by Barbara Goss
“I was shocked when I’d heard the rumors going around that Josh had killed me. Poor Anna. I had to do something and do it fast.
“We set up an appointment to talk it over with my father and Josh, but at the last moment, I lost nerve. I just cannot face my own father. So I came to Hannah House instead, knowing he’d be somewhere else, awaiting me. I needed to see Anna again and reassure her I was alive.
“Phillip and I are prepared to begin our lives with Anna and Josh so that no one will be hurt. We will either build here near Josh or fulfill Josh’s other dream and continue on to California.
“There is absolutely no reason Josh and Anna should not be together always.” Joanna smiled. “Someday Josh will marry and have children of his own. Then I’m sure they will take a larger part of his heart. Yet I can understand how he feels now.”
Silence filled the room. Finally Kate spoke, “I agree with your decision. It seems fair, and I commend Phillip for giving up his ranch for Anna.”
“That’s why I love him. He is a good man and shouldn’t be blamed for his father’s sins.” Joanna patted Kate’s hand. “Can I give you advice? Forget how handsome or wealthy a man is. Look for a treasure in him that money can’t buy and handsomeness can’t replace—caring. Phillip cares, and because he does, I can always trust him to do whatever is right.”
Kate smiled knowingly. “I believe I know exactly what you mean.” While Josh was not hard to look at, quite the contrary, especially with the trimmed facial growth, but he wasn’t classically handsome like Geoffrey.
Joanna stood and flipped up her hood. “Will you help me?”
“Certainly,” said Kate. “But just what do you want me to do?”
“Talk to my father—he’s being so unfair, blaming Phillip for something he didn’t do. If my father can’t forgive my husband’s family for what happened to Mother, he’ll never allow us to be happy.
“It’s not just Phillip and I,” she added hesitantly. “My father also thinks Anna belongs to Josh, from a wife who died in childbirth.” Joanna explained quickly, “We had to give him some answers, because he wanted to know why I stayed in America and who Anna was. I’m so afraid of him.”
Joanna sighed. “We lied and deceived our father, but only complicated our lives. Once you begin telling lies… there’s no end to it. We dug our own graves, so to speak.”
“What do you want me to tell Arthur?”
“Tell him the whole story, as I’ve told you. See if you can convince him to forgive and forget, so that each of us can live our own lives.”
“I’ll do my best.” Kate promised, “Why doesn’t Josh tell him?” Kate suggested. “Surely your father would feel more comfortable with a family member mentioning it than having a stranger like me talk to him about personal affairs.”
“Because,” explained Joanna, “Josh refuses to tell him. He says it’s my secret, and he’ll live with it and cover for me forever, if necessary. He claims that it’s my secret to tell, not his.”
“Exactly what are you afraid of?” Kate asked.
“My father has a violent temper, for one. I also fear what he could do. What if he sends Phillip away again or something? He has powerful friends, and there is no limit to his hatred for the Barringers.”
“I found your locket,” Kate said. “Why did it look as though someone had torn it off?”
“Because it was ripped off in anger—by me! When Josh refused to let me take Anna, I threw a fit, grabbed my locket, and threw it across the room. Later, on my way out, Joshua and I had words again, and I pressed my mother’s ring into his palm. He’d given it to me as part of our ruse as a married couple.”
Shaking her head in disbelief at how twisted minds had invented dramatic stories to fit the ring and how her own imagination had seen the locket ripped off Joanna’s limp body, Kate felt ashamed. “I suppose,” Kate questioned meekly, “that the argument people heard between Josh and Phillip was about Anna, and not you?” At her puzzled look, Kate explained. “Josh was heard shouting at Phillip that he’d take her away over his dead body. Folks thought he meant you!”
Joanna smiled slightly. “And you thought that Josh had harmed . . . ?” She laughed. “He would never! Josh? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“Guilty as charged, Joanna,” Kate said, blushing at her own ignorance.
Joanna sobered. “I suppose I’d think the same, in your place. After all, you don’t know Joshua as I do. The argument we had over Anna was the first we’d ever had.” She twisted her hands nervously. “You’ll still talk to my father for me?”
