Harry walked over to the boardinghouse for lunch then returned to the schoolyard. He spotted the pastor eating dessert with a family under the trees. When Pastor Richards rose and drifted toward another group, Harry walked over to him.
The pastor smiled and paused to talk to him, and Harry gave him a brief description of his background and the business that had brought him to the area.
“I’ve known Oliver McEwan for many years,” Richards told Harry. “He’s a fine man, and you can’t do better than his horses. I was hoping to see him here today.”
“Well, sir. . .” Harry stopped, wondering how much he should reveal. Since several families were within earshot, he decided it was not his place to break the news.
The pastor said with a frown, “Mr. McEwan wasn’t well the last time I passed through. I hope he’s not worse.”
“Perhaps you could visit the family if you have time,” Harry suggested.
“Yes, I think I can do that. He lost his son recently and was taking it quite hard when I saw him a month ago.”
Harry nodded. “It would be a good thing for Miss Sadie if you could stop by and encourage her, I think. She’s having some trouble handling her grief.”
“I’ll do it. Thank you, Mr. Cooper. It may be a day or two before I get out there, but I plan to stay with the Clarks until at least Wednesday. I’ll be visiting folks in the area, and we’ll hold another service Tuesday evening. I understand I’ve a wedding to perform, as well.”
“They keep you busy when you come this way, sir?”
“Oh, indeed they do. My parish is large and scattered, Mr. Cooper, but I love serving the people.”
The afternoon service gripped Harry’s heart even more than the morning sermon had. When the pastor spoke of repentance and forgiveness, Harry at first thought about Sadie, Zeke, and Tallie, and the lies they had told him. He prayed silently that they would seek God’s forgiveness. But soon his thoughts turned inward, and he recognized his own anger and self-righteousness. He was not only in need of forgiveness; he had been unforgiving.
When the pastor closed the service, Harry slipped away and walked toward the river. He found a secluded spot beneath a large willow and dropped to his knees. Lord, please take away all my selfishness and pride. Show me how to help Sadie.
After a long time, he rose and headed back toward the inn. The sun was low over the mountains to the west, casting long shadows on the road. When he entered the dining room, Mr. Ferguson approached him with a smile.
“Glad to see you, Mr. Cooper. Bessie’s husband let her come back after church to fix your supper. Or should I say breakfast?”
Harry grinned. “I’m obliged. If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet Bessie.”
“I guess she can spare half a minute. You want to wash up before you eat?”
Harry nodded.
“You wait here,” Ferguson said.
A minute later a thin young woman came from the kitchen carrying a steaming pitcher.
“You Mr. Cooper?” she asked, approaching Harry.
He smiled at her. Her huge apron enveloped her like a shroud. She must have borrowed one from Mrs. Ferguson. “Thank you for coming back to work just for me. I didn’t mean to take you away from your family on the Lord’s Day.”
Bessie smiled as she held out the pitcher of water. “My Joe says I make the best flapjacks in Virginia. To hear him tell it, that’s why he married me.”
Harry chuckled and reached into his pocket. “Is Mr. Ferguson paying you extra?”
“My regular wage, sir, but don’t you worry none.”
Harry slipped a coin into her hand. “That’s for you, not the boss.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t need to pay for your supper twice, sir.”
“Consider it a tax on my selfishness. Reverend Richards and the Lord have been working on me this afternoon.” Harry took the pitcher from her.
Bessie’s warm smile rewarded him. “Thank you, sir. Wasn’t the service wonderful? Your plate will be ready in five minutes.”
Harry went up the stairs as quickly as he could without spilling the water. Again he wished he was dining at the McEwan table tonight, and Tallie’s cooking was only a small part of his longing.
Lord, take care of Sadie tonight. Ease her sorrow, and please, if You don’t mind, I’m asking You to prepare her to let me take care of her.
❧
Tallie trudged up the stairs with an early supper tray. Might as well feed the voracious visitor before the others came in for their supper. All this stair climbing was wearing her out. She missed Sadie’s help in the kitchen this evening, but Zeke had gotten behind in the barn chores. Even though it was Sunday, Sadie had put on her old gray dress and gone down to help him and Pax tend the horses.
