If any child present had asked a question about Elder MacBride’s sermon, Lily couldn’t have given an answer. With Jackson on one side of her, Matt and Luke on the other, and Robby and his clan seated behind, she’d been unable to concentrate. Even the air she breathed seemed rife with hostility…and that during a church service! Worse yet, even though Jackson had never actually touched her, she felt as if he surrounded her. She made a solemn promise to herself not to be trapped like this again next week. She’d make sure her self-appointed chaperone, Maggie, would be sitting right beside her.
At last the final amen sounded. Lily sprang to her feet. “Matt, Luke, would you please help the men move the benches out while I help with the food?” She tossed the question over her shoulder as she hurried to the hearth, leaving the two rutting bulls behind to help with the chore. Not until the last child ran outside laughing and squealing and the clatter of the benches ceased did she turn to look behind her.
She grabbed some potholders and hefted up her pot of ham and potatoes, then turned to cart it to the table.
A row of women stood gawking and grinning at her.
“ ’Tis not at all funny.”
“Oh, but it can be so much fun.” Nancy Patterson’s pale eyebrows arched over her twinkling blue eyes.
“Aye,” Richard Shaw’s slender wife, Ruth, added, the levity of the moment adding color to her sallow complexion as she flicked a blond curl from her eyes. “Particularly now that your indenturement is over and you’re free to choose whoever you wish.” Puzzlement narrowed her azure eyes. “Which one do you fancy most?”
The last thing Lily wanted to do was keep this particular conversation alive, but her friends waited for a response. “That’s a touch premature. Now that Robby’s brother Donald’s taken an interest in Cissy Dunlap, I’m the only unbespoken female around. Once all this war business is over, the lads will be able to look farther afield.”
Robby’s mother, Edith, spoke up with surprising force, considering her normally reticent personality. “My boy won’t be lookin’ beyond the cove. He’s had his heart set on you for more’n a year now. And I’d be plumb tickled to have you on the place. I could use an extra pair of hands as capable as yours.”
Millie Dunlap, Toby’s wife, pursed her lips and planted her knuckles on one plump hip. “I’m afraid your boy’ll have a time gettin’ past mine. Jackson’s so set on you, Lily, he’s already choppin’ down trees for your honeymoon house.” A satisfied glint lit her blue eyes as she tucked a few errant strands of hair into her salt-and-pepper bun.
“I…uh…thank you both for considering me, a bond servant, with very little to bring to a marriage. But I’ve promised Mr. Waldon I’d remain here with his sons until he returns in November.”
“I’d forgotten about the indenturement.” Edith Randall tapped a forefinger on her lips in thought. “John will owe you what your contract says you’re due. How much is that, anyway?”
The nosy question coming from a normally reticent woman irked Lily. She didn’t appreciate anyone prying into her personal affairs. Nevertheless, she answered in an even tone. “I believe it’s two pounds sterling.”
“You aren’t sure?”
Lily tamped down her growing anger. “Our arrangement has never been based on money. From the beginning, John and Susan treated me like family, and that’s how I think of all the Waldons.”
“And that’s why we all love you, dear.” Millie Dunlap nodded to the other ladies. “Now, I think we’d best get the food out to the servin’ table a’fore it gets cold.”
Utterly grateful for the reprieve, Lily lagged behind as the others walked out with their pots and platters. She’d been mistress of this household for so long, she’d never thought about living under the thumb of a prospective mother-in-law. Robby had always seemed a rather gentle young man, but his mother certainly was not. She was looking for an extra pair of hands to help her with her brood.
Then there was Jackson who had that brash way about him. His mother, though, had always been quite congenial, and so was his grandmother, Eva. Was there perhaps hidden somewhere in that young man a gentle spirit as well?
“Come along, darlin’.” Maggie MacBride had remained behind. “An’ stop that frettin’. I ain’t gonna let nobody push you into somethin’ you ain’t ready for. I promise you that.”
