Page 33 of Whispers of Fortune (Golden State Treasure Book #1)

The next morning, Ellie wore her Sunday-best dress, a lemon-yellow silk she hadn’t worn since she came home from San Francisco, her heart broken from the betrayal of Loyal Kelton, that low-down vermin.

San Francisco, where she’d lived with Annie’s husband’s family, had been a dreadful time in her life, considering how it ended. But she’d dressed well.

Brody looked fine in his clean city suit. He hadn’t worn it since the first couple of days after he arrived at the ranch. He usually wore black trousers and a white shirt with a black vest, which was his doctoring outfit. But today he’d broken out the suit. Annie had gone after him last night, gotten the suit away from Brody, and brought it back to the house to wash and iron.

Ellie had gone directly to sleep. She had no idea how long her big sister had stayed up, cleaning and pressing Brody’s suit to shine him up fit for a wedding. And she’d done a wonderful job of it.

Ellie emerged the next morning to find the family’s buggy waiting outside the back door, hitched to a pair of black geldings. The buggy had two seats in the back and could hold four passengers. Josh was sitting up front, the reins firmly in hand.

Annie and Caroline would join them in the buggy. Thayne and Lock were on horseback. A half-dozen cowhands rode along with them to take charge of Loyal and Sonny, who were cold and sullen and well-guarded.

They headed for town with Ellie sitting next to Brody facing the horses, across from Annie and Caroline.

“How are you this morning?” Ellie watched Brody climb into the buggy. He was clutching his chest.

“I’ve got a bruise on my chest the size of the saucer you use under your coffee cup.” He gingerly rubbed the spot. “And I’ve a lump on the back of my head from when that bullet slammed me into the rock wall.”

Ellie’s heart turned over with love. When she thought of the bullet hitting him right in the heart, it made her tremble.

“It’s swollen and red and so tender it hurts to breathe, but the rib is cracked, not broken.” He turned and smiled at her. “Nothing serious enough to stop me from marrying you, Miss Hart.”

She returned the smile. Caroline giggled across the seat from them. Whatever Annie did was unknown because Ellie couldn’t take her eyes off her soon-to-be husband.

They were nearly an hour riding to Dorada Rio. They could have made it there faster on horseback, and Ellie wanted to gallop straight for her future with Brody, but considering his wounds, traveling by buggy had been best.

The sound of the train pulling into town barely penetrated her happiness.

Josh drove them straight to the church, where he tied the team to the hitching post. “I’ll be back as soon as I get our prisoners behind bars. Brody, you get yourself in the church and sit down. Lock and Thayne, the house next door is where the parson lives. Get him to the church.” With that, Josh rode off with his men.

Brody smiled at Ellie. “Your big brother likes to be in charge.”

Ellie laughed and held on to Brody’s arm with both hands. She wanted to be as close to him as she could, and yet holding him up was also a consideration. She probably should have let him heal for a few days before getting married.

She quickly shook that thought off and headed into the church with Brody. Annie and Caroline followed close behind. They’d barely reached the front of the small church when the door slammed open. Ellie turned to see who it was. “Zane!” She whispered to Brody, “You’d better sit down. I’ll bring my brother and his wife and ... uh, maybe ten young children? I guess they took in more students.” She looked again. “And another teacher?”

Brody sank gratefully onto the front pew.

Ellie rushed back to greet her brother. “You’re not supposed to be here for a few more weeks.”

Zane looked confused. “You’re getting married?”

Michelle, very round with child, caught Ellie in a tight hug as the new teacher—Ellie heard the name “Miss Tilda”—shooed the children into their seats with the promise of a hot meal after the wedding. Ellie certainly hadn’t expected this big a crowd.

Ellie linked arms with Michelle. “Come and meet Brody.”

“Is this the doctor you wrote me about hiring?”

“Yes, and he’s a fine man. But be gentle with him—he got shot last night.”

Michelle gasped. “We saw Josh going into the sheriff’s office, and he told us a little bit about what happened. That’s how we knew you were here at the church. But he didn’t mention anything about someone getting shot.”

Brody turned in his seat. “I apologize for not getting up. I’ve only got a bit of strength left, and I’m saving it to stand at the altar with Ellie.”

Michelle wanted to hear the whole story. Zane was right behind her and had a few questions of his own.

After learning about the gold coin and how it’d saved Brody’s life, Michelle wanted to see the bruise on his chest.

“I’m not unbuttoning my shirt in front of my wife’s family, especially not in church.”

“Now, Brody, I was pretty much the doctor at the Two Harts before we hired you. I think—”

Zane caught her by the arm and dragged her to the pew across the aisle from Brody, whispering to her. She settled in just as the parson arrived with Thayne and Lock.

Tilda, the teacher, cried, “Thayne, Lochlan! Michelle told me you were here, but I...” Her voice faltered. “I-I’ve been searching for you.” She rushed out of the pew and threw her arms around both boys.

Ellie had no idea what was going on.

