Rose's Pledge Read online

  A spot on one of her thinly pantalooned legs began to chafe. Not wanting to draw undue attention, she casually tucked a bit of petticoat between the hard leather saddle and her knee. Traveling at this slow pace had enabled her to adjust quickly enough to riding horseback, but she feared the animal’s swaying and bumping would inevitably take its own toll.

  Suddenly from off to the side, wild snapping and cracking echoed through the dense brush. Rose’s heart pounded, and she tightened her grip on the saddle’s pommel. A doe plunged out of the growth in a blur of brown, missing her by mere inches as it leaped across the trail and clattered into the undergrowth on the other side.

  Some other wild creature must be chasing after it! Rose held her breath, waiting, listening, but when she heard nothing but the blowing and clop-clop of the horses, the straining of leather, and an occasional birdcall or tree toad, her panic eased. Ahead of her, Mr. Smith continued on as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, while she still trembled from head to foot—and this journey into the notorious unknown had only just begun.

  A familiar phrase popped into her mind. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …”

  That’s where I’m going, dear Lord. As she felt herself losing the last shred of control, she recalled the rest of the verse: “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”

  Are You with me, Father? Will You come with me into this dark, mysterious land? Please don’t forsake me, Lord. I’m so alone.

  Chapter 5

  The woodland trail made a gradual ascent to higher ground as the afternoon slipped away. Now and then an occasional break in the dense forest growth provided Rose with a brief glimpse of a nearby stream paralleling the trail. Occasionally she heard disturbing and unfamiliar wild cries emanating from deep in the forest on either side. Determined not to let them affect her, she governed her emotions and watched Mr. Smith for his reaction. Nothing seemed to disturb him.

  His horse whinnied then, as did the others. The trader reined his animal to a stop and pulled a pistol out of his belt.

  Rose’s horse came automatically to a stop behind Mr. Smith’s, its ears perked and flicking from side to side. Rose tensed, wishing she had a firearm of her own for protection. She detected the sound of hooves coming toward them from the opposite direction and turned to glance at the Indian in back of her.

  He, too, had drawn a weapon. A big, long musket.

  From around a curve rode two bearded, scraggly, lean men attired in the fringed garb Rose had become used to seeing since her arrival in the backcountry. They also held weapons at the ready.

  “That you, Smith?” the lead rider hollered. “Thought fer sure the buzzards had picked them bones o’ yers clean by now.”

  “It’s me, all right. An’ still in the flesh, to boot.” He tucked away his pistol. “You boys headed in to spend yer money?”

  The man in front grinned, drawing up alongside Mr. Smith. “That’s the plan. Gonna have me a high ol’ time with—” Catching sight of Rose, his mouth gaped open. “Horsefeathers, Eustice. You got yerself a young white woman there!”

  He straightened in the saddle and lifted his bearded chin. “No. What I got me is a cook there. An’ don’t none of you yahoos forget it.”

  Dragging his eyes off Rose, the man swung around to the rider in back of him. “You see that? Smith’s got hisself a—a cook!” Turning again to the trader, his mouth went into a slack grin. “If ‘n you say so.”

  “I do.” His tone took on a defensive edge, and no smile softened his demeanor. “The gal’s me bondservant, bought an’ paid for with hard cash.”

  “Well, I’ll be dogged.” The newcomer’s eyes raked over Rose in a slow survey. “Where ‘bouts could a body find a cook like that, I’d like ta know.”

  “On the docks in Baltimore. That’s where.” The trader nudged his mount into motion and maneuvered it around the first rider. “Don’t have no time to chew the fat with you boys. We’re losin’ daylight. See y’all later.”

  Rose’s horse started dutifully behind him. As she passed the riders, she was extremely conscious of the way they filled their eyes with her as if they hadn’t seen a female in years. But then, all she’d seen for the past several days was men. The sight of another woman would be just as welcome to her. She’d be glad to reach Mr. Smith’s store and meet his wife. She was in dire need of feminine companionship herself at this point.

