The Traherns #1 (5 page)

I had not been able to gather any
fuel, so set my pot in the coals of the handiest fire and waited for it to
heat. I was plumb tuckered out, body and mind, and about that time Mr. Hayes
stepped up to me and asked me what I was going to do.

"Marriage," I told him,
and he nodded.

"Which one?"

"I still got to figure
that."

"I want an answer tonight.
We've wasted enough time."

He'd get no answer until I talked
to Web. "I ain't ready yet."

"In an hour, then. I'll tell
folks there's to be a wedding in an hour."

That was shaving the whiskers off
the pig. I'd best get moving. But the beans were hot and Web still out with the
mules. They'd be bringing them in soon. Hayes would have to wait. I put my
spoon in the pot and shoveled in the food.

CHAPTER
FIVE

The past week had taken its toll
and I could barely think of what I was doing; but I knew I must talk to Web.
The old scout was the only person who could give me trustworthy advice.

I had an hour before I was to be
wed. The reality of it hung somewhere out there, in the vague distance like it
was happening to someone else.

Mallory Buchanan. Soon to be Mrs.
Somebody. Calvert Smith? Gareth Madison? I had somehow narrowed the list down
to those two even in the few seconds after Mr. Hayes left me. Calvert might be
the better choice. I had no particular desire to join the Madison family and at
least with Calvert there were no in-laws included in the arrangement.

With my stomach full and happy, I
set the bean pot aside to cool off and washed my spoon clean. The men were
bringing in the stock and I went over to get my mules and Uncle Dem's horse,
Comfort, and tie them to the wagon wheels. As I was finishing up, Hedda's ten-year-old
daughter, Anna, came running up to me, all excited.

"Mallory, is it true? You
gonna be married?"

"Looks like it."

"Mama was none too pleased to
hear what Mr. Hayes told us. She sent me to find you and ask who to and
when."

Now Hedda was like a mother hen
and if you came under her roof at any time you were treated as one of the
family. If she knew how Mr. Hayes was forcing me into this, she'd put her foot
down and raise sparks and smoke until the wedding was called off and I was left
a burden to her and Axel. I had already decided against that.

"We'll have the wedding in an
hour, Anna. Tell your Ma I'll talk to her when I see her."

"Who ya marryin'?"

"I'll tell her then. Now
scoot."

"Whatcha gonna wear?"

"I don't know, Anna. Look,
I've lots to do and no time to do it in. I'll come over as soon as I can."

"Bye." She ran off, long
braids bobbing behind her, and I started searching for Web.

I wandered past one family group
after another, casually working my way to where Web usually bedded down, away
from the fire and general noise where he could see and hear better. People
stopped me, wanting to talk, so I stepped outside the circle of wagons and
continued on around.

I walked quietly over to where
Web's blankets lay in a hump on the ground, but he spoke first, from behind me.

"Mally?"

He had come up behind so silently
I had not heard him, even though I had been attuned to listening to the night
and the sounds of the night.

"Yes." I decided to come
right to the point. There wasn't time for pleasantries. "Web, I need your
help."

"Yes'm." His voice was
low and he moved closer so that I caught the strong scent of buckskins and
tobacco.

We were sufficiently far from the
wagons so that our conversation would not be overheard. I didn't want anyone
else to hear what I had to say. "You heard Mr. Hayes?"

"Yes."

"I fell asleep driving today.
The mules stopped and by the time Burt Hayes rode back to wake me, I was way
back too far for safety. He said I had to get married or leave my wagon behind
and join someone else. I'm not about to give up this outfit and become a burden
to anybody."

"He just announced that
you're to be married. Who's the man?"

"That's the problem. I don't
know. He left the choice up to me, but I don't feel I know these fellows well
enough. Uncle Dem told me if I had any questions and he wasn't around, I was to
ask you. So...I'm asking. Which one should I pick?"

He shifted, uncomfortable for the
first time. "That's mighty big of your uncle, but you're the one's got ter
live with ‘em."

