Part 5 (1/2)
”The lost Indian mines?”
He nodded.
Daisy felt like she'd had the breath knocked out of her. Here she was on the verge of becoming rhapsodic because Tyler had endangered his life for her and he was a victim of gold fever just like her father.
She actually felt unwell. She dropped her gaze to the blanket covering her. She hadn't realized until now how much she had counted on his being a sensible, dependable man.
”If you don't feel like getting up, you can eat your breakfast in bed,” Tyler offered.
”No, I'm all right,” Daisy said, throwing off the covers. The cool air was a relief from the scorching heat of embarra.s.sment and shock. She wouldn't have minded splinters. Anything to take her mind off her thoughts.
Daisy stared out the window at the huge snowflakes floated down to the earth like pieces of heavenly confetti. The whole world seemed to be white -- the ground, the trees, the mountains in the distance, even the air itself. The wind had finally stopped. Nothing moved now. She heard no sound, not even the snap and pop of pines and firs as they adjusted to the bitter cold. Only Tyler's footsteps in the snow showed evidence of any living creature outside the cabin.
Tyler was the reason she was staring out the window. She was trying to understand why learning he was searching for gold had devastated her so. She didn't know him well enough to be so strongly affected.
He was the first man who had ever made her feel she was special, not just someone to do the cooking and cleaning. He seemed unaffected by her size, her freckles, the dreadful bandage, or the danger that surrounded her. He had taken everything in stride, even her crying.
He had risked his life for her, continued to risk it, without expecting anything in return. That made her feel important. She had placed a great value on that importance. It made her feel worthy in a way nothing else ever had.
Only now it wasn't worth anything at all. She couldn't value the opinion of a man who would waste his life looking for gold. But even as she told herself to put Tyler out of her mind, that she didn't want to know anything more about him, have any more to do with him, doubts began to appear.
He had rescued her. He had taken her to his cabin knowing the killers were still after her, that they were likely to be after him as well. Maybe he wasn't as consumed by the search for gold as her father had been. Maybe he bossed people around out of habit, not out of an inbred certainty he knew best for everyone.
She told herself not to be a fool. She was probably reading too much into his acts of kindness. Any decent man would have done what he did. She'd better get herself down this mountain before her imagination got her into trouble.
She sighed deeply. ”The weather's clearing,” she said to Zac. ”The sun might come out. Maybe I can leave tomorrow.”
Tyler had left her alone with Zac for most of the morning. He was avoiding her. She was tempted to tell him he was jumping at shadows. She had no desire to live on this mountaintop with a taciturn, bearded prospector who had no money and did his best to appear unlikable.
”Why are you so anxious to leave?” Zac asked. ”You'd think you were afraid of us.”
”I'm not afraid, not anymore, but I'm sure your brother would like his bed back. And quite frankly, I'd feel better at home.”
”But you don't have a home. It burned.”
Stupid of her to forget. She still couldn't get used to it. ”I meant at my friend's home.” The lump in her throat made the words difficult. ”Besides, he can't be used to having a female about.”
”He's not used to having anybody about.”
Zac had been dealing cards all morning. Daisy wondered what a nearly grown man could find in cards to interest him so much.
”He was fit to be tied when I showed up.”
”You don't stay here with him?”
”Good G.o.d, no. I've been at school, but I ran away.”
”Why?” Daisy had always wanted to go to school. Her father had told her of the colleges for women that had begun to appear after the end of the War between the States, but she had always known there was no chance she might actually go to one. Zac had been given that wonderful opportunity and he had thrown it away.
”It's boring. I hated it. I like action and excitement.”
”Then why did you come here?”
”Because I'm hiding from George.”
”Who's George?”
”My oldest brother. He fancies himself the head of the family,” Zac said, aggrieved. ”He let everybody else do what they wanted, but he sent me to college.”
”Everybody else?”
”Yeah, I've got six brothers.”
”Six!”
”Not a one of them went to college except Madison. You couldn't get Monty or Hen inside one with a gun. Maybe Jeff, but n.o.body else.”
”Well I think you're a great fool to run way. Just think of all you're missing?”
”I know what I'm missing. That's why I left.” Zac stopped dealing his cards and glared at her. ”Why do you care?”
”I don't care exactly, but I think you should have stayed at school.”
Daisy turned back to the window to escape Zac's indignant gaze. She considered going for a walk just to get a few minutes to herself. She needed some privacy. She missed her own room. It was hard always being in the presence of someone else, especially when that someone wasn't the least bit pleased about it.
She looked out the window again. The sun hadn't come out, but it had stopped snowing. It was clear enough for her to see the snow was far too deep to even consider trying to make it home. She turned and surveyed the cabin. It was smaller than her home had been. It had a wood floor but no loft and was dominated by the most elaborate cooking stoves she had ever seen.
It was obvious the cabin was very well made. The doors and windows fitted without cracks. Everything looked smooth and square. Even the logs in the walls had been planed, the mud between them worked smooth until it gave the walls a finished look. The floorboards fitted without cracks, splits, or warping.
The cabin was surprisingly well furnished. In addition to the bed, there was a table with four chairs, a chest of drawers, and a large trunk. A double row of pegs lined the wall on either side of the door for coats, slickers, and hats. Shelves below that for shoes. The shelves covering the far side of the cabin contained the books, a wide selection of tools, and the largest collection of ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils Daisy had ever seen.
She looked around, but she could see no sign a woman had ever lived in the cabin. It was without decoration.
There was plenty of room for her to mark off a small corner for herself.
”Does your brother have any cord or rope?”
Zac's reply was surly. ”What do you want it for?”
”To put a curtain across that corner,” she said, pointing to the window she had just left. ”I need some privacy.”
”I don't see why.”