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NOAH RETURNED HOME a few days later, hot, tired, hungry, and in an ill humor. The first thing that set him off when he charged into the house was the sight of the six beaver pelts spread out on one of the board tables in the common room.
“What in the hell have you done?” He whirled to glare at Catherine, who had been outdoors pulling weeds from her corn patch and hurried up to the house when she spotted the three traders emerging from the forest.
Her smile fell. “I thought you forgot to take them with you. The day you prepared for your trip you lamented the fact that you had nothing to trade. I found the bundle in the shed. I thought you must have forgotten . . .”
“Meddling!” He flung his helmet to the ground, shrugged out of his breastplate and let it clatter to the floor behind him. “No man likes a meddling wife!”
“Noah, I wasn’t meddling. I thought you had forgotten. There are beads and ax blades and . . . ”
He stormed into the second bedchamber and came right back out again. “Where are my clothes and the rest of my things?”
Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed Catherine’s middle. “Oh-h!” Clutching her stomach, she slumped onto one of the ladder-backed chairs before the hearth.
Appearing not to notice her discomfort, angry strides carried him across the room. “Answer me! What have you done with my things?”
The pains in Catherine’s midsection were so intense she could not draw breath. She had recently missed her second monthly flow and was now certain she was with child. She had hoped when she told Noah, he would be pleased.
“Noah . . .” she gasped. “I’m pregnant.”
He stared at her for a long moment. Finally, he said, “Well, I confess I was beginning to think ye were barren. Or that ye were swallowing some tisane behind my back to prevent conceiving.”
She raised her head to stare up at him. “Why on earth would I do that?”
An arm swept the room. “Why on earth would you do this?”
His anger over such a silly matter struck her as funny and a nervous giggle escaped her.
“And now you’re laughing? Catherine, have ye gone daft?” Both fists parked on his hips, he stood glaring down at her.
“I cleaned out the second bedchamber a-purpose. Two ships arrived after you left and I thought we might invite a man and wife to share our home. Your clothes are in our room. The rest of your things are in the loft. Reverend Buck admonished us to be charitable toward the newcomers. He asked for volunteers.”
“So, ye volunteered our home to strangers, did ya’?”
“No, I wouldn’t do that without consulting you.”
“And my pelts? What part do they play in this?”
“I told you, I found them in the shed along with the ax blades and beads. I thought you had forgotten to take them with you.”
“So a ship has arrived.” He moved across the room and began to gather up the beaver pelts. He next noticed the handful of beads she’d placed in the center of the other table, the one where they took their meals. He scooped them up also. “What are these doing here?”
“They are for Lanneika.”
“The Indian girl’s back?”
“No. I found those on the floor when I changed the rushes last week. I’d been paying her with the beads I dropped the day I fell from the ladder. You recall.”
“Indeed.” His eyes narrowed. “I also recall those were my beads.” His mouth pursed as he walked back toward the table, which held the pouches of beads Catherine had brought into the house from the shed. He poured the beads in his hand into the bag, then stalked past her into their bedchamber.
Catherine rose to follow him, though she moved slowly, fearing another sharp pain might strike her. “Noah, I will soon need help. I won’t be able to haul water from the spring or even bring in logs for the fire. Another woman around would be a great help to me.”
Standing in the doorway of their bedchamber, she watched him remove his doublet and soiled shirt and change into fresh clothing.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Are the ships still in the harbor?”
“Yes, both of them. Very few of the settlers have found homes on land.” She moved into the room and slowly knelt down beside the bed to retrieve her valise from beneath it. “I’ve no idea if there are any indentured contracts left, but if you’d like to take the money along . . . ”
When he held out his hand, she gave him the pouch.
Back in the common room, he slung the rich beaver pelts over one shoulder and left her standing in the doorway, watching him stride toward the fort and the pier beyond.
* * * *
SEVERAL HOURS LATER, a bit past sundown, Noah returned carrying a large bundle beneath one arm. Straggling a few steps behind him was a girl. Catherine stared at the poor thing. She was slight, stood no more than five feet tall, and was thin as a rail. Her face and arms were streaked with weeks of filth no doubt accumulated during the long hard months of her shipboard journey. Her mousy-brown hair hung in greasy tangles about her dirt-smudged face. The threadbare garment she wore hung on her skeletal body like a flag tattered to shreds in a high gale.
Having deposited his heavy bundle on one of the empty board tables, Noah turned to address his wife. “Ye said ye needed help.”
Catherine was still staring at the girl. “Where is her husband?”
“No husband. She’s a servant. I bought her contract. She’s indentured to me for a full seven years.”
“Y-you . . . bought a . . . girl?”
He shrugged. “Man or woman I’m still entitled to my fifty acres.”
