Chapter 2

R obert meandered to the trees, going only far enough to be out of sight. As he'd talked to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, the movement of one wagon caught his attention. It wasn't much. Only a slight tilting of the box and a barely-there rustle of the canvas. Enough for him to think someone hid inside. Was Miss Woods hiding there? And why? Was she afraid of him? Or so shy she fled from strangers? What had Carson said about his sisters other than one was widowed with a baby? Did Robert recall that Carson said one of his sisters was on the wild side? All he remembered Carson saying about the younger three was they were still in pigtails. If he meant the Miss Woods Robert had seen…well, she was not a girl in pigtails.

His scarlet tunic was hard to blend into his surroundings, so he hunkered down behind some low bushes, making himself as small as possible. With nothing else to do, he prepared to watch for Miss Woods so he could return the papers to her. Of course, he could have given them to her mother but?—

The wagon holding his interest rocked. Then Miss Goldiehair dropped from the back and scooted toward the trees. Furtive, as if she didn't want to be noticed.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller were out of sight. Bertie too. Only Limpy, the brown, three-legged dog, lifted his head at Miss Woods's departure. His interest was short-lived.

Not wanting to attract her attention, Robert remained motionless, his gaze following her flight. She'd be returning to the place he'd previously seen her. When she was out of sight, he straightened and slipped through the trees in the same direction. Guessing she would flee if she heard or saw him, he remained out of sight in a position that allowed him to watch.

She fell to her knees, rifling through the grass. Frantic. Searching for something.

The papers in his pocket made a slight rustling sound as he patted them. "Miss Woods, I?—"

Her face wreathed in alarm; she straightened. Her gaze went past him.

Guessing she was about to run, he held the papers aloft. "I think you might be looking for this."

Her blue eyes mirrored the sky as they hit his. Her lips pursed. Her throat worked with her swallow.

"How—?" She jabbed her finger toward his hand.

"I found them after you ran away earlier. You must have dropped them." That seemed rather obvious, but what else could he say? This woman was as skittish as a wild colt. He didn't step toward her. Best to let her make the first move.

Her arm dropped to her side. But she stood motionless.

He could almost see the thoughts racing through her head as she considered what to do.

One cautious step after the other, she eased forward and reached out her hand.

The papers slid from his fingers to hers, and she clutched them to her chest. "Thank you." Her words whispered over the short distance between them. Then she ducked her head to study the letter. Jerked up to stare wide-eyed at him. "You saw what they are?"

"How else would I know who it belonged to? And then I found the drawing. It's excellent, by the way. Congratulations on your invitation to join the explorers."

"No. No." The fingers of her free hand curled and uncurled, crumpling the front of her dress.

A fetching dress, to be sure. A silvery gray with dark blue trim. The latter reflected in her eyes, drawing his attention to the rim of navy around her sky-blue irises and the pink in her cheeks.

"You can't tell anyone about this."

"Pardon?" Did she mean about him meeting her on the hillside? Or about the letter? Or something else entirely?

"This." She shook the papers in front of him. The flower drawing appeared and disappeared with the movement. "This." More emphatic waving.

"I don't understand. Shouldn't you be proud and happy about the offer? Your skill is evident." He waved toward the drawing crimped in her hand. "I felt like I could reach out and touch the flower."

"You did?"

At his nod, she blinked three times. "Thank you." She smoothed the crinkles from the papers. "Nevertheless, I am asking you to keep this all a secret."

"A secret? Why?"

Red roses blossomed in her cheeks. Her lashes curtained her eyes, and she avoided meeting his gaze. A long-suffering sigh was breathed past her lips. She plunked to the ground and lowered her face to her drawn-up knees. "Because I've never told anyone my plans."

Robert eased closer and sat beside her, careful to keep a decent distance between them lest she take offense and rush away. "Why would you keep it from your family?"

Her head came up, and she stared at the ground before her feet. Gently, she touched the nearby flowers.

"They think I am keeping notes about the journey."

"I see. No, actually I don't. Shouldn't you be proud to let them know of your skill?"

One shoulder came up and again lowered. "I've been drawing for years. All my life, really. I wasn't always good."

He mulled over her words. Perhaps she'd given him a clue to her behavior. "Am I to guess that, at some point, someone informed you they weren't"—he couldn't think of a kind way to voice his question—"satisfactory?"

Her back stiffened like someone jabbed a rod down her spine. "You could say that."

"But things have changed. You're excellent now. The people from the planned expedition think so."

"Yes." She shifted around to face him. "It's my dream to have my drawings used for…"

"In a publication?" he prompted when she didn't seem inclined to finish. He didn't need to see her nod to know it was at least part of the truth. "Proving how good you are?"

