Courage to Love (Flynn Family Saga) (5 page)

Abby nodded.  “It will help to have someone else to worry about.”

Maggie squeezed her hand.  “But don’t forget to grieve, Abby.  It’s important.”  She stared into the fire.  “Flynn is afraid to grieve.  Sometimes, that causes problems.”

“For him or for you?”

Maggie smiled wryly.  “For both of us.”

Abby laughed.  “You are refreshingly honest.”

Maggie laughed with her.  Then, she yawned.  “Ben!”

“Yes, Maggie?”

She turned and saw him standing behind her.  “Sorry.  I didn’t hear you come back.  Get the wagons hitched up.  You’re going to have to lead for a few hours.”

Ben touched her arm.  “You should let me lead them all day.”

Maggie shook her head.  “I only a need a few hours.  I’ll get caught up tonight.”

“Yeah.  If something else doesn’t go wrong,” Ben muttered.

Maggie laughed.  She climbed into the wagon.  She didn’t even undress.  She fell onto the narrow bed and started to snore softly.

The jolting of the wagon woke her.  She frowned.  The light was wrong.  She told Ben to wake her at noon, and it was at least three o’clock in the afternoon.  Maggie rolled over and looked at her father’s pocket watch.  It was 3:14.  She sighed.  She changed into her trousers and shirt and climbed into the seat.  “Frank, why didn’t Ben wake me?”

“Because Abigail Barrett threatened to shoot him if he did, that’s why.”  Frank nodded emphatically.

“I turn my back for fifteen minutes, and when I wake up, I have to put down a mutiny!”

“Now you sound just like Sam.”

Maggie laughed.  “Flattery will get you nowhere, Frank.”

Frank grinned at her.

Maggie rubbed her eyes.

Flynn rode up to the wagon.  “It’s about time you woke up.  I’ve been doing my job and yours.”

Maggie stuck her tongue out at him.  “I told Ben to take my place.”

Flynn’s expression softened.  “No one could take your place, Maggie.”

Maggie’s face reddened.

Flynn laughed, but he sobered quickly.  “Are you all right?”

Maggie nodded.

“Liar,” he said softly.

Maggie smiled sadly.  “But I will be.”

He nodded again.  He turned Wakta and rode away.

Maggie sighed.  “Stop the wagon, Frank.  I’d better go check on Samantha Worthington.”

Frank shook his head.  “Mrs. Barrett is with her, Maggie.”

Maggie sighed.  “You know, it surprises me that more women don’t run wagon trains.  We seem to be pretty good at giving orders.”

Frank nodded.  “I don’t know who scares me more, Sam or Abigail Barrett.”

Maggie laughed.  “Don’t I scare you at all, Frank?”

Frank grinned.  “Nope.  I know you’re a softy.”

Maggie grinned back.  “Just don’t tell Flynn.  Now stop the wagon, or
I’ll
shoot you.”

Frank laughed, but he stopped the wagon.  Maggie climbed down and walked back to the Worthington wagon.  Henry stopped the wagon until she climbed onto it.  Then, he slapped the reins against his horses’ backs and the wagon jerked forward.

It was dim inside the wagon.  Abby dozed beside Samantha’s bed.  Samantha looked very pale in the dim light.  Maggie touched Samantha’s hand gently.  “Samantha?”

Samantha opened her eyes.  “Maggie?”

Maggie nodded.  “How do you feel?”

“My stomach hurts.”

Maggie kept the worry out of her face.  “A lot or a little?”

“A lot.”

Maggie touched Samantha’s forehead.  It was hot to the touch.  Maggie nodded.  “I’ll be right back.”  She climbed through the opening to the wagon seat.  “Stop your wagon, Henry.”

He nodded and halted his horses.  Maggie borrowed a horse from one of the outriders and rode forward to the lead wagon.  She scanned the horizon.  “Head toward that hill, Frank.  We’re going to stop early.”

Frank nodded and turned the wagon away from the trail.

Maggie rode beside the lead wagon until they reached the shelter of the hill.  She dismounted and got some fresh water from a stream.  As soon as Frank had the fire going, she set a pan of water on the blackened grill to boil.  She fished in her leather pouch and brought out some dried willow bark.  As soon as the water was boiling, she put it into the pan.  She waited until the infusion turned a pale amber.  Then, she poured it into a mug and brought it back to the Worthington wagon.  She handed Samantha the brew.

Samantha took a sip and made a face.  “It’s bitter.”

Maggie nodded.  “But it will bring the fever down.”

Samantha nodded back and forced herself to drink the infusion.

