Because she suddenly discovered she did not like heights. Three branches off the ground, Rachel clamped herself to the trunk and squeezed her eyes closed. The pounding of her heartbeat knocked against the wood of the tree. The thundering of her pulse nearly drowned the bellows of the beast below her.
Alligators cannot climb trees, can they?
She knew so little about this American animal. Now she wished she knew more.
Lord, help.
A ruckus below her riveted her attention to Nathan wrestling the alligator on the ground under the tree. Mr. Baker held out his hand clenching Tom’s pistol but couldn’t take a shot because the animal and Nathan were entwined together. Her gaze fastened onto the knife in Nathan’s grasp as he sat on the creature’s back and locked his hands on the jaws to keep them closed. Then, releasing his grip on one side, he slit the alligator’s throat. The beast went limp in his hold, and Nathan rose.
Nathan had often supplemented their food supply with fresh meat from the animals around the area, but Rachel had never seen him kill one—and he certainly had not brought home an alligator before. Her stomach roiled. Bile rose into her throat. This country was too primitive for her. She was used to an estate not far from London or staying in their townhouse there. How in the world did she think she could make a life for herself and Faith in this place?
“You can come down now, Rachel.”
Nathan’s deep, gruff voice floated up to her in the midst of the panic seizing her. She gasped for a decent breath. The rapid beating of her heart threatened to overtake her whole body. One damp hand slipped on the bark, the wood scraping her palm. She could not move. Her muscles were frozen in place.
“Everything is all right, Rachel.”
Again his soothing words reached her ears, and she heard them, but when her gaze fell on the large alligator, bigger than Nathan, who was at least six feet tall, the enormity of what she had done with a puny little club-like weapon hit her as though someone had punched her in the stomach.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“You are not too high up. I will help you. Step on the branch lower than you.”
She tried to move her foot down to that limb. She couldn’t. “I—I…” She panned the view from the tree. Her vision blurred, her surroundings whirling.
“I am coming up,” she vaguely heard in the distance—the far distance.
Black rushed toward her, and she went limp.
Nathan caught Rachel as she wilted on the branch. Her eyes fluttered and closed. He cradled her, pinned between the limb and him, as he tried to figure out how he was going to get her down.
“Ben, George, can you help me lower her to the ground?”
“Yes,” they answered at the same time. Then George added, “I can get rid of this sling.”
“No,” Maddy said. “You might open your wound.”
“I’m fine, woman. I have been telling you that for days.” He flung off the cloth that had held his arm then positioned himself beneath the tree with Ben next to him. “We are ready. Pass her to us. I wonder what made her pass out. Do you think she is ill?”
Nathan chuckled, staring at the soft, beautiful features of Rachel’s face. “No, I think she finally realized how dangerous it is to fight an alligator.”
George joined in with laughter.
Maddy punched him in his good arm, half playfully, half seriously. “Nothing better stand in the way of a mama protecting her own. That includes monsters, whether it is two- or four-legged. Do you hear me?” She shouted the last two sentences for the neighbors to hear.
As Nathan handed off Rachel to George and Ben, he couldn’t shake the image of the alligator caging Rachel against the tree. The beast had opened its jaw as though showing her she did not have a chance against him. Rage had zipped through every part of Nathan, and somehow he ended up on top of the alligator. It happened so fast he was not even sure how it came about.
Hopping down to the ground, he knelt next to Rachel and felt for a pulse. Steady beneath his fingertips. Good. “I’m taking her to the house. I need you all to keep an eye on the burnt field. If a fire reoccurs, come get me. We will have to stop it before it gets out of hand. We were lucky this time. The wind changed directions away from the house and barn.”
Rachel stirred and murmured, “Not luck. The Lord.” She swallowed and moistened her lips as her eyes slowly opened. “I asked the Lord to save the house, and He did.”
“Sure He did,” Nathan muttered, but when he thought back to the desperation he had felt at battling a fire that was consuming everything in its path and spreading quickly, what other explanation was there?
Nathan scooped Rachel up into his arms. The feeling that she belonged in his embrace stunned him. It had to be a reaction to the fact she could have been killed today. That was all. He cared about Rachel and Faith—felt responsible for them even, but he would not let himself feel anything beyond that. She didn’t belong here, and hopefully her family would come and take her back to England.
He looked down at her and found her staring at him. His throat constricted.
“I can walk. I am fine. You can put me down.”
He clenched his teeth, drawing in deep breaths through his nostrils. “No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“No means I will not put you down.” He mounted the step into her house. “Besides, we are here.”
“Good. Now you can.”
He kept striding toward her bedchamber. Her brows furrowed, and her mouth tightened into a thin line.
After he shouldered his way into the room, he crossed to the bed and placed her on it. “There. I have put you down.” When she started to get up, he laid his hand on her shoulder. “You are not going anywhere until you have rested.”
“I told you I am fine.” She propped herself up on her elbows and stabbed him with a narrow-eyed look.
