Three weeks later, the sheriff solved the mystery of the intruders.
It turned out that Cal Sullivan and Johnny Crawford had wanted to see if they could break into a home and get out without a trace.
They’d tried to break into the Shirley house, but the dog had barked at them and alerted the gardener to their presence. The boys were taken to the sheriff’s office, where they were placed in the custody of their fathers.
They confessed that they’d first broken into the Crawford home and the Sullivan home for practice and then gone inside the Lochlan home. Cal ran when he saw our wagon coming up the road, and Johnny followed. Johnny was the one who’d run into me.
That also solved the mystery of why Chance didn’t bark or act up—she knew Cal.
Sam Crawford was a peaceful man who worked hard at keeping food on the table for his eight young ones. He was not in favor of what his son had done and thought it was wrong. He was grateful that I was not hurt more due to their prank, and he pulled Johnny out of school for two weeks, making him work on his farm instead.
Ethan was not as kind. Cal was not to attend school for the rest of the month. He was not allowed to leave the farm, and Ethan kept an eye on him all that time. Everyone thought they would never see Cal back at school or even in town again. Truth was, I felt the same way myself. I feared that Ethan would beat the boy. Everyone knew Ethan had had a mean streak since he’d come back from the war.
Days passed, and the boyhood prank was soon forgotten. In the fall, the townsfolk got ready for the first social of the season. It was a masquerade ball, and everyone was invited. Almost everyone attended in a costume.
Mama and Papa were Romeo and Juliet. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins from the general store were old King Cole and his wife. Doc Seaver and his wife were Cinderella and Prince Charming. Many of the children chose to be the characters from their favorite bedtime stories, such as fairies, witches, and even ghosts.
I thought long and hard about my costume and ultimately settled on being a queen. Mama helped with my gown, which was a deep-green velvet material with gold brocade as an accent. The gown was heavy but lovely, and I felt beautiful in it.
In the October evening, the heavy velvet of my gown guarded me against the cold. Once we were all inside, we kept the church hall open to avoid the stuffiness of the hall. At first it was cold, but when everybody came, the place warmed up.
Children loved the games and, of course, the sweets. I noticed Cal Sullivan in the crowd, enjoying himself. He gave me a smile. I wondered if his father had lifted his punishment. That didn’t sound like Ethan, and I hoped Cal was not there without his father’s knowledge. I shuddered to think what Ethan would do in that case.
Doc Seaver was being a true Prince Charming by asking me to dance with him. I of course agreed, and we proceeded to walk to the dance floor and join the others there in a lovely waltz.
“How are you feeling, Annie? Or should I say, Your Majesty?”
“Just fine, Doc. Or is it Your Highness of Fall River? Is that the reason you asked to dance with me? And here I thought I had you under my spell.”
“Of course not. I thought I’d get the first dance with the lovely Royal Highness Queen Annie Margarete since I know you’ll be too busy later with all the young men here tonight. I seem to see quite a few men who have been captured by your charms. I was just wondering how you were feeling. You did have a nasty accident last week.”
“Well, I am really impressed you know my whole name. I can tell you that I have not had any dizziness or headaches, but I do have one problem.”
He looked at me for an explanation.
“I have a problem of always leading when I dance with a handsome man,” I said. “Especially when he’s as handsome as the one I’m dancing with right now.”
“Well, I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Doc.”
We continued to dance around the floor a few times. Everyone was having a grand time with all the music and laughter. Suddenly the music stopped.
I turned my attention to the door, and there stood Ethan. He was not a very tall man, but his presence in that doorway made him look like a mountain.
His gaze was directly on Cal, who looked as though he feared for his life. Ethan walked over to the boy, grabbed his arm, and began to twist it while shaking him.
“What do you think you’re doing here, boy? Did I give you permission for you to leave the house? Who said you could come here? Did I not say you were grounded until I say you can go anywhere? Well, answer me, boy!”
We all saw that the boy was in pain as Ethan gripped him hard. I had to do something to get his attention.
“Mr. Sullivan, do come and join us.”
“You just keep away from my family, Missy. We don’t need the likes of you putting fool notions in their heads. They don’t need any learning. All they need to know is how to farm. We’re farmers, and that’s all we need to be.”
“Mr. Sullivan, I—”
“I told you, Missy, we don’t need your book learning!”
“I was just going to tell you to let go of Cal’s arm before he loses circulation in it.”
He looked down at Cal and let go of the boy’s arm. Cal dropped to the floor.
I rushed over to him. “Does your arm hurt too badly, Cal?”
“It’s all right, Miss Annie. I’ve had worse.”
Ethan glared at me. “You have to keep a youngin straight.”
“I understand that, but you don’t need to use force. After all, Mr. Sullivan, one can achieve much more with kindness than with force.”
“With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t tell you how to teach, so you don’t tell me how to raise my youngin.”
Just then, Sarah Sullivan and Travis came to the door. The frightened look on her face showed me she feared the worst. “Ethan, what are you doing?”
“Woman, you get back home! This is none of your business. You leave my boy to me.”
“I will not leave.” Sarah looked firm. Ethan seemed surprised. She had probably never defied him before.
Cal looked afraid. Maybe he feared his father would lash out on her in front of the whole town.
“I’m okay, Ma. You don’t have to worry.”
She gently put her hand on Cal’s cheek. “No you’re not. You’re hurting, and he’s not going to do this to you anymore.”
Ethan raised his hand to hit his wife, but Papa grabbed it and knocked him down. “Sullivan, you’d better go home before I do something I might regret.”
Ethan’s face turned red. “You have no right, Lochlan. This is none of your business. This is my wife. She belongs to me, and she goes when I say.”
“She’s your wife, but she belongs to no one but herself. Your brother will take them home after Cal has his arm looked at.”
“I won’t forget this, Lochlan. You got a fine wife and daughter of your own there. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to them.’’
Papa looked at him with a fire in his eyes I rarely saw. “Don’t you dare come near my family, Sullivan, and if anything happens to them, you’ll be the first one I’ll hunt down.”
Ethan got up and strutted toward the door. He turned around once to glare at everyone before leaving.
When he left, I walked over to the Sullivans. “Mrs. Sullivan, why don’t you, Cal, and Travis come over to our table?”
Cal and his mother agreed and came over. Travis stayed by the door, making sure Ethan rode off.
“I couldn’t let him hurt Cal anymore, Miss Annie,” Sarah said. “He has such a fierce temper. I thought he’d tear his arm off.”
“You don’t have to stay with him,” I said.
She looked like a frightened woman just then—not the strong woman who’d told Ethan off earlier but a frail wife who was used to being abused physically and mentally by her husband.
“You shouldn’t worry. It’s just that Ethan doesn’t believe in all this education. He feels that we are plain folk and should live that way. I really do think I’d better get back home with Cal. Ethan will be waiting up for us to get back. You don’t need to worry. Travis will take good care of us. After all, Ethan’s my husband.”
I looked up, and there was Travis, coming toward us. “I’ll take good care of them, Miss Annie.”
“I’m counting on you, Mr. Sullivan,” I said, worried. I gave him a small smile, and he smiled back as he escorted his sister-in-law and Cal out the door. Pa came up behind me.
“You sure it was wise to send them back, Annie?”
“I couldn’t keep them here. I’d be no better than her husband if I did that.”
“You’re right. I just worry.”
“I know, Papa. So do I.”