His sister, Tirzah, must have been waiting by the door for it swung open just as he reached the knob. “Were there a lot of people, Zeke?” She asked before he could hang his hat on the peg. The twinkle in her hazel eyes reminded him of their childhood.
“Let him come in and tell us all, Tirzah,” their mother called from the adjacent room. “He doesn’t want to tell it twice.”
“A fair amount.” He winked, and the two of them entered the parlor.
“How much is a fair amount?” His mother, ensconced in a winged chair across from his uncle in front of the fire, lay her knitting aside. Uncle Eleazar perched his book on a knee.
Golden light from the fire, and a few well-placed candles danced across the patterns of the wallpaper. A hint of bayberry mixed with the earthy smells of the fire welcomed him. Restlessness stopped him from joining his family around the fire. He wondered if he’d ever cease feeling the urgency of the next battle. Each task he’d taken on since the end of the war felt empty and temporary. Like he was filling time waiting for orders that would march him miles away. Visits with those he loved felt hollow and meaningless next to the call to action he’d become accustomed to during his time with the Continental Army.
Zeke forced himself down on a spot next to his sister on a settee across from his mother and uncle. “The tavern yard was near filled with families.”
“Did ye decide when we shall leave?” Tirzah’s excitement kept her on the edge of the cushion.
Zeke felt his mother’s disapproval without glancing in her direction.
“Not yet,” he said. “We wanted to get a feel for the numbers before we settled on a date.”
“Thank the merciful God for that.” His mother slapped her hands together. Tirzah rolled her eyes and picked up her needlework.
“That’s enough of that, child,” her mother corrected. “Ye brother has no business haring off into the wilderness in his condition.”
“Mama—” Zeke started.
“Do not ye ‘mama’ me. No one wants to tell ye the truth. Ye’ve been progressing so well and ye being a hero of Yorktown.” She took deep and audible breath. After a quick glance at her clasped hands, she looked him in the eye. The pity she felt for her boy and more were reflected in the depths of her brown eyes. “But ye are a cripple. Ye are lame. There I said it. Ye will never be able to walk normally again.”
Zeke stood to push the anger from his chest rather than blast it to his mother. His mind was made up, and it was time for his mother to decide. She could come with him or stay here in Kemp’s Landing. Kentucky was his destiny.
“The way I see it, Hezekiah, yer injury has made the odds equal. A Smith with a bum leg is worth one and a half other men,” his uncle said. He didn’t cotton to shortening the glorious names of the Smiths.
This time Mama faced his uncle. “Ye have heard the reports of Indian attacks on Boonesborough. It is dangerous, Eleazar. And ye do not help matters by jesting about them.”
“Stop yer fussing, Mama,” his uncle’s voice gentled, “A man’s gotta be a man. Hezekiah knows his limitations. Leave him be.”
Zeke thanked heavens for his uncle’s support. “I am going to Kentucky, Mama. Ye can stay here with Uncle, or ye may come with me. I will respect ye choice.”
“I wish to accompany ye to Kentucky, Zeke,” his sister interjected.
Zeke grinned at Tirzah. “That decision I must leave to Mama. If she goes ye can go, if she stays here, ye shall have to stay here with her.” Tirzah nearly bounced in her frustration. “Mama is right. It will be a hard road.”
“I am not afraid of hard work. I am tired of this place.”
Zeke looked closer at his sister and a desperation he’d not seen before lay in the shadows of her eyes. War was a weary business. He hadn’t forgotten that the years at home while supplies dwindled and neighbors became patchy friends and sometimes enemies left so many holes. His sister had not been in the frontlines, but she’d fought with every pair of stockings she’d knit him and every soldier she’d fed alongside their mother. He took her small strong hand in his own. “I will bring ye to Kentucky. Whether ye come now or later after I have built a home.”
“I want to go now,” she pleaded.
“Yes, well. I can see the draw of adventure, miss,” Uncle offered, placing his book on the table next to him and lacing his fingers over his still spare middle. “Perhaps I shall have to join the party and see what this new land is all about.”
“Why ever would ye do such a thing?” His mother huffed. “Here ye have everything for a comfortable life.”
Uncle’s eyes widened. “And here I thought ye preferred the harbor and Norfolk.”
