CHARITY'S GOLD RUSH (A Strike It Rich in Montana novel) (15 page)

             
The water continued to rise. Charity’s heart threatened to burst free. A rush of water hit her in the chest. She glanced upstream to see a wall of water rushing toward her. Meg
would never make it
! With all the strength she could dredge up, Charity lifted the child and tossed her to the muddy creek bank. Meg fell with a sharp cry
, her hands scrabbling on the steep bank for a handhold. Sam reached down and pulled her up
.

             
Charity’s skirts tangled around her legs. She couldn’t move. She locked eyes with Sam as another wall hit her, sweeping her feet from under her.

###

             
Gabe found his fifty head of cattle in a meadow two hours ride from the house. It didn’t take a smart man to figure out who had
removed the boards
. With a yell and a crack of his whip, he steered the herd back toward home as lightning crashed overhead.

             
He
needed to cut the drive short
by
speeding them toward home
. With the fire
-
ravished land and ground hard from no rain, a storm could cause the creek to rise to a disastrous level
, not to mention the danger of land erosion
.
Charity most likely wouldn’t know what to do or where he kept
the
sandbags.

             
The cattle bellowed as
thunder
ripped the sky. Gabe urged them faster.
Building the sod house
s
o near the creek might not have been his best idea, but he was planning for the future, intending to use the modest structure to prevent rising waters from getting to the new place. He’d filled sandbags and stacked them in the barn, just in case, and had only needed them once before. When the rising creek flooded t
he
rattlers from their hiding places, thus resulting in Maggie’s death
, he’d sworn never to be caught unawares again
.
Yet, here he was, away from home
,
and a killer storm
rolling through.

             
“Yah!” He cracked his whip over the back of the nearest steer and kicked Rogue into a gallop.

             
By the time he herded the cattle back into the enclosure and temporarily fixed the fence, the rain poured from his hat like a curtain. He shivered against the rivulets running down the back of his collar.
Sitting by a
warm fire, surrounded by Charity and the children
,
sounded mighty good.
Most likely Charity would have a fine stew simmering on the stove.
He turned Rogue toward the barn.

             
After rubbing the horse down, Gabe dashed across the muddy yard and burst into an empty house. No fire. No children. No Charity. Where in the world could she have taken them on a day like today? He
turned and
squinted
outside,
peer
ing
through the downpour.

             
Sam and Meg raced toward him. Gabe ran to meet them, scooped Meg into his arms and ushered Sam into the house. “Where’s Charity?”

             
“The creek took her,
P
a.” Sam swiped his forearm across his dripping brow. Water pooled on the
floor
under his feet.

             
“I don’t understand.” Took her? Did Sam mean she was gone? “Where did you three go?”

             
“Looking for gold,” Meg informed him. “We found some too.”

             
“Get some towels, sweetie.” Gabe brushed her wet hair out of her face, then turned back to Sam. “Explain quickly, son.”

             
“We went on a picnic and looked for gold. Ma found some. Then it started to thunder
,
and she said we had to get home. When we crossed where the creek bends and widens, Ma was swept down river.” Tears poured down his face. “We were all crossing together, then we heard a loud noise. Ma picked Meg up and threw her onto the bank. When we looked back, she was gone. I tried to find her, Pa, I did.”

             
Gabe pulled him into his arms. “You did what you could. I’ll find her. What I’d like for you to do now, is pile sand bags in front of the house. If the water gets too far, take your sister to the top of the sod roof. Can you do that?
If I’m not back by morning,
ride your pony
to Hiram and Mabel.
They’ll watch out for you.
”

             
Sam nodded.

             
“Good boy.” Gabe dashed back into the rain and to the barn to fetch Rogue.
Lord, let me find her
—a
live, please
. His heart lay as cold as the clothes on his back. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be married out here. Montana seemed determined to claim everything he considered his.

             
With his horse resaddled Gabe raced in the direction he believed Charity and the children had gone. Rain continued to unleash from heavy clouds, making visibility difficult. Rogue plundered heavily across
rivulets
and mud.

             
When they reached the bend Sam had described, Gabe slid from Rogue and scanned the bank. “Charity!” He’d never hear her over the pounding rain.

###

             
Water closed over her head as Charity lost her footing again.
The icy water numbed her legs, making
it impossible to
stand. Her back slammed against a boulder. She fought her way to the surface, gulped air, and grasped at anything
she
pass
ed
on the bank that might slow her down. It wasn’t that the water was deep, but rather too swift for her to gain a footing.

             
Why hadn’t she learned to swim?
She
pushed to the surface again and grabbed for a low-hanging
willow
branch. Her legs ached from the frigid water. Gabriel would come for her. She just needed to hold on long enough. A log rammed into her, knocking her loose
with a bruising thud
.
All she had to do was keep her head above water long enough to be rescued.

