Page 10 of The Gold Rush Bride

“Really? Daddy baked?.” She looked at the bread. “Sourdough. Interesting. I quite like it.”

“Good, because other than biscuits, it’s the only bread you’ll have here.”

She nodded and dunked her bread like he’d done. The stew was flavorful, with a rich broth and potatoes and a few chunks of onion. Once she’d swallowed, she pointed at the stew. “This is very good. I know it’s not beef. What is it?”

“Elk. Good eating if you can shoot one and drop it immediately. Having to chase a wounded animal is difficult and it can sometimes go for miles before it dies.”

“Why? What difference does it make? You’d have to walk longer.”

He shook his head. “No. You don’t understand. I have to clean, skin, and cut as much meat as I can carry. And then walk home in dangerous territory with many predators and raw meat on my back.”

Her eyes opened wide. “I didn’t know it was so involved. I thought you could just drag the animal back to camp.”

Barnaby chuckled and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Elk are as big as a horse and can weigh up to two-thousand pounds for a large bull with a big rack.”

She took another bite of the stew. The flavor was exquisite. “What’s a rack? And what do you consider a big rack?”

Barnaby set his spoon into one of his empty bowls and reached for more bread. “The rack are their horns. I saw a seven-point royal once. It was gorgeous, seven points on each side. The points are where the horns jut out, kind of like branches on a tree.” He took a hand and separated the fingers. “I estimated the rack probably weighed about two hundred pounds alone.”

Sadie looked at her own half-full bowl. She could never finish it all. “Would you care for the rest of my stew? I’m full.”

He smiled. “Yes, please.”

She exchanged her bowl for his.

Barnaby pulled off another piece of bread and dunked it into the stew. The gravy dripped onto his beard. He took his napkin and wiped it off before digging into the savory dish again.

When he was done, he leaned back and patted his flat belly. “Thank you. I’m actually full for the first time in a long while. Once we get back to the camp, we will be much more conservative with our supplies.”

“When will we leave for the camp? At first light, you said. What time is that?”

“They serve breakfast around five tomorrow morning. We’ll leave about six. We’re still in Canadian territory, so at least there are no borders to cross. But we’ll be walking and the claim is about twenty miles from here, so it will take us most of the day to reach it.”

“My supplies are on a sled at the Mounties’ office with my horse, Lucky. I figured they would be safe there. I was fortunate I could take the tram over the pass. I packed grain for Lucky, but the trip took longer than I expected and even with the tram, it was difficult.”

“Your supplies should be fine. You’re fortunate with the horse. John and I also had a horse, but it died before reaching the river on the second trip to retrieve our supplies.”

Sadie looked outside. Thankfully, the men had departed. Perhaps they had tired of staring at her. It surprised her to see light still shone on the building across the street. It was past eight o’clock at night since they were late starting because of all that had happened since she arrived. She’d never get used to this. “Is it light here all the time?”

“Nah. In the winter, it’s dark about eighteen to twenty hours a day. The other hours don’t get very sunny, mostly just an orange glow, though sometimes it can be purple. Winter is very hard here.” He shot her a narrow look. “Are you sure you want to stay? You could go back right now if you wanted.”

She lifted a brow. “I’m staying. I’ve got nothing in Missouri. No family, no friends, no pets. Nothing. I don’t want to go back to that. I might make friends here, and look...I’ve already gotten married.” She laughed.

Barnaby growled. “That’s not funny. And wouldn’t have been necessary if you possessed a lick of common sense.”

She frowned. He stole her good humor. “Well, now, I have you for that, don’t I?”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Let’s get out of here. I’m tired and want to get some sleep before we start out.” He left money on the table for their bill, stood and donned his hat.

Sadie stood, too, and started for the door.

Barnaby placed his hand at her waist and guided her out.

She walked down the boardwalk toward the Mounties’ office. She flipped up her collar and pulled her coat tighter around her. “It’s cold.”

“This is nothing. Wait until it’s winter. Then you’ll see what real cold is like.”

She shivered. “What time is sunset?”