Chapter Forty-Nine: Jealousy, Maps and Making Plans
Frankie rolled her eyes and bit at a hunk of jerked beef, chewing it roughly as she glared at the staircase. The sound of Evangeline giggling reached her ears, followed by the the bedroom door to the room that she and Colt were holed up in slamming shut before Colt's own laughter came roaring through the bedroom door and down the stairs.
"They've been up there goin' at it for nearly three full days!" Frankie grumbled, slamming a fist into the top of the sofa and standing up.
"Jealousy does not become you," Rachel stated from the armchair where she was sewing up a hole in several skirts. Frankie sneered at her. Ever since the other night when Evangeline, Ox, Katherine and Colt had put Rachel in her place, the woman had been working overtime to be as helpful as she could. She rarely spoke, kept her head down and simply cooked, cleaned and sewed her little heart out.
It was honestly pretty damn sickening—or at least Frankie thought it was. Then again no one seemed to care much what she thought. Or at least Comanche didn't.
The man seemed to be avoiding her. It was as if she had some sort of monstrous disease that he was certain could be transferred simply by standing the same room together; though she noticed that he certainly didn't believe the new woman had such a disease. As a matter of fact he seemed quite attached to the brain addled woman.
Despite days of rest and relaxation the black haired, blue eyed and tanned skin woman still had no idea who she was or where she was from. The only thing anyone knew about her was that she was at least half injun, though not full-blooded given the color of her eyes. It was in their shared heritage that Comanche and Lily (Comanche had helped her choose the name after she had admitted her love of the flower) had developed a kinship.
They spent nearly every waking minute together, not that Frankie cared. If that stupid indian wanted another woman then Frankie wouldn't beg for him. She refused to shed a damn tear over him either. She had told him she loved him what more did he want from her? She wasn't a soft woman, she never had been and she never would be. If soft was what Comanche wanted then he could have the other woman. Frankie just wished it didn't hurt so damn bad.
"I ain't jealous of Colt and Evangeline." Frankie assured Rachel. She saw Rachel's eyes narrow and her jaw tighten at the mention of Colt's name. "Besides, least I still got folks around here that like me. That means I got a bit more than you do."
Frankie laughed at the shocked expression that crossed Rachel's face before the redhead stood from her chair and made her way quickly up the staircase with her sewing clutched tightly in her hands. . Frankie shoved the rest of the jerky in her hand into her pocket and pushed herself away from the mantle piece.
Thanks to the damn rabid that had attacked her, her ankle was once again sprained, though not badly enough that Frankie had needed those godforsaken crutches back. Instead she just limped around feeling like a giant waste of space.
She was restless. The last three days had been nice and peaceful. Too peaceful. Sure the occasional rabid entered town, meandering around in search of a meal, but they were low on ammunition so shooting them wasn't an option and with her ankle still injured Frankie hadn't wanted to go at them alone with her hatchet. No one else seemed too concerned with going at them at all.
Colt and Evangeline stayed locked in their room. Katherine, Ox and Susette spent all their time together like they were one perfectly happy family. Silas and Charlotte were glued to each other's hips as they kept the meals cooked and the cleaning done and Comanche spent all his time with his precious Lily.
There was nothing for Frankie to do and nobody to do it with.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Jedidiah declared jovially as he stepped into the sitting room.
"Sure." Frankie mumbled with a shrug.
"You don't seem too happy, Frankie." Jedidiah observed thoughtfully. "Why is that?"
"What exactly is there to be happy about?" Frankie asked.
Jedidiah shrugged and sat himself down in the armchair that Rachel had vacated moments before. "Oh lots of things." He replied with a happy smile. "I'm breathing, you're breathing, everybody in our little group is breathing. I'd say that's a pretty good thing to be happy about given the current state of the world."
"Yep, everybody is good and happy in our growing group."
"So that's what has you so upset." Jedidiah noted with a click of his tongue.
Frankie snorted and glared at the nosy old coot. "What in the blazes are you talking about?"
"You don't like Lily." He replied. "Or is it just her blooming relationship with Comanche that upsets you?"
Frankie scoffed and limped over to the sofa before flopping herself down across it. "I think you've finally fallen off the crazy cliff, Jedidiah."
Jedidiah laughed as he pulled off his hat and ran his hand through his thin and tangled white hair. "I've been told that a time or two." He admitted.
"And why would I be jealous of that little woman? She's just a confused, soft, little waste of air—Hell her name ain't even Lily, Comanche just gave it to her."
Jedidiah nodded knowingly. "Yep, and Comanche isn't really his name. You gave that name to him."
Frankie grabbed a small decorative pillow from the sofa and chucked it at Jedidiah's head. The man laughed as he dodged. "Tell me, Frankie, what has this distance between you and Comanche?"
"That's none of your business." Frankie stated firmly, wishing suddenly that she'd thrown something a bit harder than a pillow at the man's head; a hammer would have worked nicely.
"Talk to me, Frankie, I have nothing else to entertain me this evening."
Frankie glared at Jedidiah and then let out a sigh. What the hell would it hurt? "That crazy injun is mad and throwing a temper just cuz I don't want to marry him or have his babies."
