Back to Tomorrow

Chapter 4-2

“Miss Dennison! It’s good to see you up and about. I trust you’re suffering no ill effects from your accident?”

Emily felt a flutter in the vicinity of her heart when she met his bright silvery gaze. For a moment, she couldn’t think of a suitable reply.

“No, uh, I’m quite well, thank you. And Mrs. Cashman has kindly given me work here so I needn’t be a burden on anyone while I—well, until I can arrange to go back.”

When he shot her a sharp look, Emily realized her wording must have sounded strange. She would have to be very careful what she said.

How could she even begin to explain her situation without sounding like a raving lunatic? He’d probably expected her to take the next stage back to Fort Huachuca.

Fortunately for Emily, another boarder, anxious for his dinner, spoke up rather sharply from down the table. She moved on to put out more dishes, while she pondered how to express her predicament. She wasn’t quite sure how people adjudged insane were handled in 1889, but she really didn’t want to find out!

Once all the boarders were served, Emily and Angelina had time to eat, sitting in a corner of the kitchen. Afterwards, they hurried to gather up the dishes and wash them for the next meal. There were few leftovers. Most of the men cleaned their plates and took seconds if any were available.

When the chores were done, Emily had a bit of time to herself before she had to help with the evening meal. Before she stepped out into the alley beyond the kitchen door, she took off the voluminous apron Nellie had lent her. A breeze sent a puff of dust and a ragged tumbleweed scooting past her feet. The heat hit her like a slap in the face, instantly drying the perspiration she’d worked up in the steamy kitchen. She squinted against the burning glare of the midday sun.

A few steps away, a wooden fence sheltered the garden courtyard, surrounded on three sides by the boarding house and an adjacent building. Under three tall, gray-barked cottonwood trees, a patch of grass grew. The spot looked wonderfully cool, inviting, and familiar. A huge rose bush, almost covered in pale pink blooms, dominated one side of the small yard, dispersing a sweet scent that hung heavy in the air. Emily pushed the gate open and stepped into the lovely little oasis.

She advanced several steps into the shade before she saw a pair of gray-clad legs sticking out from behind the largest of the trees—or was it only two strange roots? When the root-legs suddenly moved, she barely stifled a shriek. Then, she saw the limbs belonged to Zachary Tremaine, who stood and turned to face her. She stopped, trying to recover from her shock, suddenly uneasy about confronting him alone.

Perhaps an apology for her interruption was in order.

“Oh, I’m sorry for intruding. After the heat of the kitchen, this little yard looked so inviting.”

Even before he replied, she suddenly knew what he would say.

She’d been here before, or at least had read his version of this very meeting. That awareness sent a weird shiver over her body.

“You’re certainly not intruding. I haven’t any claim to this spot, but even if I did, I’d be happy to share with you.” He smiled, flashing a dimple in his left cheek.

In person and up close, he was even more charming than the glimpses she’d seen of him in her dreams. Emily fought a sudden dizziness that had nothing to do with her injury and everything to do with the acceleration of her heartbeat, the dryness of her mouth—and the unsettling presence of Zachary Tremaine.

She couldn’t help being charmed. Returning his smile, she brushed a few wisps of sweat-sticky hair away from her face. “There aren’t many cool, green places here, are there?”

“Not many,” Zach agreed. “But trust me to find one. After that dinner, I had to sit quietly for a while before I could tackle the sun and wind again. But I’d almost fallen asleep—so I’m glad you came along to join me.”

“Are you a miner, then, working the evening shift?”

“Oh no, I’m just here on, well, you might call it a quest. And to write about the colorful characters and life in a mining camp before I go back to Philadelphia. I’m a reporter, actually. I work for the Philadelphia Chronicle-Star.”

He was so tall. Standing beside him, Emily had to tip her head back to look at him. He seemed to notice, for he gestured toward the tree beneath which he had been sitting.

“Come on. We can sit and talk a while. I’ll get a chair so you won’t get grass stains on your skirt.”

He went inside and came back with a straight chair from the dining room. A perfect gentleman, he held the chair for her before he sprawled on the grass near her feet. Actually, that grass looked much more comfortable than the chair, but she’d be rude to say so. Behaving like a lady was going to be harder than she had expected. Manners had made some drastic changes in a hundred and eleven years.

Emily caught Zach looking curiously at her white running shoes.

She tucked them safely beneath the billowing hem of her skirt and attempted to distract him with a question. “You mentioned a quest?”

His attention returned to her face.

“It’s a long tale and not altogether a happy one. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Emily nodded. “Oh yes. A quest sounds so exciting, like the Knights of the Round Table.”

“There’s a damsel in distress too, though she’s hardly a princess.”

Zach’s chuckle sounded wry, maybe even forced. “She’s my sister, my little sister.” He shook his head, a melancholy expression crossing his face before he went on.

