And a stranger stepped inside carrying an enormous quarter of freshly butchered elk over his shoulder.
He was a mountain of a man himself.
Forty-three years old, well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, long tangled brown hair, a thick beard, and a weathered face that looked as though it had endured more winters than most men in the room. A massive brown wolf-hide cloak hung over his rugged frontier clothing, and his heavy boots left wet tracks across the wooden floor.
He carried a rifle secured across his back.
But he made no move toward it.
The enormous piece of elk meat rested against his shoulder, wrapped carefully to keep it clean.
He stopped just inside the doorway.
For a moment, he looked around the cookhouse.
Then his eyes settled on Loretta.
Something changed in his expression.
He stared.
Not at her enormous body.
Not at the flour covering her apron.
At her face.
His mouth opened slightly.
Then closed.
Loretta didn't notice.
She was still turning meat on the griddle.
"Kitchen's full," she called without looking toward the door. "If you're hungry, you'll have to wait."
The stranger remained silent.
Bram turned.
"Well, look what the mountains dragged in."
Several men laughed.
The stranger ignored them.
He took one slow step forward.
Then another.
Finally, he spoke.
His voice was deep and rough.
"I just need food and a place to sleep."
Loretta glanced up.
She saw the wolf-hide cloak first.
Then the enormous elk quarter.
Then the man's face.
For a moment, she became very still.
There was something familiar about his eyes.
But before she could think about it, Bram struck the counter again.
"Hey! You deaf, woman? I told you to hurry!"
Loretta flinched.
The stranger noticed.
He looked toward Bram.
Then toward the overturned stool.
The bread scattered across the floor.
And the frightened woman standing behind the griddle.
His expression hardened.
"Who's running this place?" he asked.
Bram smiled arrogantly.
"I am."
The stranger looked at him.
"Then you ought to be ashamed of the mess."
The laughter stopped.
Bram stared.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the foreman stepped forward.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming into my camp and talking like that."
The stranger shifted the elk quarter on his shoulder.
"I came for supper."
Bram pointed toward the door.
"Then you can take your supper somewhere else."
The stranger looked toward Loretta.