From The Kingsley House
“Some work needs doing at the Jasper place, Mary. Reverend Swift has asked the neighbors to ride over and help.” He took his hat and scarf from a peg on the wall, his bandaged hand moving stiffly as he wound the wool muffler around his neck.
“Work? What work? How long will you be gone?”
“A few hours, no more.”
“But you will miss your dinner.” Mary caught his arm as he stepped toward the door. “Should you not eat first?”
“There is no time, Mary. I must go now.” Nathan placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, a gesture that both stopped her forward movement and set her irrevocably in her place. He pressed his lips, as if more words urged to be spoken, then a tender look softened his face. “There is no cause for you to worry, dearest. Stay here and you will be safe until I return.” He strode out the door, leaving Mary perplexed. What could be so urgent? Although Nathan was better acquainted, she hardly knew the Jaspers, a prim Quaker couple who thee’d and thou’d her whenever they met. And, several hours, Nathan had said. What a topsy-turvy turn the day had taken. She had planned such a lovely dinner. She had worn her plum-colored dress, which Nathan, usually indifferent to clothes, had actually complimented her on during their courtship. And their special time together…Mary glanced ruefully at the waiting poetry book, then bucked herself up. In a pioneer community people must stick together and help one another, and perhaps their evening together would be more special for the wait. She recalled Nathan’s tender look and his protectiveness toward her and the baby, and her glance went to the warm cornbread. Nathan would get hungry, and Reverend Swift as well. She cut two thick squares of the yellow cake, wrapped each in a blue cloth, and took her cloak from its peg. She swirled it on and checked out the window just as Nathan appeared from the barn leading their brown horse Jake. In his good hand, he gripped his shotgun.
“Nathan?”
For a second she stood disconcerted, hardly realizing she had spoken aloud. Nathan used the gun to hunt wild turkeys, rabbits, deer in the wood. Why would he need it at Jaspers’ farm? And what else had he said? Stay here and you will be safe. Safe from what? Mary snatched up the cornbread and hurried out the door.
“Nathan!” Her voice vaporized, thin and ineffectual in the cold winter air. Reverend Swift slapped the reins on Old Bess, and the big mare bolted off smartly. Nathan had already mounted, and a kick of his heels sent Jake snorting after the buggy. His back was toward her, and Mary called again, louder, but to no avail. Then because she could not shout and run at the same time, she gave up calling and plunged after the departing men. Her cloak dragged in the snow and her high-laced boots threatened to slip on hidden patches of ice. Indians! It must be Indians! Though the few red men left in these parts acted peacefully, she had heard stories of their atrocities elsewhere. Who knew what horror might be brewing?
“Nathan!”
This time she screamed it, and at that instant her heel caught in the hem of her cloak, the cord jerked back around her neck, and she pitched, choking, into the snow beneath the maple tree. It took several seconds for her to lift her face from the prickling frost and grope to a sitting position, her left arm instinctively covering her belly. She closed her eyes and swallowed painfully, massaging her throat, to reassure herself she could still breathe. When her gaze refocused, she saw the receding figure of her husband, galloping away down the road. Then she saw something else, tufts of soft, bloody feathers, clinging to the front of her dress.
“Oh!”
Mary scrambled up, and frantically brushed and shook herself clean. But a nameless fear had embraced her, a chill like ice on her spine. Something was wrong! Nathan was riding into danger! She must go after him, but how? The Jasper farm was several miles distant, and he had taken their only horse. Then she remembered the way Reverend Swift had gestured down the road to her in-laws’ house. They must know what was happening. They had extra horses. And there she could get Lij, Nathan’s brother Elijah, to help her.
Teeth chattering, Mary hiked up her cloak and began to run, two neat blue packages abandoned in the snow.
