Wild Embrace

Elizabeth looked down into Frannie’s face and tried to smile. “I’m here, aren’t I?” she asked in a lighthearted manner. “I’m all right, aren’t I?”

“For now,” Frannie said, giving Elizabeth a disapproving stare. Then she walked past her and went downstairs with heavy footsteps.

When Elizabeth reached the first-floor landing, she took a straw hat from a hat rack and placed it on her head, tying its satin bow beneath her chin. Then without the usual spring in her step, she went on outside.

She crossed the estate grounds, through the wide gate, and walked toward the beckoning waves of the Sound. When she reached the steep incline that led down to the beach, she stopped momentarily to look at the large building that would soon be processing salmon for export.

Today there were men busy putting finishing touches to the building. She could even make out Morris Murdoch among them. She realized that he would have to have stayed behind instead of joining her father on the posse. He seemed to be enjoying having full control in her father’s absence as he shouted curse words to the workmen.

Recalling his cold, blue eyes, and how being around him gave her a sense of discomfort, Elizabeth shivered with distaste. She was careful not to be seen as she moved down the rocky slope, and sighed with relief when she reached the sandy stretch of beach.

The wind was warm and soothing, the sprays of water from the Sound were salty on her lips as she began walking aimlessly along the beach. Her eyes looked across the water to the mountains in the distance. She recalled how the lightning had played across the peak of Mount Rainier, and how the thunder had shook the earth on her journeys with Strong Heart.

She remembered how wonderful it had been to lie in Strong Heart’s sheltering arms during the storm after having just made maddening, exquisite love.

“This isn’t making me forget anything,” she murmured, feeling frustrated. She stopped and turned her face toward the sun, closing her eyes as she absorbed its warmth. The skirt of her dress lifted in the gentle breeze.

“Strong Heart, I wish I were with you now,” Elizabeth whispered longingly. “Father, where are you? Please come home soon so that I can rejoin the man I love!”

She resumed walking, then sank down onto the soft sand and scooped up a handful, watching it run through her fingers. Time. Today it was dragging so.

Watching the sand as it collected in peaks beside her, she was reminded of when she was a child in San Francisco, and how her mother had taken her to the beach and had taught her how to build sand castles. It seemed as if her mother was there even now, laughing and playing with her. She remembered that there had only been the two of them, the rest of the world held at bay.

Smiling at the memory, she tossed her shawl aside, and without the aid of a bucket, she used her hands to scoop out a hole in the sand. Then she made a foundation for her sand castle with the moist sand she had dug out.

Skillfully, she formed pancake-shaped layers of sand, piling them up to make a dome. The secret was to keep the sand good and wet so that the castle did not topple.

After the dome had reached the desired height, it was time to carve the architectural details and add flourishes like winding staircases and graceful arches.

Pleased with how things were progressing, and how the castle looked so far. Elizabeth rose to her feet. She moved along the beach looking for small pieces of driftwood and tiny twigs for sculpting and smoothing the walls and carving everything from doors to balconies.

Bright sea shells and pebbles would be used to line the walkway. A handful of seaweed would be planted for the lawn.

Her arms and the pockets of her dress crammed full with treasures for her castle, Elizabeth turned to go back to her sand castle, then stopped. She dropped everything from her arms when she saw Sheriff Nolan standing beside her castle, his eyes glaring at her.

“You . . .” Elizabeth said, frozen to the spot. “What are you doing here? I-I didn’t hear you.”

“No, I guess you didn’t,” Sheriff Nolan said, taking a plug of the ever-present chewing tobacco from his shirt pocket and pushing it into a corner of his mouth. “Your mind is elsewhere, I’d say, Red.”

Elizabeth swallowed hard, knowing the danger of revealing too much to him—not only by her words, but by her actions, as well. If she behaved guiltily, then he would have reason to suspect her. She had to act normal, as if seeing him didn’t matter one bit.

She tried to act nonchalant as she gathered up her treasure and willed her feet to take one step after another until she reached her sand castle. The sheriff hovered over it like a monster ready to step not only on the castle, but also its sculptress.

“Pardon me,” Elizabeth said, giving Sheriff Nolan an annoyed glance as she tried to make him step back.

When he did not budge, she gave him an icier stare. “If you please?”

“If I please what?” Sheriff Nolan grumbled, spitting sticky tobacco juice over his left shoulder. His blue eyes gave her a steely cold stare.

“Please step aside,” Elizabeth said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I would like to resume what I was doing before your rude interruption.”

“Red, I didn’t come here to play house with you,” Sheriff Nolan said, not moving. He even placed a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder.

Elizabeth paled and her knees trembled as she looked up at him. “Why are you here?” she found the courage to ask. “I’m minding my business. Why don’t you?”

“I’m making you my business this mornin’, Red,” Sheriff Nolan said, easing his hand from her shoulder. He rested it on one of his holstered pistols. “I’ve been keepin’ an eye out for you for days. Today I lucked out. As I was riding past your house I saw you coming to the beach. Now ain’t that perfect timin’?”

His smug, throaty laugh unnerved Elizabeth. “Oh, I see,” she murmured. “Since my father is gone with the posse, you’ve been watching for my return so that you can send word to them to return home. That’s good. Please do it soon. I didn’t think my father would be gone this long.”