His Frontier Christmas Family. Regina Scott

Deputy McCormick checking on you, making sure you were safe out here.”

      Callie snorted. “Wasn’t me he was worried about. It was the horses. He thought I’d stolen them.”

      She expected Levi to argue, but he chuckled. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone made off with Lance and Percy.” He patted the closest horse before going to untie them. “You remember those bandits I mentioned? They took these beauties, left my brother and his betrothed alone in the wilderness.”

      Sutter popped up behind her. “How’d they get home?”

      Callie was fairly sure he was asking about the horses, not Levi’s family, but Levi nodded to him as he climbed into his seat and took up the reins. “James and his sweetheart navigated the forest alone for three days before our brother Simon tracked them and brought them home. The deputy and James both searched for the horses, but Rina was the one who rescued the pair.”

      “Rina?” Callie asked with a frown.

      Levi called to the horses, who pulled the wagon down the street toward where trees dotted the horizon at the north. “His betrothed, now his wife. She can be impressive.”

      Frisco popped up as well. “Wait, ain’t she the lady you said taught school?”

      “That’s right.”

      Her brothers exchanged glances. Callie knew what they must be thinking. A schoolteacher who could fight off horse thieves?

      Maybe going to Wallin Landing would turn out better than she’d thought, for all of them.

      * * *

      Levi smiled at how quickly Callie consumed the treat from Maddie. The Irishwoman was a good cook, but the way Callie inhaled the aroma, dug her fingers into the soft dough, that was about the best cinnamon roll ever baked. She caught him watching her as she finished and ducked her head, right hand rubbing at her left shoulder.

      “When are we gonna get there?” Frisco whined.

      “Another hour,” Levi promised him.

      The answering sigh could have toppled a cedar.

      “We can sing to pass the time,” Callie said, shifting Mica on her lap.

      Frisco humphed. “You always want to sing.”

      She ignored him, looking thoughtful. “Something spritely like we did around the fire at night.”

      Sutter popped up. “How about ‘Sweet Betsy from Pike’?”

      Levi wasn’t sure what his congregation would think if he drove in to Wallin Landing belting a bawdy song from the gold fields. “What about ‘Get on Board’?”

      Callie brightened. “We know that. Adam brought it back from his last trip.” She started singing the first verse.

      “The gospel train is coming.

      I hear it just at hand.

      I hear the car wheels moving.

      And rumbling through the land.”

      She had a clear, sweet voice, both the sound and the glow on her face drawing him in. The feeling reminded him of summer outings on the lake with his family, friends gathered around a hearth. He and her brothers joined her on the chorus and other verses, while Mica swayed in time.

      “Well done,” he complimented her when they finished and her brothers plopped back down among the quilts.

      She blushed a soft pink. “I always liked music, sung or played. Something about it touches me inside.” She pressed a hand to her heart, and Mica grabbed her fingers. With a smile, she lowered her hand. “That probably sounds odd to you.”

      “Not at all,” Levi told her, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “I feel that way about the Bible. Thaddeus Bilgin, the minister who took me under his wing at Vital Creek, encouraged me to start reading it again. Every time I open it, the words are new.”

      She smoothed the buckskin of her coat. “Never have read the Bible.”

      Levi grinned at her. “Now, that’s something I can help you change.”

      Her hand stilled. “I expect I’ll be too busy.”

      Not if he could help it.

      Just the memory of his old friend made his spirits lift. Thaddeus had taught him a lot of things, both spiritual and practical. The two of them still corresponded now that Thaddeus was settled in Vancouver.

      His spirits lifted even higher as the first farms at the edge of Wallin Landing came into view. Their neighbor Mr. Paul raised his hand as they passed. Mrs. Ruflagger called a greeting as she walked her ducks down to the lake. Funny how they both treated him kindly now that he was the minister. The elderly farmer had spent half of Levi’s life chasing him out of the crops, and the wise farmwife had spent an equal amount of time dragging him out of the lake. A good thing they didn’t know what he’d done on the gold fields. They might not be so forgiving.

      The steeple rising through the trees in the distance reminded him of the One who had forgiven all.

      “Almost there,” he called to the boys.

      Frisco and Sutter bobbed up, looking around eagerly. Callie raised her head, and Mica reached out as if she could make the wagon go faster.

      He called to Lance and Percy, and the horses leaned into the harness, carrying the wagon up the rise onto the promontory that held the church buildings.

      His brothers had built the chapel to inspire. The steeple loomed higher than the ancient fir and cedar surrounding it. The clean white paint gleamed in the sunlight and cheered on a rainy day. The windows on the north looked out onto Lake Union. Beth had wanted stained glass but Levi had convinced her to use clear panes. The vista reminded worshippers that they served a mighty God, capable of creating such a wonder. He couldn’t come near the place without feeling a sense of pride.

      To one side lay a long, steep-roofed log hall, ready to serve as a place for local gatherings. Rina was planning to use it for the school’s Christmas theatrical in a few weeks. On the other side of the church, completing the triangle of buildings, stood the parsonage.

      Frisco and Sutter leaped from the wagon before Levi had even brought it to a complete stop. Whooping and hollering, they ran toward the door of the two-story log house.

      “Stop!” Callie ordered them, sitting taller on the seat and earning her a surprised look from Mica. Her brothers skidded on the path. “You come back and help the preacher and me unload.”

      Their shoulders slumped, but they returned to the wagon.

      “Plenty of time to explore,” Levi promised them, climbing down. “In fact, after we get everything settled, I’d be happy to show you around.”

      Frisco tugged up on his worn trousers. “No need, preacher. We’re pretty good at finding our own way.” Sutter nodded.

      Still defiant. Levi went around to the rear of the wagon and pulled out a pack like the one he’d used on the gold fields. Memories threatened, but he put them aside.

      “Just as well,” he said. “My brothers would probably skin me alive if I showed you our secret fishing hole.”

      Sutter grinned, but Frisco scowled.

      “Here.” Levi shoved the pack at him. “Take this inside. Sutter, go see if Callie needs help with Mica.”

      Muttering under his breath, Frisco took the pack and headed for the house. Levi shouldered the other pack and pulled out Mica’s little wagon. As he came around from the back, Callie was standing on the ground and handing the baby to Sutter.

      “And mind you no fighting while she’s in your arms,” she admonished him.

      “I know that,” Sutter said, making a face. “I’m not stupid, contrary to what some folks think.”

      “None