The Enchanted Land (24 page)

“Morgan!” Frank picked her up and swung her around. “Last time I saw you, them outlaws had carried you off.”

Her eyes clouded. “An awful lot’s happened since then.” She turned away, frowning. If he thought of her as Seth did, he’d hate her, too.

“Hey, little gall” He squeezed her again and set her down. “Don’t you go lookin’ like that. I heard every word of the story from Jake. I don’t know your side of it, but I sure don’t believe you left Seth for Joaquín.”

“You don’t?”

“Hell, no. Anybody could see the way you two followed one another around. I never saw two people so stubborn as you two. Both of you head over heels in love and neither of you admitting it.”

“Oh, Frank! Thank you.”

“Let’s get you out of here. I bet you want to clean up. I’ll take you to the hotel, and then tomorrow, after you’ve rested, we can go to the ranch.”

“No, I can’t go to the Colter ranch.”

“Just hush now and I’ll take care of you. I won’t put up with your bullheadedness. Tomorrow you go to the ranch. It’s where you belong, especially with that young ’un you’re carryin’.”

Her eyes flew to his, open wide.

Frank laughed. “Always have had an eye for the ladies. Only thing that’s changed about you is that curvy little belly. And with six kids of my own, I sure know what causes that.”

Morgan was grateful to Frank for taking care of her. She was content to stand back and let him order her a bath and dinner in her room. Once alone, she scoured herself in the hot water and ate greedily. It was still only about six in the evening when she fell into the soft bed.

Late the next morning, Frank came for her with a buckboard. She had rested and she felt strong enough to protest about going to Seth’s ranch, but Frank refused to listen.

“That’s your home. Of course you’re going there.”

“But, Frank, I need to go to Albuquerque and see my father’s lawyer.”

“All right, you can visit there later, but first you go home. Lupita will be waiting with open arms and hot tortillas. You couldn’t ask for more.”

Morgan was grim. “What about Jake? And Paul? Will they greet me with open arms? The woman who ran off with another man? You don’t even know for sure that the baby I carry is Seth’s.”

Frank grinned. “You’re even more stubborn than I remember. I know that that little one you’re carryin’ is yours. That’s good enough for me. If Seth Colter and you been in the same town for the last few months and he ain’t the father, then there’s something wrong with him, not with you. Now, if you’ve finished your lunch, we’d better be on our way.”

As they made the long trip to the Colter ranch, Morgan tried not to think of what would greet her there. They talked of Frank’s family, whom Morgan had never met, and of life in general in New Mexico. Morgan told Frank about the hundreds of people pouring into San Francisco each week. She talked about Theron and the work they’d done, making him laugh over her stories of the people and the wealth they didn’t know how to handle.

Lupita heard the wagon long before she saw it. She walked slowly out to meet them. Since Seth and Morgan had both gone, a change had come over the place. There was no laughter anymore. Jake and she ate their meals in the big kitchen while Paul took his outside. Paul didn’t like the gloom of the inside.

She recognized Frank instantly, and thought he’d brought his oldest daughter with him. But something about the smallness of the form next to Frank made her start. “It couldn’t be,” she whispered. And then she began running toward the wagon.

“Señora Colter! You’ve come home!” The large woman practically lifted Morgan out of the wagon. She clasped her tightly in her arms, Morgan returning the hug.

“Lupita, you better be careful how you handle our little mother-to-be.”

Lupita gasped, held Morgan at arm’s length, and then hugged her again.

“F
RANK
, you must stay to help us celebrate Señora Colter’s return.”

“Please, Frank, I need your help. I need someone here who believes in me.”

Both women looked up at Frank, their eyes imploring.

“No, Morgan, you don’t need me. Not when you have Lupita fighting for you. I’ve got to get home. The wife’ll want to know what kept me overnight in Santa Fe anyway. I may need
you
to come defend
me
. Jake’s a hummingbird compared to my Louisa.”

Lupita and Morgan watched as Frank rode off in the buckboard. When he was out of sight, they turned to one another.

