Page 21 of The Gold Rush Bride

He nodded. “Good idea. Next time we’re in town, we’ll go to the hardware store.”

“Great.” She left through the tent flap.

Later, after dessert was ready and Sadie chuckled to herself as she watched Barnaby eat all the cobbler except her bowlful. They played cards for about an hour before her exhaustion made her crawl into her cot.

She slept in her long johns and hung her clothes over the foot of her bed. Too tired to even think about whether Barnaby was looking, she’d simply taken off her clothes and got under the blankets.

Sadie lay there for a while, but sleep wouldn’t come. Light still shone in the tent. If he turned over toward her, she’d see his face and could read his expressions. “Barnaby?” She flipped to her side and watched his silhouette, then whispered, so that if he was asleep, she wouldn’t wake him.

“Yes?”

“Does the mercantile have mattresses for these cots?”

“They do.”

“Why didn’t you and Father get any?”

“We didn’t think it was necessary, and they were expensive.”

“I think we’d be warmer if we had them. We should pick some up next time we’re in town.”

He turned toward her, frowning. “We still don’t have the money.”

“I still have some money. I didn’t spend it all getting here, though that cost a pretty nickel. And we have Lucky to carry them back.”

The corner of his mouth crooked up like he was chewing the inside of his cheek while in thought.

“Okay. The mattresses would make sleeping more comfortable for both of us.”

She grinned. “Great. I can’t wait until we get them.” She crossed her arms behind her head. The tent was still warm from the stove, so she wasn’t cold, but she knew by morning it would be freezing again.

The last two days with Barnaby had been the toughest and most exhilarating of her life. She truly felt alive, not just existing.

She thought Barnaby was a strange man...at once gruff and still a gentleman. She found that combination very attractive, which was good, since he was her husband.

He could have taken her on their wedding night or any time since they’d been on the claim. But he hadn’t. She liked him a lot. Would she be better off keeping him as a friend? Or actually making him her husband?

* * *

Homer watchedthe camp from the shadow of the trees. It looked like Barnaby’s new partner was a woman. He heard in town he’d gotten married, but he didn’t put any faith in such gossip. Too few women for things like that to be true. Yet, here he was, watching her pan for gold and then cooking something in that fancy fireplace Barnaby and John had dug out of the hillside.

A woman.

He could do many things with a woman besides making her cook for him. She’d see to his every need, or he’d make sure she’d wish she had. All he had to do was wait for Barnaby to be gone to town or hunting for the day. Then Homer could have his way with Barnaby’s woman and when he returned, Homer would kill him and take his woman and his claim.

Chuckling quietly to himself, he walked back to his claim through knee-high snow in the forest and over the frozen ground nearer the river. He’d spent every nickel he had to get the provisions the Canadians required before they’d let anyone in to their country and to the gold fields. So he, at least, had the some of the necessities...shelter and water. He was likely out of most everything else, because he couldn’t cook or hunt properly, and he had spent the small amount of gold he’d found on whiskey and women.

If he had that woman, he wouldn’t need but the whiskey. No man in his right mind would give up that, even for a woman. And since he knew she could pan for gold, she could do the work while he stayed warm and dry. Now that he saw her, he knew if he had that woman, his existence would be greatly improved.

* * *

For the next six weeks,Sadie and Barnaby worked side-by-side, ate together and slept in the same tent. Yet, he made no advances to show he had any interest in making their marriage a real one.

Maybe she should test the waters and ask him directly. Her father would turn over in his grave if he had one, if he knew what she was doing. Not only the working of the claim, but being married to his partner. Or would he? He’d obviously liked Barnaby enough to file for a gold claim with him. Why wouldn’t he be happy she’d married his friend?

That night, over supper, she told him her thoughts. “Barnaby, I want to go to town for those mattresses, and I’d like to stay overnight.”

He frowned and narrowed his eyes. “You know I hate to be away from the claim that long. Homer will try to take over again and I just might have to kill him this time. What do you want besides the mattresses?” He sipped on his coffee and leaned back in his chair.