Heart's Surrender

by Rosanne Bittner

“It isn’t that, Adam. She has a couple of broken ribs. I wrapped them good, and the rest of her wounds are superficial. But she’s just plain exhausted. From what I can glean the past three years have been rough on her, very rough. And you’d better watch out for pneumonia. She lay out in the cold for hours last night.”

  “Rough…in what way! Where has she been?”

  “I don’t even know. She never knew, except that it was some special school in the North for…wayward girls.”

  Adam let out a hissing sound, his eyes black with rage. “Wayward! She is the best—” He turned to go into the room, but the doctor grabbed his arm.

  “Wait, Adam. You should know something.”

  The young man turned back. “What is it? I want to see Andrea!”

  “She had a baby, Adam.”

  In spite of his dark skin, the doctor could see the color drain from Adam’s face. Mrs. Chandler let out a small gasp. “Dear God!” his father muttered, and Ruth just stared at her brother.

  Adam’s eyes teared and he swallowed. “Mine?”

  The doctor nodded. “Of course it was yours. I saw tiny stretch marks on her hips. For a girl that skinny I could think of no other reason for stretch marks. When I asked her where her baby was, she started crying. She said ‘they’ took it away from her. She said she wanted to bring your son home to you, but she never even got to see him. She said they told her he’d died, but she grew almost hysterical when she insisted the boy is still alive somewhere. I gave her a light sedative.”

  Adam turned away. “They” took his son away. Who were “they”? If only he knew! A son! Somewhere he had a son! And poor Andrea, having her baby at such a young age, and all alone in some hellish place.

  “There are a few marks on her that look like the remnants of a whipping, maybe more than one,” the doctor told him gently. “I’m sorry, Adam.”

  The young man covered his eyes and wept quietly. “This is all my fault,” he whispered.

  The doctor put a hand on his shoulder. “No. It isn’t your fault, son. It’s the fault of hatred and misunderstanding. The two of you didn’t do anything wrong. The sin does not lie with you. It lies with those around you who tried to stop you from loving each other, those who don’t even understand real love. Go and see her. Right now all she needs is to know you still care for her. I can tell by her mutterings that the thought of you kept her going. You were her only reason for hanging on, the reason she risked her life riding in the dark last night.” The man turned to Jonas and Rose Chandler. “From her mumblings I gather she fled from someone back in Blairsville. They were probably bringing her home and she was afraid to go there. So be prepared for company today or tomorrow. They’re bound to come here.”

  “Then marry us!” Adam said determinedly.

  The man’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Today?”

  “Yes. Right now. Today. When they come she will be my wife—legally, the Christian way, with papers and everything. They cannot take her then. Marry us, please. You are also a preacher. You can do it. I will go and see Andrea. If she agrees, you can come in and marry us.”

  “But…you haven’t even had a chance to talk. It’s been three years, Adam.”

  “I don’t care! You have seen what she went through for my sake. Still, she loves me and has come back here. What more could a man ask for than that kind of sacrifice? I am not going to let anything take her away from me again, not after waiting this long. Marry us today, please.”

  The boy’s eyes were red with tears. The doctor looked at his parents questioningly, and Jonas Chandler rubbed at his eyes and sighed.

  “Marry them, Doctor Cunningham. God knows they deserve to be together,” he said.

  Adam looked at his father gratefully, then back at the doctor. “Wait for me.”

  He quietly opened the door, and stepped into the lovely room to which Andrea had been taken. The rugs on the floor were pink, the flowered wallpaper was pink, the canopied bed was draped in pink. He moved quietly to the edge of the bed and looked down at her. She wore a white flannel gown now, and the covers were drawn up to her waist. Even though she lay on her back, he could see that her breasts were full and mature, and her face was even more beautiful than he had remembered. The freckles were gone, as were the traces of girlish fat. She was a woman, indeed. Her hair was shorter, falling just past her shoulders rather than nearly to her waist. He wondered why she had cut it.

