Grandfather had never pushed him on her, but she knew he’d tried to do so with her mother and come up against the small bit of fire she had left after she’d been through so much. The thought of seeing Percival again after all this time made her feel like she’d jumped off one of the cliffs Louisa had read to them about in Ireland and prayed something would catch her beforeshe went crashing to the rocks below. Her stomach reached her throat reminding her every moment how little control she had over her life and her future.
Micah finished his eggs, the ones he’d gotten for them in the dining and concessions car, and eyed her barely touched breakfast. “Not hungry this morning?” Waking up beside him these last four days hadn’t been nearly as uncomfortable as she’d assumed it would be.
Brent had basically tied her to him while they’d been in the cargo car of the train and on the trail, and his presence had done much the same to her as Percival. While both of them had made her want to retreat into herself, Micah made her relax. She slept better in the sleeper car with him than she had in months, maybe even years.
“I wish I knew what to expect,” she said as she half heartedly picked at her eggs. “I’m not looking forward to seeing Grandfather’s business partner. I assume he’ll try to contest things, especially if he knows about our arrival before we come.”
Micah wiped his mouth with a napkin, sitting back in his chair with relaxed confidence, his hand absentmindedly going to the pistol at his hip as though reassuring himself of its presence. “Do you think he does?”
“Probably,” she shrugged. “Percival and Grandfather were so well connected because Grandfather basically started this town in his younger days. Almost everyone is employed by the mine in some capacity or the mine provides a large portion of their business. He and Percival have been known to run businesses and officials out of town for not being in their back pocket, so I feel we might be fighting a losing battle trying to convince them of our side. Plus, if he knows we’re coming, I think Percival’s capable of anything.” She let the words hang in the air, her meaning clear if the tensing of her husband’s shoulders were any indication.
Micah stood, moving from the bench and small table where he’d eaten his fill and knelt before her where she sat on the bed. Placing his hands on top of hers, he brought his navy eyes up to her gaze, and she saw the promise there - the determination. “I can’t see into the future and know how all this is going to turn out, but I can tell you I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe. There’s not a man alive who’ll easily be able to get through me to get to you.”
He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to her lips. “I’ve got a lot more to say, but I’d prefer we be back home in Texas before I do it. For now, we’ll take this one step at a time, and we’ll pray the Lord gives us peace the same way He did for Gideon and the Israelite army.”
The three hundred men. The ones who should never have had the victory, yet they had one without losing a single man. “Someone’s been listening to Sunday School.” The story had bolstered her as well, but it had also been a warning not to grow prideful in how far the Lord had brought her. Daily, her prayers thanked the Lord it had been the Sutton ranch she’d ended up thrown down the mine shaft on, rather than another family who wouldn’t have changed her life the way they did.
Not only had they given her a place to heal, but they’d provided friends and a family she’d longed for since she’d seen the poor families in the tiny shack she shared with her mother. Some of them were run down and sad, but others clearly had love for one another despite their often growling bellies and difficult living conditions. More than once after she’d gone to live with Grandfather did she long for the days when she felt at home in their little clapboard shack.
Ellie couldn’t blame Mama for going back to their gilded prison, but she had to wonder if the woman grew to regret her decision. When hungry, everything looked delicious, including a life she’d willfully run from at the first opportunity.
Micah smirked, his hand on her cheek moving back to smooth her hair. “Austin and Benjamin told me the story on the way home from church one day, so I decided to read it myself. Plus, Pastor Jim’s been coming out to the ranch some and talking me through a few of the finer points of faith since I’d been too stubborn to listen all these years.”
Ellie gasped. “When has he done that? How did I have no idea?”
“Jim doesn’t necessarily always do his Bible study in a room over tea. He’s been helping me with the barbed wire fence in the south pasture while we talked. I think the man has the whole Bible memorized, if I’m bein’ honest. I’ve had a few good conversations with my brothers too, but Jim’s been doin’ the Lord’s work these last few months.”
Emotion, mostly ones she couldn’t name, swirled in Ellie’s stomach. “I’m so happy for you, Micah.” She’d known he’d had big questions when they first met, and that day in the woods, there had been so much clouding his eyes she could barely get a read on him. Now? Now, it was as though the veil had been lifted and the peace Pastor Jim carried, the one she and Louisa had talked about every time they’d opened the Bible over cups of tea in their little cottage, was present.