Kate walked Joanna to the door. “I’m not sure how, but I’ll do something. I love Anna, too.”
Joanna smiled. “I know you do. It shows. That’s why I trust you.” She kissed Kate on the cheek, opened the door, and drifted out into the darkness.
Sitting in the dark, illuminated only by a faint glow from the fireplace, Kate contemplated the conversation with Joanna and planned her speech to Arthur Redfield. How could she present the facts to Joanna’s father so that he would become sympathetic instead of hateful? One by one, Kate rejected impossible ideas, replacing them with no practical ones.
Even if I accomplished my goal, I have no way to let Joanna know. The intense thought startled Kate. Where were Joanna and Phillip, and how could she contact them?
Unfinished thoughts swirled in Kate’s head, causing her to toss and turn in her bed that night. What a revelation tonight had been! Eventually sleep must have overtaken her, for a nightmare woke her with a jerk.
After recovering from the fright, Kate’s relieved mind replayed the dream. Geoffrey Grandville had been running from the Redfield chicken hut, with a big, white chicken clenched between his unusually large teeth. Josh had surprised him from behind the house and held a shotgun pointed at him. Dropping the chicken, Geoffrey fell to his knees, begging for forgiveness.
She would never forget the look of agony on Geoffrey’s face. Lydia had run out then, stood directly in front of Geoffrey, and cried bravely to Josh, “You’ll have to kill me first.”
“If I have to, I will,” Josh had answered.
Kate recalled her own voice, shouting, “No, you can’t shoot someone for merely stealing a few birds. Perhaps Geoffrey was hungry. Don’t shoot!”
Josh’s finger had tightened on the trigger. “Someone has to pay for this with his own life! Which of you will it be?” He aimed carefully at Geoffrey’s heart, only inches from Lydia’s temple.
Kate’s voice echoed words she had so clearly spoken in the dream. Now she could practically see them written on the bedroom wall: “Someone has already died for every sin!”
Chapter Sixteen
When Kate awoke the next morning, she knew what had to be done. The dream had been silly, as most of hers were; yet it had given her an idea as to how she could reach Arthur. While she dressed and prepared for the day, she prayed for guidance.
Kate started the fire, and while the oven warmed, made coffee and then blueberry muffins. The smells seemed to draw a crowd, for in minutes the dining room was full of everyone except Arthur.
Josh had mumbled a tired “good morning,” taken a sip of the coffee she had poured and set before him, and smiled. “That’s great coffee, Katherine! Oh, and Arthur won’t be down for breakfast he has a headache.”
Kate beamed at him as she scooped oatmeal from the saucepan to his bowl. She moved on to Anna’s dish. “Anna,” she scolded lightly, “why are you covering your bowl with your hands?”
“Don’t want no oatmeal!” she pouted.
Josh gave her a stern look.
“I don’t want any oatmeal,” Kate corrected.
“Me either!” she cried with her bottom lip trembling.
“Anna?” Josh pronounced her name dangerously.
“You don’t have to eat any,” Kate replied sweetly.
“I don’t?” Anna smiled and gave Josh a victorious look.
“Most certainly not. I’d never force anyone to eat. Sh
e might get sick.” Kate picked up Anna’s bowl and moved on to Lydia.
Lydia winked at Kate. “I’ll eat Anna’s share. I’m hungry as a bear!”
Josh glared at them both
Kate divided the rest into Lydia’s bowl and her own. She took the empty pan into the kitchen and poured cool water in it. When she returned, she poured Anna a small glass of milk. “Enjoy, Anna.”
The child remained silent but smiled victoriously as everyone ate oatmeal. When Lydia and Josh had finished, Kate took their bowls into the kitchen and returned with hot blueberry muffins. She gingerly tossed one onto each plate except Anna’s.
“If they’re as tasty as they smell, we’re in for a treat!” exclaimed Josh who finally realized Kate’s strategy.
“M-m-m, my favorite,” purred Lydia.
“Anyone want butter?” Kate uncovered the dish.
