White River Brides

by Frances Devine

  “Can’t see any flames, but it could be the mine or the town.” He mounted the horse. “I’m heading in that direction. Sure hope I’m wrong.”

  “Wait, I’m coming with you.” She started to put her foot in the stirrup.

  “You’d better let Aunt Kate know. She’ll worry if she wakes and finds us gone.”

  “Don’t you dare leave without me.” She ran inside, wrote a quick note that she left propped up on the kitchen table, then grabbed a bonnet and tied it on while running back outside.

  Lexie clung to Will’s shirt as Jolly galloped up the hill toward Marble Cave and Marmoros. Dear God, please don’t let anyone be hurt.

  “It looks like the whole town is in flames!”

  Fear stabbed at Lexie’s heart at her brother’s frantic words. She didn’t know anyone in Marmoros, but her throat tightened at the thought of people being trapped inside the buildings.

  “Hurry, Will. Go faster.” But what could they do if the fire was out of control? Were there children living there, families? Or had they already left? Mr. Hawkins had said everyone would be clearing out. She prayed he was right.

  Lexie grabbed tighter to Will’s shirt as Jolly sped up. She coughed as the smoke got thicker.

  “Maybe I better let you off here, Lexie. The smoke’s really getting bad.”

  “No, I can stand it if you can.” She gasped and yanked her skirt up to cover her face.

  “Okay, but it’s gonna be hot in there. I can feel the heat already.”

  So could she, even through the long sleeves that covered her arms.

  They saw the roaring flames long before they reached the top of the hill. Jolly reared and tried to turn.

  “We’ll have to walk the rest of the way!” Will was already off the horse, holding his arms up to her as the mare shied and reared once more.

  Lexie fell into Will’s arms, gasping as Jolly ran down the hill, hopefully toward home.

  “C’mon.” Lexie scowled as Will started up the hill, leaving her to make her own way. Well, she’d do just fine on her own.

  The incline wasn’t that steep, but her breathing came in short gulps in the smoke-thickened air. She came over the rise and froze.

  Will and another man stood side by side watching the roaring flames destroy the town. Why were they just standing there?

  “Come on. We have to help.” She grabbed Will’s arm and tried to drag him toward the burning buildings.

  “No, Lexie.” He jerked back, almost causing her to fall. “Look around. Do you see anyone? Or even an animal?”

  Lexie stood, gasping from the heat. Nothing moved except the flames and falling stores and cabins, and there wasn’t a sound besides the roar of the fire and the crash of burning logs and shattering glass. Fear shot through her. Was everyone dead? Or had they all left?

  She turned toward her brother and took a sharp breath as her gaze fell on the man standing beside him. In spite of his smoke-blackened skin, she didn’t doubt his identity for a moment. The cad from Forsyth. What was he doing here?

  Tearing her gaze from him, she blinked her eyes against flying ash and looked at Will. “Maybe someone is alive in there.”

  “Lexie, the town’s been emptying out all week. There’s no one there. We need to get away from this heat.”

  “But what could have caused the fire?”

  Will shook his head and leaned over, coughing.

  The other man cleared his throat and swayed, then caught himself. “It was arson. Men were riding off just as I got here. One of them shot at me as he passed.”

  “Who?”

  He swiped a sleeve across his eyes, smearing the soot, then winced as though in pain. “I’ve no idea. They wore hoods.”

  Lexie glanced quickly at Will. Bald Knobbers. It had to be.

  “They didn’t hit you, did they?” Will asked.

  “Just a graze.” He swayed again and would have fallen if Will hadn’t caught him.

  “Whoa there, mister. Let me take a look at that shoulder.”

  Nausea rose in Lexie’s throat. Blood was trickling down the man’s forearm to his fingers.

  Jack let the young man ease him down onto the log. He tried to protest as he saw the boy poised to tear his shirt away, but he couldn’t seem to get a sound past his throat. He must have lost more blood than he’d realized to cause this much dizziness. No wonder he was hallucinating. As if that woman would be here.

  He clenched his teeth as probing fingers examined the wound.

  The young man whistled. “Looks like a bullet went right through your shoulder.”

