Wildest Dreams

chapter 30

May 1883

LUKE FONTAINE FOR TERRITORIAL DELEGATE! Luke's supporters had strung up a banner that hung across the main street of Billings, but farther up the street attorney Sydney Greene and his wife Helen had also draped a banner reading NIAL BENTLEY FOR DELEGATE! The Greenes had managed to rally some support for their son-in-law, who had declared that because of cattle ranches he owned in Wisconsin and Nebraska, his higher education and world travels, he was the better man to represent cattlemen in the territorial legislature.

Montana Territory had far surpassed the required population of sixty thousand to apply for admission to the United States. Officially the territory had a population of close to ninety thousand, something that amazed Luke and Lettie, considering how desolate it had been when they came there twenty years ago. Billings had just been a little log village. Now it burst with new settlers, who had come because of the completion of the Northern Pacific. New gold finds in the western part of the territory had brought in more settlers, and the huge copper find around Butte was the talk of the whole country. Newspapers were declaring

Butte Hill "the richest hill on earth," and the areas around the mines and around Helena were also growing rapidly.

People gathered around the Fontaine buggy as Sven drove it through the main street of town, now lined with more new businesses and yet another hotel. Luke had added two more floors to the Hotel Fontaine, and the Stowe's boardinghouse had also been enlarged. More lawyers had come to town, another doctor, two more teachers, and a dentist. One of those teachers was needed to replace Yolanda Brown, who had decided to go back to Chicago to teach. The timing was perfect, as Pearl was also going to Chicago, to study under a Professor John Bansen, a German pianist of great renown, who ran a private school for only the very best. Bansen had responded to a letter from Lettie, offering to listen to Pearl play and decide if she had the talent for advanced music lessons. All they had to do was get their daughter to Chicago. Miss Brown had agreed to be Pearl's chaperon.

Luke was not pleased with sending his sixteen-year-old innocent off to a big city to study under a stranger, but Lettie had corresponded with the parents of other students of Bansen for over a year, and had taken every precaution to ensure that the man and his school were reputable.

Pearl was not the least bit afraid to leave home for a big city, but Lettie worried that the change might be more of a shock than Pearl realized. All she had ever known was the remote life of living on a Montana ranch. The biggest and only town she knew was Billings, but at least Pearl was traveling with a reputable woman who knew the city well and could escort Pearl to the school. Once she was there, she would be among other young people who shared her love of music.

This was a day of both celebration and sadness. They would see Pearl off to Chicago, and her joyful, charming presence and piano playing would be sorely missed. Later, Luke and Nial would make speeches about why they would make the best delegates for Montana's legislature. Two more men from the Butte and Helena area were also running for delegate, and in a few days Luke and Lettie would leave the ranch to spend two months traveling the territory to win votes and talk about statehood. The new legislature would draft the proper papers for Montana's request to be allowed into the United States.

So many changes. Children growing up and going away. Katie, now nineteen, had given birth to her second child, a daughter, Rachael Ann, in February. Her son, Paul, was twenty months old and a wild little thing. Katie and Brad had built a roomy but simple log home on their new ranch, and surrounding cattlemen had accepted the fact that sheep would graze nearby. The price of wool had risen, and with the completion of the Northern Pacific, Brad could ship his wool east much cheaper now. Another railroad, the Utah and Northern, connected them to places farther south, and cattle drives were no longer necessary. Cattle were now shipped to stockyards and slaughterhouses by rail.

In two years Robbie would be going off to college. A young man now, Ty was built almost as tall and broad as his father. He was dashingly handsome, and all the young, available girls in town had an eye for him. He was the most popular young man at the spring dances, but he seemed most interested in Alice Richards. They had known each other for many years now, and Lettie felt in her heart that the two of them would end up married someday.

