“Still on the stage.”
“Let me find someone to take it off for you.” She looked out the window at the coach. “The boys are done with the exchange so someone will be free. I won’t be long.” Excusing herself with a murmur, Laurel left the dining room with none of the haste that was her preference. Behind her, she heard Mrs. Lancaster ask Berry somewhat impatiently if he was finished with his meal. The cook’s tone was so out of character when put to a guest that Laurel wondered what Mrs. Lancaster might have overheard above the din of dishes and conversation.
Laurel ran into Dillon when he came around the coach on his way to the barn. “Hold up,” she said before he bowled her over. “I need you to take Mr. Berry’s bag out of the carryall and set it in the front hall, then I want you to go into town and make arrangements for him to stay at one of the wayside homes. Start with the Kinsey house. I’ve heard they have the most comfortable accommodations. It’s only for the one night.”
Dillon swept back a lock of tawny hair that fell over his forehead when he nodded vigorously. “Bag. Front Hall. Kinsey house.”
“That’s it. You can take one of the horses.”
That pleased him. “Thanks.”
Laurel left him to get Berry’s bag while she wished her exiting guests safe travels. She waved good-bye to Holloway and his shotgun and then headed for the barn. Call, Jelly, and Hank were caring for the horses that had justbeen exchanged, washing them down and checking them for injuries. Rooster was sitting on a bench, looking disgruntled, and Laurel suspected he was there against his will. It made her wonder if his hip was plaguing him more than usual.
Everyone but Call stopped working and looked her way when she spoke. “I’m taking Mr. Berry on a property inspection. I’ll need Abby saddled along with a horse for Mr. Berry. Even-tempered and responsive to a rider with limited skills, I think. Jelly? Would you accompany me?”
Jelly came up on his toes and jabbed himself in the chest with a forefinger. “Me? You mean me?”
Laurel almost laughed. “Yes, Jelly. I’d be pleased to have you ride along. You can spare him, can’t you, Rooster?”
“Sure. He can go with you. Where will you be riding?” It was a measure of Rooster’s discomfort that he didn’t offer to accompany her himself.
“I offered to show Mr. Berry the tract of land that runs behind the town. I’ve suggested it as a good place to lay down rails.”
Now Call looked up. “He’s made his decision, then?”
“No. At least he hasn’t indicated to me that he’s firm on it. He’ll be our guest for a while, as long as he wants to look around.”
Call’s eyebrows lifted, but then so did Rooster’s, Hank’s, and Jelly’s.
“Dillon’s arranging for him to spend the night in town,” she said, answering the question no one dared to ask aloud, and then added with a touch of sarcasm, “In case you were wondering.” She heard someone approaching from behind, looked over her shoulder, and saw it was Dillon. “I told him he could take a horse,” she said to the others. “Thank you. I’m going to collect Mr. Berry.”
She heard them murmuring in their huddle as she left.
38
Mr. Berry was waiting for Laurel on the porch when she returned to the house. “They’re saddling our horses now,” she said. “You haven’t changed your mind about taking the buckboard, have you?”
“No. You said yourself it would be a rough ride.” He pointed back toward the front hall. “One of your young men put my bag inside.”
She nodded. “He’ll be on his way shortly to arrange your accommodations. I’ve asked my youngest stage tender to ride with us.”
Berry frowned slightly. “Oh? Why is that?”
“He needs the opportunity to get in the saddle. His father’s the preacher, and there’s never been much reason for him to learn to ride so he’s doing it here.”
“He’s green, then.”
Laurel smiled, nodded. “As green as a new shoot, but he’s a hard worker and eager to learn.” Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. “Here he comes. They’ve saddled Sylvia for you. She’s the one with the white star on her nose.” Laurel introduced Mr. Berry to Jelly and then to his horse. She watched him climb into the saddle before she mounted in the event he required assistance, but he managed it competently, if not comfortably.
She started out with Berry riding abreast and Jelly lagging behind. She hadn’t told Jelly where she wantedhim, but he had either figured it out on his own or Call had told him where to position himself.
The tract of land that lay behind the town was a lush green extension of the Morrison Station. It was decent grazing land, and Laurel allowed the locals to use it for family-owned cattle and sheep just as her father had before her. Sheep clustered in a wooly blanket on the hillside, and a few cows gathered near the stream that was fed by the falls.
Laurel pointed out where she thought the tracks could be laid with a minimum of disturbance to the land. For the most part, the tract was fairly flat with only an occasional rise and fall that would be no challenge to level. She took him beyond her property boundary and showed him the climb an engine would have to make to leave the valley. It was not an impossible grade for the engineers to manage, but the Hammersmith property had no such impediment and that remained the largest obstacle to being awarded the contract.
Berry studied the depth and width of the rolling stream as they picked their way across it. “Flooding?” he asked.
“Not in all the years I’ve lived here, and that’s been all of my life. There’s a pool at the base of the falls that rises above its rocky banks during heavy rains. Water floods the plain around it but doesn’t much affect this stream. Still, even that is rare.”
