Chase the Wind (27 page)

“Is this your brother?” the little girl asked, her eyes wide with
curiosity.

“Yes, it is.” Jenny laughed as she watched the brown eyes roam
up and down Jamie’s long frame.

“Wow, he is very tall.”

“Yes, taller than anyone here, I’m sure.”

Mary climbed up on the bench beside Jamie and peered up un
der the brim of the hat. “Are you asleep?”

He couldn’t help it, he had to laugh. “No.”

“What happened to your face?”

Jenny held her breath as she waited to see what Jamie would do.
He froze for an instant, then slowly reached up and took off his
hat. “I was burned,” he said.

Mary carefully studied the side of his face, even reaching out her
small hand to turn it just so, to see the wound better. She sat back
down beside him and picked up his hand. “I got burned, too. Want
to see?” she announced.

Jamie gave his sister a puzzled look, and she shrugged her shoul
ders in return. Mary was busy hiking up her dress tail and turned her hip around to show a crescent-shaped scar on her thigh. “See,
I bumped into the stove door when we were living with our uncle.
Marcus said I cried for a week. Our uncle sent us here after it happened. He said he didn’t know how to take care of a little girl.”
Mary carefully rearranged her dress and settled back down beside
Jamie. “Do you think you could ride me on your shoulders when
you are feeling better? Then I would be bigger than everyone here
instead of being the littlest.”

Jamie looked down at the little hand that had managed to find
its way into his. He looked down at his sister, who was smiling up at him, and he flashed his grin. “I think I could manage that, maybe
in a week or two.”

“Good, I can’t wait to tell Rosy,” Mary said with a smile of her
own. She climbed down from her perch and took off towards the
mission; apparently she was set on telling whoever Rosy was this
very minute.

“That was Marcus’s sister,” Jenny explained as Jamie watched
her go, shaking his head and grinning. “And I think she’s in love
with you.” Jamie just kept on grinning as the little girl disappeared
into the mission.

The days passed, one much like the other. Every day Jamie waited
until Jenny was done with her schooling, then the two of them would wander around the grounds, Jamie growing stronger and
more confident each day. They were careful to stay away from the
others, especially Logan and Joe, who were constantly watching
Jenny. Jenny didn’t want anything to interfere with Jamie regaining
his strength, or make him self-conscious about the way he looked. She was grateful for the way Mary had reacted, and included her and Marcus as often as possible in their walks around the grounds. Soon Jamie was able to do all the things he had done before the injury, and with the help of the hat that Sister Mary Frances had given him, he looked much the same. When he was inside, however, the hat had to come off, and the scabs that had formed over the wound were prominent. Jenny was not looking forward to the day when he would be pronounced well enough to join the rest of
the orphans.

It was Father Clarence who made the decision for them. Jenny had managed to avoid the man altogether since her rebellion, and
except for an occasional look at her over his glasses, he ignored her. She was surprised to find the priest in the infirmary looking
at Jamie’s face, his hand on Jamie’s chin, tilting his head from one
side to the other as if examining a rock. Jamie’s eyes were turned
to the ceiling, and Jenny could tell by the set of his jaw that he was
raging inside. Sister Mary Frances was standing next to the bed, and she quickly motioned for Jenny to be still as she came into the room. The priest finished his examination and looked over his shoulder at Jenny, who had stationed herself against the wall at the
foot of the bed.

“You say the other wounds have healed over like this one?” he
asked the nun, disregarding Jamie, who was sitting between the
two.

“Yes, Father, he is healing quite well. The worst wound is on his
face.”

“So there is nothing that will interfere with his going to school,
or helping to earn his keep?”

“No, although I would like him to take it slow where the chores
are concerned.”

“Good. I’ll expect to see him with the others tomorrow. You may move him into the dormitory today. We need someone to work in the barn.” He finally looked at Jamie. “I believe you were raised on
a farm and know how to handle livestock and such.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Sister Alice will instruct you on your duties.” He turned
and looked at Jenny. “There will be no excuse for you not doing
your share now that your brother has recovered. The cook—”

“Father, she has been helping me since the day she arrived,”
Sister Mary Frances interrupted. “There is always plenty of work
here in the infirmary, and when we have a chance, we work on the
mending. The girl has a fair hand with a needle and thread. It
would be a shame to waste such a gift.”

Father Clarence peered over his glasses at the nun, who turned
her lovely face up to him with a hopeful smile.

“It is a shame to waste any gift that the Lord has given us. Let
us hope that the girl will learn something from spending time with you.” He gave Jenny an indecipherable look, then left, leaving all
three of them to sigh in relief.

“I guess I should go meet Sister Alice,” Jamie said. He looked rather nervous, and Jenny knew he was not looking forward to
leaving the safety of the infirmary.

“Marcus should be in the barn also. Why don’t you find him
and have him show you where you can sleep?” the nun suggested.
“Jenny, go with him and help him get settled.” Jamie pushed his hair back and put his hat on. “You’ll be fine,” she assured him. He
squared his shoulders and left the room, for the first time in the
lead, Jenny following.

