8

His wife?

Joseph had been braced for an arrow to the heart, not a suggestion of marriage. What would result if he refused? Something warm tickled his neck, and he swiped at a bead of sweat. He studied Hannah. Surely this was not her idea. Her cheeks flushed with scarlet as she argued with whom he assumed was Otetiani−her relation. He’d seen the man before, but never so close. And never without a weapon in hand.

“What do you decide?”

Joseph forced his hands to remain relaxed at his sides. “I don’t think she wants to be my…” He wouldn’t attempt the word the Mohawk leader used. “Wife.”

The man did not appear pleased.

Joseph glanced from Hannah, hair again flowing down her back and shoulders, to the cabin holding everyone he loved. He couldn’t risk their lives. And he did need a mother for his children. To shelter and provide for. He owed her that much, didn’t he? Joseph gulped back the nagging of his conscience. He couldn’t think about that right now. “But I am willing.”

Hannah’s eyes widened at him, and he managed a nod. What other choice did he have? He was unarmed against over a dozen Mohawk warriors, and his family’s fate hung precariously.

Hannah grabbed his arm and dragged him out of earshot of the others. “He cannot force me to do this. In our traditions, a woman has her choice in marriage.”

So she could walk away and leave him to whatever fate Otetiani decided. Not comforting. “Perhaps, but I get the feeling your relation will not take my refusal lightly. Why is he so set on you marrying?”

“He says I am much like my father and would be happier with his people. Where so many of our men have died, and with the clans displaced, he says it is better for me to find a husband elsewhere.” She sighed and hugged herself. “And because I seek my brothers…”

“Let me help you find them.”

Two creases bunched between her large brown eyes. “You want to go through with this?”

Guilt for his deeper reasoning speared him—reasoning both to take responsibility for her, and remain at arms’ length. “I want my family safe. And I want to help you find your brothers.”

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes, but she nodded. “I shall speak with Otetiani.” Her voice was much more resigned.

A few minutes later, Joseph made his way back over the rutted field toward the cabin. His one request was for who would perform the deed. The door jerked open before he even reached it, and he stepped inside.

“What’s going on out there?” Rachel’s tone was sharp enough to startle the baby. She rocked the child and lowered her voice. “Joseph?”

“Negotiations.”

“Papa!” James attacked Joseph’s legs, almost throwing him off balance.

Andrew shouldered the musket. “What kind of negotiations?”

“A treaty of sorts.” Joseph forced air into his depleted lungs as he lifted his son. “We need you to perform a marriage.”

“A marriage…” Rachel froze. “You and Hannah?”

“Yes.” He looked to Andrew. “Will you do it?”

“If you are certain.”

Joseph nodded, though he wasn’t certain at all. “I want Rachel and the children to stay here in case anything goes wrong. Bar the door and stay out of sight.” He motioned to the gun Andrew held. “You’ll probably want to leave that here.”

“I imagine so.” Andrew laid the musket on the table and kissed his wife.

“Come back to me.”

A second kiss lengthened into a third, and Joseph turned away. He missed having someone to kiss like that, but held no hope for this marriage to Hannah Cunningham. If she knew the truth, she would likely never want anything to do with him. Joseph settled James with Rachel and started his return, his pace slower now.

“Are you sure there is no other option?” Andrew asked.

“I’m done fighting. I’m done risking my family.” He glanced to where Fannie was buried. “I can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

“And Miss Cunningham? Is she willing?”

“She wants to find her brothers, and I have promised to help.”

“And when she finds them? Marriage is not something to take lightly. You must consider the future.”

Joseph spun. “You do not think the future is foremost on my mind? Perhaps Hannah nor I desire this marriage, but without it I am confident there won’t be a future. Not for this farm or my family. A future with Hannah is not my concern.” He pushed his hat back from his moist brow. “It’s the past.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I am about to tell you, you must swear, as a clergyman, never to repeat to a living soul.” Better for Hannah’s sake that she never know.

