by Barbara Goss
“Oh,” Kate said softly. “Why would your mother carry their pictures in her locket?”
“Because,” explained Anna, “it was Hannah’s locket.”
Why hadn’t Kate thought of that? Of course, the locket had been Hannah’s. Josh had probably given it to his wife, and she’d left it as Hannah had kept it. Perhaps give to one day to Anna. That made sense.
“Whose initials are carved into the metal?” Kate asked.
“Josh had it done for my mama.”
“I think, then, you should keep it safe for her,” said Kate, holding the golden heart out to Anna.
“I’ll take it!” A male voice startled them both.
“Joshua Redfield!” Kate gasped. “I didn’t know you were there. You frightened us!”
“Josh, you’re just like granddad, coming into a room like thunder.” Anna giggled.
Without smiling or looking at Anna, Josh walked over and practically snatched the locket from Kate. “I’ll keep it safe.” He put the heart into his breast pocket and turned to greet Anna. “Are you keeping Miss Hunter busy?”
Anna nodded. “Can I take her riding this afternoon?”
“Riding? What a splendid idea! I may stay home today and ride with you. Would you like that?” Josh asked, kissing Anna’s pudgy hand.
“Yes! Did you hear that, Miss Hunter?” She squealed. “Josh might come, too! Can she ride Loco?”
“Of course she can,” he replied, ruffling the child’s hair. Walking toward the door, Josh reminded, “Remember, I said maybe.”
Kate smiled smoothly, showing nothing of her annoyance with Joshua’s brusqueness or his offer to ride with them. Why had he seemed so uncomfortable that she had Joanna’s locket?
Chapter Eleven
Kate rummaged through her wardrobe. The thought never occurred to her that she had no riding habit. Back home she just wore a pair of her brother’s trousers and rode astride. She knew how to ride, but was no equestrian, which is why she asked for a slower horse.
A knock at her door momentarily stunned her. Could that be Anna already? She moved to let her in.
“Why, Ayda, what a pleasant surprise! Come in.” She held the door wide.
Ayda carried a bundle over her arm. “Anna said you were going riding.” She held up a riding outfit and handed it out to Kate. “Can you use this riding suit? It’s practically new.”
Kate smiled quickly, and then sobered at the thought of whom it may have belonged to. “Joanna’s?” she asked.
Ayda nodded. “She wouldn’t mind, I assure you.”
Kate held up the outfit, showing a pleated dark-blue riding skirt with a matching jacket.
“She had a tear in it was I was sewing it for her. That’s why it’s still here,” Ayda told her.
Kate touched the velvety material. It’s beautiful, but how do you know Joanna wouldn’t mind me wearing it.
“Because Joanna and I were close friends. She and you would get along famously.” Ayda smiled. “In fact, I think you will one day.”
Kate sank down onto her bed. “Then you know she’s alive?”
Ayda nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m sure she is.”
With a puzzled look, Kate asked, “But how can you be so sure, if no one knows what happened?”
“Trust me” was all Ayda said.
Hadn’t Margo told Kate to trust Ayda? Wasn’t Margo always right? At least so far? “All right, I’ll borrow the riding habit, if you’re sure Joanna won’t mind.”
“She has several, at any rate.” Ayda hung the riding habit in the closet, then walked to the door and hesitated. “Kate, Margo said you’ve heard some gossip about the Redfields that has you worried—”
Kate interrupted. “Margo said that?”
Ayda nodded. “People are strange creatures. Whenever they don’t know the whole story, they think the worst. I wonder if it’s because so many lives lack excitement. Perhaps people with nothing else to do crave the suspense of imagining things about others’ lives.”
“But, Ayda, you must admit, the circumstances here are somewhat mysterious. If Joanna’s disappearance involves no foul play, why aren’t the facts being given?”
Ayda smiled patiently. “Perhaps those facts involve personal secrets—things no one else has a right to know. Maybe that’s why people invent dreadful stories; they don’t like not knowing all the details.”
“George Plumb heard Josh tell Phillip Barringer that—“
“Please, Kate!” Ayda held up her hand. “I don’t even want to hear it.”
