Place to Belong, a (18 page)

Preparing for the first run, Gretchen sat in front with her knees high, Cassie right behind her, and Ransom sat down behind her and tucked his legs in, gripping the rope to steer. “We're going straight down,” he instructed, “so don't go leaning to either side or we could tip over.”

“I get to ride the next one.” Mavis laughed at the girls, Gretchen so cheerful and lighthearted, Cassie's eyes as big as skillets. Mavis had left the skis on the porch, since they'd be taking turns on the toboggan.

“Give us a push.”

“Hang on tight!” Push she did, and down the hill they swooped, powdery snow flying up on both sides.

She spotted Micah and Runs Like a Deer making their way toward the group. Mavis's heart gave a happy little leap.

Micah was smiling. “Looks like too much fun to just watch through the window.”

When the toboggan slid to a stop beyond the bottom of the hill, Cassie let out a whoop that made Micah laugh. Arnett, riding Biscuit, tossed Ransom a rope and started up the hill, dragging the toboggan behind.

It didn't take long for Mavis to tell Micah and Runs Like a Deer about Lucas and Betsy. She watched Micah's face go from happy to still.

Runs Like a Deer frowned, puzzled. “They didn't tell anyone?”

“They each left a note. No one suspected.”

Micah asked, “How's Cassie doing?”

“Says she is fine. She wasn't the one who wanted to get married, and she had prayed for God to close the doors if it wasn't right. He did, and she seems to have accepted that.”

Runs Like a Deer studied the snow in front of her thoughtfully.
“I never thought of prayer that way. I mean, that God would handle things if you asked. I mean—not like that. I mean—” and she let it go there.

Snorting and puffing, Biscuit arrived with Arnett on top and the toboggan right behind.

Arnett grinned. “Your turn, Mavis.”

“Me too.” Gretchen took the front again, and her mother settled in behind her.

Othello yipped and danced around Cassie until she threw a handful of snow at him. When he tried to catch it, he had a mouthful of cold. The look on the dog's face made them all laugh. Then Cassie gave the toboggan and riders a shove and down they went, Gretchen shrieking in delight.

It took some doing to talk Micah and Runs Like a Deer into trying it, and Ransom again took up his place in back.

By the end of the day, Arnett was the only holdout. “I had my fun watching and bringing the toboggan back up. I'm thinking we could pull it with Mavis, Cassie, and Gretchen on it all the way back to the house.” And they did.

Mavis and Ransom leaned the toboggan against the wall of the house on the front porch, and she just stood and stared at it. Ivar had made that toboggan so many years earlier. He surely could not in the least bit have guessed how his family would turn out or who would be riding on that toboggan today. She snapped out of her reverie. “We can wax this like we do the skis,” Mavis said. “I know your father used to do that.”

Ransom snorted. “It didn't go fast enough for you?”

“I'll put the horse away.” Arnett chuckled and rode back to the barn.

“Oh, it did. The snow was perfect.” Mavis looked out over the valley. “So beautiful. I'm glad we did this or I'd have been down in the dumps all day.”

“Don't let it get to you. We'll do fine without him.” Ransom
took his mother's arm. “Come on, I could eat a bear. That tobogganing was hard work.”

“Uh-huh. All that steering wore you out.” Gretchen shook her head. “Good thing if you are tired. Then I'll be able to beat you at checkers.”

“Ah, probably not. I'll get the fireplace going. What are we going to eat?”

“Leftovers. We have enough to feed an army. Ham and cheese sandwiches sound real good to me.”

“Fried in butter?” Gretchen grabbed Cassie's hand. “Come on. You and I can get it started.”

Mavis looked out over the valley again. Snow made the scene whiter than white, crystalline, pure, and untouchable. Cold and distant and familiar. Somewhere in the far distance her son was taking a new and unmarked path.
Please, Lord, watch over my son.

She turned and went back into the house, grateful to hear laughter from the kitchen. Lucas was so often the one to make them laugh. Tomorrow they'd ride into town and talk with Reverend Brandenburg. And God would live up to His promise to not leave her comfortless. She counted on that.

“Gretchen, how would you like to have a room of your own again?” She hung her things on the coatrack. Or maybe she should offer that room to Arnett?

W
e can ride or take the sleigh,” Mavis offered the next morning.

“I'd rather ride,” Cassie said. “It feels like months since I've been on Wind Dancer.”

“You don't have to go, you know. I could give him the message.”

“On second thought, maybe we'd better take the sleigh. I need to get more shells at the store.” Cassie tried a smile that didn't work. “Thanks anyway. I need to deal with this situation.” When she thought about it, like this, she needed to grit her teeth. If Lucas had been honest, she wouldn't have to go explain to Reverend Brandenburg. When she really thought about it, her heart cried,
What did I do wrong? Am I not good enough? Is it something about me?

“Can I go too?” Gretchen stood in the doorway.

Mavis said, “If you want and Cassie doesn't mind.”

