Page 94 of The Enchanted Land

“Seth… Seth Blake.”

She was beginning to lose her shyness. “Don’t you have a tent, Mr. Blake?”

“Seth. No, I don’t.”

She was quiet and seemed to be considering something. “I saw you working out there. You must be awful hungry to strike it rich, or else you’re trying to kill yourself.”

Seth was serious. “Maybe a little of both.”

“I got to be getting back now, Mr…. Seth. I’ll bring you breakfast in the morning. You better sleep now.”

Seth watched her go. The old dress was faded and patched, but clean. It fit her too tightly, showing her stocky little body. He remembered Morgan’s lush curves and he saw her again as she had looked in the bedroom at his ranch. Damn! he thought, will she ever get out of my mind?

Lee Ann was up early the next morning, heaping Seth’s plate with fried eggs and fried bread. As she went to get a steaming mug of coffee, her mother caught her. “Why can’t he come to the tent like the rest of the men? What’s so special about this one?”

“Oh, Ma, he’s…”

Corinne looked into her daughter’s eyes and then smiled. So that’s how it was. She’d been about Lee Ann’s age when she’d met Larry. “Go on then and take him his breakfast. But hurry back, ’cause I need your help.”

Corinne watched her daughter go. She knew Lee Ann would never be a beauty—her little face was too plain for that, and her sturdy little body would never be elegant—but she had a good heart. Sometimes when she looked up at you with those liquid brown eyes, she could melt your heart. Corinne had no doubt that this new man was in some kind of trouble. Not law trouble, more likely a broken heart. Lee Ann always loved the helpless ones. Corinne sighed. Too often, once Lee Ann had them on their feet again, they’d go running off. Lord, she prayed, let this one be different.

Seth was already working when Lee Ann got there. He stopped when he saw her. “I’m glad to see you. I could eat these flakes of gold, I’m so hungry.”

Lee Ann sat beside the big man, her legs drawn up under her, and watched him eat. “I like to see a man eat. I just hate these puny little ones who eat three eggs for breakfast and call it a meal.”

Seth remembered how Morgan and Lupita had always plied him with food and more food. He looked at the meal of Lee Ann’s, the eggs and bread swimming in grease. It was a far cry from Morgan’s brioches and cheese-filled omelets.

“You from around here?”

“New Mexico.”

“We been through there once. Too dry for me. I like it better here.”

Seth looked around at the dirty, barren camp. There were many tents and a few haphazard shacks. The trees had long ago been used for firewood. Even the stream was discolored with dishwater, cooking grease, soap-suds, and the leavings from hundreds of slop jars. He remembered the clean, clear hills and arroyos on his ranch.

Seth quickly finished his meal and went back to work. The more he worked, the more tired he was, the less he was able to think. Yet at night, under the stars, he often lay awake for hours remembering Morgan, every word they’d ever spoken, every caress they’d shared.

A month passed. The days began to run together. The other people in the camp had tried to be friendly, but Seth’s sullenness made them withdraw. Only Lee Ann stayed by him, bringing his meals three times a day.

It was Lee Ann who got the tent for him. One of the diggers was giving up, selling out, going back east. She bought everything without even asking Seth. Seth told her to take what gold she needed from his ever-growing hoard. She marveled that he trusted her so much, but also wanted to scold him for not hiding his gold like her pa did.

When Seth fell onto the hard cot at night, he hardly noticed the difference between it and the ground he had grown accustomed to. He was used to Lee Ann’s presence and took for granted that she kept his food hot until he was ready for it, kept his clothes washed, mended, and orderly.

One morning after Seth had been at Cypress Pass for two months, Lee Ann saw him packing his gear on his horse. His tent was already down and he was just rolling his blankets.

“Where you goin’?”

He missed the alarm in her voice. “This place is getting too crowded. Heard about a new place upriver and thought I’d try there for a while. The gold’s played out here.”

Lee Ann turned abruptly and started running back to her parents’ tent.

Seth looked after her. He’d planned to stop and say goodbye to Lee Ann, but as he watched her go, he just shrugged. He didn’t really care one way or another if he left the camp. He didn’t really seem to care about anything anymore.

Lee Ann ran to her mother, breathless. “He’s leavin’, Ma, and I’m goin’ with him.”

There was no need to tell who “he” was. Corinne knew her daughter had thought of nothing but Seth Blake for two months. Corinne opened her mouth to protest, but one look at Lee Ann’s eyes made her stop. She’d felt this way about Larry, too. There was no use trying to persuade Lee Ann to wait and get the man to marry her. Corinne and Larry hadn’t been married until after Ben was born.

“I have to, Ma,” she whispered.

---