All three reached for the butter at once and let it melt onto their hot muffins. After biting into them, each of them murmured appreciation.
“Hey!” cried Anna. “I’ll have one of those, too!”
“But Anna,” Kate sounded reasonable, “this is dessert.”
“So what?” Anna cocked her head in puzzlement.
“Silly!” Exclaimed Kate. “No one can have dessert if she hasn’t eaten the meal. Everyone knows that! The dessert is the reward for eating what’s good for you.”
Josh smiled and agreed. “Everyone knows that!”
Lydia nodded. “And this is the best reward I’ve ever had. Could I have another, Kate?”
“No.” Kate said firmly. “You may not!”
“Why? Are they all gone?” Lydia asked sadly.
“No, I have plenty.”
Even Josh looked at her in puzzlement.
“Why not?” Josh and Lydia chorused.
“Because,” Kate said firmly, “you’re my friend.”
“What? I don’t understand,” Lydia objected.
“Lydia, you asked me to help you look good for Geoffrey. That’s why I won’t let you have another muffin. You must begin watching how much you eat! You’ll want to look good in your wedding dress.”
Lydia pouted silently, as if trying to decide if she should kiss Kate or knock her down and grab another muffin. Finally she looked up sheepishly. “You’re right. I’ll start making the beds instead. Thanks, Kate!” She blew her a kiss and dashed up the stairs.
Only a sulking Anna and an astonished Josh remained at the table with Kate. Josh gave Kate a look of wonder and started to say something, but Anna cut him off. “I’ll have my oatmeal now,” she said sweetly. “I wasn’t very hungry before, but I think I am now.”
“I did put some aside for your grandfather. I suppose I could let you have his—“
“Oh, please!” Anna cried. “And save me a muffin, too!”
Josh’s eyes twinkled as he looked at Kate with true appreciation.
Kate brought Anna a bowl of steaming oatmeal and set it before her. The little girl gobbled it down.
“Kate,” Josh said. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Can you come into the den for a moment?”
“Sure,” she replied, gathering dishes and starting for the kitchen with them, “as soon as I take Arthur his breakfast. Go on ahead; I’ll meet you there.”
Kate carefully balanced the breakfast tray on her shoulder and climbed the stairs to Arthur’s room. She knocked lightly.
“What?” he growled.
“It’s Kate. I have your breakfast. May I come in?”
“About time! I’m starving to death up here!” he yelled.
Kate opened the door, walked carefully to the bedside table, and lowered the tray. “Sorry, I had problems getting Anna to eat this morning—“
“No wonder! What’s this? Gruel?”
“No, it’s oatmeal,” she replied sweetly.
“I don’t want that stuff—“ He reached for the muffin.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she cried. “No oatmeal, no muffin!”
He sighed with frustration. “You’re just like Hannah! A blasted nursemaid bossing her charge!”
Kate removed the muffin from his tray and started for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going with that?” he bellowed.
“I’m taking it back to the kitchen until you eat your oatmeal.”
“Don’t treat me like a child,” he snapped. “Bring it back.” In a low tone he added, “I’ll eat the gruel.”
She watched as he ate, wondering how to soften such a hard-boiled egg as Arthur Redfield.
“Arthur, do you remember the crucifixion story?”
“The what?”
“Crucifixion. You know, when they put Christ on the cross.”
“Of course!”
“I’ve always liked the part where Jesus forgives the thief on the cross beside Him. Do you remember?”
“Ah-huh,” he murmured as he ate his oatmeal.
“What a wonderful lesson for us all. Christ showed us how He’d like us to treat our fellowman. If Christ, in his perfect state, could forgive a worthless thief and promise him a place in heaven, then surely we can—“
“That won’t work!” Arthur bellowed. “Hannah tried that on me years ago. Let me tell you something, miss; I watched the only woman I ever loved slowly melt away. There is no way I can ever forgive the Barringers—so don’t even try to make me.” He pointed to the door. “I’d like to eat in peace. I’ve a headache, remember?”