Luke waved at people who cheered him on as Sven drove the buggy to the railroad depot. The whole family had come to see Pearl off, and all were dressed their best because of the political rally planned for that afternoon. Lettie wore a yellow day dress that Gino Galardo had tailored just for her. It sported white, double lace cuffs, with water-fan trim of the same lace down the front of the bodice. The dress was perfectly fitted over a waist still slender enough that she was proud of it. The color was well suited for a bright, warm May day, as was her straw hat, decorated with yellow silk ribbon and flowers. Her shawl was made of the same white lace that decorated her dress, and she carried a yellow parasol and handbag and wore white lace gloves.

Luke loved her in yellow, thought it set off the deep red of her hair and her green eyes. Lately she had noticed a little gray in that hair, but at thirty-eight, and after some of the things they had been through in their twenty years in Montana, it was to be expected. She glanced at Luke, whose thick, dark hair also was showing some gray at the temples. He looked wonderful today. He was strong again, more confident than ever, strikingly handsome for a man of forty-eight. Hard work outdoors had only made him healthier and more robust than most men his age. Not a man to put on airs with his clothing like Nial Bentley was, he had chosen to wear denim pants with a white shirt over which he wore a black waistcoat. Because it would be a warm day, he wore no jacket, but his waistcoat sported a gold watch chain she had given him for his birthday in March. The only things he wore that were brand-new were his Western-style, wide-brimmed felt hat and new black leather boots. He had declared that if he was going to represent Montana, he would dress like any man from Montana would dress, rich or not; not like some fancy eastern businessman or like an English prince.

They reached the depot, and Lettie was relieved to see Miss Brown was already there with her bags. Luke shook hands with people while Brad and Tyler helped unload Pearl's luggage, which took up most of the room at the back of the fancy new four-seater buggy Luke had had the local wagonmaker build for him a year ago so they would have something big enough to haul the whole family. A Northern Pacific steam engine sat hissing on the tracks, and a conductor was parading on the platform announcing that engine number eighteen would be leaving in fifteen minutes for Bismark, St. Paul, Omaha, and Chicago.

Lettie's heart tightened at the words. Pearl! Her beautiful, sweet, gentle Pearl was leaving them today. It would be a long time before they heard her lovely music, saw her bright smile, held her close. She almost wished her daughter did not have such natural talent, that she did not love music so much. Maybe Professor Bansen would say she was not ready or talented enough to go on with her schooling, but she knew that was not only a false hope, but a sinful one. She wished only the best for Pearl, and she was proud of her daughter's abilities; but it hurt to know that those abilities would take her away from them. Her longtime tutor, Elsie, and Elsie's husband, Peter Yost, followed behind in a buggy of their own, bringing along their three young children and also longtime housemaid, Mae, and her husband, Bob Franks, who all wanted to see Pearl off.

The conductor put Pearl's and Miss Brown's luggage on board, and Miss Brown stood aside while Pearl went through a round of hugs from her siblings and niece and nephew, as well as from Elsie and Mae. Then came Lettie and Luke. Lettie clung to Pearl, unable to keep from crying; and when the girl turned to Luke, silent tears showed in his eyes as he held his youngest daughter for a very long time. The fifteen minutes before departure seemed to fly, and suddenly the conductor was announcing that it was time for all passengers to board the train.

But it's too soon! Lettie thought. She gave Pearl another hug, as did Luke, and then they clung to each other while Pearl climbed into a passenger car with Yolanda Brown. The engineer pulled a cord and let off one long whistle, followed by two short blasts, and steam billowed out of the side of the engine. Pearl hung out a window, waving, crying, but also smiling with excitement. "I'll make you proud of me!" she promised.

Yes, Lettie thought, perhaps she will. For some reason little Paul flashed into her mind. Was he here with them? He would be thirteen years old if he were still alive.

Too much too fast. The town was alive with the excitement of politics, but at this moment it didn't matter. Pearl was leaving them, going to a strange, big city. Maybe she would make her mark there. Maybe she would forget about her mother and father and the Double L.

