Philip Dampier's Blog

Shootout at the Spring

Episode Thirteen

Nancy

Nancy sat at the small kitchen table, sipping hot tea out of a small cup. The tea was supposed to have a calming effect, but it was not helping her nerves much.

“You’re more than likely pregnant, Mrs. Pennington,” the doctor had said. “You have all the symptoms, and if you miss one more month, we will know for sure.” Why was she so upset, she asked herself. You’re afraid, aren’t you? You’re alone here with no family or friends, and Chad…

That was as far as her thoughts got before the tears broke free like a ruptured dam. Her sudden movement from the table caused the chair to crash to the floor. Nancy flung herself across the bed and buried her face in her pillow. Between sobs, she cried out to God and then to Chad, and then to God again. She did not want a baby if Chad was not going to be with her. Where was he? Come home, Chad, come home. We’re going to have a baby, and I can’t do it alone. Oh, God, dear God, please bring my Chad home safely. I don’t want to be pregnant if I’m alone, God. You’ve got to help me.

She had too much to do to spend her day off crying. She knew that, but she seemed powerless to get up and work. It was as if some force held her down, destroying her hopes and faith. She fought to get off the bed. It was one of the hardest things she had ever done.

She reached across the edge of the bed to the small table where her mother’s bible lay. As soon as her hands touched the worn cover, the words of the psalm came to her. “The steadfast love of the Lord.” She had forgotten that again. God was in control.

Chad

The evening light slowly dimmed. Chad looked up. The edge of the sun and the edge of the dark clouds had touched. Little by little, the clouds moved across the sun until its radiant light was dimmed. Between the hidden sun and the growing density of the trees, visibility diminished to a few yards. The clouds covered the sky all the way to the top of the mountains, a sure sign that the sun would not be visible the rest of the day. Chad and Buck continued to follow the small stream at a slow pace. The forest grew quiet as the semi-darkness settled around them; Chad could hear the thud of Buck’s hooves on the ground.

For an hour, the marshal and his horse moved slowly up the side of the mountain, following the soft banks of the creek, and then, after a bit, the snow began. It was soft and wet, but the temperature continued to fall, leaving the probability of the snow freezing. Part of Chad wanted to push on, but a saner part convinced him he needed to find a place to camp before it was too late.

Here and there, large walls of stone rose up as part of the mountain face. Chad looked for one that provided protection from the wind and snow, and after a few minutes, just such an opportunity presented itself. Next to the rock wall, a large ponderosa pine towered above the stone slab of a floor. Pine needles littered the ground around the slab, making starting a fire in the dampness easier. It also would make for a soft bed on top of the rock.

In the next few minutes, Chuck tethered Buck near the creek bed and rubbed him down briskly. Chad then started a fire and hung the venison in the smoke as it crawled up the steep rock face. Chad arranged a pile of pine needles and covered them with his saddle blanket. He moved his carbine and revolver to the pine needle bed to make sure they were protected from the snow. The snowfall was considerably lighter under the edge of the rock and the sheltering pine. It was a good place to wait out the snowstorm, fix his food supply, and rest Buck as well as himself. Lance was close, he could sense it.

For some reason, as he tended the fire and rotated the strips of venison, his thoughts centered on Nancy rather than Lance, who was much closer to him distance-wise. His mind drifted back to the day he had arrived in Cumberland for the second time. On his first visit, he had been passing through, nursing his leg injury from his last battle in the Civil War. This time he had a reason for his visit. A very important reason.

He left the train with Shadow and Buck, his pace both quick and purposeful. He took the two horses to the same stable he had used before. He gave complete instructions on the care he wanted for the horses and paid in advance. He also left a generous tip to ensure the quality of the care. The old stable owner remembered him and Shadow.  The same purposeful strides carried him from the stables to the hotel where Nancy worked.

He stepped into the hotel lobby; Nancy saw him come in the door and ran from behind the front desk and leaped into his arms. When he could speak, he asked her how long it would be before she would be able to leave Cumberland. “I’m packed,” was her answer.

Chad and Nancy hurried to her room and retrieved her carpetbag and a small wooden trunk. Nancy picked up the carpetbag with her right hand and put her left hand on Chad’s right sleeve. Chad hoisted the trunk upon his left shoulder, and the two of them walked through the lobby and outside to the boardwalk.

“Don’t you need to tell your boss before you just walk out?” Chad asked.

“I told him the minute you walked in, I was gone. He understands. There’s someone else in the office waiting to take my place. I’m sure he heard me scream. I’m not losing one minute of time with you.”

Chad stopped short of the steps down to the street. “You want to get married here and then leave for the Territories, or would you rather go to my folks’ house and get married there? Or, we can wait until we get to the Territories.”

“Today, no, now! I’m not letting you get away a second time, Mr. Pennington. When I leave Cumberland, I’m leaving as Mrs. Pennington.”

“Okay, I was hoping you would say that. Let’s put these back in your room and go find a preacher. We can get the first train headed west tomorrow morning.”

The rest was like a dream. The hastily arranged wedding, eating supper in the restaurant where they had first gotten acquainted, and spending the night together in the hotel as husband and wife. Even the long train ride with Shadow and Buck in a boxcar seemed to fly by, so wrapped up were they in each other and their newfound love.

The sun set without notice, so dark were the clouds that hovered over the Black Hills. The snow thickened and began to pile up on the forest floor and the rock formations. Where the flakes landed on rocks, a good bit of it blew until it found an obstacle to hold it up. Here and there, snowbanks began to form. Chad donned his mackinaw and went in search of more firewood. Plenty of dead limbs from previous storms were lying under the various hardwoods and large conifers, and he soon had a substantial amount stacked against the stone wall and out of the heavy snow.

The venison strips continued to dry in the smoke, and Chad took one that appeared nearly done and began to eat it. He knew the water was good for him, but he missed having coffee. The little he had gotten from the preacher had gone so fast. He promised himself that in the future, his possibles bag would always have a pouch of coffee in it in case of hasty departures like the one he had made to go after Lance. He also promised himself that he would include a bag of beans as well. Not that he didn’t like venison jerky or steaks, he did, of course, but anything could get old after a few days. The trout had been a nice change of pace, but there would be no fish on this part of the mountain.