Rimfire Bride (35 page)

“I will appreciate that, Mr. Christiansen. I’m Jana Hartmann, late of Bismarck.”

The man gave her a strange look. “I think I heard Reverend Kling mention a couple of women who were supposed to join us in Bismarck. Would you be one of those women?”

“Perhaps. I made a connection with him in Chicago when I realized Dakota allowed women homesteaders.”

“Were you working in a saloon?”

Jana swallowed hard. “I lived at the Custer Hotel while I was waiting for your group to come through. I did not work in the saloon.” She said this with all honesty. Didn’t
working
mean one was earning money?

“Uh-huh.” Christiansen helped stack Jana’s things in a neat pile, then started off toward the west, leading his horse. When he had gone about fifty feet, he turned to Jana. “Well, are you coming or not?”

Jana ran to catch up with him as she followed him through the tall grass.

When she got to the Bluegrass Siding, she saw two boxcars and was told they were serving as shelter until the Northern Pacific could build an immigrant house in New Salem. The women, numbering eleven by Jana’s count, were staying in one, and about ninety men were in the other.

Dear God, what had she gotten herself into? She tried to think, but her mind was numb.

“Miss Hartmann,” Reverend Kling said as he approached her. “I was told you wouldn’t be joining us when I encountered your sister in the saloon.”

“You lied,” John Christiansen said. “ ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’ ”

“He encountered my sister, but she isn’t here. If you will have me, Reverend Kling, I would like to join your group.”

“That is not my decision to make. It will be up to the other ministers of our colony. For tonight, you may stay.”

That night Jana
lay on the floor of the boxcar with no blanket or pillow. Not one woman spoke to her. It had never occurred to her that the German Evangelical Synod of North America would reject her. And what would they say if they knew she wasn’t a virgin?

As she lay in the dark, the most comforting sound was the howling of the neighboring coyotes.

Washington, DC, the Capitol

“And who may I tell the congressman is calling?” a young man in a suit and string tie asked. He was sitting at a desk applying stamps to a pile of envelopes.

“Drew Malone.”

“Malone? Are you kin to the congressman?”

“I’m his son.”

“Please forgive me. I didn’t know he was expecting you.” The man stumbled to his feet, almost tipping the chair.

“He’s not expecting me. But please tell him I’m here.”

“Yes, sir!” The secretary stepped into an inner office for a moment, then returned with a smile on his face. “The congressman will see you now.”

When Drew entered the office, his father was on the telephone and lifted his hand, both in greeting and to indicate that he would be with Drew shortly.

“I didn’t say I don’t like the Pendleton Bill; I do like it. That’s why I voted for it. But you mark my words: this bill’s going to be nothing but trouble for the president. Why, you know these party bigwigs like handing out patronage. When we get civil service jobs based on merit, you know it’s going to cut into their power base, and they’re going to raise bloody hell with Arthur.”

Drew could hear a tinny sound coming from the receiver, though he couldn’t understand the words.

“Yes, well, you convey my sentiments to Chester, and tell Speaker Keifer he can count on my support. Look, I’ve got someone in my office, Shelby. I’ve got to go. . . . I’ll do it.”

Sam Malone hung up the phone, then greeted his son with a broad smile and an extended hand. “Drew! What brings you to Washington? And where are the boys?” he asked, glancing toward the door.

“The boys are in Evanston, and that’s why I’m here.”

The smile on the elder Malone’s face left, to be replaced by an expression of concern. “Drew, what’s happened?”

“They’ve been kidnapped by your best friends, Eli and Rose Denton.”

“Oh.” Sam took a deep breath. “For a minute there you had me going.”

“That is what they did, Dad. They came to Bismarck while I was in the Badlands on a business trip and they took Sam and Benji.”

“I’m sure you’re overreacting. They probably just want to spend some time with their grandsons. Eli and Rose would never do anything to hurt those boys, and you know it. They love them, as do your mother and I.”

“Does removing them by a US marshal with a signed court order sound like I’m overreacting?”

