In the Shadow of the Mountains Page 16

Elly’s hatred knew no bounds at that moment, not for Chad, but for Irene. She kept her mouth tightly closed to keep from crying, feeling humiliated and embarrassed. She moved into the facing seat as the driver got the buggy into motion, but it was slow going as he guided the two horses that pulled the carriage through the crowded street. People were still cheering and singing and greeting loved ones, and no one was in any particular hurry to get out of the way.

  “Move over there! Look out,” the driver shouted.

  “This is why your mother went on ahead on horseback,” Chad was telling Irene. “She knew it would be quicker.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Did you ever see such excitement?”

  “I don’t think so,” she answered, trying to be friendly. She realized she should be flattered and proud to be sitting next to the handsome, dashing Chad Jacobs, but she only searched the crowd for Ramon. He was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if she was crazy to turn her affection to a man she could probably never have, when a very eligible, desirable man sat right beside her; and she wondered if anything ever made sense when it came to love.

  The buggy finally made its way out of the worst of the crowd, and the driver urged the horses to go faster.

  “It was quite a battle.” Chad was telling the story of their victory. “What really did the trick was destroying their supplies. We were with Major Chivington. We had circled around, chasing off some Confederate scouts in Glorietta Pass. We headed north, right into the main camp. While the Texans were fighting it out with Slough and his men, we destroyed all their supplies, tents, wagons, food—even slaughtered their horses and mules. We made it impossible for them to keep going, even if they had won their fight against Slough, which they didn’t.”

  “That’s so brave and exciting,” Elly told him.

  “You killed the horses and mules,” Irene asked. “Why?”

  Chad shrugged. “We had to stop the man, Irene. In war, you have to do things you couldn’t ordinarily do, although I have to tell you your father refused to kill any of the animals, so I abstained myself.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. At least her father had not been a part of the slaughter. David Kirkland would never murder horses, not for any reason. She suspected, though, that if not for Kirk’s presence, Chad would have taken part in the massacre.

  They reached the house just after Bea and Kirk did. Chad quickly exited the carriage when he noticed Kirk dismounting. He hurried to his side, and to Irene’s dismay, her father nearly fell. The man leaned on Chad, in obvious pain, his face pale and perspiring. She had never seen her father this way, not even when he had been shot during the bummer raids.

  Bea fussed and clucked as Chad helped a protesting Kirk inside and up the stairs to his bedroom, and the children all followed. Kirk grabbed one of the four bedposts and lowered himself onto the mattress, breathing deeply for a moment before looking up at his children.

  “You all look mighty good,” he told them. “Come here and give your old dad a kiss before he gets some rest.”

  Irene rushed forward right away, kissing his cheek and hugging him. “You’ll be all right, won’t you, Father?”

  “I’m fine, girl. I sure hate coming home acting like a weak old man, but some things can’t be helped. I’ll be back to normal in a few days.” He patted her shoulder, finding it hard to believe she actually seemed to have grown even prettier in the seven weeks he had been gone.

  Irene stepped back, wondering when her father would be well enough that she could talk to him about Ramon. John gave his father a quick hug, as did Elly, who then turned to Chad and took his arm. “Thank you for watching out for him,” she said, batting her eyes at the man.

  “He saved my life,” Kirk put in. “If not for Chad there, I’d be lying back at Glorietta Pass with a bullet in my back.”

  They all looked at Chad, who reddened slightly, secretly exuberant that he had had the opportunity to make such an indelible impression on the Kirkland family. “It was just one of those things,” he said, “being in the right place at the right time.”

  “We were burning Confederate wagons,” Kirk explained. “One of them still had a man inside, only I didn’t know it. I turned my back, and he was fixing to make daylight between my shoulders when Chad got off a shot and killed the man. Later we got into thicker fighting. That’s when I took the bayonet wound.”

  Bea stepped up to Chad, taking his hand. “What can I say? We’re all indebted to you,” she told him. “You’ll start right out as a senior partner in the law firm, Chad, with a good raise in pay.”

