His Frontier Christmas Family Read online

  “The man never even noticed it was gone,” Sutter bragged.

  Callie rose even as Levi sighed.

  “Take it back,” she ordered her brothers. “Now.”

  Frisco snatched it off the table. “Why? He has lots of stuff in that old store. He won’t miss it.”

  Levi set down the fork he’d been using to turn the venison and came around the table. “It doesn’t matter how much someone has. Chances are, they worked hard for it. If you want something, you need to work for it, too.”

  Frisco was coloring, and Sutter shuffled his feet.

  “We was just trying to put food on the table,” Frisco muttered.

  Levi’s heart went out to the boy, and he squatted to put his face on a level with the twins.

  “There’s plenty of food here,” he told them. “My brothers grow it and share it with us. We can hunt and fish and gather like we did with the watercress. But we aren’t going to steal. That’s wrong.”

  Frisco sniffed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be hungry, preacher.”

  Levi grimaced, rising. “Oh, but I do. When I was nineteen, my friend Scout and I decided to seek our fortunes on the gold fields.”

  “Like Pa,” Sutter said, wide-eyed.

  “And Adam,” Frisco reminded him.

  “And half the fools in North America,” Callie put in.

  Levi nodded. “And fools we were. Here, we’d been raised in the wilderness, and we still had no idea how to handle ourselves. We ran out of tinned food in a week, had no money to buy more. We ran out of shot and powder in a month, so we couldn’t hunt. Scout tried to make a bow and arrows, but he rarely hit anything. The panning scared away any fish. It got to the point where we were living on mushrooms.”

  Both the boys were staring at him. So was Callie.

  “What did you do?” Sutter asked.

  “I snuck into your camp and stole food.”

  They all started.

  “Adam caught me,” he admitted. “He saved our lives that day. He gave me and Scout enough sourdough and flour to last a week and made me promise I would come back for help before I tried to steal anything else. So, you see, your brother didn’t hold with stealing, either.”

  “Neither did Ma and Pa,” Callie said quietly.

  Frisco shuffled his feet. “I’ll take it back, say I’m sorry.”

  “Maybe we could chop wood for his store to make it up to him,” Sutter suggested, glancing between Levi and Callie.

  Though Levi was certain James had enough wood, he nodded, rising. “Good idea. Now, why don’t you wash up? Supper’s almost ready.”

  They ran for the pump.

  Callie took a step closer, lowered her voice. “Was that true? Did you try to steal from us?”

  Levi couldn’t meet her gaze. “I did, to my sorrow.”

  He felt her sigh, but her voice came out sounding relieved instead of disappointed. “I’m glad Adam offered you food. He was always ready to help a friend. Just like you’re helping us now.”

  Levi turned for the stove before he could speak the words pushing against his lips. If Callie knew why he felt compelled to help her and her family, he very much feared she’d want nothing further to do with him.

  Chapter Eight

  Callie couldn’t help thinking about Levi’s story as she settled for the night with Mica in the soft bed. It seemed he did understand a little of what she and her family had endured. Too bad she hadn’t seen him when he’d come for food. Maybe she’d find it easier to deal with him now. Then again, if she’d known he’d once tried to steal from them, she might never have agreed to come to Wallin Landing. As it was, she had still pushed the chest over the door that night.

  Like the house and church, the chest was built solid. The carved top showed a salmon leaping out of a stream as if it would fly over the trees on either side. Levi must have used it to store his clothing, for she’d found a button at the bottom when she’d opened it to put in her and Mica’s things and the items Adam had left.

  “It’s not much to show for the person he was,” Levi had said that evening when he’d given her the bundle the other miners had brought with Adam’s letter.

  Callie’s throat had felt tight. “Not much at all. He deserved better.”

  Levi had rested his hand on her shoulder, the touch kind. Warmth penetrated her shirt. He’d left before she could thank him again for his kindness.