Sam Malone frowned and fell back in his chair. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”

“I am their father, and Sam and Benji belong with me, not the Dentons.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Now sit down and tell me what’s going on.”

Drew sat down and told his father as much as he knew about what had happened. While he was talking, he realized that he had not allowed Jana to tell her side of the story. Otherwise, he would have known about the court order before he got to Evanston.

She had no choice. She had to let the boys go, and when she went to find either Frank or Alex McKenzie, that was the prudent thing to do. He realized now that only the authorities could have pleaded with a US marshal to wait until Drew could get there before allowing his sons to be abducted.

When he had finished, his father said, “Well, we’ll have to get them back.”

“That’s why I came to you, Dad. What do I do?”

“The court order had to have been signed by Judge John Bobe. I helped get him his appointment.”

“I think you’re right. His circuit is the whole Dakota Territory.”

“But I can trump his order,” Sam Malone said as he reached for the phone.

Drew heard a ring in the outer office.

“Robert, will you ring up my good friend, Justice Stanley Matthews? I have a favor to call in.”

Drew sat idly by while he listened to his father talk to a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. When the conversation was over, Sam was assured that he had a court order that superseded Judge Bobe’s order. And this time, there would be no higher authority.

D
rew
and the boys had been on the train for a little more than two days, and they would get into Bismarck within ten hours. For the long trip Drew had taken passage on a Pullman car, and as the two boys slept in the upper berth, Drew lay in the lower, listening to the click of the wheels over the rail joints, rocked by the gentle swaying of the car. As he looked out the window, the darkness was only occasionally interrupted by a twinkle of light in some remote farmhouse.

He thought of Jana, and how this would be perfect if he had her head lying on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and visualized her standing naked before him in his bedroom, and how he had carried her to his bed where they had explored each other’s body. With just these thoughts he could feel the quiver of an arousal. He wished she were here to make love.

Love. That was how he felt about Jana.

Then he thought about Addie. This whole fiasco with the Dentons had had a happy ending. He had left Rose and Eli on reasonably good terms, even after what they had tried to do to him. They would always be the boys’ grandparents, and he had tried to impress upon them that they were welcome to visit whenever they could.

But the best thing that had happened was a feeling of catharsis. For the first time since Addie’s death, Drew truly felt free to love again. It was as if she had set him free—free to love someone else.

Tomorrow he would go to Jana and beg her forgiveness for what he had done to her. He would not take the boys. He had to do this alone.

He turned away from the window and closed his eyes. Where would she want to have the wedding? Bismarck? Surely not in Illinois? Then he smiled as he thought of her painting. Rimfire. The wedding would be at Rimfire Ranch.

New Salem

Jana was dumbfounded when she heard the decision of the colony ministers. She would be allowed to stay in New Salem if she became the wife of one of the men. With over ninety men in the colony, those who had not left wives behind cast lots to see who would be obligated to marry her.

The dubious honor fell to one Johan Seethoff, who approached her with barely concealed desire.

“Miss Hartmann, as it has fallen upon me to
set aside all thoughts of selfish aggrandizement, I have accepted my responsibility to procreate for the growth of this colony. At the behest of the ministers, I have consented to marry you, and you shall become Mrs. Johan Seethoff.”

The blood drained from Jana’s head and she reeled, grabbing the side of the boxcar for support. Countless thoughts coursed through her mind, not the least of which was that this man would immediately know that she did not come to the marriage bed chaste. In the Bible, didn’t they stone adulterous women?

Jana turned and ran as fast as she could back to where her belongings were piled. As she ran, all she could think of was the word
survival
. How prophetic it was that Greta had seized upon that word in their last conversation.

Bismarck

Drew and the boys stepped off the train excitedly as each child jubilantly clung to their father’s hands. Their first stop was the law office. Drew intended to leave the boys with Frank while he went immediately to the Custer Hotel to find Jana. If all went as planned, she would be with him and the boys when they entered the house.

“It’s good to see you guys,” Frank said as he hugged both boys. “And welcome home to you, too.” He extended his hand to Drew.