Lily was profoundly grateful to the older woman. The grandmother had shooed Jackson and Robby away and made a place for Lily at her dinner table. Now she could eat in peace between Maggie and Ian. Still, she could feel the tension between the two eager swains even after they’d taken seats at different tables.
Spearing a fat chicken breast, she spotted Matt and Luke sitting with their friends. Both sported triumphant grins. They’d managed to interrupt any attempt by Jackson or Robby to get her alone and were enjoying their meal.
But what if she did want some suitor’s attention? Had she not asked the Lord to redirect her affections? Biting into the meat, she dismissed that thought as inconsequential. There was only one person’s attention she craved, and he wasn’t here.
Agnes MacBride reached across the table and touched Lily’s arm. “I know Robby and Jackson are being somewhat boorish. But we all hope you’ll choose one of the Beaver Cove lads and remain here with us. We already lost Susan. To lose you now would be a great sadness, indeed. Everyone here is so fond of you.”
“Why, thank you.” Auburn-haired Agnes was a dear, as were all the MacBrides. Lily had always been grateful that they were her nearest neighbors. “I’ve grown to love everyone in the cove, as well. But my own family wants me near them. I’m really quite torn.” Her eyes misted lightly, and she blinked the moisture away.
Nancy Patterson’s slender form leaned forward as she peered around Agnes. “It sure would be a lot safer, livin’ near the coast.”
“Yes, it would.” Lily gave her a companionable smile. “Speaking of that, how is your little Mary faring?” She glanced at the table occupied by the younger children. “She seems a tad quieter than the other youngsters.”
Nancy’s light blue eyes drifted to her six-year-old. “She’s still having nightmares, sad to say. We’ve had to take her into our bed most nights. An’ durin’ the daytime, she follows me like a shadow every step I take. But considerin’ what happened…” She shrugged. “My heart cries for her. I only wish….” Her golden eyebrows arched upward.
Agnes caught her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
Ian laid down his fork. “I’ll speak to wee Mary a’fore we all leave here today, see if I can coax her to give her fears to the Lord.”
Lily shot him a glance. Had he not told her more than two hours ago that the rain fell on the just and the unjust alike? He could not assure that little girl that the Indians wouldn’t attack her parents’ place. It did happen to be the farthest inhabited farmstead up the creek.
The dog suddenly charged out from under the children’s table and bounded toward the lane, barking as he went.
Instantly everyone began untangling legs from benches to get to their feet. Men sprinted for their wagons to retrieve their weapons.
Mary ran wailing to her mother’s arms.
A familiar horseman came trotting in. Frank Dunlap reined in his mount as his father and brother strode to meet him. “Looks like I made it in time for dinner. I could smell that lip-smackin’ food a mile away.” He swung down to the ground.
Lily’s heartbeat returned to normal, and she started back to her seat.
“Thought you was gonna stay an’ help with them cabin raisin’s.” Jackson sounded a bit accusing.
“I was. But news came that I figgered you’d wanna know. Fort William Henry surrendered to the French. An’ most of the soldiers stationed there got massacred.”
The strength went out of Lily. She grabbed hold of the table for support.
“What are you sayin’, boy?” Toby Dunlap latched on to his younger son’s shoulders.
“I’m talkin’ about Fort William Henry, up in New York, Pa. The one on Lake George.”
Sounds of relief drifted to Lily as the folks began to relax. It wasn’t John’s fort. On shaky legs, she eased down onto the nearby bench, her hand over her pounding heart, as Frank elaborated.
“Seems General Monroe was forced to surrender. The French told him he could take his soldiers an’ their families on to Fort Edward, but them vicious savages killed most of ’em along the way. Worst of all, it didn’t have to happen. General Webb at Fort Edward, only a few miles away, refused to send reinforcements to save the fort. The coward just sat safe behind his walls, no matter what William Johnson or anybody else told him. The dispatch rider said bodies were strung out all along the trail.”
