Page 25 of The Lady of Red River Valley (Ladies of the Wilderness #2)

James lifted his eyebrows.

“And the governor plans to leave the fort and travel to Hudson Bay this week, and doesn’t plan to return until just before winter.”

“What?” James stared in disbelief. “You’ve got to be jesting with me.”

“I wish I was. Either he doesna ken the seriousness of the situation, or he’s running away because he does.

” Though Arran suspected the former to be true.

With Semple gone, the responsibility of the colony would fall on Arran’s shoulders.

It was a duty he would undertake with pride, but he would not have the same authority or power as Semple.

It would put everyone in the colony at more risk.

And with all that Semple had done to anger the North West Company, it meant war.

The eastern gates were opened, and the colonists began to enter. With the voyageurs, company men, and settlers, there were now over two hundred men, women, and children at Fort Douglas. A meager number compared to the hundreds who would be descending upon them soon.

Eleanor walked up the steep banks of the river to the fort, Miriam in her arms. The baby had been weaned and was growing fast. Her bright blue eyes took in the unfamiliar fort, but when she caught a glance of Arran, she squealed and clapped her hands, causing Eleanor to turn his way.

James remained by Arran’s side as Eleanor walked toward them. West was close behind her, taking in the changes at Fort Douglas.

“Good day, Mr. McIntosh,” Eleanor said to James.

“Good day, Miss Brooke. ’Tis good to have you back at Fort Douglas.”

Eleanor smiled politely at James, but then looked at Arran, concern in her eyes. “Is it as bad as I fear?”

He did not want her to worry, but it was inevitable that she would hear the reports. “Aye. And worse.”

She held Miriam close as she surveyed their surroundings.

More than anything, Arran wanted to see Eleanor and Miriam safely removed from Assiniboia. Maybe now, with Semple’s departure, they could travel with him.

Hope filled his heart, but he knew he would need to convince Eleanor first. He would have to speak to her, and the sooner the better.

“Mr. MacLean.” Archie Currie, one of the company men who had held Fort Douglas with Arran a year ago, appeared at Arran’s elbow. “Governor Semple has asked that you oversee the armaments.”

“Aye.” Arran answered Archie and then turned back to Eleanor. “I need to speak with you, but it will have to wait.”

Eleanor nodded, her face as serious as he’d ever seen it.

There was no telling how much time they had until the battle would begin. He only hoped it would not start until after Eleanor and Miriam were gone.

Arran stood in the southwestern lookout tower, scanning the vast prairie one last time before he would take his leave.

A brilliant full moon sat low in the night sky, casting elongated shadows across the land, making everything look larger than life.

In the distance, cows and horses grazed, their movements drawing Arran’s wary eye.

“If you have no more need of me,” Arran said to James, who stood beside him in the tower, “I will try to get some sleep.” There was no telling what the morning would bring, and he would need all the rest he could get.

He also wanted to speak to Eleanor and hoped she had not gone to bed already.

“I thought you would return from Pembina a happier man.” James’s words made Arran pause on his way to the ladder.

“Happier?” Arran couldn’t hide the derision from his voice.

James lifted his eyebrows and nodded down to the governor’s house at the far end of the stockade. “I thought you might utilize the minister and be married to the lass by now.”

Arran wasn’t in the mood to talk about Eleanor.

“What went wrong?” James continued to press.

A movement caught his eye, and Arran crossed the small space again to stand on the opposite side.

It was simply an owl, flying low, his wings spread wide.

The creature was majestic in flight, but the wonder of seeing the bird was nothing compared to the pain in Arran’s heart.

He was not prone to share his feelings easily, but James was a good friend, and he’d been holding them in for a long time.

“She shouldna come.” Frustration tinted Arran’s words.

“This is no place for her. I’m going to suggest she leave with Semple.

” If it wasn’t too late. “I want her to be as far away from Assiniboia as possible when the fighting begins.”

“Does she want to leave?”

Arran couldn’t meet his friend’s gaze. “Nay.” But it didn’t matter.

“Do you want her to leave?”

“Are you daft? I just told you I did.”

James shook his head. “You told me she should not have come, and that this is no place for her. You dinna tell me if you want her to leave.”

