Joe’s youthful face hardened, and he said in a tight voice, “I don’t like her, Sam.”
“Rebekah?” Sam allowed surprise to shade his tone. “Why not, Joe? I don’t know her well, but she always seemed real nice to me.”
Joe shook his head stubbornly and said nothing. It was a way he had learned from his father, Sam realized. He walked along and did not break his silence until Joe blurted out, “Why’d he have to marry her, Sam?”
Sam replied quietly, “Guess you asked the right man about that, Joe—I just got married to Miss Edith last week.” He smiled at the boy’s surprise, then said, “Man gets lonesome with nobody to talk to. Guess I didn’t know how lonesome I was until I got a wife to share things with. I’ve talked more in the week I been married to Miss Edith than I have in the last five years, I reckon.”
Joe kept his head down, thinking of Sam’s words. “Pa don’t talk to her. He don’t even sleep with her—him and me sleep in the loft and her and the kids sleep in the bedroom.”
“Well . . .” Sam was taken aback by Joe’s observations, but he said gently, “Takes a while for people to get used to each other, Joe. Some can do it quicker than others.”
“He shouldn’t have married her.” The silence ran on for ten steps or so, and Joe looked at Sam with resentment in his eyes. “She ain’t a good woman, Sam. I know what they say about her in town. The men make jokes about her—having babies without no husband.” His lips grew tense. “I hate her, Sam. I wanna come and stay with you!”
Sam’s heart sank. He had known it would be hard on the boy, but this was far worse than he had imagined. “Joe,” he said, “I don’t know as I ever liked anything more than having you with me last year. Made me want a boy of my own worse than I ever wanted anything—someday I’d like to have one just like you. But Sky’s your pa, boy, and you’ve got to stay with him. He loves you better than anything else.”
“It’s her I hate—not him!” He turned to go, but Sam caught him and pulled him around.
“Joe, listen to me! Some things in this world are pretty hard—and you’ve had to grow up faster than most kids your age.” He hesitated, knowing the boy’s hurt was too deep to be healed by idle talk. He sighed heavily. “Joe, if your pa did wrong in marrying Rebekah, it was because he was thinking about what was best for you. And all I can say about Rebekah is, she’s had a harder time than you or me—harder than any man is likely to have, for that matter. Lots of women would have run off and left those babies, but she stuck with them.”
The boy did not respond, but at Sam’s words he stopped in his tracks, his lips pressed together and his eyes hard. “The pen’s just over that rise.”
Sky saw them coming and ran to meet them. “Sam—you old reprobate!” He grinned and slapped his friend on the shoulder. “You come all the way out here to get my vote?”
“Nope. Came out to tell you Edith and me got married last week.”
“You did!” A broad grin spread across Winslow’s face. “I knew you was a goner, Sam—but you sure did get a fine woman.”
“Guess we’re both pretty lucky, Sky,” Sam replied, then saw the smile fade from his friend’s eyes, so he said hurriedly, “Say, you got a quarter of beef I could take back with me? Edith says that stuff we’ve been gettin’ from old man Taylor is made of shoe leather!”
“Just butchered a fine yearling day before yesterday. It’ll be your wedding present. Come on, Rebekah’s made some chili that’ll burn you down to your toes. Right, Joe?” He did not see the flash of resentment in the boy’s eyes, but moved back down the trail, saying, “Tell me how the election’s shaping up.”
Back at the cabin, Edith had taken the baby out of the crib and sat rocking her as Timmy investigated cautiously. “She’s grown, I do believe, Rebekah,” Edith marveled. She poked the baby’s fat cheeks and was rewarded by a loud burp. “She’s like a little doll!” she laughed. “I can’t wait to have a baby, Rebekah. All my life that’s what I’ve wanted. “
Rebekah had pulled a chair around and Timmy ran to her. Pulling him up onto her lap, she squeezed him affectionately. Timmy sat staring at the visitor with round, curious eyes. “You’ll be a wonderful mother, Edith. Now tell me about you and Sam. I wish I could have been there for the wedding.”
