She stared at the grizzled old owner in complete confusion five minutes later.
“Don’t rightly know how you’re fixin’ on getting out to the Carson place l’il lady,” he said as he frowned at her car and ran his hand down an impressively bushy beard.
“Umm… I just need those directions, and then I’m going to drive,” she explained for what was, the second time now.
“Well, that there’s the problem, you see. The Triple C ranch is located in one of them there roadless areas right on up near Lawrence Mountain, on the edge of South Fork Big Creek. That’s wilderness territory, ma’am. You can’t just go drivin’ all over.”
Ellie shook her head. “I don’t understand. How am I supposed to get there then? How does anyone get there?”
“Well, you can drive maybe twenty miles up Pipe Creek Road, but then you have to take the off-road trails. You gotta know ‘em well though or you’ll end up lost in the Kootenai Forest.”
He eyed her small runaround and pursed his lips. At least she thought that’s what he was doing underneath all that facial hair. “Thing is missy, even if you found the way, that there little vehicle ain’t gonna be no good to you. Gotta be an off-roader to make that trip.”
As he said it he gestured towards a rugged, dust covered jeep with oversized wheels that had just pulled up to the pump next to hers. It made her car look like a kiddie toy.
She tried a different tactic. “Okay, Um, thank you. Ah… Mr. Carson said something about a bus?”
The old man nodded. “Bus travels every Monday.”
“But it’s only Friday.” Ellie blinked at him with wide eyes and stated the obvious. “I can’t wait three days!”
The man who had been filling the jeep came in to pay, so Ellie moved to one side while she considered the dilemma, not really listening to anything that was being said.
“Hey, Tono, the little lady’s fixin’ to get out to the Triple C, ain’t you headin’ over there?”
“That I am.” The guy, who looked like he was of Native American descent, nodded and turned to look at her. His smile was friendly, and Ellie immediately felt at ease with him.
“I’m Tono Wolf,” he said easily, offering his hand. “Cody told me they were expecting company.”
“Just saying how she ain’t gonna be driving that itty-bitty car o’ hers up that way.”
The newcomer looked at the old man and then out at the forecourt, before settling his gaze back on her again, with a frown.
“Abe’s right, I’m afraid. That little thing wouldn’t handle the off-road tracks, even if you followed me up there to avoid getting lost. But as it happens, I do have to call in on the Carson’s to check on a horse. If you don’t mind riding with a stranger, I could give you a ride?”
He looked at her with steady eyes, almostblackin their darkness. He was a nice-looking guy, older with a steady maturity, but Ellie knew that meant nothing.
“Tono, here, is the local vet’nary,” Abe told her, as if that made all the difference. And maybe it helped to know he was a professional.
“You don’t mind?” she asked him uncertainly as she turned over the options in her mind. She didn’t dare splurge on the cost of a motel and sleeping in her car would be a lot more difficult in such a small place. She certainly didn’t want word getting back to the Carson brothers that one of their potential wives was nothing more thanadesperate vagrant. That could really kill her chances of settling here. Still, there were other considerations too.
‘My car… if I go with you, what shall I do with it?” She decided to put the foremost issue out there.
Tono pursed his lips as he looked at her. ‘How long you planning to stay?” he asked.
“Umm… I don’t know just yet,” she told him honestly.
He looked back out to the forecourt again. “Well, I guess you could park it up at my place until you know where you’re at. What do you think?”
It was a generous offer, and Abe was a witness to it all. He knew where she was going, who with and where her car would be. That surely had to provide her with a small amount of protection should anything happen to her. Not that anyone would care, she reminded herself.
Ellie sighed. Heck, she’d come this far on a wing and a prayer. Might as well go all the way.
“That’s very kind of you.” She smiled, genuinely at him. “Thank you.”
“If you follow me to my place, we can get your vehicle parked up and set off straight after.”
They said their goodbye’s to Abe, and it was less than thirty minutes later that she found herself on the last leg of what she considered a life-changing trip.