A Home for His Family

“One dollar and two bits, please.”

“Why the change in price?”

“Cash money is hard to come by. Bull train drivers want cash from the Chinese instead of gold.” The man’s smile disappeared as he shook his head. “They do not trust the Chinese. Will not accept gold dust from us for fear it is not pure.”

Nate handed over the coins in his hand.

Hung Cho bowed as he slipped the money into some folds in his robe. “Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.”

They left the store and then turned right, toward the center of the mining camp. As they crossed an alley and stepped back up on the boardwalk in front of a row of businesses, Charley tilted his head up to look at him. “Where are we going to eat, Uncle Nate?”

They were passing an empty space between two canvas tents. A couple barrels stood close to the boardwalk. “How about right here?”

They settled themselves on the barrels and divided the food between them. Charley shoved the crackers into his mouth two at a time.

“Whoa there, boy. Those crackers won’t disappear. Take your time.”

Charley grinned at him and Nate took a bite of his apple as he settled in to watch the traffic on Main Street.

Two doors down was a saloon, and beyond that were signs for several more. Across the street, a large building had a sign, The Mystic Theater, but from the look of the young women leaning over the rail of the balcony, much more than theatrical entertainment was available there. James MacFarland had been right about the saloon girls—they seemed to be everywhere. This must be the Badlands of Deadwood he had heard the bullwhackers mention.

Nate took another bite of his apple and looked closely at the women on the balcony. The youngest seemed to be no more than sixteen, while a couple of them wore the bored look of years of experience in their business. The apple turned sour in his mouth. He swallowed that bite and then offered the rest to Charley.

Mattie, if she was still alive, would be the age of those older women. Did her face bear that same expression? She would be thirty-two years old by now, and it had been almost fourteen years since she had disappeared.

He watched the two women, their mouths red slashes against their pale, white faces. The dresses they wore had been brightly colored at one time, but now looked sadly faded next to the younger girls, like roses that clung to a few blown and sun-bleached petals.

He hoped that Mattie had found her way out of that life.

He sighed and took a cracker. Turned it in his hands. The last time he had searched for his sister and come home again with no news, Andrew had told him to give it up. If she wanted to come home, she’d find her way.

But Andrew didn’t live with the memory of her face the night he told her he was running away to join the army. The hard, crystalline planes that shut him out.

“You’ll kill Ma and Pa,” she had whispered as she tried to wrest his bundle of clothes from him. “And then what will I do?”

He had turned from her, bent on following Andrew, but she had been right. By the time he had come home after the war was over, Ma and Pa were dead, and Mattie was gone.

He looked back up at the balcony of the Mystic. He’d never give up looking, hoping that someday he’d find her before... The cracker snapped between his fingers. He refused to listen to that voice inside that kept telling him it was too late.

When Charley finished his lunch, Nate wrapped up the rest of the crackers and cheese.

“Let’s go see what the town looks like.”

The street was crowded with men all going nowhere in particular and Nate pulled Charley closer to his side. Between the coarse language and the open bottles of liquor, he knew this wasn’t a place Andrew and Jenny would want their son to be. But this was where they were.

The businesses crowded together between the hills rising behind them and the narrow mudhole that passed for a street. Nate slowed his pace as the storefronts turned from the saloons to a printing office. Next came a general store and a clothing store, with a tobacconist wedged in between. Across the street was Star and Bullock, a large hardware store that filled almost an entire block.

And in the middle of it all, just where the street took a steep slope up to a higher level on the hill, men worked a mining claim. Nate shook his head. In all his travels through the West, he had never seen anything quite like Deadwood.

“Look, Uncle Nate. There’s Miss Sarah!”

Charley ran ahead to where the MacFarlands stood at the end of the block. Nate halted, watching Sarah’s face as she greeted the boy. She looked truly happy to see him. From what he had seen, busybodies from schools and orphanages never seemed to like the children they claimed to care so much about.

She didn’t fit the mold. She didn’t fit any mold.

Charley pointed his way and she looked for him. Another smile. The crowded streets seemed to fall silent, and Nate saw several of the men on the boardwalk look in her direction. He hurried to catch up with Charley.

“Miss MacFarland.” He found himself smiling, and he turned to the elder MacFarlands. “Mrs. MacFarland. James.” Lucy reached for him and he lifted her into his arms.

Sarah’s wide skirts swung as she turned toward him. “Was your errand a success?”

“The broken axle is being repaired as we speak.”

