Daniel Boone found himself making excuses to go into the fort. To be more specific, he found himself thinking of reasons to go the tavern.
"We ain't got any nails?" He said to Yadkin early one afternoon.
"What?" Yadkin looked at him perplexed.
"Nails! We haven't got any." Daniel repeated.
"Are we building somethin'?"
"What if something breaks?"
"Look around you!" Yadkin gestured around the cabin. "What ain't broke?"
"See! We need nails. I'll go."
He turned and tried to straighten his shirt and smooth out his thick brown hair. Yadkin studied him thoughtful. His nose wrinkled and he sniffed.
"Dan'l? Did you take a bath?" His eyes grew wide. "Ah, good Lord!"
"What?" Daniel said avoiding meeting Yadkin's eyes.
"Are you falling for her? You are! Ah, dad burn it! Daniel you don't need some woman! She'll boss you to no end!"
"Oh! I don't know what you are going on about! I'm going to get some nails! That's all." Flustered he nearly tripped as he rushed out the front door.
"She won't like your wandering ways and she'll tell you how to dress!" Yadkin followed him out. "She'll make you bathe all the time!"
Daniel ignored his shouts and strode toward the fort but paused long enough to yell back over his shoulder, "Well a bath every year or so wouldn't harm ya none!"
***DB***
"What now?" Cincinnatus asked as Daniel ducked his head and stepped into the tavern.
"What?" Daniel asked glancing all around.
"What brings you out? You need something?"
"Huh?"
Cincinnatus sighed. "She ain't here, Dan'l."
"Who?" Daniel tried to appear nonchalant but his disappointment was obvious.
"Rebecca."
"Oh, that's right. I forgot you have a cook now."
"Uh huh." Cincinnatus rubbed his bearded chin. "She came out with me - on the wagon train you led."
"Oh that's right."
"She took an arrow and you had to go back and get her."
"We went back for the supplies." He said quickly.
"That's right." Cincinnatus said with a grin.
"Well, uh . . .I . . ."
"She went for water." Cincinnatus said.
"You sent her to the river? It ain't safe! She can't carry those big buckets!"
He turned and fairly ran out the door. Cincinnatus followed and stood in the doorway shaking his head and muttering.
"One hundred pounds! I paid good money, and he's gonna go and . . ." He looked up at Daniel who had nearly left the fort already in long, quick strides. "You bring her right back here! She's got work to do."
***7***
Rebecca Bryan looked at her reflection in the river water and smiled thinking that her mother wouldn't recognize her now. She'd been lectured daily about growing into a proper lady - but her reflection showed instead a hard-working frontier cook. She smoothed her long red hair that fell well past her shoulders and sighed. Her mother had been a beauty - small with blond hair with just a hint of red, and bright blue eyes. Rebecca, on the other hand, was tall, skinny and most definitely red-haired. She had longed as a girl to be as beautiful as her mother but she had already grown taller than her mother by the time she was ten.
"What man would marry a skinny, freckled giant like you!" Her sister Susannah teased. Susannah had inherited their mother's small frame and her hair was a beautiful honey blond with just a hint of red hiding underneath.
"Rebecca is beautiful." Her mother always responded. "She's got a beauty all her own and believe me someone is going to appreciate those long legs of yours Rebecca. You just make sure and keep them covered up! I don't wanna see you swinging those skirts high. You behave like a proper lady."
Proper Lady.
Rebecca nearly laughed out loud at the thought. She was an indentured cook living on the edge of the world. It wasn't a life her mother planned for her, but it was one she gladly embraced. Cincinnatus was gruff, but underneath it was a kindness he kept hidden. She could sleep soundly at night; not always fearful as she had in other places. He wouldn't try to harm her.
She looked up into the beautiful Kentucky sky. She lived in the most beautiful place she had seen since leaving Ireland. Although she longed for the green hills of home; the wildness of Kentucky spoke to something within her. She turned to reach for the bucket but as she put her hand on the handle she was shocked that her hand rested on another hand. She jumped back in surprise, shocked to find one of the tallest men she'd ever seen standing beside her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle ya, Miss." He said apologetically.
"I didn't know you were there." She said looking up into his deep green eyes.