Little Mary’s frightened crying grew louder.
Her mother scooped her up and carried her to the cabin. Nancy’s three-year-old Sally ran after them.
“Just like last year.” Cal Patterson’s pained gaze followed his wife and babies to the porch.
Ian raised a hand. “Folks, let’s sit down an’ finish our Sabbath meal. This tragedy took place hundreds of miles away. Frank, get yourself a plate of food an’ join us. But a’fore we get settled again, I’d like to say a prayer for those poor souls an’ their loved ones.”
After all that had just transpired, Lily found it impossible to give her attention to his words. Her insides continued to tremble, and she could still hear Mary’s hysterical sobs. To think the very same horror could happen to John’s fort!
Calvin Patterson stood to his feet and brushed crumbs from his trousers. “Men, whilst the womenfolk clean up, what say we walk on over to the blockhouse an’ check out our supplies?”
Busy clearing her table, Lily stopped and set down the trenchers in her hand. Cal had been in the militia until he was shot in the knee, and he had the respect of all the other men. Lily was pretty sure they weren’t going across the creek just to take inventory. She turned to Agnes. “Would you mind finishing here? I’m going with them.”
“Lily!” Shock clouded Agnes’ hazel eyes. “They’re going to be talking about the protection of our valley. Man talk.”
“That’s why I’m going. I happen to be the man on my place.”
“Lily—”
But she didn’t wait to hear more. Ripping off her apron, she started after the men. She spotted Jackson near the front of the group. When it came to war talk, even her most determined suitor hadn’t lagged behind.
No one noticed her until after they’d crossed the bridge and moved to the shade of a tree.
“Sorry, Lily-girl.” Ian raised a calloused hand to ward her off. “Us men need to talk.”
“As you should.” She did not slow down.
“He means away from you women,” Cal added as the men gathered together.
“And I would normally agree.” Undaunted, Lily joined the circle. “But since I have no man on my place to speak for me, I’ve come to speak for myself.”
Jackson came to her side. “You go on back now. I’ll see to your interests.”
“That’s kind of you, but you don’t know what I want to say.”
Ian released a resigned breath. “Very well, lass. Say your piece, then shoo yourself on back.”
Men. They always acted as if matters like this didn’t concern anyone but themselves, when women and children were in every bit as much danger as they were. Lily stretched to her full height and mustered every ounce of authority she could into her airy voice. “Since there’s been no word about our military moving against Fort Duquesne to the west any time soon, we’ll continue to be under constant threat of raiding parties. If you make no other decision this day, I earnestly request that the Pattersons come and stay here with me.” She turned to Cal. “I’m sure I can make room for you and your family. Your children—and most especially little Mary—need to feel safe again.”
Cal eyed her momentarily and slowly shook his head. “I hate the thought of bein’ run off my own place.”
“You can still look after your place and get your harvest in. Please, do this for Mary.”
Jackson opened his mouth as if to speak, then shut it. He obviously didn’t like the idea either, and probably for his own reasons.
“I’ll give it some thought,” Cal finally conceded.
“That’s all I ask. Now, gentlemen, I’ll not hinder your man talk any longer.” She clutched handfuls of her skirt and turned to leave, but stopped and swung back. “Except, you might consider building a stockade around the blockhouse. We do seem to be pretty much on our own.” With a tilt of her head, she curtsied, as any polite woman should.
As she took her leave, she overheard Calvin muttering something. She cocked an ear, trying to make out the words.
“You lads sure you wanna wed up with somebody as bullheaded as her?”
The comment caused Lily to take an assessing look at herself. Long gone was the frightened, helpless, young gentlewoman from the genteel city of Bath. This lass had survived years of hardship and tragedy and the dangers of days alone in the wilderness. That other young girl had been replaced by a strong, capable woman who could load and shoot a musket as fast as any man.
Yes, she’d become a real frontier woman, and she liked what she saw.