Chapter 10
The sun sank to the western horizon in a blaze of orange and rosy pink, the edges of the tattered clouds lined in gold and periwinkle like a string of jewels scattered across the velvet of the sky.
They had just crossed the Big Blue. They had been piled up on the eastern bank for two days waiting behind five other train companies attempting the arduous crossing.
Here on the other side, the cook fires of all those wagons dotted the hills like the lights of a city.
Kate stood amongst the twilight colors, away from the muted conversations of their campfire, away from the supper dishes that needed cleaning, away from everything.
Out in the blanket of silence, her heart could sink into the soil and reach toward the distant hills without fear of coming up against the walls of expectations and responsibilities.
Unbidden, the memory of Andrew’s critical gaze after subduing that steer made her anger boil to the surface again.
Oh, how it chafed to be told what to do from every side!
She forcibly tamped down her tempestuous feelings.
She had come out here to just enjoy the beauty of this peaceful evening, not waste it on someone’s unwanted opinions.
She took a deep breath, centering herself once again.
She reminded herself that out here in God’s glorious creation, she could just be.
Not think, not try, not work. Just exist as part of the beautiful simplicity of the masterpiece painted on the landscape.
She breathed deep again. The air wafted softly around her, warmed from a day in the sun, pungent with crushed bluestem and sage, spiced with the promise of a crisp night still clinging to the last vestiges of spring.
Kate smiled as a song rose up in her heart.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
She hummed, her heart resonating in time with the truth of the words.
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
“Katie!”
Her brother’s soft call floated out to her on the breeze. She breathed a thank you heavenward and turned back to the wagons, filled with peace. “I’m just here, Danny.”
Danny’s energetic footsteps crunched through the grass as he met her and fell in step beside her, his red hair blending in perfectly with the sunset colors behind him.
“Dreamin’ again?” he teased gently as he linked her arm in his.
“Always.”
“Good, just don’t tell Ma. We’ve got visitors, and she wants you to come and be polite.” Danny grinned. He knew how much she hated small talk.
Kate wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Have we met them yet?”
“Yep! You remember the Schmidts, who come to services on Sundays? They’ve got five kids.”
“And one of them is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty named Hannah, if I remember correctly.” He just grinned wider. “How is it that every time a pretty girl comes around, you start losin’ your mind?”
He held up his hands in defense. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with enjoyin’ a conversation with a pretty lady.”
She snorted. “Nothin’ indeed.”
The Schmidts and their children were sitting in a haphazard group across from Ma, Pa, and Ian.
The firelight glinted on the pale gold hair perfectly replicated on each head of the Schmidt clan.
Hannah sat primly next to her mother while her four younger brothers slouched on the ground around her like a pile of puppies.
“Well, here you are, Katherine,” Ma said as she and Danny came up to the fire. “Martha, Heinrich, may I introduce my daughter, Katherine. Katherine, this is Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt.”
“Pleased to meet you,” she murmured.
“And these are their children: Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark.” Ma paused, clearly unable to tell which boy belonged to which name. They did look nearly identical. Remarkable, really. “And this is their daughter, Hannah.”
“Pleased to officially meet you all,” Kate repeated. They all looked at her, expectant. She didn’t know where to look or what to say. If only she possessed the ability to converse with people she didn’t know!
Ma cleared her throat. “Katherine, why don’t you pour some coffee for our guests?”
Kate gratefully turned to the task. The conversation restarted with the men debating how much ground they had covered so far and the women agonizing over the ever-present dust of the trail. The Schmidt boys pulled out a game of marbles. Kate poured a cup of coffee and proffered it to Hannah.
“Thank you ever so much!” Hannah took the cup eagerly, her blue eyes sparkling.
“I absolutely adore coffee! But Mama says it’ll stain my teeth if I drink too much, so I only have it on special occasions, or when we’re visiting.
” She took a sip, closed her eyes, and smiled blissfully, sighing in rapturous enjoyment.
