Donners of the Dead

“Avery,” I said breathlessly, afraid that if I looked away, the gold would vanish. “Avery, you won’t believe what I found.”

I heard nothing in response. I smelled only tobacco smoke.

I turned around, and in the shadows, saw Tim standing behind me with a gun to my head. Jake was off to the side of him, his revolver aimed at Avery who was scowling at him with his hands in the air.

“If I was you, Eve,” Tim said with a smile that didn’t match his eyes, “I would kindly drop the gold.”

I didn’t know what to say, or what to do.

“I said,” Tim repeated, “drop the gold. Drop it and get up and come over here.”

“Tim,” Jake warned. “It’s fine.”

“People change when they see money,” Tim explained. “They change even more when they see gold. Come on, Eve.”

I dropped the bar with a clatter and slowly got to my knees. “Tim,” I said, trying to reason with him, “why are you pointing a gun to my head? To both our heads? What did we do? What’s going on?”

Tim sighed. “Guess I do owe you an explanation. You did find what we’ve been looking for, after all.”

“I thought you were looking for George Clark,” I said. I exchanged a wary look with Avery, and it was apparent he thought the same thing too.

Tim lowered the gun. “George Clark is dead. Or so we all assume. He was never related to anyone in the Donner party and was never involved in the search for them. George Clark was a prospector from Sacramento who struck gold in the foothills and became filthy rich. He was heading back over the mountains from the west when something happened to him and the three fellas that were with him. Only one man made it out of the mountains and turned up at Isaac’s door, a man who had gone half-mad. He later died, killed himself in some awful suicide, but he’d already told Isaac everything he needed to know. Mainly, there was a fortune left behind here in these hills. That fortune was just in your hands.” His eyes flitted over to the hole full of gold, the bars gleaming in the lamplight.

Out of everything he’d just told me, all the horrible truths, I could only think of one thing. I looked over at Jake who was keeping his gaze to the ground, as if he was ashamed, even though his gun was still aimed in Avery’s direction.

“You lied to me,” I yelled at Jake, my heart breaking with indignation. “You said you didn’t know why we were here.”

He swallowed hard, and when he looked up at me, a sad smirk was playing on his lips. “Guess I do know you well enough.”

“You know nothing about me,” I sneered, “or anything about being an honorable man.”

He cocked his head. “Well, I can’t know everything.”

Tim cleared his throat, and I was suddenly aware of how hot my face was. I felt utterly betrayed, stupid and foolish. Tim had been such a fatherly figure to me, and Jake…well, I didn’t know what I thought about Jake. But him lying to me near tore me up inside. I was angry that he had such an effect on me—I shouldn’t have even been surprised.

“Now this ain’t the end of the world,” Tim said, putting his gun in his holster and motioning for Jake to do the same. “We can get through this just fine if the two of you behave.”

“You actually think we’d take the gold and run?” I asked, for the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“My, you are an innocent one, aren’t you Eve?” Tim asked. “You need to change that real fast or this world is going to eat you up.”

“Literally, it seems,” Jake added, though he was back to not looking me in the eye.

“We should get a move on back inside,” Tim said, taking his gun out and gesturing to the cabin with it. Night had already fallen and the wind was picking up, whistling over the unseen lake. “Donna may need you.”

When I didn’t move, Tim waved his gun again. His eyes weren’t mean but I didn’t want to test his patience. I looked at Avery and nodded. We walked off toward the cabin, Tim right behind us. I could hear Jake making his way to the wood boards and covering up the hole, I guess in case Isaac and Hank came back. It was clear now that this was an every man for himself operation.

As if reading my mind, Tim said, “You know one bar would be enough for you to start a new life, Eve. The best life you could imagine.”

“Are you trying to tempt me?” I said in a dull voice as the wind whipped my hair out of my braid.

“Just trying to get you to see why we came all the way out here. What it’s worth. We’ve all put in time with the Rangers or other jobs, and we’ve all bled more than we should have for it. The beauty of this fair country is that every man has the opportunity to make the most for himself. We’re just being Americans.”

With that, he opened the cabin door and led us in. Donna was lying in her bed and slowly rolling her head back and forth, a few moans slipping out of her mouth. All the gold in the world couldn’t buy her another hand.

We went over to her as she was starting to stir, and I put the back of my hand to her forehead. She was burning up and clammy and her eyes were rolling back in her head. Avery brought out the small vial of opium and sprinkled a few drops in a metal jug of water, briefly shooting a wary glance at Tim who was stoking the fire. As he shook it around, Jake came back in the cabin, shutting the door behind him.

He paused near us and stared at Donna, taking his hat off his head and holding it to his chest. “How is she?”

I could only glare at him. “Why do you care?”

Avery shot me a look to be quiet and raised her head while he brought the jug to her lips. Most of the water dribbled out of her mouth, but some managed to go down.

“I may have brought you here under false pretenses,” Jake said, “but the offer still counts. Your tracking got us here, got us to what we needed. We’ll pay you handsomely.”

“But not in gold.”

“What’s fair is fair,” Tim said, the flames crackling dramatically behind him. “And the last thing we want is for a member of our team to die. Donna was hired just the same as you was. We don’t want anything to happen to any of you.”

“Is that why you just held guns to our heads?” Avery scowled, darting hateful eyes toward them as Donna appeared to drift off into a drug-induced sleep.

“I said things will be fine if the two of you behave and I mean it,” Tim said. “Tomorrow we’ll head back to River Bend, get out of here while we can. Get Donna the help she needs and you’ll both get paid.”

“What about Hank and Isaac?” I asked. Not that I cared a whit about Hank.

“They wouldn’t hang around for us, that’s for certain,” Tim said.

