Rainy Day Dreams: 2 (7 page)

Did Papa have any idea that Seattle would be like this when he blithely made the decision to send her here? She may as well have been a ripe tomato at a vegetable stand on market day. Yet another item to add to her list when she next spoke with him.

Noah, who had disappeared into a back room, reappeared carrying an armload of plates. He placed a stack on the end of each table and, without being instructed to do so, the men passed them out. Big Dog set one before her with exaggerated care and a huge grin.

“Thank you,” Kathryn mumbled.

Evie began serving food, moving back and forth between her huge stove and the tables with laden hands. Loaves of bread with lumps of soft white butter, tubs of strawberry jam, bowls of cooked apples and green beans, and ears of yellow corn drenched in butter and piled in pyramids on platters. And dumplings, plump and steaming and nestled amid huge chunks of stewed chicken. Noah helped deliver the bountiful meal to the tables, both of them working quickly.

The arrival of dinner gave Kathryn a welcome respite from the attention as the men fell on the food as if they had not eaten in weeks. The only sounds were the scraping of forks on plates. She took modest helpings and tried not to stare at the huge mounds they piled before them, nor the speed with which it was consumed.

The door opened and a familiar face appeared. A wave of relief washed over her. Finally, someone she knew. She nearly raised her hand and called a greeting to Jason, but caught herself at the last minute. Familiar, perhaps, but definitely not friendly. He stood just inside the door, his head turning as he took in the room. When he caught sight of her, recognition flashed in his eyes and he inclined his head in a greeting, but did not speak.

Evie turned from the stove. “Hello. Take a seat wherever you like.”

He nodded and made his way toward an empty seat on the opposite side of the room from Kathryn. She focused on cutting a bite-sized piece of dumpling when he passed. Though she found him highly irritating, she wouldn’t have minded having someone at least vaguely familiar seated nearby. At least she need not fear seeing the hungry glint in his eyes that the rest displayed as they watched her. Now, though, they seemed to have found a new object for their attention, and many a glance was cast his way.

Noah entered from the storeroom carrying three more loaves and, catching sight of the stranger, made his way across the room. He set down the bread and extended a hand. “Noah Hughes.”

Mr. Gates rose and shook the hand. “Jason Gates.”

The introduction accomplished, he reseated himself while Noah grabbed an empty plate from a nearby table. He set it in front of the newcomer, and sounds of eating resumed while they engaged in a quiet conversation.

“Hey, Red,” whispered Big Dog across the table. “Think that’s him?”

His fork full of apple, Red studied Jason. “Might be. Do you recollect the name Yesler mentioned?”

The dark-haired man next to him answered. “I do. It was Gates. That’s him, all right.”

Kathryn followed their gazes toward Jason. She’d never thought to ask what brought him to Seattle. He was to be a millworker, then, like these men. Could millworkers afford Madame’s rates for a private room at the Faulkner House?

Evie left the stove, hands once again full, and headed toward Jason’s table. When she arrived, Noah took a bowl of dumplings from her.

“This is my wife, the best cook in all of Seattle, as you’ll soon discover. Evie, this is Jason Gates, Henry Yesler’s new mill manager.”

Jason rose from his chair to greet her while Red and Big Dog exchanged nods.

“We’ve been expecting you, Mr. Gates.” Evie set down a bowl of stewed apples. “Please sit down and help yourself.”

When Jason had lowered himself once again, Evie wiped her hands on her apron. “How funny. The
Fair Lady
delivered two new managers to Seattle today. One for the mill and one for the Faulkner House.” She turned a wide smile toward Kathryn.

Jason’s eyebrows shot upward, and he leveled a piercing gaze on her. “Oh?”

Kathryn busied herself with her plate. She and Madame may have reached an uneasy truce regarding her title, but that had not yet been communicated to the guests. Would he correct their hostess and name her a common hotel maid? If he embarrassed her here, in front of all these people, she would die of humiliation.

“I suppose you two met on board?” Evie’s sharp-eyed glance volleyed between them.

A long silence, and then Jason answered. “Yes. Yes, we did.”

Kathryn released a pent-up breath. Apparently he had decided to display some of those gentlemanly manners for which she had praised him earlier.

The door opened once again. More customers? Goodness, this restaurant certainly enjoyed a brisk trade.

Evie called a greeting. “Captain Baker! I hoped we would have the pleasure of seeing you this evening.”

Kathryn straightened to attention. Sure enough, the captain and his first mate entered the restaurant. Excellent. No need to wait until morning to arrange for her return trip.

“You know I won’t miss an opportunity to enjoy a meal at Evangeline’s.” His gaze circled the room and came to rest on Kathryn. “I see some of my passengers have already found their way here.”

He gave a courtly half-bow in her direction and then took a chair across from Jason. Kathryn finished her meal as quickly as
propriety allowed and excused herself to the disappointment of the men seated around her. Once again she became the focus of every pair of eyes in the room as she made her way across the aisle. When she approached the captain’s table, all three men rose politely.

“Pardon the interruption, Captain. Might I have a word with you?”

