Elizabeth noticed that there was another rider that had accompanied the coach via horseback. She shuddered, thinking of being astride in a saddle for hours on end. If the coach was uncomfortable, she could not imagine the pain once dismounting a horse after so long. She was not a horsewoman at all and the times she had ridden had left her horribly sore and tender in a very short time. She watched as the horse circled nervously as the man dismounted and patted it gently along the side of its mane.
The figure was certainly eye-catching to look upon! As he stood there next to the horse, he beat the dust off his pants and jacket. She had watched him had swing a leg over the saddle and come down from his horse with practiced ease. His denim fit nicely against his body and she was mortified to have noticed how it fit right away.
As she continued to ogle him, she noticed that he had looked up from under the brim of his hat and saw her watching. Her eyes met his and he tipped his hat towards her in acknowledgement. Elizabeth sunk back into the seat, embarrassed. She had not intended to be caught staring at the strange man!
She then heard a man’s voice yell out, “Are you ladies going to stretch your legs a few or should we keep going?” Was it her handsome rider or the brutish coachmen? Didn’t matter; neither woman wanted to stay in the carriage. Their eyes met across the small expanse as they shared the same thought.
Elizabeth started in her seat, when Abigail shrieked, “No! I am getting out!” The little girl exited the conveyance. These were the first words she had spoken all afternoon and May looked to be quite dismayed at the rambunctiousness of the young girl.
“Abigail! Manners! Ladies do not behave as such,” she chided and followed her down the small steps as quickly as her protesting muscles would allow her. Elizabeth thought of her mother just then and the strict upbringing she’d had. Such gentle chastising would have been followed with a swift rap on the knuckles.
Elizabeth followed their suit and groaned at the movement. Her body was tight and sore from attempting to hold herself still from all the jostling. She distinctly had chafed areas from her elongated corset and winced as it dug into her side, yet again. Stepping down, she stifled another moan as it felt so good to be standing for a moment.
She surveyed the area and noticed, first, all the trees and the silence of the landscape. It was so very different from Indianapolis or St. Louis. In town, it was not unusual to hear music from the saloon or horses racing by. Here in the middle of nowhere, she could hear the wind blowing through the trees, twigs snapping from the horses pawing the ground. Abigail’s laughter carried in the air with a bird’s melody. It was peaceful and majestic. Elizabeth excused herself as she headed off towards May and Abigail.
The coachman had informed the ladies that there was a small stream nearby if they wanted fresh water and to wash up. Elizabeth fully intended to take advantage of it. The idea of washing down her neck and face with cool water was certainly tempting! She broke through the tree line into a small clearing and found the two females splashing about. Farther down the stream, she noticed the cowboy had taken his horse to the edge and was filling his own canteen with the cool water.
She watched as he took his hat, revealing dark brown curls that looked like something you would see atop a fancy cake at a French bakery. Elizabeth felt a kinship as she watched him dunk his head into the cool water and run a hand through those wet curls, tousling them everywhere. She saw him glance over and smile at her. Elizabeth smiled shyly back and turned away. She wished she could dunk her hair into the water. Instead, she settled for her kerchief and mopped at her neck, delicately attempting to remove some of the sweat from the day. The spring day was dreadfully humid and made her clothing dreadfully warm.
Cole watched the young woman look him over and smirked. She was dressed along the lines of something you would see in a newspaper or tailor’s window. Her figure was certainly eye-catching, too! There was something about seeing a woman’s hourglass figure that was enticing. Her face was delicate and pale, a sure sign she was not used to the sun and trails ahead. He could almost guarantee that her hands were as soft as the young girls and had not seen a day of work. The stylish up-do looked ready to topple with a stiff wind. Sure it was pretty, but all those curls piled up haphazardly made it look like she had a cloud atop her head.
“Those women sure are lookers, ain’t they, Cole?” the driver commented while his shotgun agreed heartily. The two elbowed each other a few times like children, grinning and pushing back their large Stetsons. The shotgun had been brought along as guard at Cole’s request. He did not want to travel alone and the fact that there were only three young ladies present did not sit well with him. He did not want to be held up on the slim chance they were carrying post or payroll. No one would know until they had already been stopped and it was too late at that point, sometimes. He had talked the stagers who ran the line into “protecting their investment and reputation” by offering to use their post exclusively for the ranch he had just inherited from his father.
His father had passed unexpectedly during a flash flood that had swept out a small, dry creek bed. His father had been celebrating a bit hard when acquiring several head of steer to drive and the water had overtaken him easily. Flash floods were nothing to fool around with if it had been extremely dry. The clay and limestone made it hard for the ground to absorb a large amount of water quickly. Locals called them “gully washers” and dry streams turned into raging creeks, and sometimes rivers, depending on where you were at. The weather could be as mercurial as a woman’s temperament, his father had always told him. This time, the “woman” was right and he was wrong… dead wrong.
Cole had received a telegram announcing his father’s passing and asking him to come down in order to settle the estate. He had left his childhood home in Texas to make his own mark. Now it seemed he would be returning once again to his home with an opportunity to do just that. He hated that he and his father had parted on not so good of terms, but his father understood that “a man needed to be a man” and told him he would always have a home when he was ready. Cole was far from ready, but his home needed him now.
He shook his head to clear his train of thought, grunting at the two that were still commiserating together. “Yes, they are lovely and you are here to do a job, I believe. Not gain a wife,” he said sternly eying the two of them. Last thing he needed was two imbeciles doing something stupid. He did not want to go toe-to-toe with a hired gunman, even if it was a legal one. They were danger waiting to happen.