"I love you, Mother!" she shouted. "I love you, Father!" The train started moving, and Lettie watched that beautiful face and kept her eyes on that bright red hair until she could see them no more. She felt Luke's strong arm around her then. He leaned down from behind and kissed her tearstained cheek. "We'll find a way to go and see her," he promised.

For the moment, for the two of them, there was no one else around. The noise of the crowd disappeared, and it was as though they were standing there alone. "Oh, Luke, it hurts so much."

"There could be worse reasons for having to say goodbye."

She knew he was thinking about Paul. Suddenly a reporter for the Billings Gazette was barging in to ask Luke about Pearl. Katie put her arms around her mother, while Tyler stood beside his father helping answer questions. Lettie turned around and wept on Katie's shoulder.

"You did the right thing, Mama. It's what Pearl has always wanted."

Lettie nodded, taking a handkerchief from her handbag and wiping at her nose and eyes. "Oh, I must look terrible, and I have to stand with Luke today during his speeches."

"You look beautiful, Mama. You always do. And you'd better hurry. That crowd is taking Pa away."

Lettie turned to see Luke laughing with local businessmen, still answering questions from the newspaper reporter. He was taking to politics more naturally than she had thought he would, and she smiled through tears, realizing that he was a man highly respected and well liked. Luke Fontaine was Montana.



Lettie studied the newspaper article dated October 8, 1883, anger boiling in her soul at the words. "What do we know about Luke Fontaine's background?" it read.



The man has never made mention of where he is from, who his father is. Not only are his origins a mystery, but his choices since settling in Montana must also be examined. Should we bring a man into the territorial legislature who was once a vigilante? Has anyone asked Luke Fontaine how many men he has killed, what he thinks of true law and order? Does he believe in a system of justice, or is he too quick to throw a rope over a tree? He professes to be a family man, yet his adopted son chose to live among the Sioux rather than with his father. Does the man rule like a vigilante at home? Or could this mean something else? Perhaps Luke Fontaine has a soft spot for the Indians because his son lives among them. With someone like Fontaine in our legislature, will Montana end up granting favors to the very Indians who have caused our citizens so much heartache over the years? Is Luke Fontaine really fit to help run our now-civilized territory, a representative we can be proud of? Is this a man we truly want people in Washington to look at as an example of Montana's best? Luke Fontaine knows ranching, but that is all he knows. He is not qualified, either in knowledge of government, in background, education, or in honorable personality, to represent our great territory, or to lead us to statehood. His wife, on the other hand, is the picture of poise, elegance, intelligence and refinement. How sad that it is not Mrs. Fontaine who is running for office, but a woman's place is at home... and so is Luke Fontaine's.





She laid the paper down, still finding it difficult reading, even though she had been over the article a hundred times in the last three days. She was surprised at Luke's self-control in answering every charge. People here in Helena had been good to him, but since the article they had been cooler. Luke had attended several public meetings, and was doing a superb job of showing his worth, his love for Montana, explaining how he would fight for protection of both farmers and ranchers in the areas of price setting and bank loans. He had remained calm on the outside, proving to the public that he could stand up against such slander, coming back at them with clear answers. But she knew that he had been deeply hurt, and she knew who had done the hurting. No names had been mentioned, but she had no doubt that Nial Bentley was behind most of the ugly words. Perhaps he had not directly written the article, but he had dropped enough of the wrong information to other opponents to fuel the fire.

She turned from the desk in their hotel room and watched out the window for a few quiet moments, studying the activity below. Luke was at a breakfast meeting this morning, speaking with Helena's most prominent businessmen, many of them much wealthier than they, their fortunes made on gold and silver. The article had put Luke on the defensive, had forced him to have to answer personal questions rather than being able to focus on what he wanted to do for Montana. She felt a deep anger, not just at Nial, but at herself for ever trusting and befriending the man. How many newspapers besides this one in Helena had run that garbage? Another newspaper in town had been very supportive. For that much she was grateful, but she felt the article denigrating Luke's qualifications and reputation needed to be answered.