“And so I did when my dearest Jehoshaphat was alive. And my children were small. My sister, Maxwell, lived nearby. Those were happy days.” Tears filled the corners of her eyes, and she picked up her needles and put them back down again.
“Perhaps ye shall see the Maxwells as ye travel to Kentucky?” His uncle winked at Zeke.
Her eyes widened and her lips made a perfect “o” of surprise. “Should we? They removed to North Carolina, did ye not say we should travel near North Carolina?”
Dread weighted his stomach. His mother had no more understanding of geography than he had a roadmap of the streets of heaven. Last he heard his aunt and uncle Maxwell had removed all the way to Tarburg. There was no possible way for them to detour that far south.
“On the other hand, ye might consider staying here.” His uncle shifted his gaze to his sister-in-law drawing the pause longer than strictly necessary for any kind of emphasis. “with me.”
Startled at the implication of his invitation, Jane Smith dropped her needles again. Was his uncle sweet on his mother? Hesitation in his manner sure pointed to the possibility, and was that hope in his eyes? Zeke settled himself back down. This could change everything.
* * *
By nine o’clock the next morning, Beti had fed Silas and his ewes and checked on her cow and horses. She smoothed a few stray hairs into the bun at the back of her head before heading out to call on Mr. Smith and his wagons. On the porch she found Captain Taylor.
“Miss Sigridsdatter, may I have a word.” Captain Taylor tipped his tricorn. The spring sunshine glittered off the brass buttons on his chocolate brown frock coat. The coarse wool fabric was typical of her countrymen. She hoped she could do better with her new breed of sheep.
“Certainly, Captain Taylor.” Defenses rising, she led him to the parlor in the front of the house. Footfalls in the room upstairs thudded toward the stairs.
“I have come to ask ye a few questions.”
She supposed she should have anticipated this visit. Somehow she’d assumed that her friendship with Agatha Thornton would be enough. Beti lifted her chin. “What would ye like to know?”
“I am concerned that ye can carry yer own weight on this trip. Others have voiced some concern about the safety of a woman traveling alone.”
The look in Hezekiah Smith’s eyes before she left him last night flashed in her memory.
“Perhaps ye are in the habit of underestimating women, sir.”
His eyes flashed, but his demeanor remained calm. “No, ma’am. I served with many courageous women. Our own Mrs. Thornton is an example. I do not question whether or not ye are the right gender, but whether or not ye possess the skills for success ye will need. That our team will need. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”
“I can shoot and dress game. I can drive my wagon and packhorses. I can dress a wound and cook a roast and biscuits. I am strong Captain Taylor.”
“Someone came to me and suggested…” He let the words drift like a dingy trailing a galleon.
“That I was less than respectable.”
“Are ye?”
A burning constricted her throat. Who could be spreading rumors about her. So far she’d not met anyone she knew before. The looters, or at least she thought they might be the looters that dug up her father’s grave, were the only possibilities and she hadn’t seen them talking to Captain Taylor or any others of the party. They’d slipped into the tavern and hadn’t come out again while she was there.
Well, there was nothing for it but to tell the truth. Aggie and her friends were God-fearing. Hopefully they would understand.
Beti exhaled a prayer. “No, Captain. I am the respectable daughter of a disrespectable man. He repented and attempted to right his wrongs, but memories are long.”
Captain Taylor nodded. “And that is why are ye traveling to a wilderness? Do ye have family waiting to meet ye?”
That was it? No probing into just who her disrespectable father was? Relief waited just on the edge of her nerves. She clasped her hands in her lap.
“I have no one. I hope to find a place to make new memories.”
A faraway look carried Captain Taylor’s gaze from the room to some inward place. “Don’t we all Miss Sigridsdatter?”
She rolled her handkerchief between her fingers.
His eyes cleared as a small cough cleared his throat. “It is a dangerous trip, by all accounts. I think I will have to insist that ye find a man to assist ye in this endeavor.”
“What?” She nearly yelled at the man as she stood. “How dare ye come here and tell me—ye have no right to insist I marry in order to accommodate ye.”
Red flashed up the man’s neck. He stood, tricorn clenched in his fist. “I did not mean ye should marry.”
Beti crossed her arms.
“Just exactly what did ye mean then, Isaac.” Aggie stomped in the room to take a place at Beti’s side.