“Yes, you did. I don’t believe you. You have dark circles under your eyes. Your arms are trembling with exhaustion. You have spent the past hour fighting first a fire and then an alligator. Rest, at least for a while.”
The tension in her face relaxed, and she sank back onto the bed. “There is so much to do. What am I going to do about the field? This is really going to hurt me. I only have the money now that I make from Mrs. Bridges.” Rachel’s gaze shifted, and she smiled. “Come in, honey. As you can see, I’m all right.”
Emma shuffled into the room. “I brought Faith back to sleep in her cradle.”
“Thank you. You were so brave today.” Rachel pushed herself up into a sitting position while the girl put Faith down. “Are you all right? You gave me a fright today.”
“I went into the woods to go to…” The child slanted a glance at Nathan. “I didn’t want to leave Faith alone. I took her with me. The alligator surprised me. I was so scared.”
Rachel held out her arms and Emma went into her embrace. “You were brave. Now that it is warm we are going to have to keep a watch out for alligators.”
“At least we will have some fresh meat for a while. Alligator meat is good.” Nathan knew that fact would not make up for the loss of a field of corn. He did not have an answer for Rachel. This would hurt her. They could replant, but that did not help the immediate money problems.
“We need to share with Mr. Baker. He has been a big help.” Rachel squeezed Emma then kissed the top of her head. “Honey, you saved Faith. I cannot thank you enough. We shall make a cake later and celebrate that we are alive and did not lose our home.”
“A party?” The child stepped back, her eyes sparkling.
“Yes. We have a lot to celebrate.”
Emma darted forward and gave Rachel a kiss on her cheek then scurried out of the bedchamber.
Tears shone in Rachel’s eyes. “What if she had not been able to get away from the alligator?”
“But she did. Don’t worry about something that did not happen.”
“Can I worry about what the loss of the corn will mean?”
“We do have the piglets. You are right. I need to look at my blessings. There are many. One is you. I cannot pretend that I would have made it this far by myself. You are the reason the farm is doing as well as it is.”
“We still have a problem. How did the fire start? It was not lightning, so what was it?”
“Why would someone try to burn me out?”
“Why was that man in the swamp? Why did he kidnap Ben?”
“Do you think it has anything to do with Ben’s father being killed here?”
Rachel’s question made Nathan pause. Did their troubles all go back to the murdered man? “When we go into Charleston, I will talk with the constable and the kidnapper. We need some answers.”
“Also, we need seed if we are going to replant. Perhaps Mrs. Bridges can give me more work. We need to go soon to town.”
“Only if Mr. Baker will stay here with Maddy and the children. From the way he is here a lot of the time, I don’t think he will mind.”
Rachel swung her legs over the side of the bed and rose. “There is a lot to do before we go.”
Nathan grinned, moving to block her path to the door. “Do you not understand what it means to rest?”
Rachel peered down at her torn, dirty dressing gown. “Look at me. I am a mess.”
He stepped closer and clasped her upper arms. “You look beautiful,” slipped out of his mouth before he could censor himself.
She blushed and lowered her head.
He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger. The sight of her full lips stirred a need in him that he had buried. She made him feel needed. She made him feel as if he could make a difference.
He leaned toward her and whispered his mouth across hers. The taste of her on his lips heightened his need to hold her close, their hearts beating as one. He tugged her near and wound his arms about her as he kissed her properly—deep and long. She melted into him as though her legs gave way and he needed to support her. Which he gladly did. For now he would enjoy the kiss. Later reality would set in.
Later that night after supper, Rachel served the cake she had baked—a little lopsided, but she hoped edible. She set it on the table in front of Nathan. He took his knife and sliced the sweet then passed the pieces to each one. Ben licked his lips. Mr. Baker beamed with a huge grin.
When Nathan gave her the plate with her dessert on it, their gazes connected and the sensations she had experienced when he kissed her earlier that day bubbled to the surface along with the heat of a flush. He winked and resumed cutting the cake. Her heart fluttered and beads of perspiration covered her upper lip and forehead.
Today she had finally admitted out loud that she would not have made it without his help. When the words had come out, at first she had been surprised at herself, but the more she acknowledged Nathan’s role in her life, the more it felt right. From the very first, when she had gone into labor with Faith in a storm, all the way to today, when she was chased by an alligator, he had been there. She tried to picture Tom being there for her like Nathan. She couldn’t.
Emma kept her head down and picked at her cake.
“I thought you wanted to celebrate tonight, Emma.” Was the cake that bad? Rachel took a bite. The taste was a little too sweet. She should not have put in that extra honey, but she had thought more of a good thing would make it even better.
“I am tired.” She raised her chin, her eyes half veiled with sleepiness. “Can I save it till tomorrow?”
“Yes. I can do that for you if you want to go to bed.”
The child rose, her movements slow, her steps labored as she bridged the distance to the bedchamber.
As Rachel watched Emma, concern mushroomed in her. Something was wrong. Was she ill?
After a few minutes to give Emma a chance to get ready for bed, Rachel pushed back her stool and stood. “I am going to check on Emma. Make sure everything is all right.”
