Frontier Bride

Randolph appeared not the least intimidated by the captain’s size. “It so happens, Captain, that we are paying you, not the other way around. Which means if we want to stop a day, then that’s our decision.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “You’re wrong, Webster. I take it you’ve never been in the army? You can think of this as a campaign. You all are the soldiers…and I’m the general.”

“You can call yourself a captain if you like, Reed, but we’re not in any damn army. You’re a hired hand, and we’re your employers. You’ll do as we say.”

There was no longer any pretense of a smile. “That’s not the way it works, Webster. If you feel that way, I have no choice but to take you all back to Philadelphia.”

The two men sized each other up like rival bulls, but Hannah could see that, whereas Randolph was losing his temper, Ethan kept his on a careful leash. There was no doubt in her mind who was the more dangerous. And she was not about to let their antagonism flare into open combat.

“Gentlemen,” she said sharply. “It’s not doing any good to have the two of you glaring at each other. Can’t we sit down and discuss this like civilized people?”

Ethan turned to her. His voice was calm enough, but it was obvious that his irritation now extended to her. “There’s nothing to discuss, mistress. Perhaps I should have explained to you more fully last night, but it seemed I had other things on my mind.” His eyes skimmed briefly over her face. Hannah tried to hold steady, but finally dropped her gaze and engaged herself in smoothing her cotton skirt. After a moment, Ethan continued, “I also did not want to alarm the group.”

“Alarm us about what, Captain Reed?” Eliza Baker asked.

Ethan turned toward her, instantly respectful. “There are Seneca through this stretch of the trail, ma’am. They aren’t normally any trouble, but there’ve been a few rumors lately, and I didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Of course not,” Eliza said. She had the slightly quavery, calming voice of the grandmother she would now never be. “How much longer will we be at risk, Captain?”

“We should be out of their territory within two days, maybe three.”

“Let’s get moving then,” she said briskly. “I’ll give Nancy Trask some of my tonic this morning, and tonight I’ll brew her some sassafras tea to make her sleep. We’ll keep her going until you decide on a safe place for us to stop.”

Ethan gave the round little woman a grateful smile. Then he nodded curtly to Randolph and Hannah and strode briskly away.

* * *

Randolph kept his horse in line next to Hannah’s mule all that day, except for a short time around noon when he rode back to inquire as to the condition of Nancy Trask. The pregnant woman had appeared to be embarrassed that an argument had taken place on her account, and before they started out that morning she had assured everyone that she was perfectly fine. And, indeed, whether it was sheer power of will or Eliza’s tonic, her cheeks did have a bit of color for the first time in several days. Hugh Trask had been irritated at all the fuss, apparently feeling that it implied that he couldn’t take care of his own wife. He told Randolph as much when he came to inquire, and said brusquely that he’d thank him and the rest of the party to stay out of their affairs.

Hannah also found herself regretting the morning’s confrontation, and she wanted to find a moment to talk alone with Captain Reed. She did not intend to apologize exactly. After all, if he had explained to her about the Indians when she had first come to him with the issue, she would have understood and would never have gotten others involved. But she did feel bad that the morning’s incident had not helped the frosty relations between the captain and Randolph. An unspoken rivalry had grown between them even before they had left Philadelphia, and Hannah was still hoping that it had nothing to do with her. Both men were capable and intelligent. Both had congenial personalities and got along well with others. She couldn’t understand why the antagonism had developed.

The long day passed with Captain Reed pushing the party an extra hour to try to cover as much territory as possible. It wasn’t until they had pitched camp and eaten a cold dinner of salted pork and corn cakes that Hannah finally was able to talk with their guide. He was alone staking down the animals for the night. Randolph was busy in the tent playing with his children before saying good-night. Hannah walked in the darkness over to Ethan.

He smiled at her as she approached, but his welcome was not as warm as it had been on their previous meetings.

She did not waste time on preliminaries. “I’m sorry about the problems this morning,” she said. “You should have explained to me about the danger right from the beginning.”

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