Cassie shrugged, her mind still on the heavy task she must do. The last thing she wanted to do was go tell Reverend Brandenburg that there would be no wedding. On the other hand, she reminded herself, it wasn't her fault. But with Lucas gone, the burden was left on her. Commanding herself to stay calm
didn't really help. But at least it helped to look that way, even if inside she felt like exploding. Riding might have helped her calm down, but ten or more boxes of shells didn't fit in saddlebags or hang well in a bag looped over the horn.

“I'll stay home if you'd rather.” Gretchen slumped just enough to let Cassie know how she felt.

Cassie felt like slapping herself. Gretchen was entirely too perceptive. “No, I would love to have you come along.”

“You want me to beat up Lucas for you?”

That made Cassie smile, and then the picture of it made her laugh. “We could do it together perhaps.”

“Well, then there would be three against one. If anyone gets to give Lucas a whack or two, count me in. I thought I raised him better than this.” Mavis tucked a cloth around the things she had gathered together. “Let's go hitch up the team.” With the men working over at the other place, as they'd taken to calling Arnett's barn, there had been no one there to hitch the team, and Cassie figured it was high time she learned. When she mentioned her thought, Mavis nodded.

“Good idea.”

By the time they were on the road, the sun was well on its way to noon, with Cassie driving. The horses were more than willing to pick up a good trot, so the trip to town went faster than with a wagon, by far. And so much smoother. The world around the ranch looked so much different all dressed in white. Fence posts wore white top hats, their shadows dark against the glitter, exclamation points marking the fence lines.

“Do you miss school?” Cassie asked. She glanced at the girl beside her and caught her look of astonishment. “I thought you liked school.”

“I do, but I hate missing out on the things happening on the ranch. I wish I could do both.”

“When summer comes you'll be looking forward to school
starting again because there is too much work in the summer.” Mavis smiled at her daughter.

“Cassie said she would teach me some of her riding tricks this summer.”

“That's up to Cassie. But I know you'll have fun. We need to talk a whole lot more about the guests coming to our ranch. You might be real busy if they have children along.”

“Do you really think people are going to pay to stay with us? I mean we're not real fancy or anything. Just getting enough horses trained for riding is going to take a lot of time. We can't afford to buy well-broke ones. Will we have enough?”

“Good question, Gretchen. Right now we don't have enough to even take four riders out. We need to start making lists. I keep thinking about building another bunkhouse, like Arnett has mentioned before.”

“You think Lucas and Betsy will come back to help?”

Mavis said quietly, “I sure don't know. I'd really like to know where they are and how they are.”

Cassie had a good idea that while Mavis hadn't mentioned the two much, she was praying for them and thinking about them a lot more than she let on. Had this not happened, in just a few more days she would have become Mrs. Lucas Engstrom. Thoughts of thankfulness welled up and caught her by surprise. Sure she was mad at him, but in the long run, this was better. For all of them. She'd ask Micah or Ransom to set up targets again and get back to work.

As they entered town, Cassie asked, “Do you want to stop at the store first?”

“Yes, let's. Then JD can be filling our order while we visit the Brandenburgs.”

Once they'd entered the store and after the greeting, Cassie said, “I'm sorry I'm not able to pay off my debt yet.”

“Not to worry,” JD said. “You'll do other shooting matches
and you'll be back to winning. I couldn't believe you even competed so soon after being shot in the arm. You are an amazing young woman. We have faith in you.”

Cassie swallowed—hard. “Th-thank you. I know we'll be going to one in the spring. I'll need to do lots of practicing.”

“I ordered extras just in case, and I can always get more.” He turned to Mavis. “What do you need today?”

She handed him her list. “Have you heard anything about this idea of ranches opening their doors for guests during the summer?”

“Let's see. Someone was talking about that. Who was it? Oh, I know, Cal Haggard. He thought it a rather clever idea. Not surprised you were invited, what with Lucas working with Porter on the Wild West show and rodeo.” He dropped his voice. “Sorry to hear about him leaving like that.”

Mavis's mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”

“Oh, Hudson's been here. He's all hot under the collar about Lucas and Betsy. Wanted McDougal to arrest them, but the sheriff says they're grown-ups. Besides, where are they? Then Bert
really
got mad, thinks the sheriff should go find 'em. Don't worry none about it. He'll cool off.”

Cassie wandered off to look at the fabrics and notions. What would it be like to sew a skirt or dress or something for Gretchen? She picked up a bolt, spread out a yard of it, and turned to the girl beside her. “A dress. What do you think?”

“We could do it together before I go back to school. But we were talking about making patchwork skirts the other day. I suppose this might be more practical.” She fingered the fabric. “Mor was teaching me how to sew last summer and then we got busy. We never got back to it.”

“What would you like?”

Gretchen shrugged. “My skirts are getting too short. I think I'd like a dark skirt like the one you have. Corduroy would be
warm and heavy enough that I could ride without it blowing around. I'm outgrowing my dresses and pinafores.”

“So what are you two thinking?” Mavis joined them in front of the fabrics.

“Mor, Cassie wants to sew something for me.” Gretchen beamed.