She turned from the window and took out pen and paper and began writing. Luke would be gone most of the morning. She would be meeting all the wives tonight at a ball one of the businessmen was to hold in his home for Luke and for the two candidates from the Helena area. It was going to be rather awkward mingling with the competition, after the awful article, but Lettie welcomed the chance to show what she and Luke were made of. She wasn't sure what part of the territory Nial had gone to for his own campaign, but she suspected it was a good thing he would not be at the ball tonight, or Luke just might show some of that old, rough side of himself. There was a rage behind those blue eyes, and it was against Nial Bentley.

She began writing, determined to set the record straight.



In response to the slanderous allegations against one of Montana's finest citizens, I feel, as that man's wife, that the truth should be told. Luke Fontaine does have a business background, being the son of a wealthy St. Louis merchant; however, rather than live in luxury in St. Louis, he chose to set out on his own, to settle in a then-dangerous land to build his dream. Like a true Montana pioneer, Luke cut his own way by the sweat of his brow and the strength of his hands, fought Indians and outlaws and the wild land.





Yes, Luke was a vigilante, but necessarily so. We must remember that Montana has not long been civilized, and parts of it still are not. Where there is no organized law, a man must do what is necessary to protect his own. No man enjoys the task of taking the law into his own hands, but there are times when there is no other choice, and Luke Fontaine never brought harm to an innocent man. Those he has brought to justice were murderers, rapists, and thieves. His family has personally suffered dearly because of Luke's fight against such undesirables.





My firstborn child, adopted by my husband, was stolen away by Indians soon after we settled in this land. Luke searched for the boy for months, but to no avail, finally being led to believe he was dead. Years later Luke and I learned our Nathan was still alive but living among the Sioux. We all know of many instances wherein a white child captured by Indians chooses to stay among them when he or she is found years later. That is the choice our Nathan made, but he is still our son, and the agony we have suffered from his loss has only been worsened by the cruel charge that it was something Luke did that made Nathan stay with the Sioux. This is entirely false, and if Nathan should ever choose to come home, he would always be welcome; but the fact that our son still lives with the Sioux does not mean that Luke would grant the Indians favors over and above what is good for Montana and its citizens. Montana would always come first.





Yes, Luke does certainly understand ranching and ranchers' needs, as he is one of the most successful cattle ranchers in Montana. However, he also understands the needs of other businessmen. Through early troubles with farmers, he has come to understand their particular problems. Luke also understands business needs, as he owns copper mines, a hotel, a grain supply, and other interests. Montana can thank men like Luke for saving our territory from the ugly range wars that have plagued Colorado and Wyoming. Luke Fontaine was the first cattleman to prove to the rest of the country that sheep and cattle can graze together without a problem, the first to allow sheep to range on his own land. Does this sound like a man who does not want peace? A man who does not know how to be fair? A man who would not be capable of making wise decisions for Montana?





My husband built what he has through courage and determination and from almost nothing. He did not come here from a foreign land to spend old money handed down to him through family. He loves this land; he risked his life and the safety of his family to settle here, and he built what he has by the sweat of his brow and not by hiring everything done for him while he sat and watched, as one of the other candidates, whom I will not name, has done. We have buried children and friends, have stood up against outlaws and prairie fires. We have paid our dues, and we stayed. We stayed because we love this land, and we would not let it defeat us.





As to the last charge that it is I who should be running for office, but a woman's place is in the home, I will say first that I could never begin to fill Luke Fontaine's shoes regarding his knowledge of the needs of this territory. Secondly, although I am female, as an original pioneer of Montana, and like many other women of Montana must feel, our place is not always at home. Our place is in the churches, the schools, and in activities that bring refinement and culture to Montana. Montana women are proud and independent, and my husband would be first to support the rights of women to have a say in decisions about our great territory. My place is not only at home, but at my husband's side, and to help him however I can in bringing Montana into the United States. It is men like Luke Fontaine who have brought us this far, and who will bring continued progress to our territory. Just as it took brave and rugged men to pioneer this land, so will it take the same kind of men to defend our honor and our particular needs when Montana becomes a state. Mrs. Luke (Eletta) Fontaine





