Love in Lead
Love in Lead
Seven Brides of South Dakota: Book 3
Kari Trumbo
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Historical Elements
Also by Kari Trumbo
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Love in Lead
© 2017 Kari Trumbo
Published by Kari Trumbo, All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, without the prior written consent of the author. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible
Author’s note: This is a work of fiction. All locations, characters, names, and actions are a product of the author’s overactive imagination. Any resemblance, however subtle, to living persons or actual places and events are coincidental.
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I dedicate this story to my dear mom. I hope the Lord has a library in heaven, so you can finally read my stories as you wanted to. Love and miss you.
Chapter 1
Hills outside Lead, South Dakota
September 1893
Eva hid in a cedar thicket. It was a skill she’d honed to perfection. Few things in her short life had served her better. But now, in the hills of South Dakota, on a ranch in Deadwood, it served a vastly different purpose. Her silence came in handy when watching and following the wildlife so she could capture their likeness in her notebook. She loved being out in the open, under the sky and sun, lost amongst the trees and small animals. She felt alive and safe here. As if her whole world were at peace.
The only time she’d ever been frightened while hidden in the trees behind the Brody Ranch had been just a few weeks before. An Indian had appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Eva had never seen so much male skin in all her blessed life. He’d walked right up to her and pointed at her drawing, a sketch of her favorite flower. She’d given it to him as her heart raced, worried he’d want more. He’d waved his arm in a great arc, pointing to the whole valley. She’d nodded as if she had a clue what he was asking for. Then he was gone. She hadn’t seen him again, at least not in the flesh. She hadn’t been able to keep herself from drawing him—and all that glorious golden-brown skin—in her sketchbook.
The gray rabbit ahead of her scampered further down the hill, as if it knew it was taking her on a merry chase. She stopped, giving the tiny animal—by far the smallest she’d ever seen—a chance to rest so it wouldn’t run too fast as she approached it again. Sun dappled down on her head through the smattering of trees. Twigs and leaf litter made moving silently difficult for her, but the rabbit had no trouble escaping her soundlessly.
Her pad of drawing paper and box of pencils bit deeply into the back of her hip. She’d hidden them under the shirt she’d pilfered from Beau, her brother-in-law. It had been on the clothesline up until she needed it. When she was finished, she’d wash it and put it right back. Eva snickered. Recently, Ruby had commented about how his shirts and trousers were taking a long time to dry, but she never inquired further. Eva stopped and tightened the twine she’d wound around her waist to secure her paper and pencils out of the way.
Her weight shifted, as did the rocks under her. She bit her lip, tasting blood, to keep from screaming and alerting her family. Gravel slid and scraped. Her arms flew about without thought, but her fingers found only air. She tumbled down the hill, faster and faster. Her shoulder met rock, knocking the wind from her. The hill and trees blurred by as she bounced and slipped until the hill’s slope gradually widened and she hit the trunk of a tree with a solid crack.
She groaned and pushed to raise herself, but all the trees around her danced in a bizarre circle. The tree held her fast as her world stabilized. Pain, mostly in her head, but down through her shoulder as well, kept her from taking deep breaths. Her stomach pitched, and she groaned again. Her hair had come undone and now fell in a tangled, golden mess all around her shoulders. Leaf litter scratched her cheek and swiped against her neck. Eva lifted her arm to inspect her head, and her hand came away sticky.
She blinked until the trees around her finally stopped spinning. She was farther from home than she’d ever allowed herself to go. Her heart pounded as visions of all the dangerous things Beau had warned her about raced around in her head. She was much further out than the acceptable boundaries drawn by Beau and Ruby, but more importantly, by the owner Brody Ferguson. She’d been warned about the dangers of trespassing on the neighboring properties. She bit her lip and winced at the broken skin. Try as she might, she couldn’t push herself to sitting without wanting to retch.
She rested her head against her arm. Beau and Ruby wouldn’t miss her for a little while yet. She could wait there until her stomach settled. Then she could return for Hattie’s wedding ceremony. Dread cramped her stomach harder. Brody had warned all the girls against venturing too far beyond the houses. He told stories more real and vivid than Beau’s, but he’d also fought against the Indians. She thought he’d only been telling stories until she met that Indian before.
If she weren’t mistaken, she was now off Brody Ferguson’s property and was trespassing on lands owned by Jonas Anders. He wasn’t one to be tangled with. It would be bad enough if she were caught, but her twin sister Hattie was to be married as soon as the preacher came out. He could be there even now. Oh, what good was riding a horse if the only place she ever got to ride was the pasture?