  Jack nodded. He had to get back to the farm before the twins woke up and thought he’d run out on them. He’d awakened Addy and told her what was going on, but she’d just grunted and turned over. He had no idea whether she understood. He tried to rise, and a wave of dizziness hit him.

  “Don’t try to move. I’m going to bind this up until we can get you home.” The boy worked as he spoke. “Do you have a horse nearby? I didn’t see one when I came in.”

  “He’s tied up over there.” He waved toward a grove of trees then closed his eyes.

  “Okay, easy now. Maybe you’d better try to stay awake.”

  A groan was the only thing he could manage. His head swam but he forced his eyes open.

  “Lexie, come here a minute, please.”

  Jack attempted to focus on the figure of the girl coming toward them, but everything was a blur.

  “Lexie, I hate to ask, but would you mind fetching this fellow’s horse from the grove yonder? Ride him to the farm and fetch Old Stubborn. I’d go, but…” He glanced at Jack and shrugged at the young woman, who had averted her face.

  Of course he’d send her. He wouldn’t leave his wife or whoever she was with a perfect stranger. Even if the stranger was threatening to fall over at any second.

  She turned and Jack blinked. He must have already passed out. This had to be a dream. The woman was the same one he’d nearly run over in town. He chuckled and everything went black.

  Humph. Not only was he a cad, he fainted over a little lost blood. Lexie rode the stranger’s horse and led Old Stubborn, who carried Will and the injured man. Will held onto him with one hand and the mule’s harness with the other. Remorse ran through her. Will thought it was a pretty bad wound. So maybe the man wasn’t such a weakling after all.

  It was a lucky thing he’d revived long enough to tell them he lived on Sullivan’s farm. He must be the nephew who’d run off years ago. Way before she and Will had moved here. He’d probably been bumming around the country ever since. Although, he hadn’t seemed like a bum when she’d seen him in Forsyth—just a cad.

  The first rays of dawn were painting the sky when she turned the horse into the Sullivan yard. With a sigh of relief, Lexie dismounted and hurried over to help Will.

  The man, who’d been unconscious since they’d left the burned-out town, moaned and woke as Will lifted him off the mule’s back. He grabbed Will’s arm and steadied himself.

  The screen door flew open and a little girl in overalls ran out, her shoulder strap hanging loose and hair streaming around her face. “Pa! Pa!”

  Pa? Surprise knifed at Lexie’s mind while a niggle of disappointment bit at her. She brushed it aside.

  Before the child reached them, her double shot through the door. Twins?

  The man wobbled, and his eyes narrowed as he opened his mouth to speak to the girls. Then he fell over, hitting the ground at Lexie’s feet.

  Lexie headed for the girls while Will picked the man up and carried him toward the house.

  “Don’t worry.” She leaned over until she could look in the girls’ eyes. “Your pa was shot, but he’ll be all right. My brother will fix him up as good as new. Where is your mother?”

  They glanced at each other.

  “She run off with a doctor. A huckster kind.” The girl spoke matter-of-factly, while her sister gave a nod.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Well then, could I speak with whoeve
r is taking care of you?”

  “Ain’t no one. Just Pa.” The little girl grinned and glanced at her sister.

  “Yep. Just Pa.” She sighed. “Now that our uncle Pat died.”

  The poor little things. And the poor man. But then, where were the girls when she saw him in Forsyth? Surely they hadn’t been here all alone after Mr. Sullivan had passed away. That was weeks ago.

  She forced herself to speak calmly. “I’m Lexie. What can I call you?”

  “I’m Tuck.” She motioned to her sister. “That’s Addy.”

  Tuck? What sort of name was that for a little girl? Lexie stood and held her hands out toward the girls. “I’m happy to meet you, Tuck and Addy. How about if we go inside and find something for breakfast?”

  “That would be nice, Miss Lexie.” Addy cast a sweet smile at her and reached for her hand. “Oh, and my sister’s name is really Abby.”

  Tuck frowned at her sister. “Yes, ma’am. I like Tuck best, but you can call me Abby if you want to.” Tuck took her other hand and smiled, too.