  In the waning daylight, Mr. Smith guided his mount off the path and into a small, level clearing, where he came to a stop. He swung down and approached Rose. “We’ll make camp here fer the night. My stomach’s not farin’ so good. I’ll have the boys get a fire started fer ya an’ fetch the fixin’s fer some mush whilst you go milk the fresh cow.”

  Still perched on her horse, Rose swept a glance around. “I’m sorry. I don’t see a place to cook in.”

  With an incredulous grimace that scrunched up one side of his scruffy face, he shrugged. “Place! There ain’t no place. Just pick a spot.” He shook his head in disgust.

  She stared dumbly down at the man. “Surely you’re not saying we’ll be staying here! On the ground!”

  “That’s right, missy. Right here on the ground. Now get yerself down. I’m hungry.” He started to walk away.

  “Wait!” Rose tried to come up with some graceful way of getting off her mount while renewed panic filled her. “I’m not sure I know what mush is, and I’ve never milked a cow before in my life.”

  Smith stopped in his tracks and turned to gawk at her then narrowed his eyes. “Ya said ya was a cook. Were ya gullin’ me?”

  “No, sir. Not at all.”

  “Then it’s best ya get busy, ain’t it?” He reached up without so much as a by-your-leave and hauled her right off the horse.

  It was most fortunate that he kept hold of her momentarily, because her legs felt really strange after riding on a saddle all afternoon. It was all she could do not to sink to the ground in a graceless heap. Doing what she could to gather herself together, she gave him her most forthright look. “I daresay I’m considered quite a fine cook …in an actual kitchen …with milk already waiting in a pail. And what, might I ask, is mush?” She waved aside a pesky fly.

  The trader rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he wagged his head in scorn—actions he repeated numerous times over the course of the next quarter hour while he demonstrated how to dispense milk from a cow’s udder.

  Rose found the squeeze-and-pull chore a touch more difficult than it looked—especially with so many muscles in her lower regions aching while she stooped. And the fact that her Indian audience grinned and snickered at her clumsy efforts didn’t make it any easier. Apparently they considered her as inept as Mr. Smith did—these Indians who were supposed to be so dangerous. Though she still felt a bit ill at ease in their presence, they had yet to do anything threatening other than leer in her direction from time to time. Again she concluded that their exploits must have been exaggerated back in England. She purposely disregarded them and continued doing her best while they unloaded several items from the packhorses. She was glad to have a bit of space between her and them. Whenever they were near, she detected a stench she couldn’t identify.

  After she’d managed to acquire a reasonable amount of milk from the soft-eyed cow, Mr. Smith directed Rose to a blazing campfire, where a tripod fashioned from sturdy sticks held a blackened pot suspended above the heat.

  “Watch.” If he’d said that once during the last half hour, he’d said it a dozen times. He poured water from his flask into the kettle then opened a gunnysack slumped nearby along with several others. More than a little exasperated, he rammed his filthy hand into the bag and pulled out a fistful of gritty yellow powder. “Cornmeal.” Eyeing her pointedly, he tossed the grain into the pot then added a second handful.

  It took all of Rose’s fortitude to restrain herself from giving the man a piece of her mind, but knowing it would be wiser to hold her ton
gue, she clamped her lips together. After all, she needed no reminder that she was in the middle of nowhere—a lone female with seven men—a precarious situation if ever there was one.

  The trader grabbed a stick from a pile of kindling off to the side and rubbed it across his grubby pants as if that would do more to clean it than recent rains could have done, then used it to stir the contents of the pot. After that, she surmised, he no doubt expected her to eat the nasty mess.

  “See?” Straightening from the fire, he turned to her with a smug grimace. “Nothin’ to it. Course it’ll need a pinch o’ salt, an’ I’m partial to some sweetenin’. After the water boils down some, pour in some o’ that rich milk. That’s all there is to it. Mush.” He handed Rose the stir stick. “Just don’t let it get lumpy.”

  Determined to remain in the man’s good graces, Rose spoke in a casual tone. “I’ll do my best. But where might I find the salt and sugar?”