When she entered the room, Emma sat on the side of the bed in her nightgown, staring at the floor. She did not even look up as Rachel approached her.
“What is wrong? I know today set us back, but we could have lost so much more. We were fortunate. We have a place to live and the other two fields are still all right.”
Emma raised glistening eyes to Rachel. “But what if he burns them too?”
“Who is ‘he’?” Rachel settled on the bed next to the girl.
“The bad man.”
“He’s in jail. Remember? He didn’t do this.”
“But he has a friend.”
“Friend? How do you know?”
Emma averted her face, her hands twisting together in her lap. “You said it might be the bad man’s friend.”
“You listened to everything Nathan and I talked about this morning?”
Her shoulders hunched even more, and she mumbled, “Yes.” A tear fell from her eye. “I am sorry. Don’t be mad.”
Rachel slid her arm around the child’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I am not mad. But you should not eavesdrop on people’s conversations.”
“I know. But there’s something I need to tell ya.” Emma sniffled and inhaled a deep breath. “I know the bad man that took Ben.”
Fourteen
“You know the man? How? Who is it?” Rachel’s stomach plummeted.
Emma nodded. “Pa worked with him. He was mean.”
“What is his name?”
“Pa called him Geoffrey. Pa kept us away from him.”
Rachel could understand that. “What did your pa do for him?”
Emma hung her head, her clasp so tight her knuckles were white. “Bad things. That is why Pa ran away.”
“Where did he go?”
“Here. We were living here. No one else was,” she mumbled into her lap.
“Do you know why Geoffrey kidnapped Ben?”
“He wants Ben to tell him something.”
“Do you know what?”
Emma nodded. “Ben don’t know I tolded you.” She peered up. “I don’t want you to lose the farm. Ben and me don’t want to be sent away. I want to live here…with you.”
“I am not going to send you two away. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Tears glistened in the child’s eyes. “What if we do somethin’ wrong?”
“That will not change how I feel about you and your brother.”
“What if you lose the farm ’cause of the fire?”
“Then I will figure something out.”
Emma brushed a tear away from her cheek. “The money can help you keep it.”
“The money?” Dread knotted Rachel’s abdomen. What was going on? What had the children been involved in?
“Pa tolded Ben where he hid it.”
“I thought you two did not have any money.”
“Not ours. Bad man’s.” Covering her mouth, Emma yawned.
Rachel would not get to the bottom of this until she had a conversation with Ben. “Don’t worry about it. You get some sleep and we will talk tomorrow.”
Emma scooted back until she could pull the covers up over her.
Rachel leaned down and kissed her goodnight. “Honey, you have a home with me. I don’t intend to lose this farm.” I cannot. Where would we all go? She had more than herself and Faith to look out for now.
Rachel left the bedchamber with the door slightly open. Until Maddy went to bed, Emma did not feel comfortable staying by herself without the light coming from the main room. When she returned to the table, Maddy had already cleared the dishes away. Rachel sat across from Ben.
Rachel directed her full attention to the boy. “Who is Geoffrey?”
His mouth dropped open. His pupils dilated. “What did Emma tell you?”
“That you know the man who took you. What was he after?” Rachel felt Nathan’s lo
ok on her, but she focused totally on Ben. She needed answers. Today they could have all died if Liberty had not barked and Nathan was not quick to act.
“Pa stole some money from him.” His gaze cut into her with defiance.
“He wanted his money back?”
“ ’Tis not his money.”
“Whose money is it?” Nathan asked.
Finally Rachel peered at him. The hard edge to his words carried over into his expression. A muscle in his jaw jerked.
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. Different people. Pa tried hidin’ us from Geoffrey and the other man.”
“What other man?” Nathan rose and towered at the end of the table.
“Don’t know his name. He’s one reason Pa stopped workin’ for Geoffrey.” Ben shifted his attention from Rachel to Nathan then back to Rachel. “No one stops workin’ for him. ’Tis why Pa was hidin’ here.”
“That and the fact your pa took some money that did not belong to him.” Nathan paced a few feet then swung around and came back.
Ben shot to his feet, his hands balled at his sides. “The money didn’t belong to Geoffrey. They stole it,” he shouted then raced up the staircase to the loft.
From the pounding sound he made, he must have thrown himself on his pallet.
“We have a problem,” Rachel said, spying Emma peeking into the main room.
“Yes. There is another cutthroat thief out there bent on getting back the money stolen from him, and he thinks we have it.”
“Yes, that is a problem, but that was not what I was referring to. Emma and Ben are afraid we…I shall leave them.”
Nathan pivoted toward Rachel and caught sight of Emma in the doorway. His expression softened. “Ben, come down here. Emma, come out of the room.”
A long moment passed with not a sound coming from the loft. Then Ben poked his head out of the opening. He clambered down the steps and slunk toward the table, his gaze trained on the floor. Emma crossed to her brother and sat next to him.
Nathan positioned himself behind Rachel and said, “You will always have a home here.”
Ben peered at Rachel. “Promise?”
From This Day Forward Page 19