“But if you hear it, you’ll know—“
“So far everything I know about the Redfields, I admire.”
“Can you tell me anything to dispel the rumors I’ve heard?”
Ayda raised her eyebrows and smiled faintly. “If you let yourself get to know Joshua, you won’t need anyone to tell you anything. Get to know him. Find out yourself.” She closed the door softly behind her.
Kate wondered why Ayda was defending Joshua so fiercely. Did Joshua get rid of his flirtatious wife? Had Joanna run away with Phillip Barringer? She wished she had never heard those horrid rumors. Ayda was right about gossips. But now that they had sown a seed in Kate’s mind, she couldn’t kill off the weed it had become. It just kept growing in her mind.
Kate dressed in Joanna’s riding habit, and one of her own ruffled white blouses. Then she tied her long brown hair back tight with a blue ribbon, to keep it from her face while she rode, and headed to the stables.
Just as Kate started to mount Loco, a hand shot out to assist her. Josh! She allowed him to help her and marveled at the ease with which he lifted her atop the horse. Her hand grasped his shoulder for support and his tight, muscular body made her feel secure in his strength. She’d never ridden sidesaddle, but she thought, with a slow horse, she’d manage.
Anna was already on Lightning, and Josh mounted a beautiful cream-colored horse. “That’s Lumberjack!” exclaimed Anna.
Kate laughed within herself. Such simple names for such magnificent animals: Lightning, Loco, and Lumberjack! The Redfields were as down-to-earth as her family. She recalled Delilah, their mulch cow; Samson, the bull; the old yellow cat, Amber; and Skeeter, her droopy-eared beagle. How could she forget the goat, Buddy, or the mule they had called Moses? The memories made Kate suddenly homesick.
Josh cautioned Kate about Loco’s running in circles sometimes. “We aren’t sure why, but if he starts doing it just pull the reins in the opposite direction quickly and he’ll stop. He hasn’t done that in a while, but just in case.”
Before Kate realized it, they were riding quite fast and had reached the schoolhouse. It felt abnormal to be riding sidesaddle and she hoped she’d get used to it quickly if the horse were going to gallop. She struggled to keep her seat.
Josh reined in at the back door of the schoolhouse. When Anna and Kate caught up, Josh asked, “Is there anything you need here?”
Kate shook her head, and Josh urged his horse on toward the main road. Both girls began to follow his lead, when suddenly Kate’s horse began running in circles, as if chasing his own tail. No matter how she tried to straighten him out, Loco insisted on the circles. Kate’s eyes frantically sought Anna, who had waited for her; her silent, horrified face begged the child for help.
“Pull to the left with the reins!” Anna shouted.
Kate couldn’t get them in the right position to use them. Because she was frantic, she must have pulled too hard on the reins and hurt Loco’s mouth, for he started rearing. She lost her seat and ended up in some prickly bushes. She tried to jump up quickly because the horse was still rearing very close to where she was sprawled. She tripped in her haste and fell flat on her face. At the same moment she heard Anna scream, a strong arm grabbed her beneath her arms and scooped her up and out of reach of the rearing horse. Still panicky, Kate screamed, then she suddenly found herself flung onto the back of Lumberjack and held against the strong chest of Joshua Redfield.
“Are you all right?”
he asked anxiously. “Where are you hurt?”
Kate’s head swam, and as she fought dizziness Josh’s arms tightened around her. After taking deep breaths, she finally answered, “I’m fine, but my ankle is throbbing terribly. I think I’ve broken it.”
“We’ll take you back to the house,” he said, turning his horse abruptly. “C’mon, Anna, we have to go back; your teacher is hurt.”
By then Anna had Loco under control and she pulled him behind her horse.
Kate felt strangely subdued in Joshua’s protective arms. She looked at his big, crusty hands on the reins. How gentle they’d felt when they had rescued her. How tender his arms had become when he’d had to steady her. Could those hands have caused his wife’s disappearance?
