“Cora, Cora, wake up,” Henry shook his sister gently but firmly. “Wake up,” Cora heard his voice from far away and she forced herself to wake up and when she opened her eyes and sat up, she groaned. Her neck was cricked and her left arm she had been lying on was stiff. She immediately realized where she was and gave a cry as she looked towards the bed.
“Louis?” She asked in a shaky voice, dreading the answer.
“Is going to be alright,” Henry laughed softly. “His fever broke, and when I came to check on him, I found him sleeping peacefully. Cora, Louis is going to be alright but I am now worried about you.”
“Henry, are you sure Louis will be alright?”
“Yes, dear sister. Now I suggest you go and lay down for a short while as Michael and I give Louis his bath and change these sheets that are completely soiled.”
Immediately her head hit the pillow, the young girl fell into a deep sleep, unaware that she was the topic of discussion of the members of her family. Mary and Walter were in their bedroom getting much needed rest after their ordeal and hearts full of gratitude to God for the safe return of their son. Cora was another matter altogether.
“What is going to happen when that boy wakes up?” Mary asked her husband. “That Cora is still taken with him is quite obvious and yet now Andrew has made a strong suit for her. This is going to get all complicated.”
“Calm down, mother, let us give the boy time to heal and then we will ask him to leave our Cora alone. As good Christians, let us help him on the road back to recovery because after all, he saved Henry’s life. Once he is well then we will put our foot down.”
Meanwhile as Michael and Henry bathed the now sleeping man, they were having their own discussion.
“We have never been so scared in our lives, Henry,” Michael was still shaking inwardly at how close his brother had come to losing his life. “Please do not ever put us through such an ordeal again.”
Henry gently wiped Louis down, taking great care not to cause him any discomfort nor to wake him up because his body needed the rest in order to heal itself. He looked up briefly and smiled at his brother and then resumed his work. “Michael, only God can keep us safe, that is something that I learned these two days that Louis and I were stuck in the mine. You need to stop tormenting yourself on my behalf because it could have happened anywhere else, not necessarily the mines. Hundreds of people go into mines and come out unscathed and safe, this was one of those freak accidents and I am alright now.”
“Still,” Michael took a deep breath. They had finished cleaning Louis up and dressed in in clean, loose-fitting cotton clothes. They needed to change the sheets so Henry gently rolled Louis on his side facing Michael and then rolled the sheets under him, then he watched as Michael rolled him back towards him and removed the sheets. They performed the same routine when laying new sheets on the bed and soon Louis was clean, wearing clean clothes and lying on clean sheets. As if he knew that all was well, he sighed in his sleep and turned on his side.
“It must have been terrifying for you,” Michael gathered the dirty laundry and rolled it into a ball and placed it under his armpit.
“Louis made everything bearable,” Henry stood beside the bed looking down at the man who had saved his life. He owed so much to this man and forth from today he was going to stand by Louis and give him all the support he needed. “There were times I thought of just laying down on the cold floor in the mine and giving up, but Louis would not let me. He kept telling me to think about you, Cora and our parents and the dreams that I have. And here I thought that Cora was stubborn!” He chuckled. “No wonder they are so much in love.”
Michael frowned. “What do you mean?”
Henry raised his eyes and looked straight at his brother. “It means, Michael, that none of us have any business standing in the way of the happiness of these two. It is not right, and I, for one, am going to support our sister and this man who I found out to be a man of substance and character and just right for Cora.”
“What about Andrew Willard?”
“What about him?” Henry moved to the foot of the bed, lowering his voice so his parents would not hear him. “There is no way on earth that I am going to allow that man anywhere near our sister. Cora has made her choice and been steadfast about it, we have no right to prevent her from being with the one man who will, who does, love her unconditionally and wholly.”
Michael had no words to say anymore and he left the room. Henry sat on the stool that Cora had vacated some minutes earlier. “My promise stands, Louis Albert. You are a noble man and I am going to be your defender and supporter just as I have done for Cora all these years.”