             
Maybe the current would sweep her past the homestead
,
where Gabriel and the children could watch her as she was swept out of reach. Umph. She rolled into a space between a rock and tree. Her skirt tangled. She tried to keep her nose and mouth clear of the water while wrapping her arms around the tree trunk. She laid her head back and closed her eyes.

###

             
Gabe caught a glimpse of her right before she submerged again. He raced down the bank, his eyes scanning for something long enough to hold out to her. “Charity!”

             
His feet slipped, sending him crashing to the ground, knocking the breath from him. Get up! He pushed to his feet and followed her bobbing form. Every time she disappeared from sight, his heart stopped, only to thunder like buffalo when he spotted her again.

             
Behind him, Rogue trotted like an obedient dog, for which Gabe was thankful. He didn’t want to hunt up
the
horse once he dragged Charity to safety. Precious time he’d need to get her in front of a warm fire and out of wet clothes.
The day might be hot, but the mountain runoff could be like ice.

             
She lodged against the bank
,
and Gabe almost cried with relief. Then her eyes closed. No, no, no, no. He jumped into the creek and gasped
at
the knife-cutting cold. “Charity!”

             
She opened her eyes and turned her head. “You came.” Her grip loosened
,
and she went under.

             
“Of course, I did.”
Gabe grabbed her under the arms and fought the current
, dragging her with him,
until he lay panting in the mud. Keeping his arms tight around her, he willed what body heat was left in him to her. Shudders shook both their bodies.

“Come on, sweetheart. Work with me. We’ve got to get on the horse.”
He sat up, keeping her against his chest.

             
“Can’t.”

             
“Yes, you can.”

             
“I lost the gold.”

             
“That’s all right.”
He got to his feet and pulled her up, propping her against Rogue. “Stay like that until I’m in the saddle.”

             
She nodded and slid to the ground.
He refused to lose another wife because he was incapable of saving her.
He jumped down and hauled her into his arms.
With what strength he had left, Gabe hefted her over the horse,
facedown
, and climbed on behind her. He clicked
to
Rogue
and kept
him
at
a pace that
he hoped
wouldn’t be too uncomfortable for Charity.

             
“Come on, sweetheart.
It’s not far now
.”
Please, God.

12

             
Charity’s teeth chattered so hard she bit her tongue. She closed her eyes against the pain
and taste of rusted metal
.

             
After depositing her in front of the fire and wrapping a quilt around her, Gabriel had ordered Meg to help her undress
. T
hen he’d darted back outside, muttering something about sandbags. Charity shuddered
, wanting nothing more than to curl up and get warm
.

             
He needed to
stay near
the fire as much as she did.
She hated to think of what could have happened if he hadn’t found her. An icy watery grave. She shivered.

             
Meg pushed the quilt aside and unfastened the buttons at the top of Charity’s dress. Charity stood and let the sodden mess fall to the floor, followed by her underwear.
She still hadn’t replaced the ripped pair and stared down at it in embarrassment.

             
She grabbed her nightgown from the rocking chair, donned it, and wrapped
up
again in the quilt as tight as a caterpillar
in its cocoon
.
She would never be warm again. She stretched her bare feet closer to the fire.
The log popped, sending crimson embers up the fireplace
and a blast of heat to Charity’s face
.

             
Meg whimpered. Charity craned her neck. “What’s wrong?”

             
“I don’t want to lose another ma.” She sniffed.

             
“Come here.” Charity held the blanket open. “You can help me get warm.”

             
Meg launched herself on Charity’s lap. “I can help.” She snuggled close. “I won’t let you die.”

             
Charity chuckled
, breathing in the smell of little girl and wet hair
. “I’m Irish. We don’t die easy.
We’re much too stubborn.
”

             
“Really?” Meg lifted her tear-stained face.

             
“Really.” Using the corner of the quilt, Charity tenderly wiped her cheeks. “Now close your eyes. We’ll both rest until the men get back.”

             
She smiled at calling Sam a man, but the young boy acted
far
older than his eight years. More often than not, he knew more about living on the prairie then Charity did. How was she going to walk away in a few months
and leave these little ones behind
—n
ot to mention their father?
He might fuss and grumble, but when one of them was in danger, he thrust himself into harm’s way to rescue them.

             
Tears dripped down her face, warming her skin. She had a family. Her arms tightened around Meg. One she didn’t want to let go of. Her gaze dropped to her sodden dress
with its ripped pocket
. And she’d lost the gold, the one thing she had that might have swayed Gabriel’s favor in her direction.
It hadn’t been much, but
it
was a start.

             
Her toes burned as they warmed, sending prickles up and down legs that hurt more
now
than the
y had in the
cold water. Her head pounded
,
and her nose ran. She wouldn’t be sick. Not in the normally hot month of July.
She wouldn’t allow it.
Closing her eyes, she laid her head back against the rocking chair’s headrest.