  He squinted as if his patience had reached the painful limit and stepped directly in front of her, his foul breath almost smothering her. She held her ground despite the inclination to step back from the stench. “Don’t try playin’ dumb with me so’s I’ll send ya back, gal. It ain’t gonna happen.” He kicked at another large sack. “Salt.” And the one next to it. “Sugar.” With a “humph” of disgust, he stomped away to where the Indians were rigging tarps between trees.

  Despite her intentions not to upset the trader any more than necessary, Rose gulped in dismay. Surely those flimsy bits of cloth would not constitute their only shelter for the night! The very thought made her ill. Mosquitoes had voracious appetites after dark, and already she had more bites than she could count. Each evening during the trip upriver, the trader had managed to secure food and lodging for the party at various villages along the way, so they’d been protected from insects. Tonight would be different.

  How many more nights in the open lay ahead? Small wonder that when she questioned him about their destination he’d been so vague. The man was scarcely more than a sneaky weasel. But then she was probably every bit as stupid as he thought she was. Hadn’t she gotten herself in this untenable predicament in the first place? Even convicts balked at being sent to America as indentured servants to pay their sentences. She should have thought of that before undertaking such a rash course of action. Had she saved her father from prison only to condemn herself to an even worse fate?

  As another mosquito sang in her ear, she swatted it away.

  Observing her action, the trader chuckled. “If ya ask one o’ them Injuns fer some o’ that bear grease they smear on their bodies, ya won’t have none o’ them bugs botherin’ ya.”

  Bear grease. So that accounted for the stench around them. Rose didn’t respond.

  Assorted night sounds magnified in the fading twilight around the camp, adding to Rose’s heightened anxiety as she tried to dislodge a piece of dried meat from between her teeth with her tongue. Losing a battle with persistent mosquitoes that seemed drawn to the light, she appreciated the swift bats cavorting overhead, making a meal of the loathsome insects. Across the fire from her, Mr. Smith sipped from a tin mug of steaming tea, straight from a beat-up old pot, leaves and all. She ignored his steady perusal of her, unable to envision what tasteless gruel he expected her to concoct next.

  He pointed with a grubby finger toward one of the stained tarps now stretched out about three feet above the rocky, leaf-strewn ground. The poorest excuse for a red blanket she had ever seen had been tossed beneath, apparently for her use. “Over there’s where you’ll bed down fer the night.”

  Rose slid a troubled glance from the makeshift bed to the Indians crouched around another campfire a scarce stone’s throw away.

  Smith gave a snort. “Don’t bother frettin’, little missy. Them redskins know yer my property, an’ they’ll think twice b’fore triflin’ with anything what b’longs to me.”

  Thus far the trader had shown no inclinations of a trifling nature either, but Rose dreaded having to attempt sleeping on hard ground that in all likelihood would be damp and lumpy with rocks. Far worse, that disgusting blanket quite possibly housed lice, bedbugs—or some other night-crawling vermin known only to the colonies. A shiver coursed through her at the unwelcome possibility.

  Thankful she’d had foresight enough to pack some necessities for the journey from England, Rose got up from the chest she’d used for a seat and dragged it over to the tarp. She’d use the scant bedding she’d brought with her, along with her cloak, to ward off the night chill. Her shawl would do for a pillow, and the trunk itself would provide whatever privacy she could hope for in such a situation. As to whether she’d get a wink of sleep in the company of so many strange men was yet to be determined—especially with unseen forest creatures prowling about. After heading for a nearby bush to answer nature’s call, she returned to her designated sleeping spot, swallowing her fear as the mournful howl of wolves filtered through the trees.

  Surely Mr. Smith and the others would keep their weapons at the ready, she assured herself as she tried to ignore the incessant chirping of crickets. The men seemed to be used to making their way through the wilderness. Down on her knees while she created her own small haven in the dark, Rose heard the hobbled horses in the meadow whinny as they’d done that afternoon, when they’d signaled the approach of riders. She paused in her work and peered over her trunk.