“Good morning, Aggie.”
She folded her arms and lifted her chin. “Ye’ll not be getting around the question that way, Isaac. What do ye mean she has to have a man to travel to Kentucky? I tell ye right now, I shall not have a man traveling with me.”
“Ye have us, Aggie.”
“Is that right?” She swung a look at Beti who was so surprised at Aggie’s intervention she stood tongue-tied. “I will have ye know that I’ll not marry until I have a darn good reason to, Kentucky or no.”
Beti nearly laughed outright at the struggle Captain Taylor had with his next words.
“Ye don’t have to marry.”
Aggie cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, and it is acceptable for unmarried women to travel with strange men in their wagons I suppose, in this new and free country?”
Sweat beaded on his broad brow.
“Of course not, but she can hire someone.” He turned from them to pace the room. “She can hire a man to get her to Kentucky and help her build a house. Then the man can leave. No harm done.”
“No harm to whom?” Beti threw back. “Just what right have ye to force me to hire someone to accompany me to Kentucky?”
“I am the leader of this wagon train, and I am afraid I shall have to insist. A woman cannot do this alone. Ye must hire a man to help ye.” By the time he’d finished his little speech he’d come back to the calm demeanor he’d displayed before.
“He can do that.” Aggie swung toward her arms still crossed.
Beti acceded that he could with a nod. Truth was she had not considered hiring someone to work for her. It might not be a bad idea if she could find the right person. That person could help with the sheep and the looters. She released her arms as the rightness of the scheme settled in her mind.
“I will see what I can arrange,” Beti offered.
“We’ll be honored to have ye travel with us.” He glanced at Aggie flipping his tricorn from brim to brim between his hands. “Fair warning—I expect it to be rough. I cannot offer ye safe travel.”
“I can take care of myself,” Beti answered.
He nodded a small curve lifted his lips. “I believe ye can.” He turned in the doorway. “Any problems with the men…or…well…anything serious. Bring it straight to me.”
“One question,” Beti called before he could exit the front door. He paused, eyebrows raised. “Who was the someone who came and suggested…”
“I will take care of that. There is no need for ye to concern yerself.”
“Oh, but I am concerned.”
“I will not allow poison in the ranks, Miss Sigridsdatter. I will take care of it.” The finality of his words told her he had better things to do than argue. Besides, she’d already figured out who the blackguard with enough vinegar to defame her had to be. The same man who’d suggested, after just making her acquaintance, that she shouldn’t go on this trip at all. Well, he may make the best wagons in the colony, but she’d just have to find another wheelwright. After she set the record straight.
Aggie relaxed her shoulders when she heard the captain close the door.
“Thank ye for coming to my aid just then,” Beti said.
“Ye are more than welcome.” Aggie balled her fists. “But ye will pardon me, I am still in quite a temper.”
“I cannot simply hire someone to accompany me on a trip to Kentucky.”
Aggie’s bluster deflated as she sat. “Aye, twill not be cheap.”
“It is not the money.” Beti took the seat across from her friend.
Aggie’s eyes widened. “Well I would have a problem with the money.”
Beti rose. “Can we talk about this later? I need to organize my thoughts before I say anymore.”
“Now I am intrigued.”
Beti gave her a smile as she made for the door. “It is not that interesting. I promise ye.”
Beti found Mr. Smith scraping a block of wood. Beti stood transfixed watching muscles bunch and thin across his shoulders with each swipe as curls and flakes dusted his forearms and the floor around him. He paused to wipe his brow. Slowly he turned to face her. Eyes the color of amber trimmed in a rich brown ale were startling themselves in their clear color. Pity she had such a hard time with brown dyes. She would love some wool in just that color.
“Miss Sigridsdatter.”
The smile he gave set her heart to drumming. She caught her breath and steeled her resolve. “A have a bone to pick with ye Mr. Smith.”
“I thought we settled that last night. Ye were correct, I have not the right to dictate to ye a future of any kind.”
“So ye thought to ambush me with Captain Taylor by questioning my character.”
“I did not—I would not—” The sincerity in the depths of those clear brown eyes told the truth.
Embarrassment heated her cheeks. “Captain Taylor told me that someone had spoken to him. After our conversation I assumed it was ye.”