“And what about the…the men…those creatures out there? What about them?” I asked. “We can’t just go on our merry little way knowing what lives in the mountains.”

“Oh, I reckon you can tell anyone you damn well please. And with the money you’re making, you can move far away and pretend this whole thing never happened.”

I sighed and rubbed my hands against the apron of my dress. We all knew the money was Uncle Pat’s, and even with Avery taking my side, he would never believe what we saw. Once Avery and Rose left for the big city, I’d be all alone. I figured I’d never get another night’s sleep for the rest of my life as long as I knew what lived in the Sierra Nevadas, never be able to wash the image of Meek’s torn heart out of my head.

Chapter Eight

Dinner was a quick meal of roasted hawk, a tough and wiry meat that I couldn’t get down. It reminded me too much of what went on today. I just picked at the food and barely managed to drink a cup of weak tea before I excused myself to go out to the outhouse, taking a lantern and my heavy shawl with me.

“I’ll go with ya,” Jake said, easing his massive frame from the wooden bench.

I stopped by the door and narrowed my eyes at him. “You will not.” I didn’t want him anywhere near me.

“It’s for your own protection,” he said gruffly, putting his hand on the butt of his revolver.

“No, it’s not. It’s so I don’t take off with the gold.”

He jerked his head in Avery’s direction. “Wrong you are. I know you wouldn’t go anywhere without him.”

I exhaled sharply through my nose and then stormed off into the night. I hadn’t been to the latrine yet, so I didn’t even know where it was, but I was too proud to stop walking.

“If you take another step,” Jake warned, his voice drifting up from behind me, “you’ll walk right into the lake. And that ice ain’t gonna hold you no matter how trim your figure.”

I paused and looked down at my boots. The snow in front of me was colored differently, lit up by my lantern. He was right. The smell of frozen lake water, of ice and marsh, permeated my nostrils. I should have noticed, but I was so wrapped up in my head that I didn’t. I could scarcely think.

“The outhouse is out by the other cabin,” Jake said. “I’ll have to escort you there.”

“I don’t need your help,” I said, turning around and rushing past him.

All of a sudden he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me close. I nearly dropped the lantern, the light swinging around us, casting shadows across his face.

“Eve,” he grunted, loosening his grip on my arm. “I’m sorry I lied.”

“I don’t care,” I said, my chin held high.

“But you do. You’re mad.”

“You make me mad.”

“Then you care.”

I wrestled my arm out of his grasp but stayed in place, not wanting to back down, just because he was a foot taller than me and twice as wide, just because there were still bloodstains on his face from earlier, just because he held a gun to Avery’s head.

And that was the tricky thing. He saved Donna and Avery’s life today. He wasn’t a bad man, despite how rude he sometimes was. And yet his lie spurred me deep inside. Maybe because I took his word as truth.

“I don’t know why I care,” I slowly admitted. “I think I’m just about losing my mind out here.”

“I ain’t going to hurt you, you know that,” he said. He licked his lips and looked back at the cabin. “I ain’t going to hurt Avery either. And I don’t think Tim will do anything, he’s just scared to lose everything since we’ve come so far.”

“But you have lost everything!” I cried out. “You’ve lost Meeks. You’ve lost the other two. You’ve lost your secrecy.”

He shook his head, his expression turning grim. “No. This is nothing. I’ve lost everything before.”

“Oh, is that so? What could you have possibly lost? A bet? A hand at poker?”

He dipped his chin and looked me square in the eye. The intensity of his gaze reached deep into me. “I lost my wife and I lost my child. They were killed while I was away fighting in Monterrey with the Rangers.”

I was not expecting that. I must have stared at him like a right idiot, trying to figure out what to say. The best I could do was a weak, “Sorry.” I sure felt foolish now, trying to trivialize it all. “What happened?”

A wash of fire came across his gaze. “Injuns. They came to steal our horses. My father-in-law and my wife and my little boy, they killed and scalped them. Left the bodies behind for me to find.”

I felt like my heart had been smashed with a hammer. I put my hand to my chest and looked away from his eyes; the small glimpses of hatred and sorrow in them were too much to bear. But pity was the last thing he wanted from me.

“That explains why you hate Indians so much,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “Though I really don’t need to remind you that we—my people—we aren’t all the same. The ones who did this to you are savage people, not just savage Indians.”

He pursed his lips. “Let’s just say I have some trust issues then.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you’re a jackass.”

Jake broke into a wide grin. “A jackass, is that right? Well I reckon you’re correct. I suppose I was just born a jackass.”

The severity of the situation came back to me like the gust of chilled wind that made his hair dance. The monsters. The gold. And we were just out here talking like none of that was going on. I looked to my feet, suddenly conscious of how close we’d been standing. The snow glowed yellow in the light of the lantern.

“I guess lying goes with the territory of being a jackass,” I added.

I heard him scratch at his sideburns. He let out a long breath that froze into a cloud. “I guess that’s true as well. But I only lied because it was easier.”

I raised my brow. “At least that’s honest. You’re a jackass and a liar. What else do I need to know about you?”

“I’m a great kisser.”

I almost laughed, but before I could, his warm, rough hands were on my cheeks, cupping them gently, his lips pressed against mine. It was wrong and hard and wet, and though his mouth was only on mine for a second, just long enough to feel the softness of his lips underneath all that pressure, it succeeded in taking my breath away.

He pulled back and gave me a lopsided grin. I was flabbergasted, the feeling of his stubble against my cheek still tingling my skin.

“Well, how did I do?” he asked, his eyes dancing playfully. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

I couldn’t find the words. Jake McGraw just kissed me. Not Avery as I’d always imagined, but Jake. A man. A Texan. A liar and a jackass.