She watched as he brought the fish to Nugget for them to clean. One more thing she had to appreciate about him. He didn’t coddle Nugget or treat her as less than capable because she was a girl.
“I’ll head back to the cabin and get the stove ready so we can cook the fish.”
Before she could turn back up the trail, Joseph stopped her. “We need to stick together, remember?”
Annabelle sighed. “You’re right.”
The look he gave her made her feel only marginally better. How, in all of this, had she forgotten that there was a man out there who wanted to harm Nugget? For a moment, she’d gotten lost in the joy of fishing and forgotten that they were all in very real danger.
A bird cried out, and Annabelle watched as it turned circles in the sky. As high up as they were, sheer cliffs still surrounded them from all directions. Trapped. And with night closing in, the only option they had was to remain united.
She gave another deep inhale before opening her eyes and looking back up at the cliffs.
Along the top of the ridge, something flashed. Like a light, only not so bright. Like a reflection. Was it the man who’d tried to take Nugget?
“Joseph?” She tried to keep her voice modulated, not betraying the worry and fear that would frighten a little girl.
He must’ve sensed the edge in her voice, because he murmured something to Nugget, then stepped right beside Annabelle before quietly saying, “Is something the matter?”
“Look up at the cliff to the north. Just past my right shoulder. There’s a flash of...something.” She gazed at him, watching his face as he searched the spot.
“Is it silver?”
If he had been her brother, she’d have slugged him in the arm. Hard. Silver. Because that’s all the people around here wanted to see. Joseph’s sister was in danger, and all his mind could conjure was silver.
“If it were silver, dozens of miners would have found it by now. I’m worried that it might be someone watching us. Like the man who tried taking Nugget.”
At her words, he stilled. Hopefully realizing that chasing after silver was foolishness in comparison to Nugget’s life.
“I’m going to take a closer look. We’ll return to the cabin. Once you two are safely inside, I’ll see what I can find.”
Annabelle’s heart thudded against her chest. “I thought we were supposed to stay together. I can’t protect Nugget by myself.”
He stared at her. Long and hard. Like he thought her words were more foolish than the thought of an inexperienced man going after a child-stealing bandit.
“Don’t go acting soft and feminine on me now. I know better. You are way more capable than you let on. I have no doubt that if someone came to the cabin, you could absolutely handle it on your own.”
Annabelle swallowed. His stare bore into her as if once again he saw deeper into her soul than even God. He was right. No one would harm Nugget. She’d already lost a precious child on her watch. Disease was something she couldn’t see coming, and she couldn’t stop once it came. But a man... Annabelle straightened her back.
“I could,” she finally told him. “But I don’t like it.”
Then, because she couldn’t let his foolishness pass without a remark, she looked him up and down. “You, on the other hand, I have serious doubts about. You don’t know this land. And the type of men you’re liable to come across...”
“You think I’m weak.” The word came out as a slap in the face. No, no one could accuse this man of being weak.
“I think you’re green, which is different from being weak. Out here, being green gets a man killed.”
A sly smile slid across his face. “Does this mean Miss Annabelle Lassiter is worried about me?”
Oh! He was insufferable! “Fine, then. Take your chances.” She spun and strode over to where Nugget was finishing with the fish.
Annabelle smiled at the little girl and pretended to inspect Nugget’s handiwork while ignoring Joseph’s soft chuckle. Had she said he was insufferable?
“You did a nice job, Nugget. We’ll have a wonderful supper tonight.” Annabelle picked up the fish. “Let’s go back to the cabin and see what kind of feast we can prepare.”
The little girl giggled. “My papa used to say that when we finally got our mine in production, we’d have a feast every night. I didn’t know he was talking about fish.”
More false silver dreams. Annabelle swallowed the bitterness that rose up and smiled. “I’m sure he was talking about a different kind of feast, but I think this’ll do just as good.”
Nugget rewarded her with a heartbreakingly sweet smile. “You sound like my mama. Mama said we didn’t need no feast, just each other.”
Scary to be compared to a woman of ill-repute. Only, the more Nugget talked about her, the more Annabelle had to question that judgment, as well. Nugget’s mother sounded almost nice, like the sort of person she might be friends with. Except, of course, for the sinful life she led. Which only made Annabelle wonder more. She’d always lumped sinners into a pile, where their badness made them almost intolerable. She’d never taken the time to consider that they might have good qualities, as well.
Her father would have probably given her a sermon on the topic—that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. But the ladies at church said that some sinners were worse than others. Only now she had to begin to wonder which sin truly was the worst—the way they treated a sweet girl like Nugget and her mother, who seemed like she was a nice person—or the life Nugget’s mother led.
Annabelle tripped over a rock, stumbling, but managed to catch herself and save the fish.
“Are you all right?” Joseph grabbed her to steady her, then looked into her eyes.
How could he have known where her thoughts were going? “I’m fine,” she
