A New Mam for the Girls (5 page)

“You stay right here, sweetheart, and let me hold you a bit.  Forgiveness is a part of a tanning.  You did something wrong, but you owned up to it, took your spanking, and now it is all over.  I do not want you wasting one more second with feeling guilty.  Is that clear, Bridget?” he asked, hugging her.  She was crying hard, but she nodded against his shoulder, where her head rested.  “Good girl.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “I do love you, Bridget.  I wouldn’t have taken you over my knee if I didn’t.” 

He thought she giggled, and when she looked up at him with laughter in her tear-filled green eyes, he was sure of it. “What would ye have done to someone you did no’ love, Seth?”  She giggled again, and he had to chuckle.  She suddenly was serious.  “I would no’ have risked the girls today, Seth.  I would no’.  I love them as my own.”

“I know that, Bridget.  Now, that is the end of it.”

“No… No’ yet.  Ye will no’ punish the girls for my bad example, please?  They are only wee girls, and ‘twould not be fair to spank them for disobeying when I led them to do so.”

“I’ll need to think on it, Bridget.  I might not have a choice but to swat them.  It depends on how they act and talk about this.  Being a parent isn’t easy, sweetheart.  I can’t always do what I want to do.  Sometimes I have to be firm, even when I’m sure it is going to break my heart in two.  My Pa always said it hurt him more to thrash us kids than it did us, which I never believed until I became a father.”  He kissed her tenderly.  “Let’s go on to the house and check on those girls and see what we can find for lunch.  I’m hungry.”

Bridget felt it best not to argue.  In truth, Seth had been more than fair with her.  Her bottom was burning furiously, but she deserved for it to burn.  She feared she would have nightmares for the rest of her life over what nearly happened this morning.  Seth had saved her and Susie, which was very brave of him to do.  He’d also saved most of their berries, and she was going to fix him a cobbler for dessert.  He deserved no less.

“I can’t believe the girls are still sleeping!”  Seth was surprised.  “Do you suppose they are alright, Bridget?  Should I go up and check on them?” he asked of her, wanting her advice and opinion.

“I am sure they are fine, Seth, but I will go and see if ye want me to…?”

“Would you mind, sweetheart?” he asked.  He was pretty sure the ladder was sturdy, but his head suffered each and every time he climbed up there.  When he added onto the house, the girls would get a new room, too.

“They are fine, Seth.  Just sleeping.  ‘Tis normal after a fright.”  She hurried to get their noon meal started.  She sliced off some ham to fry, and she hurriedly peeled potatoes to fry.  She added a couple of sliced onions to the potatoes, and soon the delicious smells of cooking food filled the air.  A jar of green peas would add some color to the table as well, and they would taste good with the ham.  She sliced bread while the ham and potatoes cooked, and as she worked she noticed that Seth kept looking out the windows, looking for trouble.  “Do ye think more will come, Seth?” she asked fearfully.

“I hope not, sweetheart.  I’ll keep my gun at the ready, but I think you and the girls should keep to the house today.  Bar the doors and go to the cellar if they do come.”

“But, what about ye?” she demanded indignantly.  “I’ll no’ lock ye out of the house, Seth!  I can no’ do that!”

“You do as I say wife, or the thrashing you get when I get my hands on you will make you wish you had.”

“But…”  She was cut off when the girls came down the ladder.  They both went to their Papa and hugged him.

“Papa, we are sorry we disobeyed you and went to pick berries.  We should have told Mam that you had a good reason for saying no, and that it wasn’t because you thought we’d get lost,” Sally said.

“I’m sorry, too, Papa.  I was so scared, but you came and saved Mam and me.  Thank you,” Susie said solemnly.

“I will always come to save you if I am able, honey.”

“Sally and Susie, I wish to speak to ye,” Bridget said.  “I am new at being a Mam, and I am going to make a mistake now and then.  I made a big mistake today when I let you think it was all right to disobey your Da.  I was wrong to do that.  You are just girls, but I am grown and I should know better.  Your Da didn’t want to frighten us by telling us that Indians were about.  I didn’t give your Da the trust and respect he’s earned, and I am very sorry I set a bad example.  I am a Mam now, and I should no’ do that!”

“Papa will forgive you if you say sorry to him,” Susie said with confidence.  “He doesn’t expect anyone to be perfect, but to learn from their mistakes.  Right, Papa?” She turned to Seth to include him.

