CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE

Piper rode back to Hyden the next day with a light heart. Witnessing a miracle of life made everything look brighter, fresher, greener. A bird up in the treetops sang, “Cheery, cheery.” Then on down the trail another bird picked up the refrain. What a beautiful day.

That morning after she milked Clara, they had fried chicken for breakfast. Nurse Freeman had determined frying it that morning made it fine to eat. One of the chicken legs was wrapped in brown paper and stuffed in her saddlebags. Jamie deserved a taste of their chicken.

Perhaps Mann Taylor did as well, but she had no desire to cross his path on this day. Or any day. She was grateful he’d killed the snake before it bit her, but the blast of that gun had nearly made her heart stop.

Then Jamie’s kiss had more than started it racing. Along with those beautiful words, I love you. She should have said them right back. Let him know she had loved him forever and would continue to love him forever.

Yesterday had been a day of miracles. She hadn’t killed a chicken, but she had plucked it. She had kissed Jamie. A baby started breathing when it seemed she wouldn’t. Piper laughed at herself when she realized how she had listed what she counted miracles. Backwards for sure. The baby was the real miracle. That sweet infant taking a breath. Prayers answered.

Nurse Freeman had been quiet on their ride down from the West cabin late in the night after Mrs. West and the baby were nicely settled. Mrs. West’s mother had shown up at the cabin, alerted to the birth by the mountain grapevine that seemed to spread news faster than a string of telephones.

Piper smiled again, thinking of the grandmother rocking the new baby while Billy and little Ellie stood on either side of her. Everything was making her smile today. And she had weeks more here in the mountains before she had to return to Louisville and face her father.

That thought did wipe her smile away. He might disown her for refusing Braxton Crandall and choosing Jamie instead. But how could she do differently? She’d have to write Braxton. Tell him her decision not to become Mrs. Crandall. He didn’t love her. How could he? They barely knew each other. He had simply determined that she fit his specifications for a wife. No romance there. An arrangement was all.

Love will grow. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind. Perhaps that might be true if her heart wasn’t already so full of love for another. Whatever the consequences of her choice, she would have to live with it.

Life. Here on this hillside on this day astride a trusty mare and leading along another they could nurse back to health was a day to rejoice and be glad. Her heart sang along with the birds. “Cheery. Cheery.” Being in the mountains had awakened her to the wonder and beauty of God’s world. Just as Maxine Crutcher had promised it would.

Piper felt so good that she didn’t let it bother her that much when the sky suddenly darkened and raindrops splattered down through the leaves. Lightly at first and then pounding through to drench her. The horses were resigned to walking on through rain or shine. She might as well be too. No drying out until she got to Wendover.

Even in the pouring rain her heart had a song. That was what rejoicing in the miracle of life and love could do.

Digging a grave for a horse wasn’t easy. Jamie and Kermit had been at it for a couple of hours, with Kermit looking more and more gloomy. Two other men had shown up to help. Jamie only got first names. Butch and Zeke.

Jamie had his own reason for gloom that had nothing to do with the poor horse that Kermit and Mrs. Breckinridge had determined to put down.

“Only thing to do,” Kermit said when they headed down to the horse graveyard. Puddin wasn’t the first horse to be buried here. Mrs. Breckinridge didn’t allow the buzzards to feast on her horses. “A horse ain’t a creature that can make it on three legs. I’ve seen three-legged dogs that make out fine, but not a horse. Just can’t be done.”

“Right.”

“But it’s a fretful thing.”

Jamie didn’t say anything.

“A sorrowful, fretful, awful thing.” Kermit muttered the words as he attacked the ground with his pickax to lay out the lines of the grave.

Now as the hole got deeper, Butch and Zeke seemed happy to have a job, whatever it was, while Kermit and Jamie wallowed in their gloom. Jamie should have left. Just taken the pictures of Mrs. Breckinridge, her log house, and the barn, and gone. But she’d said to talk to Suze. And Mrs. Miller, the garden lady he hadn’t yet met.