Tallie didn’t like it one bit when her mistress worked like a field hand. Maybe they should send Pax to his brother’s house in the morning. If Ephraim could give them a few days’ work now, it would be a big help. Of course, they needed to straighten out this business of Mr. Oliver’s death before too many people came around. If only Sergeant Mitchell would leave!
She reached the landing and paused for breath before heading for Tenley’s old bedroom. They had put just the barest of furnishings back in there as the wall repairs were not completed. Besides, she thought, no sense making the stranger too comfortable.
The door was open, and she stopped just outside it. “Mr. Mitchell? Got your supper here.”
There was no response, and she cautiously peeked around the doorjamb. The bed was empty.
Tallie’s heart skipped a beat. She walked into the bedroom and took a good look around to be sure. She set the tray on the stand next to the bed. He must have decided to make a trip out back to the necessary, but if so, she ought to have heard him go down the stairs.
She hurried back into the hallway. As she reached the top of the stairs a muffled sound reached her, and she froze. Someone was in Mr. Oliver’s bedroom.
Fifteen
“What are you doin’ in here?”
Mitchell quickly shut the top dresser drawer and faced her. He was fully clothed, and he looked fit to her.
“Well now, it’s Tallie, the efficient cook-housemaid. I was just looking for some company. Got lonesome down at the other end of the house and thought maybe Mr. McEwan was as bored as I was. Thought we could have a game of checkers maybe. But it seems Mr. McEwan stepped out.” His feral smile made Tallie shiver.
“You nothin’ but trouble. You git out of here!” She stepped aside, indicating that he should avail himself of the open door.
“Here now, is that any way to talk to your master’s guest?”
“What do you know about it?”
“I know plenty. I know no one’s living in this room. Somebody’s been sorting through Mr. McEwan’s things.” Mitchell nodded toward the bed where Tallie had spread out piles of clothing she removed from the wardrobe, hoping Sadie would go through them tomorrow. He ran a finger along the edge of the dresser and looked at it critically. “Dust, too. For shame, Tallie. You haven’t been doing your job. Letting the patient’s room get all dusty. I’ve been listening, too. No one took Mr. McEwan a tray all day. I thought the poor man was starving, but now I see it’s worse than that.”
Tallie shifted her weight, making herself stare back at him. “You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. Now go on out of here.”
He smiled and walked past her into the hallway. Tallie leaned against the door and took a deep breath. She looked about the room, wondering if he had stolen any of Mr. Oliver’s things. She couldn’t tell without making a careful examination. I’ll come up after dinner, she decided. She closed the door.
Mitchell had stopped in the hallway near the top of the stairs. Tallie heard Sadie’s surprised voice.
“Why, Sergeant Mitchell, you’re up and about. That’s good news. Your leg must be better.”
“Yes, ma’am, it is,” he said smoothly. “I was just casting about for some company.”<
br />
Tallie strode up to stand near Mitchell. “He been snoopin’ in your father’s room, Miss Sadie.”
A look of fear crossed Sadie’s face. “What—” She stared at Mitchell.
Tallie said, “I was gonna tell him Mr. Oliver is gone, but he got no manners.”
Mitchell smiled. “Oh, he’s gone, all right.”
Sadie swallowed hard. “If your leg is so much better, Sergeant Mitchell, I expect you are able to leave us.”
“Well, miss, it’s a trifle better, but I wouldn’t want to try to walk five miles into town on it tonight.”
Sadie hesitated, and Tallie tried to think of a solution. Don’t give in, she thought, and she tried to send semaphore to that effect in Sadie’s direction with her eyes.
“Fine,” Sadie said. “Our man, Zeke, can drive you to Winchester in the morning.”
“I’d be grateful, miss. And I do regret not being able to see your father. My condolences. I’ll see you at dinner.” He turned toward his room.
“I done put your supper tray by your bed,” Tallie called.
He smiled at her then looked at Sadie. “That’s very kind, but I feel well enough to get to the dining room this evening.”
Tallie scowled at Sadie, but Sadie merely said, “Then I shall see you in thirty minutes, sir.”
