LeAnn turned to Mabel and said, “I’ll bring back the things I have that will spoil.” Her face was already fiery red with embarrassment at the thought of being alone in the dark with Jack. She wasn’t afraid he would hurt her, but she didn’t know what she would say to him.
“Go along with Jack, dear. He’ll see to it you get there and back.” Mabel understood LeAnn’s shyness.
After promising to return quickly, the two of them went outside. The moon, not quite full, shone brightly in the mostly cloudless sky above. A soft, warm wind blew across the lake from the north and rustled the leaves. They walked slowly down the hard-packed road to LeAnn’s cabin.
“Thank you for coming with me,” LeAnn said softly, her eyes downcast as she picked her way carefully in the night light.
“My pleasure.”
They moved along in silence, the distant hoot of an owl the only sound. After a couple of minutes, her cabin came into view. Its dark silhouette looked ominous. LeAnn swallowed her fear and walked up the steps to the porch. “You don’t need to come in. I’ll put what I need in a pillowcase and be right out.”
“I’ll come inside, if it’s all the same.” Even in the near darkness, LeAnn could see his warm smile and instantly felt safer. It had been a long time since a man had cared about her welfare.
Jack followed LeAnn into the cabin and stood with his back to the door, his eyes surveying the room. The place was neat and clean. A fruit jar full of wildflowers sat on a table. A beat-up chair was next to the window that faced the lake. He didn’t see many personal possessions as he watched her fold up several garments and put them in a pillow slip. After adding some toiletries, she clutched the pillow slip to her chest.
“I’m ready.”
“Do you have everything you need?”
“Oh, wait!” she exclaimed and gathered up the few items she wanted to take back to Mabel. “Thank you for reminding me.”
Jack walked to the back door and checked to make sure the lock was secure. He returned to the front of the cabin, took the pillow slip from LeAnn’s hand, and ushered her out the front door. After locking the cabin behind him, he led her back down the road toward the other cabins. Glancing at her as she walked beside him, her head even with his shoulders, he took note of her sandy hair.
“You’re not very big.”
“You mean not very tall compared to you,” she corrected.
He grinned down at her as she smiled shyly back. Before she could say anything more, he asked a question that took the air out of her lungs. “How far along are you?”
She felt her face redden and, though he couldn’t see it in the darkness, she turned away from him. She hadn’t thought he’d ask about her pregnancy!
“Have I embarrassed you?” he asked softly. He stopped on the path and turned to face her. “If I did, I’m sorry. I’ve lived on a ranch all my life. On a ranch, birth is an everyday occurrence.”
“I understand.” LeAnn nodded and started walking. The awkwardness of his words faded quickly, and she was surprised by how at ease she felt with him. Secure beside him, she answered his question. “I’m in my seventh month.”
“Will this be your first child?”
“Yes.” She felt his hand cup her elbow. Confidently, he guided her around a rough spot in the road. She liked his touch. “Tell me about the place where you live.”
“I live on a thousand-acre ranch near Sharpton, on the north side of the Red River in Oklahoma. It runs along the south edge of the land. My parents left the ranch to me and my brother with the stipulation that we take care of our two maiden aunts for as long as they live.” Jack laughed heartily before adding, “It’s no chore at all. They’re a couple of live wires.”
“Is your brother married?”
“Not yet. But he’s going with a girl and I’m sure they’ll marry.”
“Isn’t a ranch life busy?” LeAnn asked. “I’d think there would be so much to do that it would be hard to find the time to come to a camp in Arkansas.”
“This is the slow time of the year. Besides, I’ve worked off and on for Simon for years. It’s good money. Cash is always scarce on a ranch. Now,” he said with a grin, “enough about me. Tell me where you lived before coming here.”
“It was a tiny town in southern Missouri called Collins.” She shuddered to herself and took a deep breath before saying, “It’s not much more than a wide spot in the road.”
“That’d suit me just fine. I don’t care to live in a city.”
“Then Collins would be perfect for you.”
