Candace McCarthy (5 page)

Amelia raised her chin. “My father is not just any white man,” she said, sounding put out.

Daniel was amused. “No offense to your father. I’m just telling you how it usually is.”

She relaxed and gave him a slight smile. To his satisfaction, she seemed in no hurry to leave. “What are you working on?” she asked, glancing toward the fire.

She’d amazed him once again. “You really want to know?” he asked. She nodded. “Come closer to the forge area, and I’ll show you.”

She started to approach when she heard a wild shriek from outside. “What is that?” Before Daniel could answer, she was out the side door, peering out into the yard behind the roofed, but open area Daniel used to fix wagons. The sound came again, and Daniel saw Amelia take several steps toward the noise. He followed with a smile on his lips. The sound was familiar to him. It was Susie playing.

A small figure ran back and forth in the yard on the side of the building. Amelia got a quick mental picture of dark hair, dirty face, and dirty clothes. She hurried forward as the figure disappeared. In a moment, the figure ran past again. Amelia realized, from the size, that it was a child.

She went out to the edge of the building and saw the child, singing and playing and howling shrilly, apparently
engaged in some kind of game. It was a young girl, she realized. Amelia watched her a few minutes, wondering where the little girl came from.

She sensed Daniel’s presence behind her. Amelia was appalled at the child’s condition. She looked a mess.

“Who is she?” Amelia asked without turning. “A better question is why she’s here. Surely, this is no place for a child. Where are her parents? And look at her, I’ll bet she hasn’t had a bath in well over a month.”

She felt Daniel tense as he moved to her side. After a brief glance in his direction, she was surprised by the anger in Daniel’s expression. “I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything, but it bothers me to see a child that way.”

“What way?” he asked tightly. “Happy?”

She gazed at him in astonishment. “You think it’s appropriate for a little girl to be covered with mud and screaming like a wild Indian?”

“What I think is that you’re too quick to judge. You’re in unfamiliar territory. You understand little about our life here. We find our happiness in simple things. Susie is having a wonderful time at play. What’s wrong with that?”

“Who is she?” Amelia asked a second time. She got her answer when the little girl suddenly turned and spied the adults.

“Pa!” she cried. She ran and launched herself into the man’s arms.

Amelia froze in surprise.
Pa?
The child was Daniel’s daughter? She closed her eyes as she realized that she’d offended Daniel once again. When she opened them again, it was to see Daniel slowly, carefully lowering the little girl to the ground. Amelia bit her lip as she watched father and daughter. On close inspection, she could see the resemblance
between the two as Daniel smiled and ruffled the child’s hair.

“Been playing in the dirt again, Susie?”

She nodded briskly. “I was playing warrior, Pa. Practicing for when I visit Conner. Last time Conner’s grandma made us finger cakes, and we got to eat them outside.”

Daniel winced. “1 hope that your hands were cleaner when you ate than they are now.”

Susie smiled up at her father and nodded. As if she had just suddenly become aware of Amelia’s presence, the little girl turned and locked gazes with her. Amelia found herself staring into eyes so like Daniel’s that it took her breath away.

“Hello,” the child said.

“Hello,” Amelia replied.
Daniel is married with a child,
she thought. It was a sobering revelation. She hated the disappointment she felt.

“Amelia, this is Susie,” Daniel said, watching her intently. He had his arm about the little girl. “Susie, this is Miss Dempsey.”

“But, Pa, didn’t you just call her Amelia?”

To Amelia’s amazement, Daniel’s cheeks reddened. “I’m an adult. Adults sometimes call each other by their first names. You’re a child. Children should call adults by their proper name, using Miss or Mister.”

“I call Jack
Jack
and Rebb
Rebb,”
Susie pointed out.

“That’s because Jack and Rebb gave you permission,” Daniel said. “Miss Dempsey hasn’t given you leave to do so.”

Amelia smiled as Susie stared at her as if considering. “You may call me Miss Amelia, if you’d like,” she said.

Susie grinned at her, then turned a gaze full of satisfaction toward Daniel. “She has given me leave, Pa.”

Daniel nodded. “Then it’s all right then.”

“Where did she come from?” Susie asked her father.

Amelia saw an odd look cross Daniel’s expression. “It’s all right, Mr. Trahern.”

“She called you Mister, Pa. Why—when you called her Amelia?”

“I was just teasing your pa,” Amelia explained, noting with amusement the change of expression that crossed Daniel’s face. She grinned at the child. “I’m from Baltimore, which is a long, long way from here. My father and I live at the mission now.”

The light in the child’s blue gaze dimmed. “You live at the mission?”

Frowning, Amelia nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh.” There was a new wariness in Susie’s expression.

“I’m not a missionary,” Amelia said. “My father is a doctor.”

Susie’s brow cleared, but a hint of the wariness remained in her eyes. “Why did you come? Are you his helper?”

“Yes, I am.” Amelia lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Actually, my father needs looking after.”

Susie shot Daniel a brief glance. “Daughters should look after their pas,” she said.

