Bright Morning Star (20 page)

Claire climbed over the tailgate and quickly pulled off the dirty, ugly dress. Mary Anne turned over and moaned a little, and Claire froze. Quietly she lifted her pillow and lifted out the gown and wrapper. She hesitated, then went ahead and changed into them and shoved her feet into her slippers. She stood still, the soap and brush in her hand, trying to remember what she had been hunting. Bonnie was waiting.

On the far end of the wagon was a single box. Inside were all Bonnie’s abandoned clothes. She had given Claire trouble, but Bonnie had been wearing clothes that fit even worse than her trail dress. She found the girl’s single flannel gown and the old robe of father’s that Bonnie used for a wrapper now. She felt sad when she realized there were no slippers. Poor Bonnie, she wore those heavy men’s brogans all the time. Once they were settled, she intended to get a nice gown, robe, and really big slippers for her friend.

As Claire started out, she froze half-way over the tailgate. In the shadows, she saw Bonnie. She was wrapped in the arms of a tall man, and they were kissing. Not a soft playful buss like the kisses Claire had known. The girl was so tightly wrapped against the man that the curve of their bodies was one. Claire stared at where the giant had a hand on her friend’s hip, pressing her closer. Claire felt her own stomach tighten and she grabbed at the tailgate to keep from falling out.

They separated and Calum smiled at the little blonde. Blushing Claire pulled her wrapper closer around her.

Calum cleared his throat. “I must remind you ladies that we’re here pursuing two dangerous men. With your permission I will escort you both to and from the river. On my honor, I will only look for intruders.”

“Where’s your father's rifle?” Bonnie whispered to Claire. She stared up at Calum. “I trust you Lieutenant, but two guns are better than one.”

“Here, is this it?” Claire asked.

Bonnie accepted the heavy shotgun and said, “It will do.”

The trio walked past the guards on duty on the outside circle of the oxen wagon train. Calum responded to each challenge, asked and was directed to a shallow area that other bathers had been using.

Claire stumbled along, trying to keep up with the tall, long legged couple. Calum carried the lantern. Because he was so tall, the light spread out around them, but Claire still felt breathless and frightened crashing along behind them over the uneven ground. At one point she bent to retrieve her slipper that got pulled off as she stepped through some weeds. Calum handed the light to Bonnie by a dammed-in pool beside the river, upstream from where the cattle had been watered.

Holding onto her friends’ arm, Claire managed to keep up. Grateful that she had blown out the lamp, both shed their outer clothing. Unlike Claire, Bonnie quickly shed her dress, slip, and moccasins and unpinned her hair. Eagerly she dove out into the pool of water.

After a little coaxing, Claire waded out into the stream to join her friend, squealing as her feet sank into the mud and then yelping about the cold. After a minute, she was standing as deep as she dared, the water over her waist and lapping coolly against the curve of her breasts. “Bonnie, where are you?” she whispered, “I can’t see a thing.”

Bonnie splashed up beside her, giving a deep laugh. “That’s the whole idea. You wouldn’t want all those pesky suitors of yours down here to sneak a free peek.”

Claire raised her hands to cover her breasts and looked back toward the brush. “How would we know if they were there?”

“Well, if you’ll stay quiet, they won’t know to come looking. Lord, I miss taking a bath every day. Did you know almost every one of the Indians bathed every day? At least most of the women did, and I’m not talking a basin and cloth little spit bath. They take everything off and dive in.”

“Oh Bonnie, every one swam nude together.”

“Just the women and little children would swim together. The men bathed in the river. The women had a little man-made pool like this under a bank of willows for cover. Wouldn’t doubt this was made by Indians. They move camp often, but always set up by rivers. The men were forbidden to look at the bathers. It’s a big taboo. But of course, at least one of the skunks did, I know.”

“One of the braves, looked at you?”

“I never saw him doing it, but from what he told Calum and the others, he was a sneaky skunk and peeked plenty.” Bonnie stood up and whispered the details into the short girl’s ear, just in case Calum was still close enough to hear.

