They talked more about where he was moving to and Belle reissued her open invite to come and stay when they wanted to. Belle noticed Mrs. O’Neal’s children kept watching their mother and she suspected they would eventually see the family come for a visit. The Powells had also spoken of coming to visit, and she hoped they did.
Chapter Nineteen
Despite the sadness of leaving such a nice group of people, the leave-taking was relatively painless at the end of three weeks. The brothers all went out to look at a place where they could make a swimming hole and then spent a lot of the evening looking over Geordie’s information and drawings of the shower bath. Belle visited with the women, gaining recipes and some patterns for sewing, knitting, and crocheting.
Robbie’s decision to leave went harder. His partners in the cider business were saddened, yet cheered by the thought of Robbie gaining them some new recipes. They all spoke of coming to visit now that there was the convenience of trains. Robbie’s family saw the ocean as part of his healing and they embarrassed Belle with their thanks.
Robbie followed Belle up the stairs, stopping outside her bedroom door, and she asked, “Are you very sure about this, Robbie?”
“Aye. Oh, I feel sad, but not about moving to the ocean. That might change when I try to find a place to live and a job to do. Although my hand has improved so much, I can actually do some weaving.” He grinned and wriggled his fingers. “I am taking my loom back with me to keep working. If I can get back to what I used to do, I might be able to make a living as a weaver.”
“I hope so, Robbie. I saw some of your work and it was lovely.” She grinned. “And if you feel a need for your own house, it appears we may have one to be rid of soon.”
“Get some sleep. Geordie will be wanting to head out early.”
Belle was tucked up in bed and just about to close her eyes when Geordie came in. As she enjoyed watching him undress, she tried to listen carefully to what Geordie had to say. As he spoke about Robbie, she had the feeling he did not know about his brother being able to do his weaving again.
“He won’t have to try, Geordie, he can already do it.”
“He has tried?”
“He has, and he proudly wiggled his fingers at me and said he can do it. Well enough that he is taking his loom back to the coast.”
Geordie got into bed and flopped back onto his pillow. “He actually thinks he can get back to what he used to do?”
“Yup. He said he just needs to find a place to live and a job. That was when he mentioned his weaving.”
“That would be wonderful.” He frowned. “Of course, I need to figure out how to make a living, too.”
“Well, you could take up digging clams.” She giggled when he rolled onto her and started tickling her. “Never mind then. Never mind.”
She stopped laughing when he kissed her. “I saw the furniture you made, Geordie. You have a skill to make a living with. But don’t think you can cut down my trees for it.”
“I dinnae think getting the wood will be hard. Now, we are married, and I think since we have the luxury of a bed this night, we should take advantage of it.”
She put her arms around his neck. “You do have the best ideas.”
* * *
In the morning, leaving proved a little harder than it had the night before. Iain and a couple of his brothers filled a cart with some things to send back to the beach. Belle welcomed them all to come and visit. They even loaded up some yarn for Robbie to use and some wood they had collected for Geordie.
The brothers followed them to the train and helped load everything onto the rail car for shipment to Boston. Belle hoped the arrangements worked well. The trains were still too new to packages and passengers for her to trust them. Robbie obviously had some doubts as well, as he had wrapped his loom in such a way he could take it on the train with him, with Geordie and Belle helping.
As Belle slid into the seat next to Morgan, she bumped into the doll. It hurt, and she looked at Morgan. “That doll weighs a lot, love. What have you stuffed it with?”
“Gold coins,” Morgan said in a whisper.
Belle just stared at her, then said, “Just be careful with it and we’ll talk about it at home.”
When Morgan nodded, Belle sat back and tried very hard not to sweat with worry all the way home.
Chapter Twenty
By the time they got off the train in Boston, Belle was exhausted and feeling a bit sick after two weeks of travel. They looked around for her aunt and Harold Hobbs, who had sworn they would come to collect them. Geordie finally noticed their carriage, with a wagon tied up beside it, and moved over to start filling the wagon.
“Thank you for coming. I wouldn’t have troubled you except we brought a lot of stuff. Hello, Harold.”
“Harold has been a gem,” Mary said, as the man got down and hurried over to help Geordie, James, and Robbie fill the wagon while Belle got into the carriage and sat across from her aunt. “He contacted Iain’s lawyer for little Morgan. Harold has written to him several times since then. So, how is marriage treating you?”
“Very nicely, thank you. It appears marriage is doing you some good as well,” Belle said, staring at the gold band on her aunt’s finger. “I just cannot see the man, nice as he is, sweeping you off your feet.”
“Oh, he didn’t do that. I am far past that sort of nonsense. Had the luck to find that once. This time I was lucky enough to find I had a good man even though the stars in my eyes are dim. As we looked for which papers would be helpful, I guess he rather grew on me.
“So quiet and intelligent. Soft-spoken, yet never condescending to me, even when he was trying to explain something, and I think you know how difficult that can be. But I think the moment of awakening came when he carefully listed every person, alive or to be born, that Bennet would have to be rid of to get even a small piece of your land.
