Wild Rose

"This is beautiful," Rose declared as the host left them at their table for two.

It was. Through the window they watched a sunset that cast a lavender and deep pink across the sky, and the water glistened gold.

Jamie smiled, opting to watch her as she looked intently out over the water. "Yes, beautiful," he murmured quietly.

Tonight more so than usual, he added to himself. She was dressed in a sky blue gown that he'd never seen before. Her coppery hair was pinned back neatly, and an appealing sunburn from days spent riding crossed her nose and cheekbones. The window was open, and the warm salty air drifted over them. Her long, dark eyelashes appeared to sweep her cheek when she sighed and closed her eyes, smiling softly as the breeze bathed her face.

Jamie was glad they'd decided to come out after all, although he'd been reluctant to do so after the stressful day at Point Lookout. They'd spent forever up on that rise, just gazing down at it. Kid had finally straightened, and turned away, looking over his shoulder only once before walking slowly back down the rise. Lou had finally allowed a tear to fall after he was gone, and wiped it furiously before starting after him. Rose had gone next, having to call Jamie's name softly to snap him out of his daze and let him know they were leaving.

They rode silently for a few miles before coming to a small town on the Chesapeake Bay where Kid announced they would spend the night. It was a pretty little town, clean and busy, and Rose spent all afternoon watching the boats sail in and out of the Bay. When Lou suggested they go out and have a good time, Rose had been eager. Jamie, seeing that his parents probably needed time for themselves, agreed grudgingly at first. Now, he was delighted to be there.

"It's a shame Lou and Kid didn't want to come. They would have enjoyed this," Rose suddenly said softly, as if she read his thoughts.

"Are you sorry they didn't?" Jamie asked, smiling to mask the intensity in his eyes.

She met his stare and smiled back, "For them. But not for us."

Jamie realized the grin that split his face had to mark him a fool.

His smile only grew wider a while later when the waiter set their plates down in front of them.

Rose's face wasn't one he'd be likely to forget. She stared at her plate with a combination of disgust and morbid fascination.

"What?" Jamie asked, his fork already in hand.

"Well…what is it?" She finally managed to croak, keeping her hands folded demurely in her lap.

Jamie hid his broadening smile by taking a sip of his wine, hoping he'd be able to get it down before he choked with laughter.

"It's lobster, Rose. A delicacy."

"Mmm…I knew that. I guess what I meant to ask was why isn't it dead?"

"It is, honey. I promise," Jamie said, a wave of guilt washing over him. He'd reacted much the same way on his first trip East when Cody had ordered him lobster. Only now could he understand Cody's amusement.

"Ah, yes…I'm not getting my point across. What I really mean is, why doesn't it look dead?"

"It's just how it's served. Really, Rose, it is very good."

"Good for what?" She implored.

"Eating."

"It looks as if was good at eating. Looks like it could eat me…and as if it would like to," she added as the sightless little bead eyes gazed at her accusingly. She looked as if she really expected it might attack her.

At her dubious look, he finally sighed, "Here, you do it like this."

She watched with detached interest as he picked up a utensil that looked to Rose to be a torture device and savagely cracked the creature in half with a sickening snap.

"Oh," Rose said weakly, and hoped her hand didn't tremble when she reached for her own murderous utensil.

Her hand paused just above the lobster and she took a sip of wine for courage before gently touching the smooth shell. She jerked back and sighed deeply.

"What now?" He asked, his amusement still growing.

"Well, it's just that it's looking at me Jamie," she waved a hand toward the eyes, "I don't think I can eat something that is staring at me."

Jamie's howl of laughter drew several stares from nearby tables and Rose turned a brilliant red, looking out the window to hide her scarlet face from the crowd.

His smile softened when he saw her embarrassment and he extended a fork with lobster meat on it to her, "Here, Rose, try it."

She eyed it suspiciously, but reached out and took it, glancing at Jamie warily before popping into her mouth and making a face that clearly said she expected the worst. But soon her eyebrows raised in surprise. The meat was very sweet and very good.