  The next morning, she pulled on her shirt, trousers and coat and went with Frisco and Sutter down to the store to return the tin of beans. On Levi’s suggestion, she left Mica with him. The baby was by far the easiest member of the Murphy family to get along with. Still, Callie felt almost bare without Mica in her arms.

  She walked into the store out of the misty morning, and memories wrapped around her. The clutter of fish hooks standing next to cornmeal, bolts of fabric beside bear traps—it was like every gold rush mercantile she’d ever visited. Levi’s brother, standing behind the counter at the back of the disordered space, suspenders up over a plaid flannel shirt, looked perfectly comfortable among the crowded surroundings. He listened, face impassive, as Frisco and Sutter stammered out their apology for taking the food and offered to chop wood.

  “I have plenty of wood,” he told them, glancing from one to the other. “And Pa always said the punishment should fit the crime.”

  “Crime?” Sutter squealed with a look to Frisco.

  “Honest, mister,” Frisco said, “it was just a tin of beans.”

  “A tin of beans?” James Wallin drew himself up, pointing a finger to the ceiling. “Might as well say the sweat off my brow, the very sustenance on which my wife and children depend.”

  Frisco and Sutter squirmed, and Callie hid a smile. This was better than going to a play at the opera house. And she had a feeling he wasn’t going to just pass off her brothers’ misdeeds, unlike a certain preacher.

  He leaned closer to her brothers and lowered his voice as if taking them into his confidence. “I am partial to trout. You catch me one big enough to eat, and I’ll count our dealings square.”

  “Yes, sir,” Frisco said, backing from the counter.

  “As soon as we can,” Sutter promised beside him.

  James nodded to them, then turned to Callie and offered her a wink. “It seems Levi isn’t the only one to wear the trousers in your family. I appreciate a lady of daring.”

  Callie shrugged. “Not so much daring as necessity. You ever tried panning in a dress?”

  James’s face turned solemn, but she could see the light in his eyes. “I have never had the pleasure.”

  She grinned before turning to walk her brothers back up to the main clearing.

  As they came past the big cabin, her brothers arguing about which of them would catch James Wallin’s big fish, Levi’s sister was out on the porch, leaning on a broom. She quickly started sweeping as Callie and the twins approached, but she didn’t fool Callie. The porch was clean enough to eat off.

  “Oh, good morning, Miss Murphy, boys,” she called as if surprised to see them. “How are you enjoying Wallin Landing?”

  Frisco paused and scratched behind his ear. “It’s passable.”

  “You have horses,” Sutter told her.

  She smiled, a dimple popping into view beside her mouth. “Yes, we do. And you must go up to see Simon and Nora’s farm. They have a three-legged cow.”

  Frisco planted his hands on his hips. “You’re joshing.”

  “I promise,” Beth told him. “They have a dog, too. He looks a bit like a wolf, but he’s very friendly. His name is Fleet, and if it snows you will see him pulling his own sled.”

  Her brothers exchanged delighted glances.

  “Can we go up and see, Callie?” Frisco begged.

  “I’m s
ure it would be fine for the boys to go by themselves,” Beth put in. “Nora watches the little ones while the others are in school, so she’s sure to be there.” She pointed to an opening in the trees at the edge of the clearing. “Just follow that path up the hill.”

  “It’s all right,” Callie told her brothers. “I’ll come fetch you for chores.”

  Her brothers ran off.

  Beth sighed. “I remember when I was that age. You couldn’t keep me in the house.”

  Seeing her now, her purple-striped gown dotted with bows, lace draping her neck, Callie had a hard time believing she’d been anything like Frisco and Sutter.

  Beth rolled the handle of her broom between her hands. “Would you like to come in? I can put the kettle on for tea.”

  Callie would have preferred to escape to Levi’s house, but there was something wistful about Beth’s voice. What would it hurt? She could always leave if she felt uncomfortable.

  “All right,” she agreed.

