Colorado Dawn (28 page)

Red suffused Phin’s high cheekbones. His dark eyes glittered in the candlelight, and his lips set in a thin line. Withdrawing his hand, he opened his fingers to reveal a squashed hunk of bread. “That’s all I took.”

“I insist we search his pockets.” The conductor grabbed Phin by the arm when someone pounded on the door.

“Hold up there.” Sam sauntered to the door. “Might as well be back in the St. Louis railway station, what with all the coming and going.” He opened the door, letting in a gust of cold air along with a white-coated waiter.

“Suh, you were missing your watch? We found it on your breakfast table.” He dangled the golden timepiece from its chain.

“I told you I didn’t take your stupid old watch!” Phin reared back and hurled the chunk of bread at the conductor. The crust bounced off the man’s wire-rimmed glasses.

Sam lunged for the boy before he could follow the bread with his fist.

“Lemme go!”

“Calm down.” Sam had his hands full with the wiry boy. “Stop it!” He pinned Phin’s arms.

“What’s going on here?” Eldora’s question sliced through the air, freezing everyone for a second.

Sam whirled, dragging Phin around with him.

Barefooted, gripping a shawl around her slender shoulders, and with her hair in a wispy braid, Eldora looked about fifteen. “Sam, what are you doing to him?”

Celeste peeped around the corner, her mouth hidden by her hands.

Phin took up his struggling again. “He’s hurting me. He’s going to throw me off the train.” His accusations flew like his wiry arms.

“No!” A tow-headed bullet in a short nightshirt launched itself across the room and barreled into Sam’s knees. “Let him go! Let him go!” Tiny fists pummeled his leg. Tick butted him and then looked up, blue eyes swimming with tears. He blinked and the tears spilled over; then he backed up and wobbled a couple steps. His face was pale as milk, and his lips gasped like a fish in the bottom of a rowboat. Without a sound, he collapsed onto the carpet.

Sam’s arms went limp, and Phin sprang from his grasp.

With a cry, Eldora dropped beside Tick and patted his face.

Phin shoved her aside and straddled Tick. He pressed his ear to Tick’s chest. “Nothing!” Before anyone could stop him, he lifted his hand into a fist over his head then dropped it sharply, punching Tick in the chest.

Eldora rocked back when Phin shoved her, and she cracked her shoulder against the wall. A cry burst from her lips, both from the pain and from the shock of seeing Phin hit Tick so hard.

The small boy’s body jerked, and Phin thrust his ear down to listen to Tick’s chest once again.

Her legs tangled in the hem of her nightgown, and she grappled with her shawl, her braid, and the rocking of the train.

The three men in the room seemed frozen in place, jaws slack, eyebrows high.

She lunged forward to push Phin off Tick, but he evaded her unsteady attempt, keeping his attention focused on the little boy. A lump lodged in her throat, and her heart raced faster than the train. Tick!

“C’mon, Tick!” Phin pounded the boy’s chest again. “C’mon!” He jammed his ear against Tick’s ribs. Eldora’s fright was mirrored in Phin’s dark eyes.

Sam seemed to come unstuck from the floor and in two strides crossed the salon to haul Phin upright.

Phin dangled from his grasp, writhing. “No! Lemme go! Lemme go!”

Eldora bent over Tick, noting his blue lips and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Phin shrugged out of his jacket and pounced on Tick once more. He slammed into Tick’s chest.

The little boy jolted and took a staggering breath. His eyelids fluttered open, and his glassy eyes tried to focus on her face. He groaned, the sweetest sound Eldora had ever heard, and dragged his hand to his chest.

Sam hauled Phin off again, grunting with the effort.

At Tick’s movements, Phin went limp in Sam’s grip and blew out a long sigh.

Sam shook Phin. “What do you mean, jumping on him that way? Ellie, is he all right?”

Even in her befuddled state, it registered that Sam had called her Ellie. She’d have to take that out and ponder it later. Gathering Tick in her arms, she stroked his hair and hugged him.

He sank against her, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “What happened?” His voice sounded thin as paper.