“Of course, my dear.” He waved toward an empty chair. “Won’t you be seated?”

Not exactly what she had in mind. She’d hoped to speak to the captain in private, but she couldn’t very well expect him to leave his dinner to grow cold, could she? She glanced at Jason, who didn’t quite meet her eye.

“Thank you.”

She sat, smoothing her skirts as the men returned to their chairs.

“Would it be possible to book a return passage to San Francisco when the
Fair Lady
leaves on Friday?”

What she really wanted to ask was how much the voyage would cost. If the price were too high, she hoped he would agree to defer payment until after their arrival in San Francisco. His answer took her aback.

“I’m afraid not.” Captain Baker picked up his fork and speared a gooey apple slice. “Every bunk is spoken for this trip.”

“What?” Disbelief stiffened her spine. “Surely you have room for one more.”

“Not on this voyage. I’ve got a ship full of lumberjacks heading south, eager to spend their hard-earned pay.”

“But…” She cast about in her mind, her thoughts whipping into a desperate pace. “Can’t one of them wait until the next ship?”

The skipper and his mate exchanged a smile. “It wouldn’t just be one of them, now, would it? Not unless you intend to bunk with a cabin full of lumberjacks. We have no private accommodations on the
Fair Lady,
as you well know.”

On the trip here there had been six empty bunks in the cabin
Kathryn had shared with Miss Everett. Jason had given up the pretense of eating to watch the exchange. She ignored him.

“Eight men, then. I’m sure my father will make it worth your while.”

“I gave my word to your father to see you safely to Seattle. I’ve done that.” Captain Baker awarded her a paternalistic smile. “I doubt if he intended for you to turn around and go home immediately.”

She was still trying to come up with a persuasive argument when the door opened yet again. This time it burst inward and slammed into the wall with a loud
crack.
A man rushed into the restaurant, his eyes wild and his breath coming in ragged gulps. His head whipped back and forth as he searched the room.

Noah, who had been standing near one of the tables talking with the men while they ate, straightened. “What is it, Lawson? Is something wrong?”

Laying eyes on him, Lawson ran across the room and grabbed Noah by the arm. “It’s the Indians! They’re attacking!”

Chair legs scraped on wood as half the occupants in the room leaped to their feet. Kathryn joined them, her heart thudding in her throat. An Indian attack?

The room began to whirl and her vision darkened. A last thought shouted in her mind before she collapsed. Here was yet another item to add to the list of complaints for Papa. If, of course, she lived to present them.

Three

J
ason lurched sideways in time to catch Kathryn as she crumpled. He scooped up her still form, her weight no more than a satchel full of feathers.

“She’s fainted,” shouted a deep voice.

“Quick, get some smelling salts,” instructed someone else.

A few men rushed toward him, pressing close to stare at the drooping figure in his arms while the man who’d rushed into the room collected his own audience near the door. Someone pulled out a chair and he collapsed into it, panting heavily.

Jason shifted his weight from one boot to the other. What in the world was he to do with a fainting woman? Stand there and hold her until she came to? Lay her out on the table? The floor? He was just about to deposit her into the arms of the big man who hovered anxiously over him when Mrs. Hughes’s voice cut through the worried chatter.

“Get back, everyone. Give her room.” She shoved her way between two men as if they were tall stalks of river grass, pulling the stopper from a bottle. “Here. It’s just vinegar, but it ought to do the trick.”

Actually, Kathryn’s eyelids were already fluttering. When Mrs.
Hughes held the bottle beneath her nose, her head jerked away and her skull cracked against his chin.

“Ow!” He couldn’t even rub his stinging jaw.

“She’s awake,” announced the proprietress, and a collective sigh sounded around the room. She laid a hand across Kathryn’s forehead. “Kathryn, dear, are you all right?”

“Yes, I—I’m fine.” Her voice trembled on the last word, but otherwise sounded strong enough. When she looked into his face, her eyes went wide and her body stiffened in his arms. “Please put me down immediately.”

“Here.” Evie scooted out a chair, and Jason wasted no time in depositing Kathryn in it. He whirled on his heel and pushed his way through the hovering men to join those circled around the messenger, watching him gulp down a cup of water. She was in capable hands, many pairs of them.

“That’s right, drink it all and catch your breath.” Noah spoke through a clenched jaw, tension obvious in the cords standing out on his neck.

“Hurry up,” urged one of the men watching. “Tell us what’s happened.”

Lawson drained the water and lowered the cup, his chest heaving. “There’s been another attack, up near Holmes Harbor. Fella from over in Alki disappeared, and a posse set out to track him. Didn’t find him, but they was attacked by a group of Indians. Killed a couple, and one of them was killed too. Shot clean through.”

Alki Point. Jason knew the place. The
Fair Lady
had passed the settlement on the way here, on the exposed side of the Sound. Word had it that was the place where the founders of Seattle landed first
before coming here in search of a site with shelter from the harsh seas during rough weather.

While Lawson talked, the men surrounding Kathryn had joined them, and now they mumbled to one another. Their voices contained equal tones of anger and fear.