Chapter Eleven

Amanda and Beth stood looking out of the window of their hotel in San Francisco.  They were staying on the third floor and were able to see some of the scenery of the city.

“Can you believe how beautiful it is here?” asked Beth.  “And I still can’t believe all of that water!  The hills are so steep that I feel sorry for the poor horses that pull the wagons up the hills – and going down them seems even more dangerous.”

Amanda agreed. “It was certainly a clever idea of that Mr. Hallidie who thought of the cable cars.  The cables are underground and are moving all the time.  Then the cars are hooked to them to pull them up and down the hills.  Riley said he would take us for a ride on one after he and Sarah get finished with their business.  I can’t wait, can you?”

Amanda had been surprised at the comfort of their hotel, which was modest but still had four floors and an elegant dining room downstairs.  The stores were full of all sorts of wonderful items that were not available even in St. Louis.  The women were eager to see more of the city, but Riley had made them promise not to go out of their hotel without a male escort.

The two were startled by a knock on the door of their room.

“Who is it?” Amanda asked, going to the door but not opening it.

“It’s Rebecca.”

Amanda opened the door and Rebecca hurried into the room and she seemed to be upset.

“What’s wrong?” Amanda asked

“It’s Emily.  She’s left the hotel.”
“What? But Riley said. . .”

“I know, but she said she refused to sit here for one more minute with nothing to do while he ran around with that doctor girl.  Those are her words, not mine!”  She exclaimed when she saw the look on Amanda’s face.

“I hope nothing has happened to her,” she continued.  “I know that she isn’t very nice sometimes; but I have known her for my whole life, and her parents will be so upset if. . .

Amanda looked at Beth.  “I don’t know what to do.  We can’t go out to look for her and yet, if we don’t, who knows what might happen.”

“Mandy, don’t you dare go after her.  Sarah and Riley will be back soon, and I am sure he will know what to do.” Beth said.

The three women decided to go downstairs to the lobby to see if there was any sign of Emily.  Beth and Rebecca sat on one of the couches while Amanda paced back and forth, going to the door every few minutes to look out.  It was on one of those trips to the door that she headed out the door and ran smack into Riley.  She was as surprised as he and would have fallen if he had not caught her by the arms.  Looking up into his eyes, she thought how relieved she was that he and Sarah were finally back.  She knew without a doubt that Riley would know exactly what they should do.

Riley simply looked down into Amanda’s eyes for a second, then she was surprised to see his face redden, and he thrust her away from him as if he could not stand to touch her.  She could tell by one look at his tightened jaw that he was angry.  In truth, he was furious.

“Just where do you think you are going!”  He blasted out at her.  “Didn’t I tell you that you were NOT to leave this hotel without either me or Mr. Taylor?”

“But. . .” Amanda was speechless and tears filled her eyes.

Luckily, Sarah knew her friend better than Riley did, and she gently pulled Amanda inside.  Before she could ask Amanda what was wrong, the other two women rushed up asking. “Did you tell them?  Oh, Riley, what are we going to do?”

Riley looked at them in confusion. 

“What are you talking about?”

Rebecca looked at Amanda as if she had done something wrong.

“Didn’t you tell them?”  Turning to Riley, she continued.  “Emily went out by herself about an hour ago.  I tried to get her to wait for you to return, but she wouldn’t listen and I am so worried.  What should we do?”

Immediately, Riley was all business.

“Sarah, take the others back to their rooms, and I will go out and find her.  Don’t worry, I won’t come back until I do.”

With those words, he hurried out the door. 

Amanda was still upset, but she allowed Sarah and Beth to take her upstairs to the room that they were sharing.  Once there, she dissolved into tears.

“Oh, Sarah and Beth, what ever have I done to make that man hate me so?”

Beth gently pushed Amanda’s hair back from her face and patted her shoulder.

“Nonsense!  Riley doesn’t hate you.  Why would you say such a thing?”

“You didn’t hear the way he talked to me!  He thought I was going to leave the hotel!  And he shook me and then he acted like he would rather die than touch me!” Amanda sobbed.

Sarah sat beside her friend on the bed and took her in her arms and let her cry, all while talking gently to her.

“Mandy, I am sure Riley does not hate you.  He is much too fine a man to hate you for no reason.  And he couldn’t have a reason.  I think he is just under a great deal of pressure because of being in charge of the group and worrying that something will go wrong.  He doesn’t need the added aggravation of Emily pulling a stunt like this!  I am sure that he will realize that he accused you wrongly when he has time to think about it.  He just had to go find Emily before she gets herself into trouble.”