"All right, so it's not so bad," Rose admitted grudgingly, "But if you think I'm shelling my own, you're out of your mind, Jamie McCloud."

However, Rose grew brave with her desire to have more of the lobster, and soon she took it upon herself to get her own meat instead of waiting on Jamie. Ignoring Jamie's warnings for her to be careful, she fiercely clamped down on a claw.

To her horror and Jamie's immense satisfaction, the claw was propelled off the plate with great momentum and went sailing through the air. It clattered into the centerpiece of a table of rather surprised businessmen.

Although she blushed from her neck to the roots of her hair, Rose was not about to let Jamie have the last laugh, and with great dignity she stood up, took an empty plate, and marched to the table of men.

Her face was straight when she inquired, "Excuse me Gentlemen, but I've put an extraordinary amount of labor into that particular claw in those flowers, and I was wondering if I might have it back?"

They burst into good-natured laughter and joked with her about keeping her food on her plate, but graciously gave her dinner back.

Rose curtseyed deeply and glided back to her table, sitting her claw triumphantly on the table. For the rest of the meal Jamie and Rose steadfastly avoided the other's eyes to keep from bursting into laughter.

They couldn't contain themselves any longer when they made it to the street, and both leaned on each other, shrieking with laughter and drawing curious gazes.

When Jamie finally could draw air, he grabbed Rose's hand, looped it through his arm, and started ambling down the street. They settled into companionable silence and went down to the pier, standing arm in arm as they watched the twilight play on the water lapping under the boards at their feet.

Jamie opened his mouth to comment on what a pretty town it was at the same time Rose, without warning, burst into another loud, cackling laugh. She doubled over, and tears of mirth ran down her face.

Jamie simply shook his head until she'd gotten the hysteria out of her system.

"Are you quite alright?" Jamie wondered when her laugh had subsided into a low running giggle.

She looked at him, her eyes sparkling in the gaslights along the pier and grinned.

Jamie, caught in a moment of complete contentedness and joy, shook his head and said, "God, I do love you Rose."

Her smile of humor disappeared and a look of surprise took its place. Jamie hadn't spoken of his feelings for her since the night after the first murder. She wasn't sure he still even felt that way after all that happened with John.

He blinked suddenly and looked away from her, realizing the words had been aloud. He broke his promise to her and himself…he mentioned his feelings for her before she had commented on her own. For months he had concealed those feelings, and even if he hadn't made the promise not to bring it up, he wouldn't have. After her weeks with John, he wasn't sure when she'd be ready to think of any man that way.

Rose saw the hurt look cross his face and reached to take his hand. She loved him too, she always had, she knew. There seemed no point in not telling him.

Before she could find the courage to say the words, he abruptly pulled his hand from her grasp and turned his back, speaking to the water rather than her, "I'm sorry."

"But…" Rose began, only to have him start walking away from her.

"Will you just hold on a minute?" Rose growled and started after him, trying not to stumble in her heeled shoes on the uneven boards.

He lengthened his stride.

"Jamie, damn you, wait for me!" She hissed, ignoring the looks of the fishermen who studied her with interest as she hurried by them.

She finally caught him, attaching both hands to his elbow and dragging him to a stop, "Will you listen to me for a damn minute, Jamie?"

"Don't make it worse for me than it already is Rose. I said I'm sorry, just let it go."

He radiated anger, and although Rose knew it wasn't directed at her, she felt irritation rising in her own blood. He was so pig headed. He wouldn't listen to her if she tackled him and screamed in his ears.

"Jamie!" She snarled, "I have to tell…"

"Do you think there's anything you can say Rose? Can't you just leave me alone?" Jamie snapped at her, eyes an icy blue.

"Never mind!" Rose snapped at him. Damn if she was going to beg him to let her tell him she loved him!

"Fine," Jamie nodded, and turned to start up the pier again.

"Who's running now Jamie?" She called.

He didn't answer her, but kept on with his determined stride. Not sure when he'd stop, but knowing he wouldn't leave her alone in the city she followed him at a slower pace.