Claire splashed the water as soon as Bonnie finished. “They should have punished him, put out his eyes or some other Indian atrocity,” Claire said.

Bonnie snorted. “No such luck. But Calum did give him a good tussle because of it.” A wispy cloud trailed over the full moon and Bonnie looked around. “Let’s just get all this dust off and our hair washed before the moon comes out to see us.”

Claire took the soap Bonnie handed her and began to lather her arms and legs. Scrunching under the water to move the soap under her chemise and bloomers, just in case the men could see. She relaxed for a minute, enjoying the motion of the water, which now seemed pleasantly warm compared to the night air. When something brushed against her bare leg, she yelped and stood up, jumping. “Oh lordie, lordie, there’s something in the water. What if it’s a poisonous snake or one of those pinching crawdads?”

Bonnie caught her and held her still, mischievously giving her a little pinch. “Turn around, I’ll wash your hair. There are no crawdads in here, the boys caught theirs in the little creek that feeds into the river. There’s too much activity. What with all the wagons stopping at this spot all the time, no snake is going to make a home here. If it was anything, it might be a fish that got in over the wall between here and the river. Now stand still and be quiet.” Bonnie whispered.

In minutes she had the wet soap worked into a lather between her hands. “It would work better if your hair were wet, dunk under.”

Claire looked confused and then yelled, “Oh no.” Bonnie laughed as she pushed the smaller girl under water. Claire came up, shaking her head and gasping for breath. “I think I swallowed some of this water, and maybe that fish.”

Bonnie laughed and Claire tried to get close enough to pinch her too, but almost slipped and went under again. A minute later, Bonnie was busy shampooing Claire’s hair.

<><><>

Two men on the shore strained, listening to all the noise. Calum heard a branch snap and whirled to face an angry Henry Lambton.

“What are you doing out here,” Henry hissed.

Calum whispered, “I’m standing guard so the ladies can bathe.”

“Guard against what, and do you have to look at them to stand guard, I thought you told Bonnie you wouldn’t look,” Henry said.

“You can’t see anything,” Calum said. But suddenly the clouds swept past and in the pale moonlight the two men were transfixed as they saw the girl’s revealed. Each saw only one woman, although Bonnie was standing behind Claire and shampooing the giggling girl’s hair. Calum studied every line of the heavy, bouncing breasts as Bonnie worked diligently to clean the blonde’s oily hair. Henry felt faint from staring at the thin, wet chemise that was all that stood between his eyes and the little beauty’s perfect body.

“Quiet, did you hear that,” Bonnie said. All four strained to listen. In the distance they heard the second pop of a rifle, waited but heard no more shots and relaxed. When the men looked back, dark clouds had hidden the moon and the women again.

“Go on, hurry up,” Calum called from the bank.

Both girls crouched a little lower in the water. “Don’t look,” Claire yelled in a high pitched squeak. It was again so dark, Bonnie could barely see the gleam from Claire’s eyes, nothing of the man on the bank. Placing a hand on the back of Claire’s neck, she whispered, “Lean back, I’ve got you.” In the quiet night, the only sound was the gentle lap of the water as she rinsed the dirty suds from the blonde hair. A minute later, Bonnie released her and Claire barely righted herself as they both heard the sound of galloping horses.

“What was that?” Henry said. Henry raised his rifle and Calum moved the end of the barrel so it was aimed away from the girls. Calum shouted, “Hurry girls, get out of there.”

Claire sputtered and shook her finger at the men now visible on the bank. “You said you wouldn’t… and is that Henry watching too.”

There were other shouts as the moon shown brightly above them, from men galloping toward them.

“Fan out and keep low to the ground, you go right,” Calum ordered then hissed to the women. “Stay down girls, hold her down Bonnie”

<><><>

Monroe and Tiller, the escaped gun runners, sped along the river between the two camps leaning close to their stolen mounts as shots rang out behind them. So far, nothing they had tried had brought them luck. As they ran parallel to the river looking for a more sheltered spot to cross, they blinked in amazement. In front of them were two barely dressed females and as Monroe recognized the taller one he yelled to his partner. “Now’s our time to get even. You grab the little one, I’ve got special plans for that tall, bossy woman.”