Beth wet a cloth and wiped Amanda’s face.

“You try to rest, and I am sure that Riley will be back before supper.  I am looking forward to eating in that fancy restaurant downstairs, aren’t you?”

Amanda did try to rest, and within the hour, Riley knocked on the door to tell them he had found Emily shopping in a nearby store.  Sarah could tell that he was still angry, so she didn’t say anything to him about Amanda’s hurt feelings, but she resolved to speak to him at the first opportunity.  Riley told Sarah that they would meet downstairs in one hour for supper.

A short while later, the group met downstairs.  Mrs. Taylor had not felt like coming down and a much-subdued Amanda had stayed with her.  Sarah promised them both that she would have a tray sent up for them.

When Sarah and Beth returned to the room late that evening, Amanda had already retired for the night.

The next morning, Amanda awakened early and sat in a chair reading her Bible until the other two women awoke.  Amanda had not had much sleep.  No matter how she went over it, she just couldn’t understand why Riley had taken such a dislike to her.  She could think of nothing she had done.  The other two women awakened shortly and put on their dressing gowns and joined Amanda.

Sarah and Beth sat on the couch opposite Amanda.

“Mandy, I talked with Riley last night,” Sarah began.

“Oh, why did you do that?  Now he will just have another reason to dislike me!”

Sarah looked at her friend for a few minutes, saying nothing.

“Oh, I am sorry, Sarah.  I know it is not your fault.  And maybe I am overreacting, but he is always ignoring me and now this!”

Sarah looked at Beth and then turned to Amanda. 

“Mandy, this does not seem like the girl I have known for so long.  You are always the first one to give someone the benefit of doubt.  Remember how Stewart Hill was so mean to me and tormented me when I first went to school in Boston.  You were the one who told me to give him another chance.  And then you talked with him and found out that it wasn’t me he had a problem with but that his father was pressuring him to go into medicine when he had no desire to be a doctor.  Later, he became one of our good friends.  I don’t know why Riley upsets you so much.  I do know that Riley is under a great deal of pressure.  He feels responsible for all of us, and he would not take it lightly if something happened to any one in the group.  Emily has been a thorn in everyone’s side since St. Louis, and this last escapade had not helped.’

“Riley was surprised that you were so upset.  I think he was just worried about Emily being out and didn’t really think about how what he said would seem to you.  I think he will apologize later; in fact, he asked me to tell you that he was sorry if he hurt your feelings.  I told him that the words would mean a lot more if they came from him.’

“I’m not sure, but I think Riley may have been hurt in the past. I haven’t noticed any restraint with either of us, but he does seem to be cautious of anything he says around you.   I am sure it all will work out when we get to Seattle.  If you don’t like him, you shouldn’t have to see him that often.  Although he works in town, he has a claim outside of town and plans to move out there and farm as soon as his house is built.”

Amanda thought that not seeing him would be even worse than seeing him and being ignored, but she did not say that out loud.  Her thoughts were all mixed up when it came to Riley.

For the next four days, the group shopped and went sightseeing as much as they could.  All of the women were impressed by the beautiful bay and the Pacific Ocean.  Riley told them that he thought Seattle was even more beautiful than San Francisco, but no one could believe this was really true.

Amanda stood on the deck of The Pacific Queen.  This was their second day on board and all of the other women and Mr. Taylor had been dreadfully ill.  Amanda had spent most of her time going between the two cabins the women shared, trying to help in anyway she could.  Riley and Mr. Taylor shared the other cabin, and he too had had a share in nursing Mr. Taylor and helping Amanda empty the endless buckets and mopping up the constant spills.  Sarah had advised Amanda of medicine she could give to those who were affected, and it gave some relief.  For once, all of the patients were sleeping, and Riley had offered to accompany Amanda up on deck.

This was her first chance to get any fresh air, and Amanda simply stood at the railing and let the fresh breeze blow away all the stale air and the smell of sickness.  Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths, never realizing that Riley watched her every move.  He had been standing several feet behind and to one side of her, but now he moved beside her at the rail.  Startled, Amanda turned wide blue eyes on him. 

Seeing who it was, she relaxed and took another deep breath.

“Mmmm, this is heaven, isn’t it?”