  Mr. Smith snatched up his musket and stepped out of the glow of the campfire, and the Indians melted silently into the shadows.

  Rose’s pulse throbbed in her throat. She’d heard tales of land pirates—and of savage Indians who tortured and murdered unsuspecting folks. Now she could only wait to see what sort of fate awaited this camp in the wilds. The temperature had dipped lower once the sun was no longer dominating the daytime hours, and a cool, pine-scented breeze wafted through the clearing, adding to her shivers.

  “Halloo the camp!” came a shout from the direction of approaching horse hooves. “It’s us. Nate Kinyon and Black Horse Bob.”

  Releasing a slow breath, Rose eased up in her hiding place behind the trunk as Mr. Smith and the Indians moved back into the firelight, their weapons now lowered. The silhouettes of two riders on horseback, followed by a couple of packhorses, met her eyes. And foolish though she knew it was, Rose had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.

  Mr. Smith, however, appeared none too pleased to have visitors. His expression in the erratic firelight resembled a scowl as the two riders in fringed buckskin dismounted. Rose couldn’t discern the newcomers’ features in the dark, but she recognized the taller of the pair as Mr. Kinyon. She focused on his familiar form, still appealing and muscular in the brushed leather clothing as he towered over her owner.

  “Thought you was headed downriver,” the trader said, his tone somewhat accusing.

  Kinyon shrugged, moving closer into the fire glow. “Been gone from home so long I figgered Ma wouldn’t recognize me anyway.”

  Rose noticed that the other frontiersman wore dark braids and had a lithe build similar to those of the Indians at the other fire. He gave a hearty whack to Kinyon’s back. “‘Specially in them fancy duds. Ol’ Nate looked like one of them parrots I once saw down in York Town. All bright colored and struttin’ up an’ down on some ol’ sea captain’s shoulder like he was the king of the realm.”

  Apparently still put off by their unexpected arrival, Mr. Smith gave a grudging grunt at the man’s levity.

  Mr. Kinyon swept a glance around in the darkness, taking measure of the camp. “Where’s our Miss Harwood, Eustice?”

  “She ain’t your anything,” the trader rasped. “Don’t be gettin’ any notions about her in yer head. But seein’ as how you two are here, yer welcome to stay. The more weapons the better.”

  Listening to the exchange, Rose felt silly crouched down in the shadowed confines of the tarp, but she wasn’t certain it would be prudent to stand and present herself.

  Mr. Smith made the decision for her. “As fer my
cook, my property, she’s already abed.” He didn’t bother to gesture in her direction.

  The braided fellow tilted his dark head. “Now that’s a real shame. I was lookin’ forward to seein’ this property of yours. Reckon it can wait’ll mornin’. Think I’ll mosey over and see what our Shawnee brothers think of the new gal. That might be pretty interestin’.” He flashed an amused grin.

  Rose watched from her haven as the man left his friend and joined the Indians sitting cross-legged around the other campfire. From what she could tell in the limited light, he appeared to have a darker complexion than either Smith or Kinyon. Possibly he was an Indian himself, though the easy way he had of speaking like a white man surprised her. She returned her attention to the trader and their other visitor.

  “I drunk up most of the tea, but I believe there’s some dregs left in the pot,” Smith said. “There’s cups in that sack by yer foot.”

  Deciding his tone had taken on a smidgen of friendliness, Rose eased down on her makeshift bed and laid her head on her wadded-up shawl. An owl hooted from not far away, and as she leaned out from the tarp toward the sound, her breath caught at the beauty of the night sky. Millions of stars twinkled like diamonds against the cobalt blue, reminding her of the awesome power of God and His tender care for His creation. She hoped He hadn’t forgotten her and her plight. Deep in thought, she breathed in the night air bearing traces of woodsmoke, damp earth, and the ever-present pine.

  The firelight reflecting on the tarp was blocked momentarily then reappeared as Mr. Kinyon moved between her sleeping spot and the fire to settle down with her owner. “Don’t s’pose you heard anything new from up New York way while you was down in Baltimore.”