  The little darlings. Surely they deserved better than to be abandoned by their mother and raised by a cad like their father. She’d be sure to have a talk with that man as soon as he recovered.

  Chapter 4

  Jack groaned and opened his eyes. Severe pain shot through his arm and shoulder, and his whole upper body was one big burning ache. He blinked and shook his head, then tried to sit up. Agonizing pain gripped him and he gasped.

  “Whoa there, pardner. I wouldn’t try to get up just yet if I was you.”

  A blurry face bobbed in front of Jack’s eyes, and he blinked to try to clear his vision. “The fire. You were at the fire.” The words weren’t much more than a croak escaping Jack’s raw, sore throat.

  “That’s right. You were shot. By the Bald Knobbers, I’d guess. My sister and I brought you home after you passed out.”

  A flash of blue and a cascade of black curls assaulted Jack’s memories. Sister. So she wasn’t just a dream, and she wasn’t the man’s wife. Confusion swirled around his mind. Somehow he’d linked the woman from last night with the one who’d stepped in front of his horse.

  Jack resisted the heaviness that pressed against his eyelids. There was something else he needed to remember. What? “The twins,” he whispered.

  “The girls went home with my sister. Don’t worry. They’ll love our farm. Lexie and Aunt Kate will take good care of them.”

  A niggling worry wormed its way around in Jack’s head. He wasn’t sure why.

  Lexie knew her own eyes were as round as those of the twins as she listened to Addy’s frightening tale.

  Aunt Kate had gone to bed hours ago, and Lexie had brought Addy and Tuck out on the front porch for some fresh air, planning to put them to bed shortly. But two hours had passed as the girls told one horrifying tale after another about their time alone after their great uncle died.

  “So what did you do when you came face-to-face with the bear?” Lexie’s voice trembled.

  Addy glanced at her sister, who was telling the story. “Yep, Ab…er, Tuck. Tell her what we did.”

  An owl hooted somewhere in the darkness and Lexie jumped, placing her hand to her chest. One thing was sure. They knew how to make someone’s hair stand on end.

  Tuck sucked on her top lip and looked up at the sky. “Well now, I’ll tell you. It was mighty scary. And I thought we were prob’ly gonna end up tore to pieces. But I remembered I had a slice of sweet tater pie in my pocket, so I grabbed it and held it toward that bear so’s he could get a good whiff. Then I threw it over his head as far as I could. It landed up on a tree limb, and that ole bear took off after that pie lickety-split. Then I grabbed Addy by the hand, and we ran fast as we could back to the cabin.”

  Lexie frowned. “Really?”

  “Yep.” Tuck’s blond curls bobbed up and down. “Everyone knows the bears around here love sweet tater pie.”

  Lexie bit her lip. Okay, this was too much. Especially after the tale about the Indians who had tried to scalp them. She’d been here long enough to know there weren’t any wild Indians in Missouri anymore. She didn’t want to think the girls would lie, but this was ridiculous. “Are you girls making up tall tales?”

  “Oh no, ma’am. We wouldn’t tell lies. Especially after you’ve been so nice to us.”

  Lexie sighed. “All right. I think it’s time you two were in bed.” She led them to the spare bedroom and found that Aunt Kate had already turned down the covers and laid out nightgowns for them. After helping them with their prayers, she tucked them in and blew the lamp out, then went to her own room.

  Bothered by the obvious falsehoods the children had told, she lay awake for a long time. They seemed so sweet otherwise. Addy, who could be very straitlaced with her sister even while mischief danced in her own eyes, and Tuck, whose misplaced sense of fun probably got them both in trouble quite often.

  But what could one expect after what they’d been through? After all, their father had left them in the care of an old man while he pursued his adventures. Then the time they’d spent on their own…She shuddered. Even if none of the horror stories they’d told her were true, anything could have happened to two young girls living all alone, not to mention the fear they must have endured.

  She would simply have to be patient with them and teach them right from wrong while they were here. She’d start with a Bible lesson in the morning. She thumped her pillow and settled in for what she hoped would be a good night’s sleep.

  While they were cleaning the kitchen after breakfast, she informed the girls of her plans.