Catherine said nothing.
“You said ye needed help.”
Catherine turned back to the girl standing mute inside the doorway. “What is your name?”
“Lyd-jah.”
“Lyd-jah?” Catherine frowned. The girl’s accent was so thick she could barely understand her. “Are you saying your name is Lydia?”
The girl shoved back a hank of hair hanging before her face. “Tho’s rot, mum.”
Catherine flung an exasperated look at her husband.
“Well, get her cleaned up,” he barked. “Plain to see, she needs washing and something to wear.”
Catherine’s lips thinned. “I stand a good five inches taller than she, Noah. Not a single one of my gowns will suit.”
“Well, find her something.”
Catherine rummaged around and finally turned up an old bodice and tattered skirt Nancy had left behind, both more suitable for the rag pile than to be worn, but for now she supposed they’d have to do. She led the girl outdoors with a bucket of water, a rag, and a handful of soap jelly and told her to scrub her face and arms till there wasn’t a speck of dirt left on them.
Going back inside, she said, “I’ll make a place for her in the loft.”
“Put her in the spare room.”
“But there are still upward of two hundred settlers in need of a home, Noah. We’ve plenty of room here for . . .”
“Lydia gets the spare room and there’s an end to it.”
Later, Catherine prepared their evening meal while Lydia stood mutely looking on. Occasionally Catherine assigned her a simple task, such as carrying the filled trenchers to the table or placing clean spoons beside each plate. Otherwise, the girl appeared at a loss regarding anything to do with cooking.
In their bedchamber that night, Catherine could no longer contain her questions about their new servant.
“What was her crime? She would not have been sentenced to transportation if she had not been convicted of a crime.”
Stepping from his breeches, Noah climbed into bed wearing his shirt, which is what he usually slept in. “Didn’t ask. Whatever her crime, it doesn’t signify to me. You said you required help. She’s female. I assume she can cook and clean.”
“Methinks you presume a great deal,” Catherine muttered as she lay back on the bed.
“I picked the prettiest of the lot.”
“What do her looks have to say to anything?”
“The other women were snaggle-toothed hags. Couldn’t abide looking at that every day.”
Catherine’s eyes rolled upward. “I thought you meant to purchase a male servant so he could work our land. Actually, I thought you meant to purchase two indentures. Both men. They could quickly put up a bark hut and go to work at once clearing the land. It’s too late for a tobacco crop this year, but there’s plenty of time for a decent corn crop, if you planted it right away.”
When Noah didn’t reply, she added, “We also need vegetable seed . . . turnips, peas, carrots. I noticed the ship’s merchant had a variety of seed packets for sale.”
He turned his head on the pillow to look at her. “You went to the pier?”
“I needed new boots. In a year’s time, I’ve walked holes in mine.”
He turned back over. “I also bought new boots today, a couple of new shirts, and a few other necessities. My beaver pelts fetched quite a good price.”
“So we still have money left for a male servant?” For answer, she heard only silence. “We could go down tomorrow and . . .”
“Not certain now I want to be planter,” he muttered.
She sat up, staring at his backside in the darkness. “It’s what you’ve wanted all along!”
“I am ill-suited to hard labor. My pelts fetched a good price,” he said again. “Apparently fine English gentlemen covet fine beaver hats. Ship’s merchant said he’d pay a premium for all the beaver pelts I could provide.”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “Are you saying you now mean to become a trapper?”
“Didn’t say that. Trapping’s also hard work. Curing the skins . . . no, never said I mean to become a trapper, not in the . . . purest sense of the word.”
“You are not making sense, Noah.”
He turned over, one arm reaching for her. “And you, my dear, are being far too inquisitive. Suffice to say there are other methods of obtaining pelts and skins. Come, Goodwife Colton, since you refuse to go to sleep, you may as well take care of your husband.” Raising himself up on an elbow, he began to tug at her night rail.
Catherine did not resist. She knew his rutting would be over quickly, and it didn’t matter to him if she enjoyed it or not, or even took part.
“Well,” she murmured once he’d rolled off of her, “I suppose if you mean to become a trapper, we shall have plenty of wild game to eat. Are beavers edible?”
“Go to sleep, Catherine.”
* * * *
THOUGH SHE WAS PLAGUED by doubts over this new twist in her husband’s plans, Catherine had little time to ponder the matter. Showing Lydia how to perform even the simplest of tasks took more and more of her time each day. The girl was not terribly bright and didn’t seem to know one end of a broom from the other or, when one was placed in her hands, what to do with it. Catherine ached to ask a few questions about her background, but, because she was afraid of what she’d uncover, she refrained. Young girls sentenced to transportation could be guilty of crimes ranging from something as simple as stealing an apple or orange from a street vendor to picking pockets or . . . worse. Catherine just hoped she and Noah were not giving this criminal a second chance to commit the same crime again.
