Chapter 3
“What an interesting town,” Anders said, looking around. They had stopped the rented buckboard outside the apothecary store.
“It’s got a certain charm, doesn’t it?” Mildred asked, hanging on her husband’s arm.
Sarah looked around at everything, wide-eyed. The mark on her face had faded but was still visible enough to remind Diane of the man Sarah had bravely chosen to leave in favor of building a new life for herself in Unity. That kind of courage was rare, and Diane admired the woman very much indeed.
Diane saw that Unity was exactly as Ethan had described it in his letters. She felt she knew the whole place and could navigate it without a guide.
“There’s never a dull moment here,” Julie said. She was a pretty woman with chocolate brown hair and eyes the blue of the sky. “I have to warn you folks, there is a bad flu going through our town at the moment. I’m sure that if you’re a robust sort and take some precautions, you should be fine.”
“Oh, we’re under Diane’s personal care, so we’ll be safe,” Mildred said brightly. “She saved Anders’s life on the train. He was having a liver problem, and she swooped in like an angel and dragged him back from the brink of death.”
“Yes, I’m only sitting here because of Diane’s excellent work,” Anders said. “But now she has plans to ruin my life. I think she only saved me so that she would have the right to take away everything I love.”
“Oh, stop being a big baby,” his wife chided him. “You have a new lease on life. Be grateful to God!”
Anders huffed unhappily but then smiled ruefully at Diane. “Ah, I can’t be angry with you. You’re a godsend. What would that say about me?”
All of that praise was too much for Diane.
Her cheeks went pink. She could feel them heating up and shook her head.
Mildred had decided Diane would be Anders’s private physician despite her only being a nurse.
She didn’t mind; the Cartwrights were wonderful people, and she thought the town might benefit from their presence.
“She saved his life?” Julie asked, looking impressed.
“I saw the signs and stepped in early,” Diane said. “It makes a big difference.”
Julie nodded. “It sure does. So, who is this lovely young lady sitting so quietly in the back of the buckboard?”
“Oh, this is Sarah,” Mildred said, turning and smiling warmly at Sarah. “She was on the train with us. And the gentleman with his nose in the newspaper is Mr. Wilkinson, our lawyer.”
The newspaper shifted. Mr. Wilkinson nodded at Julie. Then the paper shifted again, and he disappeared behind it.
Julie shot Diane a confused look. Diane shrugged. She had no idea how to quantify that man. He was always there, hanging around, but he almost never said anything. He just kept reading his paper.
Just then there was the sound of boots slapping on a hard-packed surface, and two men came into sight, running across the bridge that spanned the creek.
The first man was one Diane recognized. He was called Thomas and had met her a few minutes ago.
The second she didn’t know. He came racing up to them and then pulled up short. His face above his full beard was red, and he was puffing like a bellows.
“He …” he began and then gasped, breathing hard. “Hello,” he wheezed.
“Ethan, you look terrible. Are you all right?” Julie asked.
Ethan smiled. “Yes … I’m ... fine.” He gasped, bending over and supporting himself on his knees with his hands.
Diane smiled in surprise. “Ethan, it’s so good to meet you,” she said, stepping forward with her hand held out. “I’m Diane Hart.”
He looked up and stared at her. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak for a moment as he looked her over.
“Diane?” he asked eventually. “I … I was about to get our buckboard and come to fetch you. How … how are you here?”
His green eyes were soft and kind and more than a little curious. She liked that.
It took her a couple of minutes to introduce the Cartwrights, Sarah, and Mr. Wilkinson. Then she related how they had rented the buckboard and gotten directions from various people on the way.
“Everyone is talking about the barricaded town,” she said. “You’re becoming quite the curiosity. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start coming by just to see what you’ve done here.”
Ethan chuckled. “Well, who would’ve guessed tourism would be an outcome?”
They said goodbye to Julie, and Diane promised to start work in the morning. She would need a little time to settle in. Then Ethan took them to Mrs. Odenkirk’s boarding house.
“The more the merrier,” the old lady said when Ethan asked her about room for the Cartwrights and the others.
“Thank you so much,” Diane said to Ethan when everyone had a room and was getting settled. She had yet to go up to her room but didn’t want to miss out on another moment with him. She’d been waiting so long to meet him.
“It’s nothing,” Ethan said with a grin. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He reached out and took her hands in his. “I have been waiting to meet you in person for so long. This is a great day.”
