Mountain Laurel Page 2

  “How many other women would be fool enough to travel alone to a town of forty thousand men?”

  Toby took the spyglass and looked through it. They were standing on a hill looking down into a pretty valley where a bright new red stagecoach sat, glittering in the setting sun, a tent not far away. In front of the coach was a woman sitting at a table, slowly eating her dinner while a thin, blonde woman served her.

  Toby lowered the glass. “What d’you think she’s eatin’? It looks like somethin’ green on her plate. Do you think it’s peas? Maybe string beans. Or is it just green meat like the army has?”

  “I couldn’t care less what she’s eating. Damn Harrison! Damn him to hell and back! Incompetent bastard! Just because he can’t run a fort the size of Breck, he sends me off to do his dirty work.”

  Toby yawned. He’d heard this a thousand times. He’d been with ’Ring since ’Ring was a boy, and he might seem stoic to others but Toby knew the truth. “You oughta be thankin’ the man. He got us out of that godforsaken fort and put us out here where the gold’s ours to be had.”

  “We have an assignment, and I mean to fulfill it.”

  “You is right. I ain’t part of the army.”

  ’Ring started to remind Toby of the uniform he wore, but he knew it was a waste of breath. Toby had joined the army because ’Ring had and for no other reason. The purpose of the army, the work that needed to be done, meant nothing to Toby.

  But it meant everything to ’Ring. He’d joined the army before his first beard had fully grown, and he’d always tried to do his best, to always be fair, to see what needed to be done and do it. He’d been quite successful and quite happy until last year, when Colonel Harrison had become his commanding officer. Harrison was an incompetent fool, a man who’d never seen any action, a desk officer who had been sent west and had no idea what to do. He’d dumped his anger at his own incompetency on his captain’s shoulders, making ’Ring take the blame for what the colonel couldn’t do.

  “She’s eatin’ somethin’ else too,” Toby said, looking through the spyglass. “You think it’s lettuce? Maybe carrots. You think it’s somethin’ besides hardtack?”

  “What the hell do I care what she’s eating?” He walked away from the ridge. “We have to make a plan. First of all, she’s either a good woman or a bad one. If she’s good, she has no business being out here alone, and if she’s bad, she doesn’t need an escort. Either way, she has no need for me.”

  “What’s that say on her door?”

  ’Ring paused in pacing and grimaced. “LaReina, the Singing Duchess.” He looked back down at the red coach. “Toby, we have to do something about this. We cannot allow this young woman to go into the gold-mining area. I’m sure she knows nothing about what she’s getting into. If she knew the many dangers she faced, I’m sure she would return to her point of origin.”

  “Her point of—?” Toby said.

  “Origin. Where she came from.”

  “You know, I was just wonderin’ how she got this far by herself. You think she drove that coach herself?”

  “Heavens, no! A Concord isn’t easy to drive.”

  “Then where are her drivers?”

  “I don’t know,” ’Ring said, waving his hand in dismissal. “Perhaps they’ve deserted her to work in the gold fields. Perhaps the woman will be grateful if I explain to her the hazards involved in a journey such as she’s planning.”

  “Humph!” Toby snorted. “I ain’t never yet seen or heard tell of a woman that was grateful for anything.”

  ’Ring took the spyglass from Toby and looked through it again. “Look at her, sitting there calmly eating, and unless I miss my guess, that is very fine china she’s eating from. She doesn’t look like a woman who is used to the hardship of a gold camp.”

  “She looks pretty fine to me. Big top on her. I like the top half to be big. And the bottom half, too, if the truth be told. I can’t see her face from here.”

  “She’s an opera singer!” ’Ring snapped. “She’s not a dance-hall girl.”

  “I see. Dance-hall girls sleep with miners and opera singers sleep with generals.”

  ’Ring glared at him and Toby glared back until ’Ring walked away. “All right, here’s the plan: We show her a little of what the West is really like, what she can expect in the camps.”

  “You ain’t plannin’ to use her for target practice, are you?”

