Piecrust Promise Page 4

  Corinne saw a bolt of lightning split the darkness, the explosive crack bringing about a collective gasp from the crowds of people. They scrambled into their wagons and tents for cover. Corinne imagined that they must have come from everywhere in the world, all of these folks, but they did not know this land and the weather on the open plains. Corinne had seen a funnel of wind rip through the land leaving a swath of crumbled remains. She tethered Boomer close by and ran her palms along his withers hoping the storm would pass quickly and not bring cyclones like she knew they could. Corinne crawled into the tent.

  Lightning lit the sky as she lay quiet inside, listening and waiting. The storm approached quickly, the crack of each bolt followed almost immediately by the loud report of thunder. Then the rain began. Large, hard drops in the beginning, drumming faster and faster against the canvas tent. Soon it fell in torrential sheets in a thrashing rhythm.

  Gradually the storm lost its intensity and, after some time, the rain fell easier and became a steadier, gentle sound. Corinne soon drifted off and the camp was completely quiet, its spirit dampened by the soaking downpour.

  In the bright morning light she packed her tent. The landscape sparkled fresh, washed clean and rejuvenated by the April rain. Birds filled the skies, circling wide or darting from the brush quickly. The early risers resumed their trek for land. Corinne pulled her cape across her shoulders in the damp morning chill and slid into her saddle. Although she ordinarily rode every day it had been a while since she’d spent so much time in the saddle and her legs and backside ached. Her plan was to reach the fort around midday. There, instead of sitting astride her horse, she’d stand in line at the land office and she’d wait. She’d wait to race to her new life. Corinne took a deep breath and stretched as Boomer fell in with the first of the day’s riders.

  Chapter Twelve

  Fort Reno spread out as a collection of trim, whitewashed buildings on the flat prairie. Beyond and to the east lay the Unassigned Lands, on the rolling plains in the distance. Other than the sizes, the structures of the fort varied little in their construction. Most were clapboard with sienna colored roofs that looked nearly red against the brown earth. There were few trees, and those that did dot the landscape looked young and were cultivated in small orchards. In the distance, the railroad stretched along the land as far as the eye could see in either direction. Collections of riders and wagons gathered into several large encampments just beyond the buildings. Corinne rode along a sandstone ridge then down towards the center of the fort looking for the land office. Daniel had given her a lot of information but Corinne wanted to be sure she met every requirement needed to stake her claim.

  The United States Cavalry rode everywhere throughout the fort. Men in blue uniforms crossed her path regularly, several of the soldiers tipping their hats to her or winking in a familiar way. Corinne had never seen so many soldiers in one place. Each was armed, more than a few with very large firearms at their sides. She thought of Hank and his big gun. It proved nothing, Corinne thought, wearing a great big gun.

  Like a bible story, a tide of people flowed through the camps dreaming of finding their promised land. It was clear that, if you advertised free land, everyone came from everywhere. She found the building she was seeking, a long line of people waiting in the bright sunlight beneath the Land Office sign. Corinne rode ahead to set up her campsite and tether Boomer.

  After settling on a location, she shook out her hair, washed her face and ate a light lunch before walking to the land office.

  The wet, clay soil stuck to her boots and she stopped and scraped it from her soles several times with a stick she had found.

  As she neared the lines to the land office she heard a scuffle in the crowd. One man shouted to another. He cursed angrily and the other replied in a similar fashion. The language of their argument was liberally peppered with profanities. Several people began to demand that the men be removed. The crowd parted suddenly, pushing back into one another as a massive black stallion rushed in, nearly trampling Corrine’s feet. The soldier handled his big horse expertly. He reined the animal to a sudden stop and leapt from his back. Overpowering first one man and then the other, he cuffed them both with speedy efficiency. Together, the two men were soon laying in the mud, their wrists manacled behind their backs. Several other soldiers removed the captives.

  The officer pulled off his fitted leather gloves and slapped the mud from them against a nearby post. He looked up and saw Corinne in the front of the crowd. She stood with her arms folded across her chest and tapped her foot angrily. At her feet was a clear impression of the stallion’s massive hoof. The officer looked at her curiously, then strolled up to her and tipped his hat.

  He bowed slightly and flashed a confident grin, obviously admiring her, which only infuriated her more. Corinne could not help but notice the huge pistol on his hip and she scowled.

  Lee Highland had spent the last ten of his twenty-eight years in service to the U.S. Cavalry. As first lieutenant to his troop he was second only to the captain and worked closely with his men. At six-foot-three, Highland was fit with a square jaw. He was closely shaved with carefully trimmed sideburns and neatly clipped hair. Well-built and meticulously dressed, his uniform was freshly brushed and his brass buttons gleamed in the sunlight.

  Corinne looked into his intelligent grey eyes and she cleared her throat audibly. “Do you see that?” She pointed at the print in the mud at her feet.

  Lieutenant Highland looked down at the ground. “My deepest apologies,” he said. “I’m not sure what it is you’re indicating.” He looked up to Corinne and again admired her stunning looks.

  Corinne bristled. All educated, she thought to herself. She thought him fancy in his uniform with a big gun and a white smile but blind as well.