When they returned to the house, Josh carried Kate to the bench overlooking the gardens, knelt on one knee, gently removed her boot and moved his thumbs gently yet firmly over her ankle. “H-m-m, doesn’t seem to be more than a bad turn or sprain.” He looked up at her, and one of his gentle brown eyes winked. “Katherine, we won’t have to shoot you.”
Kate was slightly taken aback. Hardly anyone called her Katherine, except her mother, when she was angry with her. Yet Josh’s voice hadn’t sounded at all hostile. She rather liked the way he said her name.
“That’s a relief,” she murmured, half laughing, half crying. “But I doubt I can stand on it, nonetheless.”
“You won’t have to.” He scooped her up into his massive, muscular arms and held her against his hard chest. “I’ll carry you upstairs and send Ayda in to help you get into bed.”
As Josh carried her up the staircase, Kate felt like cuddling even closer and putting her arms around his neck. She had no idea what gave her this impulse, but she successfully restrained herself.
Ayda scurried into Kate’s room, a worried look on her face. “Are you sure it’s only a sprain?”
Kate nodded. “Do you think I could eat dinner up here tonight, so I can keep off my feet?” she asked hopefully.
“Certainly. You may have to keep off it for a few days.” Ayda examined the ankle and shook her head. “Nasty color. I’ll get you ready for bed and bring in some salve and call the local doctor.”
“This is crazy,” Kate murmured as the housekeeper undressed her. “I was warned the horse had a tendency to do that, but I thought I could handle it.”
“Usually he’s gentle and harmless, but for some reason, whenever flies bother his tail, he goes crazy. At least that’s the only reason we can think of.” “Joanna would simply smack his tail with the reins, and that would give him relief. It always worked. I’m surprised they didn’t tell you.”
“I never heard of a horse doing that. “
“The only reason they keep that animal is because Joanna liked him. She claimed he was less frisky than most,” Ayda explained.
“He was perfect, until he started spinning, and I’m not used to riding sidesaddle.”
“Josh just told me he was going to have the local vet examine him. He’s pretty upset that this happened to you in his care.” Covering Kate with a crisp sheet, Ayda smiled down on her. “It’s almost like having Joanna back. I’m glad you came, Kate.”
That evening the local doctor visited Kate and confirmed her injury was just a twisted ankle and she should stay off her foot for a few days. He affirmed that despite the discoloration and swelling, it would heal completely in a few days.
The next afternoon a voice stirred Kate from gentle napping. “Dr. Redfield, here to check his patient,” Josh said, entering through the open door. “Ayda said you’ve been a perfect convalescent.”
“She’s been the perfect nurse,” Kate replied.
Josh pulled the sheet up from the bottom of the bed and looked at her ankle. “Much better. I’d stay off it another day, just to be sure.” He covered up her feet again. “How do you feel otherwise?”
Kate nodded. “Fine. A bit bored is all.”
“Bored? How about a game of checkers?” His smile was infectious or was it because she hadn’t seen it much.
She shrugged. “Sure. I have a few minutes.”
Moments later he returned with a box, which he laid upon the empty side of the bed. Pulling up a chair, he asked, “Can you roll onto your side and face this direction?”
Turning, Kate saw he had the game laid out on the sheet. She hadn’t played checkers in years. How easily she had beaten Benji and Em, but she’d never won against her father. Josh reminded her of her father, always one jump ahead.
“You won’t be able to attend church this week,” Josh said, jumping her game piece. “I’ll talk to O’Brien and give you his decision on the school.”
“Have you heard if anyone else has come down with measles?”
“Only one more.”
“Who?”
“One of the Balcombs. The girl, I think.”
“Lucy?”
“I guess.”
Kate smiled as she finally captured one of his men. “I suppose the boys will get them now.”
“Probably. But Buzz said they were keeping the others away from the sick one. Sometimes that works.”
As Kate watched him plan his strategy she wished he would turn the conversation to Joanna. She wanted the mystery solved, so she could decide if she liked this man, Joshua Redfield, or despised him.
But moments later, Ayda came to the door and announced that Kate had visitors. She twisted around to see Geoffrey and Lydia walking into her room.
