Merry's Mission Read online

  “If you have a butter churn, I know how to make butter.”

  “There’s no need. If I’m working close to Laramie, I can pick some up every now and again. Anyway, I don’t have a churn. I’ll go wash up.”

  He returned outside to wash his hands in the tin basin resting on a shelf and dried them on a piece of towel, before returning inside.

  Merry dished up ham steaks, fried potatoes and eggs. She placed several pancakes on another plate.

  “This is a feast,” he said, forcing himself not to start tucking in until she had poured their coffee and taken a seat opposite him. He forked up a piece of fried potato and it was almost up to his mouth when she bowed her head.

  “For what we are about to receive, thank you Lord. Amen.”

  “Amen.” The moment he spoke the word he shoveled the potato into his mouth.

  She eyed him reproachfully. “Surely you’re not that hungry you couldn’t wait until I’d finished giving thanks to the Lord.”

  “I thought you’d finished. You said amen, and I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten since breakfast this morning.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know. You shouldn’t miss meals, Nate, it’s not good for you.”

  His cheeks heated. “I’m too busy sometimes to bother eating. This is good, thanks.”

  By the time the meal was finished night had fallen with stars starting to pop out of the black sky.

  “I usually go to bed early and get up early. It’s the only way I can get everything done.”

  “I’m used to getting up early M….my aunt and I always had an early breakfast.”

  “Do you need to go to the outhouse? I can come with you, or you can take a lantern.”

  “I know where it is, a lantern will be fine.”

  “Okay, please yourself.”

  She took the lantern he handed her and hurried outside. My goodness it was black. If it hadn’t been for the stars, she wouldn’t have been able to see her hand in front of her face. The lantern cast eerie shadows. She had never been afraid of the dark fortunately. Her only fear right now was what would happen when she returned to the cabin. She could pretend it was her woman’s time. The idea of broaching the subject with Nate was too indelicate.

  If the marriage hadn’t been consummated an annulment would probably be easy, then where would she be? No, better to let him have his way with her and if he did discover she was an imposter it would be too late to do anything about it. He might feel some affection for her by then and not want to drive her away.

  She hated herself for the lies. Was an unpalatable truth better than a lie? What would he do if she confessed to switching identities with Maryann? How had she been so foolish as to agree? I was running for my life, that’s why.

  She couldn’t stay out here any longer or he would come searching for her. Slowly she made her way back to the cabin, taking care not to twist her ankle on the rough path.

  Nate was sitting in the kitchen, elbows propped on the table and his head resting in his hands. He stood as she entered. He had good manners, an admirable quality in a man.

  “I’ll go now, it will give you a chance to get ready for bed.”

  Her time of reckoning was nigh. She either confessed to what she had done or became his wife in every sense of the word. She hesitated for a moment before stepping into the bedroom.

  Her bags had been placed inside the door. The lamp on the dressing table had been lit. On trembling legs, she stumbled to the bag to retrieve her nightgown, a simple cotton with a lacy yolk and lace trim on the sleeves and hemline. Quickly she undressed, laying her dress over a chair. She unpacked a skirt and blouse, and another dress and hung them up in the closet. Nate didn’t seem to have many clothes, a couple of work shirts and a coat were hanging up, a pair of pants, some socks and drawers all neatly folded on a shelf.

  The rest of her belongings could be unpacked tomorrow. She released her hair from its pins and the long curls cascaded down her back. Fifty strokes of the brush every night had been her before bed routine for as long as she could remember. She was up to the twenty-ninth stroke when Nate strode in.

  “You have pretty hair,” he said as he pulled down his braces and stripped off his shirt. His hair roughened chest was tanned, his arms well-muscled. It was obvious he often worked stripped to the waist.

  She kept on brushing her hair, focusing on the center of the dressing table mirror and not him.

  “You’ve brushed your hair enough. Hop into bed and I’ll turn the lamp off. I know my way around better than you.”

  She swallowed down on a lump of fear, and on leaden feet took a few steps over to the bed. The linen was old, but clean, the patchwork quilt only a little faded. They had always had good bed linen at home, it was one thing her mother insisted on. The sheets felt cool against her heated body.

  The light went out. Silence reigned. The bed moved as he slid in beside her. He was wearing his drawers was the last thing she noticed.

  Chapter Seven

  Merry woke up to feel the sun streaming through the window. She rolled over and found herself alone. The other side of the bed was stone cold, the sheets rumpled. She couldn’t believe how good it felt now she was Mrs. Nate Quinn in every sense of the word.

  Silence reigned in the cabin and she leapt out of bed. By the position of the sun it had to be mid-morning. Hurriedly she washed and dressed in house clothes and she covered them with a bib fronted apron. Unless she was going somewhere important, she didn’t bother with the restrictions of a corset, and having a tiny waist as luck would have it, she could get away with it. She felt sorry for the women with more buxom figures.

  She quickly pinned up her hair, made the bed and stepped out into the kitchen. She picked up the still warm coffee pot and placed it on the stove before feeding a log into the fire. By the crumbs on the empty plate resting on the table, Nate had eaten the pancakes left over from last night. A half full bucket of milk sat on the table, indicating he had milked before doing his other chores.