  Tuck handed the plate she’d just dried to Addy to put on the shelf. She placed both hands on her hips and frowned. “But you said you’d take us to the river.”

  “And so I will. But not today.”

  “But you said.” Tuck stomped her small foot.

  “Young lady, I said I would take you there one day. I didn’t say today. And please don’t stomp your foot. That’s very rude.”

  The girl opened her mouth but clamped it shut when her sister shook her head. The girls stood side by side, looking at her.

  “You’ll like the Bible stories. I promise.” She paused, and when the girls both looked unconvinced, she quickly changed plans about which lesson she’d teach. “The first one we’ll read is about lions.”

  “Lions? Really?” The sudden animation on the twins’ faces sent a wave of relief through Lexie.

  Well, okay, if that’s what it took, she’d build every lesson around lions and fiery furnaces. After all, some of the best lessons could be learned from these stories of old. “Really. Now let’s hurry and finish our chores. Then you can help me weed the garden. If we get everything done, perhaps we’ll go to the creek for a picnic lunch. We can have our Bible lesson after supper tonight.”

  High-pitched laughter pealed across the valley. Lexie glanced over in amusement. Addy and Tuck stood ankle deep in the stream, splashing water on each other. They’d wanted to go to the river, but Lexie wasn’t quite brave enough to corral the high-strung girls along the churning waters of the White River. Sweet as molasses one minute and as vindictive as a hive of interrupted bees the next, caring for these two was becoming quite an adventure.

  The delicious aroma of fried chicken tantalized Lexie’s senses as she spread the food out on the clean white sheet. “C’mon out of the water, girls. Time to eat.”

  Tuck scooped one last blast of water in Addy’s face and took off running through the shallow creek.

  “No fair! I’ll get you for that.” Addy sputtered and headed after her sister, vengeance written all over her.

  “You’ll have to get even next time, Addy. I want you girls to dry off so we can eat.” Lexie glanced at the spread and grinned. “Look, sweet potato pie and not a bear in sight.”

  Tuck ducked her head and scrubbed with the dry towel. “Okay, I made up part of the story about the bear. But we really did see a bear cub once, when were playing in the woods
.”

  “Yes, and if that cub’s mama had come along, we’d have been in big trouble.” Addy gave an emphatic nod, causing kinky wet strands of hair to flop into her face.

  “Well, there aren’t any cubs or their mamas by this creek today, so let’s eat. Would one of you like to give thanks for our food?”

  “Sure, I will.” Addy bowed her head. “Thanks, Almighty God, for the chicken and biscuits and pickles and sweet tater pie. And please don’t let no bears come try to steal our grub. Amen.”

  Lexie bit back a grin and cleared her throat. “That was very nice, Addy.” She handed them filled plates and settled down with her own. It was time for her to find out what she could about their situation. “How long has your mother been gone? It’s strange I haven’t heard anything about her or you, for that matter.”

  Addy sent a quick look at her sister, who squinted for a moment then said, “Oh, we weren’t here but a few months. See, when our ma ran off, Pa brought us here so our uncle could take care of us while he worked on his boat. I reckon no one knew we were here on account of all the snow this year. We never went anywhere and neither did our uncle.”

  Okay. That made sense. After all, she and Will and Aunt Kate had been snowed in for weeks as well. And with homesteads so far apart, they didn’t see their neighbors very often. Folks here in the Ozarks stayed pretty close to home once the weather turned bad. But still…

  “Well, you must have had to tell someone when your uncle died.”

  Both girls stared for a moment.

  “Well, you see”—Addy crimped her forehead and sniffled—“we didn’t know what to do. ’Cause we were afraid they’d take us to an orphans’ home. So…”

  Tuck cleared her throat. “Just when we’d decided we’d have to chance it, a wagon pulled up and someone called out for Uncle Pat.”

  “Sure did.” Tuck nodded at her sister. “We ran out back and hid in the root cellar for a long time. When we heard the wagon leave, we sashayed inside. Uncle Pat was gone.”

  Hmmm. Well, that sort of made sense. She’d heard that someone found the old man while stopping by. “You must have been very frightened.”