Page 93 of The Enchanted Land

He stopped walking. No, it was over. He and Morgan were finished. She’d chosen her life and it didn’t include him. He’d had his revenge on her and now he could go ahead with his life. He’d mourned enough last winter. He remembered Morgan’s sweet little body, her golden hair tangling between them, the eagerness of her kisses. And “I love you, Seth,” cried out in his mind again and again.

“No!” He clutched his hands over his ears. A man and woman turned to stare at him, then shrugged and continued walking.

It’s finished. He turned again to the store. Yes, he thought, I’ve had my revenge. But why isn’t it sweet?

The storekeeper barely looked up from his ledger. The sight of Seth, his impressive size, and the expensive suit he wore caused him to take a second look. “Help you, mister?”

“I need some things for panning gold.”

The clerk sighed. They were all alike, young and old. The gold fever hit everyone. He reached under the counter, never leaving his stool. He caught the neck of a burlap bag and slung it onto the counter beside him. It rattled and clanged as it hit. “Fifty dollars, cash.”

Seth counted out the money. “How do I find out how to use this stuff?”

The clerk returned his attention to his ledger. “Ask anybody at the site. Anybody over three years old can show you.”

“Thanks.”

The clerk watched the big man leave, shook his head, and looked back down at the ledger. He considered the panners fools. He’d made his own gold strike and had never had to break his back in the sun for months on end.

Seth went to the livery stable to get his horse. He changed from the expensive suit to his sturdy cotton work clothes. Contemptuously, he tossed the suit into a corner of the stall. It had seen too many bad memories for him to want to keep it.

The moon was up and the way to the new gold strike was easy to find. By the time he reached Cypress Pass, the sun was just beginning to lighten the horizon. It took Seth very little time to find a place in the stream and to learn to use the gold pan.

After several hours of bending, his back hurt and his neck ached. His head throbbed and he felt the burned skin of his back through his shirt. The pain was good; he hoped it would block out his vivid memories of Morgan. He attacked the pan with new energy.

He didn’t really see the sun set, only noticed that he couldn’t see the pan any longer. He looked around and saw a man entering a tent, carrying a lantern. He walked toward the man.

“Twenty dollars for your lantern.”

The man looked up at Seth in surprise, then grinned. A front tooth was chipped and discolored. “Sure.”

Seth returned to the stream. The flecks of gold glinted in the lantern light. When the sun came up, he was still at it. The other gold panners paid little attention to the newcomer. They all knew how it was when the fever first hit.

By noon, Seth was beginning to collapse. His eyes blurred and his head was light and he had trouble holding the pan steady. Only vaguely did he feel the hand on his arm, see the hand that removed the pan from his grasp. In the back of his mind, something whispered, “Morgan,” but he knew it couldn’t be.

“Here, eat this.”

He sat down heavily. As the smell of stew reached him, he realized he hadn’t eaten for a long time. He took the plate and ate greedily. The pan was filled twice more before he felt he had eaten enough.

There were no more trees in the ugly little camp, so he stretched out on his bedroll in the shade beside a tent. He was instantly asleep. The girl stared down at the big sleeping man and smiled. Although he was twice her size, something made her want to take care of him, like a little boy. She knelt down and caressed the hair at his temple. Then she started, and quickly looked to see if anyone had seen her. No one had. She went back to her parents’ tent.

The sun was just going down when Seth awoke, the horizon pink. His first waking thoughts were of Morgan. It seemed he never remembered how things actually stood between them in those first drowsy minutes. He always reached out, expecting to find her near him. Then he remembered.

“I brought you some more food.”

He looked up at the girl standing over him. Hair darker than Morgan’s, not nearly as pretty, and… Damn it, Colter, don’t compare every woman to Morgan.

Seth nodded his thanks to the girl and began to eat, slowly this time. “Did you bring me food earlier today?”

Shyly, she nodded, not looking up at him.

“I thank you. I’m afraid I lost track of time working out there. Another few hours and I might not have been worth saving.”

Her eyes flew to his. They betrayed her opinion of his worth. She lowered her lashes when she saw him staring at her. “We’re camped over there,” she pointed. “There’s Ma and Pa and Ben and me. Ben’s my big brother.” There was pride in her voice. “Ma and me cook for some of the men here, the ones who ain’t got wives.” She looked up at Seth questioningly.

“Well,” he smiled at her, “I guess you can cook for me.” The idea of a wife was too painful to Seth.

She smiled back at him. “I’m Lee Ann Coleman.”

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