by Ginny Dye
Thomas grinned. “Frances and Felicia? Please let them in.”
Carrie walked out into the waiting room. “Remember what I told you,” she reminded them. “You can only stay a few minutes because he needs to rest.”
Felicia nodded solemnly. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I promise,” Frances said quietly.
Carrie stood back and waved for them to enter. Both girls rushed to the door, but then slowed to a sedate walk when they entered the room.
“Opa!” Frances cried as she walked to stand beside the bed. Felicia took a position on the other side.
Thomas reached out to grasp their hands tightly. “Hello, Frances. Hello, Felicia. Thank you for coming to visit me.”
Felicia had her eyes fastened on the bedspread that was lumped up above the bandage. “Did you really get shot?”
“I did,” Thomas acknowledged, “but lucky for me, the man was not a very good shot.”
Carrie pursed her lips as she exchanged a long look with Abby. Anthony had told her that Eddie’s quick action to staunch the bleeding was what had saved Thomas’ life after they rescued him from the burning building. They had decided the girls didn’t need to know everything.
“How long will it be before you can go riding with me and Carrie and Oma?” Frances asked eagerly. “I have my very own horse now, Opa!”
Thomas raised a brow. “You do?”
Frances nodded. “Carrie bought Peaches for me, just like you bought Granite for her when she was my age.”
Carrie watched Felicia carefully, relieved there was no jealousy in the older girl’s expression. Felicia rode, but only when she was forced to. Her connection with Thomas was in the library.
“That’s wonderful,” Thomas said, “but…”
“But he won’t be riding a horse for at least six weeks,” Carrie said firmly. “We have to give his leg time to heal.”
Frances nodded, but couldn’t hide her disappointment.
Felicia smiled brightly. “I brought home some books you’ll want to see, Thomas. I’ve been studying business, just like you told me to. There is so much I want to talk with you about.”
Thomas smiled. “I can’t wait to do just that. We’ll have lots of time for long conversations,” he promised. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then turned to Frances. “I may not be able to ride a horse right now, but do you like to have stories read to you?”
Frances nodded shyly. “My folks never did because they didn’t really know how to read, but Carrie has read me a few stories. I like it.”
“Then I’ll read you stories every day,” Thomas replied. “Have you ever heard of Little Women?”
Frances frowned. “Is that a book?”
“It is,” Felicia said excitedly. “My mama brought me home a copy before we came to the plantation, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.” She paused. “Would it be all right if I listened while I’m here?”
Carrie watched her father’s face ignite with joy.
“Of course,” Thomas agreed.
“What’s the book about?” Frances asked.
Abby was the one to answer. “It’s about four sisters. Their names are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. The book is about how they grow from little girls to women. It was published last year, and is already quite popular.”
“Have you read it, Oma?” Frances asked.
“Not yet,” Abby replied, “but the author, Louisa May Alcott, is a friend of mine.”
“That’s right,” Carrie murmured. “I remember you telling me about her. She was an abolitionist, and is fighting now for women’s right to vote. What I know most about her is that she was a staunch advocate for homeopathy.”
“Yes,” Abby replied. “She is quite remarkable. I’ve heard wonderful things about the book.”
Francis edged closer to her. “Will you join us when Thomas reads it to us?” she asked hopefully.
Abby smiled brightly. “There is nothing I would rather do, Francis.”
Francis rewarded her with a beaming smile.
“And now,” Carrie announced, “it’s time for two young ladies to go to school. My father needs to rest.”
Thomas frowned playfully. “She’s a very bossy doctor.”
“She should be,” Frances said seriously. “I’m going to be just like her when I become a doctor.” She started to walk out, and then turned back. “Opa?”
“Yes, Francis?”
“I heard you asking if you could have coffee when we were out in the waiting room.” She placed her hands on her hips. “You can’t have coffee right now,” she said earnestly. “Carrie explained on the way over that you need to drink lots of the remedy she mixed so you will get better quickly. That’s what you need to do.”
Carrie turned her head to hide her smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” Thomas said seriously, but made a face. “It doesn’t taste very good.”
“I know,” Frances said. “I didn’t like some of the remedies Carrie gave me on the Santa Fe Trail when she saved my life, but I’m sure glad I drank them. I wouldn’t want to miss being here with all of you.”
Carrie’s heart melted a little more. She strode forward to give Frances a warm hug. “Thank you, honey,” she whispered. “Go on to school now. I promise he’ll drink it all.”
Thomas watched the two girls leave with a bemused expression. “She is just like you were at that age,” he said quietly. He watched the two girls walk over to the schoolhouse, and then smiled. “Both of you are very lucky.”
“I’m reminded of that every day,” Carrie agreed.