~*~

Standing beside Joseph Garnet, the warmth of his arm brushing hers, did not seem real. Hannah should have convinced her cousin a marriage was not necessary, but instead she had agreed with him. She wasn’t sure if it was the logic he had presented, or the memory of her girlhood dreams. Though her main reasons for visiting the Garnet farm as a girl had been to watch Joseph’s horse, Hunter, and learn about horses from Joseph’s pa, she couldn’t deny her gaze had often followed after Joseph, as well. But he’d seemed so much older and had only ever seen her as a child.

Then Papa had left to fight for the British, her family had been driven out…and Joseph had sat watching with indifference.

She shifted so their arms wouldn’t touch.

“I pronounce you husband and wife.”

What have I done? Every reason she’d held for the ceremony fled at that final declaration.

Andrew Wyndham nodded toward them and stepped back, his lips pressed thin with evident disapproval.

Did he not understand she was doing her best to save their lives? Her cousin had agreed that as a member of their clan, Joseph would be afforded some protection. Brant had left for the Ohio Valley and Fort Detroit at the request of the British, but the others would be informed, and the Garnet farm would be spared from the raids.

A hand cupped Hannah’s shoulder, and she looked at Joseph. Her husband.

He didn’t appear much happier than his brother-in-law, but there was a softness in his blue eyes that surprised her. “I’ll leave you to bid your kin goodbye.”

To see that they left as promised.

Otetiani mounted his horse and signaled his men. Nothing held them here now.

Soon Hannah stood alone, the only one at the spot where she had promised her life to Joseph Garnet. “What have I done?” Setting her shoulders back−ignoring the throbbing of her arm−she steadied her breath. She had done what was necessary to keep searching for her brothers. She had to hold to the hope that Samuel and Myles still lived.

Then what?

Would she live with her brothers or continue on as Joseph’s wife? Her heart did a strange sort of fluttery skip, and then a plummet. So many emotions swirled she wasn’t sure what she felt. Anticipation, wonder, and nausea. She could only hope Joseph had matured into half the man his father had been. Swallowing down her fears for the time being, Hannah hurried after Joseph, over the field and past the barn.

He stepped to the open door of the cabin and glanced back. His chest heaved as he rotated to her.

She skidded to a stop.

“I suppose there are some things we should discuss.” One corner of his mouth crept up. “Hannah Garnet.”

Andrew nodded to her and slipped inside the cabin to where Rachel stood with a girl on each hip. Perhaps it was only the lighting, but she appeared very pale.

Joseph looked Hannah up and down before nodding for her to follow.

Panic rose within her. She gathered her hair and twisted it up, only she no longer had any pins. She hooped her hair into a knot and left it at that. She should have braided it again.

They rounded the corner of the barn, and Joseph paused, arms folded. His expression remained unreadable.

“When will we go after my brothers?” She also folded her arms, but immediately regretted the motion with her sore arm. “You promised to help me find them.”

“And I shall.”

“When?”

“I can’t leave until the fields are all planted. You must know that.”

She looked across the fields. “Yes. I know.” Her father hadn’t been much of a farmer—took more to trapping and hunting, but her mother’s people were planters. Corn, beans, and squash−she knew the three sisters well.

“But then, I promise, I will go with you, and we will find out what happened to them.”

Hannah had no choice but to accept.

“Your assistance would expedite our departure.”

“Of course.”

Joseph leaned into the log wall of the barn. “It’s not just the planting I need help with.”

“I expected as much.”

“Little James.”

Hannah’s pulse sped. In the haste, she’d forgotten she’d become the mother of two young children.

“Rachel will keep the baby for now as she’s still being nursed, but I think James is increasingly too much for my sister. She hasn’t said anything, but keeping up with three children so young has become a challenge.”

“Of course.”

“But we can worry about those arrangements after your arm is healed. Is there anything else you feel we should talk about?” Something in Joseph’s tone suggested a dare.

Several question fought for dominance, but she pushed them aside. One crowned over the rest−one she wasn’t ready to ask. She didn’t want to know his expectations now that she was his wife.