Louis smiled in his sleep as though he had heard every word.
***
Cora was humming happily as she dressed. She had slept for about three hours and then got up quite refreshed. The sun seemed to share her joy because it shone brightly even though there was a slight breeze. The world looked perfect this morning and her parents heard her tinkling laughter as she came out of her bedroom, gliding all the way to Henry’s room to check on her patient.
She listened to his breathing, which was now normal, and she willed him to wake up but knew that it would be a while till he did because her mother had administered laudanum with the herbal tea, telling her that Louis needed all the rest he could get in order for his body to heal itself.
“Oh, Louis,” she cupped his face in her hands and placed a kiss on his forehead, feeling his temperature which was now normal. “I wish you could open your eyes and see that you are safe among those who care for you.”
But he was silent and with a sigh she straightened the beddings and went in search of Henry. She wanted to hear everything about their ordeal in the mines. Last night she had been too caught up and worried to ask, but now she felt joy and curiosity bubbling within her.
“Sleep well, my darling,” she whispered and gently kissed him on the lips. “I will be back a little later.”
She also wanted to get something to eat before the house was flooded with well-wishers who she was sure had heard the news by now, and she was not wrong. The first person to arrive was Andrew, and her parents as usual were happy to see him and welcome him into their house.
“As soon as I heard the news of the safe return of Henry my dear friend, I rushed here as quickly as I could to see how he is doing,” Andrew looked like the perfect gentleman. “It gives me so much joy that the family is once again reunited.”
“We were so happy to see Henry and though he is a bit tired, he is alright,” Mary smiled at the smart man standing before her. She sighed inwardly, he and Cora would be the perfect couple on their wedding day and she could just envision it. Mayor Willard was sparing no expense for his son’s upcoming wedding and already Claudia had sent to Virginia City for materials so that Mary could begin sewing Cora’s gown.
“Please sit down,” Walter indicated with his hand. “You truly care for us because you are the first person to come and rejoice with us today,” he said just as Cora entered the sitting room, followed closely by Henry.
Andrew had a smug look, loooking very pleased with himself at the praise, and Cora wanted to wipe the smile off his face. He was in for a great surprise and today nothing was going to stop her.
“Ah, lovely Cora,” he stood up and came towards her, hands outstretched but she sidestepped and moved behind Henry. To save face, Andrew pretended to hug Henry who did not return the gesture and pulled away, shielding Cora with his body. “Henry, we are so happy to see you alive.”
“Well I survived, with no ill effects,” he made sure that Cora was beside him as he sat down. Things were about to get ugly in here and he wanted to shield her from anything untoward.
“It is good that you are here now because I came to check on you and also since you are alright and well, I think it is a good time for us to begin preparing for our wedding,” he smiled at Cora but she looked away. “My parents will be coming by to begin serious discussions about Cora and I.”
“I will thank you to leave me out of any plans that you may be making,” Cora burst out, to her mother’s chagrin.
“Cora!”
But the young girl had had enough. “I am tired of you presuming that I have agreed to be your wife, Willard, and you need to stop embarrassing yourself because if you persist in creating stories about us that are not true, you will end up as the laughing stock of Last Chance.”
Cora’s parents looked at her, aghast at her rudeness. But she was far from finished. “I will have you know that I already have a suitor who I love and who loves me very much and immediately he is well, we are going to get married. So please, Willard, spare yourself all the humiliation and just leave me alone.”
Andrew could not believe his ears. His heart filled with fury, and his eyes became cold and hard. He was unaware that Henry was observing him keenly, noting Andrew’s clenched fists. He realized that what Louis had said about Andrew being violent was true. There was no way this man would ever marry his sister, and if he had any doubts before, he was now sure that this was definitely not the man for Cora.
“You are distraught,” Andrew smiled but it did not reach his eyes, which remained cold. “I will give you time to recover and then we will proceed.”
“Do not treat me like a child, Willard, and I am telling you for the last time to leave me alone. I am not asking you to leave me alone, I am telling you. If you do not want me to sully your good name, then you better leave me alone. I am not interested in marrying you, I have never been interested in marrying you and no matter how much you deceive yourself, I will never ever want to be married to you.”