“Our father was a minister, and he had definite ideas of what was proper behavior for his son and daughter. He was strict with me but even more so with Mary Ann. When she turned sixteen, she caught the eye of a boy of whom Father disapproved, mainly because he didn’t attend our church, I think. He forbade her to have anything to do with this lad, and even went out of his way to warn the boy off. Mary Ann was furious. I didn’t learn what she planned until it was too late to stop her, but she ran away from home.”

“Oh dear,” Emily murmured. “That’s not a wise thing to do, not ever.”

“Especially for her. Mary Ann was as innocent and naïve as a newborn lamb. In no time at all, she fell into bad company. Father disowned her and ordered us never to mention her name in the home.

That broke my mother’s heart, so after he passed on some months ago, I promised Mamma I would find Mary Ann and bring her safely home.

It’s taken some doing, but I traced her here, and sure enough, she’s in Tombstone. I saw her just the other day.”

Words from the journal crowded Emily’s mind until she had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting them. “Oh my,” she said, after a moment. “You’ve found her?”

“Yes, but that’s only the first step. Now I have to get her away from that scoundrel who’s taking advantage of her. A cheap gambler by the name of Joker Jake McEuen, he has no idea how to treat a lady! She’s scared to death of him. I spoke to her day before yesterday, just before I discovered you lying in the street, actually. But I wasn’t able to find out where they’re staying yet.”

Emily watched him, fascinated, rehearing the very words she had read in the journal. “Tombstone isn’t terribly big. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Well, it seems they don’t live in town. They’re probably out at Charleston or Fairbanks. She had a horse and a buckboard, coming in for some supplies. Jake has a horse he rides, a black one. Fast too, well suited for his type, in case a quick escape is needed, but she was driving a sorry nag that could barely trot.”

Zach fell silent for a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists in a manner that revealed the depths of his distress. Emily sympathized with his frustration and anger, feeling now the strength of emotion his journal had not always conveyed.

Somehow, she had to help. In fact, that had to be why she was here!

The knowledge swept over her suddenly, a sense too positive to doubt.

Her presence here had a purpose, and if she accomplished it, perhaps she’d be allowed to go home.

“Maybe I can help,” she said, reaching to put her hand lightly over one of his. “What does your sister look like? I can watch for her, maybe talk to her whenever she comes to town again. McEuen shouldn’t see me as a threat.”

Zach looked up, almost as if she had startled him, as if he’d forgotten briefly that she was there. His gaze dropped for an instant to her hand, atop his, and then moved back to her face.

“We can’t wait,” he said. “I need to get her started for home as soon as possible or it will be too late. She’s…well, she’s in the family way and I’m afraid she won’t be able to travel much longer. I don’t know much about that condition, but I’ve heard stories.”

“If she’s healthy, she ought to be all right.”

Zach shot a pointed look at her. “I ought not even to speak of it to an unmarried lady. I’m sorry. I forgot myself.”

“Where I come from, we’re not so delicate about such things.”

Emily stopped short at Zach’s shocked expression. She quickly changed subject in midstream. “I suppose riding on the stagecoach is a bit rough, but isn’t there a railroad?”

“Of course, in Benson, about twenty five miles to the north. Didn’t you come out on the train?”

He looked at her with frank suspicion.

“I fl…er, yes, I did. I came on the train.” Emily realized she had almost tripped herself up several times. So much has changed, little things and huge things; it’s entirely too easy to say something out of line!

He still looked at her with narrowed eyes and no trace of a smile.

“It was actually quite comfortable. Didn’t you think so?” Wrong!

She was speaking too quickly, too brightly, and he was much too shrewd to be fooled.

“There’s something very strange about you, Miss Dennison. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but I shall in time. What are you hiding?”

At his frosty tone, a chilling wave of regret swept over Emily. For a moment, she’d thought they were going to become friends.

“If I tried to explain, you’d think I was madder than a sunstruck Englishman,” she said. “So I won’t try. I’ve come a long way. That’s all I can say. I’m not trying to pull anything over or work a scam on anyone, I swear. And I really would like to help you rescue your sister.”

His face relaxed somewhat. “Whatever a ‘scam’ is, I don’t think I want to know. I do want to believe you, though I’m not sure why. I’m usually a good judge of character, and something tells me you’re not lying. But there’s a mystery here I can’t ignore. I’m a reporter, you know, and maybe a bit of a detective since I tracked Mary Ann clear across the country.”

Before Emily could reply, Angelina called to her from the gate. For once she was relieved to be summoned back to work. “We’ll talk again,” she said, as she bounced up and shook the wrinkles out of her skirt. “And please believe me, if I can help you, I’d be happy to do anything I can.”

Emily didn’t wait for Zach’s reply but scurried across to the gate, out it and into the kitchen. Her heart hammered as if she’d run a footrace. Things were going to be even more complicated than she’d guessed. Already both Nellie and Zach had shown more than a hint of suspicion about her. How long would she be able to keep her secret?