“Lupita… I…”

“There’s no need for you to explain anything. I never believed a word of it. Now, let’s get out of this sun. If there’s going to be a baby, then there are many things to be done.”

“But, Lupita, I can’t just come back here to live, not after all that’s happened. Frank nearly forced me to come.”

“And he was right. This is your home. This is where Seth’s baby should be born.”

Morgan stopped. “Seth’s… How do you know? What makes you so sure it’s his baby? I’ve been gone a long time.”

“Señora Colter,” Lupita laughed, “you do not have to explain anything to me. Jake and Paul will need explanations but I do not. Now come on inside or that baby will get a fever from the sun.”

Morgan turned startled eyes to her rounding stomach. Her hand went to the mound. She had so recently learned that she was to have a baby that she hadn’t had time to think of it much yet, to get used to its constant presence.

“Yes,” she smiled up at Lupita. “We will have to take care of her.”

“Her? Already you know what it will be?”

Laughing, their arms around one another, they walked to the house. It was cool within the thick adobe walls. The familiar rooms brought Morgan home at last. Everything had been good in this house. All the many happy memories came flooding back to her.

She turned to Lupita, her face reflecting joy at being home.

“You are right. This is my home. This is where Seth’s daughter will be born.” She watched as Lupita’s grin widened. “Yes, it’s Seth’s child.”

Lupita again ran to Morgan and hugged her tightly. “I knew you’d find one another. I knew it. When will the Señor join us? Why did he ever allow you to travel alone? I will have many words to say to him for this.”

“No, Lupita. Seth doesn’t know about the baby. He won’t be coming here.” She paused. “Now you will let me explain.”

“No! It does not matter. What is between you two is your business. Come into the kitchen and let me feed you two girls.”

“Two girls?” Morgan laughed when she realized Lupita’s meaning. “Lupita, do you think we could make some
empañaditas
this afternoon?”

The rest of the day was blissful. It was good to remove the whalebone corset she had worn in San Francisco.
Lupita’s cool cotton blouse and skirt felt marvelous against her body. She brushed her hair, glad not to have a maid standing nearby waving a hot curling iron.

“Now you look like yourself. The chickens all ran and hid from you before.”

“Yes,” Morgan laughed. “I feel like me again. Like I’ve really come home. Lupita, no matter what happens, I have a right here, don’t I? I want my baby born here.” The tears came once again. “This is where I was happiest. Where Seth and I were happy.”

“Yes, Morgan, no one will make you leave. Seth’s child will grow up here.”

“Look at me. Sometimes I think I’ve spent the last year crying. I think we ought to get started with the cooking. Does Paul still eat as much as he used to? Of course, it was always Seth who could eat more than the rest of us put together,” she laughed. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s not going to be easy, is it, Lupita? I know Jake believed Joaquín’s story.”

Lupita looked at her with sympathy. “No, it won’t be easy. But soon it will all be worth it, Morgan.”

As Morgan began putting flour and butter together, she said quietly, “I like being called Morgan by you.”

That evening when Jake walked into the house and saw Morgan, he was torn. He wanted to kill her. And at the same time, he wanted to leave and never see her again. He stood rooted, staring at the young woman who had caused everyone so much misery.

Lupita spoke first. “Paul, you come in, too, and welcome Morgan back.”

“Her! It’s because of her that Seth left. It’s not right when a man has to leave his own home. We should get the sheriff for what she’s done. Get tired of your lovers, did you, honey?”

Defeated entirely, Morgan turned to leave. “It’s no use, Lupita. I’ll go.” Then she saw the gun in Lupita’s hand, aimed at the two men. “Lupita! No! It doesn’t matter. I’d rather leave than cause all this trouble. Please.”

“You’re right. Get out! We don’t want you.” Jake took a step toward her, in spite of Lupita’s revolver. “He almost died because of you. When he got over all the wounds, he was still sick. Sick over your treachery.”

Lupita stepped between Jake and Morgan. “Jake, we have known one another a long time and I’d hate to use this, but one step closer to her and I’ll shoot you in the leg.” Lupita’s eyes were hard. “She has a right to be heard, a right to tell her side of what happened.”