  His heart pounded with joy and love, pleasure at seeing how much more beautiful she had become. Andrea! She was here, right here in his very own house! Andrea! He turned away, wiping at tears and breathing deeply to get control of himself. Then he turned back and gently leaned over her, bending down and kissing her cheek lightly.

  “Andrea,” he whispered.

  Her eyes opened slowly, her senses dulled by the sedative. She looked up at a dark, handsome face, a face that could be Adam’s. But he was so much broader, so much more manly looking, and so much more handsome. Did she dare to believe it was he, or was she foolishly dreaming again! Perhaps she was back at the school! Panic suddenly filled her, and she looked around the room and started to rise. Strong but gentle hands grasped her shoulders and held her down.

  “It’s all right, Andrea. You’re safe now. It’s me—Adam.”

  She stared up into the handsome face again, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. “Adam?” she gasped out. “Is it…really you?”

  He smiled, the beautiful smile. “Have I changed that much? For the better, I hope. You certainly have.”

  She broke into painful, gasping sobs, muttered his name. And he sat down on the bed and leaned over her, wrapping his arms about her as gently as possible so that she could press her face against his neck and know that he was real.

  “Try not to cry, Andrea. It only makes everything hurt more.”

  “Adam! I thought…I’d never see you…Adam, I had…a baby…your baby…They took him away! They took him away…my baby!”

  “Be still, Andrea. The doctor told me. We’ll talk about it when you’re better. I just thank God you’re here and…” His own tears fell into her hair. “My God, Andrea, can you ever forgive me? If only I hadn’t been so anxious! If only I hadn’t come to your house that night—”

  “Nothing to…forgive. I…loved you. I still love you, Adam. It took so long…to finally get away from that…horrible place. Please tell me…you still love me, Adam. It’s been…a long time. Tell me you…don’t love somebody else.”

  “Somebody else? Don’t be silly, Andrea. I’ve waited and waited. I knew you’d come back. I knew it. I searched and searched for you, but had no success. I’m never letting you out of my sight again. We’re going to be married—right now. The doctor is also a preacher. He’ll marry us before anybody can get here and try to take you. You’ll be my wife, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.” He raised up and looked down at her. Neither could see the other well, for both looked through eyes blurred with tears. “Will you marry me, Andrea? I’ll have to get a ring later. But I’m scared to wait. Marry me right now. I won’t touch you. I won’t expect you to be my wife right away. We’ve been apart a long time. I just want you to be my wife so they can’t take you away. And I want to sleep beside you tonight and keep reminding myself you’re really here. I won’t ever let you out of my sight again.”

  She didn’t have to see clearly to realize that he was more handsome than any Cherokee man in the mountains, or to convince herself that his dark eyes were sincere. It was like meeting him all over again, and the thought of truly being his wife, of lying with Adam Chandler again, made her feel like the virgin child he had first taken under the oak tree.

  “You know…I’ll marry you,” she said in a near whisper, the pain building in her midsection again. “We…have to get to know each other…all over again…don’t we, Adam? Are you sure? It’s…been so long.”

  “Of course I’m sure. I’ve never stopped loving you, Andrea.” He put a big hand to her face. “My poor Andrea. H
ow awful it must have been, being so young and having a baby all alone. My God, I’m so sorry.”

  “I didn’t mind. It was…your son. I wanted to bring him home…to you. But they said…he died. I don’t believe them, Adam…I heard them talking…about how healthy he was…and someone said something about people…being there to take him. He’s alive, Adam! I know he is!…My baby is alive. He’d be two years old now…my little son!”

  He could see her hysteria building again and he grasped her hands. “Stop it, Andrea. Not now. You can’t think of everything all at once. First you must get well, and we will be husband and wife. We’ll be together, Andrea. Then we will decide what to do. Just get well first. And don’t be afraid anymore. I am with you. You don’t have to make these decisions all alone, and nobody will ever hurt you again.”

  The feel of his strong hands squeezing her own was like a blessing from heaven. Adam! How safe and loved she felt. What could be bad about this? Where had she sinned? He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her eyes and nose. “Are you well enough to say the marriage vows? Are you awake enough? The doctor gave you a sedative.”