“And now ye know it was not.”
“Please accept my apology. It was rash of me to assume such a thing.” Her apology was as sincere as the new worry that replaced it was real. Who here could know of her father’s past? And if they didn’t know of her father’s past, then why would anyone assume she was not respectable?
“The captain is a circumspect man. Ye have no need to worry that such ideas will go out from him.”
“That is at least something.” She threaded her fingers together.
“Is someone trying to hurt ye?”
“No one I know of specifically.”
He leaned against his work bench and eyed her. “What do ye mean specifically.”
Beti paused. It would be so good to unburden herself to someone. Someone who could help her keep watch, but it wasn’t him. If she told him about the looters, he’d decide she was incapable of the trip that would lead to her freedom from such worries forever.
“A single woman is never really sure someone is not following her to do her a harm. It is just the risk one takes for being among strangers.”
Concern deepened into his brown eyes. “Has anyone bothered ye?”
“No.” It was the truth. One insinuating remark at Morgan’s did not count as a botheration. It was scary if she refined on it, but she wasn’t refining. She’d stopped doing that three days after the event. “No one has bothered me.”
“But ye are afraid that someone will,” he countered.
“No. But someone suggested to Captain Taylor that I might not be respectable.”
“And ye have no idea why that might be?”
She ignored his question. “And per Captain Taylor’s direction I must hire a man to accompany me to Kentucky, so I will now require two wagons.”
* * *
It took a minute for his brain to catch up with the cannonading of his heart. Her clear, blue-green eyes were like no eyes he’d ever seen before. Anger and frustration brought every muscle of her body to life, and Zeke stood there mesmerized. Miss Sigridottir was the most alive person he’d ever seen. Without understanding why, he knew right then that she was meant to be his.
He shook his head. Nothing was ever that simple. Then he realized what she had said.
Zeke nearly sputtered. “He said what?”
“Ye heard me correctly. I need two wagons. Will that be a problem? If so, I would appreciate a recommendation for someone else. Even if it means I buy one from ye and one from the other person whom ye recommend.”
Zeke was still spinning from the first statement. “Ye should not need two wagons. The hired man can travel on horseback.”
“I suppose ye are right.”
“We are not entirely certain that a wagon will make it over the trail at this point.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “No?”
“No. So I would save the money on a second wagon.”
She rewarded him with a hesitant smile. “I suppose I acted in haste. I confess, I met with Captain Taylor only this past hour and have not had a proper time to think the thing through. How would ye like me to pay?”
“Half now. The rest when I deliver.”
She slipped a hand into her skirts. “How much?”
Zeke walked over to his work bench and wrote up the order and gave her the price. She placed the money on the bench.
“What exactly did Isaac, Captain Taylor, tell ye?”
“Whatever ye may think, Mr. Smith, I am not a simpleton. I understood perfectly that Captain Taylor insisted I hire a man to accompany me to Kentucky. He was quite generous in that he did not require me to marry the man. I only have to travel with him, a stranger, across the wilderness.” Stiff anger punctuated her words.
Zeke couldn’t like it. Not after the men he’d seen last night.
“How will ye find this man?”
“I know not, but I have spoken with Mrs. Thornton. In fact, she was there when he required this of me. Not of her mind ye—“
“Aggie has us.”
“So I understand. Kind of ye to stand by her.”
Of course, they would stand by the wife of their fallen friend. They weren’t barbarians. What did she think?
She moved to leave.
“I can help ye.”
“I am sure ye will have ye hands full helping Aggie.”
“I meant I can help ye find a good man to accompany ye.”
Her face pinked. She lowered her eyes and he kept his hand from gently lifting her chin so he could see them once again.
“Of course ye did. I apologize. Thank ye for the wagon.” She left in a swirl of sawdust.
Worry knotted her stomach. If it wasn’t Zeke Smith spreading falsehoods, who was it?
While Mr. Morgan helped another customer, Beti found herself staring at barrels of flour. How much would she need? She had a list given out to the group by Captain Taylor, but the unknown stretched out before her. Where would she replenish along the route? How much was really enough? How long before her stores spoiled?
“Ye be wanting two of those.” Aggie appeared at her side after the ringing of the bell at the door.
“Seems like a lot.”
