Uncle Walt was dead. Bear was tied up and sweating in a Cherokee lodge. The pursuit was over. Joanie was breathing easy, and Trella and baby Esther were thriving.
There was no longer anything blocking their way from leaving, Beth concluded the next morning.
Pierce could go home now too. The idea of not seeing him every morning, hearing his low whistle, watching his jaunty stride…She bit her lip and pushed back breakfast that suddenly tasted sour.
Joanie broke the silence between them. “I don’t want to leave, Beth.”
Beth pitched the last of her coffee. “Our plan from the beginning was to go to the next community and find help for you. We have no reason to stay.”
“But I’m better—so much better here.”
“I know.” Pausing, Beth studied her sister. Her cheeks bloomed with color and her eyes were bright. Her cough was infrequent these days. What had brought about this miraculous change?
“Joanie,” Beth ventured. “Has Gray Eagle been giving you some sort of new herbal treatment in addition to the lobelia?”
Joanie’s gaze dropped. “No…”
“But Gray Eagle is responsible—am I right? Tell me at least that.”
“I can’t, Beth. I promised.”
With a soft sigh, Beth leaned closer. “I hate it when you keep things from me.”
“Nothing’s happened. Let’s just say that Gray Eagle found a way to help, but neither of us can say how.”
“You can tell me, Joanie!” Beth was practically shouting now.
“I truly can’t. I made a solemn vow.” She reached for her sister’s hand. “Can’t you just be happy that I’ve found relief? If I leave here, I’ll get sick again.”
“That doesn’t make sense. What is here that you can’t take with you?”
Shaking her head, Joanie insisted, “I have to stay.”
“Well, we can’t. This is the Cherokee summer home. When autumn arrives, they’ll be moving to winter grounds.”
“I know, and I’ve thought of nothing else for days. I felt sure that the hour would come when we would be free of Walt and Bear and have to move on, but if I do I’ll surely die.”
“Joanie! You’re talking in circles. You’re much better!”
“It’s true, Beth. Now I’m better, but if I don’t have…my treatments…then my lungs will close and someday that will be it for me.”
Burying her face in her hands, Beth took a deep breath. None of what she said made sense. “Does Pierce know about these treatments?”
“No one knows. And no one must know, or they will be taken away from me.”
“Then…perhaps we can ask special permission to live here. Maybe at the abbey with the nuns. They could use our help once the Indians leave for their winter home.” Beth’s eyes roamed the camp. The people here had been wonderful. If Joanie’s condition could be treated, then Beth was willing to stay. She’d never been happier or more at peace. She loved Sister Mary Margaret and the sisters, and if she and Joanie left, she would miss them with a fierce longing.
“I pray that we can stay, but I fear we won’t be allowed,” Joanie admitted. “The sisters have been good to us, but we are intruders.”
“They don’t think of us as intruders. Mary Margaret said so.”
Joanie turned soulful eyes on her. “It won’t be the same. Gray Eagle is leaving, and so are Pierce and Preach.”
“When?”
“In the morning.”
“Who said?”
“No one has to say, Beth. Their business is finished, and we’ve known all along that they want to go home.”
“Does Trella know Preach is leaving in the morning?”
“I’m not sure. I fear she’s fallen in love with him.”
Beth met her sister’s eyes. “And you have fallen in love with Gray Eagle.”
“Yes. Very much so.” She flashed a sudden grin. “And you, dear sister, have decided that not all men are evil.”
“Guilty,” Beth confessed. How easily she had made the leap.
“Are you in love with Pierce?”
“I…yes, I suppose I am, but he’s never to know. Nothing can ever come of this madness.”
“You two haven’t discussed your feelings?”
“I haven’t acknowledged mine, and I haven’t the slightest idea how he feels about me. Honestly, I don’t know how he could even like me. I’ve given him nothing but trouble since the moment we met.”
Joanie’s expression turned pensive. “By fleeing Uncle Walt and Bear, I fear we’ve landed ourselves into a deep marsh.”
Beth reached for her sister’s hand. “It isn’t a marsh that traps us, but rather quicksand.”
Nodding, Joanie said, “We both need God’s guidance this morning.” She reached for her Bible and opened it to the book of John, her favorite gospel. A note fluttered to the ground. Retrieving the paper, she skimmed it and then looked up. “It’s from Ma.”
“Ma? Why would she leave us a message?”
Joanie looked down at the note in her hand again and read the words aloud.
My dear girls,
I have done little in your lives to protect you from Walt. I beg that you will forgive me. Your pa loves you deeply, but he refuses to relinquish the deed to his brother. I fear that both Walt and Emmett have lost their way in this senseless dispute. Perhaps you will see the hour that it ends on a satisfactory note. This is my prayer. My hands are tied. I love your pa and I trust in his wisdom.
I will love you forever.
Ma
“The noted was dated the night before she died,” Joanie whispered.
Lifting tear-filled eyes, Beth sighed. “Oh, Ma.”