Page 11 of Wagon Train Dreams
Canvas shushed. Walt rose in the shadows, coming to take his turn guarding.
“All quiet?” Walt asked as he reached Joe’s side.
“Yup.” He made his soundless way back to the camp. Picked up his bedroll and spread it a distance from the wagons. He’d hear anyone approaching. Maybe he was far enough away not to hear when Petey stirred, and Hazel murmured comfort to him.
Welcoming the thought of sleep, he stretched out on the mat. But after several minutes, he realized he strained for sounds from the camp. Muttering to himself about how foolish it was, he moved his bedroll closer. Sighed and relaxed when he heard Hazel’s gentle whisper.
He wakened the next morning before anyone stirred, rolled his bedding, and stowed it on his saddle. No one would know he’d slept so close. A circuit of the camp and a foray down the riverbank provided him assurance all was well.
He stopped where he looked down at the waterfall. He wouldn’t think of how good it had been to see her smiling at the herd of deer, how pleasant it had been to guide her down the slope. It was a forbidden pleasure he’d carry deep in his heart.
Morning light painted the trees with dark shadows, and he eased in that direction, pausing often to listen for sounds signaling danger. A shard of white caught his attention. Flowers at the base of a tree. Five petals and a circular cluster of yellowish spikes. He recognized the plant. Pa called it ratsbane. Ma had used it medicinally.
Hazel didn’t need to know all that, but she’d maybe enjoy the pretty flower.
He cut off a cluster with his knife. Now, what was he going to do? He could hardly march into camp and hand it to her. Might as well throw it away.
But although he tossed his hand, he didn’t release the flower.
By the time he returned, the fire crackled, coffee sputtered, and Irene and her ma were preparing food over the coals.
Hazel pulled a shirt over Petey’s head. The boy spied Joe and hollered at him. “Big Warrior.”
Joe glanced at the others. Had any of them made out what Petey said?
Joe’s smile burrowed deep inside. What was he to do with the flower? Had anyone noticed it in his hand? He’d pretend he needed to check the wood supply under Hazel’s wagon and strode in that direction. As he passed the back, he slipped the flower inside, leaving it on the closest crate. If she found it, she found it. If not—well, he’d meant to throw it away, so it didn’t matter.
The wood supply hadn’t changed. He hadn’t expected it would. He straightened from examining the store, ambled back to the fire and accepted coffee and breakfast.
As soon as he sat to eat, Bertie sidled over to sit at his side. He grinned at Joe and patted his knee.
Before Bertie again called Joe his hero, Joe pointed toward the two cats at Bertie’s side. “Your cats hungry?”
Concern scrunched Bertie’s face, and then it cleared as Bertie smiled. “Mama say they catching their own food, but”—a hand alongside his mouth, he leaned closer—“she give me scraps to feed them.”
“That’s good.” Joe took several swallows of coffee, keeping his attention on the cats, on Bertie, on his plate of food—everywhere but where he wanted to look—at Hazel.
Her gentle voice proved to be unmistakable—and unavoidable—as she talked to Petey. As she answered a question her mother asked as she wondered aloud what lay ahead of them for the day.
“Joe?”
At Gabe’s call, his head jerked up. Why was everyone looking at him?
“What’s the trail going to be today?” Gabe asked.
That, he could answer. “Easy today. Nothing but grass and sky.”
Cecil chuckled. “No alkali flats or flooded rivers?”
“Today is easy.” That’s as much assurance he’d give them because by the next day, they would reach a flat prairie where a man could ride for three days and not get out of sight. And unless it had seen rain, this late in the season?—
Well, he’d ride ahead and check it out.
He cleaned his plate, but he didn’t rise. Instead, he accepted a second cup of coffee, which he didn’t normally do. And waited. Not that he’d admit it.
Angela took his plate to the basin of hot water.
Finally, Hazel brought Petey to her wagon and started to go inside. She grew still. Had she discovered the flower?
