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Evelyn cleared her throat. “Evelyn Lewis,” she said, her voice raspy. Her throat felt as dry as a parched cornfield in summer. She clutched the fur covering tightly to her chest.
“Oh, here are your clothes,” Sarah said as if she just remembered something, and reached into the large pouch that hung from her shoulder. “I washed them for you, and mended a few of the holes.”
Relief swept over Evelyn as the girl held out her britches and shirt.
“Where am I?” Evelyn asked, and licked at her dried lips. Who was this young white girl?
“You’re in my mother’s medical tent,” Sarah answered. “She’s a healer who takes care of all the injured and sick trappers that come to rendezvous each summer. Some of those dumb men just don’t know how to stay out of trouble. They always have to prove how tough they are, and most of the time they end up getting shot or worse. It’s a good thing Alex brought you here. You had a very high fever.”
Evelyn’s heart jumped at the sound of his name. Alex had brought her to someone for care?
“How long have I been here?”
“Since this morning. You slept almost the entire day. Mama had to remove your clothes and bathe you in cool water to try and bring your temperature down. She made you drink willow bark tea.”
Evelyn’s eyebrows furrowed, and she shook her head slightly. The thought that another woman had undressed her gave her a small sense of comfort. Perhaps she hadn’t been violated after all.
“You don’t remember any of it?” Sarah asked.
“All I remember is that . . . that brute carrying me off, after . . .” She left the rest unspoken, and hung her head. An overwhelming feeling of fear and loneliness swept over her. She’d never been away from her family’s farm in all her nineteen years, and now she found herself thrust into a brutal world she didn’t understand, amidst people she didn’t know. Worst of all, she was now the property of the very man who had slaughtered her family.
Sarah laughed, bringing Evelyn’s head up. What did the girl find so amusing?
“Brute?” she echoed. “Alex can be a little gruff, I guess.” Sarah paused to think. “You’re lucky, though,” she continued, and stared at Evelyn with a serious look in her eyes. “I don’t know why Walker would up and trade a half-year’s worth of pelts for you. I’ve never heard of anyone paying such a high bride price. He’s always been a loner, and unless you count Whispering Waters, he hasn’t made it known that he had any interest in a wife. He’ll treat you far better than most of those other men, I’d imagine.”
Evelyn shifted her weight on the furs. This girl spoke of Alex as if he were a fond friend. “Lucky?” she spat. “You think I’m lucky because some uncivilized barbarian bartered for me? Lucky that I watched my brother be murdered, and was then brought here against my will?”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She touched a tentative hand to Evelyn’s arm. Evelyn jerked away.
“Please . . . please grant me some privacy so I can get dressed,” she whispered. A painful lump formed in her throat, but she couldn’t swallow.
“All right,” Sarah said softly. “I’ll go see what’s keeping my mother. She’ll want to check on you to make sure you’re better.” She scrambled to her feet and turned to leave the tent. Just before she reached the opening, she glanced back at Evelyn.
“You don’t have to stay with him, you know. It’s not as if he owns you, but it might be safer for you, having a man to protect you.” With those words, she scrambled through the tent’s opening and disappeared from view.
Evelyn stared after the girl. What did she mean by Alex didn’t own her? He had bartered for her. Was she simply free to go? Her spirits lifted with that thought, then quickly plummeted again.
Where are you going to go, Evie? You’re in the middle of nowhere. You could never hope to find your way home on your own.
****
Evelyn dressed quickly, inhaling the fresh scent on her clothes. She ran her fingers through her hair, holding a handful of amber strands in front of her to inspect. To her utmost surprise, her hair was clean and soft, no longer greasy and matted. Other than wearing her brother’s britches and shirt, she felt almost normal again.
“Why on earth did you wait so long?” A woman’s stern scolding from just outside the tent reached Evelyn’s ears. “You could have told me about this when you brought that poor girl to me. But I guess those few hours don’t matter anymore, either. I swear, Alex, you are about as smart as a bear with its paw in a beehive.”