The two females grinned at one another.

Daniel wasn’t happy with Amelia. The woman could feel the tension between them, but she doubted Susie did.

“Run inside and get washed,” Daniel said to the little girl.

“Aw, Pa—”

“Now, Susie.”

“All right.” Susie hung her head as she went past Amelia and Daniel to get inside.

The tension reached unbearable limits as the little girl left Amelia and Daniel.

“Daniel—”

“No, don’t say it,” he replied coldly. “You’ve already expressed your opinion.”

“It wasn’t my intention to offend anyone.”

“Again, you’re too quick to judge.”

Amelia flushed and felt severely reprimanded. She didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t anger the man further. “I guess I’d better be going.”

He didn’t encourage her to stay. She felt sad that their newly made truce had already ended. She was drawn to Daniel. She didn’t know why when they’d barely been able to speak kindly to each other. Each one had insulted the other from the first moment of their meeting. For a little while, she’d hoped that if not friends, she and Daniel would have, at least, been able to obtain a certain level of peace between them.

There was still the matter of payment for her father’s instrument. She felt her cheeks warm as she realized that there would be no gracious way to leave.

Amelia picked up the beaded pouch and extracted a silver coin. She extended the coin toward Daniel. “Thank you for filling my father’s order.”

His features were hard as he took the coin. She flinched and turned away. “Good afternoon, sir,” she said.

Although the wagon was across the street, Amelia chose to leave from the yard and walk around the building.

She’d gone several feet when she felt the strongest urge to glance back, but she didn’t. She could feel the animosity of his stare and knew she wouldn’t like his expression.

Daniel has a wife,
she thought. Why hadn’t that fact ever occurred to her? The existence of his daughter had startled her, but it was the new knowledge of his wife that distressed her the most.

I have to learn to think before opening my mouth,
she thought. She had gotten into trouble for her frankness before; she should have learned her lesson a long time ago.

The appearance of the little girl had stunned her. She
might not have been as surprised if the child had been a boy. But a girl? She’d never before seen a little girl so filthy and disheveled. She was astonished that Susie’s father seemed unconcerned with the child’s appearance. What about Susie’s mother? Did she feel the same way? Didn’t she mind that Susie ran around looking like a grubby little boy?

Cameron Walters was waiting for her in the wagon when she came around the outside of the blacksmithy. “I almost went inside to fetch you,” the young man said. “Did you get what you needed?”

Amelia nodded. Cameron jumped down from the wagon to help her climb up and get comfortable on the seat. A brief glance in the back had shown her that Cameron had bought or traded for what he’d needed. “I see you bought a few extra things,” she said.

“I did.” Cameron smiled. “Anyplace else you’d like to go?” he asked.

“Just back to the mission, please.” She could sense someone’s hard stare as Cameron turned the wagon around to head back to the mission. Amelia glanced toward the blacksmithy to meet Daniel’s angry gaze. She turned quickly away, shaken.

She shouldn’t have come. She hadn’t made things any better between her and Daniel Trahern.

Why should I care? He’s married with a child.

But deep in Amelia’s heart was the realization that she wanted his respect if she couldn’t have anything else.

Daniel saw red as he watched Amelia and the soldier drive away. The woman was outrageous! Too quick to judge, too haughty and confident for her own good. How dare she insult his upbringing of Susie! Susie was a happy
child, despite the terrible horror she’d endured the day of her mother’s kidnapping. He didn’t think he’d done such a bad job raising her.

He returned to the forge, then decided to quit for the day. He put everything in its proper place and went inside to Susie. He found the little girl kneeling on a chair, bent over a basin on the table. She apparently had just finished washing up, but had only succeeded in streaking the dirt on her face, hands, and arms. Susie dried her dirty hands on a towel. He took one long look at the child, then at the soiled towel, and felt a niggling of uneasiness. Susie was filthy and wore the worst garments. Amelia’s comments about this being no place for a child hurt him; but as he studied Susie through Amelia’s eyes, he began to wonder if the woman was right.

“Susie,” he said, “you’re going to need a bath, sweeting.” With a smile, he went to a cabinet and pulled out a small looking glass. He brought it to the little girl. “Take a look.”

Susie peered at her reflection and started to laugh.

Her amusement was contagious, and Daniel started to chuckle. “Do you like playing in the dirt?” he asked.

She nodded. “When Conner and me are playing war- riors.”

Is Amelia right?
he wondered again. Susie was a little girl, who had no feminine influence to teach her what it is to be a female. As he warmed water on the iron stove, then went to pull out the hip tub, he began to worry that he’d not done right by Susie.

She was seven years old. She needed a woman to help her bathe, a woman to teach her how to fix her hair, someone to see that she had clothing besides the buckskin tunic and leggings she enjoyed wearing. Without a woman’s influence, how was Susie to grow up to be the
kind of a woman who would find a man to love and care for her, to have a family with?

When the water was hot, Daniel poured it into the tub, then added cold water. He gave Susie a bar of soap, some clean towels, and told her he’d wait outside while she washed. He’d bathed her when she was a baby. Now that she was older, he didn’t think it was appropriate.