“Would you mind keeping an eye on these two for a while? I’ve got to mend a pretty big hole I’ve made,” Drew said.

“Sure, they can stay here, but Elfrieda’s at your house. She came home about a week ago, and I let her in.”

“That’s great. I’ll take the boys home first and then take care of my business.”

“Daddy, if Mrs. Considine is back, where will Jana stay?” Benji asked.

“Silly. She’ll be with Daddy,” Sam said.

“I hope so, Son. Let’s go, so I can bring her home as quick as I can.”

“Take the rig. I just came in and old Joy’s still hitched up,” Frank said.

“I’ll do it, and I’ll take that mare’s name as a good omen.”

The reunion with
Elfrieda was bittersweet. The boys were happy to be home, and they were happy to see her, but both of them went running through the house looking everywhere for Jana.

“I thought she’d be here. I looked in all the places where we play hide-and-seek and she’s not anywhere,” Benji said.

“How would she know we’re back?” Sam asked.

“Sam’s right. We didn’t tell her. You stay here and I’ll go find her,” Drew said. “I’m really glad you’re home, Elfrieda. We’ve missed you.”

“Thanks, Mr. Malone, and thanks for what you did for my sister. The money you sent buried her man.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It couldn’t be helped, but Ethyl’s pulled through, and none of the little ones got the diphtheria, God be praised.”

Finding Jana proved
to be more difficult than Drew had imagined. He hit his first stumbling block when he went to the Custer Hotel.

“I wouldn’t think you’d want to show your face around here,” Hank Thompson said when Drew entered the lobby.

“Where is she?” Drew asked.

“She’s not here.”

Drew took a deep breath. He should have expected Jana’s friends to close ranks around her.

“Do you know where she is?”

“I do.”

“But you’re not going to tell me.”

Hank rocked back and forth in his chair as he glared openly, never taking his eyes off Drew’s face. Drew decided that it was useless to probe this old man any further. He would have to find Jana himself.

When he stepped into the saloon, it was empty, but he heard sounds coming from the little room off from the bar. Someone was preparing the evening’s soup, so he pushed through the batwing doors and entered. He was disappointed that Jana wasn’t there, but was gratified to see Greta. If one sister was still in Bismarck, the odds the other one was still here were greater.

“She’s not here,” Greta said when she saw Drew.

“I can see that, but can you tell me where I can find her?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe that. As close as you and Jana are, I’m sure you know where she is.”

“You didn’t ask me that, Drew. You asked if I could tell you where she is, and the answer is no. Jana made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone where she went, and most of all, she didn’t want me to tell you, so . . .”

“You’re not going to tell me.”

“And don’t try to get it out of me. If you don’t already know the meaning of the German proverb
Blut ist dicker als Wasser
, then, buster, you’re about to learn. Good day, Mr. Malone.”

“Greta, you can’t do this. You have to tell me where she is. I love her and I want to marry her. I have to find her,” Drew pleaded.

Greta laid down the knife she was using to cut potatoes for the soup and said with cold and exact words, “You should have thought of that when you sent her away. She took it quite literally when you said there was no need for her to be here when you got back. Now, I don’t expect to ever speak to you again.” Greta picked up the knife and bent her head back to her task.

When Drew left
the Custer, he climbed into the buggy and started for home. Out of habit, he headed for Eighth Street, but as he passed Sixth, he turned left. When he got to where Addie had died, he stopped. For a while afterward, her bloodstains had been on the cinders that hardened the path, and he couldn’t bring himself to go there. Even though the stains had faded away over the last two years, he’d continued to avoid the place—until now.

Climbing down from the buggy, he walked over
to stand on the exact spot, and as he looked down, he could see Addie lying there. And he could hear her last words to him, as clearly as if she were speaking them.

Get a good woman to take care of my boys. I love you.

“I did what you asked, Addie, but then I did something stupid.” Drew chuckled. “I know what you’d say. ‘Stupid? You?’ You’d be a little sarcastic about it. All right, I admit it, I was wrong.