She threw up her hands in anger as she saw him suddenly dodge sideways into an alley, and quickened her stride. Perhaps she'd been wrong about him leaving her…perhaps he was angrier than she thought and meant her to find her own way back to the Inn.

"What the Hell?" Jamie gasped in surprise when rough hands shoved him against a wall after dragging him into the alley. There was no time for him to further respond, because a fist plunged into his stomach, doubling him over. Another fist caught him under the jaw, and then in the face, throwing his head back as he slid to the ground, dazed.

He struggled to get his feet under him again, knowing Rose would be there any minute, but booted feet instantly began kicking his ribs. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and did his best to cover his head.

Rose was furious and red faced by the time she turned the corner, but when she saw Jamie on the ground being mercilessly kicked by four ruffians about her age she went white. Without really thinking of what she was doing, she turned and spotting a man walking by her, seized his gun and ran into the alley, much to his surprise. She ignored his protests.

She fired once into the air, and her voice was shrill when she screamed, "Stop it!"

The boys all jumped as if they'd been hit, and stopped kicking Jamie instantly, staring dumbly at her instead.

"You back away from him!" Rose growled in her fiercest voice. When they continued to stare, she cocked the hammer, "Right now! And don't think of trying anything!"

They raised their hands to indicate submissiveness and Rose hurried to Jamie's crumpled form. A groan came from the direction of his head, and he stirred. Rose, keeping her eyes and gun on the boys, put herself between Jamie and them and asked, "Jamie, you all right?

"Yeah, fine" he gasped out, but she could tell from his voice he was not fine.

Her eyes blazed at the boys, and she took a threatening step forward. Unconsciously, they took a step back.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She demanded. When they leered at her, she raised her voice, "Answer me, damn it!"

"There's four of us, and one of you!" the largest of the boys remarked.

"Well you can count higher than I would have expected," Rose shot back, wondering fleetingly where the man she'd stolen the gun from was. He would help even her odds a little bit. She continued with her false bravado, "Now I asked you a question, who are you?"

They didn't answer, and one of them started toward her. With a cry she pointed the gun at his leg, hoping to injure him and squeezed the trigger. The bullet plowed the dust just before his boot, making him jump backwards. Rose could only hope they thought that was where she was aiming.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Rose said as calmly as possible, praying they wouldn't see through her bluff, "I'm Rose Hickok. Perhaps you've heard of my father, James Butler Hickok? His skill with a gun was something of legend."

"Wild Bill?" the youngest boy croaked out, stepping backwards again.

"The very same. He taught me well, boys. I'd advise you to keep that in mind," she nodded at the gun-the same gun that might have been a carrot for all the protection it would bring her if she had to use it.

"You ain't as good as him. No one was. And you still couldn't take on all four of us," the leader pointed out.

"You willing to chance it?" Rose returned flatly, "Now, I think I asked you a question. Did your Mama not teach you any manners at all? What did you want from him?"

The leader looked into her eyes for a long minute, and Rose felt certain he'd refuse to answer her and rush her instead. She squared her jaw and let her eyes bore into his fully, hoping the fury she felt outweighed the fear. Apparently, it did.

"We just wanted his money, lady, that's it."

"Well, you aren't getting it," Rose said quietly, "What you're getting is some time in jail."

She sighed in relief and nodded toward the street. The man she took the gun from was coming towards them with the marshal and the deputy in tow. While scorning his cowardice at not rushing in after her himself, at least he'd taken it upon himself to get help.

When the three men took over with the boys and she gave the gun back, she quickly crouched next to Jamie, who had pulled himself to a sitting position and was leaning weakly on the wall. Blood poured from his nose and a split lip and he held his arm close to his ribs.

Rose bent and quickly pried his arm away, after making sure it was unhurt and gently began exploring his ribs with her fingertips. He groaned loudly as she poked and prodded. She sighed and looked up at him.

"Well, you've got a few cracked ribs, but none are broken. And neither is your nose, although God knows you deserve it after the stunt back on the pier. Are you alright?"