  “There. That hoof print.” She pointed again.

  “Ah, yes.” Highland smiled broadly. “It appears to be from my horse. Yes, I believe it is.”

  “You’re standin’ there grinnin’ now,” Corinne said. “But that huge animal of yours nearly trampled me to death. You might be able to handle that beast just fine but if you are too blind to see someone standin’ right in front of you I expect maybe you shouldn’t be ridin’ him.”

  Several soldiers whispered among themselves. The woman confronting their commanding officer was strikingly beautiful and her smooth drawl and spicy way of speaking had their full attention. They waited for the Lieutenant’s reply.

  “I did most certainly see you. I would be quite blind had I not. I promise you that. Rest assured, madam, you were never in any danger from being trampled by Chief here.”

  “If you did not trample me, then you nearly scared me half to death. I suggest you keep in mind how many citizens you are endangerin’ while you are tryin’ to perform your duties, sir.” Corinne gathered up her skirt and swept past the Lieutenant. She hurried to the end of the line at the land office and stood with her back erect and jaw set. She could feel everyone watching her.

  The officer stepped up behind her. “My apologies for any distress I may have caused you.”

  Corinne turned her head and saw him standing there with a wide grin on his face. She huffed in aggravation. He had no sense at all. Why did he continue to bother her?

  “First Lieutenant Lee Highland, at your service, madam.” He smiled.

  Corinne glared at him.

  “Is there more I can do? Perhaps my apology is not enough?” He waited for her attention.

  “Nothin’ more,” Corinne replied through clenched teeth. “You’ve done quite enough.”

  “Might I inquire, what is your name?” He paused, and when she did not reply, he added, “In the event we should meet in the future.”

  Corinne looked up and again met his eyes. “Let’s hope that does not happen,” she responded and turned her back to him.

  Lee Highland stood for a moment and then turned and mounted his horse. Corinne heard him ride off and slowly let out her breath. The nerve of the man, she
thought. He might be all fancied up but he had no manners whatsoever.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two hours in the hot sun did nothing to improve Corinne’s mood and, when she finally entered the dark confines of the land office, she waited in line while her eyes struggled to adjust to the light.

  He was there, that aggravating first lieutenant, talking to some men along the back wall. He looked up and smiled in her direction and Corinne turned away, pretending she was looking out the side window. When she looked forward again she realized the line had moved up, leaving a space in front of her, and she hurried to close rank.

  Highland caught her eye and smiled again and Corinne frowned sternly. When he turned away and focused on his conversation she watched him furtively.

  He was undeniably quite handsome, in a fancy sort of way. Certainly he was awfully sure of himself. It was likely many women found him attractive and showered him with attention. But he was fooling himself if he imagined that Corinne would be that way. Everything about him was completely wrong. She did not like men with big guns and fancy uniforms. Those handsome types with white smiles and devilish looks in their eyes were trouble, thinking they were always all that. She wanted a farmer, she thought, a working man who would work a plow or bounce a baby on his knee. Besides, cavalry officers were never home. Like Hank. This was not the kind of man she wanted.

  Corinne furrowed her brow. What on earth was she thinking? She scolded herself. Officer or soldier or farmer or bum, why was she thinking about men at all? She wanted to get land. That was it. What on earth was going on inside her head? Corinne tried to focus on the task at hand and stepped up to the desk.

  Another soldier took her information and handed her a map and a booklet.

  “You need to read every word in that booklet,” the land officer said in a monotone voice. “Every parcel of land is 160 acres and marked with a numbered post in each corner. In the center of every parcel is a white flag. That flag has the number of the parcel on it. Get to the parcel you want and change out the white flag for this here one.” He handed her a dark green flag. “After the run you bring that white numbered flag back here to register your claim. If you got no white flag with a number on it you got no land. If you are on the Unassigned Lands before the border is opened tomorrow at noon you will be arrested and hung. Sign here. Can you write your name?”

  “Yes, I can write my name.” Corinne wrote out her full name neatly in the book opened on the desk in front of the man. It seemed rather straightforward to her. She stepped away from the desk and noticed that the lieutenant was no longer in the office. She stepped out into the bright sunlight.

  “Are you racing tomorrow?” Lee Highland stepped up to walk alongside Corinne as she headed back to her campsite.

  “My,” she said, “but you are persistent.” Corinne had been startled by his voice so close to her.

  “Faint heart ne’er won fair lady,” he said.

  “You are barkin’ up the wrong tree, Lieutenant. There’s nothin’ to be won here. Or have you not noticed that I am anythin’ but fair.”

  “If I thought that I would indeed be quite blind,” he said.

  Corinne picked up her stride, taking longer and faster steps. He kept pace with her easily. When she had nearly reached her campsite she turned abruptly and faced him.

  Corinne wanted to put him in his place. She wanted to tell him to mind his own business and get out of her sight.

  He stood and faced her expectantly, without grinning, and looked her straight in the eye. Corinne felt flustered by his frank look and avoided him. After a moment she looked up again and met his soft grey eyes. Lee waited.

  “You, sir, are quite frustratin’.” Corinne struggled with her resolve. “I am racin’ in the mornin’.”

