Bride of the Wild Read online

  The unspoken lingered. “I see,” he murmured.

  “That could’ve been me. It was only one wagon ahead. I knew her. She was my friend. Her name was Daisy Wentworth. She was blonde and pretty and oh, so sweet with lovely hazel eyes.”

  “You’ve been lucky, Saffron.” He reached out to touch my face. “You’ve cheated death repeatedly.”

  “I don’t feel all that lucky.” His caress calmed me, soothing away the sharp edges of unpleasant memories. “I never talk about it.”

  “I’m glad you told me.”

  “I’m not sure why I did. I don’t even know you.” I yawned, as exhaustion settled in, along with the affects of the brandy.

  “Go to sleep.”

  “You’re lucky too.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve cheated death tonight as well.” He murmured something in a language I did not understand. “Pardon?”

  “It’s nothing. Go to sleep.”

  Chapter Nine

  Things looked even worse in daylight. I sat up, brushing locks of hair away that had fallen free of pins. Streaks of blood had ruined ma’s wallpaper, the bear having left a bloody trail all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It stank of animal hide and dried blood; the metallic undertones made me want to retch.

  “Good morning.”

  I glanced at Micah, who had sprawled out beside me, his lanky body nearly a foot longer than mine. “It’s morning, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe we can take the boards down from the windows now. It’s dreadfully dark in here.”

  “I’m sure your pa will do that later.”

  “I wonder when they’ll come home?”

  He sat up, running fingers through his hair. “Soon, I suppose.” He pulled away the bandage, glancing at it. “I’m not bleeding anymore. You did a fine job with your sewing skills. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll make coffee.” I had a question. “You never did say how you knew Deer Runner. Was he a good friend or were you not well-acquainted?”

  “I’ve known him for some time. He worked as a guide for the wagon trains, because he could communicate with the natives.”

  “Oh, I see.” Then an unpleasant thought entered my mind. “I’ll have to write a letter to Lucy’s family.” I grimaced, hating that she had died in such a horrible manner. Her body and Deer Runner’s remained on the second floor. Their having perished in my bedroom, it would be difficult to sleep there. “I’ll make breakfast.” I had to take my mind off these troubling thoughts.

  “I’ll open the door and let air in. It smells bad.”

  “What?” asked Amelia, rubbing her eyes. “How did you sleep?”

  “Good morning,” I said. “I slept fine. My back’s a bit sore.”

  “I heard you talking last night.”

  “I’m sorry we kept you up,” said Micah.

  “No, it’s fine. I slept well. Is pa home yet?”

  “No, but I’m making breakfast. You can help me, if you want.”

  “What’s that awful smell?”

  “Blood and bear.” Micah strode to the door. “Let’s get some air in here.”

  I busied myself in the kitchen, percolating coffee, while stirring a bowl full of flour and milk for griddlecakes. Amelia joined me after returning from the privy.

  “We have to bury that bear,” she said.

  “Someone will skin it first.”

  “I’m not touching it.” She came to stand beside me. “Are you all right?”

  “No.” I could not lie about this. “I’m devastated Lucy’s gone. I can’t believe it happened in our house. First Wilber and Sky and now Lucy and Deer Runner. So many people we knew and adored are gone now.”

  “The bear’s dead at least. We can’t do a thing about what’s happened. It was God’s will, Saffron. I don’t know why He saw fit to take Lucy, but it’s too late now. If she had stayed with us last night, she’d still be alive.”

  “She thought it was safer upstairs. None of us could’ve known the bear would enter a window there.”

  “I want pa. I want to see Tom. I need to know they’re well. What if they were attacked in town?”

  “Don’t think that way. I’m sure they’ll be home shortly.”

  Micah entered the room. “That smells heavenly.”

  “You can have a cup. It’s ready. We have milk in the ice box.” I glanced at Amelia. “Can you get the eggs? I need a few.”

  “All right.”