Jamie sighed and looked at her, the anger gone. "Well, I guess I owe you one," he said quietly.

"Let's see…you've saved my life at least four times and I've saved your wallet once. Yes, I guess you do owe me one," Rose said dryly and started methodically ripping apart her petticoat.

"What are you doing?" Jamie mumbled, his words slurring through his swelling lip.

"Well, your ribs are going to hurt like hell anyway during the ride back to the inn, but if we bind them up, they'll hurt much less."

Jamie offered no protest as she unbuttoned his shirt and again studied the purpling skin of his mid-drift. Skillfully she wrapped long cloth strips tightly around his ribs, careful not to hurt him any more than she had to.

"It's a shame they wouldn't let you be a doctor, Rose. You'd have been a fine one," Jamie said, and she looked up in surprise, not having expected the compliment, especially since not even the gentlest of touches would feel that way to cracked ribs.

She smiled at him, "When has someone not letting me do something ever stopped me before, huh?" She patted the last bandage and sat back on her heels with triumph.

"Okay, let's get you in a carriage," Rose said and when Jamie would have protested added, "You don't think it's too far to walk right now, but after about three steps you'll know better."

Although it hurt Jamie's pride to lean heavily on Rose's shoulder as he limped out of the alley, he discovered it hurt his ribs much more to stand alone. Rose quickly hailed a coach and told the driver where to go before climbing up behind him.

She looked at Jamie's tightly closed eyes, knowing he was in greater pain than he let on, and feeling her hands grow a bit shaky finally, glad that he hadn't been hurt worse.

"And what was your plan if they challenged your skill with a gun, Miss Hickok?" Jamie suddenly asked, opening his eyes and looking at her over his swollen nose, as he tilted his head back against the seat.

Rose shrugged, "Run, and leave you to them."

Jamie laughed, but it quickly turned to a groan when he realized what that did to his ribs. He closed his eyes and a lock of dark brown hair fell across his forehead. She knew if he hadn't been so distracted by the jolting coach he would have brushed it away with his fingertips in irritation, an unconscious motion she'd seen him perform thousands of times over the years.

I love you, there--the words were right there, ready to spill from her mouth, but she bit them down with effort. Now, as always, didn't seem to be the right time. How could she ever find the right time to make him understand that she'd never stopped loving him? How did she tell him what she'd imagined telling him day in, day out since she was thirteen...what she'd tried to tell him once before? She knew him as well as she knew herself, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to say the words that she knew he longed to hear nearly as much as she longed to say them.

Kid and Lou were out on the terrace when Rose staggered in, with a heavy burden on her shoulders; not so much the guilt of what had happened to Jamie so much as Jamie himself. They both stood up instantly and went to help her.

"What happened?" Lou demanded, rushing forward to reach for Jamie's split lip. He jerked back, a reflex, although he knew she wouldn't actually touch the wound, she never did.

"A few boys tried to rob Jamie."

"Did they hurt you?" Lou asked Rose, scanning her quickly.

"No…I arrived a bit late," Rose said sheepishly.

"And why weren't you together?" Kid asked, looking at Jamie disapprovingly.

"It's a long story," Jamie mumbled, daring Rose to say anything about their fight with a glare, "Rose held them up and got them turned into the law."

"How?" Lou wondered.

"Her amazing skill with a gun," Jamie said, not able to stop a smile that only served to further crack his lip.

Kid raised his eyebrows and snorted, remembering the shooting lessons and the long arguments during them. He looked at her, "Rose, you don't have any skill with a gun," he reminded her.

She grinned, "Well, no, but I didn't see any reason to tell them that."

Lou shook her head, "Let's get your face cleaned up, Jamie. And Rose, the pieces of your petticoat are dragging around behind you," she admonished mockingly, "hardly lady like."

"If you think that's unladylike, you should have heard what she said to those boys!" Jamie joked, doing his best not to laugh.

"Well, I admit you were much more lady like than me tonight, James Noah. Cowered like a little girl when I found him." She smiled and blinked her eyes innocently, knowing that if he wasn't in pain she would pay for that remark.