  It seemed to Irene that her mother always had a way of putting things into terms of money and prestige. How could anyone put a price on what Chad had done? Still, the fact that he had saved her father caused her to look at the young man in a different light. It was not so much that now she thought she could love him, or trust his sincerity. Her heart ached only for Ramon. But she could at least like Chad better now. He was apparently brave and skilled when the situation required it.

  “Thank you, Chad,” Elly was saying, hugging him.

  “Yes, thank you,” Irene added.

  “None of it is necessary,” he answered, putting on a good show of humility. He patted Elly’s shoulder and moved his eyes to Bea. “Including making me a senior partner,” he added. “I’m probably not ready for that yet, Mrs. Kirkland.”

  “Call me Bea. And I will decide when you’re ready. As soon as you’re rested up from this campaign, I want you to get started at Kirkland Enterprises, and I want John to come with you. I’d like him to spend some time every day at the firm now, learning right along with you. It’s time he took a bigger role in family affairs and learned something more before he goes off to college.”

  “But, Mother—”

  “No arguments.” Bea looked from her son to Chad. “Would you please fetch Dr. Aimes for us, Chad? I want him to take a look at Kirk. I don’t trust those army doctors. I have my doubts sometimes that they are doctors at all.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll go right away.” Chad welcomed the chance to push Elly away gently. The girl had continued to hug him longer than necessary. He knew enough about women, and even girls Elly’s age, to know when one had a crush on him, and Elly was entirely smitten. He thought it quite humorous, and would even have considered taking advantage of her tender virginity, if she were not a Kirkland. Trouble with Elly could spoil everything—cause him to lose his new job and rob him of his chance at marrying into the family.

  “You stay here for supper tonight,” Bea told him. “I will not take no for an answer. As far as living quarters are concerned, I know you were staying in a boarding house before you left. I want you to move into the best room at the Kirkland Hotel, on the house. We’re already building a bigger and better hotel. When it is finished, you can stay in one of the better suites.” She watched him carefully. “For as long as you wish, or until you marry and have a home of your own.”

  Their eyes met, and Chad felt like letting out a cheer. He knew exactly what the woman meant. He had passed the biggest hurdle to making Irene his wife. He would get no objections from Bea Kirkland.

  Irene felt sick to her stomach at the way things were happening so fast, and without her consent. When she saw how Bea looked at Chad Jacobs, the thought of bringing up her love for Ramon made her head ache. If only she could be with Ramon right now, taste his lips again, feel his strong, reassuring arms around her. Oh, how it hurt to think of it, to want him so badly.

  Chad left, and Bea immediately shooed the children out of the room so she could help Kirk into bed. “I don’t need any help,” he was protesting as they left.

  The evening became one of confusion and worry, and Irene felt an odd change in the air, something she could not quite name. She knew it was brought on partly by the realization that their father was not infallible, something none of them had considered because David Kirkland was so big and strong and energetic. Recognizing that he was just human and was getting older had brought a hush to the househol
d. The doctor stayed with him longer than Irene thought necessary for just a checkup, and after much begging, Irene was allowed to see Kirk after the doctor left. “Just a couple of minutes,” Bea warned. She knew how special Irene was to her husband, and hoped she would help Kirk get back to his old self.

  The room smelled like medicine when Irene entered and approached the huge bed. Medicine was not a familiar smell around a man like Kirk. She told herself he was only forty-one. That was not so old, was it? At her age, it did seem old, but lots of people lived to their fifties and sixties, even older. Kirk smiled and reached out a hand, and Irene took it, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

  “You’re going to be all right, aren’t you, Father?”

  “I told you before that I would be. It’s just the long ride back here after being so sick that got to me. The doc gave me some damn tonic, but all I need is to get back to the mountains. Bea can’t understand that, but I’ll bet you can.”

  She smiled for him. “I think I can. When are you going to take me with you?”

  He sighed. “Now, girl, you got an eyeful of the mountains coming here from California.”