“It’ll be harder to carry, but it’s harder to watch men starve.”
Beti thought of the children belonging to the men who’d come to the organizational meeting. “I do have some extra room.”
“I will bring extra too. As long as we protect it and don’t lose it in a river, we should get to Kentucky without starving.”
“What have ye heard?”
“That it’s hard going. I have also heard that plenty of folks make it and the land is worth the trouble.”
“I’m banking on it.”
“I will be happy to help ye pack yer wagon. I learned a few things traveling with the Army that will help ye keep yer goods dry.”
“I thought the duck cover would suffice to keep the inside dry.”
“In a light drizzle maybe. I found that a plank properly placed across the barrels helped. Nothing can stop the humid weather, but it helps keep the rain out.”
Aggie slipped her arm through Beti’s guiding her out of the store. “About the extra wagon situation.”
Beti sighed.
“Let’s get some chocolate.”
Miss Polly’s mealtimes were not to be missed, and Beti was glad they arrived in time to avail themselves of the midday meal.
“Can ye tell me what this is about?” Aggie asked once they’d filled their plates with ham and their cups with warm chocolate.
Beti opened her mouth to deflect and instead it all came out. Her mother’s death, removing to North Carolina. Aggie’s eyes filled with tears when she told of the hurtful neighbors. They fell when she told of her father’s death and the need to bury him twice to protect the sanctity of his final resting place. Anger made Aggie strangle her napkin when she heard of the looters, and she paled when Beti described the looters at Doc Campbell’s house.
Beti’s chocolate was nearly cold when she finished speaking. All the bluster gone, she let her shoulders sag unburdened. If the lightness of her heart was anything to go by, she’d done the right thing. Once again she thanked God for sending her a real friend, one who didn’t see the stamp of her earthly father. And one who’d seen hard times and knew how to deal with hard men.
“Captain Taylor’s order may just be a Godsend. I do not understand how anyone could be spreading rumors about you, but ye should have protection especially since ye have seen those men here.”
“Agreed.”
“How sure are ye the men ye saw were the looters?”
“As sure as I can be.”
“Well, there is only one thing to do then. I will arrange everything.”
Thankfulness filled her heart at the generosity of her friend. “I cannot let ye do such a thing. The man will be working for me. I need to choose.”
“And ye shall, but ye hardly need to be posting notices all around town that ye are alone. Just leave it to me. I will arrange everything. All ye have to do is show up tomorrow morning in the tavern yard.”
Beti didn’t like it, but she had not thought of a better way to maintain her anonymity. She could always choose none of the men who arrived. “All right, I will be there, but I reserve the right to turn them all down.”
“Agreed.”
Miss Polly squinted into the noonday sun as they approached her porch. “I have heard ye are looking for a man to accompany ye to Kentucky.”
Beti disengaged her arm and climbed the steps next to Aggie. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“Ye should talk to Toby.”
“He works for ye, Miss Polly. I wouldn’t take ye help.”
“Nonsense. He works for me to make money to go West.” She leaned in with a smile. Before retreating into the house.
Toby worked hard from all she’d seen. He didn’t talk much, but she did not worry too much about that. He was kind to Nellie.
“Excuse me.” Beti turned to go back down the porch steps in search of Toby.
“Tell him to come to the tavern yard tomorrow morning, nine o’clock sharp,” Aggie instructed.
Beti nodded. Bleating filled her ears as she crossed the yard. Nellie arrived at her side, Beti sent a hand through the soft fur. Truth was she’d not paid much attention to the man that worked for Miss Polly. They entered the barn to find him scooping feed. Nellie dropped her mouth in what Beti always thought of as a smile when she saw the man.
Now she noticed that Toby stood only five or six inches taller than her own five feet. Dark hair curled around his ears, and serious blue eyes regarded her from under his worn felted hat. White creases in his tanned face told her he was older than she’d originally thought.
“Mr. Toby.”
“Ma’am.” He continued to scoop feed from barrel to bucket.
“Miss Polly tells me ye are looking to remove to Kentucky.”
He paused. Standing to his full height he regarded her from head to toe. “I ain’t interested in getting hitched up with no female to do it.”
Beti released her breath. “Well, that is a relief.”
He kept filling that bucket.