  We ate breakfast together, sitting at the table with little conversation, although our minds spun with the events of the past evening. I had only just finished the cup of coffee when pa’s voice resounded.

  “Saffron? Amelia?”

  “Pa!” I jumped to my feet, nearly upsetting the chair. “Oh, gracious! I’m so glad you’re back!”

  He stood with Tom in the parlor, his eyes fixed on the bloodstained wallpaper. “What in heaven’s name happened here?”

  Micah and Amelia came into the room.

  “We were attacked! The bear broke through a window on the second floor. It killed Deer Runner and Lucy.” The color drained from pa’s face, while Tom gaped, wide-eyed. “Micah killed it. It’s in the backyard.”

  “Tarnation!” pa thundered, shaking a fist. “I knew something like this would happen. Those fools had the wrong idea from the start. We never saw a bear last night. The bait was a complete failure.” He reached for me, drawing me into his arms. “I could’ve lost you. I could’ve lost your sister.”

  Tom glanced towards the stairs. “Where are they?”

  “We left them where they lay,” said Micah. “The undertaker needs to come and get them.”

  “It was horrible, Pa. I thought we were gonna die,” said Amelia. “We hid in the cellar for a while, until Micah killed it.”

  “I’m grateful to you, son. Thank you for keeping my girls safe.” He drew Amelia into his arms. “Poor thing.”

  “I couldn’t do anything for Lucy,” said Micah. “She was the first attacked. She was gone by the time I found her. Deer Runner put up a valiant fight. He shot at it as well, but it mauled him. The vein on his neck was severed and the blood loss was too significant.”

  “I’m going up,” said Tom.

  “Show me the bear.” Pa stepped away from me. “Show me where it is. I have to see it.”

  “Yes, sir.” They left the room together.

  “It didn’t attack the town,” said Amelia. “They did all of that for naught. We bore the brunt of the attack, while everyone else was safe.”

  “Now it’s over. The animal is dead. We needn’t worry about it ever again. We can go on with our lives. I’m bursting to speak to Silas. He’ll be astonished when he hears what we’ve been through.”

  “He missed out on the kill.”

  “That’s true.”

  “He’ll be vexed about that.”

  “The men wanted to claim the honor of killing the bear. Micah has it now.”

  “You like him.”

  I blinked, stunned by that comment. “Surely. He’s a kind man.”

  “You told him about the Indian attack. Have you ever spoken about it to Silas?”

  I knew I hadn’t, but I said, “I might’ve mentioned it. It’s of no consequence anyhow.”

  “It was the most traumatic event of our lives. I remember it as if it happened yesterday. So does Tom. None of us have felt fear like that again, until last night.”

  “It’s a reminder of how precious life is. We’ve survived yet another horror, Amelia. We should be grateful. Others weren’t so lucky.”

  Tom appeared then, having come down the stairs. “What a mess. It’s too awful to look at. I can’t believe Lucy’s gone. I can’t believe it got the better of Deer Runner. He was a hardy fellow. He’s seen worse too, but it bested him.”

  I needed fresh air, not wanting to think about what had happened. “Excuse me.” Leaving them, I wandered towards the kitchen and to the door, which required
fixing. Micah and pa stood over the bear outside.

  “It’s smaller than I thought,” said pa. “The wounds on Wilber and Sky were large. Larger than her claws, or I’m just imaging things now.”

  “I didn’t see the wounds.” Micah glanced my way. “Hello, Saffron.”

  “I needed air.” I came to stand beside them. “This is the creature responsible for all the trouble. I can’t believe it killed Dudley and Megan. I can’t believe it killed the Goldman family. It’s not even full grown.”

  Pa looked grim, his mouth having formed a thin line. “Yes.” His hands went to his hips. “Something’s not adding up here.”

  “I fought it. It possessed extraordinary strength. The wildness of its eyes and the foam around the mouth were evidence of madness. It’s diseased in some way. It didn’t behave normally. It was out of control and far stronger than it looks. I shot it several times before it went down.”