Another nod, and then her eyes snapped. "It's more than that. It's knowing I have a part in…in…" She fluttered the papers, sweeping them toward the vista as if to encompass the whole world. "Well, in people really seeing things and appreciating the beauty of every detail."

Ahh. She loved what she drew and wanted others to see things the way she did. Kind of reminded him of a Bible verse. "‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'"

"Exactly. Even the Bible extols the beauty of nature. How can we do less?"

"I agree." He drew a knee up to his chest. "But why hide it from your family?"

A blade of grass at her foot consumed her interest.

He waited. Silence was often the best way to get answers from someone. His waiting would pay off.

"I guess I never really thought why. Yes, at first, it was because I wasn't very good, and criticism hurt me. Then, I didn't want anyone to think they were obligated to admire my work." Another sigh. "Besides, Ma and Pa's hands were full with Bertie and the others. I was content to be by myself and draw." Another one-shouldered shrug. "Guess I got used to it. And now, I don't want to say anything to worry them until we get to the fort."

Robert studied the girl. Yes, sometimes it is nice to be invisible. But his circumstances had been entirely different.

"Will you keep my secret?"

He didn't know which was more enticing—her tone or the way her eyes softened with her request. He wouldn't be able to say no. But?—

"I will agree?—"

Her eyes danced with gratitude.

"On one condition."

The gratitude faded into wariness.

He raised a palm. "Hear me out before you object. I'm here waiting for the delivery of some horses I am to take back to Fort Taylor."

She nodded, caution still narrowing her eyes.

"You shouldn't be wandering around on your own." He wouldn't itemize the dangers of wild animals and cruel men. "I'll keep your secret if you agree to let me show you around." With a wave of his hand, he indicated the hills, the valley, and everything in between. "And don't go alone."

Not a sane thought came to Ruby's head. Let him guide her around? That meant someone hanging over her as she drew. That was the last thing she wanted. Well, maybe the second last. The last, being her family discovering her drawings or her plans before the right time.

The man must have sensed her hesitation. Of course, he wasn't stupid, or he wouldn't have been accepted into the NWMP. But that didn't mean he was smart, either. Would he follow her around asking annoying questions and making even more annoying comments?

She could take Bertie with her if she wanted to endure that. No wait. That sounded like she objected to Bertie's company. Which she most certainly did not. He was sweet and often amusing, and she loved her big brother more than words could tell.

"You're still considering how to answer?"

Well, no, but her thoughts had wandered off as they often did. Following little rabbit trails that branched off into more rabbit trails. Oh, he was still waiting.

"Do I have any choice but to agree?" Though she wasn't sure what she agreed to. What was to stop her from going wherever and whenever she wanted? Surely, he didn't plan to follow her around like a faithful dog. The very idea made her smile.

The constable leaned closer. "I'd be interested in knowing what brought that smile to your face."

"Or maybe not." She studied the tip of her boot sticking out from under the hem of her skirt.

"Try me." Patience wasn't the only thing she heard in his tone. There was also a good-sized dose of determination.

"Very well. I wondered if you meant to follow me around. You know, like Alice, the goat follows Bertie. Or his dog."

A chuckle rumbled up his throat. "I only intend to accompany you up hill and down dale."

She didn't miss the firmness in his voice, even though he smiled. "Humm. Don't you think you'll get bored when I'm busy drawing? I tend to forget everything else."

"So, I noticed."

Every bit of amusement departed. "How often did you spy on me?"

"More than once. Which is reason enough for me to stick to your side as you wander about."

"Are you saying you have burrlike qualities?" Unsure if she meant to be amusing or annoying, she waited to see how he'd take it.

For the space of two heartbeats, his expression didn't change. Then came a dipping at the corner of his eyes and then a twitch at his lips. He burst into such a loud laugh she startled.

"I'll be a burr. Or a dog. Or a goat if that's how you want to see it. But I believe we have an agreement. I'll be with you when you are out adventuring or whatever you call it."

She sniffed and tipped her nose upward just enough to inform him she was above responding to his jab. "I prefer to call it research."

"In exchange, I will keep your secret, though?—"

A wave of her hand, she cut him off.

With a nod, he accepted her warning. "Very well. Now what?"

The flowers she'd been drawing dotted the ground around her, but she searched for one that hadn't been trampled underfoot. Spotting a decent specimen, she eased toward it and put a good distance between herself and the constable. He could amuse himself and stay out of her lighting while she worked. She opened her sketchbook to the page she wanted, tipping it away from him, and withdrew her pencil from the leather strap across the cover.

"I was disturbed before I finished this drawing. I intend to do so now." First, she studied the petal, then bent over the page.

