Dorothy Garlock - [Wabash River] (44 page)

Wild turkeys, sides of venison and two whole hogs purchased by Will Bradford roasted on spits beside the trading post. The women baked sweet potatoes, suet puddings and berry pies. Children turned the grinder to make cornmeal for bread and the men gathered around the barrel of whiskey Rain bought from the storekeeper.

Will Bradford had delayed his journey to Belle Fontaine for several days in order to officiate at the weddings. His men had set up camp on the edge of town and were enjoying the festivities with the townspeople.

On the morning of the second day after Amy and Eleanor were brought back they were wed to their men. Will Bradford, a splendid figure in his major’s uniform, spoke the words that made first Amy and Rain, and then Eleanor and Gavin, husband and wife. Both women wore crowns of wildflowers picked by the children and fashioned by Eleanor and Tennessee.

The feasting and dancing, which took place in the road in front of the store, lasted most of the day. Toward evening Eleanor left Gavin’s side to seek out Will Bradford so she might speak with him alone. She found him in the camp his men had set up at the edge of town.

“Major Bradford? May I speak with you?”

“Of course, child.” Will took her arm and they walked a short distance from the camp.

“I want to apologize. I don’t exactly know how.”

“Apologize? For what?”

“I know Aunt Gilda wrote to you telling you of our dire circumstances and that she prevailed upon your family honor to provide for us. The truth is, sir, my father and my aunt were gamblers. They used me to—”

“Say no more.” Will stopped and turned her to face him. “I know exactly what your father was and what Gilda Woodbury was. I also know that your mother was a lady who made the wrong decision when it came to choosing a husband. I was not deceived in any way. I wanted to provide for the daughter of a lady I admired. That’s all there was to it. I could think of no other way than to wed you. I was proud and happy today when I united you in marriage to Gavin McCourtney. The man is deeply in love with you. I feel you will be safe in his hands.”

“And I love him. Oh . . . sir, thank you.” Eleanor put her arms about his waist and kissed his cheek.

“Will,” the major said and cleared his throat. “Or better yet, Uncle Will. I expect a houseful of nieces and nephews. Here comes your husband. He has a murderous look on his face. Unhand me, child, before he kills me.”

Eleanor’s laugh was like the song of a bird. She reached out her hand to take Gavin’s when he came near.

“Gavin, Uncle Will wants us to give him a houseful of nieces and nephews.”

The Scot’s homely, worried face broke into a beautiful smile. “I’ll try to oblige you, sir.”

Gavin slipped his arm around his wife, hers went around him, and they walked away. Eleanor looked up at him with a lovely smile and sparkling eyes and thought about how terribly lonely she had been before him, but now she would never be lonely or frightened or feel unloved again.

*   *   *

Amy leaned on her elbow next to Rain and traced the features of his handsome face with her fingertips. Her husband was the most beautiful man in the world. She said her thought aloud. He smiled, and she saw it in the moonlight that played hide and seek in the branches above their heads. They had opted to spend their wedding night in the woods, leaving the room at the trading post for Eleanor and Gavin.

Amy’s gaze moved from his strong jaw up to his high forehead, lingering lovingly on his thick black lashes through which she caught a glimmer of laughter.

“Are you looking at me so you’ll recognize your husband if you see him again?”

“Oh, you! I like to look at you. Shall I tell you what I see? I see a man who is handsome, brave and strong, so strong he can allow his gentleness to show, as it did today with Tennessee when you told her she was so pretty you might change your mind and marry her. She adores you, and so do I.”

Rain reached up and pulled her to him so that she lay with her head on his chest. After the wedding, while waiting until it was decent to steal away to their private paradise, they had spent joyous hours talking and sharing their childhoods, funny forgotten memories, treasured secrets, hidden pains.

“Your heart beats so fast,” Amy said and moved her ear down until it covered the nipple on his chest.

“It will beat just like that for the next fifty years when I hold you, warm and naked, in my arms.” He wrapped a long strand of her hair around his hand and brought it to his lips. “It almost stopped with fear when I came close to losing you forever.” His voice trembled with emotion when he added, “and now with happiness that I have you here in my arms.”

Amy felt his lips in her hair and his wandering fingers found her nipples. She lifted her mouth to his and his kiss was long and demanding. With delicious provocation she deliberately raised one knee and nudged the part of him that brought her so much pleasure. He responded to the touch with a muffled groan and rolled her to her back.

“You went through so much, sweetheart. I’m afraid I’m wearing you out.” His arms crushed her and she could feel the thunderous pounding of his heart.

“No, you’re not wearing me out,” she whispered lovingly, “but . . . please keep on trying.”

From then on nothing mattered except satisfying their desperate need for each other. They swirled in a vortex of pleasure created by caressing hands, lips, biting teeth and closely entwined limbs.

They made love late into the night, until sheer exhaustion sent Amy into a deep sleep and Rain into that void between sleep and awareness. She lay molded to his naked body, her cheek nestled in the warm hollow of his shoulder.

They were together, as they were meant to be.

All the people in this story are characters from my imagination, with the exception of Major William Bradford.

On Christmas Day, 1817, Major Bradford and his command of sixty-four men put ashore on the sandstone rock landing below the bluffs of Belle Point in the Arkansas Territory. There he established Fort Smith to keep peace between the hostile tribes.

I took the liberty of creating an incident in Major Bradford’s life. (I hope his ancestors will forgive me.) After reading of his deeds, I feel he might have acted as I portrayed him in the story had such an event taken place.

I wish to acknowledge the help given me by Janie Glover, Special Projects Manager, Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The book she sent me,
The Fort Smith Story
by Edwin P. Hicks, was most helpful.

Also I wish to acknowledge and give my heartfelt thanks to Marge Theiss of Clear Lake, Iowa, and thank her for correcting all the “to nots” and “not tos.”

Dorothy Garlock