  “That would explain its behavior.” Pa seemed unconvinced, staring at the bear with suspicion. “Or … there are more.”

  This statement did not surprise Micah in the least. “I wondered about that.”

  “What do you mean more?”

  “More rabid bears,” said pa.

  “No. There can’t be more. This is the only one.” I could not contemplate that, not after everything we had been through.

  “I need to go to town. I have to tell them what’s happened here.” Pa glanced at me. “I’m grateful you and your sister are alive. If I’d known you were being attacked, I would’ve been here.”

  “You were in town working towards the same goal. None of us could’ve guessed it would come back.” I had a thought. “I want to go with you. I have to talk to Silas.”

  “Get yourself ready then.” His gaze skimmed over me. “You’ve blood on your dress.”

  “I’ll change, but I loathe going upstairs.” I shivered at the thought. Two bodies lay on the floor. “What will we do with them?”

  “We bring them to the undertakers ourselves. Tom and Micah will help me. There’s no need to wait for them to come here. They haven’t a clue anything’s amiss.”

  “I’ll change then.” The last thing I wanted to do was watch, as Lucy and Deer Runner were taken from the house. It would be bad enough traveling in the same wagon.

  Once I had changed and made myself as presentable as possible, donning a black bonnet, I took to the steps, hating the way blood had streaked along ma’s favorite wallpaper. Having browned now, it looked like smeared brown paint. The opened windows had let in fresh air, but the scent of bear and blood lingered.

  Pa waited by the wagon, with a tarp over the bodies. “Are you ready?”

  I had dressed in black from head to foot. “Yes.”

  “Micah’s coming with.”

  “He is?” I glanced over my shoulder, watching as he led the horse from the barn. He would travel alongside us. “Do you think Silas is still in town?” He might have gone home, but his family owned several businesses, and he had more than likely stayed at the hotel, securing a room for the night.

  “The family spent the evening at the hotel.”

  I stepped up to the wooden bench. “I need to tell him what happened.”

  “You’d think he’d show a little more concern for the woman he loves.”

  Stunned by that statement, I stared at my father with my mouth open. “What did you say?”

  He grasped the lines. “You heard me.”

  “Are you angry with Silas for some reason?”

  “He knew we were attacked the other night. He never bothered to come and see about your welfare. If I loved a woman, you couldn’t keep me away. I would’ve moved heaven and earth to make sure she was safe.”

  I had no clue he felt so poorly about my beau. “Everyone’s been busy, Pa. They’re trying to protect their own. I’m sure he knew I was being looked after. I’ve had you and Tom and Micah and Deer Runner to watch over me. I can manage on my own as well. I can hunt as good as a man.”

  “Yes, but this is no ordinary animal. This animal’s not in its right mind.”

  “And now it’s dead.” His displeasure with Silas bothered me greatly. I had never heard a negative word from him about my intended, but he wasn’t my intended yet, because he had not asked me to marry him. He had not asked for pa’s permission yet either.

  We sat in silence on the ride to town, while Micah traveled alongside, his mare’s tail swooshing back and forth. He seemed lost in thought too, biting on the end of a blade of grass. I sensed his attention, feeling the weight of his stare. I met his gaze, smiling.

  He tipped his hat, grinning.

  … and then I remembered he had held my hand last night … before I had gone to sleep, our fingers entwined.

  Chapter Ten

  Town bustled with people and wagons, as if nothing untoward had ever happened. The shops had flung open their doors, gaily inviting customers inside to make purchases. Men of all professions occupied the saloon and brothel, while lively piano music played over the din. We trundled down the thoroughfare with the bodies of two people, who had been murdered by a feral animal. No one noticed this, because a tarp covered the atrocities.