Her limbs wouldn’t hold her and her pencil case pinched painfully into her back, making movement difficult. After she’d crashed into their world, all the birds and other animals had gone completely silent. Even now, they hadn’t resumed their noise. Strange. She glanced around her, but she couldn’t see the rabbit or anything else. Her arms appeared fine, but Beau’s nice white shirt was torn and ruined. She’d have to explain what she’d been doing with it and try to replace it. There would be no sneaking back, either.
The arm beneath her tingled with the weight of her body. She forced herself to her knees, a most immodest position, for sure. The situation would be funny if she wasn’t headed for a heap of trouble.
Unfamiliar dark brown boots appeared in front of her and she gasped. Her gaze followed the feet up to thick, sturdy legs—thicker than most of the trees around her—covered in well-fitting trousers. A military jacket protected a man’s lean stomach, with a gun belt on his hips and a broad chest. His face was darkly tanned and hidden by a wide brimmed hat. How had this man snuck up on her? She hadn’t heard a sound. Had the fall rattled her hearing? She blinked up at him from her vulnerable position on the ground.
He leaned down, his face solid as stone. He had a deep cleft in his chin and a heavy forehead under the brim of his hat that completely shaded his eyes. “You certainly are no Indian.” His voice dripped with annoyance.
“Of course I’m no Indian! I’ve never even seen one,” she lied, gripping the tree and straining to push herself up. His hand enveloped her arm and
yanked her up with more force than was necessary. Her size seemed to surprise even him as her face rushed headlong toward his before he plopped her on her feet. She swayed and gripped the tree as her head wobbled on her shoulders.
“Did you ever think perhaps the reason you’ve never seen them was because of people like me? People who stay hidden and keep watch after your safety? People who sacrifice a home and hearth to report on what the Indians are doing?”
Because of his vice-like grip on her arm, she couldn’t meet his remarks with her typical response of running from confrontation. “How could I possibly know you were there if you’ve been hidden? It seems like a foolish question to ask.”
His eyes raked down her and she felt exposed. No matter how she pulled against his hold, she could not free herself to shield her body, barely concealed in men’s clothes, from his gaze.
“I think you’re a spy. And if you are, I have ways to make you talk.” He spun her so quickly that she lost her balance and he shoved her against the tree. Bile rushed to her throat as his hand snaked around her waist to her flimsy twine belt and yanked. She screeched and grabbed for her trousers before they could end up around her ankles. Her sketch pad and pencils crashed to the ground, scattering at her feet. Beau’s shirt billowed out, fluttering around the back of her knees.
He pinned her to the tree as he squatted to pick up the notebook. His hand seemed to cover her whole back. She was going to die, and all for a rabbit.
He flipped through a few pages from where the notebook lay on the ground. Eva closed her eyes and prayed he’d let her go. Her stomach rebelled against all the swinging and treatment as her breakfast made ready to evacuate. Her knees were slowly turning to sand, and soon his hand would be all that kept her upright.
“These are rabbits…endless pictures of rabbits and birds.” His confusion would be funny if she didn’t feel so sick. He had to let her go. Couldn’t he feel the pounding of her heart beneath his hand? Her head swam. Not now, please not now…
“Sir?” She breathed deeply to calm herself. It wasn’t working.
“Hush. I need to look at all of these and make sure you aren’t hiding anything.”
“But, sir?” She closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her roiling stomach calm.
He pressed her harder against the tree. She twisted her body away from him. He groped for her and grabbed hold of the loose shirt. She yanked to break free as her borrowed trousers dropped around her ankles. They both bent to grab them at the same moment. The crushing pressure of bending forward released her stomach contents all over his linen shirt.
George held out his arms, at a loss for what to say. The stench clung to him and there wasn’t anywhere to clean himself. This was one experience he’d never had before. Up until that moment, it would’ve been a funny little story to tell around the fire back at Fort Crook. But not now. The woman he’d thought was a spy, because of her men’s clothing and hidden writing devices, might be nothing more than a waste of his time. She stood in front of him, wobbling and pale as if she might faint, unable to bend far enough to right her trousers and too sick to straighten up. The poor woman was either shocked, in mortification, or something was wrong with her.
He stepped toward her, keeping his hands out of the way in case she vomited again. Her face was as white as his mother’s sheets, and the cuts and scrapes on her head hadn’t looked that bad until the rest of her face drained of color. Now he wasn’t at all sure she could make it back up the hill. Her pants lay within reach and he grabbed the waistband, tugging them up. The huge shirt she wore covered her down to her knees. That was a blessing, at least.
As his hands landed around her waist, he reached for the twine to wind it back around her waist. She came back to her senses and yanked the fabric from his hand, backing against the tree and resting her head there. Her blonde hair pooled over her shoulders, her light blue eyes wary as she waited to see what he’d do next. He picked up the twine and handed it to her slowly, backing away as soon as she had it, and waited while she secured her clothing once again. He’d assumed the twine was only there to hold whatever was contained in the back of her shirt. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have removed it.