“How long were you married?” Jack asked. When LeAnn paused, he sighed before adding, “I’m sorry for asking so many questions, but I’d like to get to know you better. I hope I didn’t upset you.”
“It’s fine. It’s just hard to believe I’m a widow.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“We weren’t married long. Two and a half years, but Ernie was gone for one of those years.”
“Gone?” Jack asked.
“This is hard for me to say,” LeAnn said softly, “but you will probably find out anyway. I’m sure it will come out now that he’s dead. Ernie was in prison for that year.”
Up ahead, Nona’s cabin came into view, a bright light shining through the windows. Jack was silent and it unsettled LeAnn that he hadn’t replied to what she’d said. She pulled her arm free of his hand and stopped. Jack stopped and turned to face her.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what he went to prison for? Don’t you want to know if I had any part in it?”
“I’d bet my life you had no part of what sent your husband to prison.” Even though it was hard for her to see his face, she could feel his blue eyes on her face.
“I didn’t have any part of it,” she said stoutly. “Some of the people in Collins didn’t believe me.”
“Then they were damn fools.”
They reached Nona’s cabin and stepped up onto the porch. “Thank you for the company,” LeAnn said.
“I enjoyed it more than you know.” Jack knocked on the door and opened it. “Good night, LeAnn.”
“Good night, Mr. Grant.”
LeAnn stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Jack stood on the porch until he heard her talking to Nona, then walked down the drive to the cabin where he bunked. Something about LeAnn pulled at him. Her eyes were filled with a deep sadness, but there was intelligence and maturity there as well. Was it the sadness for the husband she’d just lost or did it go beyond that? Beneath her fragile exterior lay strength and determination. He didn’t know how he knew this, but he did.
As a rule, he wasn’t shy with women. But when he was with LeAnn, his tongue clung to the roof of his mouth. He credited his reaction to the fact that he hadn’t been around a pretty girl for several months.
Inside Nona’s cabin, LeAnn’s mind was in similar turmoil. Guilt racked her heart. Her husband hadn’t been dead a day. What kind of a woman was she to have enjoyed the company of another man? She excused herself by thinking that when he’d returned from prison Ernie had not been the man she had married. The baby had meant nothing to him.
Ernie died only yesterday, but her love for him had died a long time before.
Chapter 13
MABEL AND NONA stood in the kitchen drying dishes as the day’s last remaining light faded. Simon and Jack had gone back to their cabins. Sam Houston paced in front of the back door, whining.
“Just hold your horses, Sam,” Mabel scolded. “You can go out with the rest of us in a minute or two. We’ll have to make a trip to the outhouse before we go to bed. You’ll get your chance.”
“I’ll wake up Maggie,” Nona said as she hung the dishtowel on the rack behind the stove. “I don’t know what’s the matter with that girl. Since we’ve been here, all she does is sleep. Back in our old apartment, I had to shoo her to bed every night.”
“Things are different here. She’s constantly on the go. She follows Simon around and takes three steps to his one in
order to keep up with his long legs. Maggie is becoming a country girl. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Nona sighed.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ll be leaving here soon. She needs to go to school. I don’t want to break her heart by doing what’s best for her.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Nona entered the room that she shared with her sister. Maggie was huddled under a blanket, sound asleep. Nona walked over and lightly shook the girl’s shoulder. “Honey. We’re going to the outhouse. You’d better come with us.”
Maggie made no response. After several shakes, each one harder than the next, she finally opened her eyes and groaned. Nona repeated her words, but Maggie mumbled, “I don’t have to go.”
“You should still come with us. You might have to go later.”
“I don’t have to go,” Maggie insisted. “I went before dark.”
“What?” Nona exclaimed. “I didn’t know that. With everything that’s happened, Simon told us not to go to the outhouse alone. You know better than that.”
“I didn’t see anybody around. Besides, I had Sam Houston with me.”
“That doesn’t make any difference. Simon said not to go out there alone. Why didn’t you mind him? You’re the one who thinks the man walks on water.”