"I'll heal someday, Rose," he said sweetly, and let Lou help him toward his room.

Later that night Lou lay in Kid's arms. A smile spread slowly across her face as she thought of the banter between Rose and Jamie as she and Rose went about caring for his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Kid asked quietly, but she heard the smile in his voice as well. After the day at Point Lookout, she was grateful for it.

"Just thinking of Jamie and Rose. Do you think they realize they are in love yet?"

Kid laughed slightly, "Well, I'm sure she'll tell him if so…or if not, come to think of it. You certainly had ways of letting me know."

Lou smiled, but felt a bit of bittersweet longing for the children she had known pull at her heart, "When did they grow up…when did they become old enough to fall in love?"

Kid pulled Lou closer, "I think maybe they were always a little bit in love…like it was meant to be, beyond their control. You know, the McClouds and the Hickocks have a history of loving one another. The tie between the two bloods is strong. It may have taken a generation, but it's back…maybe not stronger than the first time…but every bit as real."

Lou smiled. She knew he was talking about her and Jimmy, every bit as much as he was talking about Rose and Jamie. It didn't come as any great surprise that Kid knew how much she'd always loved Jimmy, and how much Jimmy had loved her. In his way, he was letting her know that he understood she and Jimmy shared a love that he wasn't included in, although he knew he came first in her heart. And in the love of their children, the ties between Jimmy and Lou only strengthened.

Jamie sat quietly on the couch in the sitting room of Monroe Hall a few days later, staring up at the portrait of Grace Monroe. She'd been a beautiful woman. Little wonder Jonathan had never married again, he decided. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, one he was horrified to have, but it took root all the same. If anything ever happened to Rose, he'd never love anyone else either he had a feeling. The rain streaking down the windows seemed to contribute to this ominous thought, depressing him.

Suddenly he felt pressure on his knee and looked down to see a pair of solemn blue-gray eyes staring back at him and a hand resting on his leg. Feeling that greeted with such seriousness a smile would be inappropriate, he blinked and nodded in formal greeting, "Hello Miss Kirsten," he said to Catherine's daughter.

"How do you do?" She asked in the tones of someone thirty rather than five.

Jamie raised his eyebrows and couldn't help a slight smile as she climbed up on his leg, reaching up to grab the front of his shirt to give her leverage. When she comfortably settled herself on his knee, her legs dangling between his own, she turned her gaze back to his eyes.

"What can I do for you, sweetheart?" Jamie wondered, "Slay a dragon, take you for a pony ride, you name it," He was smitten with the child with the golden brown hair, and he had a feeling she was well aware of this, and would use it to her advantage.

"Well," She said in her southern drawl, more pronounced in childhood than it would be when she grew up, "You can come to my tea party."

Again, Jamie felt his eyebrows shoot up. Not exactly what he'd been expecting, but probably less complicated than slaying a dragon at any rate, "Well, alright. Lead the way."

She leapt from his knee and trampled on his toes with the carelessness of a child who knows she is too small to do any real damage, and took his hand. Jamie looked down with a soft smile. Her tiny hand was completely hidden by his huge paw, but it was very clear who was in charge as she drug him along behind her, stooping so her hand could reach his.

He followed her up the stairs and into the nursery that had been his when he was an infant. Lou and Catherine had lovingly decorated it one long, bleak winter. The room was bright and cheery, and now pale pink to accommodate the young mistress. He eyed the tiny, custom made table and chairs in the middle of the room, made for a child of five to play on, but hardly compatible with his six foot two frame.

She was very proper with the whole ordeal and pulled out his chair ceremoniously before crossing the table to her own seat. Jamie eyed the chair uneasily, not confident at all that it would support his weight. But, Kirsten's eyes were boring into his expectantly, so he cleared his throat and nodded for her to be seated first, as a gentleman would. When she sat down, he gingerly eased his weight down too, folding his legs at impossible angles in order to be close to the table. The chair creaked, and Jamie did his best to keep most of his weight on his bunched up legs.