“Oh, it wasn’t anything grand. Sam just said one night after church, ‘What are we waiting for, Edith?’ And you know, neither of us could think of a single thing—so the next day, we did it. Lot Penny married us—he’s doing much better than the last time Sky saw him.” She paused and her cheeks colored slightly and she gave a half embarrassed giggle. “You know, I thought that Sam was a little slow—but when he goes after something—that man is downright determined!”
Edith saw that Rebekah was starved for such talk, and filled in the finer details of life in town as Rebekah hung on to every word. When Edith had finished, she asked, “Is Sam going to win the election, Edith?”
“I hope not!” Edith bit her lip and toyed with a curl that fell over Mary’s ear, then whispered confidentially, “It’s getting bad in town. Everyone knows that Poole is doing everything he can to win the election—and if he doesn’t win, Tom says that they’ll try to kill him and Sam.”
“We’ll have to pray for them,” Rebekah said. “I’ve been reading the Bible a lot lately, and over and over it says that we can’t get by without faith.”
Edith feared that the men would come back, so she asked abruptly, “How have things been, Rebekah—with you and Sky?”
A shadow came to Rebekah’s eyes. “All right,” she replied quietly.
“I don’t think so, Rebekah,” Edith returned boldly. “I don’t mean to be a busybody, but I care about you, Becky. You can tell me—it’s been hard, hasn’t it?”
Timmy squirmed, and Rebekah put him down. He crawled off into the bedroom, so Rebekah rose and went to look out the window. Her eyes fixed on the white landscape, she murmured, “I can’t complain. I have a home, a place for my children. Sky is good to Timmy and Mary, and he . . .” She faltered for just one moment, then turned to face Edith. “And he’s kept his part of the bargain with me.”
“Rebekah!” Edith protested. “You and Sky have forty or fifty years ahead of you! When you married him, surely you must have hoped for more than—than just being a housekeeper!”
“It’s what I agreed to, Edith.” The words were emotionless, and she added quietly, “Don’t worry about me, Edith. It’s not easy—especially with Joe. He resents me so, and I can’t blame him.”
“He’s jealous of his father, I suppose?”
“He’s never had to share him, so I guess that’s natural—but there’s something I’m afraid of, Edith.” Rebekah twisted her fingers together as the sound of voices outside came closer. “Sky can’t see it, but his resentment against his first wife has rubbed off on Joe.” The voices got still louder, and she rose, whispering hurriedly, “It’s going to destroy both of them—all of us—if he can’t resolve to forgive her!”
The door opened and Sky entered, coming at once to pull Edith to her feet. “Lord help you, Edith, having to put up with Sam—but he’s so gone on you that maybe you can housebreak him!”
He reached down and kissed her on the cheek, then took the baby. “Now, how’s this for a pretty one?” he asked, and the affection in his face caused Edith to give Rebekah a strange glance. “How about some of that chili of yours, Rebekah?” he asked.
“I wish we could do better than that for our first guests,” Rebekah protested.
“Oh, we’ve got to get back,” Edith interrupted quickly. “We really only came out to be congratulated and to invite you to the camp meeting that’s going to start at the church.”
“Camp meeting?” Sky asked. “In the middle of winter?”
“Well, it’s an indoor camp meeting,” Sam shrugged. “Tom got Lot out of bed and able to function, and he’s determined to have a revival. I asked him how you ‘revive’ something that ain’t never been ’vived’ to begin with—bu
t you know Lot!”
“It’ll start next Saturday,” Edith informed them firmly. “And nothing will do but that you all come.” She moved closer to Rebekah and smiled. “Sam’s rented me a house, and I need some help getting it fixed up, Sky. So you’ve just got to bring your family in for a few days.”
Sky looked at Rebekah and asked quietly, “You’d like to go, I reckon?”
“I’d like it a great deal,” Rebekah answered.
“All right,” Sky said. “I can’t promise I’ll be at the meetin’ myself—but guess a few days in town will be good for you and Joe.” He looked slyly at Joe. “You probably can use a break from the books, can’t you, Joe?” Once again he did not seem to notice the lack of response from the boy. “Well, let’s see to that quarter of beef while Rebekah fixes our meal.”