“I am not looking to get married either. I simply wish to hire a man to help me cross the Wilderness Trail to Kentucky. I have been told that I may not travel without a man’s help.” He dropped the scoop and put his hands on his hips.
“Ye mean that ye are going to Kentucky alone?”
Beti’s anger stirred. She stood a little straighter. She might as well proceed as she meant to go. “Yes. But I need to hire a man to help me.”
“Just how are ye planning to pay such a man?”
“In gold.”
A light lit in his blue eyes that made her rethink her choice to speak with him alone. She took a step back and crossed her arms.
Toby relaxed his stance and crossed his arms. “What exactly are ye offering?”
“I am not offering anything—yet. I am asking if ye would be interested in applying for the job of working for me for passage to Kentucky.”
“What do ye want this hired man to do exactly?”
Beti’s usually ordered thoughts scattered. “Well, I don’t know exactly, but I will by tomorrow.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“If ye are interested, be at the tavern yard tomorrow morning nine o’clock sharp.” She skirted her way past him and out of the barn.
Aggie slipped up next to her. “Well done. I do believe there’s hope for ye yet.”
Beti was relieved to see her friend. “Thank ye. I don’t know what I was thinking rushing off like that to talk to him alone.”
“Men in barns. Never know what to expect.”
“Exactly. And just why is that? Whoever the man is I hire, he is going to work for me. I cannot be intimidated by him.”
“It just takes practice.”
The wagon from Morgans arrived with their provisions. Beti and Aggie watched as Toby maneuvered barrels as easily as she kneaded bread. He wasted no time and was sufficiently strong for the work.
“He’s not hard on the eyes either,” Aggie whispered.
Beti felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “No, but I’ve seen better.” She spun on her heel and headed back into the house.
“And just who might that be? Some farm boy back home I reckon.”
Beti put hands on to cool her face down. “I honestly don’t know what made me say such a thing.”
The twinkling in Aggie’s eyes let her know that she wasn’t fooled. “I will let it go for now, but I do not believe ye for a minute.” She giggled as she made her way deeper into the house.
* * *
The morning brought back her nerves, but confidence rode underneath them. As much as Beti chafed at the edict from Captain Taylor, she had to admit that watching Toby easily lift a barrel of flour had its impact. Hiring a man to travel with her would make life easier in many respects. He could drive the wagon while she drove her sheep. Unless the man had experience with sheep.
She’d spent the evening making a list of things she’d like a hired man to accomplish. Carrying things, driving the wagon, building a cabin. All of those things were back-breaking work. Hiring it out should get her little homestead set up easily twice as fast as she could manage on her own. She’d need to ask Toby how he was with building cabins.
Beti stared at her gowns laying out on the bed. If she wore her faded wool, then the man would know that she expected to work alongside him. If she wore her brocade, he would understand that she was in charge. Or would he? Perhaps he would be oblivious. In the end she picked her nicest cotton indigo print. The fabric was from her own loom, and she was proud of the fine weave.
Beti smoothed her hands down her skirt. Beneath she could feel the list in her pocket. After a deep breath and a prayer for safety. She stepped onto the landing. She could absolutely handle whatever came her way even if her hands trembled. She’d brought herself to Kemp’s Landing from North Carolina without incident. Resolve put a cap on her nerves. Beti Boatman was going to Kentucky. Of course it was safer if she caravanned with Aggie’s troops, but if it came to it, she would go on her own. Her heart lightened not quite as high as flying foam at high tide, but she was prepared. Snatching her bonnet off the peg she left the room in search of her new friend.
Aggie sat before a plate of crumbs finishing a cup of chocolate. “I love chocolate,” she said by way of greeting. “We never got this in the camps.”
“I know.” Beti grinned. Aggie had told her the same truth every morning. “I don’t think I could touch a morsel.”
“Don’t fret.”
“Spoken like a true soldier.”
Aggie’s lips lifted in a half grin. “Look, ye will either find a worthy man to hire or ye will not. Do not let it ruin ye day. Ye may have already found yer man in Toby.”
“Ye may be right, but I’ve no desire to parade around in front of the whole town. Who knows who will be there.”
“Ye mean the looters.”
“Aye.”
“They will hardly carry ye off in the middle of town in broad daylight, will they?”