Kate shrugged and walked from the room, defeated. Going to her room, she plopped herself upon the bed. There had to be a way to reach Arthur Redfield! She’d just have to find it.
Lost in thought, Kate jumped when a knock fell on her door. “Yes?” she called.
The door opened and Anna barged in, waving a paper. “I want to show you what I made for my mother.”
Kate smiled and reached for the paper. After studying it, she looked at Anna, puzzled. “Anna, what does this mean? An eye, a heart, and the letter U?”
“I love you!” exclaimed Anna proudly. “I thought of it myself.”
“But why didn’t you just write it? Now your mother will think me a poor teacher. She’ll wonder why you cannot write those words.”
“Mama knows I can. I’ve done it for her. I need to tell her I love her in a stronger way.”
“Stronger way?” Kate asked.
“Grandfather told me that words don’t mean beans if you don’t do something. I’ll give her a big kiss; then give her this.”
Kate smiled. “Did he say, ‘Actions speak louder than words’?”
“Yes, that too!”
“Interesting.” Ideas formed in Kate’s mind. “So he said that, did he?”
“Josh is still waiting for you in the den. He said I should remind you, if I saw you—“
“Oh! I forgot!” Kate leapt from the bed and ran down the stairs. When she finally reached the den, it was empty.
“Drat!” she stamped her foot. I wonder what Josh wanted? A rustle at the door caused her to spin around. “Oh, Josh! I’m sorry. I was held up in Arthur’s room—he was playing games with his breakfast, much like Anna.”
“I just left to answer the door. It was Margo,” he said, taking a seat beside the warm fireplace and motioning for her to sit across from him. “I told her I wanted a few words with you, so she’s visiting Lydia first.”
Kate took a seat opposite him and folded her hands in her lap expectantly. The warmth from the fire felt good. The weather had suddenly turned chilly and she welcomed the heat.
Josh smiled. “Katherine, you amaze me! You run this household as well as Ayda and handle Anna better than Joanna!”
Kate noticed how his eyes sparkled when he was pleased. She simply smiled.
He continued, “I don’t know quite how to begin this conversation. But I’d like to apologize for my stupidity and inability to speak. I know what I want to say, but the words come hard. Since problems don’t go away when I ignore them, I may as well face and deal
with them.
“When you were invited to Hannah House, I knew you must have heard the gossip around town about me. The fact that you accepted my invitation proved to me that you paid it no heed—or perhaps you simply came despite the horror stories. It won you points with me, though. I thought you tough and adventurous.
“Your first day here I should have had this talk with you, but ... I put it off.” He squirmed a bit. “I’m not much of a conversationalist.” His eyes seemed to plead for a response.
“You’re doing fine,” she smiled encouragingly.
“Anyway, I’ll get to the point. I’ve invited you here under false pretenses, because I am not Anna’s father, but her uncle.” He looked at her expectantly. “Not surprised?” His eyes widened.
“Go on… “ She prompted. Kate wanted to see if his story matched Joanna’s.
He took a deep breath. “Anna is the product of my doing, but not directly. ... I mean—that isn’t what I meant to say… What I mean is she—my sister, Joanna, rather, “ he faltered.
Kate came to the rescue. “Relax, Josh, I’ve already spoken with Joanna. Last night.”
“You have?” He looked at her as if she’d given him a pleasant surprise. “And you let me muddle through this horrid, embarrassing story!”
Nodding, Kate said, “I enjoyed every minute of it. You deserved it, you know, for not having this conversation with me that first day.”
“It wasn’t my story to tell, but seeing you taking care of us, the way you treat Anna...” Josh sobered somewhat and added softly, “I like you. Like you a lot.” His voice softened the second time he said those words. “I decided that you should know the truth and I’d simply apologize to Joanna.”
Kate looked down, blushing. As she peeked up at him again, her heart pounded loudly.
“I thought about everything at breakfast this morning and knew I’d been wrong.” Josh looked deep in her eyes. “You’ve been wonderful, and I haven’t been truthful. I felt guilty. I want nothing more than to be completely honest with you. You deserve that. But… I’m glad she told it so I didn’t have to break a promise.”