Chapter 10
Seth’s lips turned up. “A fair few.”
Belle laughed. “That’s what I get for asking such a personal question.”
“We could probably leave sooner than that. It’s not as if I...we...need the money.”
Belle furrowed her brows. “How much money do you have?”
“About four hundred thousand dollars.”
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Then why are you staying? What do you want to do with the money?”
“I want to buy a big house and lots of land. I want to have enough to live on without ever having to sell suits again for a living. I want to leave something for my kids. There is so much I want to do. What about you? What do you want, Belle?”
She thought for a minute. “I just want to be able to live comfortably with my family around me. I’d love to have children, but I don’t know that it is a reality for me to even think it.”
He took her hands. “We will have our own, and if not, we will adopt and treat them as our own. We will have children, Belle. I promise you.”
She blinked to keep the tears at bay. “So, what can I do to help you?” She changed the topic, having had enough talking about children she would never have.
Seth tenderly squeezed her hand. “If you want to help tomorrow, I’ll be covering the grave with rocks. I covered it up with dirt for tonight, but just couldn’t make myself do the rocks. Maybe I’m hoping the animals get him. If they drag him off, I’m not going after him. They can have him.”
“You won’t find me mourning him if he gets dragged off in the middle of the night. How about we go to bed? Even though it’s still light out, I’m tired. It’s been one heck of a day.”
Seth pulled his hand back. “It has. Thanks for staying up. It means a lot...being able to just talk and relax.”
“I’m glad.” She walked over to their bed, took off her clothes, shivered, and quickly crawled under the covers. The season might be spring, but it was still darn cold.
Seth finally got into bed and pulled her into his arms.
His warmth soothed her and stopped her teeth from chattering. She questioned once more if she had truly fallen in love with Seth. Did she even know what love was? She’d certainly never felt this way with Amos. Only with Seth. What did it mean? After all she’d been through, was she willing to give her heart to Seth? Or had she already?
After breakfast the next morning,they finished Ezra’s grave together. At first, Seth helped gather the rocks. Once quite a pile had been built up, he started placing the rocks while Belle gathered more.
Even with her helping him, it still took almost two hours to pile enough rocks on the grave to keep the animals out.
When they completed the task, Belle placed her left hand around the crook in his elbow and covered it with her right. They walked slowly back to the tent, ever careful of the injury to Seth’s leg. “I’ll do my baking now. I thought I’d make biscuits later for supper and start the bread for baking tomorrow. And I’m using the last of the fruit for a cobbler for dessert. We need to make a trip to Dawson City for more supplies.”
“And I need to go hunting. Would you like to come? We can take the horses and bring back more meat that way. Otherwise, a lot of the meat will go to waste. Well, it will feed the scavengers, but not us.”
“Do you want to go to Dawson City after we go hunting or before?”
“After. I don’t want our supplies stolen while we hunt.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “Won’t they steal the meat?”
“They could, but I haven’t had that happen and even if they do, the meat is easier and cheaper to replace than the supplies. You should start a list of what you want from the mercantile. I think we should take two horses. If you have a large list, we’ll take three, since we have not only the claim jumpers but Ezra’s horse now. too. Though I think we should see if we can sell Ezra’s horse and the claim jumpers, if we don’t need them.”
“I agree. Maybe we should take all four to Dawson City, regardless. We’ll just make do with the two and sell the others.”
“Good idea.” He released her arm. “I’ll get started with today’s panning. Sounds like you’ll be baking most of the day.”
“Quite a bit. Since we’re heading to town, I’ll wait to start the sourdough bread. Will we be staying in town for the night? Since we’ll have the horses and not walking we could probably do it all in a day, though it would be a long one.”
“Would staying make you happy?” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“It would.” She crawled her hands up his chest and around his neck. “Can we get a bath? I haven’t had a proper bath in what seems like forever.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I think that would be nice, too. Tomorrow, we’ll hunt. The day after that, if we’re done processing the meat, we’ll go to town.”
“Perfect. I want to take some bread to Kitty, so I’ll bake that in-between helping you process the meat. ” She lifted herself up and took his lips, putting everything she felt into the kiss. But what did she feel? He was kind to her, more so than anyone in her life. She was pretty sure she loved him, but would he ever love her back? She wished she knew.