  She managed a smile. “After all I’ve been through…I think I can fight a sedative…to marry Adam Chandler.”

  He smiled in return, already knowing he wanted her as much as ever. It would be even better now. They were older, eighteen and twenty now, more mature, man and woman. And they had been through so much in order to stay together. Surely that could only enhance their lovemaking.

  “Adam, when we…our first time…when I’m well…” She reddened then, closing her eyes and putting his hand to her face, kissing his palm. “I want it to be…at the oak tree. It’s still warm enough…and the leaves will be all golden and beautiful…and that’s where we…fell in love and where we first…”

  He bent down and kissed her eyes, then her lips, gently, sweetly. “I’ll take you there. You tell me when you’re ready, and we’ll go to the oak tree…and only when you’re ready, not before. You take as long as you need. I am satisfied just to know you are my wife, just to look at you and know you are really here, just to hold you next to me in the night. That is enough for now.”

  He squeezed her hand and rose. “I will get the doctor and my parents. We will be married right now.”

  She watched him walk to the door, tall, beautiful, handsome, kind Adam Chandler. How could Miss Darcy and the others call him evil and full of the devil, a heathen, a dirty savage? He was the most wonderful man in the whole world. He had never once wronged her, or stopped loving her. Within moments all the Chandlers and the doctor were in the room, and Adam sat down beside her on the bed, taking her hand.

  “We are ready,” he told the doctor.

  The man took the Bible Ruth Chandler handed to him, and soon Andrea was sleepily saying her marriage vows. Was this real or had she fallen into some kind of insane state? Was her mind playing tricks on her? At any moment she imagined she would wake up to find she was in the tiny room, its door locked, the window barred. She clung to Adam’s hand with amazing strength considering her condition, desperately afraid to let go of it. Was she really saying these words, making these promises? Was Adam really making the same promises in return?

  A voice pronounced them man and wife: “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Those words had a painful meaning for Adam and Andrea Chandler.

  Someone touched her lips lightly, with a sweet, warm kiss. “I love you, Mrs. Chandler,” Adam’s voice was gentle.

  Mrs. Chandler? Was it true? If only they could have had this in the first place. They would have their baby with them, their son. She would not have had to go to that terrible place. But she was safe now. She was with Adam. She was his wife.

  She heard distant voices and then the room quieted. Someone slipped into bed beside her. An arm slid under her neck and she was cradled against a strong shoulder, snuggled under the warm covers. A strong hand gently stroked back her hair.

  “Sleep now, Mrs. Chandler,” Adam told her. “No one can ever again take you away from me. You’ll never be afraid and alone again.”

  And they slept there together, two young people in love, while in Washington debates raged over Indian Removal. The days of peace and prosperity for the Cherokee were growing short.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I’ve come for my daughter!” Morgan Sanders roared. Behind him stood Douglas and Wilson Means, Douglas wearing his militia uniform and assuming an authoritative air.

  Jonas Chandler swallowed back a fear of the uniform. He would not let this rabble interfere with his son’s happiness. “Your daughter is not here,” he answered calmly. “I thought you sent her away someplace, Mr. Sanders.”

  Sanders barged through the door without permission, and Douglas followed, his hand on his saber, his eyes resting hungrily on Ruth Chandler. The girl cringed closer to her mother, who looked back defiantly at Douglas Means.

  “You know damned good and well she was sent home and that she ran off only a few miles from here!” Sanders growled, looking around the grand entranceway. “I’ve tried to hide what the sinful girl was doing, but I can’t hide it any longer. The whole world can know what a slut she is, but I want her back! She’ll go back to that school and spend the rest of her life there if need be! But she’ll not live here in sin!”

  “She is not here,” Jonas repeated. “If she ran off, it wasn’t to us. Perhaps you should search your own conscience about why she would run from you, Mr. Sanders. And where, by the way, did you send the girl?”