“I have no idea what to expect. I didn’t think anyone would dig up a grave in the daylight either even in a remote place like home.”
* * *
Arms crossed, Zeke leaned against the wall of the tavern. His right leg eased as his left leg took the majority of his weight.
“Zeke.” He turned to find his sister in the doorway.
“Tirzah, what are ye doing here?” He pushed down his annoyance. He hadn’t come to comfort his sister. He was here to protect Beti and Aggie. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not if the two men who followed her showed up.
“Ye mustn’t leave me here with our mother and uncle.”
“She is ye guardian, besides it is safer here.”
She grabbed his forearms. “I do not want to be safe, Zeke. I want to explore. I want to live!” She drew out the last word as if she’d just given the stage performance of her life.
“Tirzah. I do not have time for yer theatrics.”
While he’d been focused on his sister, Beti and Aggie emerged from the tavern. Beti tugged a small table down the tavern steps. Aggie hoisted a couple of chairs.
“Excuse me.” He set Tirzah aside and headed up the steps. “Allow me.” He took the table and set it down in front of Aggie’s two chairs.
“Thank ye.” Beti nodded her thanks with a bloom of pink high on her cheeks.
A few men straggled into the yard. And made their way to the table. Zeke took up his place behind Beti. Gordon slipped in beside him to stand behind Aggie.
Beti swung around to Zeke. “What are ye doing here?”
“Helping.” He grinned.
“Where are your boys?” Aggie asked Gordon
“With Isaac and Mose.” She spun back to the table. Gordon shot him a grin. Then they positioned themselves behind the women with arms crossed.
“What are they doing here?” Beti whispered to Aggie as if the men couldn’t hear.
“Ye heard, they are helping.”
“Helping with what?”
Aggie shrugged. “Just humor them. They’ll get bored and go away after a while.”
“We can hear ye,” Gordon answered.
Aggie leaned in to Beti and said in a course whisper. “They can hear us.”
The women didn’t say any more probably because the dirtiest man Zeke had ever laid eyes on shifted up to the table. Dust eddied up when he removed his sorry excuse for a hat and looked at Zeke, bypassing the ladies all together.
“I come for the job.” The stench of black stumps of teeth and a healthy dose of brandy wafted across the table. Zeke shook his head.
The man shuffled away.
Zeke leaned down to Beti’s ear. “That was helping.” But the heavenly scent of lemon assailing his nose was not. It was fresh and clean and made his heart think of a refreshing drink on a hot day on the beach. And how if she was his he could lean in and smell her anytime he wanted. He straightened he had no business thinking such thoughts.
Beti stiffened but said nothing. She may not have approved of his actions, but she agreed with his decision. Not a bad beginning.
Beginning of what? Now was not the time to entertain such questions.
“Toby.” Beti stood to offer her hand in a shake before Zeke could respond to the man’s inquiring look. So this was Toby Abbott. He’d heard Polly’s nephew had come to work for her.
“Miss Sigrisdotr….” He stumbled. “I have come to inquire the particulars about this job. Miss Polly says she can spare me. When do ye leave?”
Not much older than Moses, this one might just fit the bill. Fit it too well, now that he had a chance to think about it.
“Did I hear ye was a freighter?” Zeke asked over Beti’s shoulder, which was fairly easy for him given she only came up chest high.
“Yes, sir.” Toby bobbed his response.
Still, a bit young. Zeke rubbed a hand across the stubble forming on his chin.
“When do ye think ye’ll be leaving?” Toby asked.
“One week hence,” Aggie answered.
“If ye are agreeable then I will take ye on,” Toby offered.
“Not so fast.” An older man standing behind Toby pushed up to the front. “She ain’t talked to me yet. Ma’am, I served with the Continentals as a freighter. Before that I worked as a carpenter. I can build anything ye’ll need when ye come to Kentucky.”
“And I fought Indians in Ohio.” Another man shoved in on the other side of Toby. The crowd compressed till they were standing in a small circle threatening to knock down the table. Both women stood to make way for the collapse of their table and chairs.
“Perhaps ye fellas ought to organize ye own way to Kentucky?” Aggie quipped.
It was getting out of hand. Zeke put fingers to his lips and sent a shrill whistle through the crowd. Startled them right into shuffling and looking down at their feet. Except for the fancy dressed one in the back. Zeke recognized him as the pointy-faced man from a few nights ago.