He backed away and his foot caught the edge of the sketchbook, opening to a page with the image of a Sioux brave, kneeling in the grass. The woman had either lied, or she had a pretty keen imagination. That was no bunny or plant. He kicked the book shut and stepped over it.
“Miss, do you have a way to get home? It isn’t safe for you to be out here wandering around. All the noise we’ve made has alerted anyone for miles of our presence.”
The sprite licked her lips and didn’t move from the tree. Her voice was hoarse. “Leave me be. I’ll find my way back.” The little thing had pluck, but not enough to get her home. She was waning by the moment and as light as the wind. He couldn’t leave Miss Rabbit there to fend for herself, even if she was a potential spy.
“I’ll assume you came from either Ferguson’s or Ander’s. There aren’t any other properties nearby.”
She glanced away from him, and her head bobbed as if she was forcing herself to stay upright. He took a chance and knelt by her feet to pick up all the pencils he could find which had scattered when the box and her notebook fell. When he stood, her eyes were closed. This woman was taking his precious time, but he couldn’t just leave her out in the open for anyone to find. She might not know or feel the danger, but after scouting the range of these hills for years, he felt eyes on them and knew it was time to move.
“Miss, we need to get you back on your property. Just tell me where I should take you and I’ll get you back there, but you can’t stay here.”
She waved him off. “Just leave me alone. I’m tired. I need a rest. Then I’ll walk back for my horse.”
He chuckled to himself. Perfect. Horses were smart and he could let the horse do the work for him. He tucked the notebook and pencils in the back of his belt and scooped up the maiden in his arms. She couldn’t weigh more than his niece. If she weren’t bloody, covered in leaves, sick, and wearing men’s clothes, she might be almost pretty. Almost. No time to think of that now.
Chapter 2
Eva groaned as she reached to touch her throbbing head when someone slapped her fingers.
“Keep your hands off. I’m trying to ice the lump on your head.” Ruby’s agitated voice cut through the roar of the headache engulfing her from the neck up.
“I can’t believe you would do this to Hattie. You, of all the sisters? Just where were you and what were you doing with Captain Roth? Is he who you’ve been meeting out there? All this time I thought you were drawing pictures. Oh, never mind, don’t answer that. I’m just so furious right now.”
Eva held up her hand to stop Ruby but it earned her another swat to the wrist. Ruby was in rare form today. She’d taken the role of mother to all the girls very seriously, and now that she was a mother to a child of her own, her coddling and grousing reached new heights.
“Ruby, I didn’t do anything but fall. I was out drawing and lost my footing. I don’t know who Captain Roth is.”
“Well, he certainly seemed to know you when he carted your unconscious body back up here. Hattie thought you were dead. She’ll forever remember her wedding day. That is certain.”
Eva opened her eyes and focused on Ruby’s face, but it kept dancing away from her. Though Ruby didn’t seem to be moving at all. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. You know me better than that, Ruby. Please tell me there wasn’t a spectacle.” From what Ruby already said, it was doubtful. Heat crept up her neck. No, this Captain Roth had put her in that position. Ruby said he’d brought her back.
“I don’t know what your intent was, but what happened was Captain Roth carried you out of the barn for all to see. Aiden was furious to find Golden gone, and Beau’s work shirt and trousers were ruined! Not to mention what happened to Captain Roth’s clothes.” Ruby’s face scrunched as if there were a foul odor in the room.
 
; “I don’t understand…” Eva searched through her memory, but came up with nothing beyond a sweet, tiny bunny she’d wanted to draw. She’d slipped, then…nothing.
“Where are my drawings?” Eva pushed onto her elbow and an ice pack fell off her head and landed, frigid, against her bare arm.
“Girl, you will stop moving right this instant!” Ruby pushed her back down onto the pillow and replaced the ice with a sharp plop on her throbbing head. Eva winced.
“I don’t know what you mean. You didn’t have anything with you and Captain Roth didn’t bring anything back.”
“No, I’ll have to go back and find them! I saved for months for those!” Her drawings. Her precious drawings were all that had given her peace in the last months, and they’d been left out in the wilderness.
“Eva, you’re old enough to be married and on your own. You know that I won’t push you into that, but I do expect you to follow the rules that Brody and Beau have set for your safety. They don’t tell you of all the dangers and they shouldn’t have to. If there are rules, you follow them out of respect for those who provide you with a safe roof over your head. They don’t ask for much from you in return.”
Eva wanted to roll her eyes, but even thinking about the motion hurt. She was eighteen years old and her twin was now married. While she couldn’t say she’d met a huge number of men in the last year, she could say she wasn’t interested in a single one. She refused to marry a man she couldn’t talk to about what she’d read, and then encourage her to continue.