A gentle breeze blew across the plains and swirled around the lookout tower. The scent of spring was in the air, of fresh starts and new beginnings. But for Arran, it was a reminder that his time with Eleanor had to come to an end.

“Of course I want her to stay.” There. He had finally admitted the truth, but it didn’t change the reality of the situation.

“Do you love her?”

Arran ached with longing for Eleanor. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

When she was near, he wanted nothing more than to hold her.

When she was away, he counted the minutes until he could be with her again.

His first thoughts every morning, and his last thoughts every night, were about Eleanor.

His love for her was stronger and more powerful than it had ever been.

“Aye. I love her.” It was all Arran could say, though it didn’t begin to capture how he felt.

The rushing of the river and the who-who of the owl were the only sounds to fill the silence between them.

“Then why would you let her go, lad?” James finally asked.

“Because I love her too much to see her suffer.”

“We all suffer.”

“Aye. But I canna abide the idea that she would suffer because I canna protect her or save her.” When his mother needed him most, he had failed.

His inability to pull her from the fire had almost destroyed him.

If Eleanor stayed, and her survival depended on Arran, he was afraid he would fail her, too.

He could never live with himself if he lost Eleanor because of his own weakness.

“So you’d rather force her to leave and face the world alone?”

“I will send her with Semple.”

“Aye, only as far as Hudson Bay. What about the rest of the way? A sea voyage is no place for a single lady.”

It was true. The ships coming from England were often full of passengers, both male and female, who could be of aid and protection to Eleanor. But ships traveling from Hudson Bay to England were filled with hardened sailors who possessed little to no morality.

“And what of the bairn?” James asked. “Who will care for the wee one when Eleanor is gone?”

“This fort is no place for the bairn, either.” Arran was not Miriam’s father, but if it was up to him, the baby would return to England with Eleanor.

He’d long carried the weight of the suffering women and children in the colony, knowing it was no place for them, either, but they had husbands and fathers to care for them.

And he didn’t have a personal connection to them.

His love for Eleanor and Miriam made him even more mindful of the dangers that would befall the colony when the battle started.

James sighed and put his hand on Arran’s shoulder. “I dinna envy you. I can see that you love her, and that she loves you.”

Arran met his friend’s gaze. “Do you think so?”

A slow smile tilted the weathered face of James McIntosh. “I dinna ken much, but I ken the look of a woman in love. She only has eyes for you, Arran MacLean. If you hadna noticed that she loves you, you’re the daft one.”

James’s words stayed with Arran while he climbed down the ladder and walked across the fort yard to the governor’s house.

A light burned in the upstairs window, telling Arran that West was still awake.

He often studied late into the night, when the house had quieted.

The habit had not bothered Arran while they had shared the attic at Fort Daer.

A little light didn’t bother him while he tried to sleep, especially if it meant the fort’s minister was preparing his sermon.

Arran pushed open the door and stepped into the dark common room.

A part of him was disappointed that Eleanor had gone to bed, but after speaking to James, a new idea had taken root, and it would be best to talk to her in the morning. He needed to speak to someone else first.

After lowering the crossbar in place, he went to the stairs in the corner and walked quietly up the steps.

The governor’s house in Assiniboia was much larger than the one in Pembina, offering Arran his own room.

Semple was already snoring in his room at the end of the hall, and a light shone from the crack under West’s door.

Arran stood for a long time at the top of the stairs, questioning his plan. He had prayed, every day, for wisdom where Eleanor was concerned. But it wasn’t until tonight that he knew what must be done.

The truth of it had been staring him in the face for months.

Lifting his hand, and saying another prayer for guidance and strength, Arran knocked lightly on West’s door. His heart pounded like mad, and he had to force himself to stand firm.

There was a bit of paper shuffling, the sound of a chair’s legs scraping the floor, and then footsteps across the room. West finally opened the door, pulling his coat over his shirtsleeves, a frown on his face.

“Is everything all right?” he asked Arran. “Is the fort under attack?”

“Nay.” The fort was not under attack and things were not all right. “May I speak to you?”

“Of course.” West opened his door wider and allowed Arran to step into his room.

The space was much like Arran’s, with a single bed, a desk, and a chair. Hooks on the wall held West’s change of clothing.