“Yet, I think what really shut Bennet up was that Harold pointed out everything in that will that allows us to help Bennet keep his own farm solvent and healthy, which I think was a load of what makes the grass grow green, but Bennet liked the sound of it. Just hope he doesn’t think on it too much.” She smiled when Belle started to laugh.
“I had never thought to look at that angle of things,” Belle said. “Might have stopped a few of the confrontations.”
“I doubt it would have helped. Bennet is a man who will only heed what another man says. I also think the old fool enjoyed those fights, up until Will got shot.”
“Really? I thought he was getting very serious about them. He did start bringing his gun.”
“Good point. Started to believe his grievances were real, I guess.”
The door to the carriage opened and Geordie lifted Abel in and then Morgan. “We got the baggage loaded. These two want to ride inside with you ladies. Get yourselves tucked in safely and we will head out.”
While her aunt chatted with Abel, Belle quietly touched Morgan’s doll and asked, “How did your father get this money, Morgan?”
“It was from some men who tried to kill him in the war. He got them instead. When he looked through their things, because he told me soldiers always try to take what might help them, he found the chest. He figured they had stolen it from someone or robbed some shipment and now it could be a nice inheritance for me and Mama. I put as much as I could into my doll when the men came and killed my mother and Nana because my father had wanted us to have it.”
Belle decided that was all she really needed to know. It was sad Morgan’s father had not realized that there had obviously been a larger group who had known about the coins, ones who could bring trouble to the family he had thought to help. She would help Morgan find a safe hiding place for it.
“Where is the ocean, Geordie?” asked Morgan.
“Just keep a watch out on your right and ye will see it soon.” He set a basket of food on the seat, then stepped back and shut the door.
“Auntie, I was hoping you would bring Thor. I have missed
him,” said Abel, “although Mrs. O’Neal had pups and the Powells had herd dogs for their sheep.”
“That was good of them. They let you play with them?”
“It was nice. They said I might as well play with the herd dogs, because their wives do and they spoil them. That started an argument, so I went and played with the dogs. Could not understand most of what the adults were saying anyway.”
Belle leaned toward her aunt and said, “I suspect the Powells were speaking a lot of Welsh and their wives were using a lot of Native words. It was actually very fascinating to listen to, even if it was confusing.”
Mary laughed and reached out to nudge Abel. “Thor will be pleased to see you, Abel. I do believe the fool dog has been pining for you. I really couldn’t bring him because it wouldn’t leave enough room for all of you and your baggage.”
Abel nodded and then grinned. “He is a bit of a big dog. Loki and Odin are all right, aren’t they?”
“They are fine. Loki does sulk and Odin has only begun to sleep with Harold and me. He sleeps down at the end of the bed and, fortunately, chose Harold to get up and take him out for air early in the morning. I kept waiting for you to ask for them to be sent to you.”
“They never would have mixed with the herd dogs, or the few cats not left to go feral. And Loki would have been left out a lot of the time, I fear. The men treat cats much like they treat the dogs. A select few are cared for and watched over by the wives. Some of the outdoor cats have been lost to the coyotes and wolves. If we had stayed longer I would have collected a few.”
“Ah. Probably for the best that you didn’t take them on. Loki is feeling very protective now that she has kittens to raise.”
“What makes you say that? And why are you calling him a she?”
“I believe it was when she had the kittens that I started doing that.”
Belle stared at her aunt. “But . . . but . . . she never went into heat. And we looked her over carefully.”
“I know. Young Will was most surprised. Sadly, he said he doubted she would have any more, as it was a very difficult birth. Not something one expects with a cat. But she had four of them, and they are lovely.”
“You kept them?”
“Felt it was best to let them grow a bit and to let you see them first.”
“Thank you. I know you have never been very fond of kittens.”
“The ones I knew tended to be very destructive. It appears Loki is a very strict mother.”
“Oh, dear. Wait, how did she get out? She rarely goes outside, and when she does it is mostly to linger on the porch.”
“We never did figure that out. I feared we had lost her, but then she sauntered back in.” Mary looked out the window as the carriage turned to go up the hillside and head up to Belle’s house. “And it looks as if all your pets await you, along with my two nephews who have come to visit.”
“Aunt Sarah sent her boys, Joseph and Malachi, to come stay with you?”
“Why wouldn’t she? I know how to care for boys.”
“No, no, you misunderstand. You live very close to town. She remembers the town as being dangerous. And, well, hateful.”
“It has grown since she was a child. But, the biggest push was that she and her man are taking a small trip and she didn’t want her boys left alone. I do think she was pleased I was staying at your house for a time.”
The carriage came to a stop and Harold gallantly helped Mary down from it. Then he did the same for Belle and Morgan. Belle was smothered by the welcome of her dogs, even as she greeted the boys. Then she stepped into the house, took one look at Loki sitting proudly with her kittens, and knew she would be keeping them all.
Belle had barely shut the door behind her when there was a knock at it. She opened the door to find the sheriff with a tight grip on Charlie Bennet’s arm. “Can I help you, Sheriff?”