Geoffrey nodded toward Josh. “Lydia and I came to see our clumsy equestrian. We certainly thought you knew how to ride by now!” Geoffrey teased.
Lydia shushed him. “He thought all day to come up with something to rile you with. How’s the ankle?”
“Much better. The purple is turning to yellow. They take very good care of me here.”
Geoffrey disdainfully glanced at Josh, who was putting the unfinished game back into the box. “Yes, we can see that they are.”
“I was bored,” Kate explained. “Josh was kind enough to console me with a game of checkers.”
“How quaint,” Geoffrey said, turning to look out the window.
Lydia smiled at Joshua. “Who won?”
“No one,” he said, moving toward the door. “We didn’t finish.”
Kate wondered why he was leaving. “You don’t have to go.”
He hurried out, calling over his shoulder, “You won’t get off so easily. I’ll be back tomorrow with my game—I was ahead you know!”
Kate turned to her guests. “He has been so wonderful; everyone here has been…” tears filled her eyes. “I can’t even think of a word to describe how they’ve treated me. I can’t thank them enough.”
“They should treat you well,” sniffed Geoffrey haughtily. “If it weren’t for their inadequate horse, you wouldn’t have been hurt. What were they thinking giving you a loco horse?”
“You heard the story?” Kate asked, rather offended at his attitude.
“Ayda told Margo,” said Geoffrey. “They could have told you how that horse acted.”
“You shouldn’t have been given such a horse,” agreed Lydia.
“I didn’t tell them I wasn’t a skilled horsewoman. If I had been, I’d have been able to handle the horse. Kate didn’t like the tone of the visit, so she changed the subject. “How are things at the store?”
“Great,” remarked Lydia. “I sold everything today!”
“Everything?” Kate asked. “Even the cakes?”
“By four o’clock every baked good except one loaf of bread was gone. Margo decided we’d use it ourselves for supper.”
“But then the Mullins family didn’t get anything!” Kate said. “It’s probably due to all the illness. The mothers are so busy caring for the sick they don’t have time to bake.”
“I hear their babies, Emmet and Eleanor, are sick with measles. Just when Randy was getting well, too. Didn’t Ayda mention it?”
“No. I pray they’ll be well soon.”
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br /> “Actually,” said Lydia, “the doctor’s most concerned with their mother, Clara. She’s taken quite ill, and Harley has all he can do to care for them all.”
“Don’t be surprised,” added Geoffrey, “if Ayda has to leave here to take care of them.”
“But she can’t!” exclaimed Kate. “I can’t stay in a home with two men and a small girl. If she leaves, where will I go?”
Chapter Twelve
True to his word, the next afternoon, after he returned from the lumberyard, Josh came into Kate’s room, carrying the checkers game. She sat in a chair with a blanket on her lap and her foot propped onto a stool.
The first thing he did was look at her ankle. “It’s mending nicely. Look, no more black and purple, but a soft yellow!” He winked.
“To match my bed jacket.” Kate found herself enjoying the warm and enchanting tone of Josh’s humor.
“Did you think you’d get out of playing checkers?” He asked, hands on his hips.
“No,” she replied. “I knew you’d be back… “
“And just how did you know that?” he said with a chuckle.
“I can tell a man of his word.”
“If more people thought that of me, I’d lose half of my problems.”
Just the opportunity Kate was looking for to fish into his personal life. “What problems could you possibly have?”
“Ha!” He threw back his head and let out the peal of laughter. “What problem don’t I have? That would be a more apt question.”
“By the looks of this house, you have no financial worries. Your daughter is bright, beautiful, and extremely healthy. Your housekeeper is loyal and hard-working…need I go on?” she asked.
His eyes sparkled. “Yes, please do!” Then more seriously he said, “I thank God daily for my blessings. But don’t judge a man’s wealth by the size of his house; I merely got a good price on the lumber. While I’m not exactly rich, my business has been successful, thanks to the people of Victoria.”
“Then what could possibly trouble you?” she asked hopefully.
“Most of my problems are not actually mine, but those of others. I became enmeshed in them because I care.”