Chapter Ten

Adam wiped his mouth with the napkin. "That was exceptional chicken and dumplings," Adam said.

"Why thank you, Mr. Cartwright. Please, have some more dumplings. Help yourself." Rachel indicated the bowl sitting in the middle of the table.

"Oh, no thank you, ma'am—I couldn't eat another bite although I wish I could. Mighty tasty."

Sonny held up his plate. "I could eat some more, Rachel."

Adam laughed and so did Rachel as she spooned a few more dumplings on his plate. Elias surveyed the other three people sitting at his table and wondered how such a bad day as today had been could result in a meal that was almost festive. Rachel smiled and laughed and Sonny, between bites, told them about only missing one question on the math test. Adam Cartwright had congratulated Sonny as had Rachel and Elias felt a bit of an outsider in his own house. Didn't they realize the loss they had suffered? They may be feasting now but in a few days, they would be hungry with nothing to eat—at least that's the way he saw it. And he wondered if he should tell Adam Cartwright to move on. But then Elias remembered that he needed Adam. The man had knowledge of contracts and the law that he lacked and he also needed the help, not just Adam's strong back for the hard work but Elias knew that if it came down to it, he would have Adam's gun behind him against Truck's men.

And then there was the money. While Rachel was in the kitchen cooking up the chicken and preparing the dough for dumplings, Adam told Elias that he had decided to wire his father for money; he had his own account in Virginia City and his father had the authority to withdraw funds in his absence. Adam said he would pay the bill at the dry goods store since he had opened the account, and also retain a lawyer whom he would be able to convince to work on a contingency fee. Elias didn't understand and Adam explained that the lawyer would get a percentage from the first well drilled on Elias' property. In a way, Adam had added, that would be a type of insurance for Elias; if Truck managed somehow to steal the land, the lawyer would have full knowledge of what had occurred previously and would fight to receive his share of the money.

"You think a lawyer would work that way?" Elias asked.

Adam chuckled. "I don't think any lawyer could turn down such a lucrative proposition. Avarice seems to be in their mothers' milk and they sucked it up."

So Elias decided Adam should stay on and he also noticed that Rachel had never looked as beautiful as she did that night. Adam thought so as well.

That evening as Elias and Adam sat by the fire, Rachel sat in the rocking chair and worked on the aprons; she wanted to have a few finished as Adam had suggested they take Rachel into town with them. He wasn't sure it was safe to leave her alone and she could sell the extra chickens which wouldn't be fried up in the morning. Rachel said she could have a few aprons finished by then as well. Elias reluctantly agreed and Rachel felt excitement at going into town. As she stitched, she went over in her mind what she would wear and perhaps, she thought, she would cut off a length of the blue ribbon Adam had given her and slide her grandmother's gold locket on it. It was the only piece of jewelry Rachel owned besides her thin wedding band. Inside the oval locket was a lock of red-blond hair that her mother had told her was from an unknown man—not her grandfather's. Rachel's mother said her mother had never told her whose hair it was but she suspected that it was from a man her mother had loved and who had died. Rachel had left the hair inside as she found it mysterious and romantic and secretly thrilled at imagining her grandmother's secret lover.

For the first time that night, Adam talked a bit about the war—not too much or in too much detail but Elias asked him some questions and he tried to answer as honestly as he could but he moderated the details. For one, Rachel was there and it didn't seem proper to talk about such things and for another, he didn't want to speak of the horrors out loud; better to keep them hidden from the light. After a time, Rachel stood up and said goodnight. Adam stood up but Rachel avoided his eyes and laying down her work on the seat of the chair, she left the room. Shortly after, Adam said goodnight to Elias and went to his room, closing the door behind him. He quickly undressed and crawled under the blankets but he found he was tense, listening, waiting.

Adam felt he didn't want Rachel to come to him. He had found that his conscience bothered him and yet, he hoped she would. He groaned remembering her skin and her mouth. "Goddamn fool," he called himself. "You want to be shot by a jealous husband just for a little comfort?" Eventually Adam fell asleep and when he woke in the morning, he was alone. He realized he felt such loss that he wanted to weep; Rachel hadn't come to him.

Adam dressed and ran a hand over his cheeks and chin; he needed a shave. He walked into the kitchen and Rachel was frying chicken, the hot, melted lard popping when any of the chicken juices mixed with it. Rachel leaned back, stretching out her arm and turning the pieces with a long-handled fork in order to avoid being spattered.

"Looks like you need a longer arm," Adam said and Rachel turned at his voice and laughed.

"I could. There's fried chicken for breakfast," she said motioning to a platter covered with a cloth on which pieces of aromatic, golden-crusted chicken were piled to drain off the fat. "And there's fried chicken for lunch and for dinner as well. I hope you like it."

"I love fried chicken," Adam said. "Here let me turn the pieces." He rolled down his shirt sleeve and took the fork from Rachel and she stepped away.

"I think some of those are almost done. I have about half a chicken more to fry; I'm running out of lard."

"Well, we'll just buy you more in town." Adam probed a chicken thigh with the fork to check doneness.

"Mr. Cartwright?" Rachel asked. "Why are you so kind to us—to me?"

Adam thought a moment. And then he turned to her. "I think all of you need help and I guess I still have a soft spot for anyone who is persecuted or bullied or hurt."

"Which one am I? The persecuted, the bullied or the hurt?"

"You're the beautiful," Adam said quietly and looked at her and realized that she was beautiful despite her wild, red hair and her practically bloodless skin with its covering of freckles. Her blue eyes—Adam found himself caught and by them and he put down the fork and reached for her.

"Rachel?' Sonny's voice rang out and Adam took up the fork again. He stabbed the chicken thigh, held it out of the popping fat and let it drip while Sonny walked in.

"I can't believe that you're awake and I didn't have to tell you once," Rachel said, recovering herself.

"That smell of fried chicken woke me up. I can have it for breakfast, can't I?"

"That and biscuits. They should be done by now." Rachel picked up a folded towel. "Excuse me, Mr. Cartwright." He stepped aside and Rachel bent down and took the biscuits out of the oven. She looked to him. "Seems breakfast is ready. I'll go tell Elias." She put the pan of biscuits down and left the kitchen and Adam sighed.

"This is going to be a good breakfast today," Sonny said grinning. "Fried chicken's my favorite food in the whole world."