For the first time, she leaned forward and initiated a kiss between them. At first, Micah froze but broke free from his shock a second later to deepen the kiss and wrap his arms around her. By the time he pulled back, it wasn’t just peace she saw in his gaze but a much deeper emotion. Before either of them could speak, the train whistle sounded, and the porter’s voice could be heard down the hall announcing they’d reached their destination.
Micah stood to his feet, taking their already packed bags in one hand and extending the other to her. “Well, Mrs. Sutton, what do you say we get this over with so we can go home?”
Home. The thing she’d longed for her whole life. “I say it sounds like the best offer I've heard in a while.”
Disembarking in Los Angeles felt like entering another world. Micah had been to Dallas and Fort Worth on cattle drives, but this was something else entirely. Los Angeles was spread out, similar to how Dallas was, but buildings stretched for miles and miles. Some were tall, at least eight stories, and Micah couldn’t imagine how one would build such a structure without risking the whole thing falling over.
Didn’t they have earthquakes out here? Hadn’t he learned that in school? As Ellie led him down the street to where the stage coach station would be, he couldn’t help but take in all the smartly dressed men and women in addition to a few cowboys like himself. There were others as well, maybe miners, but they didn’t boast coal dust on their clothes like he’d imagined. Then again, they weren’t in Cartwright yet.
Cartwright. Who named a town after themselves? According to Ellie, her grandfather had wanted something to live on as a legacy once he passed. Sure, the town would boast his name for the time being, but what of the people in his life? A man could build a legacy in many ways, and his father was proof one’s family could rewrite the legacy if it wasn’t one they wanted to carry.
As they reached the stage stop, Micah moved to the counter without letting go of Ellie’s hand. Logically, he knew they were relatively safe until they got to Cartwright, but he couldn’t get the thought of Brent and his goons grabbing her off the street out of his head. No, he’d keep her hand in his until they boarded the train for home again if he had anything to say about it.
“Two tickets for Cartwright, please.” The stage employee didn’t even look up from his ledger, simply punching two tickets, taking the money, and telling them to enjoy their trip. Micah picked the bags up after putting them down to pull his money from his pocket, and the two of them turned to the large outdoor covered area with benches where he supposed a body waited for the stage. “Two o’clock,” Ellie said as she glanced at the tickets. “We should make it into Cartwright by supper time.”
Her stomach growled, evidence of the breakfast she’d skipped. It wasn’t noon yet, but there was bound to be some sort of restaurant open. “We’d better get some lunch. Can’t have my wife going hungry before we face the giants.”
From what she’d told him of Cartwright and those who lived there, it would be fighting giants. Thankfully, they served a God who wasn’t afraid of giants - who had a great deal of experience with them. So long as they trusted in Him, they’d never be alone. With a sling and a couple of stones, or more specifically a letter from a judge in Texas, they might be able to slay them.
Later that day, when their bellies were filled and the stage came with an announcement to board for Cartwright, California, Micah took Ellie’s hand once again as he handed their luggage to the shotgun rider. His own pistol sat securely in his holster lest someone had been tipped off and meant to thwart their journey, and his knife was sheathed in his boot.
They climbed into the stage and were alone save for one weathered looking cowboy who looked altogether too tall and broad for the stage. Neither Micah nor his brothers were small, but this man was more in line with Jim Thorn in his size. “Afternoon, sir,” Micah said as they got settled across from one another. “I’m Micah Sutton, and this is my wife Ellie.”
Something flashed in the man’s eyes, but he covered it quickly. “Pleased to meet you both, I’m Wyatt.” His gaze didn’t linger onEllie, instead he smoothed his thick gray mustache and pulled a stack of papers from his satchel.
Satisfied the man might know her name from her grandfather’s life in town in Cartwright and Ellie’s disappearance after his death, Micah relaxed. He hadn’t realized how much his body tensed at the clear recognition, but for now they were safe. Still, Micah kept a close eye on Wyatt as they rode the four or so hours north with Los Angeles behind them. At some point, Ellie fell asleep on his shoulder, and he tucked her head in the crook of his neck while studying the terrain around them.
California was different from Texas. That much was certain. As they rode further and further away from Los Angeles, the terrain became more hilly and even mountains rose up in the distance. Groves of green trees were followed by even larger mountains, but the stage continued down the dirt road at a quick clip.
