Silverton: Claims On The Heart (15 page)

Papa was no match for armed robbers. And he hadn't ridden much in years. What if he got shot or separated from the group?

The clamor of men shouting to one another as they met in front of the jail turned louder.

People went back to their stores and homes and the town grew quiet.

Foreboding stole over Kathleen that she could not shake.

The posse rode back in the late afternoon.

Kathleen was closing up the store when she saw them winding down from the mountain pass. They led horses without riders and that gave her hope that they'd caught up with the bandits and brought back their mounts.

Other people had seen the posse and sent out word that they were returning. A crowd soon gathered at the livery.

Kathleen hurried to join them. As they drew close Kathleen's hopefulness dimmed with the sight of their sober faces. The horses carried the dead slung over their backs. But were they the bandits or the posse?

Papa was not riding his borrowed horse. He rode with the blacksmith, slumped forward with the man's strong arms around him.

It took Kathleen only a moment to realize that something was terribly wrong. She uttered a small cry and rushed forward.

“Careful, ma'am. His horse spooked during the shooting and he got throwed off.”

“Papa.” She clasped his leg.

Papa groaned but made no attempt to sit up.

“I've got to get him home.” Kathleen wrung her hands.

“I'll take him for you. Hey, Joe, can you give me a hand when we get there? His leg's broke and he got a bad knock on the head.”

Tears slid down Kathleen's cheeks. Why had she let him go? She should have done something to stop him.

The sheriff rode through the crowd answering their questions. “We lost one of our own and have one bad hurt. We killed some of the outlaws, though one must have got away and taken part of the money. We got some of it back.” He held up a bank bag and then added, “It'll be dark soon. I'll go out tomorrow and see if I can track the ones who escaped.”

“They got my friend, Lenny,” the blacksmith growled, gesturing towards a man hanging limp across his horse.

Kathleen allowed Joe to give her a hand onto his horse, and they made their way slowly towards her home

The blacksmith rode very slow, trying not to jolt Papa. The two men lifted him down and carried him into the house.

His face was pinched and pale as they laid him on his bed. He opened his eyes as Kathleen hovered over him. “I can't move my leg.”

Kathleen patted his shoulder as she pulled up the sheet. “It's all right. Someone's gone to fetch the doctor. He'll be here soon.”

Papa closed his eyes and seemed to drift into sleep.

Kathleen kept watch over him until the doctor arrived. She let the man in, her heart thumping with anxiety. Worry-filled thoughts raced around in her brain. What if the doctor said Papa's injury was fatal? Or if he never walked again? She sank into a chair in the corner twisting her skirt between her fingers as she waited for the report.

At last, the doctor snapped his bag closed.

Papa had regained consciousness and was asking about his leg.

“We'll have to see,” said the doc. “Your leg's broken below your knee and so is your wrist. They'll take awhile to mend. Hopefully, you'll be able to walk all right once it's strong. You're lucky it wasn't your neck.”

He turned to include Kathleen in his instructions. “I'm going to fix up those breaks. You'll need to keep him quiet after that bump on the head. In fact, he'll need somebody to do for him for quite a while.”

“I'll be here.”

“Good girl. I'll be back in a bit with the things I need to fix him up.” He patted her hand as he left the room.

“You hear that, Papa? The doc thinks you'll be all right.”

His eyes were filled with misery from more than his physical pain. “What have I done? If you're stuck here with me, who'll manage the store?”

“Vic can run it. He did before we came.” She felt less than truthful in her assurance. The store had been filthy and ill-organized when they'd arrived. After her improvements, the ladies of the town had begun to shop there. Without her or Papa, she had no doubt that Vic would let the store run down again.

Kathleen's thoughts were interrupted by knocking on the front door.

Nancy had brought a hot meal. “I heard what happened. I'm so sorry. Is he going to be all right?”

“The doc says he'll mend. But it'll take time. I'm worried about the store. Vic means well, but he's awful lax.”

“Let me help. I'll organize the ladies from church. We can take turns sitting with your father in the afternoons so you can check on the store.” Her eyes shone with sympathy.

Kathleen smiled at her friend. “That would be a great help.”

After Nancy went home, Kathleen and Papa ate some supper. She covered him warmly and gave him another dose of the sedative the doctor had left. When he was sleeping soundly, she settled in the parlor. She had not bothered to make up the fire and the room was cold. She was too numb from the day's disaster to care.

A soft rap sounded on the door.

She stifled a groan. Probably Martin. She didn't feel much like his company. Still, if he'd come out in the cold to offer his sympathy, she couldn't very well leave him standing on the step. She forced a smile and cracked open the door.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Collin said.

She stepped aside to let him come in, feeling a mix of emotions.

He hung his coat, opened his arms, and pulled her against him. He cradled her to the comforting sound of his heartbeat, stroking her hair and murmuring words of sympathy.

She did not resist. She basked in his nearness. Here in his arms she felt protected. She didn't care what their disagreement had been. It didn't matter anymore.

After a moment, he drew back with a smile. “I brought you something.”

She blinked at him, puzzled, as he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a tiny, sleepy bundle of shiny black fur. He held the kitten out for Kathleen to see.

She gasped with delight as she reached for the tiny animal. She cradled it, enjoying its soft warmth. Roused by her cold hands, it began to meow and lick at her fingers.

Collin smiled. “I'm sorry she's not a tabby, but she was the sleekest and healthiest of the bunch.”

Kathleen rubbed the kitten against her cheek. “She's perfect. I love her. I'll call her Maggie.”

“Why don't you get her some milk while I start a fire? It's cold in here.” He collected wood from the pile outside the kitchen door and set to work in front of the stove.

Kathleen settled Maggie with a saucer of milk and returned to the parlor where Collin had built a roaring, cozy blaze.

