Brighter than Gold by Cynthia Wright

Author:Cynthia Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boxwood Manor Books
Published: 2012-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

October 22-27, 1864

“Well, thank you—I guess—for escorting me back to town,” Katie said as she slid from Willoughby’s back and handed the reins to Jack. “Are you sure you don’t mind returning him to the stable?”

“I have to go there anyway. You go on inside and let your friends know you’re all right.” Jack’s voice was huskier than usual, and he avoided her eyes as he crossed Willoughby’s reins with Byron’s.

“Yes, I suppose I should.” Katie fiddled with the handful of straggly, late-blooming poppies that Jack had picked for her when they’d stopped to stretch their legs on the way back from Jackass Gulch. She wasn’t sure why they both were so ill at ease, and further, she didn’t want to think about it. “Well, good-bye.”

Jack glanced down at her, nodded, and nudged Byron to turn back down Main Street. Katie walked slowly toward the saloon, watching until Jack and the two horses had turned the corner of Fulton Street. Confused, bittersweet emotions assailed her mind and battered her heart, leaving her utterly drained.

Inside the saloon, Lim and Abby rushed to meet her, exclaiming their relief and plying her with questions. When their curiosity had been satisfied, Abby said, “Thank goodness Jack stopped by looking for you. Otherwise, you might still be in Jackass Gulch, and we’d still be worrying about you!”

Katie’s eyes widened. “Jack was here? Looking for me? I thought you sent him to find me.”

Lim shook his head, watching her all the while. “No, he came here, then he went to look for you at home, then he came back again. He brought you a present.”

She was completely confused. “He certainly didn’t say anything to me about a present. Where is it?”

“It’s a she,” laughed Abby, “and she’s in the kitchen, lapping milk.”

Lim disappeared around the corner and returned holding a tiny bundle of furry patchwork. Katie stared. It was the calico kitten Jack and Maggie had been watching in front of the dry goods store.

“Jack said he was keeping his eye on her most of the day until he was satisfied she was an orphan,” Abby explained. “He just had a feeling that you’d be the person who could give her the love she needed.”

Tears stung Katie’s eyes. “He said that?”

They both nodded. Lim held out the kitten and Katie lifted it, gazing into its bright blue eyes, then held it against her cheek. The warm, velvet-soft body began to purr immediately. “I love her,” she whispered. Her eyes fell on the orange poppies that lay on the bar. “I’ll call her Poppy.”

* * *

Timing up the collar of his long tan duster against the evening chill, the Griffin watched Aaron Rush’s two assistants leave the mining offices which were located a short distance south of town. The miners themselves had gone home more than an hour before, and now it seemed that even loyalty to Rush could not keep his closest aides from their supper. The Griffin was concealed behind a cluster of pine trees as the pair walked by.

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