Maggie checked the bleeding.  Abby had removed the packing, and the flow had slowed to a trickle.  She smiled at Abby.  “I am so glad you’re here.”

Abby smiled back.  “And I’m glad for a chance to be useful.  I don’t know what I’d do if I had too much time on my hands.”

Maggie shook her head.  “You’d manage.”

Abby laughed.  “Yes, I expect I would.”

Maggie went back to the lead wagon.  She ate supper and tried to sleep, but she was too worried.  She got up and relieved Billy.  “I’ll take the first watch.  You’ve been driving all day.”

Billy nodded and smiled.  “Thanks, Miz Flynn.”

Maggie paced restlessly.  The night was hot and still, and she started at every sound.

*  *  *

Samantha healed, and the wagon train moved on.

Mary Ellis began to show, but she kept on walking beside her husband’s wagon.  Maggie dropped back.  She dismounted and walked along beside her.  “When are you due?”

Mary blushed.  “I’m not sure.  August, I think.”

Maggie smiled and touched her belly.  “My baby is due in December.”

Mary looked startled.  “And you’re still riding?”

Maggie shrugged.  “It’s not dangerous yet.  I’ll have to ride in the wagon soon enough.”

Mary nodded.  “I forgot.  You’re a doctor.”

Maggie shook her head.  “Not technically, but I’ve read all of my grandmother’s medical books.”

Mary sighed.  “I’m glad we chose your train, Maggie.”

Maggie swallowed hard.  “I couldn’t save Samantha’s baby.”

Mary nodded.  “I know.”  She turned to face Maggie.  “But you tried.  And you knew how much it hurt her to lose that child.  I don’t think a man would have bothered to baptize that baby.”

Maggie nodded, too moved to speak.

*  *  *

Halfway between Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne, Maggie lay awake, listening.  The night was still and hot.  She heard the sounds of people breathing and livestock.  There was no breeze, and there were no trees for miles anyway.  Flynn was gone, scouting for the Dakota.  After the incident in Sees Far’s territory, Flynn scouted almost every day.  Maggie got up and prowled the camp.  She went to the edge of the circle of light and stared out at the plains, but in the darkness, she could see nothing.

She sighed and went back to her bedroll.

“Mrs. Flynn!”  Mary Ellis’ voice shattered the silence of the night.  “Peter’s gone!”

CHAPTER
FOUR

Maggie’s heart thudded in her chest.  She ran to the Ellis wagon and looked in.

The boy’s bed was empty.

Maggie drew a deep breath to still the panic that had scattered her thoughts like dry leaves.  She picked up the lantern beside the bed and lit it.  Then, she left the wagon and looked for tracks.

What she found made her shiver despite the heat.  There were three sets of tracks, Peter’s and the tracks of two men, wearing moccasins.

Maggie ran to Ben and shook his shoulder.  He reached for his gun, and Maggie shook her head.  “Walk with me.”

He nodded, and they left the circle of wagons.  Maggie stopped and turned to him.  “Peter Ellis is missing.  Two of the Dakota took him.”

“Are you sure?”

Maggie nodded.

Ben swore softly.  “Do you want me to go after him?”

Maggie hesitated.  She sighed.  “I don’t know.  The Dakota don’t usually take children.  Women, sometimes.  And horses, but there are no horses missing.”

Ben sighed.  “Do you want my opinion?”

Maggie nodded.

“Wait until morning.  I won’t be able to track them until daylight.  And maybe they’ll send someone to parlay.”

Maggie nodded.  “Thanks, Ben.  I’m sorry I woke you.”

Ben smiled.  “It was part of my job with Sam, too.  To give an opinion when he wasn’t sure what to do.”  His smile broadened.  “Of course, Sam usually ignored what I said.”

Maggie smiled back.  “I remember.  Good night, Ben.”

“Good night, Maggie.”

Maggie went back to her bedroll and lay down, but she did not sleep again that night.

In the morning, Maggie watched as her people hitched up their teams.  For a moment, she forgot her worry about Peter and marveled at the skill of men and women who, two short months earlier, had no idea how to hitch up a team.

Then, Flynn rode into camp.  He dismounted as soon as Wakta stopped.  “There’s a raiding party—”

“I know.”  Maggie cut him off abruptly.

“You know?  How?”

Maggie swallowed hard.  “They took Peter Ellis.”

Flynn took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair.  “Are you sure?”

Maggie nodded.  She led him back to the lead wagon.  Flynn stared at the tracks on the ground.  He started back toward Wakta.

Maggie laid a hand on his arm.  “I need you here, Flynn.  So far, Peter is the only one missing.  I want to keep it that way.  You know the Dakota.  They don’t wage war on children.”

