Eugenia's Embrace

Eugenia set her lips firmly. "Never," she said. "I'm goin' to buy me a lot of dresses made of satin and look real purty just like all the other women in town."

"What do you expect to do to get money to buy these dresses?"

"I'll find me work. Somewheres."

"I'm sure you will," Drew chuckled.

Eugenia wasn't sure if she liked the way Drew's eyes were flickering with that comment. She had to wonder what was behind his amused mockery.

"I will," she demanded. "You'll see."

"Sure. Sure," he said, rising. "But for now, we'd best get some shut-eye."

She watched as he pulled a blanket from his saddle bag. "Come on, honey," he said, guiding her by the arm. "Let's keep each other warm."

She still couldn't believe how she was letting this man manipulate her so easily. Only a few hours earlier she wouldn't have believed it could happen. She had been her own person. Untouched. But now she was his and would welcome any of his touches and caresses. She stretched out beside him, glad when he threw his arm across her waist. She went to sleep feeling the gentleness of his breathing upon her face.

* * *

Chapter Two

The heat of the sun awakened Eugenia. The sound of the water rushing downward from the mountain side, settling in effervescent bubbles beside her, made her keenly aware of where she had slept all night. Then she sat upright with a start, remembering Drew. Her eyes darted to the spot where he had lain beside her through the night. But her heart faltered. All that was left of him was the few wrinkles the heaviness of his body had made in the blanket.

Pushing herself up from the ground, her eyes searched in desperation around her, too soon discovering that even his horse was gone.

"He's done gone and left me," she moaned aloud, covering her mouth with her hands, hardly able to believe that the man she had grown to know so intimately could be capable of such deceit. He had seduced her, fulfilled his manly needs, and had left her to her likely demise. How could she have been so foolish to let herself be used like an animal? Couldn't she have guessed this would happen? Drew Jamieson wasn't a man, he was an animal, with animal's needs. She flung her head back, shouting, "I hate you, Drew Jamieson. I hate you."

A noise behind a thick blue spruce drew her attention, making her breath begin to come in short intervals. Then she smiled. She now knew that she had been too hasty in her judgment of Drew. She knew that he had probably only been watering his horse, or maybe catching their breakfast.

Smiling widely, she lifted the fullness of her skirt up into her arms and rushed toward the tree, to stop suddenly when she saw a familiar tail swaying back and forth lazily from behind it. She inched her way onward then felt her heart begin to ache when she saw that it was only her mule. She hadn't been wrong about Drew. He had left. And thank goodness that her mule had somehow managed to find its way to her, now that she needed it again so badly.

Trying to suppress a rush of tears, still harboring thoughts of Drew inside her mind, she went to her mule. "Mule, you're a lifesaver this mornin'," she said, then stopped when she saw that it had been tied securely to the tree. She studied the knot of the rope, feeling a rush of hope flow through her veins once again, knowing that only Drew could have done this. Her eyes darted around her, hoping to see him standing beside the burned-out fire, or the creek, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He was most definitely gone. But he had thought enough of her to make sure she wasn't stranded any longer. He had gone in search of her mule for her, and had found and brought it to her.

She patted the mule, then decided it was time to continue with her journey. She knew that Cripple Creek couldn't be too far away. Something deep inside told her that Drew would have only left her if he had known that she could make the rest of the journey safely by herself.

She headed for the water, needing to refresh herself before making her entry into town, a town that she hoped would welcome her presence, a town that would provide her with the things she had dreamed of for so long.

Bending her head down over the clearness of the water, Eugenia gasped when she saw her reflection staring back at her. She ran her hands over her face, noticing its redness. She swallowed hard, wondering if this redness was from the sun of the day before, or from the scratchiness of Drew's beard as he had kissed and fondled her. But no matter. All she knew was that it made her appear even less feminine.

She reached her hands down, cupped them, filling them with the cool water from the creek, then splashed it onto her face, over and over again. But another look proved to her that it was useless. She would have to hope that it would fade away quickly, maybe even in a day or so, so she could definitely be able to enter the realm of being—and looking—like a lady.

With deft fingers, she braided her hair and pinned it back on top of her head, remembering with an ache in her loins how Drew had asked her to let her hair down, and what they had participated in only moments after that. How she had loved him afterward, and even now, more than she could hate him for having left her alone.

"Just didn't want a woman sharin' his saddle with him as he rode into town," she said aloud, assuring herself that he had done it for a good reason. She arose, carrying her traveling bag and placed it around her mule's neck. "He'll look me up once I get into town," she said, climbing onto her mule's back. "I know he will," she added softly, trying to reassure herself.

Hunger pangs began to eat away at the inside of her stomach, but only a few crumbs of bread had been left of the meal of the night before, shared by fireside with the man she knew she would always love.

She dug her knees into her mule's side, confident that she could depend on it to carry her to safety now. And when it began to move forward, she took a fast glance backward at the crushed grass where Drew had taken her into realms of ecstasy, hoping that one day soon he would do so again.

Lifting her skirt to above her knees, she let the creek water splash onto her bare legs as the mule made his way across to the other side.

The sun seemed even more penetrating this day. Even the thick braids circled around her crown didn't seem to keep the heat from scorching her scalp. She wiped the beads of perspiration from her brow, then tensed when a sudden whistling noise in the distance drew her attention. And then she heard it again. She let her eyes travel to where she had heard it, discovering a train winding around the side of another distant mountain, leaving a stream of black smoke billowing up into the sky behind it. Her heart began to pound, realizing she had to be almost to her destination. She thrust her knees more deeply into her mule's side, anxiety mounting. "Come on, boy," she said. "We've just 'bout done it. Just a little more ways. Then you can sleep all you want."

A dense forest of ponderosa pines slowed her approach, but the shade of its shadows was welcomed, plus the coolness of the breeze blowing throughout. The mule seemed to inch its way along, and the sticky pine limbs pushed at Eugenia's face, legs, and arms. But one glance through the last row of trees and Eugenia's heart palpitated wildly. Below her, in what appeared to be a saucer-shaped community, settled down into a deep valley, was the town that she had dreamed of so often. She knew that it had to be Cripple Creek.

"Come on, mule," she sighed. "Just look at it. Ain't it just too grand? Come on, boy. Won't be long now," she added, pressing her knees into its sides once again.

The decline from the lower slope of Mount Pisgah was a rocky one. The mule's hoofs clumsily made their way over the rocks, tossing Eugenia back and forth roughly, making her realize just how sore her muscles were. She groaned inwardly with each fresh jerk, but knew that she could soon leave her mule and walk down the streets, mingling with all the other respectable people of the town.