Cassie watched the girl and almost felt like crying. Was this what it felt like to have a little sister? If so, she was all in favor of more feelings like this, and considering how she'd been feeling so let down by Lucas, this was wonderful. “I thought maybe that was something we could do before she goes back to school.”

“Like the skirt Cassie has,” Gretchen said.

“We could use that as a pattern and make it smaller for you. Although you are almost as tall as Cassie right now.” Mavis turned to Cassie. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't. I like sewing on your sewing machine, and I'd like to do more.”

Mavis nodded. “Then let's choose the fabric. Serge would be good for winter. It has a nice tight weave, or corduroy. They have navy and brown, but not black, I think.”

“The navy,” Gretchen said, fingering the material. “It would look nice with the sweater you knit for me.”

“That it would.” They took the fabric up to the counter. “We'd like three yards of this, please, and add it to our account. I'm sure I have buttons at home.”

“Or I could use one of Lucas's buttons.”

“Is he still making those buttons out of antlers?” DJ asked, looking up from writing a list.

“He has a place back east that buys all he can make.”

“Really? Hmm. You know, that might be a product we could sell at the Wild West show. Along with moccasins and some other things like that.”

“Runs Like a Deer made some of us deerskin moccasins for Christmas. She does rabbit-skin vests and mittens too.” Cassie could feel a bubble of excitement starting.

“And she is . . . ?”

“A friend of mine. She traveled here with us.”

“Do you want to talk to her about making some things?” he asked. “I'm thinking maybe some people on the reservation would like to do this too. We need to start thinking about things now, to get enough ready for that big show.”

“I'll talk to her. We'll let you know.”

Mavis stepped back. “We'll be back on our way home. Thanks, DJ. Good thinking ahead like that. As Mr. Porter said, he hoped plenty of people in our area would profit from the show.”

“Do you know anyone who does any woodcarving?”

“Arnett does some.”

“Tell him to come talk with me. If you know anyone else . . .”

“We'll send them your way.”

As they left the store, Gretchen asked, “Why didn't you mention the furniture Ransom is making?”

“I'm not sure. But I know he'll be right glad to hear about this conversation. I wish Chief were here. He'd know people on the reservation to contact. Didn't Mr. Porter say he'd talk to people there about being in the show?”

Cassie untied the team and climbed into the sleigh. This would be her first time backing them, but she and the horses did fine and stopped again in front of the Brandenburg house.

“Welcome, welcome.” Mrs. Brandenburg stepped back and motioned them in. “You're just in time for dinner. Come along. We're both in the kitchen.”

“We didn't come for dinner.”

“But you are here, and we haven't eaten yet, so you will join us. I have a big pot of soup on the stove that will last forever if we don't have help. We sure missed you Christmas Day, but only
the town folk who could walk managed to get to the church for the service.”

Cassie inhaled the wonderful fragrances coming from the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled that breakfast had been a long time ago as she and Gretchen hung their things on the tree by the stairs.

“What smells so good?” Mavis asked.

“Oh, the soup, and I baked some apples. I also decided to make fruit soup today. I used up some of the bits and pieces left from other things. I found dried prunes at the store one day, and that makes such good compote. DJ had the large tapioca too. I bought plenty because he rarely has it. He brought some in for Christmas, I guess. If you want some, I will share.” She took the basket Mavis handed her. “Just take your places at the table. I think my husband has probably added more plates.”

“Merry Christmas, since we didn't get to say that on Christmas Day. That was some snowstorm, was it not?” Reverend Brandenburg set the silverware next to the plates. “What a treat this is.”

They all sat and as soon as the food was dished up and grace said, he smiled at his guests. “I can't say that I am surprised to see you. I heard what happened.” He turned to Cassie. “And you, my dear, are the wronged party here, and I will have none of your thinking it is your fault.”

“But if I had not come—”

“Oh, Cassie, please don't feel that way.” Gretchen leaned forward and laid her hand on Cassie's arm. “I have never had a sister before, and if you hadn't come, why . . . why that would be terrible. Lucas . . .” She shook her head. “I just hope Betsy is happy with him, because he sure doesn't live up to his word.”

Cassie blew on her spoon of ham and bean soup. Mrs. Brandenburg passed around the platter of corn bread.

“I put cracklings in this. So I hope you like it.”

There was another new word. “Cracklings?”

“That's the residue left when you render lard,” Mavis explained. “I use them for all kinds of flavoring. The scalloped potatoes had cracklings in it. You know, what we had Christmas Day. Sometimes we eat them hot with salt on them. Crunchy and tasty.” Mavis obviously knew all about cracklings.

“I saw you rendering the lard,” Cassie said.

“I froze some of it, but it's half gone already, so one of these days I'll render some more.”

“When you do, I'd like some, if you don't mind,” Mrs. Brandenburg said. “I use them in baked beans too, and with string beans. Soak the dried beans with cracklings before you cook them together.”

Cassie cut her square of corn bread and spread butter on it. Gretchen passed her the jelly dish.

“You'll like this too. Apple butter. I use the leftover apple peelings from making pie and cook 'em down in the oven.”