"You gotta pay better attention - especially outside those gates. Why, I could've been Shawnee!"
"I thought you made a treaty with them; that it was safe here."
"Well safe on the frontier is a sort of shaky kind of thing." He leaned over and scooped water in the buckets and turned. "I can carry this for ya, Miss."
"Rebecca." She reminded him. Again.
"That's right." He said with a sideways grin.
His refusal to say her name frustrated her to no end, and she was beginning to suspect that he was well aware of this fact. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was doing it on purpose to see if she'd get angry.
"Thank you, sir." She said with her own grin. "I appreciate it."
"Daniel." He said laughing. "Daniel Boone, you remember?"
"That's right." She said and moved ahead of him walking quickly to the fort. Of course, he had no trouble matching his pace with hers. His long legs cut the distance between them in one big stride. She glanced up at him. Standing beside him she felt small. It was the first time in her life that she'd ever felt that way. It was a strange sensation to have someone looming over you. It made her feel tiny; delicate. She liked it.
She led him inside the tavern and he carried the buckets back to the cooking area, setting them on the long table.
"Thank you." she said.
"You're welcome." He hesitated awkwardly. "Got anything else you need done?"
"Oh, no, thank you just the same. I don't think Cincinnatus would appreciate you doing my work for me."
"Alright then," He hesitated and she looked up from where she had set to work in the kitchen.
"If you aren't busy . . ." She began and his bright green eyes locked on hers hopefully. "I've got some biscuits just about to come out. I'm sure I could spare one for you."
"Oh, well, thank you." He said moving to stand near the fire. He lifted his large hands and warmed them by holding them toward the flames. He watched her, while trying not to seem to be watching her, as she pulled a hot tray of biscuits out of the fire and set it on the table. Everyone was talking about her cooking. Cincinnatus said that bachelors and widows from miles around were making the trek to the fort for her food.
She handed him a plate that held a still steaming biscuit. He smiled and nodded his thanks and drew in a deep breath. He supposed from her perspective, he appeared to be breathing in the smell of a fresh, hot-buttered biscuit, but truth be told he was drinking in her delicious scent of roses and bread. He found it a million more times more intoxicating than gallons of blue thunder. To hide his nervousness and discomfort, he took a bite of the biscuit. It was still a little too hot. It didn't matter anyway. He knew her food was delicious, but truth be told, whenever she was near, he was too distracted to really taste it.
She glanced up from where she worked. "Alright? Not too hot?" She asked him with a small smile.
"Everything you cook is delicious." He said softly. "Everyone is talking about it. You are the best cook this side of the Cumberland; maybe this side of the Atlantic."
She laughed then and he felt his knees buckle. Get a hold of yourself. He thought - hearing Yadkin's own voice echoing his thoughts. You are losing your mind.
"I'm not pestering you, am I?" He asked her. "It's a cold day, and it is warm and cozy in here."
"You aren't pestering me." She said looking up at him with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen in his life. "It is sort of comforting having you nearby - just in case those Shawnee change their mind about things. You can protect me."
He found himself suddenly unable to speak or breathe, and after a long pause finally managed, "I'll do just that, Miss."
"Rebecca." She reminded him.
"Rebecca." He said very softly and she smiled at him, her cheeks flushed and pink.
"Daniel!" A voice called from just outside the door. "Daniel! Are you in here? Daniel!"
"Right here." He said trying to hide the irritation in his voice. "What is it?" He asked and with a nod at Rebecca Bryan, he was gone.
She stopped what she was doing, and watched him leave. She patted her cheeks recognizing how flushed they were. There was something about him. He was handsome and kind; his gentle eyes were beautiful.
Calm down, Becky! She thought to herself. Every single woman in the the fort favors him. He could choose any girl he wants. Why would he bother with an indentured Irish girl!
"You got super cooking?" Cincinnatus asked stepping into the room. "Are you daydreaming? Come on! People expect good, hot food!"
"Sorry, I was . . ."
"Oh, I know what you were doing!" Cincinnatus said shaking his head at her. He added gently, "You be careful, little girl. He's not a man for roots."
"I don't know what you mean!" She said angrily, turning back to her work.
"I am sure you don't!" Cincinnatus said testily, leaving her angrily chopping vegetables for her stew.