Claire screamed in terror and tried to run. Bonnie heard the voice and recognized the man she had first encountered in St. Louis. He had been trying to buy their oxen after she had chased him off the night before when he tried to steal them. Now he was planning to catch and rape them.

As the galloping horses splashed into the river behind them, she saw a gun on the bank flash. Impatiently she grabbed Claire and gave the hysterical girl a heave toward the bank, relieved to see her sputtering and finally struggling toward shore. Diving, she swam quickly over and drug Claire through the weeds and mud onto the bank beside her.

On the muddy shore, Bonnie turned and picked up the gun. She pumped the heavy shotgun as she turned. But before she could fire, one of the riders fired at one of the men on shore and she heard him gasp. Bonnie raised the shotgun and fired and the second rider disappeared.

Seconds later, when she was sure both men were down, Bonnie waded farther up the bank, dragging the semi-conscious Claire to drop beside their discarded clothes.

Standing, she heard a voice call. “Are you all right?”

“Henry, is that you?” Bonnie set the shotgun down and then struggled into her slip, fighting it down over her wet body, then she repeated the struggle with the ugly black dress. All the time, she was stuffing her feet into her shoes as she stumbled forward.

“Calum, I’m fine now. Was that Tiller and the oxen thief?” Bonnie yelled.

Instead of an answer, she heard a groan to the left and rushed forward. “Calum, Calum, are you hurt?”

As she dropped beside him, she felt the sticky, wet patch on his chest and screamed for help. In the dark, men were coming. She looked past where she knelt beside the man she loved to where another voice moaned. “Who’s there?” she demanded.

“I killed a man.”

“Henry, thank God. Run and cover Claire before the others arrive. Hurry.”

“Claire, my beautiful Claire,” he whispered, then ran toward the girl.

Awkwardly Henry picked up her gown and wrapper. At least in the bright moonlight he could see it and the girl. As he tried to raise Claire up to slide it over her, Claire pushed his hands away.

“Darling, let me do this, hurry, the others are coming and you’re practically nude.”

“No, Henry, don’t look at me. I wanted to get clean for you, but now I’m all muddy again.”

Despite her protest, Henry was forcing the gown over her head.

For the first time Henry laughed and crushed her to him. “You goose, you beautiful goose, thank God you are all right.” With more energy, he covered her with the gown, then reached over her for the wrapper. Half-lifting, half-holding her pressed against him, he helped her stand and slid one arm through as he heard Robert Wimberley shouting. “Claire, Henry, what’s going on here?’

Henry held the sobbing girl, holding and rocking her as an angry Robert Wimberley stepped forward to take possession of his daughter.

“She’s fine sir,” Henry said.

“The devil you say, she’s barely dressed and all wet and muddy. If you’ve done anything to harm my girl, I’ll…”

Claire pushed from Henry’s arms into her fathers. “I’m fine Father, Henry saved me. Bonnie and I were bathing while the others were asleep. Henry and Calum Douglas stood sentry to keep the others away.”

Father didn’t look convinced, but started to sweep his daughter up to carry back to the wagons. Henry reached out for her at the same time. “Let me, sir, I’ve got her.”

“Nonsense,” Father said and swept the girl up to stomp back to their wagon with Henry in pursuit. When he started breathing hard and almost stumbled. Henry said softer, “Please sir, you carry the rifle for a while.”

Glaring at each other, Robert Wimberley surrendered his daughter as she turned to wrap an arm around the younger man’s neck. Silently the transfer was made and they hurried back to camp.

<><><>

As soon as they reached the wagon, Henry lifted Claire over the tailgate to where Mother and Mary Anne waited. “I think she’s alright, just still a little frightened. It was awful,” Henry said as he almost collapsed against the end of the wagon.