He lounged back on his elbows.

She allowed herself one glance out of the corner of her eyes. His gaze was not on her. Good. Now she could relax and do her work. She'd have no trouble ignoring him.

Except his long legs angled across her line of vision. Then, movement distracted her as he drew one leg up, folding the grass at his feet into submission.

She would not sigh. Would not point out how hard it was to work with him bothering her.

"How many flowers have you drawn?"

Oh goodie. Now, there was to be conversation. Maybe he hadn't gotten the point that she liked to be alone, to work in solitude and quiet. But alas, she'd made a deal with?—

No, she wouldn't say the devil. That was way too harsh, even if it was the first saying that rushed to her mind.

She'd made a deal with an honorable, upright Mountie. One who knew Carson.

"Lots. And other plants." Her words came out on a long-suffering sigh.

Which he didn't seem to notice.

Long legs adjusted again as he shifted to one elbow so he watched her. "No animals?"

"No." Her pencil left an indent, and she pulled her hand back. She couldn't afford to make mistakes if she wanted to present these pictures to be used by—a smile began in the depths of her heart at the organization's official name—The Society for Identification of Flora and Fauna on the Eastern Slope of the Rockies. Good thing they'd shortened it to The Society. A person's hand could get sore penning that title.

"Why not animals?"

The constable's question halted her mental detour. She scowled at the tip of her pencil as if it were to blame for the mistake she'd almost made. "I don't know. I like plants."

"Because they don't run away?"

Now didn't he sound all philosophical? "Maybe. Or maybe because they aren't nosy."

Ouch. Maybe her comment was nasty.

Laughter burst from him and rolled down the hill until trapped by the trees. Or did she mean it rolled into her heart and caught her by surprise and…

Relief?

Or was it appreciation?

But at least he wasn't offended.

His amusement silenced, and he sat up, leaning toward her.

This flower was never going to get finished if he kept interrupting and distracting her. Only her pencil didn't touch the paper as she tried to push the knowledge of his presence away.

"You're the youngest in the family, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh. If you know, then why are you asking?"

"I wasn't certain. Carson said there were three younger girls."

"That's right. There's me, then Angela. She's older by less than a year. And Irene, who is the oldest of us." Though, there were only fourteen months between Ruby and Irene.

"I suppose being the youngest meant you were overlooked."

Oh fine. Just fine. They were going to spend the afternoon dissecting her reasons for what she did. Couldn't he accept that she worked better when not disturbed by a thousand questions?

"I never felt neglected, if that's what you mean."

When he didn't respond, she looked up into eyes the color of the sky just before the sun tossed its rays upward. A dark blue-gray. Why did he study her so intently? She didn't like it and shifted around until her back was to him.

But now she couldn't tell what he was doing or where he was looking, so she readjusted her position until he was visible in her peripheral vision. Again, with renewed determination, she focused on the flower, the petal, the page, the almost-finished drawing. One day, she'd like to depict the flowers in color. But she didn't have room to bring paints, and the colored pencils she'd found were inadequate. When she went to Banff to join The Society's work, she'd paint in color.

"Amazing. It's so lifelike." His breath warmed her cheek.

Every muscle twitched. Her hand jerked. Her fingers tightened. "It's a good thing I didn't have my pencil on the paper. I would have ruined the entire drawing." Her lips pressed tightly, she hustled away. "There's a good reason I like to be alone when I'm drawing." She jabbed her pencil toward him. "Undisturbed peace and quiet."

He withdrew five feet and sat with his legs pulled toward him, his arms around his drawn-up knees. "I'm sorry. I was only being friendly. Interested."

The air seeped from her chest at the same rate regret filled her head. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

Although he nodded, his eyes remained wary.

Already, she regretted her agreement to let him accompany her, although she would rightly say it was less agreement and more surrender. He'd left her little choice. Unless, of course, she wanted him to tell everyone of her plans.

She didn't. Ma had enough to deal with already, considering the move, the travel, Bertie, Irene, and Hazel getting married, and even Ma's own marriage to Gabe. Never mind coping with the many trials of the trail. Mud, mosquitoes, and?—

Better not to give her one more matter of concern. And Ma would have objections to her youngest child going away.

"But I am seventeen. Almost eighteen."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Did I say something?"

"Yeah, you said you were seventeen going on eighteen. Not that I asked."

She couldn't deny it, but neither was she going to claim it. "I sometimes talk aloud to myself."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't need to hear it. Yes, it was crazy to talk to herself. But no need to point it out. She rushed on before he got a word out.

"If you're going to follow me everywhere, we need to have some rules."

That closed his mouth in a hurry.

Now, she scrambled to think how to tell him what the boundaries of this agreement would be.