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Chapter Thirty – Four
Carrie and Anthony walked out to the barn two days later with Frances skipping between them.
“You’re sure you know how to ride?” Frances teased as she glanced up at Anthony.
“I can outride you, little girl,” Anthony scoffed. “I’ll be sure to take it easy on you.”
“Take it easy on me?” Frances cried, peering up at Carrie for defense. “Tell him how good I am, Carrie!”
“I suggest you show him,” Carrie responded lightly. “Miles taught me how to ride years ago. He taught me a lot of other things, as well. One of the things I remember best is him teaching me that instead of telling people what I’m going to do, that I should remain silent until I could tell them what I had done.” She cocked a brow. “Rather than boast about what you can do, Frances, I suggest you just do it.”
Frances considered her words. “I suppose that makes sense,” she said somewhat reluctantly.
“I’m so glad you think so,” Carrie said wryly, her lips twitching as she tried to control the laughter bubbling up inside her. She lost the battle when she met Anthony’s amused eyes. “Come on, Frances,” she said in between laughs. “I want to go see the new place you and Amber discovered this afternoon.”
Minutes later,
they were trotting down the road between tobacco fields.
“I love this time of year. June is one of my favorite months of the year.” Carrie gazed out at the green plants stretching as far as she could see.
“The tobacco is beautiful!” Frances cried. “I love all the pink flowers.”
“Me too,” Carrie agreed. “Enjoy them as much as you can though, because they’ll start topping the plants in the next week or so.”
“Topping them? What does that mean?” Frances asked.
“It means they’ll cut off the tops of the tobacco plants,” Anthony informed her.
“Why?” Frances cried. “They’ll cut off all the flowers. Then they will all just be the same boring green.”
“I felt just that way when I was your age,” Carrie said. “Actually, I still feel that way, but they have to do it to make the tobacco grow strong. When they top the plants, all the food and energy goes to the leaves. That’s important, because the leaves are what they harvest.”
“It seems wrong that the flowers have to die in order for people to make money,” Frances said sadly.
“Again, I agree sweetie, but if it makes you feel any better, the flowers would die off on their own in another few weeks,” Carrie replied.
Frances stared out at the plants. “I suppose it makes me feel a little better,” she admitted. “Miss Annie told me the other day that when I find things to be happy about, I got to suck all the life right out of ‘em, ‘cause I never know when it will end.” Her imitation of Annie’s voice was remarkable.
“She’s right,” Carrie agreed with a smile. “Annie is a very wise woman.”
Frances nodded. “I’m going to ride out in the tobacco fields every day until they top the flowers. That way, I’ll be able to hold them in my memory for when they’re gone.”
“That’s a very good idea,” Anthony said huskily. “That’s what I’m doing right now.”
“What do you mean?” Frances asked.
“I love riding out here with you and Carrie. I’m going to do it every chance I get while I’m here, so that I can hold it in my memory.”
Frances eyed him. “I’ll go riding with you anytime you want, Mr. Anthony.”
“Thank you,” Anthony responded. “Right now though,” he grinned as his eyes sparkled with fun, “you just need to see if you can keep up with me.” He leaned forward, signaling Master, the bay gelding he was riding, to break into a gallop.
Frances whooped with joy and urged Peaches forward. The mare tossed her head and took off at a controlled gallop.
Carrie smiled. Peaches wouldn’t catch Master, but she knew Anthony would hold the gelding back so that Frances wouldn’t feel too bad.
“Try and catch us, Carrie!” Frances called back over her shoulder with a taunting laugh.
“Want to show them what you have, boy?” Carrie murmured to Granite. He snorted, and then sprang forward into a dead run as soon as she released the reins. She laughed happily as they flew down the road. It took only moments to pass Peaches, with Frances cheering her on, and then she gained on Master.
Anthony glanced back over his shoulder with a grin, and hunched forward in his saddle, letting Master have his head.
Carrie held Granite neck-and-neck with Master for about a minute, and then gave Anthony a cocky grin. “You never had a chance!” she called as she released Granite again. Her Thoroughbred was far in front before she pulled him down to an easy canter, slowed to a trot, and then let him drop to a walk.
It was several minutes before Anthony caught up. They both pulled to a halt until Frances and Peaches joined them.
Frances had a smile on her face, but she was clearly frustrated. “I’ll never win a race on Peaches!” she cried.
“Don’t be so sure,” Carrie said calmly.
“She never runs really fast,” Frances retorted.
“Her owner told me Peaches is a very smart horse,” Carrie informed her. “He was right.”
“What do you mean?” Frances demanded.
“He told me Peaches would be perfect for you because she would never outrun her rider.”
Frances just stared at her. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“No,” Carrie replied with a chuckle. “What he meant is that Peaches won’t run faster than your ability to ride her or handle her. The better you learn how to ride, the faster she’ll run for you.”
