#52
Corbin and Clara were caught in the front edge of the storm. The freight wagons rolled as fast as the horses could pull under the circumstances, as the wind and snow blasted them from behind.
Corbin made sure that the back canvas on her wagon was as tightly anchored to the floor as possible, giving Clara as much protection from the elements as possible. Clara suffered with the cold, sitting with all her clothes on and wrapped in a blanket.
When they got to the steep hill that she remembered from the initial trip, Corbin dropped back to say, "hold on for another 24 hours and we will be home."
Clara nodded gratefully, giving Corbin her best smile to show she was still in the game. That night, he held her and was shocked at how cold Clara still was. "Yeah, you're not doing this again, you're cold as ice, do you ever get warm?"
Clara shook her head no and burrowed closer to Corbin for warmth. The next day, she had not only her blanket but Corbin's also. They had unhooked and re-grouped horses to pull the steep hill, when Clara's attention was diverted to a lump of white in the snowy landscape.
The lump squatted down in the dubious safety of a large tangled bush, and as Clara watched, the dull darkness of a rifle barrel was leveled at the group of men changing harness. Without thinking, she grabbed the rifle that was propped on the wagon seat between her and the driver and fired two shots.
The lump screamed and there was a report from his rifle that went wild. Rifles, pistols and shotguns appeared out of thin air, the men ready to do battle at a moments notice.
Corbin came running back to the wagon when the driver yelled his name. "She shot whoever it was," he said with wide eyes, jerking his head in Clara's direction.
"Clara, what happened," Corbin demanded as Jerry and another hand went to inspect the now dead shooter,
"He was ready to shoot you, he kept moving the rifle every time you moved. I couldn't let him do that." Clara was shaking, with the let down of adrenalin and the cold. Corbin hopped up on the wagon and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks baby for having sharp eyes and saving me."
"Hey boss, the guy's deader than a door nail. Appears to be some old white haired, toothless ridgerunner toting a black powder rifle a hundred years old. He was all covered up with a white sheet with two eye holes, so he definitely intended to kill somebody. One of the guys knows about him, said he has a cabin off in the woods with three half wit boys. Well, two I guess. One of'em got shot last summer, and the outrider says he ain't seen the other two boys for quite a spell."
"Thanks for the info," Corbin told the gossip, and reached up to squeeze Clara's foot as a warning not to say anything. "Let's double time this boys, I've had all the snow getting down the back of my neck that I want. A good warm bunk house sounds mighty fine right about now." he urged.
They rolled into the farm well after dark, and Corbin made sure Clara was dropped off at the house the first thing. "Get her warm," he ordered Mrs. Dufus. "She's half frozen and suffering a bit of shock, she had to shoot a sniper that had me in his sights." Angel Dufus reached both arms out to Clara and had her in the corner by the wood stove in a flash.
"Kirie, get me some hot tea," she asked her oldest, "and Dulce get a chair for Mizz Clara."
Well mannered and obedient children scattered to do their mothers bidding. The boys were excused from the kitchen while Angel rolled down Clara's stockings and wrapped her legs in a warm blanket. Bricks were warmed and wrapped in old blankets to warm Clara's feet.
"Ok boys, we need more wood, we've got to raise this woman's core temperature," Angel was shooting orders right and left. Two of the taller girls were standing on the other side of the stove holding up blankets to warm and they were changed out frequently.
Soon Clara started shivering uncontrollably, almost shaking herself off the chair. "You watch her Dulce, we don't want her falling over into the stove. You kids pay attention to how we do this. Kirie, you start feeding her spoons full of the tea, just don't burn her mouth."
Angel Dufus hadn't wanted to like Clara, when the woman first came to the farm. The cook had been afraid that Clara would be a gold digger and an opportunist like the last woman Corbin had brought home.
Clara's sweetness and her very obvious adoration of Corbin, soon put Angel's fears to rest. Even the young girl was a honest and upright person, although it became very evident she was mourning a lost love.
The whole Dufus family in the house did everything possible to bring Clara back to health. Finally Clara was warm enough to hold her own tea cup and she discovered how thirsty she was. Drinking several cups of the hot liquid, she whispered in an embarrassed tone to Angel. "I didn't want to drink much, so we didn't have to stop and let me run into the timber, when there was trees, that is."
"Not good, not good," Angel muttered. "No wonder you were so cold, your body was all messed up. More tea?"
Clara nodded and watched as a half spoonful of precious sugar was stirred into her drink. "You shouldn't waste the sugar on me," she protested and tried to smile at the scowl Angel gave her.
"I hear the men coming in, Mr. Corbin will need warming up and the two of you must be powerful hungry. He said make you warm, and by golly that's what we intend to do." The cook walked by Clara and gave her free hand a squeeze. "They'll be time enough tomorrow to sort this all out." she promised. "Let us pamper you tonight."
Clara smiled a weary smile and acquiesced without firing another shot. Her eyes watched Corbin as he came in and washed up in the hallway. He was tired and cold and hungry. Sitting down, he looked for Clara and found her bundled in the corner behind the stove. "Are you warm?" he asked.
"Almost cooked," Clara said gratefully, "thanks to Angel and her wonderful children, I'm thawed out."
Once warm, Clara couldn't stay awake and Corbin left his supper to walk her to the bedroom. Tucked in the warm bed that had been heated with bricks, Clara went fast asleep.
Back in the kitchen, Corbin bragged on Clara and her quick thinking that kept him from being killed. "That old man sure must have had a hatred for me, and last summer, his boy fired first. Have you heard what came of the other two brothers?" he asked Dufus.
"Gossip, the locals say the two pulled out after the third brother died. The old man has always been way off plumb, and he must have been waiting for you. Two shots off a wagon, you say? That's pretty good shooting, you got a keeper this time Mr. Corbin."
"More than I deserve," Corbin said heartily. as he ate his supper.