“Just ‘cause I can read the paper, don’t mean I wrote it! I can look without it hurtin’ no one, Cole” the driver whined, frustrated that he was being called out by a fellow male. “Don’t you like the ladies?” he asked, elbowing his friend with a grin.
Cole had to smother a laugh as the driver chimed in loudly, surprised, “You can read?” Neither was very bright and both were thinking with their pants, not their heads. It ended up with them barking a few harsh terms at each other and a few well-placed shoves for the gunman to back down. Cole observed it all carefully. Apparently, the driver was the bully of the group and in charge, in more ways than one. Cole would have to be careful that he did not end up left somewhere or worse as they traveled. If they teamed up and decided to, it would be two armed men against him.
The thought of leaving three young women, two of which were certainly voluptuous and easy on the eyes, alone in the wilds did not set well with him. The third was a very young girl that would not be able to fend for herself. He felt very protective and had been raised to look after the fairer sex. A lesson he had learned well from watching his father worship his mother until her passing. He remembered his father being so proud that he had surprised her with a small player piano for Christmas one year and how happy she was. “Always take care of the ladies, my boy. They have such gentle, loving souls.” Cole could hear his father as clear as day.
Cole looked back over at the women, eying the staunchly dressed one more so than the other. The young blonde was either the mother or older sister of the young girl. You could see a definite relationship there in their appearance. The brunette was a different matter.
He noticed that she held herself quite rigidly and had a sense of poise about her. The blonde was smiling and laughing, splashing with the young girl. The brunette, however, reminded him of a still, dark lake: cool, smooth, inviting and soothing. There was something about her that called out to him, especially when he caught her staring at him. It surprised him at first to see a spark in her dark eyes, but she quickly covered it and moved on. He would like to see that spark again or see her cool exterior open up.
Cole walked over to where the women knelt by the creek. “Ladies? We will be heading out again shortly. May I offer you a hand up?” he asked gallantly and stretched out his hand specifically towards the women. He watched as the blonde grinned at him and adjusted the young girl’s skirt. He noticed she had a small band on her finger as she placed her hand in his, pulling herself up.
“Thank you so much, mister,” May said politely and called out to the young girl to follow her. He watched them turn away to head back towards the grouping.
Cole reached out his hand once again, this time with a gentle smile towards the dark-haired goddess. “And you, my lady?” he said lightly, expecting her to do the same. He was surprised that she hesitated for a moment and then lightly placed her hand in his.
I was right
, Cole thought,
her hands are smooth as silk.
He tugged gently, aiding her into an upright position. He noticed her lack of movement and thought it a shame fashion caused such restriction. He wondered what she would look like if she had her hair down and her body free from the corset. As she stood, her eyes never met his. He did notice that she barely came to his chin and had the most porcelain skin he had ever seen. He could only imagine those dark curls and that pale skin everywhere. Cole shook his head to lose such thoughts. He felt like he was as bad as the other two from the coach.
Cole watched fascinated as she shook out her skirts, smoothed her hair and returned back to the stage. She was a lady through and through. She deserved much better than a bunch of men leering at her or making comments behind her back. She was class and out of her element.
Here, in this part of the country, she would be surrounded by hard working folks in most cases… unless she was on her way to a husband already. Picturing her with another man seemed like a shame and made him envious for no reason. He had no claim to her,
but I’d like to,
he thought suddenly, surprising himself.
Elizabeth felt nervous. The polite man that helped her up from her grassy seat was devastatingly handsome and watching her closely. She felt like she was being analyzed or judged. It made her feel very uncomfortable and she wanted to get away as quickly as possible. She was concerned that, maybe, he recognized her from the papers which had announced her upcoming wedding in Indianapolis. That paper had circulated the day before she fled. Elizabeth had flinched at every congratulation on her upcoming nuptials that had been said to her.
She made straight-away for the coach to hide from his intense gaze inside its walls. She felt as if she would never get to her destination fast enough. They had been traveling for several hours now and had traveled approximately 40 miles. Unfortunately, they still had well over five hundred miles to go. It would take almost a week of traveling non-stop to get to Fort Worth. This would be the furthest she had ever journeyed, much less alone.
Her parents would be distraught that their chances of making a match had been ruined. She wished that it would be the fact that their daughter was gone, but Elizabeth knew better. It was all about appearances and who you knew in town.
“
That is how you get anywhere in this world,”
is what her father would state repeatedly to his friends and family. It was always about appearances and how you were viewed or received. That is why she was always in the accursed corset when she would like nothing more than to be able to relax and breathe. Her mother insisted upon them daily to ensure that her daughters were the ultimate in form and grace.
Elizabeth joined the two females in the coach and made herself as comfortable as possible. She watched the cowboy mount his horse and saw him tip his hat towards her. She’d been caught, yet again, watching him. Bravely, she gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and turned her face away, still watching him from the corner of her eye. He had been so polite to assist them all up from the creek and it was much appreciated since her stays held her so tightly. She adjusted herself in the seat again and prepared herself as the coach lunged forward with no notice, once again. Elizabeth stared out the window to view the area, silently lost in thought. She dreamed of her old life she left behind and wondered what her new life would bring in the land ahead.
The rest of the afternoon flew by as Elizabeth chatted amicably with May, learning all she could from the young woman. May had been married to her husband since she had been sixteen. Her groom had been a friend of her father’s, who had lost his wife in childbirth.
May seemed extremely happy and content that he had offered for her, even if he was almost twenty years her senior. He had been making ends meet for their family but with the offer of land in another state at such a cheap price, they had made the decision to start out anew to make something of themselves. They had taken their savings and purchased over seventy acres along with thirty head of cattle. John, May’s husband, had been working on their homestead for quite some time and she was more than ready to join him to help set up.