“That’s right, Susie.  And, your Mam has already said sorry.  You two, however, know better than to disobey me, don’t you?”

“Yes, Papa,” they said together.

“You had a very bad scare today because you forgot that I have your best interests at heart.”  He looked at them sternly, and then asked, “Have you learned your lesson?”

“Yes, Papa,” they both immediately answered him.

“Very well then.  Ask your Mam what you can do to help her.”  When they turned their backs to him, he looked over their heads at Bridget and smiled.  He felt his heart swell when he saw her eyes sparkle.  She was pleased with him, and he felt they all learned a harsh lesson today.  Bridget told the girls to wash up for the meal, and they did so right away.  Sitting at the table a bit later, it was obvious that the girls’ appetites hadn’t suffered from their fright, but Bridget was squirming on her chair and trying to hide the fact that she was extremely sore from the spanking he’d given her.  She didn’t eat very much, either, and she jumped up the first chance she got, anxious to escape the hard wooden seat of the chair.  “You girls do the dishes for your Mam.  She fixed a nice meal for us without a bit of help.  I have to go out and check on the mare, and I don’t need to tell any of you to stay inside, do I?” he asked, looking at his daughters first, and then at Bridget.  She took exception.

“I’m no’ a child, Seth Masterson!  After this mornin’s terrible experience, I’ll no’ be goin’ anywhere unless ye and that gun of yours are by my side!  You do no’ need to be mockin’ me!”

“I’m not mocking you, sweetheart, but I do suggest you watch that temper of yours.  Perhaps you need to lie down for a while and rest…?”

“I do no’ need a nap, Seth.  You go on now to your barn and leave me to my work.”  Bridget heard one of the girls gasp, probably Sally, and she attempted a forced smile at the man.  “I’m no’ upset with ye, Seth, but with meself.”

“I thought we agreed that it was all over?” he said as he moved closer to put his arms around her and give her a hug.  “Or is it nerves about tonight?” he whispered into her ear.  She blushed a bright red, and he had his answer.  “Don’t worry, sweetheart.  You can trust me to do right by you.”

Suddenly, her dark mood lifted, and she rested her head on his chest.  “Ye are a good mon, Seth.  I’m bein’ very foolish.”

“No, you are being a bride,” he gently corrected her, and then he tipped up her pretty face so he could kiss her sweet lips.  He heard giggles, and gave Sally and Susie a mock fierce look.  “Are you making fun of us, little girls?” he demanded, all bluster.  They giggled, and he chuckled.  “Help your Mam, girls.  I like to hear good things about you.”

“Papa, we love Mam!” Sally told him, her eyes serious as could be.  “We like to help her, don’t we, Susie?”

“Yes, Sally; we do.”

“They always do as I ask, Seth.  I am proud of Sally and Susie,” Bridget insisted.  She was sure the day would come when they would have some sort of disagreement, but hopefully she would be able to think like her own Mam and know what to do.  For now, she would simply enjoy them and their eagerness to learn to cook and bake and sew.  Bridget would never forget how Susie turned back to try and help her while sending her sister for their Papa.  She would be dead if not for Susie’s courage, and for Sally’s fast running.

Chapter Five

The afternoon turned into evening with no sign of more Indians and Seth couldn’t help but wonder if those two were all alone in causing the mischief around the area.  He made sure to do a final check on the mare and her new foal before going inside the house and barring the doors and the windows for the night.  He put his loaded rifle where he could reach it quickly if necessary, and turned his attention toward his wife and daughters.  Bridget was busy in the kitchen, still, and he was sure it was so she wouldn’t have to sit down.  She didn’t even take a seat when Sally messed up her embroidery and asked for help untangling the thread.  Seth knew she would be better by morning, but he hated that she was so sore for the night ahead.  She might not wish to make love, and then he would be the one who ended up punished.

Bridget made a few small glasses of jam from the blackberries and insisted they all have a leftover biscuit from supper with some of the sweetened fruit on it to taste.  She smiled happily at the compliments from the girls, and then looked to Seth, who seemed to be enjoying his as well.

“This is real good, Bridget.  It’s real nice to have some jam for our toast and biscuits.”

“Papa, do you think we could go and pick more berries tomorrow?” Susie asked.  “I’d want you to come, too,” she said.  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go down there alone again.  I’m still a bit scared.”