  Now she was truly his wife, she wanted to show off her cooking skills. She would bake biscuits, knowing there was plenty of four. A cake even. A nice stew would be good, depending on what she could find in the root cellar.

  She fried herself a couple of eggs and washed them down with a cup of coffee. All the while plans for their meal swirled around inside her head. Nate wouldn’t return for a midday meal, she recalled him mentioning this during a pause in their lovemaking. Heat raced through her body on remembering the wanton way she had reacted to him in the throes of passion, after the initial shyness and trepidation had worn off.

  She was lucky her new husband had turned out to be as nice as he had sounded in his letters. What would he do if he found out she was an imposter? Would he understand how desperate times had called for such desperate measures? Nothing could be more desperate than not wanting to be killed.

  The ladder leading down into the root cellar was narrow and too rickety for her liking. She descended slowly, clutching a canvas bag to carry her supplies in. There were two tiers of shelves running along three sides. Everything had been laid out in an orderly fashion. Apples, potatoes, pumpkin and carrots. Bunches of onions dangled from a hook. There was dried and salted meat, beef and ham at a guess. Did Nate have a smoke house? She gathered up what she needed and headed back to the kitchen, well satisfied with her booty.

  Venturing outside, she glanced around with interest. There was no garden, something she could soon remedy. She loved flowers, and there was no reason she couldn’t start a vegetable plot as well.

  Apart from the barn, there was a stable with a corral virtually attached to it. The ranch was surrounded on three sides by hills, much closer than what they had seemed last night.

  In a couple of places there were large boulders and smaller ones heaped around. Except for the fencing and cattle and horses dotted around, the place had an appealing wildness about it.

  Following her nose, she found the pigs rooting around in a stretch of mud, sit
uated well away from the house. Whilst she enjoyed eating bacon and ham, she didn’t like the animals it came from.

  A washing line strung between two trees was virtually useless for drying clothes except for the hot and windy days, as the overhang of trees cast too much shade. A pile of neatly chopped logs rested against the side of the barn. Nate was obviously a good rancher. How much more could he do if he had a little help?

  A copper stood in an enclosed section at the end of the back porch. By the looks of things, it hadn’t been used in years. A tin hip bath dangled from a large hook. On top of a narrow packing crate was a shaving brush, mug and razor. A brown strap dangled from a nail above, he obviously used it to strop his razor.

  ****

  Mid-afternoon, Merry was startled by the rear door banging. She swung around as Nate stepped inside, removing his hat as he did so. He sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

  “It’s your supper, I put the meat on to cook slowly in case it might be tough.”

  “My beef is never tough.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t want to take the risk.”

  His gaze became riveted on her lips. Were they still swollen from his passionate kisses last night? She ran the tip of her tongue across them and with a groan, he practically leapt across the space dividing them and dragged her into his arms. He kissed her hard, possessively and she returned his passion with abandonment. What kind of wanton woman was she?

  His hand cupped her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple. Finally, he let her go and she grabbed hold of his shirt to steady herself.

  “If I had the time….” His voice trailed off even as his eyes went to the bedroom.

  “We could have an early night.” She couldn’t believe how brazen she sounded. At least he knew for certain last night, that she had never been with a man before.

  “I have got time for a coffee.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Sit down. I baked biscuits a little while ago for supper, you’re welcome to have a couple now if you like.”

  “Thanks. I could smell them as I walked in, combined with the aroma of the meat I suddenly realized I was hungry.”

  “There’s not much butter left.” She had cut off a small chunk and brought it up from the root cellar.

  “Next time we go into town we can get some.” He gnawed his lip. “In fact, you can buy anything you feel we need.”

  “I could do with a few herbs and spices.”

  “That’s the sort of stuff I meant. I’d have no idea what to buy.”

  “Why are you back so early? Surely you didn’t miss me that much,” she teased.

  “I missed you all right, but I came back because I want to show you Eddie’s place, well mine, when I pay the bank back.”

  “Oh?”

  “We can walk there it isn’t far, just on the other side of the hill. Don’t worry, you don’t need to climb right to the top, Eddie cut a trail of sorts through it about halfway up. It’s only about a mile from here. If you had to go all the way around by road it would be four miles.”

  “Is that why the boulders are here?”

  “Yeah, Eddie blasted a cutting through it, he’d done that kind of work when he was with the Union Pacific Railway.”

  “Why do you need me to see it?”

  “I’m worried about the Land Agency.”

  “Your ranch looks good.”

  “I know and having a wife will help. My buying another place will show them I’m serious about becoming a rancher.”

  “What’s it got to do with me?”

  “I won’t lie, I’ve never been able to abide liars, but I’m not going to let on we just got hitched unless he asks me outright.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Anyway, what kind of husband would I be if I hadn’t taken my wife over there?”

  “Okay. Maybe I could say something about the place, perhaps about the house not being as good as this one.”

  “Exactly. Clever gal.”

