CHARITY'S GOLD RUSH (A Strike It Rich in Montana novel) (17 page)

             
W
ould
he scalp her? Charity put her free hand to her hair. She liked her hair. It was her one glorious feature.
Her crowning glory as her mother used to say.

             
“I friend.” Red Feather scowled.

             
“Not my friend.” She stepped back.
He had an odd sense of friendship, coming up behind someone and scarin
g them half to death. She excuse
d his ignorance to his being a savage.
Perhaps h
e didn’t know
proper social skills
, but she still didn’t want him in her house.

How much damage could she actually do with a kitchen knife? The man towered over her, almost as tall as Gabriel
, with bulging muscles and a rank scent
.
Was it bear grease?
Didn’t she read in a dime novel that Indians plastered themselves with it?

What did he want with her? Was he alone? She craned to see around him.

             
“I brought horse.”

             
Mercy!
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” He was going to take her away. Maybe make her one of his squaws. Her legs trembled, and she placed a hand on the table to steady herself. She should have stayed in the city! Indians didn’t roam the city streets
, unless they were a hired scout
.

             
Where were the children? She straightened her shoulders. If going with Red Feather insured their safety, then go with him she would. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

             
He scratched his head, which most likely crawled with lice, Charity shuddered at the thought, and he
stared at her for a moment,
before
burst
ing
into laughter. “Pale woman
with fire hair
funny.” He crooked his finger. “Come with me. We find Gabriel.”

             
Gabriel?
“What did you do to my husband?” She advanced with the knife held out in front of her.
She’d never made another person bleed but thought she could, if she had to.

             
His grin faded. “You come with me. Gabriel explain Red Feather is friend.”

             
Now, she’d made him angry. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?
Most likely he’d lure her outside, ravish her, then scalp her and leave as crow food.

             
He motioned her forward again. “Come.”

###

             
Gabe stepped inside the house. His eyes widened at the sight of Charity in a stare
contest
, knife in hand, with Red Feather. “What’s going on?”

             
“Your squaw wants to kill me.” Red Feather turned and grasped Gabe’s forearm in greeting. “She brave woman.”

             
“Yes, she is.” He grinned. “Put the knife down, Charity. Red Feather is my friend.”

             
“I brought pony
,
”
Red Feather said.

             
“Wonderful. Come on, Charity. We have a gift for you.” Gabe waved Red Feather out ahead of him. What did Charity think she could do with a little pig sticker like the knife in her hand? She sure was cute standing in a defensive pose
with her face all red
and her hair coming loose from its bun
.
He wanted to grab her close and hug her tight.
Instead, he opted for taking the knife from her hand and setting it on the table.

             
Keeping a wary eye on Red Feather, Charity bustled outside then stuck like a burr
under
a saddle to Gabe’s side
as they approached the back of the house
.
He couldn’t wait for her to see what Red Feather
brought
.

             
They rounded the corner, and Charity gasped. A cinnamon-colored mare
with a black mane and tail
ripped at a few blades of unburned grass, her reins looped over a fence. Charity cast shimmering eyes on
Gabe
. “For me?”

             
“Isn’t she a beauty?”
Just like her mistress.
Gabe scratched behind the horse’s ears. “I traded Red Feather a
milk cow
for her.”

             
“She’s gorgeous. I’m going to call her Ruby.” Charity rubbed her hand over the horse’s muzzle.
“But I can’t ride.”

             
“I’ll teach you.” Gabe leaned against the fence.
“It’s a skill everyone should know out here.”

             
Her look grew pensive. “There’s so much to know
out here
.
”

             
“It’s only been a couple of months. You’re doing great.” He turned to Red Feather. “Thank you, my friend.”

             
“If you tire of your woman, I will give you back the cow for her,” Red Feather offered.

             
“Tempting, but no thanks.” Gabriel patted her head, eliciting a squawk of protest from Charity. “But I think we’ll keep her around for a while.”

             
Red Feather nodded and loped away.

             
“Keep me around for a while?” Charity planted fists on her hips.

             
“I had to say something.
It wouldn’t seem strange to him to trade you.”

             
“Couldn’t you have just said no?”

             
“
Most likely
, but my way was more fun
.
Would you like to start
learning to ride
now?” Gabe itched to shove back the loose strands of hair from Charity’s face. When had he begun
to
feel
as if
she w
ere
more than
just
someone to watch over his children? He didn’t want to love another woman, not that that was how he felt at the moment. He couldn’t allow himself to love again. Already, Charity’s life
had been
endangered twice. His heart couldn’t take another loss
like he’d suffered with Maggie
.

             
“All right.” Charity took a deep breath. “What do I do first?”

