Brides of Ohio (24 page)

Father, what else could I have done?
She knew the answer. She had been so sure that Nathaniel would have wanted her to help Jonah in any way she could, but she had never inquired of the Lord. She should have gone to Him first.
I am sorry
, she prayed.
Even as You worked through the mistakes of Abraham and David, I know You can work through mine.

But in spite of her prayers, she wrestled with her worries about Jonah far into the night. Eventually she passed into a fitful sleep.

As she went to work on the kitchen garden the next morning, she found it hard not to yawn. She looked down on the row of carrots she had just planted, kneading the small of her back. The kitchen garden was coming along well, even though it had been several years since she had planned and planted one. Jonah had been sure to give her everything she needed—a brand-new hoe, a rake, and seeds.

Thoughts of him caused her worries to reassert themselves. Adele set her jaw and tried to get her thoughts to settle elsewhere. She moved to start a new row, this time peas.
I remember when Jacob used to help me
, she thought as she reached into her pocket for seeds. Before the war, when her son was small, he would follow her and drop the seeds into the furrow. He was always very careful, as if the seeds were made of bone china.
How Nathaniel would laugh as he watched him. Jonah, too …

She bit her lip as she caught herself thinking about Jonah again.
Father, help me give my worries for him to You.
As if in answer, she heard a sound behind her. Turning, she almost gasped with surprise.

A little girl stood next to one of the purple coneflowers in the adjoining flower garden. She had shoulder-length strawberry-blond hair, and her brown eyes took Adele in with wonder and a hint of fear.

Adele blinked, making sure her lack of sleep from the night before wasn’t playing tricks with her eyes. She gave the child a gentle smile. “Hello, little one. Who are you?”

The girl said nothing and continued to stare at her.

Adele gently laid her hoe aside and slowly started toward her.

The fear in the girl’s eyes grew, and she backed up a step.

“Oh, do not be afraid. I will not hurt you.” Adele took another step forward, and the child took another step back. Suddenly Adele remembered how intimidating her tall form must be to such a little thing. She crouched down to her level and smiled. “What is your name?”

The girl looked at Adele and then the garden, a question in her eyes.

“I am planting peas,” she said, reaching into her apron pocket. She held out a handful of the small tan seeds. “Do you want to see?”

Curiosity took over, and the little girl stepped forward to examine them. Adele could not help but notice that she had no shoes and her dress showed a lot of wear. She picked up a seed and plopped it into the furrow.

Adele smiled. “Yes, that is how to do it.”

The girl’s eyes danced, and a smile tugged at her mouth.

“If you tell me your name, perhaps you could help.” But the way the little thing pressed her lips together caused Adele to reconsider. “But if you do not want to that is all right. You may still help.”

The little girl helped Adele plant the entire morning. Try as she might, she could not get the little thing to utter a word, much less her name. But she was still such a sweet thing that Adele took to calling her Sweet Pea.

“Well, little Sweet Pea,” she said after an hour or so of work, “I am very thirsty. Would you like a drink?”

Sweet Pea nodded and smiled, permitting Adele to take her by the hand and lead her to the water pump in the courtyard. After filling two tin cups from the kitchen, Adele watched the little girl drink, wondering where on earth she could have come from. She only looked to be about three years old. Ben Carr was a bachelor, and their other nearest neighbor, Henry Porter, had three strapping sons, all older than Jacob.

Suddenly Sweet Pea’s eyes widened, and Adele looked to see Jonah come striding around the corner of the house. She turned to reassure the girl, but she was already gone, the tin cup she had been drinking from lying on the ground. They both took off after her. Adele called out to her, but she was surprisingly fast and quickly disappeared.

Jonah looked at Adele, his angry countenance momentarily replaced by surprise. “Who was that?”

She quickly explained. “I cannot imagine where she came from. But she had no shoes on, and her dress was very worn.”

“Could be Southern refugees,” Jonah said slowly.

“So far north?”

“It’s possible. Some folk lost everything and have no place else to go.” He looked in the direction Sweet Pea had gone.