  Highland waited silently and Corinne continued.

  “Do you know that land out there? Have you ridden there possibly, on that monster of a horse?” she asked.

  “I have,” he replied.

  Corinne looked at him and sighed. “If I showed you a place on the map might you know a specific area?” she asked.

  “I might. Show me,” he said. His face was serious.

  “There.” Corinne spread out the map across Boomer’s hip.

  “This is a fine animal,” Lee remarked, running his hand along the horse’s withers.

  “He’s fast,” Corinne said.

  “You can ride him, full out?” Highland faced her.

  “He’s like ridin’ the wind.” Corinne could not help but smile. “When he’s full out it’s as if his feet never touch the ground.”

  “Then you must ride well,” Highland said.

  Corinne refrained from saying that she rode as well as any man and nodded silently instead.

  Highland looked at her and then turned to her map. “Yes,” he indicated. “If you run along this line you’ll cross the Canadian River here. This horse can make that easily. Look for cross timbers along here. It’s a stand of blackjack and cottonwood mixed with the prairie grass.”

  “I understand,” Corinne said.

  Highland continued. “Turn due west past there. There’s a parcel in the area you’re interested in with good water and trees and plenty of hills. It’s a pretty spot. If I were running tomorrow it’s where I’d go.”

  Corinne looked up at him and realized that she found him to be far less irritating when he wasn’t flashing some charming smile. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  “You’re racing alone?” He looked into her eyes and Corinne cleared her throat.

  “I like bein’ alone,” she said clearly.

  “Me too,” he said. “Most of the time. When was the last time you had a good hot meal?”

  “Two days out with my brother and his wife in the Texas panhandle.”

  “There’s a nice dining hall in the fort. The food is rather good. It might be a good idea to get a hot meal before racing in the morning.”

  “Thank you, but no,” Corinne said. “I’d prefer some time to think.”

  “What will you do?” he asked.

  “While I’m thinkin’?”

  “No, with the land. What will you do alone with land of your own? Will you farm?”

  “Build and bake,” Corinne said. “I make an unusually good pie.”

  “I like pie very much,” he smiled broadly. “What kind?”

  “Any kind,” she said.

  “What kind do you make unusually well?”

  “All kinds. I can ride like the wind and bake an amazin’ pie. Now you know all of my talents.”

  “There’s one you didn’t mention,” he continued, smiling.

  Corinne looked at him curiously.

  “You can look incredibly beautiful while trying to hold your temper.”

  Corinne had enough. “Thank you again. I’d like to do that thinkin’ now, if you don’t mind.”

  The lieutenant doffed his hat, smiling, bowed slightly and turned to walk away. He turned back again and called out. “Good luck tomorrow!”

  Corinne watched him stride away confidently and shook her head.

  From several yards away, Tupper Hawkins watched the young woman and the cavalry officer examine the map.

  “Shoot,” Hawkins muttered to himself. “Now she knows right where to go to get a nice piece of land. She gets what she wants and then she’ll give that lieutenant what he wants. And I just get the short end of the stick once more. ‘Tain’t fair and it outta be against the law.”

  Hawkins squatted to finish the repairs on his wagon wheel. Everything he owned in the world was in that wagon and it was very little for a family of four. He’d lost his farm and he needed land to start over. He looked up again at the woman and the officer. She was healthy and well fed and he was a robust and strapping man. It just wasn’t right. Those in need had nothing and those who weren’t needy had everything.

  The wagon shifted slightly as his wife, Eve, stepped down from inside. Her tattered skirt was covered in dust and her hair wa
s thin and tangled.

  “Tyler’s feverish again,” she said.

  Hawkins responded with a grunt.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The fort was alive with the restless sounds of the people anticipating the start of the land rush on the following day. It seemed that no one could fall asleep on this night. Corinne sat outside her tent late into the evening listening to families whispering from every wagon and tent.

  Youngsters asked repeatedly about what they would do when they found their land. Parents and grandparents described their plans, full of anticipation and uncertainty. Some took their excitement to other areas of the camp. If they got too exuberant they were reprimanded by the soldiers. The cavalry was everywhere.

  Eventually, Corinne crawled into her tent. She lay quietly for a very long time going over plans of her own. If she found a site where the water and soil were right she could make clay. On her travels with Hank she had learned how to make adobe bricks and she believed that they would be perfect for a new home. She would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Earlier she had scraped mud from her boot and put it into a clear container with water so the sand and clay would separate. She knew that, to make a sound brick, the mix should be about fifty-fifty sand to clay. The test showed that the mix was ideal.

  Corinne lay awake planning her new home, pushing the fear of not getting her land to the back of her mind. Several times she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a horse walking slowly past her tent. At first she barely noticed, but when the sound returned again and again the thought occurred to her that Lieutenant Highland was checking on her during the night. Corinne was not flattered, but infuriated. When she heard the horse walk slowly by once again she’d had enough. She pulled herself from the tent and stood up straight. Her mouth was open, ready to admonish the lieutenant when she realized that the soldier passing was not him at all. Corinne huffed in aggravation and climbed back into the tent. It would be an hour before she slept hard.