"Uncle said you were a good
judge of men. I thought maybe you could help me decide."

"Huh! Which one of those
young pups you want?"

"None of 'em."

He chuckled dryly. "Run
though the list, give me your feelings on 'em. I'll tell you if you're
off."

"Well, you can leave out
those that are married or too young. I guess the choice comes down to four or
five—"

"Uh huh."

"Barney's the nicest of the
lot, but he's younger than me. I want a man I can depend on and he's still got
a lot of growing to do."

"Uh huh."

"Calvert gives me the creeps.
I don't know exactly why, but my skin crawls every time he looks at
me—"

"He's pizen mean, Mally. Stay
clear of him."

"I wondered. I'll remember
that." That took care of him and he dropped off my list as if he'd never
been. "Elliot's hard on his horse. That's the only thing I got against
him, but a man that won't care for an animal his life depends on, would
probably be hard on a wife. I don't want to end up like Hannah."

"Uh huh." Was he
agreeing with me or not? Those were the most non-committal grunts I'd ever
heard.

"That leaves Gareth Madison
and Cordell Knast. They seem kind, but mentally they're slow...and I don't
think they've ever taken a bath. Out where there's no water, I don't care, but
when there's plenty of it around...." I shuddered, for there's a
difference between a man who gets dirty doing his work and one who just stays
filthy. "Do you think I'm being too choosy?"

"No, lass. If you married
either of them you'd end up whackin’ ‘em with a flat iron before the week was out."

"The only other available man
is you."

"Not me. I already got me a
wife."

"You do?"

"Yes'm. She's with her people
right now. She's Shoshone. I’m goin’ home to her."

I looked blankly at him, trying to
keep the tears of tiredness and defeat from welling forth. "What'll I do
then, Web? Mr. Hayes ain’t gonna wait."

"You'd take the man I
pick?"

"That's what I'm here
for."

"Your momma raised you right,
girl. All right, don't take none of ‘em. You tell Mr. Hayes you'll marry
Trahern."

"Trahern?" My voice probably
sounded as confused as I felt. I'd never heard the name before.

"Uh huh."

"Who's that?"

Web looked beyond me to where the
bundle of blankets lay. "You hearing all this, Trey?"

A man's deep voice, quiet, came
from the pile, "Loud and clear."

"You willing to help the lady
out?"

"If she wants me. She ain't
gettin’ much."

"You're the best of the lot.
Not much choice around here."

"You make a lousy matchmaker,
you old buzzard...!" His identity suddenly penetrated my tired brain. The
injured man! The one they had brought in two days ago. I hadn't even seen him,
and with my own problems had forgotten all about him.

He had been in Cordell Knast's
wagon...but was out here now, with Web...and had heard all I'd said. I felt my
face heat up.

"You want my advice, you
hitch up with old Trahern here," Web told me. "And then you hang onto
him. He ain't much for looks, but he'll do to ride the river with."

Now that was praise, coming from
Web. Yet what manner of man would marry a woman he didn't know? He couldn't
know much more about me than I did about him.

"Mr. Trahern? You'd do that?
You'd marry me?"

"Don't worry; I'd have the
best part of the deal. You stack up a real lady, ma'am. And if you're willin'
to take me, on just Web's say-so, then I guess I can, too. Although if any of
those gents want to argue the case, I can't do nothin' 'bout it, the shape I'm
in right now."

"I've no one else; no other
choice." As soon as I said it I realized it wasn't very complementary to
him, but he didn't seem to pay it no mind.

"Maybe I could hire on to
help you till we reach Fort Kearney, then you could figure out what you wanted
to do without being forced into anything."

"I've no money."

"I'd do it in exchange for
your uncle's clothes."

"Those are yours, anyway,
whatever happens. Along with all my uncle's personal gear." I didn't want
him to feel he had to marry me to get those things, or even to work for them.
It was good that someone could use them. "I'd find some way to pay you
later, when I could."