“If she comes back, I’ll feed her,” Adele stated. “Perhaps she will tell me about her family and we can help.”

Jonah shrugged. “Go ahead. But I wouldn’t be too hopeful. She may not ever come back.”

By the time Jonah drove into town Saturday, they were still no closer to knowing who the little girl was or to whom she belonged. She had come back the next day and helped Adele with the churning but slipped away when Adele had gone into the house for something. And there had been no sign of her on Friday. Adele was worried and opted to stay home instead of making their weekly trip into town, hoping she would appear.

Jonah had grudgingly agreed to sell the butter, eggs, and maple sugar at Decker’s Dry Goods. He sighed.
Just a woman’s nature to fuss over something small and helpless.
But then, it was just one of the things he loved about her. He clenched his teeth and focused on the backs of Belle and Babe as they loped along, trying to push the thought out of his mind. He almost didn’t hear Jacob call out to him.

“Uncle Jonah?”

Jonah started and half looked at Jacob between his and Cyrus’s shoulders. The boy was sitting in the wagon bed with Will, along with the things they were selling in town that day. “What is it, Jake?”

“When we get into town, can I go see Miss Williams?”

“The schoolteacher? What for?”

Jacob glanced at Will then back at him. “I need to ask her about a book is all.”

Jonah frowned. School was out for the season. He wished Adele didn’t take the boy with her to Delaware when she visited his brother. Daniel was becoming a bad influence. Jacob would never be the farmer he claimed he wanted to be if he got to taking on his brother’s ways.

“Thought you wanted to watch Mr. Morgan bargain with Mr. Decker.”

“I do! It won’t take long, just a minute. She lives right next to the school, and that’s just across the tracks from the store.”

Ostrander was a stop on the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad. The tracks ran right through the little town of Ostrander in front of the mercantile.

“You help us unload, then go and come straight back. No dawdling, you hear?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you!” He sat back down and smiled at Will.

Before long, Ostrander came into view, and Jacob practically fell over himself helping to unload the wagon. As Jonah watched him jump the railroad tracks and knock on the teacher’s door, he wondered if he should go easier on the boy. Will told him he was a great help and was coming along well.
But at his age, even Daniel knew more than the boy does now. If Nate hadn’t died …
Jonah scowled. Just one more way God had failed Adele and her son. He snaked his arm under the wagon seat and pulled out his gun.

“Excuse me, Mr. Kirby.”

Jonah looked to see Will standing there, a hesitant look on his face. He rested the butt of his gun on the ground. “Yes, Will?”

“I was wonderin’ if you would mind me getting some plate glass. Mr. Carr is allowing me to rent that land Mrs. Kirby spoke of. The house is still good and strong, but the windows are broken. I don’t want any more rain to be getting on those fine wood floors.”

Jonah clenched his jaw. With all the fuss over Sweet Pea, he’d almost forgotten what Adele had done the other day. He squeezed the gun barrel, wanting to say no. … “Fine,” he muttered.

Will thanked him and strode over to the furniture goods store across the street.

Jonah stood and fumed. He knew there wasn’t any real reason to be angry. What good did it do for the house to stand empty and unused and the land to grow wild? But he couldn’t help it. When he thought of how Nate had saved and scraped in order to afford to give Adele a frame house with wood floors instead of a log cabin … He stepped up onto the boardwalk and opened the door of the mercantile just as Ben Carr was on his way out.

“Mr. Kirby, good morning.” The young man offered his hand eagerly. “I’m glad we finally ran into each other.”

Jonah frowned. He had managed to avoid the young man since he arrived several months ago. He didn’t take his hand, and Ben quickly lowered his and cleared his throat.

“I have something I need to discuss with you if you have the time,” he said.

“I don’t,” Jonah replied.
Something to discuss … he’s after the farm just like his uncle.
He started to move past Ben Carr. “Excuse me.”

“Well, if you can’t now, when?” he asked. “It’s very important to me.”