  “Of course not. I’ll just, maybe, well, scare her a little bit. Put some sense into her.”

  “Great,” Toby said with a sigh. “Then we can go back to Fort Breck and Colonel Harrison. That man’s gonna be as glad to see you as he would be to see a pack of Apaches. He don’t like you none at all.”

  “The feeling is mutual. Yes, we’ll return to Fort Breck, but I’ll put in for a transfer.”

  “Good. In four, five years we should be able to get out of the place. By then you ain’t gonna have no skin left on your back from tryin’ to play the hero and impress the men.”

  “It was something that had to be done, and I did it,” ’Ring said as though from rote, for he’d said this a thousand times to Toby.

  “Like you gotta go scare this lady now, is that it? How come you don’t just go tell her you don’t wanta ride around the gold fields with her?”

  “It must be the woman’s decision to return to civilization. Otherwise, I am not free from my duties and obligations to her.”

  “So maybe you’re plannin’ to scare her for yourself and not to save any of her skin.”

  “You have a very pessimistic outlook on life. It would be the best thing for both of us if she were to turn back. Now, are you coming with me or not?”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Maybe she’ll offer us somethin’ to eat, but I sure hope she don’t sing. I sure do hate opery.”

  ’Ring straightened his uniform, adjusted the heavy, long saber at his side. “Let’s get this over with. I have many things to do back at the fort.”

  “Like keepin’ ol’ man Harrison from killin’ you?”

  ’Ring didn’t answer as he mounted his horse.

  Chapter 2

  Maddie pulled the photograph of her little sister from the trunk and looked at it. She was so absorbed, she didn’t hear Edith enter the tent.

  “You ain’t gonna start cryin’, are you?” Edith said as she spread a blanket over the hard cot that was Maddie’s bed.

  “Of course not!” Maddie snapped. “Have you cooked anything yet? I’m starved.”

  Edith pushed a strand of dishwater-blonde hair out of her eyes. Neither it nor her dress was too clean. “You thinkin’ of changin’ your mind?”

  “No, I’m not. I’ve never considered doing anything but what I have to. If I have to sing for a bunch of dirty, thieving, illiterate miners in order to save my sister, I’ll do it.” Maddie looked at this woman, who was part maid, part companion, part pain-in-the-neck to her. “You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?”

  “Ain’t me who’s got a sister they’re gonna kill and, besides, I wouldn’t care if they did hold my sister. I’m plannin’ to get me a rich gold miner and make him marry me and set me up for life.”

  Maddie looked at the photograph once more, then put it away. “I just want to get this done as quickly as possible and get my sister back. Six camps. That’s all I have to do, and then she’ll be returned to me.”

  “Yeah, well, you hope. I don’t know why you trust them so much.”

  “General Yovington promised he’d help me, and he’s the one I trust. When this is all over, he’s going to help me prosecute her kidnappers.”

  “You have a lot more faith in men than I do,” Edith said, jerking the bed covers. “You ready to—” She stopped as she saw a large, dark form at the tent flap. “He’s here again.”

  Maddie looked up, then slipped out of the tent. She returned in minutes. “There may be some trouble,” she said to Edith. “Be very cautious tonight.”

  An hour later, just as Maddie w
as finishing her dinner, she looked up to see two soldiers approaching. Or, she thought, perhaps a soldier and a half, as one man was splendidly dressed in a perfectly cut, perfect-fitting uniform, sitting on top of a horse that must have bloodlines back to Adam’s horse. The other man, half the size of the first one, looked as though he’d made his shirt out of a bunch of dirty rags. There were large patch pockets sewn all over the front of the shirt, and each pocket seemed to be bulging.

  “Hello,” she said, smiling. “You are just in time to join me for a cup of tea and perhaps a piece of apple pie.”

  The larger man, who Maddie could now see was a very handsome man, with dark hair curling from under the broad brim of his hat, dark, frowning eyes, heavy dark brows, and a thick dark mustache, just scowled at her.

  “Real tea?” the smaller man asked, his brown skin crinkling as he spoke. One of his incisors was missing. “Real apples? Real pie?”