  Douglas kept staring at Ruth. He’d had plenty of young Indian virgins by now. But to take Ruth Chandler would be the ultimate prize, the ultimate revenge against the girl’s brother, who had been the first to have Andrea Sanders. Andrea belonged to Douglas Means! And someday he would have the permission of the State of Georgia to ride into Cherokee land and raid and rape and burn. His first target would be the Chandler house, and Ruth Chandler. And Andrea Sanders would also feel the weight of his power. He wondered how long it took to rape a woman to death. It would be interesting to find out, with both of them.

  Sanders started to answer Jonas but caught himself. If Andrea had come here, she would have told the Chandlers about the baby. That was something Douglas and the others still did not know, and never would, if he could keep it from them. And if Jonas Chandler knew where Andrea had been taken, he might have a way of finding the baby. If he could do no more, Sanders decided he could punish his daughter and Adam Chandler by making sure they never found their bastard son.

  “Where she went is none of your business, Chandler! The point is, she was pronounced well. She was sent home to us, to surprise us. But instead a man and woman showed up without her, carrying on and saying that she had run off in the night. We all know where she would go! Now you get her for me!”

  “I’m telling you again she is not here. Search the house if you wish, Mr. Sanders. But do not destroy anything. You are in my territory now, and slightly outnumbered.”

  Sanders looked at Douglas, then back to Chandler. “This young man belongs to the Georgia Militia, Chandler. I’d be careful what I say.”

  “So far the militia has no power here, and no right to be here, I might add. Many of my people have seen you ride in. Do you think we are stupid enough not to keep watch now, with everything that is going on around us? Take a look outside. Then decide whether you will abuse us.”

  Wilson Means walked back out. Cherokee men were gathering in a circle around the Chandler house. Where they had come from, he could not imagine. Not one of them had been visible when he’d ridden in. He came back inside and eyed his son. “He’s right. There are a lot of men out there, and they don’t look happy.”

  Douglas turned cold gray eyes on Jonas Chandler. “Do what you will for now, Chandler. But the day will come when the militia will ride in here and take whatever they wish, including your wives and daughters.”

  Jonas stiffened. “And the whole world will see the kind of scum Geo
rgia uses for its greedy, unlawful takeover of Cherokee land! It will be to your shame! Men like yourself will make the State of Georgia hang its head in sin and embarrassment.”

  Douglas reddened. “Our only embarrassment is that there are still so many Indians in Georgia! We will soon rectify that! The Creeks and Choctaws are already gone, Chandler. You’re next!” He turned his eyes on Ruth. “I anxiously await the day.”

  “So do I,” Jonas replied. “It will give us an excuse to kill the likes of you.”

  Their eyes held in a hard challenge.

  “Leave it be for now, Douglas,” his father told him. “Let’s help Morgan search the house.”

  Douglas backed away, his jaw flexing from his desire to kill. He turned then, and followed Sanders and his father up the stairs. Jonas went up behind them.

  “Be careful, Jonas!” his wife whispered, terror in her eyes.

  He gave her a smile. “Do not worry.”

  Sanders and the other two went through every room, opening closet doors, looking under beds. They stormed into the pink guest room, but the bed was empty and neatly made. Finding no sign of anything amiss, they stormed out of the house after searching every nook and corner, and tried not to look afraid as they went through every outbuilding, then stabbed around carefully in the haystacks. For better than an hour they searched, coming up with nothing. When they returned to the Chandler doorstep, Jonas stood in the doorway.

  “Now are you satisfied?”

  “No! Where is your son?” Sanders asked.

  “Adam is gone. He has ridden to some of the other villages with a delivery of the Cherokee Phoenix, as he does every week. And I assure you, if he knew Andrea had been anywhere about, he would not be off delivering papers. He would also be searching for her.” He folded his arms smugly. “If you would like to search the entire city of New Echota, every house and church and place of business, the school, you may do so, Mr. Sanders. But first you had better go and get some kind of legal permission from the state to do so. Even then, I assure you, you will find nothing. I am sorry about your daughter. If she should show up, we will send someone to tell you. I do hope she has not come to any harm.”