A few mornings later, when Catherine realized the ships had still not left the harbor, she mentioned that fact to Noah.
“Since you did not use our money to purchase a second indenture, I thought we might go down to the pier and see what else the ship’s merchant has to offer.”
“Why, do you require something?”
“We have a baby on the way, Noah. And we also have another mouth to feed. I gave Lydia my old boots to wear, but I understand that, as her employers, it falls to us to clothe her. Yes, it would be fair to say I require something, quite a number of somethings.”
“Very well.”
Though Noah had already dressed for the day, he retreated into their bedchamber and emerged some minutes later wearing his new pair of puffed burgundy breeches, white linen shirt, and matching doublet with gold buttons he’d purchased for himself the day he came home with Lydia.
Whilst he was changing clothes, Catherine took Lydia to the corn patch and set her to work pulling weeds from amongst the new bean and squash shoots. When she returned to the house, she found her husband awaiting her in the doorway.
“Your new finery looks quite splendid. I expect I’d best change my clothes.” She hurried to put on one of the gowns she usually reserved for Sabbath wear.
The sun was already high overheard, and, though it was a warm day, the pleasant breeze wafting inland from the river cooled them. Catherine realized as they walked that this was one of the few times she and Noah had gone anywhere together, other than to Sabbath services when he was in town. They passed other settlers, some also headed to the pier, others returning home with their purchases. Noah seemed to know everyone by name and called out greetings as they passed. It occurred to Catherine that away from home, her husband’s demeanor became considerably more charming and affable, especially toward the ladies, which, before they married, was the way he used to be with her. Everyone liked him, and they all returned his friendly greetings. She was also aware that they received many admiring glances. They did make a handsome couple, and, despite her recent misgivings about her new husband, she felt proud to be walking beside him.
As they neared the walls of the fort, through which they had to walk in order to reach the pier, she asked Noah if he needed any new traps or special tools for his new trade as a trapper.
“No,” he replied breezily, “I have everything I need.”
Catherine wondered where he kept his traps. She assumed he’d use different-sized traps for different-sized animals, and she’d seen nothing of the sort in the shed or the second bedchamber. But she did not pursue the matter. Instead she asked him what he meant to do with their land now that he’d abandoned the idea of becoming a planter.
“Sell it at a premium, of course. Land hereabouts will soon be gone. New settlers arriving with the notion of making a fortune in tobacco will be willing to pay a high price for land when they realize there’s none left. Mark my words, Catherine, land grants will soon become a thing of the past.”
“I confess I hadn’t thought of that.” Though she thought it might be a good many years before all the land had been allotted. No one yet knew how far west land in the New World stretched. She’d heard tell of a mountain range somewhere in that direction, but no one had ventured far enough inland to actually see it. “I intend to purchase some of the seed packets today that I saw last week, if any remain.”
“What do you want more seeds for?”
“Noah, the four of us have to eat.”
“Four of us?”
“Must I keep reminding you that I am with child? And now we have Lydia. The food stored in the loft will not last forever. It must be replenished. And we must replenish it before winter sets in.” She chose not to tell him that Adam owed her another winter’s worth of provisions. Now that she’d married Noah she wasn’t certain Adam would honor the agreement; nor was she certain Noah would accept it. “It’s imperative that you clear at least a portion of our land, so we might plant more corn and a variety of vegetables.”
He grimaced. “I doubt I will have any spare time for clearing land. Besides, you know very well I am ill-suited for common labor. We’ll not starve. Jamestown’s storehouse is full of corn.”
“The corn in the storehouse is meant for newcomers and those settlers who have nothing! The rest of us are expected to grow our corn. We cannot plant amongst the trees, Noah. The land must be cleared.”
Just then, they stepped through the fort walls and could hear the sound of excited talking and laughter coming from those colonists gathered around the ship’s merchant’s makeshift store in the shallop he’d dragged onto land, it filled to capacity with wares the man had brought from England to sell. A cow tied to one end of the boat mooed, and noisy squawks came from a nearby crate filled with chickens.
Feeling a surge of excitement well up within her, Catherine exclaimed, “Oh, Noah, look! It is very like the county fairs we used to attend as children!”
She twined her arm through his as they walked, but in no time he reached to untwine it. “I have business to take care of, sweetheart.”
“Noah, I need some money!”
He dug into his pocket and handed her some coins before he disappeared into the crowd.
Feeling somewhat chagrined by being so quickly abandoned, Catherine approached one end of the longboat and snatched up the few remaining seed packets she spotted and paid for them. She was fingering a length of blue worsted stuff when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Would the lady like a length of that fine fabric?”
