“They got it in their heads that someone in the family should keep an eye on him.” She shrugged. “I couldn’t see how he would even hire them, but he did.”
“Maybe the same idea they had got intohishead.”
“Oh. Oh! Could he do that?” She frowned. “I just can’t see him performing such a deception well, certainly not well enough to fool Gabe and Rafe.” She rubbed her cheeks as she thought it through. “If he is playing the same game, what does he intend to do? There is no way to get this property from us.”
“Weel, maybe we can all think on it tonight and see if anything comes to us by morning.”
She nodded and picked up the rest of the empty and used dishes, taking them into the kitchen, her mind fixed on the problems with Bennet. She had never believed it would get as bad as it had. It was as if with every disappointment, he got more determined to get her land, more angry that she had the audacity to refuse him, and more rabid with the surety that she was wasting or misusing her land and it needed a better steward. He believed a man would be better and that he was that man.
Shaking her head, she began to wash the dishes. Looking out the window, she saw Bennet riding along his fence. Geordie, Robbie, and James showed up on their mounts and kept pace for a while, trying to engage him in conversation then left. Bennet looked as though he had not enjoyed the chat at all and she smiled. She was going to be sorry when they left, she thought, and ignored the sharp pang in her chest that told her she would be very sorry indeed when Geordie rode away.
* * *
Geordie helped Robbie exercise his hand and gave it as good a massage as he could manage. He told himself he would be sure to find out what he could about massage, because he could already see improvement. It was doubtful his brother would get the full use of his hand back, although he hoped he was wrong, but even the small improvement he saw gave him some hope. He did not share his opinion because Robbie had been so thrilled when he had been able to grab the bedsheet in a proper grip to wipe off Thor’s drool.
Once done with his brother’s hand, Geordie rubbed Belle’s cream onto Robbie’s leg. He could almost see the pain that constantly assaulted him fade a bit. It was going to anger him beyond words if these simple things really helped him, because that would mean they had wasted a few years, while Robbie suffered and they had done little for him. The doctors Robbie had seen should have told them. The only thing the doctors had told them with utter confidence was that both the hand and the leg should be amputated.
Done with tending Robbie, he left his brother, cleaned the cream from his hands, undressed, and got into his own bed. James was already sound asleep. He had announced that he was headed home soon and needed the sleep. Geordie had actually considered accompanying James rather than waiting for word from him after he returned to Maine, but just could not motivate himself to leave. He told himself it was the ocean holding him, but a little voice that became louder every day kept whispering that it was the hostess who held him in place. Determined not to pay attention to that voice, he closed his eyes and welcomed sleep.
Chapter Eight
James packed the last of his belongings and closed his bag. He did not really want to leave, because he was enjoying his stay, but, on the other hand, he was eager to see his family and they needed him. The longer he waited to get to Maine, the closer they drew to storm season and the more agitated his father would get, which he also knew would make his mother crazy. James did not want to have to rush to finish a job in order to beat the storms.
Picking up his bag, he went outside to where Robbie and Geordie sat on the front porch. They had brought his horse to the door, saddled and ready for him. The animal was shifting around in a way that told him it was more than ready for a ride. Belle came out as he secured his bag to the saddle and she handed him a small sack.
“Food for the journey,” she said. “Hope your parents can get the house readied for the storm season.”
“They always do, although there are times they really have to push hard to get it done in time. Think their luck will hold this year, too. Areyouready?”
“Yes. Will be checking the storm shutters soon. Da got them when they tore down an old garrison house in town. Fixed anything that was broken, and then painted them to suit the house. He was highly amused to be able to put ‘Indian shutters’ on our house and worked hard to make it easy to shut them from inside the house. Of course, everyone else calls them storm shutters now, including me, and they certainly did their job well in the storms of the past.”
James thanked her. He then told the MacEnroy brothers he would definitely send word if he needed their help, but he was hoping to stir up some relatives to do some of the work, and assured them that there were more than enough relatives to get everything done. Mounting his horse, he started on his way. He waved once before he turned his full attention to the road he had to travel. After being away from home for so long, he was eager to see his family.
Geordie stood up and gave Robbie a hand to get to his feet. “Hope he gets his kin rallied like he thinks he can. Or gets there and finds them already at work. I suspect his father helped a lot of them when they needed it.”
“Hope he does, too, but, as he said, those kin might have their own work to do,” murmured Belle. “Everyone tends to do some tightening and strengthening of their home at this time of year.”
“Is this ‘storm season’ ye keep talking about, a real problem?” asked Geordie as he held the door open for Belle “We didnae stay in this area long enough to even hear about it.”
“It varies, but you soon learn to get ready for it, just as if it really was just another season. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to come this way at all. Later, one reads, or hears, that it stayed south of us. Other times it is mostly just rain and some wind. Then there are the ones that bring on floods and flatten houses. But it always happens at the same time of the year, so at least one can try to be ready for it. So we always fret and moan and prepare. Now”—she stopped to remove her shoes—“I have to go and dig some clams.” She tugged on some high black boots. “Got some orders to fill.” She grabbed a straw hat off the rack of hooks set on the wall over the boot tray.
Geordie watched her walk out the door, grabbing a couple baskets to hook onto her belt as she went, one of which held a small spade. “May I come along? I have no idea what ye are going to do, but I do want to see.” He glanced at Robbie to see if his brother was also interested.
“Well, I am staying inside,” said Robbie. “Maybe Abel will feel like playing checkers with me. I admit to a touch of curiosity about clamming, but then I remember the smell of the flats when the tide goes out and it is nay a fond memory.” He turned and walked to the social room as Geordie hurried out the door to catch up to Belle.
“Did you never dig clams when you were here years ago?” Belle asked when Geordie joined her.
“Nay. Cannae say we were ever tempted by that food. We were just passing through, anyway, looking for a place to live. My parents couldnae agree on any of the places we saw and couldnae afford the ones they did, both fancy. Then my da heard all the talk of going west and how that land was cheap, even free in some places, but, sadly, he didnae get there. He was killed, along with my mither, about half the way there. The wagons were attacked. The attackers clearly intended to kill everyone, but we had Iain.” He grinned. “He got us all to safety, hid us. That seems to be his gift, keeping people safe. Oh, and convincing adults we can do for ourselves, which we did by taking the wagon and continuing on.”
“Oh, I am sorry.”
“Long time ago, but thank ye. But, as I said, my brother Iain stepped up and took us all. And there were days when the rest of us would have happily banded together and beat him senseless. Then we got to the Ozarks and as we made our way through them, Iain decided to see if he could get some land there. He said it had the look of home. He got as much land as he could and, over the years, has added some to it. The first acres we got were from a mon headed to California, thinking he would get rich; we never heard from him again. Then we built our house and the stockade.”
“A stockade? You were just boys and you built a house plus a stockade?”
“Aye. Iain wanted us safe. That is how he looks at everything. Is it safe or will it keep us safe? Can we make it safe? Every time we stopped the wagons to set up camp, he went and found a good place for us to hide if we needed to. He even thoroughly checked the house Matthew built for his family, then tested how long it would take him to gather up his family and get behind the stockade. Same with our shepherds and their families. Over the years it certainly proved it was worth the work, though we often cursed him heartily as we worked on it.”
She laughed softly as they went down the steps to the beach and walked over to some mudflats. She took a rolled-up mat that hung from her belt and laid it out on the ground. Next she took the baskets off her wide belt, which, he realized, had a lot of ties, loops, and hooks that carried the tools she needed for her job. She kilted up her skirts and knelt on the mat to gather her clams.