“Pipe down. All of ye.” Zeke bellowed over the men pushing them back from the little table and Beti.
“Miss Sigridsdatter,” he emphasized for Toby’s benefit, “Will speak to each of ye one at a time. Now form a line. Once she has concluded the interviews, she will let ye know who she chose.”
The men stepped back in line. Now that they knew just who their employer would be, down the ranks he could see them running fingers through their hair and banging the dust out of their pants.
* * *
Beti stood in front of Zeke. It really was just a bit over the top, but for all highhandedness he displayed she was glad he stepped in when he did.
“Just as Mr. Smith said. If ye will please form a line, I will speak with each of ye.”
She felt Zeke stiffen behind her. Was he displeased that she’d asserted herself? Too bad. This was her journey and like it or not, she was going to have to work beside whomever it was she employed. That decision would be her own.
“As I was sayin’,” Toby continued, “Miss Sigriswotr—”
“Call me Miss Beti.”
Toby grinned. “Thank ye, Miss Beti. Anyways, I have spoken with Miss Polly. I shall be free to go escort ye to Kentucky.”
“Thank ye, Toby. I’ll listen to these men before I give ye an answer.”
“Don’t go too far,” Aggie said as Toby passed out of the line.
The pushy man behind Toby started talking before Beti finished with Toby.
“Like I told ye. I was a freighter during the recent war. I can fight them Indians out there, and I can build whatever ye need.”
“Thank ye for coming today, Mr.?”
“Not sure I cotton too much with working for a woman, but I have a hankering to see Kentucky,” he blazed on, “and I might as well go with ye.”
Beti nodded politely. If he couldn’t be quiet long enough for a welcome, he would likely run roughshod over her plans as well.
“What is yer name?” Aggie insisted.
“Bell. Tom Bell.”
“Thank ye, Mr. Bell.”
He blustered to the side.
She must have talked to twenty men before the last one approached. None of them except for Toby met her criteria. They were all strong, they all had building experience, but the only one she felt she could really trust stood behind her with his arms folded. She prayed for wisdom as the last man came up to the table. He wore the finest woolen suit Beti had seen in a long time. He hadn’t been in Virginia very long then, because one couldn’t get a suit like that in the colonies. Then he leaned in and rested his hands on either side of its short length. Beti stood up drew back. Zeke didn’t move.
Bright blue eyes pierced her own.
Zeke took a step closer. Heat from him radiated into her back.
“Good morning to ye, may I ask who the lady is that requests the services of a man to Kentucky?” The sing-song cadence of his voice reminded her of a sound she used to hear long ago.
“May I ask, where are ye from?” she replied.
“It is a small country in the north, ye will not have heard of it.”
A tendril of excitement buzzed her belly. He could have come from her mother’s kingdom. Why would someone from her mother’s kingdom come to America? Fjelloyricket was a seafaring nation, prosperous and cold on the northern shores of Scandinavia. She could think of two reasons. Mercenaries hired by the British to fight in the revolution much the same as the Germans, or the other thing they were notorious for, piracy. The man was tall enough to be the man she saw supervising the desecration of her father’s grave, but he was not one of the men from Dr. Campbell’s. The voice was all wrong.
“Ye are probably right, I doubt I have heard of it. I thank ye for ye inquiry today, but the position has been filled.”
“Filled?” He looked confused.
“Yes, I appreciate yer time, but I have already made my decision.”
“But I should like to ask—”
Zeke stepped up to her side and leaned across. “Move along, friend.” The man shot Zeke a grimace and stalked to the crowd.
Beti let go the breath she’d been holding and gazed up into the warm amber of Zeke’s eyes. “I am glad ye were here.”
“Have ye ever seen that man before?”
“Never, and I hope never to see him again.”
“That was one of the men I saw the other night.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist to ward off the shiver that ran down her spine.
Aggie placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t let him bother ye. Yer safe here among friends.”
Beti cast a glance up at Zeke. She trusted him. And while she’d decided that Toby would accompany her to Kentucky, she was glad that Zeke would be a part of the wagon train. Not that she needed to rely on him for anything, no, she could take care of herself, but it was good to know that the man would be there just in case.