Jamie was genuinely excited to be in the barn among the live
stock. There were some horses, a team for the wagon, and a pair
of draft horses for plowing and heavy work. There were also some milk cows, one with a calf, and plenty of chickens underfoot. He stood in the aisle of the barn and breathed in the smells while Jenny
poked around, trying to find Marcus. He was out behind the barn, shoveling the muck of the pigpen around while a sow protested angrily from a corner of the sty. Marcus was muttering to himself about how useless his chore was and how all his brain power was
going to waste on such a stupid animal when Jenny interrupted
him.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh.

“What does it look like, I’m moving mud from one side of this
stupid pen to the other. Anyone with half a brain can see that.”

“Oh, I see it, I just don’t understand why you’re doing it.”

“Because it needs to be done, because Sister Alice told me to do
it, because she couldn’t think of anything else for me to do and she knows I’d rather be inside reading a book than stomping around out here in the mud with this stupid pig.”

Jamie appeared next to Jenny at the fence. “I’ve been sent to
rescue you,” he said to Marcus.

“What?”

“Father Clarence has decided that I’m cured and I am to report
to Sister Alice right away for work.”

Marcus looked up from his shoveling. “She’s over there,” he said
with a jerk of his arm. Jamie went over to where a nun was strug
gling with a fence board. He took the hammer out of her hand and was soon pounding away, the nun standing at his side with a hand
ful of nails.

Marcus watched him go to work, then turned to Jenny. “Are
they moving him into the dormitory?” he asked.

“Yes. Sister Mary Frances wants you to help get him settled. He’s
supposed to go to school tomorrow.”

“Do you think he’s ready?”

“I hope so. He doesn’t have much choice.” Jenny watched her brother test the strength of the board he was working on. “Do you
think he’ll have any trouble?”

Marcus reached up to wipe sweat off his forehead and ended up
smearing mud. “Yeah, he’ll have trouble. The question is how
much, and how much will he take before he breaks or pounds
someone.”

Jenny laid her head down on her arms, which were folded across
the top of the fence. Marcus leaned next to her, turning his head
so that he was looking into her deep blue eyes.

“What are you afraid of, Jenny?” His brown eyes were solemn, and Jenny had to remind herself that he was only a boy. “Are you afraid he’ll fight, or are you afraid he won’t fight?”

“I’m afraid he’ll quit fighting, and I know he’s going to have to
fight for the rest of his life.”

“And you’ll be standing right next to him, no matter what he
does.”

Jenny looked
at the grubby face on the rail next to hers. The face
still had a lot of boy in it, but the features were starting to sharpen
into manhood. She wondered briefly what his father had been like,
what kind of doctor he had been, what it had been like to pack
his family up to travel across a wilderness to start a new life in a new town. “How did you get to be so wise?” she finally asked,
reaching a finger out to knock off a chunk of mud that
was sticking
to his cheek.

“I had
to, to survive.”

“I guess we’ll have to, too.”

Jamie was coming back, his stride long, his hat tilted at a jaunty angle. Jenny raised her head to watch him, and for a brief instant
saw her father walking across the lawn with his self-confident step. She shook her head to clear it, then smiled when she realized once
again how much Jamie was like their father. He’ll
be okay,
she
thought.

“Are you done playing in the mud?” Jamie asked Marcus as he
approached the pen.

“Yeah, let me get cleaned up, and then we’ll move your stuff.”

“I’ll see you at dinner, then,” Jamie said to his sister.

“Are you sure?”

“About dinner?”

“No, about.. . you know. .. .”

“Go on, I’ll be fine. I don’t need you hanging around.”

Jenny looked at Marcus, who nodded his head in agreement with
Jamie. She looked back at her brother, but couldn’t see his eyes
beneath the wide brim of the hat.

“Okay, see you at dinner.” She left slowly, hoping he would call her back, knowing he wouldn’t. She knew he was right—whatever
was going to happen would happen, and he didn’t need to have
her in the middle of it. Jenny’s mother had always told her that the
Duncan men were full of pride, and this was Jamie’s way of showing it. As much as she wanted to follow along, she knew he needed
her to stay away more. It was part of his healing, it was time for
him to stand on his own. She went back to the infirmary. She knew
he would have to show up there sooner or later to get his bag.

Jamie did show up at the infirmary. Jenny had just settled down with her needle and thread when she heard his long stride coming down the hall. She looked up expectantly and he came in, Marcus in tow, and grinned at her. He went into the room where he had slept, came out with his bag and tugged on her braid as he passed
by. He stopped suddenly and came back to whisper in her ear.

“Don’t worry about the gun and stuff. We found a place to hide
it in the barn.”

Jenny looked up in amazement, realizing that she had forgotten
about the revolver altogether, with everything else that had been going on. Jamie went on his way, with Marcus chattering along beside him, his voice trailing off as they went down the hall.

Sister Mary Frances came in, having just passed them in the hall, with a smile on her face. “I believe those two will be good for each
other,” she commented.

Jenny was still amazed that Jamie had tackled the move with such good humor, but knew that, once he made a decision, he
stuck to it. He couldn’t change his scars, but he could change how
he dealt with them.