“She has no rights! She almost killed him!”

“I mean it, Jake. Not one more step. Now you two sit there and listen.” She gestured with the gun to the couch.

“Lupita, this isn’t going to work. You can see they hate me. No matter what I say, they’ll never believe me.”

“The note! We saw the note you wrote Seth. How could you run off with that Montoya when you had Seth?”

Morgan had turned to the bedroom, to get her bags. She just wanted out of the house, away from these people—two men who hated her unfairly and a woman who was ready to shoot someone for her. Jake’s accusation brought her back to reality. It was the same as the night Seth had come to her room. She had begged him to listen to her, but he had been too selfish to bother. That night began to come back to her … all of it. She whirled on the two men.

“I’ve had enough of the Colter men to last me the rest of my life! You accuse
me
of treachery? Did it occur to you that your precious Seth ever did anything wrong? Yes, I wrote a note to Seth, a note I thought
was going to save his life. Yes, go ahead and look at me in disbelief.

“I don’t know why I bother with you. Yes, I do! I am sick of being accused of things I didn’t do.

“The night of the party, I waited and waited for Seth. I hardly talked to anyone; all I wanted was for him to come to me.” Morgan laughed.

“When he did come, he threw himself into a rage because I had dared step outside with Joaquín. You were right, Jake, when you said it was foolish to want Joaquín rather than Seth. I never even considered Joaquín. Never. I loved Seth and no one else. After Seth stormed out, I followed him. Joaquín went with me—to help me find him, he said. After several hours of riding, Joaquín took me prisoner in a strange house, tied and gagged me.”

The first flush of Morgan’s anger was gone now, leaving her weak. She sat down, staring at the empty fire-place. When she continued, her voice was quieter. “Joaquín said he’d kill Seth unless I wrote the note. He said that if Seth believed I’d run away, he’d hate the Colter ranch and sell it to him.”

“Why? Why would Montoya want this little place?”

Morgan didn’t look up. “Something about water rights. He said Seth could cut off the water from the Montoya ranch at any time.” She missed the looks of confirmation exchanged between Jake and Paul.

“But after I wrote the note, he came back to tell me that he had killed Seth. I knew then that Seth had died hating me.” She was silent for a while.

“What happened?” Jake’s voice was gentle.

Morgan looked up at him and smiled an ironic smile. “Oh, very little, actually. Joaquín paid a Frenchman to remove me. The Frenchman took me and three other women across the country and sold us to a brothel owner in San Francisco. She auctioned us off to the
highest bidder, after what you might call an unveiling ceremony.”

Morgan laughed. Her speech became higher and more rapid. “I was lucky. A man bought me and was good to me. He never touched me. I was happy, after all the horror.

“Then Seth appeared. He was alive. He came to my room. He made love to me. I was so happy, happier than I’d ever been in my life. I told him how much I loved him. Then the accusations started. He believed Joaquín, not me. He would not listen to me at all. He wanted to know why Joaquín had left me. He found out about the brothel, but he thought I had worked there as a whore. He … he…”

Lupita was on her knees in front of Morgan, gathering her in her ample arms. “Get out and leave her alone. She’s been through enough. And I hope you both feel what I think you feel.”

Sheepishly, the two men rose and walked toward the front door. Then Jake turned and went back to Morgan. He gently pushed Lupita away and took Morgan in his thin arms. His voice was husky. “We’ve all done you a wrong, Morgan. I know Seth and I know his father. Under their calm faces, they’re jealous men, often given to yelling first and then asking questions. I’m right sorry we made the same mistake.” He pulled away from Morgan and looked at her, his hands on her shoulders. “Can you forgive us? Will you stay here with us?”

Morgan smiled at the old man. “I don’t know, Jake. I hadn’t planned to come back to the ranch. Frank insisted that I…”

“Of course she’ll stay. We have a baby on the way. A little boy just like Seth.” Lupita smiled broadly.

“It’s a girl,” Morgan answered her. “A nice, sweet, little girl.”

“A baby!” Paul was astonished.