She reread the letter, folded it and put it in her handbag. She checked herself in the mirror. She had chosen to wear a deep brown velvet dress. She pulled on a matching velvet cape and tied it at the neck, then placed a white velvet hat on her auburn hair and pinned it at an elegant slant. She chose to wear white gloves. She would show this town and everyone else just how elegant and refined she really could be; and they would have to wonder, if Luke was the unrefined tyrant the article had made him out to be, why someone like herself would still be with him. She would do her share in this campaign by simply being on Luke Fontaine's arm, the happy, loving wife, and she thought how pleasant it would be to have Nial Bentley in front of her right now and to put a derringer to his chest and pull the trigger.

She picked up her handbag and went out. She would take her letter to a printer's office and have it typeset, then have enough copies run off to send to every damn newspaper in Montana and beyond!



Luke untied his tie and began unbuttoning his shirt, at the same time watching Lettie brush her hair. It was still thick and lustrous, showing only a little gray. "We sure have seen a lot of Montana, haven't we?" he asked, removing his shirt and going to look out the hotel window. "Bozeman, Butte, Anaconda, Helena, now Great Falls." He watched a light snow fall onto the street below, just enough to dampen the already muddy street. "Is there any land prettier, Lettie?"

She smiled. "I really don't know. Montana is about all I've ever known. I hardly remember our trip up here through Wyoming, it's been so many years ago, and I never did get to go to Denver."

He turned away from the window, studying her lovingly. "That's my fault. I'm sorry, Lettie. There must have been times when you felt buried alive up here. We can still travel to other places, you know, even Europe if you want, or other places out here. We have the money—"

She faced him, putting down her brush. "I wasn't complaining, Luke. I was just stating a fact." She rose and walked closer, tracing her fingers through the dark hair on his still-solid chest. "There is no place I want to go but home, Luke, to the Double L. And I know it's the same for you. I don't need to travel all over the country or across the ocean to be happy. You know that."

He put his hands to her face. "I know there isn't a man alive who could have a better wife, or a more beautiful one." She smiled, and Luke noticed new lines about her eyes, but he saw beyond them, to the eighteen-year-old girl he had married and brought to this wild land. "Thank you, Lettie, for the letter."

She rubbed her hands over his arms, up to his shoulders. "I was afraid you might be angry about it, but it was something I had to do. I couldn't let those lies go unanswered." She arched her eyebrows teasingly. "Of course, I did leave out the fact that this poised, elegant, refined, and intelligent wife of yours has done her share of shooting at outlaws, even killed one. I guess I should have mentioned that."

He broke into a handsome grin. "Maybe you should have." He moved his hands into her hair and down her back, pressing her close. "You're a good woman, Lettie. I've gotten a lot of good response since that letter."

"Well, we'll know in two days how much good it did.

Then all this will be over. However it turns out, we can get back to a halfway normal life again, back to the Double L and the children." She kissed his chest. "That's where we both belong."

"I can be home wherever I am, as long as I've got you right here close to me." He leaned down and kissed her hair, and she turned her face up to him, meeting his mouth hungrily. With so much traveling and often staying as guests in strangers' homes, they had not had the chance over the past several weeks to make love often. Now the campaigning was over. All that was left was to wait for the results. Tomorrow they would leave for Helena, and thanks to the wonders of Western Union, they would know by the time they reached there how the day's voting had turned out.

Lettie reached up around Luke's neck. "Do you think it's true about that contraption called a telephone they're starting to use back East? That people could talk to each other directly over several miles?"

"I'll believe it when I see one of the things for myself."

"Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to have between Katie and us?"

He grinned. "I doubt that will happen in our lifetime, Lettie, especially way out here."

"Well, once you're a Montana legislator, I think you should look into it. You have to keep us modern now, you know."