“I believe I can help you with this fool. Sorry it has taken me so long. I heard your fire bell the night your barn caught fire, but it took a while for me and some of my men to get to your house. That actually proved helpful. I caught this fool redhanded. He had come back to pick up what was left of the torch he had tossed into your hay loft. That was going a step too far. He has a choice now. Charged and jailed, or fix your barn and replace your hay. There will be signs of him doing that within a week or it is back to jail. And he will do it, won’t you, Charlie?” He gave Bennet a shake until the man grunted an agreement. “Will that satisfy you?”
“Yes, Sheriff, I believe it will.”
“Now I just have to find something that will calm down Will’s father about his son being shot in the leg by this fool. Come along, Charlie.”
After thanking the sheriff again, Bella went into her house and turned to face her aunt, grinning at her. “I think the sheriff finally got fed up with being dragged away from his meals so often.”
Belle laughed and then looked around for Loki and her kittens. She sat on the floor and was soon surrounded by kittens. She only worried about telling Geordie she was keeping them all for a moment, until he sat down beside her on the floor and joined her in playing with the kittens.
“Do ye plan to keep them or sell them? Or just give them away?”
“Since these are the only kittens she has ever had, I plan to keep them,” Belle said.
“Ye kept her locked up?”
“Not really, she has always stuck very close to home. She just never had any kittens.”
Her cousins Joseph and Malachi joined them, then Morgan wandered over. Abel came to look at the kittens, but then went back to stay with the dogs. Belle sat on the sofa, and one of the kittens crawled up. It curled up on her lap, and as she patted it, she fought to stay awake and failed.
“Cousin Belle has gone to sleep,” said Joseph. “Long trip?”
“Long enough, but she slept on the train, too,” Geordie said and frowned down at the kitten in Belle’s lap. “Can you move the kitten for me and I will tote her up to bed.”
Geordie got her tucked into her bed, even removing most of her clothing. Then he studied her. All his instincts told him she was probably with child, but he had no idea how to get her to face the possibility. Giving her a kiss on the forehead, he left the room, his mind crowded with plans for ways to get Belle to recognize her condition.
When he got back downstairs he did not see Mary, so sat down next to Harold.
“Has Mary gone to bed for the night?”
“I think her plan was to relieve herself but I believe she changed her mind and went to bed.” He sighed. “I am just going to have to tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
“That she was caught on the change, as I believe they say. She is with child. I have no idea how she is going to take this.”
“Well, how are ye taking it?”
“Oh, I am thrilled. I have only one child. A son who lives with his wife and children in Boston. He has already congratulated me on getting a new wife.” He smiled. “And getting one who owns land near the ocean.” He laughed along with Geordie.
“A lawyer, is he?”
“Oh, yes, and he deals in property law. He has started speaking against those men who use sneaky ways to steal people’s property. Has even taken some cases to win the land back. He does good work.”
“A boy to be proud of. Well, you and I have an interesting time ahead. I need to make Belle realize she is with child, too.”
Harold started to laugh and Geordie quickly joined in. One had to laugh, he decided. They were definitely in for an interesting time ahead.
Chapter Twenty-One
Summer, 1869
Lightly bouncing her son in her arms, Belle held the letter Geordie had given her. His family was coming. In fact, it appeared most of them were on their way. She was just about to say something to Geordie when her son suddenly lunged toward the floor, reaching for Loki. She was scrambling to get a better grip on him when Geordie took hold of him.
“Oh, thank you. He wanted to pat Loki.
Don’t think that would have gone well.”
“Nope. He is a bit rough.”
“There is a mob coming.”
Geordie laughed. “It seems so. That’s all right, is it?”
“Of course. I will have to tell Auntie. Mrs. O’Neal is coming and so are the Powells. She will be delighted. In her letters, Mrs. O’Neal often asked about Mary’s twins,” Belle said. “And enjoy our son, because I have a lot of work to do. Hope the twins are napping.”
“Harold is still shocked that they have twins.”
“He is pleased one is a girl though. That breaks through the shock now and then.”
“He better start saying the name right or Auntie is going to bop him.”
Geordie frowned. “Nothing wrong with Abby.”
“Her name is Abrielle, his son’s name is Aydan. Well, I have to get moving. It sounds like they could be here within a week.”
* * *
A week later her cousins rode up to announce Geordie’s family were arriving. It seemed only moments before two wagons rolled up. Children poured out of the first, and a moment later adults poured out of the second. Belle was shocked at how quickly the women ran to pick up the babies. Mrs. O’Neal was fascinated by Mary and her twins; the Powell wives huddled around her boy, cooing over his thick black hair and dark brown eyes.
It was loud and enjoyable, but after a small feast and the guests had been shown where they would sleep, Belle collapsed on the settee. The older single men were shown to her infirmary where Mrs. O’Neal had spent so much time, earlier, fascinated and intrigued by everything in it. If the woman had not started yawning and then agreed that she needed to rest, Belle suspected she would still be in there explaining things to her.
Mary sat down next to Belle while Harold and Geordie sat on the sofa across from them. “It will be a busy few days ahead,” Belle said.
“But enjoyable,” said Mary. “It is always a little crazed when a family comes to visit. We had just about enough room. It will also calm down when they get to the water.”
“Mrs. O’Neal seemed fascinated with your twins.”
The Scotsman Who Swept Me Away Page 22