Frances stared at her with suspicious eyes, and then turned to Anthony. “Is that true?”
Anthony shrugged. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, but if Carrie says it’s true, I would probably believe her. She knows more about horses and riding than both of us together.”
Frances swung back to gaze at Carrie again. “Is that really true?” she demanded again.
“It is,” Carrie assured her. “Think about it like this. Wouldn’t I know that you wanted to go faster and faster on Peaches?
Frances nodded, but her eyes were still mutinous.
“Do you think I would get you a horse that you would want to trade for a faster one someday?” Carrie asked.
Frances thought hard, and finally shook her head. “No. You would get me a horse that I could have forever, just like you’ve had Granite since you were my age.”
“That’s right,” Carrie replied. “Peaches is as perfect as you think she is. She may never beat Granite,” she said a little smugly, “but she’ll give him a good race someday.”
“How soon?” Frances demanded impatiently.
Carrie chuckled. “That will be up to you and Peaches, Frances. Keep listening to everything we teach you. Miles is the best teacher I know, and Susan and Amber will help as well.”
“I’ll work hard,” Frances promised. “Riding is certainly more fun than arithmetic!”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Carrie said with a laugh. “Now, where is this place you and Amber discovered?”
Frances grinned and turned toward the river. “It’s down by the water.” She trotted ahead eagerly, leading them down a narrow trail through the woods.
Anthony raised a brow. “You let her and Amber ride around the plantation on their own?”
“Reluctantly,” Carrie replied. She understood his surprise. There had been too many attacks on the plantation to assume the girls would be safe. “We’ve told them they can’t explore the woods around the school, and that they can’t go toward the gate. We’ve limited them to the area between the house and the river.” She shook her head. “I don’t want them to live with fear all the time. Amber is smart enough to be careful. I finally decided that if she can be brave enough to ride on her own after being with Robert when he was murdered, I have to be brave enough to let her do it.” She smiled. “Within reason.”
Anthony eyed her for several long moments, and then his lips twitched. “Which means one of the plantation men always have them in view?” he guessed.
“That might be a possibility,” Carrie said demurely. “They have freedom, and the rest of us have sanity. I believe it’s a fair arrangement.”
Anthony chuckled, and then broke into a canter to catch up with Frances. “Let’s go see what they’ve discovered.”
Several minutes later, they broke out into a clearing along the James River. Carrie smiled when she realized where they were. Deep in conversation with Anthony, she had not paid attention to the trail Frances took them down.
“Have you ever been here before?” Frances asked eagerly.
Carrie thought about telling her she hadn’t, but in truth, she had explored every square inch of the plantation. She pointed to a large rock out in the river instead. “See that rock?”
Frances nodded.
“Rose and I started meeting on that rock when we were younger than you, to celebrate every New Year’s Day. We sat out on that rock and watched the sun rise.”
“And told each other what your dreams were for the year,” Frances guessed.
“That’s right,” Carrie replied. “We only stopped doing it a
couple years ago.”
“Why did you stop?”
Carrie gave her a mysterious look. “Because now we meet somewhere else.”
“Where?” Frances demanded.
“I’m afraid that’s a secret,” Carrie murmured. She planned on sharing the tunnel with Frances soon, but she wasn’t ready to talk about it with Anthony. The tunnel was hardly a family secret anymore, but it was still something very special.
“A secret?” Frances cried. “You have to tell me!”
“I will,” Carrie promised.
“When?”
“Soon,” Carrie said with a laugh, amused at France’ imperious tone.
Frances stamped her foot, and put her hands on her hips.
“You’re in trouble now,” Anthony said with amusement. “Any time a female puts her hands on her hips, she means business.”
“Is that right?” Carrie asked. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“When?” Frances repeated.
Carrie opened her mouth to answer, but was shocked into silence when Frances’ defiance disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, only to be replaced with heartbreaking vulnerability that made the girl’s eyes glimmer with tears. Carrie dropped to her knees. “Frances, what’s wrong?”
Frances shook her head, trying to control her trembling lips. “I don’t mean to be too pushy,” she stammered. “Please don’t send me back.”
Carrie grabbed her shoulders. “Send you back? To the orphanage? I would never send you back. What would make you say that?”
“My teacher at the orphanage used to tell me that no one liked pushy little girls,” Frances said quietly as she kept her eyes on the ground, her cheeks flaming red. “She told me if I ever wanted to be adopted, that I had to be different. I tried real hard to be different while I was there, but sometimes I still forget.”
“I hope you forget all the time,” Carrie murmured, stroking the little girl’s hair back from her hot cheeks. “Your teacher was very wrong, Frances. You are perfect just as you are.” She pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “I have a secret for you.”