  “Why, yes, of course. Please share it with me.” He was off his horse in a second, before Maddie could pour the tea. When he took the cup, his hand trembled a bit in anticipation. She poured another cup and held it out. “Captain,” she said to the younger man, noting his rank by the double silver bars on his shoulders.

  He ignored the tea and rode his horse very close to the table. Glaring down from atop the enormous horse, he seemed to be twelve feet tall, she thought, and felt a cramp in her neck as she looked up at him.

  “You’re LaReina?”

  He had a nice voice but not a nice tone to it. “Yes.” She smiled as graciously as possible, trying to ignore the cramp in her neck. “LaReina is my stage name. My name is actually—”

  She didn’t get to finish, as the man’s horse did a sidestep and she had to keep the dishes from tipping over.

  “Quiet, Satan,” the man said, and brought the big horse under control.

  To her right the small man choked on his tea.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Fine,” the little man said, grinning. “Satan, is it?” He was laughing.

  Maddie cut him a generous wedge of pie, put it on a plate, and handed it to him. “Would you care to sit down?”

  “No, thank you, ma’am. I’m gonna watch this show from over here.”

  Maddie watched him walk away, then looked back up at the man on the horse. The animal was so near that its switching tail was about to knock the dishes off the table. “How can I help you, Captain?” She moved a teacup out of the tail’s way.

  He reached inside his short blue jacket and withdrew a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. “I have orders from General Yovington to escort you about the gold camps.”

  Maddie smiled as she opened the paper. How thoughtful of the general to provide even more protection for her. “You’ve been promoted,” she said, looking at the name on the paper. “Congratulations, Captain Surrey.”

  “Lieutenant Surrey died last week and I have been ordered to fulfill his duties. General Yovington is unaware of Lieutenant Surrey’s death and has not yet been informed of my taking Surrey’s place here.”

  For a moment Maddie was speechless. She was sure the general had chosen a man who would know why she was in the gold fields. She was sure the general would have given private orders to the man, but now what was she to do? How in the world was she to do what she had to do if she had a couple of soldiers snooping about her? Somehow, she had to get rid of this man.

  “How kind of you,” she said, folding the letter. “How very kind of General Yovington, but I don’t need an escort.”

  “Nor does the army need to spare officers to accompany a traveling singer,” the man said, looking down at her.

  Maddie blinked at him. Surely, he hadn’t meant that as rudely as it sounded. “Please, Captain, won’t you join me for a cup of tea? It’s growing cold. And, besides, your horse is destroying my coach.” She nodded to where the animal was beginning to chomp on the red-painted wood of the wagon.

  The man, using his knees, backed the horse up, then a few feet away he dismounted, leaving the reins dangling. Well trained, Maddie thought, and watched the man come toward her. He seemed almost as tall off the horse as on and she had to strain to look up at him. “Please do sit down, Captain.”

  He did not sit but kicked a stool from under the table and put his foot on it, then, leaning on his knee, he took a long, thin cigar from the inside of his jacket and lit it.

  Maddie looked at him, and she was not amused by his presumption and insolence.

  “I think, ma’am, that you have no idea what lies ahead of you.”

  “Gold miners? Mountains?”

  “Hardship!” he said, looking down at her.

  “Yes, I’m sure it will be difficult, but—”

  “But nothing. You are…” He looked down at the table with its porcelain dishes. “You obviously know nothing of hardship. What could you know after having lived the cosseted life of an opera singer?”

  He didn’t know her, of course, or he would have been aware of the way her green eyes turned greener. “May I take it that you are a connoisseur of opera, Captain? You’ve spent a great deal of time near opera stages? Do you sing? Tenor perhaps?”

  “What I do or do not know about opera makes no difference. The army has ordered me to escort you, and it is my belief that if you knew anything of the dangers that lie ahead, you would give up this foolhardy scheme of wanting to enter the mine fields.” He stepped off the stool and turned his back to her. “Now, I’m sure,” he said in a fatherly tone, “that your purposes are of the highest order: You want to bring a little culture to the miners.” He looked back at her and almost smiled. “I commend you for your noble attitude, but these are not the type of men who will appreciate good music.”