  “I know. But I want to go with you—just you and me alone. And I want to go up in the Rockies west of here, where you like it best.”

  “Well, maybe we can work something out.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s just that there is always so much to do, and you’ve got your schooling and you’re getting to the age where you’re a woman now, Irene, and you’ve got a woman’s things to tend to. Your mother has big plans for you—and for your brother and sister. John will be spending more time at the offices in town, and you and your sister have to help with the new house. Your mother is anxious to have your coming-out party there before the summer is over.”

  “I don’t care about a party,” she told him, pouting slightly. I’m in love, Father, with Ramon Vallejo. What should I do? she wanted to add.

  “Well, it’s important to Bea, and for reasons you couldn’t understand, I like to keep your mother happy, although that isn’t always easy.”

  Irene frowned, meeting his eyes. “Why isn’t she happy? She has everything.”

  He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Oh, it’s kind of complicated. Some of it comes from not being loved much when she was younger, being treated bad by a rich uncle. I guess that’s why she worries about money so much. In the back of her mind maybe she’s trying to prove something to herself, and to her aunt and uncle. We all have reasons for what we do later in life, Irene, and we all were young once, just like you.”

  Irene considered what he’d told her. She had never given it much thought, and it helped her think of her mother’s sour countenance with more sympathy.

  “Some of her unhappiness is from the hard life she had when she first married me, Irene,” Kirk went on, his voice subdued. His eyes looked tired, dark circles accenting the gauntness in his face. “I’ve never quite forgiven myself for that, and I guess I’m always trying to make up for it, so I tend not to put my foot down sometimes when I should. Bea’s a good woman at heart, and she loves all of you very much. She’s just a woman who has trouble expressing those kinds of feelings.”

  Irene wanted to ask him what the secret was that he and Bea kept from the children. The night she had overheard them talking, Kirk had said they were living with a lie. What was it?

  “I was afraid when the doctor stayed so long,” she told her father. “I just wanted to see you. You’re telling the truth when you say you’ll be all right, aren’t you?”

  He gave her a wink. “I am, child. Just don’t get all worried if I seem to get up sooner than I’m supposed to and head into the mountains. Bea will have a fit, but that’s the best medicine for me. Don’t you fret one bit over it, because I’ll come back a happier, healthier man.”

  “I won’t worry,” she said with a smile.

  He managed a light laugh, but looked sleepy. “Meantime, don’t you and the others be giving Bea a hard time. She has a lot on her mind, Irene, and that woman is what keeps all this going. Without her I think the Kirkland empire would crumble, so we don’t want anything happening to her and we don’t want to be upsetting her. You’ll help there, won’t you?”

  She wanted to cry. When would she be able to tell her parents about Ramon? This was certainly not the right time, and it looked as though that time might never come. She was alone with this aching passion and desperate love. “I’ll help,” she said aloud.

  “You’re a good girl, Irene. Don’t tell the others I said it, but you’re a little bit special. You aren’t spoiled like Elly, or always brooding like John. You have a goodness and a sweetness about you that is a joy to come home to.” His words became slightly slurred from exhaustion. “Don’t…ever change, Irene. Don’t let life’s heartaches…turn you into a bitter, unhappy woman.”

  She knew he meant he did not want her to become like her mother, and she felt sorry for him; but she felt sorry for her mother, too, who had been through so much hardship. Now Irene herself was experiencing her first true heartache and disappointment, in not being able to shout her love for Ramon to the world. She understood now why it was called heartache, because her heart truly did hurt her.

  “Always keep that loving, generous nature, Irene,” Kirk was saying. His eyes closed for a moment. “I love you, Irene.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I love you, too, Father.” She quietly left the room, and Kirk fell asleep thinking about Yellow Eagle. He would be sixteen now, too, a young warrior probably itching to show his worth. That was the way with young Indian men—cocky, eager to show their skill and bravery. Indian trouble was mounting, and he knew that as the War Between the States raged on, things would only get worse out here with the Indians. Chivington was already talking about diverting the mission of the Colorado Volunteers to the Indians, now that trouble with the Confederates was over. Was Yellow Eagle somewhere in Colorado?