Mrs. Breckinridge was right. Talking to others would make for a better story. So he’d tracked down Suze, who was drinking lemonade on the porch with Braxton Crandall.

“Russell, I see you made it here to Wendover too,” Braxton had said. “Thank you for suggesting I get someone to come get me last night. Susan was kind enough to bring a horse and lead me through the wilderness and across the river.” He smiled at Suze, whose cheeks pinked.

Jamie had talked to Suze several times, and she had never shown the first hint of uneasiness or embarrassment. She had seemed to be something like Mrs. Breckinridge, sure of her place and glad to be here.

“Susan?” Jamie said. Her cheeks flamed a little brighter.

“That’s my name,” she said. “Braxton and I were acquaintances in New York.”

“Acquaintances?” Braxton broke in with a smile. “I would hope you’d say we are old friends.” The smile slid off his face when he looked at Jamie. “Old friends like you and Piper. The Piper who wasn’t here when I made that late-night ride to get here. I think you knew that would be the case.”

Suze spoke up before Jamie could say anything. “She’ll be back this afternoon if the nurses don’t have things they need her to do.”

“Is that the case? Is she going to be occupied there for a while?” Braxton asked Jamie.

“I have no idea,” Jamie said. “When I left Wilder Ridge to bring Miss Danson to the hospital, Piper and the nurse were headed off to deliver a baby.”

“Sounds busy.” Braxton kept his gaze on Jamie. “Susan says you’re writing a story about Mrs. Breckinridge. That you work for a newspaper. I was under the impression you were going to join your brother in his new endeavors.”

Jamie took a couple of breaths. He refused to let the man get under his skin. It could be he was merely making conversation, and Jamie needed to remember Simon’s need for investment money. “No, I’m afraid I’m not cut out for that kind of work. I have a teaching position this fall, but right now I’m writing stories for the Danville paper.”

“Not a very big operation, is it?”

“The people there like it.”

“Small towns do enjoy their local news. Tell you what. If you get the story written, have the editor send me a copy. I’ll show it to one of my friends in the newspaper business. Might be just the kind of human interest piece they might like in the city.”

Braxton didn’t say which city and Jamie didn’t ask. No need thinking too far ahead. He had to write the story first. “I’ll tell him that.”

“That would be wonderful.” Suze’s smile included them both.

Jamie looked at Suze. “Mrs. Breckinridge said I should talk to you to get some insight on why young women like you volunteer to come here.”

“I wouldn’t mind knowing that myself,” Braxton said. “Might help me understand why Piper was so eager to run off down here this summer instead of staying in town so we could get better acquainted. That would seem to be a priority before we get married this fall.”

“Oh.” Suze’s eyes widened a bit. “You’re getting married this fall?”

“That is the plan. Didn’t Piper tell you?”

“No, I don’t think she did.” An odd look crossed Suze’s face. She reached for her glass of lemonade on a table between their chairs and knocked it over. She did catch the glass, but lemonade went everywhere. She jumped up. “Oh dear. I’d better get some water to wash that off the porch or we’ll have ants.” She gave Jamie a little smile. “But I’ll be glad to talk to you later about being a courier. Maybe Danny will be back by then and you can get her impressions too.”

After Suze went inside, Braxton shook his head. “Danny. I can’t believe Piper lets them call her Danny.”

“Piper said Danny was better than Pip.”

“I can understand that, but not what she’s doing here in the first place. Or Susan either.” He nodded toward the screen door Suze had disappeared through. “Both girls with everything going for them. And they actually volunteered to come down here to clean horse stalls. That doesn’t make sense.”

When Jamie didn’t say anything, Braxton went on. “Look, I realize you and Piper maybe had a romance going before her debut. I’m sorry to break that up for you, but if you truly care for Piper, then don’t you think it would be best for all of us if you step out of the picture? I assure you I will do everything in my power to give Piper the life she deserves. Not one of struggle.”

