," Barbara reassured her confidently. "They'll be certain to meet each one of us to be sure they find precisely the woman they want. You can count on it. Or look at it this way, there are exactly the same number of bachelors as there are women so how can any of us be left standing alone?"

"That's not realistic," Iris pointed out maliciously. "Some of us will undoubtedly attract more than one man and that will leave others without escorts from time to time. But since that situation is unavoidable, you might as well cease to worry over it, Margaret." The conceited young woman offered her advice as if it were proven fact rather than opinion.

"I thought we had convinced you none of us was interested in the same type of man you are, Iris," Gabrielle remarked casually as she placed the last pin in Marlene's dress. "Mr. Home is hosting parties so we can become acquainted with the men, he's not staging a competition."

"Well, it is that. You know it is," Iris insisted.

"You make it sound as though you wished it were a foot race," Johanna scoffed accusingly.

"Beauty is what will matter tomorrow night, Johanna, not speed," Iris responded sarcastically.

Cabrielle saw Johanna's bright blush and came to her defense. "How do you plan to wear your hair tomorrow night, Johanna? If you wear it down Hke Barbara's Til bet your curls will be very pretty."

"Do you really think so?" Johanna had not even considered such a carefree style, but since she greatly respected Gabrielle's opinion, she reached up to unwind the tight bun which kept her curls under firm control. As she shook her head, ringlets flew about and then settled in attractive waves which gave her pleasant features a less severe appearance. She suddenly looked very appealing, pretty rather than serious and prim. "Well, is it any better this way?" she asked hesitantly, for the others in the room were simply staring at her with their mouths agape.

"Oh, yes!" Margaret blurted out; then she realized that had been a very tactless remark. "What I mean is, it is a far prettier style. Come over to the mirror and you'll see for yourself."

Johanna moved cautiously through the maze of beds and the heaps of clothing to approach the dresser which had a large mirror suspended above it. She fluffed the ends of her hair and, after a long moment's consideration, seemed pleased with what she saw. 'This is fine for parties, I guess."

"Of course it is!" Erica reassured her enthusiastically. "I have a curling iron, not that you would ever need it, but I'll bet I can curl Gabrielle's hair."

Iris shot Erica an evil glance. "Maybe she likes to wear her hair straight; did that not occur to you?" That Johanna now looked so attractive didn't please her in the least. She was confident she could get whichever man she wanted, but she didn't want to face more competition than she'd expected. Cabrielle was already a threat, far too pretty. Iris wasn't eager to see her look even more stunning, as she was sure she would with all that eye-catching red hair softly curled.

Simply to spite Iris, Cabrielle decided curls were exactly what she wanted. "My hair is very difficult to curl, but I'd like

to borrow your curling iron tomorrow afternoon if I may."

Erica reached out to touch her friend's long silken tresses. *'I think we'd better start in the morning or we'll never finish on time."

Gabrielle laughed with the others, but she knew giving her hair curls might prove to be more of a challenge than Erica had anticipated. She washed her hair after breakfast the next morning and then trimmed the ends a couple of inches to make them even. Then Erica unpacked her pearl-handled curling iron and the stand which held it over a small container of oil. When lit the oil heated the device so it would make curls.

The pretty blonde combed a section of Cabrielle's hair then wrapped it tightly around the hot iron. In less than a minute's time, she produced exactly the curl she'd hoped to make. ''You see, I knew this would work. We'll be able to curl only the ends of your hair since it is so long but if you wear it up it will look spectacular."

"Spectacular may be a bit too strong a description. Erica. Let's just try for attractive; I'll be more than pleased with that." Gabrielle tried to sit still while her friend kept up a constant stream of conversation. Erica had grown very talkative since they'd arrived at Clayton's, but understanding her nervousness, Gabrielle did not complain. It took almost two hours to complete Gabrielle's hair and then she helped Erica do hers. By the time all of them had pressed their dresses, bathed, and styled their hair, the party was about to begin.

Jason straightened his tie with a vicious yank, uncomfortable in the confining gray suit after so many months of wearing his loose-fitting buckskins. He and Clayton had always planned to attend the parties for the brides as they knew they'd be unlikely to run smoothly without their direction. Now that the first party was actually to take place, however, Jason hoped to be able to leave as soon as the party got under way. He knew the men would all be pleased with the women he and Clayton had selected, for they were exceptionally pretty and sweet.

However, he had no wish to stand on the sidelines and watch Gabrielle dance with such an eager group of bachelors. She'd attract considerable notice, he was certain. Still, he knew for a fact that she was damned difficult to impress so he didn't think she'd select a man that night and not remain open to the attentions of all the others. No, indeed. Any man who set his heart on winning that beauty was in for a long and trying courtship, but let the bachelors find that out for themselves.

Clayton Home walked up to Jason as the bachelors began to arrive. ''I just talked to one of the men Joshua Taylor mentioned in his letter and he swore he'd never even heard of the man! What do you make of that?"