  Kirk had already decided he would never join in any Indian campaigns. He did not relish the thought of going up against his own son.

  Chad seemed a little more subdued at supper, somewhat more sincere in countenance. Irene couldn’t help wondering if he realized she was put off by his gushing charm, for she actually found herself liking him better this evening. Perhaps it was only because she knew he had saved her father’s life. She had been faced with how devastating it would be to lose her father, and knowing Chad was responsible for Kirk’s coming home safe and sound made her a little more open to him.

  Elly peppered him with questions about the entire campaign, hanging on every word he spoke, and Irene was beginning to suspect her sister had a crush on the man. She thought it sadly humorous—humorous because the girl was making herself so obvious, and sad because Irene understood the aching feeling of loving someone she could not have.

  Elly was not an easy person to love, but Irene couldn’t help feeling sorry for her at times, not just because Elly seemed enamored with Chad. It was more than that. In all humility she knew Elly would never be a raving beauty. She was built like Bea and had nearly all her mother’s features, and sometimes Irene felt guilty when Bea raved over her and practically ignored Elly. It was unfair to Elly, but whenever Irene tried to make up for it in some way, Elly only came back at her with a cruel remark. There were times when she was sure Elly wanted to hit her, and it made Irene sad to think she would never be close to her sister. They could have shared so much, but Elly didn’t seem inclined to share anything.

  Now, because of Chad, the gap between them would widen even more, and Irene still wasn’t sure of her feelings. Chad gave nearly all his attention to Irene whenever he was around, something Irene couldn’t help and didn’t even want, and she suspected that it made Elly furious. She considered talking to her sister about it, but she knew how Elly would react. She would deny everything, and she would say something to hurt and humiliate her.

  Dessert was served, and Bea turned the talk to the family business, telling Chad about the progres
s of the new hotel she was building. She also wanted to open a second bank, and new warehouses were being built down on Wazee Street. “We have to keep them locked up good,” she was saying. “They’re bringing in more and more of those Chinese to work in the mines. They live down in that area, and they can’t be trusted any more than the Mexicans or the Indians.”

  The remark cut deep. Again Irene wondered why her mother insisted there always had to be something terrible about other races. She thought that the Chinese must be very confused and afraid, living in an unfamiliar country, not speaking the language. At least the Mexicans and Indians were from this land and knew it well. She felt sick at the remark about Mexicans, and she did not see the smirk of satisfied vengeance on Elly’s face. Elly knew well and good how talk about Mexicans must make her sister feel.

  “Speaking of Mexicans, John has been going to see that one who works up at our new house,” Elly spoke up. “That wood carver called Ramon.”

  John glowered at her. “You shut up, Elly.”

  “That is enough,” Bea spoke up sharply, while Elly watched Irene come close to tears. “I will not tolerate arguing at the table.” The woman looked flustered and embarrassed, and she apologized to Chad.

  “Oh, I know how children can be,” the man replied. The remark made Elly furious with herself for being such a tattletale in front of him. She didn’t mind telling on her siblings, but she was suddenly embarrassed that she had done it in front of Chad, making her look even more childish.

  “John won’t be seeing so much of Ramon anymore,” Bea went on. “He’ll be down at Kirkland Enterprises every day from now on.”

  “But, Mother—”

  “We have already been over this, John. If you have so much time to waste going up there and whittling on wood, you might as well be putting yourself to good use. Besides, Ramon will be done with his work in a week or two.”

  Irene felt as if she were going to be sick. Her stomach burned and ached. She had not wanted to acknowledge just how enraged her mother would be if she knew about Ramon, but now it hit her full in the face. After talking with Kirk, she knew her mother’s dreams and goals for her children meant everything to her. How could she throw it all back at her? But how could she stop loving Ramon? She could never go to him and tell him they could not be together. The moment she was near him again, she knew how she would feel. Never had she been so alone, felt so helpless.