That night, after a long day of baking and panning, they retired.
Belle was cold and snuggled against Seth. She wiggled, trying to get closer.
He put a hand on her hip. “Be still woman or we won’t be getting sleep anytime soon,”
She giggled and wiggled again.
Seth turned her over and, for a moment, loomed above her. Then he leaned down and took her lips with his.
The kiss was sweet and not what she was looking for. She reached up, tangled her fingers in his hair, and pulled his head closer. Belle opened her lips and ran her tongue across the seam of his lips.
He growled and invaded her mouth, tasting of coffee and the sugar he allowed himself in the evenings.
She responded, loving the way he felt. In a single moment, this man erased everything from her previous life. His gentleness and caring were things she thought she’d never have. She hadn’t gotten it from Amos or from her father before him. Though between the two men, maybe her father was worse. He was supposed to love her and protect her, instead he’d sold her to the highest bidder like she was that year’s prize hog.
Yet Seth gave her that protection...that safety. Even after Ezra taking her, she still felt safe with Seth. She knew that deep down, he must care for her. But would she ever have his heart? Though he hadn’t said the actual words, he’d warned her when they got married that he couldn’t...wouldn’t love again. She understood his reasons. His in-laws had been horrible to him...accused him of terrible things. How could anyone think a man this gentle would kill his wife and baby? She had no family he needed to worry about. Still, she knew from experience that when someone hurts you, it’s hard to forget, much less forgive.
She knew she would never forgive her father if he were still alive. And if he wasn’t, may he rot in the special Hell for fathers that sell their children. Of course, none of that mattered. Her father was dead to her, anyway.
The next morning,Belle tied the tent up tight while Seth saddled three horses—Big Red, the bay and Ezra’s. They left the claim jumper’s horse because he was in such bad physical condition. Ezra’s animal would carry their meat back to camp.
They mounted up.
Belle carried Ezra’s pistol with extra ammunition. It was a Colt, just like Seth’s, and used the same ammunition. Her pistol was also a Colt, but a .22, not the .38s that Ezra’s and Seth’s pistols were. The .22 was a light weapon and easier for Belle to handle.
Seth had his pistol and the 30.30 rifle.
Starting out, they had a lot of cloud cover and the temperature was cold enough they wore their coats, woolen hats and scarves. They rode for about an hour into the forest. The going was slow because of the denseness of the trees. Then, when they were far enough, Seth dismounted and indicated that Belle do the same. She grabbed a gunny sack in case they were lucky enough to get an elk or deer. They tied the horses to the trees and went on by foot. Trying to make as little noise as possible, which was difficult with Seth limping, they were on the lookout for elk or deer.
She pushed through low-lying shrubs and the pine trees scented the air. The day was beautiful, and the forest seemed almost magical.
Seth came to a sudden stop and put up his arm for her to do the same.
She stopped immediately.
He crouched, putting the knee of the injured leg on the ground she assumed to take the strain off of it.
Then he placed the rifle tight against his shoulder.
Belle didn’t so much as breathe. The elk was a bull with a large rack. He was standing in a cluster of pine trees. He was magnificent to see. She was sorry he would die, but they needed the meat he would provide.
Seth fired.
Up ahead, Belle saw the elk drop, and she was grateful they wouldn’t have to track it to make the kill.
Seth limped forward as quickly as he could, pushing through the low-hanging branches and across the small meadow to the place the animal had dropped.
She followed, and when she was close enough, she saw Seth slit its throat.
Then he field dressed the animal, skinned it and started butchering it right there in the woods.
Belle took a large hunk of meat. The lingering warmth reminded her of her father butchering one of their hogs. She placed it in a gunny sack.
Seth put several more large chunks of meat in the gunny.
They headed back to the horses.
Seth carried the full gunny sack over his shoulders.
Belle carried his rifle.
Once they reached the horses, Belle got more gunny sacks from her saddlebags.
Seth tied the full gunny sack to Ezra’s horse.
The trip back to the kill with the horses was harder riding than walking because of the dense trees, so they walked and led the horses. Seth took the reins of two of the horses.