He began pulling up her gown. "I'll worry about that tomorrow."

"I thought you were saying a few minutes ago how tired you are," she reminded him.

He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He realized that she wore nothing under her gown. "Some things help me go to sleep," he answered, carrying her to the bed. "Besides, you knew I'd see if you had any drawers on under this gown, you wench." He laid her back on the bed, pushing her gown up past her breasts. She raised her arms over her head and he pulled the gown off.

"Luke, I haven't finished brushing my—" His kiss cut off her words, and his fingers caressed her. She closed her eyes and drew in her breath when he moved a finger inside of her, teasing, toying, circling that magic place that he knew so well how to arouse. His tongue searched deep, then left her mouth, moved over the curve of her neck, savored a taut nipple, trailed over her belly and licked at the little valleys between her belly and her thighs, all the while toying with secret places until she shivered with a deep climax that made her draw up her knees. He pressed against her, kissing her deeply, and she reached down to unbutton his pants. "Why do I find you even more attractive as a politician?"

He moved away for a moment to get off the rest of his clothes. "I'm not a politician yet."

She sat up and kissed at his chest, arms, and back. "No one who meets you would vote against you. You are Montana, Luke."

He turned to move on top of her. "There are plenty of people out there who have never met me."

"They'll see your handsome picture."

"Looks don't mean a man has what it takes to run a territory, or a state. If I win, it will be because of your letter."

"I wrote that to satisfy my own anger. You could have won without it."

"Lettie, I haven't won yet."

She traced her fingers through his chest hair, over his nipples. "You will. Either way, you won my vote twenty years ago, Luke Fontaine. You just make sure you stay away from the women who will come around flirting and offering themselves to you when you're traveling alone."

He pressed his hardness against her thigh. "As long as I can always come home to this, I don't need any other women." His smile faded. "You're all I'll ever need or want, Lettie." He moved a big hand over her breast, kneading it gently. "And don't think I don't realize half the men in this territory would like to be where I am right now."

She closed her eyes. "None of them could compare to you."

He met her mouth again, kissing her almost savagely as he pushed himself inside her. She arched her hips to greet him in groaning need, realizing that after all these years, nothing but deep, satisfying, devoted love could keep this act so fresh and delightful and fulfilling. They moved in sweet rhythm, sharing, pleasing, taking pleasure in return. He raised to his elbows and gently rocked himself into her, stirring her so teasingly that she gasped in a second climax. He moved in a hard, fast rhythm then, filling her deep, groaning in his own pleasure until his own release.

He kissed her hungrily, several times over, pulling her into his arms and settling beside her then, her leg still wrapped over his thigh. "Tomorrow we head back to Helena, then home," he said longingly. "It's almost as if I need to go back to the Double L to get my strength back, Lettie."

"That's because that land is your strength. Your blood is part of its life. They say the Indian spirit is one with the land, but I don't think it's just the Indians who have that connection. I think it can happen for any man, or woman. I didn't want to come here in the beginning, Luke, but now I never want to leave. I don't need to travel to other places. I just want to go home and see my children and grandchildren."

"Just a few more days," he answered, kissing her hair.

Lettie settled into the pillow. Talk of Indians had brought back thoughts of Nathan. "It's been eight years since he left us, Luke. Do you think we'll ever see him again?"

He didn't need to ask who she was talking about. "I don't know. You can't torture yourself about it."

"Maybe we should start checking the reservations when things settle down again. Maybe we should try to find him."

"If that's what you want, that's what we'll do."

She met his eyes. "Isn't it what you want?"

He sighed deeply. "Of course I'd like to find him. But he knows where we are, Lettie. If he wants to come home, he will. There's no sense forcing it. Maybe we could find him, but you can't force him to come back, Lettie, and I'm just afraid what it might do to you to see him again and realize he's where he wants to be."

"I need to know he's all right, if he's even alive."

He pulled her close. "Then we'll try to find him," he answered. "We'll try."