“I am, too, sister!” Sally laid her embroidery on her lap.  “I am afraid to go to sleep tonight.  What if more of them come while we are sleeping, Papa?”

“They will be in their beds tonight, honey.”  Seth tried to reassure his girls.  He noticed that Bridget was listening carefully, too.  “I don’t think there are any others or they would have come by now.  I’ll sit up for a while, however, to make sure.”

“They couldn’t get in, could they?” Sally asked fearfully.

“The doors are both heavy, and the bar across them is sturdy.  The windows are down and locked, and the shutters are barred, too.  I think they’d have to knock on the door to let us know they’ve come to visit before they’d get inside.”  He smiled at them, but they merely looked at each other in shared disbelief.  “Girls, they were two men, nothing more.  Remember…?  We’ve talked about this before.  There are good and bad men of all colors.  Those two men could have been white men who happened to drift by here just as you two and Mam were picking berries.  We haven’t had serious Indian trouble since your Mama and I moved here.  I want you to try and put this incident behind you.  You are safe.”  He said the words firmly, but it did little to stem their worried feelings about going up to bed.  They didn’t want to go when Bridget said it was growing late.

“Let us stay up a bit longer, please?” Susie begged.

“Your Mam said it is time for you two to be in bed; now get up that ladder and into your beds.”  Seth didn’t wish to be mean, but the girls couldn’t stay awake tonight, waiting for trouble.  If he felt they were in any danger, then he would allow them to stay awake, but they couldn’t lie awake forever.  He opened his arms to give them the usual hugs and kisses. 

Bridget felt sorry for the girls; she knew what it was like to feel that helpless feeling, and to feel like a target.  She got to her feet as well.  “Come along now; I’ll come up the ladder with ye and tuck ye into your beds for the night.”  They brightened at that, and then hurried up to the loft, with Bridget right behind.  After anxious looks about, they were reassured the loft was free of anyone hiding in the shadows.  “You two are safe as can be now; do ye believe me?” she asked, putting a quilt around Sallie’s shoulders, then turning to do the same for Susie.

“I’m better now, Mam,” Susie said. 

“Papa will protect us if he has to,” Sally reminded them both.

“That is right,” Bridget agreed, and then said, “Tomorrow, I have a special project in mind for us to work on.”

“What is it?” Sally asked curiously.

“Now if I be tellin’ ye, it will no’ be a surprise!”

They giggled, and then started guessing.  Bridget shook her head no.  “You will no’ find out ‘til after breakfast tomorrow, so close your eyes and go to sleep, precious ones.  Tomorrow will come the sooner that way.”  She gave them each one final kiss and then started down the ladder.  She caught her hem on one of the rungs and thankfully Seth was right there to catch her.  He guided her the rest of the way down the ladder with his strong hands around her waist.

“I did no’ know you were on the ladder, Seth,” she whispered.

“I expected them to give you a difficult time, but you were wonderful,” he admitted.  “Do you really have something planned for them to do?”

“Yes, as long as you do ‘no mind, Seth.  I found a trunk of their Mama’s things, and I thought they could finish piecing a quilt she started, and learn to quilt.  Everything they need is right there, and there would no’ be an expense.”

“I think it’s a good idea.  Thank you for teaching them these things.”  He felt humbled to have Bridget in his house, loving his daughters.

“Seth, I love the girls; I feel they are my daughters, here in my heart.  I don’t want them to forget Catherine; but I want to be their Mam.  Is this alright with ye?”

“We are all blessed to have you, Bridget.  You are Sally and Susie’s Mam, and Catherine would love you with all her heart for the way you mother her girls.  She would be honored to share them with you and for you to be their mother.  Losing her was the hardest thing I’ve gone through in my life.  Marrying you was a blessing, and I feel that Catherine had a hand in helping the girls find you.  She knew I could never send you away without a penny in your pocket, and I’ve grown to love you, Bridget.  When I saw you nearly die today my heart almost stopped beating with fright.  All I could think of was protecting the woman I love.  I know I wasn’t nice to you at first, and I’d like to try and make up for it now.”  He took her hand in his and looked into her pretty green eyes.  “Bridget O’Grady, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and a mother to my little girls?  I promise to love you, cherish you, and protect you for all the days of my life.”