Aiden Payne is a drifter. His only memory of home is a mysterious tattoo. While working as a gold miner, his path crosses with Amelia Rose Wagner, a sheltered girl in love with navigation and the stars. After a fatal mistake, the two find themselves...
"And I'll be blessed if I understand him at all. You know, sometimes I feel like he doesn't want to talk to me, but other days, well I just see him everywhere. I truly think he's following me." Amelia Rose crossed her arms and looked down at the ground. It was all she could do to keep her balance before Aries' nose came crashing into her chest. She grabbed ahold of the palomino's head to avoid falling back. A giggle escaped her.
"Oh surely, what I am I getting all worked up over?" She scrunched Aries blonde hair behind the ears. "It's just flattering to have someone so genuinely interested in me. It makes me feel..." She sighed, "Invincible. Powerful. Magical."
She pressed on Aries shoulders and eased him back into his position beside the mounting block. Once atop, she hiked up her riding habit and stepped into the stirrup. Aries tapped his feet happily. Although she'd been riding all her life, sometimes she was tempted to ride astride. But not today. Probably not ever. Her father would have a proper life-ending heart attack. Amelia Rose smiled and hooked her knee around the pommel before adjusting her skirts. Before she could grab ahold of the reins, Aries was already springing for the paddock door. The stable boy swung it open and Amelia Rose brought the young palomino to a canter.
She loved Aries. She wasn't ashamed that that horse was her best friend either. She felt free. She wasn't being pressured to look or act in a certain way. She wasn't pressured to speak in turn. Aries didn't care what she said. Aries didn't care if she didn't say anything at all. As the two of them rode through the valley, Aries trampled purple and yellow flowers and worked up a big rolling cloud of dust. Amelia Rose felt like an arrow flying through the air. Other times she felt as gentle as a loose petal.
The mine appeared on the horizon, backed by the shoreline. Her stomach churned and her composure drained. She was doing so well at forgetting it all. She hadn't slept well the night before. She had these nightmares that Tanner was hiding in the shadows of her room and every time she closed her eyes, he'd get closer and closer. Once she caught him right above her bed and she couldn't remember what was real and what was a dream. Those are the worst kind of nights.
But she came here to fix it. She made a promise to Aiden that she intended to keep. She pulled Aries to a halt next to her father's carriage. A cloud of sand settled around her. She was covered in it. Up on deck, the miners were eating a breakfast of what looked like watery rice and beans. Amelia Rose led Aries up to the base of the gangplank and listened to her father yell at Mr. Tanner's favorite lackey, Mr. Hale.
"Someone go get Jim," Mr. Wagner said. He opened the shutters to the deckhouse.
"Tanner's not here, sir," Eli Hale said, "We haven't seen him yet. He might be sleeping." Aiden leaned against the gunwales with his plate of rice and beans held high although he wasn't touching it. His face looked greener than one of the mesquite trees in full bloom. He looked at Amelia Rose once, then looked away and refused further eye contact. She knew what that meant. He was afraid of her. He thought she'd mess everything up for him. She tugged on the reigns and Aries stomped his feet twice. Her father looked down the gangplank at her.
He turned, arms akimbo. "Little One." He shook his head. "You require an invitation to be bringing that extraordinary beast to a mining facility. Have you lost your wits, my Little, Little One?"
"Father." She turned her attention to her Father's carriage, the dozing driver, and the two horses it took to pull him across the desert. He was a man of tremendous trouser size, you know.
"What are your troubles?" he asked.
"I'm looking for Mr. Tanner. I must speak to him."
Mr. Wagner staggered about and searched the mine. He scrutinized each one of the miner's appearances for any clues to the whereabouts of Mr. Tanner. Amelia Rose's heart lurched. She couldn't do this. She'd outsmarted her father so many times, but she couldn't do it today. Not today when she was weak and scared and nauseated.
Moon above, help me.
Nobody looked as guilty as Aiden did, what with the way he was rocking back and forth with his full plate of rice not eating one bit. He was a fool, but he reminded her of Aries in the way that she felt like she needed to take care of him. He was weak. He needed the help.
"Mr. Randall Wagner," Aiden stood up straight and set the bowl down. His palms shook. "I believe Tanner had said something about heading into town this morning. He said he was running low on--" He paused. Thought for a moment. "Coffee beans, sir."
"Coffee beans?" Mr. Wagner asked.
"Honest-to-goodness coffee beans, sir." Aiden assured him. He stepped up to the gangplank. Coffee beans? Tanner hated coffee. He didn't like the taste. Amelia Rose could yell at him for being such a fool, but she refrained.
"I apologize, sir." Amelia Rose nudged Aries and stepped towards the gangplank, eyeing Aiden. She provided him with a knowing glance, "But I fear Mr. Tanner was just having his fun with you. Mr. Tanner told me last night that he was heading out to Dead Man's Palm this morning. I was wondering if he has returned yet."
Mr. Wagner stepped forward and separated Amelia Rose and Aiden with his body. Amelia Rose tugged on the reins and her horse backed up. She looked at Aiden from over her father's shoulder. Mr. Wagner stared at his foot while he tapped it against the ground. It was a rapid thudding. The dust spun about and got into Aries' nose. He huffed and spit.
"When did Mr. Tanner say that yesterday?" Mr. Wagner asked her.
"At the dinner, father," she said. "The dinner for our Mr. Joshua Holden." She heard a chuckle back behind her father. The redheaded miner was chuckling and elbowing both his fellow miners.
"Oh! The dinner!" Mr. Wagner turned to the miners. "What a dinner it was. And Jim was there," he stuck his tongue into his cheek trying to remember the details of the night.
"He gave a most enthralling speech," she reminded him.
"What a charming speech! It was a warm welcome for the politician. It was about bonds, wasn't it, Little One?"
"Whether they are by water," she paused, "Or blood, father." She twirled her fingers in Aries' radiant hair. Then she tapped his side with her riding cane and tugged the reins, guiding him around. He walked her past the carriage.
"Coffee beans!" Wagner cackled like he finally understood a great joke. He wiped his nose in the crook of his elbow and rubbed the tears from his eyes. He chuckled again briefly before noticing that Amelia Rose was leaving. "Ms. Amelia Rose Wagner!" he called, "Why was James Tanner headed off to Dead Man's Palm?"
Amelia Rose tugged on the reins and looked back with only her head. She smiled lightly. "Oh." She nodded her head. "Business, he said. He didn't want to trouble me with the details. I am a lady, after all." With that she nudged her horse and snapped the reins. She leaned into Aries' strong neck as he trotted off. And that was all she had to say to set her poor paranoid father into a dither. My, my. How could that girl sleep at night?
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