  Beth shoved the broom into a corner of the porch and ran for the door, looking every inch as excited as Frisco and Sutter.

  Callie ventured inside. Like Levi’s house, the door opened into one large room, with stairs leading up to the second story. Arches on either side of the hearth spoke of a second room beyond, and Callie caught sight of a washtub leaning against a wall. A long plank table near the window could easily seat twenty, and the chairs and benches scattered around the room would have accommodated another dozen or so.

  “All your houses are so big,” she said.

  Beth, who had gone through the closest arch, poked her head back out. “You haven’t met Drew yet, have you? Once you see him, you’ll know why Pa designed the rooms with space to spare. He expected us all to grow. Do you like honey with your tea?”

  Honey. Callie could only nod, afraid she might squeal like Mica if she opened her mouth. As Beth disappeared again, she made herself go to the table and take a seat, folding her hands on the planks. There was dirt under her ragged nails. She tucked her hands under the table.

  Beth returned with a plate of tiny white cookies. “Tea will be ready shortly,” she promised, taking a seat near Callie. “Are you all settled at the parsonage?”

  Levi had used the word, too. That must be what they called a preacher’s house. “More or less,” Callie acknowledged, wondering whether it would be rude to snatch up one of those cookies.

  Beth clasped her hands together as if trying to contain her delight. “And how do you like my brother?”

  Callie blinked. “Which one?”

  Beth giggled. There was something happy, something engaging about the sound. It reminded Callie of Mica. She couldn’t help smiling.

  “I do have a lot of brothers,” Beth admitted. “This time I was talking about Levi.” She reached for a cookie at last. “How are the two of you getting along?”

  Callie took a cookie, finding it still warm from the oven. Were those walnuts speckling the white? She tried not to gulp it in one bite, savoring the sweetness. Not for the first time she wished she’d paid more attention to what Anna had done at the hearth.

  She caught Beth watching her and swallowed hastily. What could she say to Beth about Levi? In truth, there were moments she liked him quite a lot. Other times she wanted to shout at him, tell him to leave her alone. She certainly didn’t want to admit that to his sister.

  “He’s tolerable,” she said.

  “My, what...praise.” Beth rose. “Let me check the tea.”

  Callie leaned back as Beth hurried from the table. Those cookies were watching her. But Beth had only taken one. Would she think Callie a lout for taking a second?

  Before she could decide, Beth bustled back, two steaming pink and white cups in hand. She set down one in front of Callie. “Best blow on it first. It’s hot.”

  Callie joined her in puffing at the brew before taking a cautious sip. Frowning, she looked down into the amber-colored liquid. “This is tea?”

  “Rose hip and chamomile,” Beth said, pausing to take a sip.

  Pa’s tea had been black, oily stuff. He always joked it would put hair on Adam’s chest. Even the tea was fancy at Wallin Landing.

  “What are your plans for Christmas?” Beth asked, before taking another sip.

  Callie drank a little more. It was rather nice, fruity almost, delicate, not unlike Beth Wallin. “Hadn’t thought that much about it. A few weeks away yet, isn’t it?”

  Beth inched forward in her seat. “Yes, but there’s so much to do—the decorations, the baking, the geese to pluck. And we’ll be having a community dance in the hall on the evening of Christmas Day. I’m trying to find musicians so Simon doesn’t always have to play.”

  Callie nodded, though in truth she wasn’t sure what she could do to help. The last few years before moving to Seattle, they’d usually been huddled in some hotel room on Christmas, waiting for the ground to thaw enough to go back to panning. Even Christmas in Adam’s cabin had been a simple affair, with oranges as a treat. But a dance, with a real musician? Oh, what she’d give to go to that!

  “You’re about five and a half feet tall, aren’t you?” Beth asked.

  Callie frowned at the change of subject. “Near as I can tell.”

  Beth cocked her head. “Our figures are fairly similar.”

  Perhaps, but Beth had more curves than Callie ever would. “I suppose.”