Jake recovered from his own astonishment. “Yes, a
young ’un, you numbskull. Morgan’s going to have a baby. We’ll teach him to ride a horse, brand cattle…”

Morgan laughed. “It’s going to be a girl and I’d like to get her into the world before you start teaching her how to ride a horse.”

“He’ll learn to use a rope, too, just like his pa.”

“
She
will learn to make pastry, just like her mother. Lupita, I’m starved.”

Everyone laughed together. “Babies need lots of food for growing. Let’s feed this one.”

It was a happy group that sat down to dinner. Lupita quietly put the gun back in the cupboard where she always kept it for emergencies. It was good to have laughter in the house again. If only Seth would come back. She offered a silent prayer to her favorite saint for his safe return. “Maybe he will come before the baby is born,” she whispered.

“But, Jake, I can’t stay here. What if Seth comes back? I don’t want to see him. I don’t ever want to see him. Not after what he did. I begged him, Jake, begged him to listen to me.”

“Now, girl, don’t get so riled up. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. First thing you need is for someone to help you with the baby. Who else you got?”

There was no one. She couldn’t go back to her Uncle Horace and Aunt Lacey. Seth’s parents would take her in, but that would be the same as staying on the Colter ranch.

“You see, you know there’s nothing else to do. So stop worrying and eat somethin’ for that boy.”

“Girl,” Morgan added absent-mindedly.

After the first few days on the ranch she began to relax. The house was familiar and the people cared for her. She began to think more about her baby. Her stomach seemed to stretch a little each day. She rubbed the mound often, glad of its presence.

“Cecilia. What do you think of that name, Lupita?
I’m going to name her something very feminine. I get so tired of people’s comments about my name.”

“Cecilia is a good name. Another tortilla? They’re hot.”

“I don’t know why I’m so hungry. It seems that no matter how much I eat, I just get hungrier.”

Lupita smiled as Morgan coated the tortilla with freshly made butter. She poured her glass full of milk. “You’re eating for two now.”

“Yes, I guess so.” Morgan’s mouth was full. “I guess I should worry about getting fat, but somehow, I don’t care. I feel sort of like a … a big pillow, just content to do nothing. I don’t even worry about Seth coming. It seems nothing matters to me. I just want to have Cecilia.”

Morgan looked up as Jake came into the kitchen from outside. “Are you still eating, girl? Did you know it’s time for the noon meal and you’re still eating breakfast?” He turned to Lupita. “She’s going to pop her skin. Why do you let her eat so much?”

Morgan held up her arm and looked at it. Jake was right. The skin was tight and almost shiny. Her ankles and legs were the same way. Somehow she didn’t care. She smiled up at Jake. “I’m glad it’s lunchtime, because I’m hungry.”

Jake watched her with growing concern as she ate constantly throughout the meal. After lunch, Morgan announced that she planned to take a walk. Jake was relieved to see her get away from Lupita’s stove.

Later, as Jake was in the barn, he saw Morgan make her way slowly past the open door. “Morgan,” he heard Lupita call. He watched in disbelief as Lupita fastened a cloth bag to Morgan’s back. “In case you get hungry,” he heard Lupita tell her.

Jake started to give his opinion of Morgan’s food needs, but thought better of it. Whenever he spoke out, Lupita ignored him and Morgan smiled sweetly at him
and then went on eating. She already ate more than the other three of them put together.

As Morgan’s size increased, so did her placidity. She had not been so calm since she’d left Trahern House. Nothing bothered her. The emotions that had once raged inside her no longer concerned her. She thought of nothing but food and the baby’s name. All of them were names for girls.

She spent mornings with Lupita. Whenever she forgot what she was supposed to be doing, and stared into space, Lupita quietly finished her task for her. After lunch, she walked. She walked for hours, very slowly and awkwardly. She never had a definite path in mind or even seemed to remember later where she’d been. Lupita always made sure her knapsack was filled with food, and Morgan always returned the sack empty.

As the weather grew colder, Jake tried to stop her from her long walks, but she never seemed to hear him. He couldn’t understand her dreaminess, and he was worried about the way she looked.