He pulled her onto the settee with him. “How's your father?”

“He'll be all right. I didn't want him to go. When I think what could have happened…” Tears collected in her eyes and one rolled down her cheek

He wiped it gently away with his finger. “I'm glad he wasn't shot.”

“As it is, he'll mend slowly. He's not young anymore. The young men were all at the mines.”

“Not many young men left. The other mines shut down today. Men are packing up to leave town before the worst of winter. My mine is running short hours with a skeleton crew. It won't be long before we shut down, too.”

”And you? Will you be going?” Fear entered her heart.

He touched her lips with his fingers as a slow smile spread across his face. ”I aim to stay around awhile. I've got some savings that will hold me, and I can trade fresh meat for rent. I'm going hunting in a couple of weeks. I'll split whatever I get between you and Mrs. McGee.”

Kathleen relaxed and settled against his shoulder. “What's going to happen to us?”

“It'll be a hard winter, but I don't think this town's done for yet. I have an idea or two of my own.”

She smiled up at him. “I hope they're good ones.”

“I hope so, too.” He didn't want to tell her that he would have to be out of town for a few weeks. He could wait until he'd made his plans. He didn't want anything to spoil the moment because tonight, she needed him and he needed her.

 

 

 

 

11

 

Kathleen didn't see Martin for several days. As she lay in bed at night she became convinced that she didn't love him. She didn't even miss him. And without some claim on her emotions, marriage was out of the question.

When he finally dropped by he apologized for not coming sooner. “I was forced to be out of town for several days. I had business in Ouray. Tell me, how is Stan?”

”He's fine except for the breaks that keep him in bed, with his leg propped upon a pillow.” She steeled herself to tell him what she'd discovered about her heart, that there could be nothing except friendship between them.

But Martin did not bring up the subject of marriage. He seemed distracted, staying only a short while and spending the last part of his visit with Stan before he left without seeing her again.

Kathleen was a bit slighted by his lack of doting. But it was wrong to covet his attention without desiring to return it. If she didn't want to marry him she must break the news to him at some point. But when would he ask her again?

 



 

Business at the store grew slow. Since many families had already left, the store wouldn't make enough profit to justify ordering additional supplies. People would have to make it through the winter with what was on hand.

Kathleen was grateful for the deer meat Collin had brought. It would help them tide over until spring. If folks didn't move back there was no future for the store.

“Will we sell out and go back to St. Louis?” she asked her father one day.

“Can't,” Papa said, sounding resigned. The weeks in bed had begun to dampen his spirits. He met her puzzled gaze. “I put all of our savings into the store and this house. Who would we sell to? Everybody's moving out.”

Anxious dread creep into her body. They had nothing to fall back on. Were they doomed to remain in a ghost town with no means of support?

“Try not to worry. Collin believes this town isn't done for, yet.” She said it firmly, hoping he'd take heart.

“Collin's a miner. How could he know?”

How could he know, indeed?

 



 

Nancy braved a cold November wind to visit. “They've shut down the assayer's office. The last mine closed today and Tom is out of work. We'll have to move to Ouray. He's been offered the office there.”

“You can't. It won't be the same here without you.”

Nancy patted her hand. “I know. I feel the same way. But it's not so far away. Maybe when Stan is healed you can come and see us.”

“Maybe, but with the store…”

She was cut off as Nancy smiled broadly. “I have some better news. I'm finally expecting. Can you believe it? We'll have a baby in the spring. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.”

“A baby?”

“Yes. I feel as if I've waited forever. Now, we'll have a new home and a new baby.”

Kathleen hugged her. Yet, her happiness was tempered by the fact that she would miss not only Nancy, but the birth of the baby. She wondered how many other people would close their businesses and move before spring. “How long before you go?”

“Two weeks.”

“Then we'll have to get busy on baby clothes. We can sew in the mornings when I'm home with Papa.”

From then on, they spent all the spare time Nancy could manage sewing the baby's clothes.

Kathleen pretended their days would go on forever. “What will you name the baby?” she asked.

Nancy paused her knitting needle that was forming a tiny bootie. “If the baby is a boy, we'll name him Thomas after his father. If the baby is a girl, we'll name her Kathleen to remind us of you.”

Tears well in Kathleen's eyes. “Oh, Nancy, I don't know what to say.”

“You don't have to say anything. If we name her Kathleen I'm sure she'll be beautiful like you.”

Kathleen gave Nancy a hug.

They both giggled, giddy with emotion.

“I'll get us some muffins. I baked them this morning. You need to keep up your strength,” Kathleen said with a smile.

The weeks passed much too quickly.

Kathleen stood at the train waving good-bye as Nancy and Tom rolled away. They would continue to the small town of Albany and then take a wagon along the toll road to Ouray. Kathleen prayed that the clear weather would hold for their trip.

Collin stood beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders. “You'll miss her, won't you?”

She wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. “I felt as if we had just gotten to be good friends.”

He squeezed her shoulders gently. “You'll see her again. I'm sure you will.”

 



 

Christmas approached. Perhaps a party was exactly what everyone needed to be cheered. A taffy party, just as Kathleen had suggested so long ago to Collin. She broached the idea on a cold Sunday in mid-December as they walked back from church. It was the first Sunday she had left Papa since he had broken his leg.

Today he had insisted he would be fine on his own. “You need and deserve an outing. Go to church. You've been nursing me too long.” Papa refused to be denied.

Martin had not been at church. This was both a relief and a revelation to Kathleen.

Snowflakes were collecting atop Collin's hat.

The sky had turned a steel gray with the promise of a snowstorm that would pile drifts against their doors and make getting out uncomfortable for the next few days.

“I've been thinking about having a party, a taffy pull. We could invite a few people from church the Saturday before Christmas. Don't you think it would be fun?”