“Absolutely heavenly! I don’t know how anyone couldn’t love coffee!
I have a friend back East who says it tastes like mud.
Can you believe it? The only thing that makes coffee better is chocolate.
Have you ever tried chocolate? I’ve had it twice in my life.
Oh my goodness, it tasted like a dream! I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried it! ”
The chatter poured out of Hannah at an alarming rate. Kate had barely opened her mouth to respond to the first question when the second was already asked. She just stood there awkwardly, coffee pot in her hand, mouth half open to respond, waiting for Hannah to finally take a breath.
“Ain’t lived ’til you tried what?” Danny sidled up to Hannah and plopped down on the grass beside her, giving her one of his roguish, lopsided grins.
Hannah blushed demurely and looked at him from under her long lashes, just exactly like she’d done with Jacob the other night after services.
Kate rolled her eyes. At least now she didn’t have to bother about making conversation.
Hannah cleared her throat daintily and replied, “We were discussing the merits of chocolate, Mr. McGrath.”
“Oh please, call me Danny,” he said, charm oozing out of his pores. “And I’d rather have a dance with you than all the chocolate in the world.” Kate rolled her eyes again. He didn’t even notice.
Hannah tittered and patted her golden curls. “Why thank you, Danny, for such a, uh, forward compliment.”
“Well, Kate? What do you say?”
Kate looked up, startled to be included in one of her brother’s attempts to charm the prettiest girl around. “What do I say about what?”
“Why don’t you get your fiddle, and we’ll have a dance!”
“Oh, I don’t know Danny, it’s been so long—”
“Oh, please, Kate,” Hannah jumped in, “I do so love to dance!”
Pa called from across the fire, “Did someone mention dancin’?”
“Yessir!” Danny replied before Kate could protest. “Kate’s just gettin’ the fiddle!”
“No, Danny, please!” Kate whispered fiercely, but the idea had already caught, and everyone started putting things away to make room around the fire.
Kate felt a moment of pure fury. To be forced to play in front of strangers when she hadn’t played in weeks, all because Danny wanted to flirt with some girl!
She glared at her twin. He only winked back, and she threw up her hands in resignation and stalked over to the wagon.
Kate really did love to play, but with being on the trail and all the preparations beforehand, she felt so out of practice.
She gently tugged the case from its cocoon of quilts and opened the battered lid.
The instrument shone in the firelight, old and worn, the nicks and scratches marking the journey it had made from Ireland all those years ago with her pa.
But the years and scratches and miles had only made its sound more rich, more full, as if it carried in its voice the wisdom and passion of every person who had ever held it.
Kate gently picked up her old friend and cradled it on her shoulder beneath her chin.
Then she plucked the strings and winced.
The weeks of jostling in the wagon hadn’t been kind to the strings.
Rubbing resin on her bow, she drew it across the bridge and deftly turned the tuning pegs until the notes rang true.
A cheer went up as she emerged from the wagon, fiddle in hand.
A small crowd had already gathered around their fire, so she plopped onto the wagon tongue and played a few experimental notes, reorienting her fingers to the delicate strings after weeks of leather reins and harnesses.
Within seconds she was back. Her heart filled with music, and her hands poised, ready to play.
Kate struck the opening notes of a whirlwind jig, and wide smiles broke out on the faces of the people gathered round amidst a flurry of finding partners.
Her parents, the Schmidts, and Danny and Hannah all swirled and laughed, while the Schmidt boys bobbed goofily on the edges.
Ian seemed content to watch, clapping the beat and lending his baritone to the lively song.
Even though Danny had all but forced her to play, it still made her glad that her music brought joy into people’s lives.
Besides, she thought with a sly grin, I’ll just have to get Danny back someday.
She ended the jig with a flourish and immediately jumped into a reel.
Turning and stomping feet kicked up the dust, but no one seemed to mind it now.
By the time she finished the reel, more people had joined in the dancing, drawn by the sounds of laughter and music, and soon they had an impromptu dance in full swing.