They enjoyed a good meal of rich, spicy chili, and shortly afterward Edith and Sam left for town. Neither of them spoke for a time. Finally Sam commented, “They’re in a bad way, Edith—worse than I thought.” He rehearsed the incident with Joe, then added in a discouraged tone, “Can’t see how they can make it. What’d Rebekah have to say?”
“She won’t say much—but it’s killing her spirit, Sam.” The sleigh hissed through the snow as she wracked her brain for some way to help, but nothing would come, so she moved closer to Sam, depressed by the visit.
The visit had lifted Rebekah’s spirits briefly, but after the pair had gone, the house depressed her. Sky and Joe went hunting, leaving her alone with the children; and both of them had gone to sleep, so there was little for her to do. She had cleaned the cabin and taken care of the household work, but she needed something to occupy her mind. Pulling a chair in front of the fire, she took her Bible and began to read. After two hours her eyes grew tired and she tried to pray, but it was difficult. She remembered how easy it had been when she’d first been saved, when she’d had Mary to pray with and a church to attend.
She put her head back, thinking over the past two weeks, and a despair rose in her so sharp and painful that she could keep from weeping only by a force of will. For the hundredth time she asked herself if she had made a dreadful mistake by marrying Sky, the doubts gnawing at her mercilessly. Getting up, she paced the floor, remembering how Joe had rejected every attempt she had made to befriend him. She felt her failure keenly; and no matter how she looked at the matter, it grieved her to no end.
What she had expected from Sky, she could not say—but he had been different from anything she had seen before. On the wagon train, there had been moments when he had smiled at her, lifting her spirits. She thought often of the times they’d talked as he rode beside her on the wagon seat. She had felt his warmth then, but since that awful night he’d accused Tom of being with her, she had not seen that lighter side of him. Deep in her heart she wondered, Does he really think I’m a loose woman—like his first wife?
Restlessly she moved around, her mind confused and weary of the struggle. He treats me like a servant, she thought, but that’s what I bargained for. It may be enough for him—but is it enough for me?
That was the question that was draining her deep down, for she knew she had expected more than that. He had made no promises, but she had hoped that eventually he would look at her as more than a woman to clean his house and help with his son. He had done nothing to encourage that idea, however. When they had arrived at the house for the first time, he told her, “You and the children will sleep in the bedroom. Joe and I will bunk in the loft.” It was as if he were warning her at once that their relationship would be on that plane—nothing warm or personal.
Closing her Bible, she went to bed, though it wasn’t late. She knew Sky and Joe would be in by dark, but she could not face another evening of Joe’s coldness. Long after they came in, she lay there listening to them talk until she finally heard them go upstairs to the loft. They were laughing about something that had happened, and she felt cut off and left out. The utter isolation gripped her and the tears that she had been too proud to shed during the day burst forth and flowed unchecked down her cheeks.
****
“Well, we don’t have a big meeting like Brother Finney has,” Lot Penny said, “but it’s a beginning.” Satisfaction crept into his bright blue eyes as he looked over the crowd that had come out for the Saturday night meeting. Potbelly stoves glowed at each end of the room, sending waves of warmth radiating from their cherry-colored sides; those who sat closest to them perspired profusely, while those in the center drew their coats closer around them.
Sky surveyed the congregation. “Looks like you got a good start, Lot.” He glanced over to where Rebekah was surrounded by a group of her friends who were admiring the baby. “Hope you have a good meeting tonight.”
“Wish you’d stay for the service, Sky,” Penny said sadly. His face was still scarred from the beating he had taken, but his spirit was as strong as ever. “Brother Truitt is a fine preacher—in fact, don’t know if I’ve ever heard better.”
“Maybe some other time, Lot,” Sky replied. He had brought Rebekah and the children in three days earlier, but had gone back to the farm, claiming that someone had to watch the stock.
Penny didn’t argue, for he knew the futility of it. He watched Winslow leave and saw that Rebekah’s eyes had followed him as he passed through the door. She had been a cheerful woman on the trail, he remembered, but now there was a heaviness in her that dimmed all the gaiety. She met his gaze and he smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back.
He went to the front and sat down beside Henry Sellers. “Well, I couldn’t get him to stay for the meeting.”