“It’s planting time, in case you haven’t noticed. I’ll let you know.”
Just
as soon as my hogs sprout wings and fly
, he thought as he made his way into the mercantile. Glancing back, he saw the young man walk off toward the furniture goods store and was glad that he hadn’t followed him to press for a more definite time.

Two long counters lined either side of the mercantile. Cyrus was already haggling with Fred Decker at one for the price of the furs he’d brought. Fred’s young clerk, Dean Perry, was helping Fanny Williams, the schoolteacher’s mother, at the other.

He walked over to Mr. Decker’s counter where his own items were laid out. He leaned himself and his rifle against it and closed his eyes. He’d been out walking again that morning and guessed it must have been close to three thirty in the morning when he woke up. But just as he began to doze, the bell on the mercantile door jingled, and he opened his eyes.

“I’m telling you there’s a bobcat loose.” Henry Porter was walking in with Earl Henderson, a dealer in purebred sheep. “You need to be keeping an eye on those sheep of yours.”

“How can you be sure?” Earl asked. “There hasn’t been a bobcat seen around here in ages.”

“What’s this about a bobcat?” Jonah asked.

“Jonah Kirby, just the man I need to see,” Henry said, stepping over to him. “You seen anything strange walking around your property lately?”

Jonah started inwardly. It almost sounded like Henry knew about his early morning walks. But that couldn’t be. Neither his aunt Mary nor Adele would have said anything about them, and Daniel was in Delaware. No one seemed to bother him about having his rifle with him when he came to town, but he knew folk would think it strange if they found out about those walks of his. “No tracks, if that’s what you mean,” he replied.

“I wish that’s what I meant,” Henry said. Glancing over at Mrs. Williams, he lowered his voice. “Me and Jim, my oldest boy, were down by Mill Creek near your church there hunting deer, and we came across an awful sight. A ten-point buck ripped clean open and gutted to the bone. Blood and … everything else was just everywhere. It was a shame to see good buckskin going to rot. It’s got to be a bobcat, and a sick one, too.”

“Sure sounds like a rabid animal of some sort. Wouldn’t have to be a bobcat,” Jonah replied.

“Didn’t think about that,” Henry said. “It could be a black bear.”

“Black bears are gone, too,” Earl pointed out.

“Not all of them,” Jonah replied. “I heard of folk still seeing them south of Columbus. And I saw a bobcat down near the creek just before the war.” Cyrus and Fred had stopped their haggling for the moment and were listening. “Have you noticed anything strange in your traps lately, Cy?”

“Nope.”

“Be extra careful when you’re out. Pa said a rabid animal is an animal with no fear of anything,” Jonah said.

As Cyrus and Mr. Decker returned to business, Jonah looked out the window to see Jacob talking with a finely dressed man next to the wagon.

“Who’s that?” Henry asked.

“The new doctor,” Fanny Williams replied. Done with her shopping, she walked over to the men.

They nodded to her.

“Dr. Noah Kelly. He took over when Doc Sullivan retired.” She looked at Jonah. “It looks like Jacob already knows him.”

Jonah frowned inwardly. So this was Dr. Kelly. “Adele and Jake go into Delaware to visit Daniel and Katherine,” he said. “He’s good friends with my brother.”

“I’ve heard he’s a bachelor,” Mrs. Williams said. “I hope he comes to church next Sunday. I’m sure Clara would like to meet him.”

Jonah only half listened. He frowned as he watched the doctor hand Jacob a book and pat him on the shoulder. He started for the door. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said to Earl and Henry. “You two go ahead of me.”

Jacob and the doctor turned toward him as he stepped outside.

“I’m back, Uncle Jonah, just as quick as you asked,” Jacob said, holding up the book. “I was just saying hello to Dr. Kelly. He’s friends with Uncle Daniel.”

Jonah quickly looked the doctor up and down. He wore a black frock coat with a paisley vest and a tall beaver hat. From beneath its brim, blue eyes looked at Jonah, and a friendly smile stretched out his dark Vandyke beard.