“You dropped to the floor, and—” She stopped. “I’m not exactly sure what happened—it all happened so fast.”

The conductor advanced on Phin and, shoving his hands against Phin’s shoulders, pinned him to the wall. “That boy is a menace! First fighting in the passenger car, then stealing food, and by your own admission”—he pointed to Sam—“your wallet, and now pummeling a defenseless child in the throes of some kind of fit. I won’t have him on my train, under your protection or not, Mr. Mackenzie.”

The white-coated waiter hovered near the door, the whites of his eyes a stark contrast to his dark face. He stood still, as if charmed like a rabbit watching a rattlesnake, his hand clutching the doorknob.

Sam interposed himself between the conductor and Phin. His eyes snapped fire, and his muscular frame, barefooted and with shirt hanging half open, dwarfed the railroad official. “That will be all. I’ll get to the bottom of everything here, and I can assure you Phin will be no more trouble.”

Eldora averted her eyes when she realized she was staring at Sam’s half-bare chest. Heat bloomed in her cheeks, for she had never seen a man so carelessly attired. That same heat warmed her heart, for he was championing Phin. She took herself severely to task.

Don’t go getting any romantic notions about him, or any man, Eldora Carter. Just because he’s being kind in taking up for you and the children doesn’t mean anything. A plain-as-potatoes orphan wouldn’t attract the attention of someone as wealthy and handsome as Sam Mackenzie
.

The conductor raised himself to his full height—still several inches shorter than Sam—and puffed out his chest. “If there is one more incident regarding that boy before this train reaches Denver, I’ll put him off, even if I have to stop in the middle of the prairie to do so.”

Phin leaned around Sam and bared his teeth, giving the conductor what the orphans referred to as “the stink eye.” Phin had always proven quite adept at this expression, turning it on the matron at every opportunity.

Eldora lowered her eyebrows and shook her head at him, giving him her best don’t-poke-the-bear expression.

The conductor blinked, turned on his heel, and snatched the watch still dangling from the waiter’s hand. He all but shoved the waiter ahead of him out onto the platform and slammed the door so hard the windows rattled.

Celeste nudged her arm, giving her a fright. “Yes?” Eldora managed.

The little girl leaned in close and whispered as she always did, afraid someone would hear her garbled speech and poke fun. “Don’t be mad at Thfin. He did that wunth before and Thickth heart stharted again.”

Eldora nodded and flicked a reassuring smile at Celeste.

The girl retreated to the passageway once more, tugging the neckline of her nightgown up just under her nose.

Sam squatted beside Eldora and peered at Tick. Her heart quickened again to have him so near. His hair stood up, and a fine dusting of reddish-blond whiskers covered his cheeks. She forced herself to concentrate on the boy in her arms.

Sam touched Tick’s hand. “How you doing, buddy?”

“Fine. I’m sorry I jumped you. I thought you were hurting Phin. Then everything got black around the edges, and I was gone.”

Phin elbowed his way in. “Sorry I had to knock you like that. You dropped like a prizefighter with a glass jaw, just like last time.”

Eldora shivered, realizing how close they had come to losing Tick. She hugged him harder until he squirmed. She loosened her hold and realized Sam was staring at her.

“What was the orphanage thinking to send you out with these three? You’re barely more than a child yourself.” His blue eyes had the same softness as when he’d first seen Celeste.

Bitterness coated Eldora’s tongue. Charity. Pity. Benevolent largesse on which they must depend forever to survive. Her spine stiffened, and her jaw tightened. “I’m not a child. I’m twenty years old.” A thrust of honesty pierced her. “Or I will be this spring.” She helped Tick to stand and pushed herself off the floor, righting her shawl and swinging her braid over her shoulder. “Someone has to take care of these children. Who better than me, who knows what it is like to go through life alone, forced to live on the charity of others?”

He blinked and stepped back.

She wanted to recall her harsh tone. Another shiver raced up her spine. What would they do if he decided to abandon them to the mercies of the passenger car?

