While Harvey unloaded the animals, Eric helped Silas stretch out the canvas he’d folded at the bottom of his supplies. Then they built a low but wide tent using an extendable pole he’d tucked away, as well as some of the dry firewood the packhorse carried in case they needed to start a fire in the rain or snow. Once more, Silas was proving more valuable than any amount of gold.
Once they’d settled the horses as best they could, the three of them tucked under the covering. Silas nurtured a fire while Eric and Harvey stretched out bedding. With the canvas so low above them, it would be easier to lie than sit while they waited.
With his body finally still, it didn’t take long for his mind to churn with worries. This was only their third day on the trail, and they were already delayed. Silas had hoped they’d reach the settlements with regular roads and lodging in about a month and a half. Did that take into account extended stops like this one?
He glanced at the guide, still crouched over his low flame. Could he present the question in a way that didn’t sound like Harvey’s griping? He’d have to try, for he needed to know the answer. The urgency in his chest pressed somuch harder when they weren’t making progress. His father could die before he even reached him.
He summoned his most reasonable tone. “I know it’s hard to see the future, but do you expect this will slow us down from that month and a half you were thinking?”
Silas didn’t look his way, and he paused before answering. “Like you said, it’s hard to see the future.”
Eric let out a breath but did his best not to allow a groan to escape. This wasn’t Silas’s fault, so he couldn’t hold him accountable for the lost time. Nor could he expect him to be a fortune teller.
He let his eyes close.God, let the snow stop and the horse heal. We need to make up time. And help my father. Keep him alive until I can get there. Please.
As Naomi rode beside Heidi and Two Stones on the road toward Fort Benton, she studied the wagon that had just crested the hill ahead of them. They were still about three days from Fort Benton, but those horses…the familiar and solid form of the driver. That was definitely Jonah.
And there was no passenger. Unless Eric was lying down in the back.
She forced air in through the pressure on her chest. This was just like her dream. She pushed her mount faster. The mare obliged, moving into a trot, then pushing to a lope. She must feel Naomi’s tension.
But she couldn’t make her body relax.
Why would Eric not come back? Had he found information about Anna’s aunt and decided to search for her in one of the towns?
If that was the case, why wouldn’t Jonah go with him?
Maybe the place was too remote. Jonah might not want tocarry his precious glass windows over too many extra miles or terrain too treacherous.
Jonah lifted a hand in greeting but didn’t speak.
She reined in beside him as he halted the team and wagon, setting the brake.
Her mouth was too dry to speak. By Jonah’s grim expression, he understood her question. He pulled a folded paper out of his chest pocket as he spoke. “Eric got word his father’s ill. Dying, he said. He and his cousin set off with a guide to try to make it east before his father passes.”
He held out the paper for her, but her mind was too numb to process more than his words.
He’d gone east. Just like in her dream.
Her nightmare. But for his father? His father dying? Did he think he’d get there in time? Or was he going to be with his mother? How long would he be gone? Did he ever intend to come back? Even if he planned to, how many hundreds of duties would hold him there?
“You said his cousin was with him?” Concern laced Heidi’s voice. “Did he come to find Eric?”
Naomi glanced at her friend as she struggled to make sense of those questions.
His cousin? What was she talking about? The only cousin Eric had was…the one she didn’t let herself think about. But what in the cloudy sky did he have to do with this?
“He was in Fort Benton when we rode in.” Jonah’s words made no sense. “Said he came on the last steamer before the river froze. He came to get Eric and take him back to try to reach his father before the end.” Jonah waved the paper a little. “I think Eric explained it all in the letter he wrote for you.”
Bile churned in Naomi’s middle as she eyed the missive.
Harvey was here.
Harvey was involved.
Anything that involved Harvey could onlybe awful news. Was he telling the truth about Eric’s father? Or simply trying to get Eric away from her, to lure him back under the guise of tragedy and family responsibility.
She snatched the letter, but her gloved hands trembled, and she fumbled the page, nearly crinkling it before she finally unfolded the flaps.