  “Oh?” she said softly. “And what kind of music would they like?”

  “Crass, vulgar tunes,” he said quickly. “But that’s neither here nor there. The point is that the gold fields are no place for a lady.”

  At that Maddie felt as well as saw him look her up and down—and there was nothing flattering about his look. It was as though he’d said, If you are a lady. “Bad places, are they?” Her voice was very soft yet carried. Years of training had given her absolute control over her voice.

  “Worse than you can imagine. There are things that go on there that—Well, I don’t want to burden you with the horrors. There is no law except a vigilance committee. Hangings are rampant, and hanging is the cleanest way a man can die. Thieves.” He put his hands on the table and leaned forward. “There are men there who take advantage of women.”

  “Oh, my. My goodness,” she said, blinking up at him, her eyes wide. “And you think I shouldn’t go into the camps?”

  “Definitely not.” He leaned away from the table and again nearly smiled. “I was hoping you’d see reason.”

  “Oh, yes, I can see reason when it is there to see. Tell me, Captain, ah…”

  “Montgomery.”

  “Yes, Captain Montgomery, if you are released from your duty of escorting me, what do you plan to do?”

  He frowned a bit, obviously not liking any questions from her about himself. “I will return to Fort Breck and to my duties there.”

  “Important duties?”

  “Of course!” he snapped. “All duties a soldier performs are important.”

  “Includin’ cleanin’ the latrine,” the little man said as he walked toward the table, his empty plate held out. “It’s all day long of important cuttin’ firewood and haulin’ water and buildin’ more army buildin’s and—”

  “Toby!” Captain Montgomery snapped.

  Toby quit talking as Maddie gave him another slice of pie.

  “I apologize for my private,” Captain Montgomery said. “Sometimes he doesn’t quite grasp the true purpose of the army.”

  “And you do?” Maddie asked sweetly. She cut him a slice of pie, put it on a fragile plate, and handed it to him with a heavy silver fork.

  “Yes, ma’am, I do. The army is here to prot
ect this country. We protect the white settlers from Indians, and—”

  “And the Indians from the white settlers?”

  Toby gave a snort of laughter, but Captain Montgomery gave him a look to silence him, then the captain noticed his plate and the half-eaten pie in horror, as though he’d just sold out to the enemy. He put the plate down and straightened. “The point is, ma’am, you cannot go into the gold fields.”

  “I see. I take it that if I don’t go, then you are free of your orders to accompany, a…what did you call me? A traveling singer, is that right?”

  “Whether I am free or not means nothing. The point is that you are not safe in the gold fields. Even I might not be able to protect you.”

  “Even you, Captain?”

  He stopped speaking and looked at her. This was not going as he’d hoped. “Miss LaReina, you may find this an occasion for jesting, but I assure you it isn’t. You are an unprotected woman here alone, and you have no idea what lies ahead of you.” He lifted one eyebrow. “Perhaps I am wrong in assuming your desire is to sing. Perhaps you are hoping to partake of the gold rush. Perhaps you are planning to win some unsuspecting miner’s hard-won gold from him by using—”

  “That’s it,” Maddie said, standing, her hands on the table and leaning toward him. “You are right in the first part, Captain: You are wrong in assuming. You know nothing about me, absolutely nothing, but I’m going to tell you something about me: I am going into the gold fields and neither you nor your entire army is going to stop me.”

  He lifted an eyebrow at that and, as quick as a snake, he put his hand on Maddie’s arm. He meant to do whatever must be done to get the woman to listen to reason.

  Out of the twilight stepped two men, one a short, stocky man who had a face that looked as if he’d spent years slamming it against brick walls. The other man was the largest, blackest man ’Ring had ever seen. ’Ring wasn’t used to seeing men taller than he was, but this man topped him by inches.

  “Would you release me?” Maddie said softly. “Neither Frank nor Sam like for any harm to come to me.”