Belle took her horse’s reins and led him back to the downed animal.
When they got there, Seth finished butchering the animal until their gunnies were full.
They walked out of the deeper forest and then mounted as the trees became sparser.
Arriving at their camp, Belle prepared their late lunch.
Seth took care of the horses before coming inside the tent.
“The water is warm so you can wash up. Lunch will be ready shortly. I just heated up a couple cans of beef and we have biscuits from last night. I’ll bake some more for tonight and since we have the elk, we can have elk steaks tonight for supper.”
He rolled up his sleeves before placing the basin on the table and ladling hot water from the bucket on the stove into it. “Sounds good. I’ll finish butchering a back strap for the steaks. Tomorrow is soon enough to complete the butchering. I don’t want to do too much. I want there to be plenty of good meat as we go along for the next few weeks. We’ll have to trim it up before eating it because the outside will dry out. Also, I thought I’d take Kitty a back strap. She’s always good to me and now to us.” He finished washing and tossed the dirty water out away from the tent.
“I think that’s a fine idea. By the way, what is a back strap?” She set the table and placed down the pan of the tinned beef along with the biscuits. Then she filled their cups with coffee and put the pot back on the stove to keep hot.
Seth sat at the table. “There are two back straps on an animal. It’s the meat that runs on either side of the spine and is some of the most tender meat on any animal.”
Belle sat across from him. She placed a biscuit on her plate and waited for Seth to finish with the beef. Then she dished a couple of good-sized spoonful’s of the hot beef onto her plate.
He chewed a spoonful of the tinned beef and then swallowed. “This is good.”
“Thanks.” She opened her biscuit, placed a good-sized dollop of blackberry jam on one half and covered it with the other half. “It’s the last of our beef. I’m glad we’re going to Dawson City soon. We need just about everything. The biscuits I make tonight will use nearly all the flour. I can still make cornbread if we need it.”
“I need another day to finish processing the meat. We’ll go to town day after tomorrow and get supplies.”
She grinned. “It can’t come soon enough.”
After supper, they did the dishes together and then played a couple games of gin rummy before going to bed.
Even though she cuddled into Seth’s side, she wondered if she could live in a marriage without love. Especially now. She placed a hand gently on her tummy. She was happy and the only thing that could make her happier was if Seth loved her as much as she did him.
The twenty-mile tripto Dawson City was much faster and easier on the horses. It only took them about three-and-a-half hours over the uneven terrain instead of the usual five hours it took for Seth and Belle to walk it. Even so, she was glad they were staying the night. Traveling and doing the shopping all in one day was exhausting, even with horses.
She was glad the day was bright and sunny. She tied her coat behind her saddle and opted to wear only her long johns, flannel shirt, wool pants, and wool sweater because of the warm weather.
The countryside was a riot of color, with spring flowers growing everywhere. The river ran high with snow runoff. She was glad they didn’t have to cross the river, but once. Where they did cross was shallow and the bottom was rocky instead of mud.
When they reached Dawson City, they left the four horses at the stables and made their way to the Westminster Hotel.
When they reached the hotel, they found Kitty behind the desk, as usual.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in. If it isn’t the Kirby’s. How the heck are you?” Kitty walked out and wrapped her arms around Belle. “I’m so glad to see you. It’s been a couple of months and you don’t look any worse for wear.” She turned to Seth. “Have you been keeping my girl happy?”
“Doing the best I can.” Seth removed his backpack, set it on the floor and then took off his hat.
“Well.” Kitty held Belle at arm’s length and looked her up and down. “She looks happy, so you must be doing something right.”
“He’s been very good to me. I have no regrets, if that’s what you’re getting at.” The only thing I regret is that Seth doesn’t love me...yet. Surely, he’ll fall in love with me when I tell him about the baby. Won’t he? Or am I wishing so hard for his love that I’m convincing myself to believe it? She didn’t let any of those thoughts show on her face, keeping her smile in place.
Kitty pulled Belle close and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “If things change, you will always have a job and a place to stay if you need it.”
Belle smiled at Seth but she talked to Kitty. “I’ll remember, but I doubt I’ll ever take you up on your offer. I’m happy where I’m at.”