  Beth snapped a nod. “Good. Nora wants to make you a dress, you see. You really can’t keep wearing trousers. We can use my measurements and just tuck things up and in a little.”

  Levi’s sister didn’t understand. Callie set down her cup. “My trousers work for what I have to do. And I don’t have money for a dress.”

  Beth waved her free hand. “That’s all right. It was intended as a gift.”

  A gift. Charity more like. In the kindest way possible, Beth was telling Callie her clothes weren’t good enough.

  She wasn’t good enough. She didn’t fit in.

  Callie stared at the cookies, sad she hadn’t grabbed a second one while she could, then pushed back her chair. “Thank you, but I make do. I should be going.”

  Beth’s round face puckered as she rose as well. “But we were just starting to get acquainted.”

  Callie drew in a breath. “I can see you want to be friends, but I should warn you. You probably don’t want to get acquainted with me, even if we’re panning the same stream here at Wallin Landing. You won’t like what you find. Good day.”

  She hurried for the door before Beth could call her back.

  As Callie trudged up the slope toward the parsonage, tears stung her eyes. Levi’s sister was only trying to be kind. She truly thought a cup of tea, a present was all it took to be friends. True friends knew all about each other. True friends lifted you up when you were down and cheered you as you rose. Callie might not have ever had a true friend like that, except for Anna, but she’d seen it a rare time or two on the gold fields.

  Beth might want to be that kind of friend, but she and Callie were too different. The more Beth learned about Callie, the less she’d want to be friends. Callie couldn’t bear losing someone else dear. Maybe when the twins and Mica were grown, she could learn to be a grand lady worthy of associating with Beth Wallin. She’d wear pretty dresses with bows and lace and not care what slopped on them. She’d have dainty cups, drink rarified tea and eat all the cookies she wanted with friends while they chatted about the latest fashions and newest literature.

  Well, maybe not the literature.

  Partway up the slope, she stopped and stamped her foot. There! She was acting no better than Pa, spinning tales that would never come true. And why was she wishing for the moon, anyway? Her life wasn’t nearly so bad. Spending time with these Wallin folk was just giving her notions. She had to remember who she was, where sh
e came from.

  She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm. On either side, the forest lay quiet. Perhaps that was why she heard the snap of something close at hand.

  Callie stilled, glancing from side to side. There it came again, that feeling of being watched. Someone was out there. Was that a shape moving through the trees? A bear?

  A man?

  “Everything all right?”

  She whirled at the deep voice behind her, and her gaze landed in the middle of a plaid-flannel-clad chest. Swallowing, she tilted her head back to see a giant of a man, who seemed to be frowning.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  Callie stumbled back. “No! I don’t need help. I don’t need any of you. Go away, and leave me alone!”

  * * *

  Levi had rocked Mica to sleep. The fact stunned him. Ma had said he’d never stood still long enough to catch a breath, but he’d sat at the table holding the baby and swaying back and forth until jet black lashes drifted over those blue eyes and her little mouth relaxed. Now she was resting on the bed, pillows piled around her so she wouldn’t roll off. He’d have to remind James to bring over the cradle. It couldn’t be easy for Callie to sleep with the baby. She was probably awakened every time the little girl moved.

  The door slammed open, and Callie dashed into the room, face white and hands trembling. Levi strode to meet her. “What’s wrong?”

  Her breath was coming fast again, but not from anger, he thought. Something had frightened her. “There was a man by the woods. He was huge!”

  Levi moved to the door and yanked it open. His brother Drew paused with fist raised to knock.

  “I think I frightened your guest,” he said, face heavy with regret. “Please let her know I meant no harm.”

  “I will,” Levi promised. “I’ll come to see you later. Ask James to bring over that cradle.”

  Drew nodded, and Levi closed the door. Turning, he saw Callie standing with her hand on her shoulder again, as if trying to hide herself.

  “Is he gone?” she asked, voice shaking.