Cora's Deception (9781476398280) (13 page)

Ben jumped to the ground and lifted first
Cora then Eliza down. He turned to Mr. Reid. “We were just admiring
your barn as we came up. It looks big enough for a dance.”

Mr. Reid laughed. “I guess it is at that.
Maybe one of these days we’ll have a party here.”

Cora glanced around Mr. Reid’s clean, neat
house before handing him the gift her mother had wrapped. “We had
some pecans that Mother put into candy. She thought you might like
some for Christmas.”

As Mr. Reid took the package, his hand
touched hers for a moment. She’d have thought nothing of it except
for the look in his eyes. She’d seen that look before in boys her
own age, but never in a man so old. She jerked her hand back.

“I…it’s pralines.” She looked away and
stepped closer to Ben.

“Thank you. I know I’ll enjoy these. Don’t
forget to thank your mother for me. I have a gift for your family,
as well.” Mr. Reid moved to a bookcase against the end wall.

“This is a collection of poetry from some of
the world’s most renowned poets. I know your mother will enjoy it,
and I’m sure the rest of you will too.”

Ben took the book and thanked Mr. Reid. Cora
covertly watched the older man as he talked with Ben about some of
the poems. While they talked, she shifted closer to the outside
door. The sooner they left Bill Reid’s house, the better she’d like
it. She breathed easier when Ben told Mr. Reid goodbye and helped
her and Eliza on the horse.

As soon as Cora saw the Newkirks’ cabin, she
knew it could belong to no one else. Even in the well-tracked snow,
there was an air of order about the place. The house was smaller
than Mr. Reid’s, and a large shed stood several yards away with a
rail fence built out from one side.

Gilbert burst through the door, calling over
his shoulder. “It’s Ben and his sisters.”

Ben shook Gilbert’s hand. “We’ve come to
wish you a merry Christmas and bring a gift from our . . .”

Cora followed Ben’s gaze to Esther and
Rebekah who had just stepped outside. She laughed. He’d never
finish his sentence now.

They all went inside where Mrs. Newkirk
stooped over a large pot suspended above the flames in the
fireplace. She stirred the contents carefully then hung the
long-handled metal spoon to the side of the mantel. She
straightened with a welcoming smile. “You will stay and eat, won’t
you?”

Ben’s eyes held a light that told Cora he’d
like nothing better than to prolong their visit. Eliza looked at
him and nodded. He glanced toward Esther then back at her mother.
“Ma’am, I certainly appreciate your hospitality. We’d be honored to
stay.”

“Good. It’s settled. Rebekah, will you
please set the table? Esther, the bread is ready to take up.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Cora felt out
of place as everyone bustled about. Even Eliza stepped in to help
Rebekah at the table.

Mrs. Newkirk nodded toward the fireplace.
“The stew could use another stirring if you don’t mind.”

Mr. Newkirk came in from outside, and Ben
moved out of the way. The men sat at the far side of the room with
their voices making a low rumble as background to the women’s
work.

“Well, it’s true that many hands make
lighter work, isn’t it?” Mrs. Newkirk smiled at the girls. “Let’s
sit at the table.”

“Cora, sit by me.” Margaret scooted over and
patted the bench.

“All right.” Cora sat by the younger
girl.

As soon as everyone had settled around the
table, Mr. Newkirk bowed his head to pray. “Father God, thank you
for the food before us and bless it for our use. Amen.”

A gentle hum rose and fell as several
conversations went on at the same time.

“Margaret turned to Cora. “Do you have a
tree for Christmas?”

“No, not yet. My father and John took Lenny
and Nicholas down to the creek this morning to cut one, though.
They may have it up by now.”

“Won’t you help decorate it?” Margaret’s
eyes widened.

“Oh, yes.” Cora laughed. “I’m sure they’ll
wait for us.”

“I guess that means you wouldn’t want to
help us decorate ours.” Margaret’s expression grew serious. “It’s
outside. We’re going to put it up this afternoon.”

“I would love to, but I can’t. We have one
more stop to make, and Mother made us promise to be home well
before dark.” Cora shook her head. “She still hasn’t gotten over
the night Ben and I stayed in a tree.”

“You stayed all night in a tree?” Margaret’s
eyes grew wide, and the other conversations stopped. “Why’d you do
that?”

Cora and Ben shared a smile. “You can tell
it, Ben.”