"You're very big," the child said at last, and looked altogether disapproving of him for the fact.

"Well, the table is very small," Jamie pointed out, somewhat stung by her displeasure with him.

"Yes, it is," Kirsten agreed, and giggled when she looked at her companion.

It so happened that Rose was on her way to the library to return MacBeth and search for something else by Shakespeare when she walked by Kirsten's room. She might have gone on, but when she saw a knee jutting up two feet above the tiny table she looked back in interest.

She pressed her hand to her lips to keep from laughing, and quietly leaned against the doorway, a shameless intruder. Both parties were too involved in the serving of imaginary pastries to notice her, and she was glad for it. A tender smile crossed her face as she watched Jamie talking animatedly with his hostess. He was good with children, knew just the right combination of humor, solemnity, respect, and firmness to treat them with. Both Kirsten and Catherine's son Bobby loved him.

She watched as the little girl poured the tea, and Jamie thanked her kindly. Rose shook her head. Although her childhood had been spent in a brothel, she was no stranger to hosting tea parties. The ladies of the house had often humored her by attending as well. She supposed every little girl set out to be a good hostess. Funny how things like that got less important to some women and more to others as the years went by.

Jamie looked in surprise at his empty cup. For some reason he'd never taken the time to wonder if real tea would be served at a child's pretend tea party…but he supposed it was fitting that the tea was imaginary as well.

Kirsten leaned forward, interrupting the pouring of the tea to the stuffed bear at his right. She'd served the bunny first, he noted with slight jealousy. She whispered so that their other companions might not hear her, "It's not real tea," she said, "It's pretend!"

"Oh!" Jamie said, nodding and using the same tone she'd taken, "I thought it might be invisible tea!"

"No, silly! There's no such thing as invisible tea!"

"Really? You mean it?" Jamie asked, finding he was enjoying himself more than he probably should ever admit.

"Of course there isn't," Kirsten said, and straightened back up, going about serving the bear. Jamie grinned and turned to the bunny on his right, "Lovely weather we're having isn't it?"

He sensed rather than heard the presence at the door, and his eyes met Rose's. She had the back of her hand pressed against her mouth to contain her laughter. Jamie grinned rather sheepishly and raised his cup to her. With a gentle smile and approval glowing in her eyes, she pushed off the door frame and continued down the hall. Her heard her low giggle when she disappeared from sight.

"One lump or two?" Kirsten asked him with tiny raised brows.

"Oh two please. I like my tea sweet, just like you!"

Later that night as Rose sat across from him at the dinner table, high color in her cheeks and her eyes sparkling with mischief. Jamie eyed her as warily as a sheep does a wolf and waited.

He didn't wait long. She poured her own glass of wine and then met his eyes, blinking sweetly. "Would you like some wine, Jamie, or would you prefer the invisible kind?"

The others, who Rose had immediately relayed the details of the tea party to, laughed loudly.

"There's no such thing as invisible wine, Rose. Everyone knows that."

"Touché," Rose murmured under her breath, and covered the smile with her glass.

After dinner, everyone sat around the parlor, talking and laughing. Rose felt saddened by the knowledge that the day after tomorrow they must leave Virginia. She was ready to be home again, but she'd grown to love Jonathan, Catherine, Robert, Bobby, and Kirsten in the month they'd been in Virginia. Especially Jonathan. He took her on rounds with him and taught her what the schools would not about medicine. He was impressed with her ability, and in the short time they had to work together divulged an endless stream of knowledge.

"It's a shame to leave isn't it?" Kid asked his family after Catherine had put the twins to bed.

"Yes, it is," Rose murmured, and even Lou looked regretful to leave their friends behind, although there was no love lost between her and Virginia.

"Well, actually," Jamie said awkwardly, flinching a bit under the suddenly sharp gaze of his mother, "I think I might not leave. I want to stay in Virginia."

To be continued...Chapter 15

Copyright 1998-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author

The Way Station
Campfire Tales

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