Flynn’s face was pale.  He shook his head.  “Neither did the Lakota—until the Army massacred a camp filled only with women, children and old men.”

Maggie sighed.  “Get some breakfast, Flynn.  I’ll send Ben.”

“But—“

She stood up.  “That’s an order, Flynn.”

Flynn looked shocked.

Maggie drew a deep breath and touched his arm gently.  “You’re the best scout this side of the Mississippi, Flynn.  That’s why I need you here.  That party wasn’t even trying to hide their tracks.  You know as well as I do that if they didn’t want to be found, the Dakota wouldn’t leave a trace.”

Slowly, Flynn nodded.

Maggie nodded back.  “I don’t know what they want, whether they want to trade or taunt us or what.  But I do know that they want to be found.”

“But —”

“You need food and rest, and so does Wakta.”

Flynn sighed.  “You’re getting more like Sam every day.”

Maggie smiled faintly.  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Flynn regarded her solemnly.  “I’m not sure.”  He turned and walked away.

*  *  *

The days passed slowly.  Maggie and Flynn herded the settlers across the open plains.  Maggie’s skin crawled as they passed through the open plains, with no shelter for miles.  Flynn kept on looking back the way they had come.  Maggie’s heart ached, but she had over two hundred lives to protect.  She couldn’t risk them for the welfare of one small boy.

No matter how much she cared about him.

At sunset, Ben came back.  His clothes were coated with dust, and he looked tired.  “I tracked them to a village on the other side of the bluffs.  There were too many of them for me to go in.”

Flynn set down his mug so hard that the hot liquid slopped over the rim.  “You should have sent me!”

Maggie shook her head.  “That’s exactly why I didn’t send you, Flynn.  You would have ridden in there, and then they’d have two hostages.”

Flynn scowled.

“She’s right, Flynn.”

“I know she’s right, Ben!”  He sighed.  “That doesn’t make it any easier to take.”

Ben nodded.  “What are you going to do, Maggie?”

“Post extra guards and wait.”

“Wait!  For what?”  Flynn stood up.  He towered over her.

Maggie stood up slowly and faced him.  “They took him for a reason, Flynn.  Now, we wait.”

He turned and stalked off toward the picket line.

Maggie sat down and tried to finish her stew, but it tasted like dirty rainwater.

“Aren’t you going to go after him, Maggie?”  Frank poured her another cup of coffee.

Maggie shook her head.  “He needs to cool down a little first.”

Then, she heard the sound of hooves on the hard-packed earth.

“Guldurned Flynn!”  Maggie stood up and threw down her bowl.  The stew seeped into the dry earth.  Her hands curled into fists.

“Do you want me to go after him?”  Ben stood up.

Maggie shook her head.  “No, Ben.  That would only give them three hostages.”

Ben sat down again.  He sighed.  “Sometimes, I hate it when you’re right, Maggie.”

Maggie nodded.  “Me too.”

*  *  *

Maggie didn’t get much sleep that night.  She kept listening for Wakta.  Near dawn, she got up and went to the picket line.  She picked up a brush and began to curry Sebastian.  The big horse nudged her chest.  Smiling, Maggie handed him a sugar lump.  Tears burned her eyes.  She remembered the second day she worked for Sam.  She went to the corral.  Flynn was there, Scout, his chestnut stallion.  Flynn had forgotten to bring sugar lumps for his horse, and Maggie had given Scout one of hers.  She remembered how soft the horse’s lips were, and how delicately he took the tiny rectangle from her palm.  Even though Scout had cost Flynn his leg, Maggie still missed him sometimes.

She led her team to the lead wagon and began to hitch them up.  Frank opened his mouth and, for once, shut it again without speaking.

Maggie smiled at him gratefully.  She went to the basin and washed her hands.  When she was done, Frank handed her a plate of bacon and eggs.

Maggie forced herself to eat.

*  *  *

By noon, they had made fifteen miles.  Usually, Maggie was delighted when they traveled that far in half a day, but this time, all she could think of was the distance between the train and a little boy who was alone and scared in a village of Dakota.

Or at least, she hoped he was alone.  She hoped that Flynn wasn’t a prisoner, too.

In the afternoon, they ran into rough country.  By nightfall, they had only traveled three more miles.

Once again, Maggie forced herself to eat, and this time, she refused Frank’s coffee.

She needed sleep.

After supper, she walked around the perimeter of the train.  Abby Barrett was washing her dishes as Maggie came by.  She smiled at her and touched her arm.  “Come and sit with me a moment, Maggie.”