"Shall we pray?" Jericho spoke the words that had begun every meal Eric had taken with these people.
But before he could bow his head, the cabin door flew open.
Jonah stepped in and trudged toward his place at the table. He looked rough, hair disheveled and his eyes rimmed red. Only from lack of sleep?
He plopped down in his chair, staring at the plate before him. "Why didn't anyone wake me?"
Jericho gave a steady response. "Thought it best you catch up on your rest."
A snort was Jonah's only reply, and he looked around at the others' empty plates. "You blessed the food?"
"We were about to." Jericho nodded to Sampson. "Will you, Sam?"
Eric bowed with the others as the younger brother spoke a quick earnest prayer. With the "amen," the tension around the tableseemed to double.
Jonah must not have felt it, for he didn't hesitate, just reached toward the biscuit tray in front of him and grabbed two, plopping them on his plate. At the same time, he used his other hand to scoop a spoonful of beans and pour them out next to the biscuits.
The others served themselves, too, so Eric reached for another bowl of beans and ladled a small portion for Mary Ellen. Naomi had said to mash them so she had no problem chewing them. Were her teeth still hurting? He should have asked.
Jonah broke the quiet once more, his voice a little jarring, maybe because Eric had been deep in thought.
The man didn't seem himself. Coarser maybe. Not as mannerly as usual. "First morning in Missoula, I sent wires to the telegraph agents of all the towns along the Mullan Road, asking them to check with the town law and in the mercantile or dry goods stores to see if anyone knew of a—" He cut off his words with a glance toward Anna. The girl was eating quietly, not looking up at anyone. But it would be better if they didn't name her aunt. That might make her worry. Good thing Jonah must have realized that too. "Anyway, after I sent the telegrams, I asked at every single business in town, the ones that were open anyway. No one knew anything about who I was lookin' for."
He scooped beans onto his biscuit and took a man-sized bite. Apparently, he hadn’t eaten much on the journey.
Eric spooned another bite of beans into his daughter's mouth, and she nodded her head as she chewed, making a funny face at him.
He wrinkled his nose at her, and she grinned.
Jonah swallowed his bite. "Started getting wires back that afternoon. I figured I'd better stay a second day to make sure I read 'em all." He took a swig of coffee and gulped it down. "Two towns I heard from said there was a woman...by the name we're looking for who stayed there a little while. One said a week, the other said two months." He tipped his head sideways. "Both of 'em said she was there for the Independence Day celebration, so I'm thinkin' they're not talkin' about the same person."
He took another drink and gulped it down, then plopped the cup on the table.
He’d definitely lost a few manners along the trail. He let out a long, loud breath. "Virginia City...well, they couldn't answer definitively. The law there said there may have been ten of the name there in the last six months. He couldn't say and had more important work to do. None of the store owners answered, 'cept one who said he didn't do a census of the women who traveled through town."
They had nothing to go on then. A heaviness sank over them all. Everyone except the mite in his lap anyway. She patted his hand, asking for more beans. He obliged, lifting another bite of mashed food to her mouth.
The "um, num" sound she made as she chewed seemed to cut through a layer of tension, for when he looked up, most of the others were watching her, a few smiles lightening their expressions.
They slipped back into eating, and the quiet lingered.
Eric took his own bite of beans as he worked through the conundrum of how to locate Anna's aunt. He'd seen maps of the Montana Territory, and the place looked expansive even on paper. And traveling through the landscape had made him realize this country was far more vast than any map could display.
If he'd not found the Coulters in Fort Benton, he wasn't certain he'd ever have found this ranch. That meeting must have been God-orchestrated, for how likely was it that he'd arrive at the very time they'd come to town?
We'd appreciate if You'd coordinate another meeting, please, this one with Anna's aunt.
If she'd come on the Mullan Road, as Anna's answers had indicated, she would have most likely comethrough Fort Benton. That town was pretty much the gateway to the territory.
He swallowed his bite, then glanced at Jonah and Jericho. "Since there's not an obvious answer close by, perhaps it would help to go about the search methodically." All eyes turned his way, so he pushed on. "Maybe start at Fort Benton, since that's where most folks arrive in Montana. Can we check passenger records for ships that have docked there in the last two years?"
The men seemed to consider his suggestion, exchanging glances before Jericho finally spoke up. "Maybe." His expression turned thoughtful. "The ticket office might keep a copy."
He was quiet again, as his gaze wandered around the table, lingering on each of his brothers, and then his wife. All must have agreed to the plan in their silent communication, for Jericho finally turned to Jonah. "Weren't you hoping the rest of your glass shipment would arrive on one of the last steamers to come up before the river froze? Since you took on Missoula, would you want to tackle Fort Benton? You could handle both errands on the same trip."
Eric could only see the side of Jonah's face but didn’t miss how his jaw tightened, and there was hesitation before he responded. "I guess that makes sense."
If he didn't want to handle it, perhaps it was better he didn't. Inspecting the passenger records meticulously would require both patience and an eye for detail—the kind of scrupulous attention that might mean spending days poring over lists and ledgers. The name Patsy could be short for Patricia, Patty, or countless other names. They had to be thorough.