❧
Tallie followed Sadie to the door of her room.
“Please, Tallie, I need a few minutes alone.”
“I was just goin’ to help you get changed, Miss Sadie.”
“Send Pax up with some hot water. I can do for myself. When I’m dressed, I’ll come down to the kitchen, and we can discuss this.”
“Yes’m.” Tallie faded back behind her, and Sadie entered the sanctuary of her bedroom. Had Mitchell sneaked in here, as well? Had he looked at her personal things, handled her clothing, books, and stationery? She looked around carefully and decided he had not. Not a thing was out of place, so far as she could tell. She had left a silver dollar and two nickels in plain view on her secretary, along with a silver pen and some stamps. If Mitchell had been in here and his purposes were as nefarious as Tallie and Zeke indicated, he surely would have pilfered the coins.
Pax knocked at the door and delivered her hot water. Sadie hastily washed and changed into her blue dress. She brushed her hair smooth and took a moment before the mirror to check her appearance. How she wished Harry were here, preparing to meet her for dinner! How could she have been so foolish as to deceive him and drive him away? If he’d been present when Mitchell arrived, no doubt he’d have run him off immediately.
She wished she didn’t have to face the sergeant over the dinner table. He made her nervous, and apparently he saw through Tallie’s attempt to continue the fiction that her father was alive. Mitchell wasn’t a large man, but he seemed fit and agile. She doubted he would attempt to harm any of them physically, but his implications put her on edge. He had made himself charming last night. She hoped he would again be on his best behavior tonight. At any rate, she’d be glad when he was out of the house.
When she entered the kitchen, Zeke and Pax were seated at the table eating their supper. Sadie knew Pax would start washing the dishes afterward while Zeke and Tallie waited on her and Mitchell. It was the dinnertime routine of the household.
“I wish he was gone,” she blurted. “I wish I was eating in here with you all tonight!”
“There now,” Tallie said. “He be leavin’ in the mornin’. Then we’ll get back to rights.”
Pax stared at her. “You look fine, Miss Sadie, but your face is as white as Mama’s apron.”
“Thank you, Pax. It gave me a start to see Sergeant Mitchell looking so. . .healthy.”
“Healthy and active,” Tallie said as she lifted the fried chicken pieces onto a platter. “He was making free of the house, and that ain’t right. I don’t believe his leg was botherin’ him. In fact—” She shook her long-handled fork at Sadie. “In fact, I don’t believe he ever was wounded. He made that up for sympathy and for an excuse to stay longer.”
Sadie grimaced, ruing her gullibility. “He does look spry this evening.”
“That’s right,” said Tallie. “This mornin’ he claimed he couldn’t get down the stairs ’cause he hurt so bad, but now he’s right as a trivet.”
“It must have been all the exercise he put in last night that made him sore,” Zeke said, sipping his tea.
Sadie frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“Nothin’ except the little stroll your guest took last night—or should I say this mornin’? It was past midnight, after all.”
Sadie remembered her restlessness in the night and wondered if Mitchell’s movements had wakened her. She stared at Zeke, but he wouldn’t look back, so she walked over to the table and stood directly across from him. Pax looked up at her in surprise.
“If you know something I should know, Zeke, you’d best tell me now.” Sadie tapped her foot impatiently.
Zeke wiped his mouth with his sleeve and finally met her gaze. “I don’t know nothin’, Miss Sadie. I just saw your friend leave the house last night, and it didn’t look to me like his leg was botherin’ him then, not one little bit. He wasn’t favorin’ it in the least.”
“Where did he go?”
Zeke shrugged. “He started down the lane then took off into the woods. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Sadie took three deep, controlled breaths.
“I’ve asked him to leave in the morning. As a matter of fact, Zeke, I told him you’d drive him to town.”
“I’ll do what you say, Miss Sadie, but I don’t think that tramp is helpless. He takes on about his leg painin’ him so, and that makes folks cater to him.” Zeke lifted his teacup.
“Should I march upstairs and demand that he vacate the premises immediately?”
“Do it!” Tallie cried.