His house was next to the forge, and he sat on the front porch while he waited for Susie to tell him she had bathed and dressed again.

She was a little girl now, but what was to happen when she was a young woman? “Jane, I wish you were here for Susie,” he whispered. “I know nothing about womanly things. I’m trying my best, but what if my best isn’t good enough?”

He could hear Susie in the great room, singing and splashing, enjoying herself once she’d climbed into the bath. She sounded happy. Surely, that counted for something? Surely, he’d done something right?

Still, he couldn’t forget the look on Amelia’s face when she’d gazed at his little Susie. Amelia had managed to smile past her shock and dismay, but he knew she’d been appalled.

He’d had more than one anxious moment during which he’d worried about the child’s welfare. Amelia’s comments brought his doubts back, his concern for a little girl growing up among a small settlement of mostly men. He allowed Susie to visit the Ojibwa village occasionally to play with the children there and learn things from the Indian women. He trusted Black Hawk and his people. The women were generous to Susie, treating her as one of their own.
But Susie isn’t learning what it is to be an American woman
, he thought with concern.

“I’ll wager, Amelia, you’d be horrified to learn that
Susie spends time with Indians!” he muttered beneath his breath.

Susie came to the door. “Pa, I’m finished.”

Daniel turned around and froze. She had put on her soiled clothes after taking a bath. She looked clean about the face, neck, and arms. He looked down. Even her feet were clean, he noticed. But she hadn’t washed her hair, which was so coated with dirt and dried mud, that her blond hair was brown.

“Ah, sweeting, you forgot to wash your hair.”

She shook her head. “I can’t see when I wash my hair, and I don’t like it ‘cause I get soap in my eyes.”

“It needs to be done, Susie. Change into some clean clothes, then I’ll wash your hair for you, so you won’t get soap in your eyes.”

She made only a token protest and sat in a chair while she waited for Daniel to empty, then refill the washbasin. After he’d rinsed her hair, Daniel fixed supper. After they had eaten, he told Susie another story.

When it was bedtime, he tucked her in and kissed her good night. He gazed at the sleepy little girl with affection. “Susie, you’re happy here, aren’t you?”

She reached out a hand and touched his cheek. “I’m happy, Pa.” Her eyes fluttered closed. Unable to stay awake, she drifted off to sleep.

Daniel left the room, thoughtful. Somewhat encouraged by a little girl’s love, he sat in his favorite chair and wondered about her future.

Cameron Walters chatted nonstop during the journey back to the mission. Amelia, disturbed by her confrontation with Daniel, said little or nothing as the soldier talked
about his time in service, about his childhood in Pennsylvania, and about his life in the wilderness.

The young man didn’t seem to notice Amelia’s lack of response, for which she was grateful. She felt terrible. She had offended Daniel with her observations about his little girl. The knowledge that Daniel was married with a child was upsetting to her.

“Then the captain,” Cameron was saying, “he orders the man shot.” The young man’s horror finally pierced Amelia’s conscience where nothing else could. “The bloke was only seventeen.”

Amelia blinked. “Your commander shot one of his own men?”

Cameron nodded. “He’d run away, he had, and he’d taken all of our rations, too. Captain Milton, he was furious. He wouldn’t rest until he’d found Peter Upton. He kept us moving for twenty-four hours straight. I, for one, was exhausted. By the time we’d found Peter, I had murder on my mind. Only it was too late, ‘cause Peter had already drowned in the river.”

Amelia frowned. “I thought you said the captain shot the young man.”

Cameron nodded. “He did right enough, only Peter was already dead. Captain knew it, too, only he was enraged and needed to release his feelings.” The young soldier looked at her with a residual of his own shock and fear. “He turned Pete’s body over—he’d been lying facedown on the riverbank, you see. Well, he turned Pete over, then raised his gun and shot Pete between the eyes, not once but three times. The captain looked as if he’d been taken by the devil. He scared me, scared all of us. After that, none of the men would dare to desert.”

Amelia shuddered. “Your captain sounds like a horrid man.”

Cameron shook his head. “No, that’s the thing of it. The captain’s good to us. We’d not seen anything like that before Pete, and we haven’t seen anything like it since.”

Still, Amelia didn’t think she wanted to make the man’s acquaintance.

She was glad when they reached the mission. Thoughts of what Cameron had just told her lingered in her mind. The mental images that Cameron left with her were disturbing, and after thanking Cameron for his escort, she went to her bedchamber to be alone. Once in her room, she was bombarded with unsettling thoughts. Cameron’s story had bothered her, but it was her embarrassment with Daniel and her distress over her attraction to a married man that she struggled to come to terms with.

She sat on her bed and had visions of a dead man with three bullet holes in his head intermingled with images of Daniel’s expression after she’d been foolish enough to insult him.

She had gone to the blacksmithy to make peace with Daniel Trahern, but the only thing she’d accomplished was to alienate him further.