“Adam!” She turned, a bright smile lighting up her pretty face.
“Allow me to purchase that for you, my pet.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t.”
“I insist. Consider it a belated birthday gift. I daresay I’ve missed the past, oh, eight or nine.”
Brother and sister laughed as Catherine told the merchant how much she needed, and Adam paid for it.
“Is Abby with you?”
“Indeed, she is just . . . there.” They strolled that direction and the three commenced to talk. Adam mentioned he’d just bought yet another indentured contract and the crate of chickens.
“The entire crate?” Catherine exclaimed.
“Adam, do let us give Catherine one or two,” Abby urged. “I recall there are several roosters near the old place. She and Noah can have fresh eggs every day.”
“That would be lovely! I have some joyful news to impart,” Catherine added. Beaming, she told them she was certain she was with child.
Delighted, Abigail hugged her sister-in-law. “I do wish our families could visit one another. Eli is getting quite big now. I long for him to know his dear aunt Catherine.”
“Perhaps when my little one comes along, things will change between our menfolk.”
“Are you here alone today, Cat?” Adam asked.
She shook her head. “Noah is also here . . . somewhere.” Glancing about, she spotted him engaged in a heated debate with Ed Henley. No one had to tell her what the two men were discussing and who would emerge the winner in the controversy. She turned back to her brother. “I had wished to purchase a cone of sugar and some oats today, but I . . . unless Noah turns up, I shan’t be able to make it home with a fifty-pound bag of oats.”
“Adam can carry it.”
“My new manservant will carry it,” Adam retorted and they all laughed.
On the way home, the new servant trailing a few paces behind with the fifty-pound bag of oats slung over his shoulder, the threesome continued to visit.
Adam, carrying a chicken tucked under each arm, asked if Noah had managed to clear any of his land yet.
“No.” Catherine sighed. “He has decided to become a fur trapper. He was quite pleased with the price he received for his beaver pelts.”
“So, he’s trapping beaver, is he?”
“I suppose so, though I confess I wasn’t aware he’d set any traps. But I did see the pelts and they were quite beautiful.”
“Trapping requires patience. And then there’s the curing.”
“Oh, I don’t believe he means to do the actual trapping, or even the curing, himself.”
“So he’s taken a partner, then?”
“I . . . don’t really know.” Catherine was growing confused. She’d have to question Noah further so she wouldn’t sound so dense when telling people about her husband’s new occupation. “How is Nancy feeling?” She asked Abby. “You have my permission to tell her my good news.”
“Nancy is doing very well and she’ll be thrilled by your news, I’m certain.”
When they reached the house, Adam sent his man to the loft with the bag of oats while he deposited the chickens in the coop where he and Abby had previously kept theirs. He then headed up to the loft and the two men emptied the heavy bag of oats into the nearly empty barrel. “You don’t want rats getting at the oats,” he told Catherine when he came back down.
At that moment, Lydia stepped into the house.
“Oh, you’ve finished weeding the corn patch?”
The girl nodded but didn’t speak.
“This is our new servant, Lydia. Noah bought her indenture last week.”
“So Lanneika is no longer coming?” Abby asked.
Catherine shook her head sadly. She sorely missed the sweet-tempered Indian girl and did not feel Lydia would come close to filling the gap left by Lanneika.
Before they all bid one another good-bye, Adam leaned down to kiss his sister on the cheek. “I don’t mean to be a down-pin, sis, but you’d best keep a close eye on what your husband is up to.”
Catherine nodded assent, then turned toward Lydia. “Let’s go see how you did with the weeding, shall we?”
* * * *
AFTER NOAH HAD RETURNED home that evening, Catherine sent Lydia to the spring for water to wash the soiled trenchers, and then whirling toward her husband, she exploded.
“The girl pulled up all my new bean and squash plants! Said she couldn’t tell the difference between them and the weeds! The girl will simply not work out, Noah. I insist you take her back and trade her for a grown woman, one with a strong back who knows how to cook and clean.”
Noah looked at his wife as if she’d sprouted another head. “I have no intention of trading Lydia off. It would look as if I cannot manage my own servants!”
“Well, you are not the one doing the managing! And, besides, what difference would it make what anyone thinks? The girl is inept and, for the most part, worthless!”
“Well, you claim to be a teacher; so teach her. You taught Lanneika and she didn’t even speak English. It’s no wonder the girl knows nothing, having been plucked straight from the London streets.”
“Gutter, more like,” Catherine muttered, realizing again that trying to persuade her headstrong husband to see things her way was a useless waste of breath. Noah was strong-willed and obstinate, and Catherine was fast learning that arguing with him served no good purpose. There was only one way things would be done in their household. His.