“We were just on our way to see the new storefront Uncle James rented. Would you and Charley like to come along?”

“Say yes, Uncle Nate. Please?” Charley clung to his free hand, while Olivia hopped up and down. He couldn’t say no to them.

“We’ll be pleased to accompany you.”

They all followed James as he turned down a side street and led the way toward a boarded-up saloon. Nate let Sarah go ahead of him, Charley and Olivia each holding on to one of her hands, while he followed with Lucy. Anyone watching would think they were a family.

Nate let that idea sift through until it soured his stomach. A family? He hugged Lucy close as he carried her. These children were all the family he needed, and he didn’t deserve even this.

* * *

When they reached the building on Lee Street, a few doors from the corner at Main, Sarah took Lucy’s and Olivia’s hands while Nate and Uncle James pulled the slats from the boarded-up door. Once there was an opening, Uncle James led them in.

“This is a church?” Olivia let go of Sarah’s hand and stepped farther into the room. “It looks like a saloon.”

Uncle James cleared his throat as Margaret followed Olivia to the bar that extended from one end of the room to the other. “The latest tenants ran a drinking establishment, and it needs work.”

Aunt Margaret stared at him. “You said you had found a storefront.”

Lucy tightened her grasp on Sarah’s other hand at the ice in Margaret’s voice. Sarah gave her small hand a reassuring squeeze. “It does need a lot of work, but I can see the possibilities.” She led Lucy to the center of the room to get a feeling for the size of the space. “If that bar is removed...”

“And that hideous mirror behind it.” Aunt Margaret waved her hand in the direction of the gold-flecked monstrosity on the wall. A narrow hole in the center radiated spiderweb cracks in all directions.

“There will be room enough for whoever comes to worship.” Sarah glanced around the room again. A piano listed to the side in one corner. Perhaps there would be someone in town who knew how to repair it.

She glanced back at Nate, standing in the doorway. He was removing nails from the wood slats, one by one. He didn’t seem to want to come any farther into the dusty building.

Margaret sniffed as she ran one finger along the top of the bar and inspected her glove.

“You need to see this place as I do, dear.” Uncle James crossed the room to his wife and pulled both of her hands into his own. “With some effort, we can redeem this place for the Lord’s work.” He turned to look around the room. Sarah had to smile at the grin on his face. Uncle James was a hopeless optimist.

No, not hopeless. He had confidence in the Lord’s leading.

“What I see is a den of iniquity.” Margaret’s voice softened. “But if anyone can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, it’s you, James MacFarland.”

“When we started the church in China, we didn’t even have a building. Only a stone slab and rubble.” James sighed, the smile still on his face. “Here we have a good roof, a good floor and two large rooms. The Lord has blessed us, indeed.”

“Two rooms?” Sarah had planned to teach in this room, but if there was another...

“Right through that door.” James nodded toward the far end of the bar.

Sarah picked up Lucy and started across the dirty floor, skirting a broken chair on the way. Olivia and Charley came behind them. When she opened the door, Charley crowding past, she nearly dropped Lucy. A man stood in the center of the room, a white felt hat and cane in one hand and a sheaf of papers in the other. He looked up when she gasped.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought this room was vacant.” Sarah stepped back, pulling Charley with her.

The man smiled as he took a step toward her. “There’s no need to go. I am to meet my client here. A Mr. MacFarland?”

Uncle James was at her side. “Mr. Montgomery.” The two men shook hands. “You’re early. I was just showing the building to my wife and niece.”

“Wilson Montgomery, at your service, Mrs. MacFarland. Miss MacFarland.” He bowed his head in Margaret’s direction and then in Sarah’s. His voice was cultured and his manners impeccable, except that his gaze lingered on Sarah a little too long before he turned back to Uncle James.

“Mr. Montgomery is from the bank. He’s handling the lease on this building.”

“Why don’t we ladies inspect this room while you and Mr. Montgomery attend to your business?” Aunt Margaret shooed Sarah and the children into the back room and closed the door behind them.

“Well, what do you think?”

Sarah looked around the room. It had its own entrance from the alley on the side of the building, and with a window next to the outer door, the room was light and airy.

“I like it.” She walked from one wall to the other, mentally placing benches and a chalkboard.

“No, no. Not the room. Mr. Montgomery.” Aunt Margaret’s words hissed in a loud whisper.

“Mr. Montgomery?” Sarah eased Lucy down to the floor. Olivia took her sister to the window to join Charley.

