Page 94 of The Hardest Part

“I love you.”

But then, he always had.

And under the warmth of a golden sun, he made love to his wife.

Three weeks.

That’s how long they’d been following this goddamn river. With October nearly gone, the days were cold, and the nights even colder. Crystalline ice and snow clung to the faces of the rugged peaks surrounding them. Majestic as it was, Levi wondered how the fuck they could ever survive in a land such as this.

The river corridor came to its end, and they gazed out on the edge of the wilderness. Water trickling through the scree fields gathered into a stream at the bottom of the V-shaped valley. A vast blue lake fronted a square-top mountain, and tucked between two ice-covered canyons, stood to the north of them.

“Now what?”

Follow the Seeds-kee-dee-agie, and when you can’t follow it no more, keep going.

“We’ll camp here for the night, Elijah.” He squeezed his friend’s shoulder, hoping to reassure him. “And tomorrow, we keep going.”

“To where, brother?” He threw his hands up. “This is as good a place as any to settle.”

This isn’t our home.

Levi refused to give up. Somehow, they would get there.

“We keep going.”

The girls gathered wood, and he built a large campfire to warm them. Coulter served up a generous rabbit stew with biscuits.Sure beats hardtack, beans, and bacon. He was grateful for the bounty. Taking on Cookie had proven to be a wise decision. He looked out upon the lake and, sopping up the gravy with his bread, Levi couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Elijah was right.

“Should we stay here, Taghee?” He turned to the Bannock eating beside him.

Taghee licked gravy from his fingers. “What does your heart tell you?”

“No.”

With a tip of his chin, the man smiled. “Then we don’t.”

“Do you believe Josiah’s visions?”

“Do you have faith in yours?” He picked up his plate and stood then. “We all have them, my friend, but most of us don’t listen.”

Levi had faith, but he worried for Lucy, Fallon, his sisters, and young Elizabeth. For all of them. They trusted him enough to follow him here, and that made him responsible for their welfare.

Since the wagons were packed with no room to spare, they slept on blankets spread atop the cold, hard ground underneath the box of the wagon. They hung canvas cloth or blankets from the sides to afford them some protection from the elements. Four feet wide and nine feet long, it made for cramped quarters in which to rest, but it was something.

Victoria and Mary Alice came around from the back, bundles of blankets in their arms. “We’re going to stay with Elizabeth tonight. She’s frightened and cold. We can care for her.”

“And Elijah can’t?” He cocked his head at the younger twin.

“He has no one, Levi.” Her pert brows drawing together, Mary Alice stomped her booted foot. “Besides, you’ll have some privacy without us. I’m tired of hearing you rutting under the blankets.”

“Mary Alice,” Victoria nudged her sister, muttering under her breath.

“Like you’re not?”

“Fine.” And here, he thought, they’d been discreet. “Go on, then.”

It’s not like they were going very far. Elijah’s wagon sat right next to his.

Lucy held the blanket open, ushering him inside. “What’s troubling you, husband?”

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