Late the next morning, Beth packed a lunch for four and went in search of Joanie. She found her in the nursing tent with Trella, whom she embraced warmly. “I’ve seen so little of you since we arrived!” Beth exclaimed.
“I know, and I’m sorry.” Trella glanced at her sleeping daughter, who was lying on a soft pallet near the fire. “Esther takes so much time.”
Beth stepped over to admire the child. She’d lost her earlier redness, and now her skin was a lovely, healthy-looking hue. “She looks mighty satisfied.”
“She is well fed.” Trella smiled at the Indian woman who sat alongside her. “Awinita is like a second mother.”
Joanie sat next to the fire, peeling potatoes. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working in Sister Mary Margaret’s garden.”
“I was earlier, but I thought you might like to have lunch together.”
Shaking her head, Joanie said, “Thank you, but I’ll stay and visit with Awinita. Did you know her name means ‘fawn’?”
Beth smiled. “I didn’t. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to go? I packed your favorites. Cold fried squirrel and fresh berries.”
Her sister laid a potato in a bowl. “I’m sure.”
Shrugging, Beth said, “All right. I’ll tell Gray Eagle you sent greetings.”
Joanie scrambled to her feet. “Gray Eagle?”
Wearing her most innocent look, Beth said, “Why, yes. I’m taking lunch to Gray Eagle and Pierce.”
“I’ll go.”
Where did my resolve to keep the two apart go? Beth wondered. She not only was encouraging the attraction, she was actually feeding it. Yet she knew why her reservations about Gray Eagle failed to hold. She’d seen the gentle care he had for Joanie. Always kind, comforting. Every day he and Joanie went for a walk, and every day her health improved. She still coughed a little, but not the wracking spasms that seemed as though they would tear her body apart. His company did Joanie a world of good, and Beth couldn’t begrudge her sister’s happiness.
Together they walked downstream to where Pierce and Gray Eagle were working. Rebuilding the village structures from the fire four days ago was in full swing in the bright weather. When Pierce glanced up and spotted the two sisters, he grinned.
Waving, Beth motioned to the loaded basket.
The men approached, their bodies glistening with sweat. Slipping on his shirt, Pierce eyed the packed basket hungrily. “What have we here?”
Gray Eagle sought Joanie’s eyes. “Hello, Joanie Jornigan.”
“Good afternoon, Gray Eagle.” Both had shy smiles for the other.
Beth spread a blanket on the ground in the shade, and then she set out lunch, painfully conscious of Pierce’s presence and how much she enjoyed his company. Over the last few days, it was beginning to make sense to her why some women felt that they needed a man in their lives. If all men were like Pierce and Gray Eagle, the world wouldn’t be so bad. But fanciful thoughts about the captain and scout were useless. Even if Gray Eagle could overlook Joanie’s illness, and Pierce was a different kind of a man than she’d ever encountered in her life, the handsome diversions would eventually be on their away.
Pierce blessed the food and they begin to eat. Beth’s mind strayed to her earlier prayers. Evidently God didn’t intend to release her or Joanie from Walt. Perhaps she’d been right all along about Him and her doubts about His existence were justified. Yet she hoped He had heard her pleas. What if she’d really listened when Joanie read the Bible to her aloud in the secrecy of their loft on moonlit nights? Clearing her throat, she asked, “May I ask a question?”
Pierce reached for a piece of flat bread. “Shoot.”
“It’s about prayer.”
Smiling, Pierce folded the bread in half and took a bite. Then he asked, “Are you still worrying about the proper way to pray?”
Joanie glanced up. “You are?” She broke into a wide grin. “You’re actually thinking about prayer?”
“Thinking of how to pray properly,” Beth clarified, worried that Joanie would get her hopes up that she might become someone half as knowledgeable as her sister.
Joanie’s face softened. “I’ve prayed so long for this moment, Beth.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And I’m considering the matter.”
Nodding, Joanie’s face sobered and she said softly, “You feel the weight as well?”
Joanie felt guilty too? Beth slowly nodded. “Something awful. It was wrong of us, Joanie. We shouldn’t have done it.”
Gray Eagle rolled to his side and dropped a strawberry in his mouth. His expression said he had no idea what they were talking about, but Beth didn’t care. She needed to get this out.
“I never dreamt that burning the shanty would also set the cotton fields on fire. That mean act has made me feel…so bad and shameful,” Joanie admitted. “We must have put many friends out of work.”
Choking on his food, Gray Eagle sat up. When it appeared that he couldn’t dislodge the berry from his throat, Beth reached over and whacked his back. His coughing eased.
“Are you okay?” Joanie asked.
“Fine.” He rubbed moisture from his eyes. “What did you say?”
“Are you okay?”
“Before that.”
Joanie’s features turned curious. Beth supplied the answer. “You said we most likely put many friends out of work.”
Joanie’s hand came to her mouth. “I did?”
Pierce reached for another slice of bread. “Don’t worry about it, Joanie. Beth told me about the intent to only burn the shanty. The fields were just an unfortunate result of that.”
“Beth!” Joanie exclaimed.
Beth’s cheeks flushed with heat. “I did. I’m sorry.” She shot the captain a censuring look. Of course he would tell on her.
“Nobody here is going to say anything to Walt.” He flashed a grin. “He had it coming.” Pierce stuffed another piece of bread into his mouth.
“You deliberately burnt your home?” Gray Eagle’s frown deepened and he turned to Joanie. “Why haven’t you said anything to me about this?”
“I…I’ve wanted to, Gray Eagle, but…I’m so ashamed of what we did. It was a horrible thing to do.” She started crying.
Gray Eagle turned to Beth. “Why would you do that?”