When she looked up at Riley again, she sobered at his serious expression.

“Oh, no, what have I done now?” she thought.

Riley looked into her eyes for another moment, then taking a deep breath of the fresh air himself, he turned and looked out across the water.

“Mandy, I owe you an apology.  Sarah told me I hurt your feelings in San Francisco.  I was . . . well, I guess I jumped to conclusions when I saw you coming out of the door of the hotel.  And I was so afraid something would happen to one of the group.  You know, I never wanted to be in charge of this at all.  When I came east with Asa, it was to visit my brother in St. Louis.  Then Asa got his big idea for me stay there and bring out a group while he continued east.  Stuff like that doesn’t bother him at all, but it was a big step for me to be responsible for all of you. And Emily proves that something can go wrong.”

“But, Riley, you can’t blame yourself for Emily.  Goodness knows, you did all you could, and we all talked with her.  I wonder why she thought she would ever be happy in Seattle anyway.  I can’t imagine her roughing it anywhere.  It is probably better that she stayed in San Francisco.  I just hope that she will be happy with that Mr. Burton.”

Without thinking, Amanda had placed her hand on Riley’s arm and now he stared down at it so that her face reddened, and she snatched it away as if burned.  In fact, her face was burning and her hand felt hot too.

Then Riley did something he had never done before.  He smiled down at Amanda, and suddenly Amanda could think of nothing to say.  She just stood looking up at his beautiful brown eyes.  She could not help thinking to herself that he was so handsome.  She wasn’t sure how long they stood there before Riley finally looked away.  She forced herself to look back at the water, but she wasn’t aware of seeing anything.

Riley cleared his throat, as if what he wanted to say was hard for him.

“Mandy, I think I have misjudged you.  I thought you were like Emily, just a beautiful girl concerned only with herself, intent on catching the best husband you could.’

Amanda could only stare in astonishment.  What had she ever done to give him the idea that she was that type of person?

“I know, you did not deserve that sort of snap judgement.  I guess the past has affected my judgement.  You see, in the first group of women that Asa brought out to Seattle, there was this beautiful blonde with blue eyes.  I thought she was interested in me, but it turned out, she had several men interested in her, and she married the richest one she could find.  They ended up moving down to the Willamette Valley, but I vowed I would never be fooled by a pair of big, innocent blue eyes again.  But the past two days have shown me that you are nothing like that woman.  You have worked hard and did not seem to care how you looked or if you got dirty.  You just wanted to help the others.  Emily or the other woman would never have done that.”

Amanda really didn’t know what to say about that.  Wouldn’t anyone else have done as much?  Although she had to admit that she couldn’t see Emily emptying buckets or mopping spills.  Maybe this explained why Riley had ignored her in the past.

She smiled up at Riley. “Well, I can’t imagine anyone doing any differently than I did.  After all, those are my friends.  And it says in the Bible that ’if ye do this, unto the least of these’. . “

Riley looked at her as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Do you know those verses, Riley?”

Continuing, when he shook his head, she quoted:

For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;

Naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 

Then shall the righteous answer Him saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?  Or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and come unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, ‘Inasmuch as he have done to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’ (Matthew 25:35 – 40 KJV)

Riley listened with narrowed eyes as if he were thinking about the words as she said them. 

Looking away once again, he said, “Is that from the Bible?”

“Yes, it is.  It is one of my favorite passages.”

“Well, I don’t know much about the Bible.  None of my family has ever gone to church much.  And we haven’t even had a church in Seattle.  I guess I’ve gotten along without all that religion so far just fine.  I don’t steal or hurt anyone.  I think I’m a pretty decent sort without all of that do-gooder stuff.  Besides, I don’t think I could ever be good enough for that crowd.”

Amanda could not keep the tears from her eyes when she answered, “Oh, Riley, it’s not about being good.  If it was, no one could ever be good enough to earn their way into heaven.  It’s about accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and letting Him guide your life.  Please won’t you come to church with us in Seattle?”

Riley’s face seemed closed as he answered shortly. “We’ll see.  Now I think we had better get below and check on our patients.  If that medicine is working, they might be able to keep a little broth down.”

Amanda sighed as they went below.  She knew that she would be earnestly praying that Riley would come to know the Lord, and she planned to ask Beth and Sarah to pray as well. Without asking herself why, her heart was heavy at the thought that Riley was a non-believer.