Seth smiled back.
Belle could swear he puffed out his chest just a little.
“Do you have a room available with two baths?” asked Seth. “Oh, we brought you some meat. A nice elk back strap. If you decide to sell it tonight for steaks, save us two.” He took the gunny wrapped bundle from his backpack and handed it to her.
Kitty took the meat and set it on the desk behind her. “Thank you. That sounds great. I think I might save it for my girls. They don’t get meat like that very often. And I always have a room for you two, even if I have to kick someone else out. As it is, I don’t have to do that. I’ve got the honeymoon suite available. Would you like that?”
Belle stepped away from Kitty and put her arms around Seth’s neck. “I like that room. I’ve seen most of the rooms here. I filled in for the girls sometimes. Let’s take it.”
He put his arms around her waist. “You heard her Kitty. We’ll take the room. Can you have two baths sent over, and how soon? Trying to figure out if we want to eat lunch before or after the bath.”
“I have hot water ready, and I’ll send the men over right away. You’ll feel better with a clean body and clean clothes on.”
Belle moaned. “I can’t wait. I feel like I’m carrying two pounds of dirt around.”
Kitty walked behind the desk and retrieved the key. “Here you go. Get on to the room and I’ll send the men with the tubs and hot water.” She handed the key to Seth.
He took and placed it in his pants pocket. “Thanks, Kitty.”
She nodded. “Of course. See you later.”
He put on the backpack and then his hat and headed down to the room, following Belle.
She stopped at the door. “Do you want me to open it?”
“I’ve got it.” Seth took the key out of his pocket and opened the door.
The room was just as she remembered it. The double bed with white iron head and footboards. The nightstands, bureau with attached mirror and chest of drawers were all painted white. The wallpaper was cream colored with red roses attached to green vines streaming through it.
Seth set the backpack on the bed. “Do you want to get out our clean clothes, please?”
“Sure.” She opened the top of the backpack and pulled out clean clothes for both of them—wool pants, shirts, socks, and long johns. She also removed her brush and comb and placed them on the bureau.
A knock sounded.
Seth opened the door and then stepped aside as four men entered.
The first two carried long metal bathtubs. They put one on either side of the bed.
The second two each carried two buckets of hot water.
“Wait.” Belle raised a hand. “Please put the tubs next to each other.”
“Okay,” said the tall man.
Once they were in place, the water was poured into the waiting tubs.
The men filed out. The last man turned at the door. “We’ll be back with more water.”
“Thank you.” Seth closed the door after them. He turned toward Belle. “I see you looking longingly at the tubs. We’ll be in them soon.”
“I can’t wait. I feel even grimier than usual just looking at the lovely hot water.”
“If you’re nice to me, I’ll scrub your back.” He waggled his brows and grinned.
She laughed. “They are close enough together, we shouldn’t make too much of a mess.”
When the second knock sounded, Seth pulled the door open.
The men put one more hot bucket in each tub and left a hot bucket at the end of each tub to rinse off the soap. They also left a cold bucket. Between them, they could adjust the temperature as needed in the tubs.
Once they’d finished, the dark-haired man that was the leader turned back to them. “I’ll return in a few minutes with towels and soap. Would you like anything else? More water, perhaps?”
“I think we’re good. The towels and soap should do it,” replied Seth.
The man gave him a single nod and then closed the door behind himself.
Seth walked back to Belle. “We’re almost ready.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I have to admit, I’m looking forward to it. For one, I don’t have to turn my back to see my beautiful wife undress this time.”
“I feel the same way,” Belle admitted, her face heating as she lowered her gaze. Then she lifted it to face Seth. I get to watch without any guilt. Although, I peeked the first time.”
He lifted a brow and his lips quirked up.
She laughed. “I’m not dead. I know a handsome man when I see one. I just happen to be married to the handsomest man I know.”
“Keep saying things like that and our water will get cold while I have my wicked way with you.”
She lifted her hand palm out as if to stop him. “Nope. Not until we’re clean.”
He grinned. “Okay, but then I’ll have my way with you.”
She laughed. “And I just might let you.”