Page 26 of A Dangerous Heart
The table was set. Ben took his place on an empty barrel, while Eli perched on a couple of stacked crates. Clare made a simple fare. Fried ham, boiled potatoes, and cornbread with honey. One of Isaac’s favorites.
“I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m hungrier than a coyote in a drought,” Isaac said, blustering through the awkwardness.
His stomach growled. Clare and Ben laughed. Eli frowned.
A few minutes passed before Eli, who was downing his third piece of cornbread, asked, “Where are you sleepin’?”
Isaac studied Eli, then chewed and swallowed. “I’m in the lean-to,” he said.
“Why would you do that?” Eli asked, not curious but disdainful.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Ben parroted and sent Isaac a crooked smile.
Isaac’s stomach twisted. He hoped he was doing the right thing.
Clare couldn’t seem to relax even though Eli had finally gone quiet, and Isaac was digging into his food as if he hadn’t eaten all week. Isaac hadn’t been easy on the ride back from town. But the glances he’d sent her had been different than before. She didn’t know how to navigate this new…friendship?…between them.
“David says he’s going exploring first thing tomorrow. Can I go with him?” Eli spoke up, breaking the silence.
A chill ran through Clare as she remembered the bear and the rugged terrain with rocky outcrops she’d seen driving here. Wyoming was very different from the farmland they’d lived on in Missouri.
“We are going to help Isaac with chores first thing in the morning,” Clare said.
She met Isaac’s eyes across the table, a silent acknowledgment passing between them.
“I know. But I can get ’em done fast,” Eli put in.
Clare’s gaze flew back to Eli. He was chewing and calculating.
“I don’t want you straying too far from the cabin.” They could run into danger. Like a bear.Remember the bear?She certainly wouldn’t forget it anytime soon.
“David has his own gun. He’s had one since he was my age. Says in the West, ya gotta take a gun with you everywhere you go.” He looked at Isaac. “You got any extra guns?”
Clare’s voice rose. “Eli, you are not carrying a gun?—”
“Pa let me shoot?—”
Clare shot him a warning look that cut off his words. Victor had let him shoot his gun in the air after a robbery. Victor had used his own little boy as a lookout. Thinking about it made the cornbread turn to lead in her stomach.
“Eli, we will talk about this later.”
“I can shoot a gun. Pa said I’m a sure hand,” Eli grumbled, stabbing his ham with a fork.
Clare was the only one who had used the shotgun that had belonged to Anne’s grandfather. They’d only had a limited supply of bullets. She had been the one to hunt to provide food when her brother and Pa were gone. Had Victor taught the boy to shoot when they were outlawing? Her heart squeezed.
Isaac set his fork down with a rattle. He was such a big presence that he made the table feel small. “Doesn’t matter if you are the fastest gun in the county. Out here, it’s safer to always have someone who is looking out for you. Drew would have taught David that, just like he drilled it into our heads. Me. Ed. And Nick. Why do you think David didn’t leave you the last time you boys wandered too far?” Isaac kept his voice even, steady patience woven through each word.
Eli crossed his arms and hardened his jaw. Isaac leaned back in his chair, glancing between her and Eli before he spoke again.
“When I was just a little older than Eli here, I was determined to be the best gun in the county. I started going out and finding things to use as target practice, sometimes killing for sport, not for eating or for protection.” Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes going distant as if he was lost in his thoughts.
“Drew told me to stop. Said, ‘One day your arrogant, cocksure attitude is going to catch up with you. And there won’t be anyone around to help you.’ I laughed at him. I had my pistols. I didn’t need anyone. Until the day I was out past sunset, and a hungry wolf started trailing me. I’d used all my bullets save one. I wasn’t too worried. If he got too close, I’d shoot him. No problem.”
Clare rubbed her arms. She hated wolves. She’d never been pursued by one, but their howls at night always reminded her of the ravaging hunger and the desperation of her childhood. The time when Anne had taken sick and Pa and Victor had been gone for months. And she, barely a teen, had been left to provide.
“Then another wolf joined him, and another, and another. Until there was a whole pack growling and sniffing behind me.”
Ben’s eyes went wide. “What did you do?”