“He does . . . almost.” Maggie chuckled. With that, the girl turned her head, squeezed her pillow, and closed her eyes.
“If you don’t go now,” Nona said crossly, irritated by her sister’s refusal to get up, “you won’t be able to go until morning. Don’t think of waking me up in the middle of the night.”
Maggie grunted and turned her face to the wall. “I won’t.”
Maggie woke from a lazy dream and sat up in her bed. Faint light came from a part in the curtains, and she blinked her eyes quickly. All around her, the house was quiet. Nona slept soundly on the bed next to Maggie, her mouth slightly open. Sam Houston was stretched out on the floor between the two sisters, one paw thrust up in the air. It was still so early that the morning birds hadn’t begun to sing.
A painful pressure in her stomach had awakened Maggie. Her bladder was full. Last night, she had been so tired she’d ignored Nona’s urging to go to the outhouse, and she was now paying for it. All she wanted to do was roll up in her blankets and go back to sleep, but she knew if she didn’t go pee, she’d do nothing but toss and turn uncomfortably.
As she swung her feet out of the covers and put them on the floor, she thought for a moment about waking Nona. Her sister had said they shouldn’t go to the outhouse alone. She’d blow her top if she knew how many times I’ve gone by myself! It would only take a couple of minutes to get there and back. No one would be the wiser.
Maggie stood up, grabbed a light shawl from the bedside table, and wrapped it around her shoulders. As she left the room, the floorboards beneath her feet creaked loudly. Nona moaned and shifted in her bed. Standing stock-still, Maggie turned and held her breath. Seconds passed as she waited for Nona to wake. But she kept on sleeping. Maggie sighed to herself. Heck! Nona had nearly drowned just the day before! She needed all the rest she could get.
Kneeling down next to Sam Houston, Maggie whispered, “Come on, boy. Let’s go outside.”
In answer, the big dog yawned, stretched, and closed his eyes.
“Fine, then,” Maggie complained. “Keep on sleeping, you lazy hound.”
The day was just beginning to show itself. The eastern sky was streaked with light; no breeze stirred the leaves, and a slight chill was in the air. Maggie huddled her arms to her body and shivered; no doubt about it, fall was almost around the corner.
The outhouse sat fifty feet from the back of the cabin and about the same distance from the nearest tree line. It wasn’t sturdy; its frame sagged at the top, and it needed a new coat of paint, but they’d made do. Still, it was kind of isolated. Maggie scanned the tall elms and oaks for any movement, but didn’t see anyone about. Even the squirrels were still sleeping in their nests. All was calm and silent.
The grass between the cabin and the outhouse was wet. The morning dew clung to Maggie’s light shoes as she hurried across. She went inside, closed the outhouse door behind her, and sat down on the cold, hard seat. It was nearly pitch dark and it certainly didn’t smell like a rose garden, but she instantly felt better. In a minute or two she’d be back in her warm bed.
Just as she’d started to imagine what Mabel was going to make for breakfast, the crack of a stick from outside the outhouse startled her. What the heck was that? A sliver of fear slid its way into her stomach as she strained to hear more. A minute passed and then another; no other sound reached her ears. Slowly, Maggie began to relax. It was probably a rabbit or a squirrel. All of the warnings she’d been hearing from Simon and Nona had made her jumpy.
Maggie stood, straightened her nightdress, and opened the door. Without warning, a hand grabbed her wrist like a vise and yanked her the rest of the way out of the small building. The force was so great that she fell onto the wet grass. With a flash of panic, Maggie tried to scream, but a hand clamped tightly over her mouth.
“Watch the damn cabin,” a man’s voice commanded.
“Hurry up,” another said.
“Don’t make a sound or you’ll be sorry,” he sneered.
“Get away . . .” Maggie thought frantically. The man dropped a knee into the middle of her back, pinning her to the ground. A cloth was pressed tightly over her nose and mouth. The only thing greater than the burning pain in her chest was her fear.
“Don’t hurt her,” the other man said.