"He asked you to marry him?" Jedidiah asked with surprise.
Frankie opened her mouth to say yes but then stopped and thought back. "Well... no."
Jedidiah nodded slowly and scratched at his whiskered chin. "Reckon it was the way you so assuredly vowed that you never wanted any husband? I believe that would offend any man who was in love with a woman and did everything he could to take care of and be there for her. I sure as hell would get upset and feel like I was wasting my time or even being taken advantage of...."
"I wasn't taking advantage of Comanche! I love him!"
"Did you tell him that?"
"Of course I did." Frankie mumbled, wishing she had her pillow back to smother herself with.
"Okay then. Can I ask why you don't want marriage?"
"You're a nosy bastard."
"Been told that a time or two as well." Jedidiah agreed.
Frankie grunted. "My parents always pushed me to get married. They wanted me to be an obedient little wife that would manage a household and take care of babies all day. Wear stuffy old dresses, style my hair and invite the ladies over for brunch on Sundays...."
"Do you honestly think Comanche would wish that of you? I think he'd like a wife that would stand beside him with her bloody hatchet in her hand and the wind whipping her hair. I think he'd like a wife that could fight the hordes of rabid with him and sleep out under the stars with nothing other than a campfire, and a bedroll, if they're lucky.... Of course you know Comanche better than I do so perhaps I'm mistaken."
Frankie stared up at the wooden planked ceiling. Was Jedidiah right? She tried to picture Comanche, the wild untamed injun, married to a woman like Frankie's own mother had been and yet found it impossible.
"What about the children you don't want?" Jedidiah asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Children die." Frankie replied quickly.
"Yes and so does everything else that lives."
"Yeah well, Comanche wants babies."
"Did he ask you to have his child."
A frown pulled Frankie's lips down. "No." she replied slowly.
"He was merely upset that you were making yourself barren without talking to him about him first, correct? And even more upset when you insinuated that he would not make a good father."
"How did you.....?"
Jedidiah tapped his temple before continuing. "Comanche has lost a lot in his life. He sees hisfailure to protect his tribe as a boy to be his fault. He has never felt worthy of having good things in his life. You are the best thing to have ever happened to him and then you spat in his face and told him he was unworthy of your hand in marriage and unworthy of being a father to your children."
"I thought Colt warned you about all that mind reading nonsense?" Frankie demanded as she shoved herself up onto her good foot, careful to keep her weight off her healing ankle.
"I'm not mind reading, Frankie, I am merely observing."
"Yeah well—" Frankie adjusted her gun belt and glared at him. "—knock it off."
Frankie was about to head up to the roof for some fresh air and to relieve Comanche from guard duty when Ox, Katherine and Susette burst into the sitting room.
"Mister Jedidiah!" Susette exclaimed.
Jedidiah motioned for the girl to come to him and offered her a calming smile. "I have told you to not call me mister. Now what has you so excited?"
"I had a dream! I wasn't even sleeping when I had it!"
Frankie saw Jedidiah grow thoughtful a moment before the man took Susette's hands in his. "What did you dream, Susette?"
"I know where we're going! I saw it!"
"Do you still remember?"
"Yes but I need a map."
"Ox, go the land off down the road and get a map." Jedidiah said to the giant of a man.
Ox scratched at his neck. "A map of where?"
Jedidah glanced at Susette but she shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I don't know. I just know when I see it.. it's like a map picture in my head."
"A map of the whole country, Ox."
"I'll go with you." Katherine said as they headed for the entryway. "We're not supposed to go anywhere alone."
"Frankie, go get Colt. He needs to be here for this."
"I think Colt is busy." Frankie stated pointedly.
"He'll want to be here for this." Jedidiah assured her.
Frankie sighed and made her way up the stairs to the second floor where Colt and Evangeline's bedroom was. She could hear whispering murmurs coming from the other side of the door and would rather chew on broken glass than interrupt whatever the hell was going on in there.
"Colt?" she called out as she knocked three times. "Colt, it's Frankie. Jedidiah wants you downstairs. Susette says she had a dream and knows where we have to go out west. Ox and Katherine are gone to the land office to get a map."
Silence followed her statement and she knocked again. "Dammit, Frankie, I heard you the first time!" Colt growled as he flung the door open wearing nothing but a white sheet wrapped loosely around his lean hips.
Frankie glanced over his shoulder to see Evangeline looking quite tousled as she sat up in the bed with the covers pulled around her. "Y'all okay in here? We haven't seen much of you in the last three days, other than quick glances as you run to the kitchen for food and dash back up the staircase."
"Don't you worry about what we're doing." Colt grumbled, while Evangeline flushed bright red.
"Alright then." Frankie grinned. "You might want to put some more clothes on before you come downstairs though, Colt. You might just cause a few feminine hearts to burst if you show up looking like that."
Frankie laughed when she saw Colt's cheeks flush a bit before he slammed the door in her face. She was still laughing as she turned around but that laughter died on her lips when she saw Comanche and Lily standing behind her.
"We saw Katherine and Ox leave. Is something wrong?" Comanche asked.