  Once they finished their coffee Merry went to fetch her bonnet. Because her skin was fair, she had to be careful in the sun. She didn’t want to end up with a pile of freckles, or worse still, dried up, brick red skin as many Western women had. Each morning she applied a balm made with honey and lavender to keep her face moist.

  Nate didn’t wear his guns, although he picked up a rifle and his water bag. “I never go anywhere without these.”

  They walked across his pastures, making sure not to go anywhere near where a large bull was pawing the ground and bellowing because he couldn’t get to his ladies on the other side of the fence. He was a large, ugly tan colored brute and she certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with him.

  Eddie originally wanted this place, then he probably wouldn’t have bothered doing the cutting.”

  “I can’t see it.”

  “You won’t until we get closer because of the trees. I’d like to clear more of the land around here when I get the time. I used to give Eddie free access and he paid me back by giving me first option on his spread when he decided to sell. I really miss him, we used to help each other a lot.”

  “What was his wife like?”

  “A petulant, selfish woman, who wasn’t suited to roughing it, very dependent on her parents. He never should have brought her here; she didn’t want to come and once she was in the family way, she used it as leverage.”

  “How?”

  “She was going home to her parent’s ranch because she couldn’t cope with a baby out here. He either went with her or she’d go on her own. It wasn’t all bad, he’s ended up with half of a large, prosperous ranch in Colorado.”

  “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she reminded him. “You’ve got plenty of time to build your place up.”

  “I guess I’m impatient.”

  “After last night I know you are.” She gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “Greedy, too.”

  He laughed. “Well, you shouldn’t be so beautiful and um, accommodating.”

  Heat firing her cheeks had nothing to do with the sun.

  Behind a clump of trees, she saw the opening to the cutting. It was only about fifty yards long. On Nate’s property trees had been cleared to give passage to man or beast. The cutting itself was barely wide enough for a small wagon to pass through. It looked like a giant shovel had gouged the dirt and rocks away. Stretching ahead of them was a fertile plain.

  “River flats,” Nate said.

  She spied a large barn and corral.

  “Where’s the house?” All she could see was a chimney sticking out of the side of a slight rise in the ground.

  “There, where the chimney is.” He pointed.

  “I can’t see anything.”

  “It’s a soddy.”

  “A what?

  “Come on, I’ll show you. Don’t you know what a soddy is?”

  “I’ve heard the word, some kind of house built out of chunks of dirt isn’t it?”

  As they go closer to the chimney, Merry gasped with shock, a door poked out from the low hillside.

  “You mean they lived inside the hill?”

  “Yes, you could say that.”

  She didn’t blame the woman for not wanting to stay here. As Nate opened the door and stepped back, she baulked.

  “Go on.” He gave her a gentle push.

  Dubiously, Merry entered and glanced around in amazement. They were in a large room with an old cook stove and dresser. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The walls and ceiling were lined with canvas.

  “It stays a constant temperature all year round,” Nate said. He pulled a curtain to one side and they entered a large bedroom. The double bed was still there, looking somehow forlorn. The curtained windows overlooked pastures where a few horses grazed.

  “The horses are mine, Eddie let me keep them. They need to be broken in then I’ll get good money for them.”

  He pushed open the back door, which led on to a small porch. Could she ask Nate if she could have the curtains for their cabin
? No-one was using them out here.

  “They left a bit of stuff behind. The sheets came from here. Have a look around and see if there’s anything you want.”

  This was the opening she needed. “I’d like to have the curtains for the cabin.”

  “Why? I don’t want lacy stuff hanging on my windows.”

  “It would pretty the place up.”

  “I don’t want a pretty place.” There was a slight sneer to his voice. “That’s sissy stuff.”

  “You’re not living there alone now, Nate.”

  “Oh, all right, if it will make you happy. Check the dresser in case there’s anything you want. I guess it would be crazy to let it go to waste.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I come over here every couple of days to check on the cattle and horses, but never bother going into the house. If there’s anything you want and we can’t carry it now, I’ll pick it up next time I come.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You have to be patient with me, Merry. I’ve been alone for so long a man gets set in his ways.”

  “I understand.” Strangely she did. It would be hard for him, hard for her also.

  She searched through the closet and found a couple of towels and a pair of sheets, all in good condition. Sniffing at them, the mustiness assailed her nostrils. After a wash and a few hours hanging in the sunshine they would be fine.

  Out in the kitchen the dresser revealed a couple of pretty plates with matching cups and saucers, a crystal serving dish and a vase. The cutlery, two of everything, were much better than the ones Nate had. She neatly piled everything on a similar table to theirs. The sheets and towels they would take with them now, anything else could be collected later.

  A large boiling pot suitable for stewing fruit and several preserving jars would be useful. She had helped her mother preserve their own fruit. Of course, they had several fruit trees. Nate didn’t appear to have any.

  Maybe the old lady with the vegetables would have some to barter. There were apples in the root cellar and Nate certainly didn’t have any apple trees. The curtains, I mustn’t forget those.

  He strode back inside. “Did you find anything you wanted?” His gaze went straight to the things she had piled on the table. “Obviously you did, but we can’t carry all of it now.”