Philip held his breath. Her hair had felt like corn silk in his hands. He’d never felt anything like it and reckoned that was the reason for the weird feeling in his gut.
“Oh, look how cute it is,” Bella exclaimed as she came into the room behind him.
Cute? He looked at the dirt-covered floor. Kittens were cute. Baby colts were cute. Even the way Bella wrinkled her nose was cute. This house wasn’t cute. Cobwebs filled the corners, dirt covered every surface and the fireplace was filthy.
“I love it, don’t you?” she asked, twirling around in the center of the floor.
Philip laughed. “Love is such a strong word.”
“I know, but look. We will be able to see the boys no matter where we are.” She indicated the kitchen. “I can cook and you and the boys can relax on this side of the room.”
He nodded. “Yes, but where will we all sleep?”
Hazel stepped through the door. “In the bedrooms, of course.”
Philip glanced around. “I don’t see any bedrooms.” To his way of thinking, they were standing in one large room, with front and back doors.
Hazel huffed. “Open your eyes, boy.” She headed to the back door.
They looked at each other, baffled. Neither spoke as they followed Hazel. She’d gone through the door. Philip allowed Bella to go first. Her gasp had him hurrying after her.
Bella stood just inside the door looking down. The back door wasn’t a door to the outside at all. It went into a large pantry. At the back of the storeroom was an open door in the floor. She stared into the hole.
Hazel appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a lantern. “Come on down.”
Philip narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me our bedrooms are down there?”
“Didn’t say that, but yep.” Hazel laughed. She set the lantern on a small side table and then moved out of their sight.
Bella shrugged and then walked down the narrow steps. Philip followed. He gasped. “Hazel, there is a whole house down here.” The large room he stood in was circular.
She nodded. “Yes, and it was mine and my husband’s secret. No one else knows about these rooms but us.”
Bella had moved into the room. One side held shelves lined with jars of canned foods. Several barrels stood under the shelves. She read their labels out loud. “Potatoes, onions, carrots, apples and beets.” She turned to face Hazel. “Are those vegetables and fruits still here?”
“Not as much as there used to be, but yes. There is a large garden spot behind the house. I’ll show it to you tomorrow,” Hazel answered. She held a candlestick in her hand. “Come with me and I’ll show you the bedrooms.”
Philip stopped in the middle of the room to look at a fire pit. His gaze moved upward, where a small hole had been cut out of the floor above. Had Hazel’s husband built the house over an old Pawnee home?
He shook his head and then followed Hazel and Bella to the other side of the large room. Large canvas-type fabric hung across logs and it created two rooms. She pushed back the fabric from the first room. “This is the bigger of the two. I suspect it’s where you two will sleep.” She moved on down and pulled back the second. “I think this will be big enough for the boys.”
Philip noticed a small table by the door with another candlestick on it. He lit the candle and stepped into the bigger room. Light bounced off the cloth walls. Like the rest of the house it was empty, but from the looks of things, his big bed would fit in here with plenty of space left over for other furniture. He turned to see Bella standing beside him.
“This is amazing,” she said, looking around the room. Her big blue eyes shone in the candlelight.
“If you two are done gawking at the walls in that room, come look at this one,” Hazel called from inside the smaller room.
He smiled at Bella. “She’s a little bossy today.”
Bella giggled. “Just today?” she said over her shoulder as she made her way to Hazel.
Hazel stood in the smaller of the two rooms. To Philip it looked almost as big as the first room. “This isn’t that much smaller than the other one,” he said.
“I didn’t say it was a lot smaller, I just said it was smaller.” Hazel grinned, taking the sting out of her words.
Bella looked at the older woman. “Hazel, are you sure you want to give this to us?”
Hazel nodded. “Yes, I love the other house my husband made for me. Besides, this house is too big for just one person and those stairs are hard on an old woman’s knees.”
Philip watched as the two women hugged.
“Thank you. This is a wonderful gift,” Bella said as they separated.
Hazel nodded. “It needs a lot of cleaning.” She made a mark with the toe of her boot on the dirt floor.
Bella put her arm around Hazel’s shoulders. “I love it and don’t mind cleaning. It will be fun and will feel like home when I’m all done.”
Philip marveled at the difference in Bella when she talked to people one-on-one and when she was in a group. Her face shone with thanksgiving and her eyes with excitement at the prospect of what she could do with her new home.
Bella sighed. “This will be a great room for the boys and they can play down here, as well.”
Philip shivered. “I’m not sure this will be the best place for them to play.” He turned around and looked about. “It’s pretty cold down here.”
Hazel nodded. “It is. But the fire pit still works. I’ll show you where the smoke comes up. Let’s head back upstairs.”
Together the three climbed the stairs. Philip couldn’t help but wonder about the area downstairs. It wasn’t any bigger than the top of the stairs, but he’d never seen anything like it. He shook his head as he shut the door. Had his first instincts been correct? Was the house over another home from years gone by?
The old woman walked to the fireplace. She waited for Philip to join her. “See that hole in the back?”
He nodded.
“That’s where the smoke rises from below and then goes on up through the chimney.” She straightened and rubbed her back.
“Are you two ready to head back to my house? I have hot coffee and sweetbread.”