“Cora...” her mother started.
“Ma and Pa, I love you so much and I respect you and honor you with my whole heart but I am telling you here and now that I will only marry Louis Albert and if you do not give me your blessing, you can be sure that I will never marry anyone else in this lifetime. I prefer to live out the rest of my days as an old maid than be married to a man who is not Louis Albert and especially not Andrew Willard.”
Andrew decided that the only way he would win would be to bring in reinforcements, and he bid the Richards a hasty goodbye, promising to return later.
“What do you think you are doing, Cora?” Her father asked sternly. “You showed Andrew Willard no respect and I expect you to apologize when he next returns. He is from a good family and has kindly offered for you and when his parents get here I expect you to be on your best behavior.”
Henry shook his head and stood up and faced his parents. “Pa and Ma, why won’t you leave Cora alone? She has made her choice and you are forcing her to be married to a man who the whole town except the Richards know is rotten to the core. What joy will you both have if Cora has to live a life of misery?”
“You are not going to sway us,” Walter said angrily. “Cora will marry whoever we say she should marry.”
“Not at all, Pa, Cora’s life is too fragile and precious to throw away on the likes of Andrew Willard. He would destroy her because he is a violent and cruel man, can’t you see that?” Henry sighed. “Please open your ears and listen to what people are saying about Andrew. His own father is ready to disown him and disinherit him because of his gambling, whoring and violence and the only way he thinks he can get back into his father’s good graces is by marrying a fine young woman from a good family.”
Mary and Walter sat in stunned silence.
“On the first day that Louis Albert came here to see you, we judged him because he had a stained shirt and muddied clothes, do you know why?” His parents shook their heads. “That man that you are praising splashed him with muddy water when he met him and realized that Louis was on his way here. Is that the kind of man that you want marrying your daughter?”
“Louis was lying to score points with you, Henry,” Mary leaned forward. “It is obvious that you are feeling gratitude because he saved your life and that is why you are defending him so strongly.”
“You are wrong, Ma, it was not Louis who told me about Andrew splashing him, Jeremy Brown heard Andrew bragging about it one time and he told me and that was when I began to look deeper because I wanted to see what kind of man Andrew is, and I am sorry that he is not who he pretends to be.” Henry sat down. “He pretends to be a Christian and yet he flaunts his sins for the whole town to see. And as for Louis, I am not defending him because he saved my life, but I am defending him because he is a man who deeply cares about Cora. Do you know what he told me in the mine?”
“I know you will tell us,” Mary twisted her lips.
“Yes, I will. He said he wanted Cora’s happiness above all things and that he was ready to leave Last Chance and give her the opportunity to meet and marry another man. He is willing to sacrifice his own happiness just so Cora can be happy, if that is not a worthy man then please tell me who is more worthy?”
“And I am sorry but I will not marry a man that I do not love nor respect. I know my stand hurts you but I am the one who will have to live with the man who marries me, and not you. So I will only marry Louis Albert or no one at all.”
“Louis almost lost his life to save mine, and he did not have to. He got sick because he gave me his overshirt and shoes when I lost mine after the floods began carrying me away. He worked himself to the bone to get us out of the mines. That in my opinion is a man who is worthy of Cora and if you as her parents will not stand up for her, then I will take on that responsibility because brothers can always stand in for parents.”
Mary sighed, looking at her children. “Cora, are you sure you know what you are saying? Do you think Louis will make a good husband for you?”
“Yes, Ma, I love him and he loves me.”
“Will love be enough? What about him providing for you and looking after you?” her father demanded.
“Pa, when you and Ma got married you had nothing and together you worked hard and built the home we had in Akron and now here in Last Chance. Yes, love is enough because when two people think as one, there is nothing they cannot achieve. You and Ma are a living example,” Cora said softly and her parents looked at each other, forced to look deep into their hearts and acknowledge this truth for what it was.