He glanced out the window while he buttoned his shirt. “You’re going to catch cold standing there in your night things. Everybody get dressed, and I’ll see about rustling us up some food.” He turned to Phin. “You will not leave this car, is that understood? If the conductor catches you pilfering anything, he’ll make good his threat. He’s like the captain of a ship. His word is law on this train. In fact, you’ve antagonized him to the point that he won’t have to catch you stealing. He’s liable to chuck you off if he so much as catches sight of you.”

Phin shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, staring at the far wall as if he didn’t care one way or the other.

Eldora sighed and, with her hand on Tick’s shoulder, directed Phin down the passageway to get dressed.

When they reassembled in the salon, breakfast had been laid on the side table. Eldora insisted Tick lay on the settee, and it alarmed her that he acquiesced without complaint. His face was still pale, and his movements a bit shaky. She tucked a rug around him. “Do you want something to eat?” Her brow puckered as his eyelids fluttered closed.

“No. I’m not hungry.” His face went lax, and she scrabbled for his wrist to check his pulse. Concern hovered, though she could feel the rapid beats. Tick was always hungry.

She turned back to the table as Sam finished stoking the coal stove and held her chair for her. She wasn’t quite sure what to do, since no man had held a chair for her before, but she managed to sit safely and spread her napkin in her lap.

“How is he?” Sam took his seat and glanced over at Tick.

“Sleeping.”

“He sure scared me, dropping down like that. I thought he was dead.”

Phin barely waited for grace to be said before diving into the food.

Celeste sat primly at the table and ate nothing.

Sam frowned. “Why doesn’t she eat something? I thought all kids liked biscuits with jam.”

Eldora’s eyes caressed the little girl. “You may take your plate to our room if you like, Celeste.”

Celeste shot her a grateful glance and picked up her plate and cutlery.

“Can you manage?”

Her black curls bobbed, and she disappeared down the hall.

When she was out of earshot, Eldora explained. “She doesn’t like to eat in front of other people. With her mouth the way it is, eating isn’t a pretty sight. The kids at the orphanage made terrible fun of her until the matron finally consented to let her eat alone.”

“Poor kid. I wish there was something to be done for her.” Sam tilted the gravy boat over his biscuits. “Phin, you should slow down and chew that food. It would be better if you actually tasted it before swallowing.”

Phin looked up, his cheeks bulging like a gopher’s. He swallowed a couple times. “I ain’t never had nothing but oatmeal for breakfast for about as long as I can remember. Biscuits and jam, gravy, eggs, sausages…do you eat like this every day?”

Eldora could identify with his wonder. She was a bit taken aback by the spread herself, though working as a domestic had shown her some of the world beyond the orphanage.

Sam shrugged. “I guess this is a pretty typical breakfast for me.”

“It’s a wonder you ain’t as round as a beetroot eating like this every day.” Phin shoved another spoonful of eggs into his mouth.

Eldora choked and grabbed for her napkin. “Phin, how is it you knew what to do when Tick’s heart quit?” She hoped to change the subject before Sam’s thundercloud expression broke into a storm all over Phin.

The boy shrugged. “I asked the best doctor in St. Louis about Tick’s condition.”

“How did you talk to the best doctor in St. Louis?”

“I slipped out of the orphanage one day and asked around for the name of the best doctor in the city. Then I waited by his gate until he came out, and I followed him downtown. Wasn’t hard to lift his wallet off him on the street.”

Eldora groaned, and Sam’s hand tightened on his fork.

“Then I followed him back to his house and returned the wallet—made out like I found it on the street—and he invited me in.” Phin waved his fork at the interior of the train car. “His place was nearly as fancy as what you got here. Anyway, I told him I had a friend with some heart trouble and would he mind if I asked him a few questions. He asked all about Tick and told me about thumping him in the chest if he ever dropped down and I couldn’t find a heartbeat. He said Tick needed some medicine, but I told him we couldn’t afford it. Then I hustled out of there because it was getting late and I knew I was already in for a beating with the radiator brush when I got back anyway.”