* * *
They took their time returning to the Bells home, lingering on the mountain.
Once on lower ground, they hiked across a boggy shore as a blue jay called to its mate, then up on the drier hillside, where clumps of barberry, spikes of steeplebush, and sweet fern grew in a tangle of undergrowth that led to massive rocks clawed with tree roots. The wind whistled from breaches of stone, lifting a tent of grapevine.
“A cave.” Juliet’s eyes widened.
Joshua swept back the foliage, grabbed her hand, and pulled her through the concealing vegetation. A small animal skittered away in the darkness. Juliet reached out and felt moisture dripping down the wall, and the buffering softness of lichen and moss growing through the cracks. Twelve steps into the interior was the back wall of the cave. She turned around. “One can be completely concealed from the outside.”
“You must remember this place, Juliet. You never know if your survival will necessitate its use.”
She shivered from the dampness and heard the warning snort of a buck in the denser brush.
He guided her out and at a ridge was a wide impenetrable thicket of blackberries. Juliet clapped her hands and greedily partook of nature’s bounty.
When she turned, she caught Joshua staring at her—intent, unblinking, hungry. He swung her up in his arms and carried her into the cool of the woods. There, on a bed of soft mosses, he made love to her again.
Afterward, Joshua picked up a colorful leaf that had floated down. Summer was fat on its eve and soon the seasons would be changing. He ran the leaf around her breasts and down her abdomen, then cradled her in his arms.
She gazed at the thick darkness of the surrounding trees, and the twinkling darkness where soundlessly, one by one, the vast fields of heaven flowered splendid stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.
“You see that constellation?”
“Um-m. The Big Dipper.” She snuggled closer to his warmth, the scent of their lovemaking permeating the air.
“There were seven brothers, one was fat and lazy. They set out to overtake the Great Bear. The slothful brother became incapacitated, forcing the group to cater to his demands. He was abandoned but found his redemption when he leaps and kills the Great Bear with the powers he absorbed from the rest of his brothers. The men consumed the bear’s meat and rose into the sky where they remain to this day and can be seen any starlit night as the Big Dipper constellation.”
Juliet stroked his chest. “Like the Greeks who believed Zeus changed Callisto back into a bear and making her the largest constellation in the sky.”
“As the blood and oil drips down from the carcass, it stains the leaves that form the autumn landscape,” he said. “The bear mysteriously reassembles itself, rises from the earth, and becomes the Great Bear in the night sky every fall—the seasonal bloodshed of the bear forever evident with the changing trees.”
Juliet shuddered. Would there be more bloodshed with the changing of seasons?
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Powers’ had opened their home for a grand reception. Furniture had been removed and rearranged from the rooms, accommodating a wide space for dancers and guests. Two round-faced, grinning violinists tested their bows on their instruments and commenced to play.
Joshua had received a missive with orders from Colonel Putman at Fort Clinton and was in a quandary about leaving Juliet. He’d delayed long enough. As a going away gift, he’d given her satin he’d bought from Crims’ late wife’s bridal chest. He couldn’t have been more pleased with Juliet’s reaction, earning him a long slow day of lovemaking beneath a grove of maples on the mountain.
Juliet and Caroline had pored over an older issue ofThe Ladies Magazineand shooed him from the room, keeping everything secret. Now he couldn’t wait to see Juliet.
Crims sidled up to him, the stump of his wooden leg making a thump against the polished cherry floors. He thrust a cup of punch into Joshua’s hands. “The Powers’ sure give out the best rum punch. Where’s Juliet?”
“Since it was raining, the women packed their gowns and arrived earlier. They are upstairs dressing.”
A violinist scraped his bow in accidental discord, and then stopped. Joshua’s attention was half-focused on what Thomas Starring, a neighbor of the Bells, was saying to him on planting a late crop of wheat. He glanced left. Crims possessed a sappy expression on his face. He didn’t have that kind of face for anyone but his horse.
Joshua glanced right. Thomas Starring gaped. Joshua followed the source of his friends’ interests, looked higher, toward the oak staircase. He froze, eyes glued to the woman on the upper landing.
Above the gleam of tapers, Lady Juliet Faulkner stood at the top of the staircase and like a siren, ensnared every mortal man in the room. Even he might wreck upon the shoals to get to her.
Her striped blue satin gown matched her eyes, and the lace of the ruffles was as fine as any he’d seen in England. Her breasts rose and fell with every breath she took, and her red hair was caught up in an elegant coiffure, entwined with tiny dried white flowers. She was a breathtaking vision of beauty and breeding.
With grace, she started her descent and confidently glided to the bottom to greet the rush of young soldiers and local bachelors vying for her attention.
Joshua’s eyes fastened on his quarry.
“Since you ain’t moving, Joshua, I’ll extract the poor girl from these idiots.” Crims stumped ahead and offered his arm to Juliet.