“Don’t you think he’s perfect? James told me about him last night. He’s from Boston.”

Aunt Margaret ended her pronouncement with a smile. Sarah grasped her aunt’s meaning.

“You don’t mean you think that he...” Sarah shook her head. “Don’t start matchmaking, Aunt Margaret. You know I’m too old to marry, and no man will appreciate a spinster being thrown at him.”

“Oh, now,” Aunt Margaret sputtered, “I would never throw you at him. He attends the church and is a very eligible bachelor. He is the manager of the First National Bank of Deadwood, and his father is the owner.”

As she ended her sales pitch, Sarah sighed. “If he is that eligible, don’t you have to ask yourself why he isn’t already married? In my experience, once a man reaches a certain age without being married, there is usually a good reason for it.”

“In your experience? My dear, you haven’t had that much experience.”

Sarah watched the children at the window. Charley had found a spider and the three of them were engrossed in its meal of an insect caught in its web. She would rather not talk about men with Aunt Margaret. Her aunt had been thirty-five when she met Uncle James, fresh from the mission field in China. Since she had married late in life, she held that there was hope for every woman. But a man, at least a good man, was a rare bird.

Nate opened the door between the two rooms and stepped in.

“It’s time for Charley and me to head back to the wheelwright’s. The axle should be done by now.”

Sarah turned to greet him. His timing couldn’t have been better. Maybe he would take Aunt Margaret’s mind off Wilson Montgomery.

“I’m so glad we met in town so you could inspect the new church and school with us.” She crossed the room, slipped one hand into the crook of his elbow and swept the other across the room with a grand gesture. “This is our academy. What do you think?”

His gaze followed the sweep of her hand. “It’s a right fine room. But you’ll need desks, won’t you? And a chalkboard? And books?”

Margaret was watching them, so she leaned a little closer. “I brought books with me, and Uncle James will build benches for the students to use.” She looked up at him. “I’m not sure what to do about the chalkboard. Do you have any ideas?” She considered batting her eyes, but she had never done that to any man, and she wasn’t about to start now.

He lifted her hand off his arm and stepped away. “I’m sure you’ll think of something, Miss MacFarland.” When he grinned, a dimple appeared in his chin. She hadn’t noticed it yesterday. Shaving certainly made a difference in a man’s looks.

Nate walked over to the window. “Charley, it’s time to go.”

He ushered the boy toward the door leading to the alley and turned to Sarah. The shadow of his smile still lingered. “We’ll come for the girls as soon as we get the wagon fixed.”

“You’ll stay for supper tonight, of course.” Aunt Margaret’s voice denied any argument.

Nate turned his hat between his hands and looked at Charley. “I appreciate it, ma’am, I surely do. But the children and I need to set up our camp.”

Sarah’s throat tightened. Once he left with the children, would she ever see him again?

Her face heated with a sudden flush. Where had that thought come from? But still, something made her want to have more time with him. And the children.

“You must eat supper with us tonight.” His eyes met hers. “And I think I know where there is a perfect spot for you to camp, right near the cabin.”

He glanced at the children, watching him. They were waiting for his decision with bated breath, just like she was.

Finally he shoved his hat on his head. “I know when I’m outnumbered.” He turned to Aunt Margaret. “I’m certainly beholden to you for your hospitality, ma’am. I don’t know how I’ll be able to repay you.”

“Pishposh.” Aunt Margaret waved her hand in the air. “You don’t need to repay anything. We’re glad to have the company.”

Sarah followed him to the door and stepped outside. Charley wandered toward the front of the building, but Nate turned to her. Sunshine had chased all the morning clouds away, and it shone brightly into the alley. She shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at him.

“I’m glad you decided to have supper another night with us. I would hate to give up the children’s company so soon.”

“Is it their company, or are you still going to try to talk me into letting them come to your school?”

“You know already that I would love for them to attend and that I think it is the best thing for them.” Nate started to turn away, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “But I will respect your wishes concerning them.”

He looked at her, his chin tilted just enough for her to see she hadn’t convinced him, but his teasing grin lingered.

“You won’t mention the school, to me or to the children?”

Could she just give up on making sure those children had an education? On the other hand, Nate was their uncle. Maybe she could convince him that they both had the children’s best interests in mind.

Without mentioning the school.

“I promise. As long as you promise we can be friends.”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “Friends? All right, friend.” He stepped backward. “I’ll see you at suppertime.” He caught up with Charley at the corner of the building and disappeared.

Yes, he certainly was a rare bird.

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