             
“There’s a stump by the corral that will be perfect as a mounting
block
.” He unlooped Ruby’s reins and led the horse to the stump. “Step on this, insert your left foot in the stirrup, and swing your right leg over.”

             
She glanced skeptically at him, then hitched her skirts and took her place on the sawed off block of wood. Grasping the saddle horn, she swung her leg high and . . . fell backward.

             
Gabe caught her and rolled, shielding her from the brunt of the hard landing.
As he lay catching his breath, he couldn’t help but notice how soft Charity felt lying on his chest. His arms tightened. What if he kissed her? Would she slap him? Their gazes locked. She smelled like soap and sunshine. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, and prepared to see what her lips tasted like.

             
“Are you all right?” Charity shifted against his hold.
“Did I hurt you?”

             
Did the woman have to talk so much? Gabe groaned inwardly. “I’m fine.” He released his hold and waited while she got to her feet before getting to his. “Don’t swing your leg so high. Just up and over.”

             
“I told you I didn’t know how to ride.” She flounced back to the stump. “But I’m determined to learn.”

             
Of that, Gabe had no doubt.
She
had conquered every task she had undertaken so far.

The
next time she went to throw her leg over the saddle, Gabe was prepared. He placed his hands on her
waist
and kept her steady. She glanced over her shoulder and glared, eliciting a laugh from him. She sure was fun to rile.

             
Sam and Meg had claimed seats on the corral fence and clapped as Charity trotted
the horse
into the pen, her hair coming fully out of her bun by the jostling.

             
“Tighten your grip with your thighs, but don’t squeeze, and keep your feet in the stirrups.” Gabe crossed his arms and leaned against the top rail. “Feel the horse move.”

             
“How do I tighten without squeezing?” She shrieked as Ruby increased her pace. “I need a pillow for the saddle, I feel her moving so much.
’
Tis a very hard saddle.
”

             
Gabe laughed and vaulted over the fence. He grabbed the reins. “I’ll
lead her
. You concentrate on getting a feel for the horse. Close your eyes
,
and let your
other
senses take over.”

             
She sighed and did as he said. “I smell horse, burned grass, and cattle.”

             
“Feel, Charity.” He jogged around the perimeter of the corral. By the time he was winded, she wasn’t bouncing quite so much and had a smile on her face. “Good job. I think that’s enough for today.”

             
“Thank heaven.”

             
“Wait.” Gabe dropped the reins and tried to catch Charity before she hit the ground. Too late. She landed in a pile of green calico and petticoats. “Your legs aren’t ready for you to dismount by yourself.”

             
“Really?” Her eyes sparked. “Guess I figured that one out.” She held out a hand for him to pull her to her feet. “Me legs
are
wobbly. I’m going to rinse the laundry. Something I do know how to do.”

             
He loved how her brogue deepened when she was angry. It was almost like she tried to squelch
he
r accent the rest of the time. As if she were ashamed to be Irish.
It was a pity, but he had heard stories of how the Irish were treated back east. Obviously, her family had gotten a taste of the bigotry.

             
“Meg rides better than you, Ma.” Sam hopped from the fence. Gabe shot him a “hush” look, but the boy kept talking. “How is it that a full-grown woman can’t ride a horse? Didn’t you have horses where you came from?”

             
“Where I came from?” Charity scowled.

             
“I’m guessing you’re from across the ocean. You talk funny most of the time.”

             
Charity increased her pace to the house. Sam kept up with her,
with
Gabe chuckling behind them, holding Meg’s hand.

             
“I suppose I could help you learn in between my chores. Pa’s too busy
to spend a lot of time on a greenhorn
.” Sam halted. “But I can’t give you a boost like Pa did. You’ll have to learn to get on by yourself.”

             
Charity practically ran in
to
the house and slammed the door.

             
“What did I say?” Sam turned.

             
“She did the best she could, son. It sounded like you were giving her a hard time for struggling so.” Gabe clapped him on the shoulder as he strolled by.

             
Sam jogged next to him. “I wasn’t, I swear.
Why are womenfolk so touchy?
”

             
“You’ll have to ask God that someday, son.”

###

             
A
fter
week
s of
daily riding lessons, Charity’s muscles complained less, and she bounced less in the saddle
, resulting in less sore places on her body
. Meg and Sam cheered the first time Ruby trotted around the corral without Charity falling off. She might not be an expert, but at least she could stay on
the horse
’s back. The sense of accomplishment at
mastering
the
skill
kept her skipping through the day.

             
She couldn’t believe Gabe had gone to the trouble of getting her a horse. And he gave up a prized
cow
in order to do so! Charity was a blessed woman indeed. She hoped she could take the gentle mare with her when she left in a few months
and wondered whether that would be proper, considering the horse was a gift to help her station as Gabriel’s wife
.