Diane smiled and squeezed his hands. There was something so open and kind about him.
It had come through in his letters as well, but it was wonderful to see that she hadn’t been wrong about him, reading too much in his words.
At least that was the impression she got. “Do you have to go back to work?”
Ethan shook his head. “I have decided that others can man the smelter for one afternoon. How about I take you for a walk around town, show you the sights? The sunset from up on the barricade is truly spectacular.”
“That sounds marvelous,” she said, her heart leaping at the prospect of spending some time with the man she’d traveled so far to see.
Taking a walk around the town, Diane was aware of the sights and places that Ethan excitedly pointed out to her, but they entered her hindbrain. Her conscious thought was focused on him and only him.
She watched him smile, noting the little creases in the skin around his eyes, the way his cheeks, what was visible of them above the beard, turned pink when she complimented him on something, and how his laugh was low and musical. Not how she had imagined him, but possibly better.
“And here we are,” Ethan said, gesturing at the town barricade. “This has saved our combined bacon more often than I can count.”
“Is it really that bad?” Diane asked curiously. “Are the bandits that bloodthirsty?”
Ethan hesitated, turning to her as they walked along the platform.
“I had so hoped that by the time you came out to Unity, we would have this menace eradicated. But El Aguila is a slippery eel of a man, and we’ve had trouble trying to track him down.
So, to answer your question—yes, it is that bad.
They almost burned the town down just before Christmas. ”
Diane stared at him in shock. She had expected him to say something to assuage her fears, but Ethan hadn’t. This was serious. She needed to stop being wrapped up in thoughts of impending romance and get her head on straight.
“All right,” she said with a nod. “Show me what I need to know.”
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked.
“Surely, when the midden hits the windmill, all hands are required to do something to help.”
“Oh yes …” Ethan said with a nod. “Yes, that is what happens, but I thought you’d go and help Julie with the wounded.”
Diane considered this. “I think you should teach me to shoot anyway, just to be safe. You know, if the bandits get in and it’s a case of shooting them to save our people.”
His expression changed, becoming more surprised and yet pleased. “All right. I’ll have to get Robert or Jeff to teach you. I’m not much of a shot myself. Unless you’d like to learn to shoot with a bow and arrows, then this young man here is your best bet.”
They had come up to a boy of about fourteen standing on the wall. He was leaning on the parapet and looking over into the grassland beyond.
“Timothy, this is Diane. Diane, this is Timothy,” Ethan said. “He’s one of our best lookouts.”
Timothy was a handsome boy, with his dark hair flopping in his eyes. He grinned at Diane, and she imagined a string of young girls swooning at the sight.
She held out her hand to him and as he shook it, something came scurrying down his arm and scampered up hers. Diane let out a shriek of surprise and then began to laugh.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, looking at the little creature. “And who are you?”
“This is Critter,” Timothy said. “That’s his trick when he meets folks, running up to them like that. I think he likes you.”
Critter seemed perfectly happy on Diane’s shoulder, combing curiously through her hair with his tiny paws. She smiled and patted the little creature. “Well, he’s lovely. Did you raise him?”
“Yeah,” Timothy said, nodding. “His mother died and I—oh.” He seemed to catch sight of something in the distance. “I gotta go. Critter, come!”
The little raccoon ran down Diane’s arm, and she helped to place him on Timothy’s shoulder.
“There you go,” she said. “It was great to meet you, Timothy.”
“It’s Tim, and same to you…” he said as he turned and ran off. “If you want bow and arrow lessons, just come find me.” And then he was gone, hurrying down the ladder.
“You handled that well,” Ethan said. “Critter takes folks by surprise.”
“I’ll bet he does. That’s a funny little trick he’s got going, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen a raccoon. My brother, Peter, tried to keep one as a pet. My mother was dead set against it. I think they’re sweet.”
“That was in Colorado, right?” Ethan asked.
She nodded. “Yes, I’m a farm girl under all the education and whatnot.”
“And I’m just a boy from a mining town, deep down,” Ethan chuckled.
They walked on for a while. It was too early for the promised sunset, but they spent some time talking about the little things that their letters hadn’t included. During this time, they walked all the way around the town and then back to Mrs. Odenkirk’s boarding house.
“Ah, you’re just in time for drinks,” Anders announced when he saw them.