"I'll help you out, but you'll
have to give me a couple of days first. I can hardly lift myself, just
now."

Time. A couple of days. Then
Trahern could help me. "I think Mr. Hayes is pushing hard ‘cause he wants
me to choose his son."

"Try stalling. Give me a
chance to get on my feet."

"And if he won't give me any
time?"

"Well, then, I guess I'm it.
Someone's coming," he added, although I'd heard no one. Web turned to meet
the man—Calvert it was—and I stepped quickly around the nearest
wagon and back into the circle.

But Calvert must have been looking
for me, for he brushed Web off and caught up with me; and me wanting nothing
else but to be shut of him so as I could go back to talk a little longer with
Trahern.

"What's going on? Folks are
saying you're getting married."

"Maybe. You'll have to wait
and see like everyone else." I wasn't mentioning Trahern to him. Trahern
was probably as weak as a newborn pup and as he had said, in no shape to settle
any disputes.

"I've got a good rig. If you
ain't spoke for, I'm asking." His tone was confident, almost belligerent.

"You're too late. I'm spoken
for." Even as I said the words I could see the flash of intense anger,
quickly covered, that revealed the true nature of the man. If Web was right, he
wasn't to be trusted.

"Who is it?" he growled.

"I'll tell everyone in a few
minutes.” All at once I wanted it over and done with. As I had walked away from
Web, I had pondered the idea of asking Mr. Hayes for a few more days in order
to get to know Trahern. But if we didn't marry tonight, Calvert or Elliot would
pick a fight with him and either kill or maim him if they could.

I had seen it happen once in
Tennessee. The man had been beaten and shot dead by his rival. I was not going
to give anyone a chance to do that.

It also ruled out the idea of hiring
Trahern to work for me. They would go after him then, too, even if I stayed
discreetly away except when telling him what jobs to do.

I was running out of time while
Calvert was standing smoldering beside me, trying to think of what to say to
get me to change my mind.

"Excuse me," I said and
stepped hastily away from him and almost ran over to Axel's wagon.

Hedda had finished feeding five of
her children and was inside nursing the baby. She looked up as I clambered in.

"There you are. What's going
on, Mallory?"

"I'm going to marry Trahern,
Hedda. I decided I need a man."

"Now that's as good a reason
as any...but Trahern? I never heard of him."

"The man Web found out on the
plains."

"That one? What d'you know
about him?" she demanded, rightly.

Nothing,
I thought.
"He's a good man, Hedda," I said. "A stayer. A man among
men."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes." It was all
made up but sounded mighty fine, so I added, "He's something special; a
big man out here." That should convince her I wasn't just taking the best
of a poor choice, or depending upon the word of a guide I had met less than a
month ago. "Mind you, he doesn't look like much right now."

"Anna said right away."

"Yes. I've got to go talk to
Mr. Hayes. I just wanted you to know first."

"Thanks, Mallory. I hope you'll
be happy."

"Oh, I will," I assured
her while all the time I was getting more and more scared. My feet were icy
cold and my brain was a-churning to make butter of my thoughts. Jumping down
from the wagon wheel it took me only a few seconds to spot Mr. Hayes. He had
gathered the young men together and I could see them busy combing their hair
and beating the dust out of their clothes.

I stepped over toward them, my
eyes casting about for Web. Where was he? I needed him to alert Trahern.

As I came nearer to the group, I
could see Web standing slightly behind them, and catching his eye, gave him a
quick nod. He tilted his head over towards where Trahern lay, and I nodded
again. As he walked away between the wagons, I stepped up to Mr. Hayes.

"Mallory. Good. Here are the
men; all fine fellows. Who will you marry?"

Joe Peters was among them; that
would make Calvert mad. He was blushing bright red as I looked curiously at
him. If I had chosen him, Calvert would have killed him for sure. Yet what kind
of danger might I be putting Trahern into?

I didn't even know Trahern well
enough to know if that was his first or last name. Come to that, I didn't know
what he looked like either, except he was tall. Well I'd know soon enough.