Not one of struggle. Those words were the reason for Jamie’s gloom as he helped Kermit dig this huge hole to put poor Puddin in. The problem was, he couldn’t deny the truth of Braxton’s words. With him, life could very well be a struggle, at least nothing like the life Piper was accustomed to. Besides that, he couldn’t even dislike the man. He gave every indication of being a good guy. Suze obviously liked him. Maybe had hoped for more, before Braxton said he and Piper were getting married. Poor Suze. Left out in the cold the same as Jamie.

Not that he was cold digging this hole. Definitely not. Jamie stopped to wipe sweat off his face before he put his foot on the shovel to push it in the ground. The blade clanked against another rock.

Butch looked over at him. “Your shovel must be a rock magnet.” He laughed. “Grab that digger over there to prize it out. We keep digging, maybe we’ll strike gold. That black gold anyhow. Coal. Ain’t that right, Kermit?”

Without looking up, Kermit mumbled something that was no doubt better unheard and kept digging in the other corner of the hole.

Butch shoved the long iron digger’s point down beside the rock and then motioned to Jamie. “Come on, boy, let’s see what you got. Heft that rock up where we can get hold of it.”

Zeke laughed. “That boy ain’t got the muscles to move that rock.”

“I think he can do it.” Butch grinned at Jamie. “Give it a try, kid, but don’t break nothing.”

“Don’t break the iron digger?” Jamie took hold of the digger.

Both men laughed this time. “You ain’t breakin’ that,” Zeke said. “Butch was meaning don’t break nothing on you. Like your back.”

Jamie put his weight into pushing down on the top end of the digger to lift up the rock, but it didn’t budge.

“Or maybe your head from straining too hard,” Butch said.

Kermit threw down his shovel. “You two jackals stop raggin’ on the boy. He ain’t never had to move rocks before.” He pushed Jamie away and pulled the digger out of the dirt to pound it down beside the rock in several places. “Sometimes you got to loosen it first.” He handed the digger back to Jamie. “Now give it a try.”

Jamie dropped the sharp end of the iron digger into the ground beside the rock again, and this time when he pulled down on it, the rock moved. He shoved the digger deeper under the rock and had it out of the dirt on the next try.

Butch slapped Jamie on the back and then helped him heft the rock out of the hole.

Could be Jamie didn’t need to grow a beard to fit in with the mountain men. Maybe he just needed to get dirty working alongside them. He was doing that and getting blisters from digging, but doing something hard felt good. Piper would like him helping Kermit, although she wouldn’t be happy about Puddin.

Jamie looked toward the hills where just yesterday he had told her he loved her, and now it might be that if he loved her enough, he should walk away. Wish her the happiest life possible. Not one of struggle. Just walk away.

The first raindrops to hit his face were cooling and welcome. But then the rain got harder, turning the dirt into sticky mud and making the shovels of dirt heavy to throw out of the deep hole.

“Good thing it’s ’bout deep enough,” Zeke said.

They dug another foot down, with water pooling around their feet, before Kermit leaned on his shovel. “I reckon we need to get on with it afore the hole fills up with water.” His face was grim, with water dripping from the bill of his hat. “I was aiming to wait until dinnertime when all the girls would be in the house and not paying no mind to what was happening out here.”

“Won’t they want to know?” Jamie asked.

“They’ll know. But they won’t want to see. Ain’t nobody wanting to see this.”

“You want me to do it?” All the earlier joviality was gone from Butch’s voice.

“I reckon not. It’s the least I can do for the old feller. Be his friend to the end.” Kermit sighed and pitched his shovel out of the hole and climbed out after it.

The others followed suit.

“We’ll stick around and cover him over for you.” Zeke threw a wet arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “The boy here will stay and see it through too, won’t you, Russ?”

See it through. He could do that. He should do that, but then what would he do when Piper got back to Wendover and found Braxton Crandall waiting to see her? Was he brave enough to see that through? To see her promised to another man?