  Pa stopped before the post office, where men had gathered to get their mail, setting the brake and jumping to the ground. After he tied the horse to the hitching post, he strode to the back of the wagon, tossing aside the tarp to reveal Lucy and Deer Runner, their whitish-gray features on full display, with bloodied clothing and claw and bite wounds. Not being able to look, I turned my head, closing my eyes.

  After securing his horse, Micah approached. “Come down, Saffron. Let’s not linger here. There’ll be a scene soon enough.”

  The entire world would know what had happened at our farm in a matter of moments. I took his hand, stepping down from the wagon. “I need to find Silas.”

  “Where do you think he is?”

  “The hotel, maybe.”

  A woman screamed then, the sound shrill. “God’s mercy, Eli. What have you got there?” she asked.

  “Listen up, people,” pa said. “While you were waiting for the bear to come to town, it attacked my house. Here lie the bodies of Lucy Russell and Deer Runner. They were murdered last night.”

  People gathered, drawing near to satisfy their curiosity. Even children came, brought over by their parents. “Look at that, Ma,” said a little boy. “Something nearly tore her head off.”

  I grasped Micah’s hand, not wanting to linger another moment, while the townspeople gazed at Lucy and Deer Runner with morbid interest. As I walked away, pa said, “Micah Blaylock killed the animal. He shot it half a dozen times before it went down.” An excited rumble went through the crowd, people responding to this latest development. Housewives, businessmen, and gamblers gathered, even the drunks in the saloon came to have a look.

  “He killed the beast!” cried a woman in a gray hat with feathers. “It’s over. The ordeal’s over!”

  “Praise be!” yelled a man.

  Although they had just seen two bodies mutilated by a feral animal, people hugged one another, shouting their relief, while Micah drew me away towards the hotel. The front doors of the establishment stood wide open, and people spilled from the dining room, wanting to know what the noise in the street was about. I spied Silas, who rushed past me.

  “Silas!”

  He glanced in my direction. “Saffron. What’s happening?”

  “We killed the bear. Micah killed it at our house last night.”

  “Lord in heaven.” He approached me, looking dapper in a loosely fitted sack coat and necktie. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, but Lucy and Deer Runner are dead.”

  “And you were there?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  He glanced at Micah. “You killed the bear?”

  “I had no choice. Deer Runner shot it too. There was something unnatural about it—”

  “Thank goodness you’re safe, Saffron. We thought it would come to
us, but nothing happened. We waited all night for it. Someone even wounded a cow to see if the scent of blood would make a difference, but it was for naught.” He grinned, flashing even, white teeth. “I want to see the bodies.” He rushed away, mingling through the crowd.

  I stared after him, feeling an equal measure of annoyance and rage. “I wanted to speak to him, but he’s more interested in seeing corpses than me.”

  Having been curtly dismissed by Silas, Micah hadn’t let it bother him. “What do you wish to do in town? Are you hungry? Do you need to go to the mercantile?”

  Everyone had gathered around pa’s wagon, even the sheriff and the mayor had arrived staring at the corpses of people I had once known. “I … think I’ll just go to the dining room and have tea. I can’t stand the spectacle.”

  “May I join you?”

  “Isn’t there something you need to do? I shouldn’t keep you. You were with us all last night.” I moved towards the door, entering the reception area of the hotel, which had cleared of people. Even the attendant behind the desk had gone. “I keep forgetting to ask. What brings you to Fern Valley?” I spied myself in a mirror, seeing a slender woman dressed all in black. How I hated these clothes; how I loathed this color. When I had finished mourning, I would burn them. I would burn it all.

  “Work. I might scout for a while before I decide whether or not I’m trapping another season. Spending the winter in the mountains is a daunting task. It’s lonely. It’s harder now to find beaver. I might be wasting my time.”

  He escorted me into the dining room, where a waiter let us choose a table. The room had emptied. People, who had been eating, left their food to grow cold in order to witness the display in the street.

  “They’ll be back, I suppose,” I murmured, sitting across from Micah.

  “What can I get you, folks?” asked the waiter.

  “Tea, please.”