Philip grinned. “You know I can’t resist your sweetbread.” He headed to the front door. Bella followed slowly. She seemed deep in thought as they walked outside and to their horses.
Hazel grunted as she climbed into the saddle. “Maybe I should just move to town,” she groaned.
“How long have you lived out here?” Bella asked. She rode her horse up beside Hazel’s.
“Longer than most.” Hazel kneed her horse and sent her into a gallop.
Startled, Bella looked to him as Hazel shot ahead of them. The older woman’s braid swayed against her back as she entered the orchard. “That was strange.”
Philip nodded. “Yep, even for Hazel.”
“What do you know about her?” Bella patted the horse’s neck.
“Not much. When Thomas and I took over the relay station, Hazel came for a visit. We knew she was lonely because she came over every day, usually with food. Since it’s pretty isolated out here, we sort of just started taking care of each other. She cooked us food and we helped her with chores. But we never asked her personal questions, so other than she was married and her husband died, we don’t know any more.” He wasn’t sure he liked the look of determination in Bella’s eyes. “Bella, leave it be. She’s old and has a right to her privacy.”
Bella glanced his way. “And we have two small boys to take care of. We need to know more about our nearest neighbor.” She set her jaw.
Philip thought he was a pretty good judge of character and didn’t think Hazel would ever hurt the boys. “Hazel is also our friend.” Well, she was his and Thomas’s friend. Over the last year, she’d begun to feel like family.
They entered the orchard. Philip couldn’t help but think about the house. How old was it? Was the lower half a Pawnee home? Why was Hazel really living in the other farmhouse?
* * *
Bella entered Hazel’s house. She loved it immediately. A plush settee and large chair sat in the center of the main room. The hardwood floor was covered by a gorgeous rug. Her gaze moved up the walls, which were covered with colorful paintings. “Oh, Hazel. Your home is beautiful.”
The older woman walked into the room carrying a tray with a coffeepot, cups and a plate on it. “Thank you, Bella.” She stopped and looked about the room. “It is cozy, isn’t it?”
Bella looked toward Philip while Hazel busied herself putting out the midmorning snack.
Philip held Bella’s gaze and said, “I’ll unsaddle your horse, Hazel.” He moved to Bella and whispered, “Behave yourself.”
What did he expect her to do? Bella frowned at him and motioned for him to leave.
He winked at her, then left.
Hazel chuckled behind her. “Now, what naughty thing is he expecting you to do?”
Bella turned to face the other woman and shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Sure you do. Think about it.” She poured coffee into one of the smaller cups and then handed it to Bella.
She took the cup. “Well, Philip mentioned that he doesn’t know you very well and then said I’m not to ask you any questions about your past.”
“That sounds about right.”
“What? You don’t want me asking questions? Or the fact that Philip doesn’t want me asking questions?”
Hazel shook her head. “Girl, if you want answers, ask.” She sat down with her own cup of coffee.
Bella studied the older woman closely. “All right. I’m curious about the room under our house.”
The other woman picked up a slice of the sweetbread and looked at it. “What would you like to know?”
“It’s not your typical house. Is it?” Bella waited. When Hazel didn’t immediately answer, she pressed on. “I mean, I’ve never seen a house with a circular room under it like that one. Do you know its history?”
Hazel nodded.
At that moment, Philip came in. “You two didn’t eat all the bread, did you?” He hung his coat by the door.
Bella shook her head. “No, but Hazel is going to tell us the history of our house. So come sit down.”
Hazel waited until Philip was sitting on the overstuffed chair and then handed him a cup of coffee. He took the cup but looked expectantly at the bread. She laughed, then gave him a small plate with a slice of the bread.
Philip reminded Bella of Mark when he sat in a chair that was too big for him—out of place but content to eat his bread. She grinned and then turned her attention back to Hazel.
“Well, about twenty years ago my family was traveling through the Nebraska territory. Our wagon broke down a few miles from here. Back then there weren’t many white people in the area. My whole family got sick. Pa died first, then my older brother. My other brother and sister got very sick, too. Ma and I tried to keep them alive, but soon they, too, died.” She paused and looked off into the distance as if the story was taking her miles away.
Bella looked to Philip, who also looked as if he hadn’t expected Hazel to go so far into the past. She took a sip of her coffee and felt her heart ache for the young woman who’d lost her family.
Hazel shook her head as if to clear it and then continued. “Ma died last, but before she did, she said, ‘Hazie, do whatever it takes to stay alive.’” She took a sip of her coffee. “So, when the Pawnee warrior arrived, I stood up and waited to see what fate had in store for me.” She swallowed as if reliving that moment. “One young man jumped from his horse and looked about at all the dead bodies. His friends all backed their horses away and told him to get back on his so they could leave.”
Bella said, “I’m so sorry, Hazel.”
“For what? You didn’t make my family sick.”
“You don’t have to tell us this story, Hazel. What I think Bella is trying to say is, if it’s too painful to remember, stop.”
Hazel smiled. “Oh, Phil, I have long since stopped grieving for my family. They went when the good Lord called them home. I don’t really know why He felt I should live, but He did.”
Philip’s jaw hardened. Bella wished she hadn’t started this conversation. It looked as if she might have hurt two people with her curiosity. In the time she’d known Philip, he hadn’t looked sad. What was he thinking? Was he regretting having married a nosy woman?