Briefly Beth explained the plan. “We waited all day to leave, but Pa didn’t pass until almost the next morning. After we dug a grave and buried him, we closed the shanty door and then burned it. It was mostly pure meanness on our part, but I swear I didn’t intend to set the cotton field ablaze.”
Gray Eagle shook his head. “You really are a hazard with fire. You know that, don’t you?”
“She didn’t mean to burn the cotton field. Or the village,” Pierce said, coming to her defense.
“Go on,” Gray Eagle said, his eyes focused on Joanie.
“There seemed no other way,” Joanie said, wiping her cheeks of tears. “We had to leave, and we figured if Walt spotted the blaze it would occupy his time long enough for us to escape. He would have whipped us if he’d caught us trying to get away.”
“And the day your pa died you made your break.”
Joanie’s eyes darted to Beth. “Yes. We had to.”
Beth choked on a bite of meat. Clearing her throat, she met Joanie’s eyes. “I confess—it was my idea. Now I see that we have wasted a lot of time and energy, and we’ll still be in Walt’s hands.”
“About this deed your pa hid—” Pierce began.
A soft gasp escaped Joanie. “You told him about the deed too?”
“I did.” The fact that she’d tell a man anything didn’t make a lick of sense even to Beth, but since the fire she hadn’t been thinking straight.
“I don’t know what she’s told you, but it’s probably not true,” Joanie said.
“Joanie!”
“Well! I think we can trust him, Beth.” Her gaze swung to Gray Eagle. “And him too.”
Gray Eagle frowned. “Now I’m him?”
Color crawled up Joanie’s neck. “Sorry. You’re more than just him.” She reached out and took his hand. “Much more than that.”
Eyeing the show of affection, Beth said, “All right. The deed isn’t in the third cave. It’s in the fifth one.”
“This is your way of speaking the truth?” Gray Eagle asked.
“I’m sorry. I really can’t decide if you’re trustworthy.”
“We’ve delayed our return home. We’re rebuilding the homes you destroyed. We remain to this day to protect you. What exactly will it take to gain your trust, Beth Jornigan?”
“She trusts us. She just doesn’t want to admit it.” Pierce leaned back and ate a strawberry. “Would you tell me the truth if I asked why your pa has the deed and Walt doesn’t?”
Joanie glanced at her.
Beth sighed. “This is the truth. When our grandpa passed, Grandma knew what a wretch Walt was, so she entrusted the plantation deed to Pa until Walt could grow out of his mean streak. She knew that when she died, if Walt had the deed he’d cut Pa out of the land forever.”
“And she did die,” Joanie added. “And Walt’s still just as mean.”
“Your grandmother was a wise soul,” Gray Eagle observed.
“She was,” Beth agreed. “I don’t know how she and Grandpa could raise such an evil man. Pa was good.”
Pierce chose another strawberry and ate it slowly, giving her time to continue.
“I didn’t think setting fire to our home would bother me,” Beth said, closing her eyes, “but every time I shut my eyes I see the flames…smell the smoke.” She paused and then opened her eyes. “So, you see, you are keeping company with two criminals.”
Pierce glanced at Gray Eagle. “I don’t know about you, but these are about the two prettiest outlaws I’ve ever come across.”
Gray Eagle focused on Joanie. “Agreed.”
“I don’t see how you can make light of what we’ve done.” Beth lifted her gaze to meet Joanie’s. “I’m serious, Joanie. If I do ask forgiveness from your God—”
“He’s your God too if you so choose.” She squeezed her sister’s hand. “Ask anything you want in His name.”
“And He’ll answer me?”
“He promises to supply your needs, not your desires, Beth, but that’s still so very good of Him.”
“The point is, I do want to know how to pray properly.”
Gray Eagle spoke. “There is no proper way.”
That only frustrated Beth more. She sighed. “But everyone I see praying does it a different way. I want to know how to do it so God will hear me.”
“Well, in the Bible the Lord says to go into a closet, shut the door, and pray,” Joanie said.
“A closet?”
“Among other ways.”
Pierce rolled to his side and faced Beth. “I’ll tell you what I know about faith and obedience. God often spoke in parables—story illustrations, similar to Gray Eagle’s stories from his youth. This is a story my great-grandfather told me when I was very young and spiritual matters confused me. He said that God came to a farmer one day, and the farmer was complaining about bad crops, lack of rain, grasshoppers, and how he wasn’t sure he had enough faith to see him through the coming winter. Suddenly, a huge boulder appeared before the man, and God said. ‘Do you trust Me?’
“‘I trust You, God. It’s the weather, lack of rain, and the grasshoppers I don’t trust.’
“‘I’ll tell you what I want you to do,’ God said. ‘See this boulder?’
“The farmer couldn’t miss it. It was solid granite and towered above him. ‘I see it.’
“‘I want you to come out of your house every morning and push that boulder. Push it with all your strength.’
“Because God gave the command, the farmer did as he was told. Every morning he came out of his house and he pushed. He grunted and strained, and the rock wouldn’t move. After months of toil, his body grew lean and his muscles were like iron, but the rock refused to budge.
“Eventually the Lord returned and spoke to the man. ‘Have you faithfully pushed the rock?’
“‘I have,’ the farmer said. ‘But I can’t move it even an inch.’
“God smiled. ‘I didn’t ask you to move it. I only asked that you push.’”
Pierce smiled as he met Beth’s thoughtful gaze. “That’s all He asks us to do, Beth. Push. You’re making God too complicated.” He rolled onto his back again, sighing peacefully.
Just then gunshots shattered the silence.
Springing to their feet, Pierce and Gray Eagle ran toward camp with the women close on their heels.