“You’ve looked for days now. Will you keep up the hunt?”
“Until I find her, aye.”
“I worry about you encountering Laurent again. He was in such an uproar when you searched his house. I do wish we knew why he met with Nurse Lineboro at Hopewell Hundred.”
“After which she returned to Rose-n-Vale for an orchardtryst with McCaskey. The plot does thicken.” He set down his pipe, of no more mind to smoke than to eat. “We will be vigilant and watchful. Even eavesdrop if we must. McCaskey will soon take his leave. I’ll press the nurse on her plans if only to hasten her departure. I won’t abide any double-handedness beneath my roof.”
41
A sennight passed as Selah adjusted to her new role. This morn, she was in the milk house, straining the pails Primrose had brought her from the dawn milking. Soon the shelves bore a great many shallow, glazed earthenware dishes as the milk cooled and the cream rose. ’Twas one of Selah’s old tasks she was loath to let go of, if for no other reason than the milk house reminded her of church. Here in the shaded, almost hallowed shadows she poured out her heart along with the milk.
Gone was the stilted formality of past prayers. Out of a sense of urgency and growing heartache, she began calling more familiarly on the God who had made her. No doubt she’d be branded a heretic in James Towne, talking to the Almighty as if He were not only her heavenly Father but her friend.
Lord, each day of waiting seems to take Watseka further away from us. She is so small. The nights will soon grow cold. Please hedge her from all harm. Bolsterher spirits. Help us leave no stone unturned. Deliver us from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. Help us benot afraid of the terror by night nor the arrow that flieth by day. And let no harm befall Oceanus and Shay. Return them to usin Thy perfect timing—
“Mistress Renick.”
She spun around, nearly upsetting a dish. Shay stood in the doorway. Taller. Leaner. All the boyish lines that once defined him were missing, his once irregular features more in harmony. Stepping inside and closing the door lest flies or dust disturb the whitewashed confines, he caught her up in a bearish embrace.
“There, Sister. Nothing to cry about.”
How like Father he felt and sounded. How thankful she was to have him back. She dashed a hand across her damp eyes. “But how did you come to be here? Xander said nothing to us.”
“He relayed word to Meihtawk to escort me home. The chief seemed sorry to see me leave but understood that Xander’s summons was not to be taken lightly.” Releasing her, he ran a hand over his hairless left scalp. “I shed my skins lest you fear I was a Powhatan. But there’s no help for my hair, shaved with a sharp shell to not encumber my bowing.”
“’Twill grow back like a proper Englishman, I suppose.”
“In time.”
She drank in his sheepish grin at her scrutiny, his beloved presence a tonic for her heart and soul. And then solemnity rushed in.
“Mother just told me about Father. But I’m most concerned about you.” He looked askance at her bandaged arm, which she waved to reassure him. “So much has happened. And now Watseka is gone.”
“But not to her people.”
“I heard no word of it, nay, nor saw any sign of her.”
She hugged him again, breathing in the smoky, sweat-stained scent of his former English clothes, the breeches too short. Where he’d once come up to her chin, he was now eye level. “We must put away any sadness for now and rejoice in your homecoming.”
“Homecoming, aye.” The wry look he gave her was so like Father she wanted to both laugh and cry. “Fancy returning to find your sister wed, your father dead, and your new abode Rose-n-Vale.”
“Hopewell Hundred is yours to do with as you wish.”
“I’ve given it little thought till now.”
“How fares Oceanus?”
“Reveling in being a son of the forest. His mother is strong in him, and he took to their ways like a duck to water.”
“Glad I am to hear it. And you? Are you ... sorry to return?” She’d oft wondered if he would be and now held her breath for his answer.
His smile swept away all doubt. “Nay. I was oft homesick. Their ways are not our ways. I’m needed here to help with the rebuilding, comfort Mother, and pester you as usual.”
At a raised voice outside, they traded the cool shadows for the September sun. Widow Brodie stood on the portico, waving them inside.
Shay’s gaze trailed the tray Izella carried across the sun-scorched lawn from the kitchen house. “I’m much changed, Sister. But ravenous as always.”
At nightfall, they all gathered in the new blue parlor. Though the mood was subdued given their circumstances, Selah felt especially grateful that Xander had quietly reunited them withher brother. Shay’s return seemed to cheer him. He embraced her brother heartily more than once, even exchanging a few words in Powhatan. Near at hand sat Meihtawk, having been alone with Xander in his study the long afternoon.