“Too bad! Too bad!” Sellers shook his head, taking out a red bandanna and wiping the perspiration from his brow. “Maybe when he gets settled into his marriage, he’ll get more sociable. And I’m still hopin’ he’ll jump into this election and give Sam a hand.”
“Maybe—but somethin’s eatin’ at his insides, Henry. He’s out of step with God—and until he bends his neck to the Almighty, Sky Winslow ain’t gonna have any peace.” He would have said more, but the door opened and Rev. John Truitt came in and the two men rose to greet him.
“He sure ain’t much on looks, is he now?” May Stockton whispered behind her hand to her husband, referring to the preacher. May had married a prosperous merchant named Larry Prince, but marriage had not changed her outspoken ways. She and her new husband were well satisfied with their match, though their personalities were quite different. Prince was soft-spoken and not at all outgoing, while May was sociable to the roots of her red hair. “I get him to goin’—and he puts the brakes on for me!” May had laughed when asked about her marriage. But Prince was pleased with his bride, and smiled at her observation.
Rebekah was sitting between Edith and May, and had overheard the remark about the preacher. “Beauty is only skin deep, May,” Rebekah chided her friend gently.
“Well, let’s skin him, then!” May giggled. “No, I’m just joking, Rebekah. He’s just about the best preacher I ever heard—not that I ever heard many!”
Edith and Sam listened as May and Rebekah talked, and when the song leader got up, Edith leaned over to her husband. “Try to get Sky to come to the meeting, Sam. It’ll mean a lot to Rebekah.”
“I did everything but put a gun at his head. He’s a hard case, Edith—but I haven’t given up.”
Outside, Sky made his way down Elm Street toward the center of town, aware that he had been the target of almost every eye in the church. There had been much pressure to get him to attend services, but he had known it would be one of the penalties he’d have to pay for being in town. Passing Seth Long’s blacksmith shop, he wondered if he should move the family into town for good. He’d never lived in a town, and the decision to move would be solely for Rebekah and the children. As the time grew near when he’d have to decide, he had the feeling that life was closing in on him. He put the thoughts aside for later as he walked along the plank walk.
To his amazement, he was greeted by al
most every man he met. He had never been involved in the activities of Oregon City, and had known these people only through his rare visits. He realized that the recognition was because of the way he’d faced Ingerson down and out-gunned Del Laughton, though the thought gave him no pleasure. Politics had never held any interest for him, and now he was being drawn into the heated cauldron of political warfare that stirred the entire town. It was another pressure that pushed at him, and he shook his shoulders angrily, determined to avoid getting more involved—yet knowing he would probably be drawn deeper still.
He stopped at Mike Stevens’ house, and found no one at home. He remembered then that he’d seen Mrs. Stevens at the meeting, and made his way to the Silver Moon. As he’d suspected, he found Mike at a table with Judd Travers and Clay Hill. Hill’s face lit up, and he kicked a chair back with his boot. “Sit down, Sky, and help me pound some sense into this hide-bound Yankee!”
Judd Travers was a staunch abolitionist from Boston, and his verbal battles over slavery with Clay Hill, who was from Georgia, were legendary. He snorted disgustedly and waved a bony hand at Hill. “How a man can be as smart as you are in some things, Clay, and be so infernally dumb in a thing like slavery is beyond me!” Travers was not religious, but he was a zealot over the antislavery cause. His deep-set black eyes glowed as he pounded the table with a hard fist. “England had sense enough to set her slaves free—and sooner or later in this country we’ll do the same!”
“Not without a war, you won’t, Judd,” Clay shrugged. He took a drink from the glass in front of him. “The South will pull out of the Union before that happens.”
“Pull out of the Union!” Travers scoffed, declaring fiercely, “That would be treason!”
Clay smiled at the older man, but there was a dead seriousness in his eyes. “There’s a good precedent for it, Judd,” he pointed out. “The thirteen colonies pulled away from England because they didn’t want anyone telling them how to run their business. I don’t see any difference between the king of England trying to put a tax on me, and some abolitionists in New England telling me what I can or can’t do. No, the South won’t be ruled over by the North. It’ll mean war if you folks push it.”
The Reluctant Bridegroom Page 24