Sister Mary Margaret?”
The nun paused in her work, glancing up. Beside her a pile of weeds lay upended. “Yes, Beth?” From her kneeling position on the ground she gave her young friend a quick smile.
When Beth lifted her face, she realized the nun was studying her. She cleared her throat.
“What did you want to know, my dear?”
Beth sat down alongside her. Though the nun’s hands were covered in dirt, a wedding band was still visible on her left hand.
“Have you ever been in love?”
The sister gave her a puzzled look. “With Christ…but I suspect that’s not what you mean.”
“No, I mean the earthly kind.”
The sister smiled to herself and pulled up another weed as she weighed her answer. “Once, when I was young, there was this boy in our church.” Mary Margaret sat back on her heels, lost in thought. “His name was Fred. He brought me a peppermint stick every Sunday morning. We planned to marry someday.”
“Really?” Beth glanced over. “What happened?”
“He fell from his barn loft. He was helping his father put up hay for winter.” The sister’s usually cheery voice grew tender. “His mother found him when she came in from milking. The good Lord took him quickly.” With a sigh the sister went back to work. “I decided then that God would be the love of my life. I joined the convent when I was sixteen and took my final vows two years later.”
Beth tried to imagine the stout, rotund woman with laughing eyes as a wife and a mother. She would have been a good one, so caring and kind.
“Why do you ask?”
Beth started, returning to the present. She paused before answering. “I never thought I would marry or have children.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.” Her eyes rested on Pierce and Preach, who were working on a large tree across the meadow from the garden. The woodpile grew larger every day. “But I think I am starting to change my mind about men in general.”
“Explain,” the nun said, jerking a tenacious weed from the ground and adding it to her pile.
Smiling, Beth wondered what Mary Margaret had done for excitement before the Jornigan sisters came around. “Pierce, Gray Eagle, and Preach have shown me that not all men are bad. Some are quite…admirable.”
Laughing, Mary Margaret straightened and shaded her eyes against the hot sun. “I should say so. Those three are the most pleasant men I’ve ever met.” Then she whispered, “I think Gray Eagle is sweet on Joanie. And if I’m not mistaken, Preach seems to have taken a fierce liking to Trella and Esther.”
Beth thought of all the good things that had happened since they had fled the shanty ten days ago. She’d met Mary Margaret. She’d come to appreciate the Cherokee and their kind ways. And truth be told, she was falling for the captain, though she dare not let anyone—even Joanie—know her thoughts. God had opened her eyes to many things during this brief time. To His love. To Pierce. To men in general. Right now she felt as though she could stay here forever in this peaceful world, but deep down she knew her past still waited for her. Walt and Bear. The inevitable showdown was bound to come soon, and then all of this would be over. She thought of her former plan to locate her land and start a new life. While that thought had once excited her, she now dreaded this blissful time coming to end.
“Oh my goodness.” Sister Mary Margaret’s hands paused. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something for days. My memory—it flitters away like a hummingbird. We found your Bible.”
“You did!” Beth’s heart leaped with joy. Joanie would be thrilled. And she would have the deed to her land again. What wonderful news. “Where? We thought we’d lost it somewhere on the trail.”
“Not at all. Sister Helen found it when she was cleaning. It’s been safe in the library where you left it that morning. I’ll bring it tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Beth’s grin widened. “This has been the most perfect day.”
“Yes,” Mary Margaret said, laughing. “God gives us joy in small measure.” She grinned. “If He didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to take it all in.”