“You worry about the cabin. We’re only gettin’ one chance at this.”
“Be careful. She’s no good to us dead.”
“She ain’t gonna die . . . not yet,” the man snarled.
Desperate now, Maggie clawed at the hand covering her mouth. Nona, Mabel, and Simon were only feet away, but she couldn’t call out to them. Why hadn’t she listened? Why hadn’t she gone with Nona the night before?
Before she could regret anything else, Maggie’s world went black.
Nona woke slowly and ran her hands through her snarled red hair. The knot on the back of her head was still tender. She yawned, stretched, and got out of bed. She noticed that Maggie’s bed was empty and shrugged her shoulders. The kid had gone to bed so early the night before, she should have been up at the crack of dawn! The fragrance of breakfast had begun to waft through the cabin as Nona put on a shawl and left the room.
“Something smells delicious,” she said to Mabel as the older woman stood at the stove, flipping over pancakes.
“They were such a hit yesterday that I decided to do them again. Wash and sit yourself down before Simon and Jack get here. These pancakes will disappear fast enough then.” Mabel smiled broadly.
“I suppose you’re right,” Nona answered as she put maple syrup on a stack. “Did Maggie eat before she left?”
“I haven’t seen her,” Mabel said. “Isn’t she still in your room?”
“No. Her bed is empty.” Before Nona could use her fork, something made her put it down. A nagging feeling tugged at her. She got up from the table and walked over to the cabin’s front windows. She scanned the yard for any sign of her sister or Sam Houston. She checked the rear windows, but there was still no sign of Maggie. Still, something caught her eye; the door to the outhouse was closed. Could she be inside? “Mabel, how long have you been awake?”
“Nearly an hour. I got up, started breakfast, and let Sam Houston out.”
“And you didn’t see her?”
“No, I didn’t,” Mabel said with concern in her voice. She set down her spatula and nervously wiped her hands on her apron. “What’s wrong, Nona?”
“Could she have gone to the outhouse and you didn’t notice?”
“I suppose so, but . . .”
Nona didn’t wait to hear more. She dashed out the back door of the cabin,
down the steps of the porch, and across the grass to the outhouse. The ground was wet and cold on her bare feet. Where is that girl? Anxiety turned to anger. She thought that finding LeAnn’s husband floating in the lake would have scared Maggie sufficiently for her to take Simon’s warnings seriously. That her sister had not made her livid. Nona whipped open the door to find the outhouse empty. Irritation was instantly replaced by alarm.
Turning around in a circle, Nona scanned the lakeshore and the edge of the forest for her sister. When she’d gone to bed, Maggie had been sleeping peacefully in the bed next to hers. Now she was nowhere to be seen. Where could she be?
A door slammed behind her and Nona turned to see Simon coming down the steps of his cabin and heading toward her own. Without another thought, she began to run toward him.
“Simon!” she shouted. He stopped in his tracks. When she reached him, she grabbed his arm.
“What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Maggie!” Nona said breathlessly. “I can’t find her. She wasn’t in our room when I woke up and Mabel hasn’t seen her either.”
“Calm down, Nona,” Simon said firmly. His deep green eyes scanned her face. “You know Maggie. She and Sam Houston are probably down by the lake. Let’s not jump to conclusions until we’ve looked around.”
“I told her not to go out alone,” Nona complained, her stomach churning with fear and anxiety.
“Where’s Mabel?”
“In the kitchen cooking breakfast.”
“Go back and wait with her. I’ll get Jack and Russ. We’ll look around. She’ll turn up. Just go.” Simon turned, hurried up the steps to Jack’s cabin, and pounded on the door.
Nona ran back to where Mabel was waiting on the porch. “Did you find her?” Mabel asked nervously.
“No,” Nona answered and grabbed Mabel’s hand, tears beginning to run down her cheeks, fear eating a hole in her heart. “Simon and Jack will look for her on the grounds and by the lake. He wants us to wait here.”
“Surely she didn’t go out in a boat.”
On Tall Pine Lake Page 12