Frankie couldn't get her mouth to form words. Her chest hurt and her stomach was twisting so tightly she wasn't sure if she was going to die from pain or simply vomit on the worn carpet of the hall. Comanche was hers, she loved him with everything she had but clearly he hadn't felt as strongly for her. He had already moved on to the next woman. One that was soft and ladylike and would no doubt love to be a homemaking wife who wore gingham dresses and baked pies for her husband and all the children......
"Frankie, are you okay?" Lily asked in her soft, meek voice.
Frankie met Comanche's eyes and saw the concern in them as well but nothing else. She felt her lip tremble and fought the urge to smack herself in the face. "The kid says she dreamed something. Jedidiah sent Katherine and Ox to fetch a map so she can so us where she saw it at." Frankie let all that out in one quick rush of air and then turned and limped away down the hall and the staircase just as fast as she could.
***
Comanche watched Frankie leave and fought the urge to rush after her with everything he had inside of him. This being apart from her was killing him slowly but it was for the best.
He had done everything he could to show Frankie what she meant to him and she had still remained locked in her old way of thinking. Did the woman honestly think he would force her to have children if she chose not to? Of course he wouldn't! He just didn't like that she had hidden what she was doing with that tea from him. And to be so adamant that she would never take a husband. What was so wrong with him that she wouldn't marry him? She spoke of being a wife as if it would mean that Comanche would want to change everything that made her Frankie and that was ridiculous.
All Comanche knew for sure was that he would not beg for her. Frankie was not a woman who would appreciate a man groveling at her feet and Comanche had his pride.
"You should go speak to her." Lily urged from beside him. Comanche shook his head as he looked down at the other woman. She was pretty with her light blue eyes, full pink lips, tanned skin and ebony black hair. Everything about her appearance (other than her eyes) reminded Comanche of his people. He knew that was why he had befriended her so quickly and he sensed that was what caused her to feel so comfortable with him as well.
"Frankie is not a woman that can be talked to when she has her mind set on something. She is the most stubborn person I know."
"I may know one more stubborn." Lily stated pointedly.
Comanche narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue. "That's enough from you. Thank you for helping me keep watch."
"I wanted to feel as if I was helping the group. You all have been so kind to me. I am going to help Charlotte with the breakfast in the morning."
"You are fitting in fine." Comanche assured her.
The door to Colt and Evangeline's room opened and Comanche turned his gaze to the group leaders. They both appeared quite satisfied and happy. Comanche was pleased to see Colt looking so at peace. Gone was the tense set in his shoulders that had been there before Evangeline had gotten through to him. Gone was the sadness in his eyes. He looked like a happy man who loved his wife.
"Are we gonna stand here and talk about our feelings or go downstairs and watch a little girl poke her fingers at some mysterious spot on a map?" Colt asked with a grin. "Either way I reckon it'll be just as painful of an experience for me."
***
Colt stood at the side of the table opposite Susette and stared at down at the map the girl was currently studying intently. It was a map of the entire country, though Susette seemed focused on California.
"I thought you said she remembered." Colt ground out as he fixed Katherine with an accusing glare.
Katherine glared right back and then laid a gentle hand on Susette's back. "Take your time, Susette."
The little girl's forehead wrinkled as she stuck out her tongue and held it between her teeth. Then suddenly she pointed at northern California. "There."
"There?" Colt asked. As far as he knew there was nothing there other than maybe some abandoned gold mines.
"Yes. We have to go there." Susette assured him.
Colt studied the map, fought back the urge to call all this a waste of time and then crouched down so he was on Susette's level. He looked in the girls eyes and sighed. "What is waiting there for us?"
"I don't know." Susette replied, her lip quivering as her eyes began to shine with unshed tears.
"You did a good job, Susette." Ox assured the girl.
Colt nodded in agreement and then stood. "It's early enough in the year that if we get a move on we can be over the mountains and to that spot before winter."
"What's the plan, Colt? What route are we going to take?" Silas questioned.
Colt rubbed his face and sighed. He hadn't rested much in the last few days (though he wasn't complaining) and just now making plans was the last thing he wanted to do.
"This railroad would be ending soon so there's no point looking for coal for the train anywhere else. Luckily the rabid were too worried about the blood in the road to pay any attention to our horses so we still have those and a few of Hoss's men's horses as well. There's a couple of carts at the livery we can use to carry supplies. We head northwest, til we come to the union railway. Follow the train tracks and they'll take us all the way to California."
"We're going to follow train tracks without a train?" Frankie asked with a frown.
"Yep. We might get lucky and find another train and even if we don't, we'll come across more towns and more supplies along the tracks than we would if we made our own way."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Evangeline agreed. Colt looked around at the group and everyone else seemed to think it sounded like a good plan as well. If nothing else they didn't seem to be able to come up with anything better themselves.
Colt looked through the cracks in the boarded up windows at the darkness outside. "Let's all get some sleep. No guards tonight and no fires. I want everybody rested. Tomorrow we'll work on gathering up supplies, packing and making sure the horses and carts are in order and the next day we'll leave. It's a long haul to California."