Zeke shook his head. “Let’s not give him any reason to be huffy with us. You’ve been nothin’ but gracious, Miss Sadie. If I take him to town in the mornin’, we’ll be sure he gets there, and he can’t say we weren’t polite to him.”
Sadie nodded slowly. “All right then. First thing after breakfast.”
❧
Mitchell poured on the charm at dinner, but Sadie wasn’t receptive this time. When he hinted that she might hire him to help with the farm work, since she seemed a little short on manpower these days, she bristled.
“Excuse me, Sergeant. I’m very fatigued. Zeke will bring you coffee.”
Mitchell jumped up as she rose. “Wait! Aren’t we going to sit in the parlor? I thought I’d tell you more about Tenley. Maybe you’d like to hear about how we marched across the desert for weeks, chasing Santa Anna.”
Sadie shook her head. “I believe I’ve heard enough. I hope you’ll have a good journey in the morning. Zeke is having an early breakfast and leaving for town immediately afterward. Good-bye, Sergeant Mitchell.”
She swept around, hoops and all, and glided through the door and up the stairs. When she reached her room she closed the door behind her and exhaled. She hoped Tallie would come up soon to unlace her corset. She ought to go and help with the kitchen work, but it seemed beyond her strength tonight. She wanted to be alone and safe in her room. She didn’t have her father, and she didn’t have Harry, but she had God with her always, and she would enjoy His company tonight.
She untied the waist of her crinoline and dropped the awkward skirt hoops, stepped out over them and sat down in her rocker. She sat deep in thought for several minutes then reached for her Bible. Only one person could show her what best to do now, and she would listen to Him.
A half hour later she heard Mitchell’s heavy, uneven steps on the stairs. It was nearly as long again before Tallie came to help her undress, and Sadie noted how slow her steps were.
“You’re working too hard, Tallie.”
“Just doin’ my job.”
“No, you’re doing the work of three people. I should have stayed downstairs to hel
p you with the kitchen work.”
“I’ll be fine as soon as we get that baggage out of your brother’s room. But you can help me make jelly tomorrow. Pax tells me the grapes are just right.”
Sadie smiled. “I’ll do that.”
Tallie untied the corset laces, and Sadie shrugged out of it and into her warm flannel nightgown. “You could sleep in Papa’s room now,” Sadie said.
“You afraid to be up here alone with him?”
“No, it’s not that. I just thought you might be more comfortable than in that little cot you have in the pantry.”
Tallie sighed. “If the truth be told, I’d be more comfortable in my own bed, but I couldn’t never sleep in the master’s room. But I don’t like you bein’ up here with him.”
“We could put a cot here in my room for you,” Sadie suggested.
Tallie frowned. “Not tonight, we can’t. Zeke’s gone down to the cabin. You just lock your door tight, you hear me?”
“I will.”
Tallie sighed. “What we gonna do, Miss Sadie? After he’s gone, I mean. We can’t have you rattlin’ around in this house alone every night, but Zeke won’t put up with this arrangement forever.”
“I don’t know. I did think perhaps Ephraim and Dulcy might come stay here and help us.”
“Eph won’t want to give up his blacksmithin’ business.”
“I know. Maybe we could let him build a cabin here. They’re renting where they live now. If they’d live on McEwan land, I’d give him free rent just for the security, and his smithing customers could come here. It’s only a few miles from where he is now, and folks will travel a long ways for a good blacksmith.”
“Maybe,” Tallie said with a yawn. “But Dulcy wouldn’t be sleepin’ here in the big house, and you know you can’t afford to pay much extra help right now.”
Sadie frowned and sat down on the edge of her bed. “We need to clear things up about the title to the land. If I can own the farm outright, we can make a go of it, Tallie. I know we can, even if we have to hire more help. Zeke is smart when it comes to horses. I know Papa wasn’t too happy with Clipper’s prospects, but there’s that yearling colt, the one Papa called Smidge. Harry was impressed with his conformation. If Smidge turns out as well as we think he might, I’d have the stallion we need, and we could expand our breeding operation in a couple of years.”
Truly Yours Historical Collection December 2014 Page 11