It was dark when Ruth woke up. She remembered everything that had happened, but it almost seemed as if it had somehow happened to another person. She bolted up when she realized she was thinly clad and that the man beside her was thinly clad. Kid felt the blanket move and woke up.
He smiled at her as if she were a vision of loveliness with her hair hanging down in dry but disheveled locks and her undergarments. She raised the blanket higher though she knew the action useless as he'd already seen her in her chemise.
"You do know that I didn't do anything improper," he said. "It was just in the interest of keeping you warm. I didn't even redress you, so I wouldn't have to touch you more than was necessary."
"I know, and I'm grateful. It doesn't keep the situation from being embarrassing though."
He'd had a dress waiting on her but no pins for her hair and now reached over and gave it to her. "Believe me. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I've never seen a finer pair of legs."
The comment only added to her mortification and hurried her effort to get redressed. He turned his head without her asking. "Okay," she said when she was dressed again.
"I found that fool horse of yours grazing with Horse like nothing had happened. When I think of what could happened, I'd like to put her out of her misery."
"You can hardly blame her. A bite from the snake would have been a kiss of death, but God was watching out. Words can't express how thankful I am to you for saving my life."
"Not as grateful as I am that I did. I prayed to God when you almost drowned," he told her. "Told Him I was going to get right with Him."
He must have seen the doubt in her eyes because he said, "You are the reason for my coming to faith. You've shown me what living for God looks like. You live it everyday in your kindness to total strangers, and you actually commune and have a real relationship with Him. You softened my heart with your example so that the message of God could take root, but I know my salvation is from God and that He alone can take the credit for it."
He was so earnest that she couldn't help believing he meant what he said. "That makes me very happy. Oh, Kid, it makes me ecstatic." God hadn't answered her prayer to take away this love she had for him and now she was glad for it, especially if it had any part in bringing his faith to fruition. It was proof that God knew what she needed better than she did.
"Now we can be married," Kid said, stating what they were both thinking and moving closer to her.
"It's not that simple."
"It is that simple," he said, smothering her protest with a kiss.
She pulled away though she had thoroughly enjoyed the kiss. "What about my work?"
"Continue with it. I'll go with you wherever you feel the Lord's leading you to go."
Most men wouldn't have been content to always be on the road so his wife could lead revivals, but then Kid wasn't most men. "You would really follow me around?"
"Honey, I'd follow you to the moon and back."
That was the second time he'd used a term of endearment and she found she liked it very much. More than that she loved him and even if he'd wanted to settle down in the middle of nowhere, she would have had a hard time saying no, but he wasn't going to ask her to do that and she had the feeling that her ministry would be stronger with him by her side. She truly had no excuse left, and it felt right now to marry him; her love for him felt right. "Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I'll marry you."
He quickly drew her into his arms in his utter joy and excitement and kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers through her long hair, a thing his fingers had been itching to do for a long time. "I don't suppose you can marry us right now," he kidded.
She chuckled. "I don't think so."
"That's a real pity," he said seriously. "The good news is that I know of a mission in California where we can get married. It'll take a couple months to get there, but it's in a beautiful spot right along the coast."
"It's just as well. We may need that time to make sure we don't kill each other first," she said, but there was a twinkle in her eye and a look of devotion that belied her words.
He was eager to marry her but glad that they would have the extra time. She didn't ask for it, but he wanted to prove to her that he was serious about his turning to God, in case there was any doubt left in her mind.
"There's just one thing I'd like you to do. Put a shirt on." Although she had started out polite enough, there was no mistaking that it was an order with no room for negotiation.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered with a grin, having seen her eyes wander to his bare chest a couple of times. He never would've thought he'd enjoy being bossed in a million years, but he did, and he looked forward to a lifetime of being bossed around by this woman.
sss
It had been hard keeping his hands to himself, sheer torture, knowing she wanted him just as much and that they were soon to be married. However, they'd made it through the wilderness with her virtue intact, and it was wilderness. They'd met a handful of traders and trappers long the way, but no other human beings. He was sure that Indians must have spotted them a time or two, but they must not have felt them a threat because they left them alone.
It had been a time of growth as well, as they did devotions together, and he didn't regret that. He saw the familiar words from the Bible with new eyes. Things that hadn't made sense to him before, now made perfect sense in the light of his newfound faith, and it was such a relief to no longer be on the run spiritually. He felt stronger and more able to face the challenges of his life with God.
When they came toward the town, they dismounted and lead their horses to better take in the sites. Kid had been to San Francisco once before. Things hadn't changed much. A couple of trading ships set in harbor. There were people by the dozens out and about. Although, it couldn't be called a city in terms of population, it felt like a metropolis after all the wilderness they'd trekked through
"I know you'd like a closer look around, but let's go see if we can get married first," Kid said.
She laughed, but in truth, she was just as ready and impatient as he was.
La Misión de Nuestro Padre San Francisco de Asís was made from adobe. A huge cemetery lay beside the mission, a sign that there had been a lot of suffering in the recent past.
The stairs led up to a heavy wooden door, and they were greeted not by a Spanish priest but an Ohlone Indian dressed in Spanish clothing.
"Hello, I'm Sister Ruth and this is my fiancé, Kid Cole. We'd like to see the priest if we can." A lot of ladies would have fainted at their first real face-to-face meeting with an Indian, but if Ruth felt any fear or distress, it certainly didn't show, and the tone she used said she viewed him as an equal rather than a second class human being. He couldn't possibly be prouder or have any more respect for her than he did at that moment.
They saw other Indians milling around behind him as they got ready to eat. The look of confusion was evident on her face, and the man explained, "We live here. We've come to the faith."
It didn't clear her confusion. "Just because you've become Christians, it doesn't require you to stay holed up here, does it? Why don't you live in your own homes and just come here for church?"
"It's better for us this way," he said, although the words didn't seem to be his own, but words that had been told to him repeatedly.
"Ruth, we came here to get married, not incite a rebellion," Kid said teasingly in her ear though he felt the same about it as she did.
She grinned at him and then turned her attention back to the Ohlone. "Well, if ya'll are happy with it, who am I to argue. I was just curious is all."
"I will go get the padre for you," the man told her and disappeared.
The priest returned alone. "I am Padre Fernández."
"I remember you," he said to Kid, a frown on his face as he saw the gun he was wearing. "I can't say I was sorry to see you go, Señor Cole. 3 gunfights and an angry husband who wanted to take a shot at your hide and you weren't even here more than a week."
"I can't say I blame you for that," Kid returned, "but the days of making husbands angry are over. This is the woman I'm going to marry."
The padre looked over at her sternly at first but smiled when he noticed the Bible in her hand. "Congratulations."
"Will you do the honor of marrying us?" he asked.
"Were one of you Catholic, I would have to insist that there be a conversion first. I've never faced the dilemma of marrying 2 Protestants, but I suppose there's no reason I couldn't."
The couple broke into smiles of relief.
"I can do so now before I take my meal. I don't have much time as this is a working mission with sick people, crops, and animals to care for, but perhaps you'd like to get cleaned up first, Senorita…"
"McKenzie, but just call me, Sister Ruth."
"Ah, Scottish," he said as if that explained away a multitude of sins.
She laughed good-naturedly. "Just plain American, Padre, but I wouldn't mind sponging some of this dirt off me and changing into a fresh dress."
Kid watched as his bride-to-be went to retrieve her bag. "God is good," he said out loud.
"Yes, He is," the priest agreed, looking pleased to hear him acknowledging it.