“Ellie, introduce me to your young man.” The parson smiled and clasped his hands together as if in prayer.

And it looked as though Ellie wasn’t going to find out what was going on. Tilda and the boys were talking fast, but the parson was here, and Ellie wanted to get married.

But more introductions were necessary. The parson wanted to visit for a while. By the time that was finished, Josh was back, and he’d brought the cowhands with him. Between his crew and the orphans, the church was half full now. She wouldn’t have gotten a bigger crowd if she’d planned it for a month.

“All right. Let’s get on with the wedding now,” the parson said to everyone, finally. As he moved to the front of the church, Ellie helped Brody to his feet. They stood arm in arm before God and man to take their vows.

“Dearly beloved...”

Toward the end of a very short ceremony, Ellie felt like she was keeping Brody on his feet by sheer force. After the parson blessed their union, Josh came up front and held a hand against Brody’s spine to keep it straight.

Brody whispered, “Can I go sit in the buggy while you finish up here?”

“Are you up to sitting through a meal?” Ellie thought his face looked a little pale. “Have you eaten anything today?”

“Sitting somewhere for a bit might be good before we take the trip home, except...” He snuck a peak behind them without twisting hardly at all. “Are those orphans all ours?”

Ellie nodded. “Michelle brings children home now and then. Including your brothers. Let’s go. The teacher with them seems to know Thayne and Lock.”

“Maybe she was in San Francisco before the boys were brought here.” Brody looked at all the people milling around. “Is there a restaurant in this town that can feed this many folks?”

Ellie turned to Zane, who was listening. “Is there?”

“We already sent someone with a note to warn Fatty’s we’re coming with a crowd. Told him to start frying chicken as fast as he could.”

“That’s only three blocks from the church,” Ellie said, helping to guide Brody toward the door. “But let’s use the buggy that’s waiting out front.”

Brody gave her a rueful smile. “Yes, otherwise I just might collapse.”

She’d been trying to save his pride, but he seemed to have the wisdom to know his limits.

The cowhands all smiled and nodded at the newlyweds. Josh and Zane strode down the aisle behind them. Ellie thought it was probably to catch Brody if he fell.

They reached the buggy and climbed slowly into it. Everyone else would walk to the restaurant except Josh, who was driving the buggy and team of horses.

“Hold up, Josh.” Thayne approached the buggy. Ellie wondered if they wanted a ride.

“Brody, Lock and I have been talking.” Thayne reached into the buggy and rested his hand on Brody’s forearm.

It struck Ellie then that Lock was an adult now. Brody had wanted to take his brothers home with him to Boston, but an adult man could do as he pleased. She knew Brody would be devastated if his brothers stayed out here, but he might have to accept that fact.

“What is it?” Brody asked.

Lock cleared his throat and gave him a sheepish smile. “We’ve decided we want to go back east with you. Someday we’d like to follow our map to the end, and we hope to find Westbrook and follow his half of the map, but more than that we want to stay with you, Brody. The treasure we found is enough—especially if the rest proves so hard to find. Thayne wonders if Grandpa didn’t take all the gold he found and then draw a map to where he found it. What we did find, though, will set us up for a long time. It’ll provide for the whole family.”

“We know you have to go back.” Thayne squeezed Brody’s shoulder before pulling back. “We’re going with you.”

Brody nodded his head silently for a moment. Ellie saw him swallow hard, choked up by his brothers’ supportive words.

“Thank you, boys. Here I am planning to take Ellie far from her family, all while not wanting to be separated from my own.”

Very gently, Ellie leaned against his shoulder and said, “‘Whither thou goest, I will go. Whither thou lodgest, I will lodge.’”

Brody kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you. All of you.”

Thayne and Lock stepped away from the buggy.

Josh slapped the reins on the team’s backs, and the buggy set off again. A terrible racket sounded as they began rolling. Brody jerked upright, then groaned.

After the solemn moment between her, Brody, and his brothers, Ellie laughed and patted his hand. “Someone with some spare pots and pans has adorned our buggy, as if we need more attention.”

Everyone on the busy street turned to watch them ride by, the full wedding party following on foot. It was midmorning, so hopefully they’d have enough space in the diner for all those with the wedding.

As they rolled on, Brody said, “We’ve spent our time together searching for treasure. Even though God tells us not to lay up treasures on earth.”

Ellie shook her head. “At the rate we’re finding treasure, we won’t have to worry about ‘laying it up.’ I suppose there’s a pirate’s hoard out there somewhere, but I wonder if your grandpa didn’t take every single gold coin he found. There could be more, but maybe not treasure the way your brothers think of it. Maybe instead it’s more journals or knives.”

“Whether it’s there or not—” Brody turned and kissed her softly—“we’ll use the money for the orphans, and I won’t charge my patients anything, at least until it’s all gone. I don’t need gold.” He took her hand and wove his fingers through hers. “I’ve found my treasure right here, Ellie, in you.”