Read Online Native Gold by Glynnis Campbell - Free Book Online Page B

counted himself among those eager to wed her.
    "Some of the miners, they’ve been here a long while. It gets pretty lonesome, and exceptin’ for Granny, we ain’t had a lady come through camp since last fall."
    Mattie would have asked about their autumn visitor, but Swede abruptly turned up the path toward one of those ramshackle lean-tos tucked underneath a big pine and plopped her bag down onto the porch.
    "Here it is, ma’am, your new homestead."
    There had to be some mistake. This shack was no bigger than the sheds they’d just come from along the...
    "It’s a fair piece from the rest of the camp. Doc liked his peace and quiet. But I don’t want you to worry none. If you’re ever in trouble, you just give a holler, and any of the boys in earshot, they’ll come a-runnin’."
    The walls were scarcely parallel, and the pitched roof, which appeared to be made of shingles cut from the outermost bark of several varieties of trees, sagged on one side.
    "There’s supplies that come from Marysville once every couple of weeks and mail and such, but if you want somethin’ special, you got to wait for a man to come from Sacramento."
    Dear Lord, she realized, those storage sheds were the men’s houses, which meant the dusty path she’d just trod was...the main street of Paradise Bar.
    "There’s water aplenty down at the crick," Swede told her, pointing down the hill, "and a whole forest of firewood." His fair cheeks blushed faintly as he added, "Me and the boys, we saw to it you had enough vittles and tinder to last the week anyways. There’s some salt pork and beans, a bit of jerky, a couple pounds of flour and such."
    "Th-thank you," Mattie managed, trying desperately to sound grateful.
    Swede leaned in close to her and confided, "There’s also a rifle in there, ma’am. Now, have you ever fired one before?"
    Mattie shook her head.
    "Well, you’re gonna need to learn. What with the bears and drunks and Injuns around, you never know when you’re gonna need to chase away one varmint or the other."
    Mattie could only stare helplessly up at him.
    "Tell you what." He rubbed his meaty palm over his chin. "Me and the boys’ll learn you to shoot tomorrow. How’s that?"
    On the edge of hysteria, Mattie wondered if that would be before or after the luncheon she planned to serve the residents of Paradise Bar in her luxurious new abode.
    She smiled politely instead and nodded, stepping up onto the porch, which was little more than pine planks nailed together and half-sunk into the mud.
    "All right, then. You take care. I’ll be back at the camp if you need anything."
    As she watched Swede lumber away, trepidation closed in on her like the advancing night. Bears and drunks and Injuns, he’d said. What had she gotten herself into? But as dark fell around her, Mattie could vividly imagine even more formidable foes, like solitude, hunger, and plain ignorance.
    Hovering on panic, Mattie watched until Swede’s blond head vanished between two firs, and then braved the front door.
    The canvas-covered wood frame hung crookedly from three leather hinges, and she had to lift the thing to even swing it open. When she did, the sweet-acrid smell of burnt pine assaulted her. The interior of the tiny room relied upon the filtered light coming through one window of stretched white cotton, which was scarcely serviceable after sundown, but Mattie wondered if it wasn’t just as well. She wasn’t certain she was ready to see the hovel’s contents by the stark light of day.
    Nonetheless, she dragged her bag across the doorsill and onto the knotty planks that made up the house’s floor, took a deep breath, and scanned the room.
    A pot-bellied stove crouched in one corner, and a tiny bottle of matches perched atop a nearby narrow shelf that looked like a stick of kindling nailed to the wall. The walls were half-covered with ragged scraps of red calico, and where they were devoid of cloth, the rough-hewn wood boards butted against each other