Ben set his spoon down. “All right. Remember
that first snow storm that came all at once before we had a spell
of warmer weather?”

Mr. Newkirk nodded, and everyone else
watched Ben.

“Well, before we knew it would snow, Cora
and I went into the woods. She wanted to look for pecans, and I
hoped to replace our meat supply.”

When Ben finished his story with Ralph
shooting at the tree where they were, Mrs. Newkirk sighed. “Isn’t
that just like our God? He surely had His hand on you. How else
could you have found that very tree?”

“And escape being shot.” Mr. Newkirk shook
his head. “Sounds like a miracle. It makes me wonder if God has a
work for you to do. Maybe you two young’uns will be mighty
soul-winners for Him one of these days.”

He reached for his Bible. Cora’s heart sank.
He wasn’t going to preach to them, was he? He opened the well-worn
book and ran his hand over the pages. When he looked up, his eyes
met Ben’s. “We always read a little after a meal. Would you mind
reading for us today?”

Ben shifted in his chair. He looked ready to
bolt for the door, but he took the Bible. “I’d be glad to.”

“Good.” Mr. Newkirk smiled. “Why don’t you
read from Isaiah 49? It’s Christmas Eve. Let’s read about Jesus
from the Old Testament.”

Ben nodded and found the place. “‘The Lord
hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he
made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp
sword . . .’”

Cora looked around the table. That didn’t
sound very Christmassy to her. Mr. Newkirk kept his attention on
Ben and even the younger children sat quietly. She shrugged. On and
on Ben’s voice droned as Cora tried in vain to pay attention. “
‘Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into
singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and
will have mercy upon his afflicted.’ ”

“Amen!” Mr. Newkirk’s hearty voice
interrupted. “Our God is, without fail, wonderful.” A broad smile
lit his face. “If you don’t mind, just look on over to chapter
fifty. It’ll tell us what Jesus came to this old, sinful world to
do.”

Cora’s eyebrows lifted. How did the man know
where to look? Was he making this up? So far, she hadn’t gotten
much sense from what Ben read.

“ ‘
I gave my back to the
smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not
my face from shame and spitting.’ ”

Ben really was reading about Jesus.
Suddenly, the Scriptures took life in her mind, and she saw Jesus
surrounded by Roman soldiers. Jesus came to earth to be punished
and die. But why? Why would the Son of God suffer unimaginable
torture when He didn’t have to?

Cora’s eyes burned, and she blinked to chase
the tears away. How silly to cry over something that happened so
long ago. She forced the image of Jesus from her mind.

Ben looked up as soon as he finished the
chapter. “I’ve never read this before. I thought the Old Testament
was about a time before Jesus was born, but this is talking about
Him, isn’t it?”

Mr. Newkirk nodded. He leaned forward. “Yes,
and this isn’t the only place. You can find Scripture as early as
Genesis that gives us the promise of His coming.”

Cora looked at Eliza and was shocked to see
the interested light on her face. What was going on? They’d come to
give gifts, not go to church. She waited for a break in the
conversation.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but we haven’t
given our gifts, and we have a long way to go yet.” She glanced
toward Mrs. Newkirk at the other end of the table. “Eliza and I
need to help with the dishes.”

“No, you don’t.” Mrs. Newkirk jumped up and
reached for the nearest plate. “I’ve got plenty of girls to help
without putting our company to any more work.”

Ben stood, handing the Bible to Mr. Newkirk.
“Maybe we can talk some more later. We do need to go.”

“I’ll count on it.” The older man
nodded.

Cora slipped out the door and back in with
the package of candy and aprons. She handed the candy to Mrs.
Newkirk. Eliza took one apron for Rebekah, and Cora gave Esther the
other. “This is from Eliza and me. We both worked on it. I hope
you’ll like it.”

Esther held the apron against her and gave
Cora a smile. “I do. Very much. Thank you.” She hugged Cora. “I
have something for you too. I’ll go get it.”

She hurried to the ladder in the corner of
the room and climbed out of sight. When she returned, she took
Cora’s hand, turned it palm up, and dropped a delicate golden
beaded necklace on it.

Cora let the necklace dangle from her
fingers. A tiny rosette of red beads had been worked into one spot
on the gold. “It’s beautiful.” She whispered the words. “Did you
make this?”

Esther nodded. “I like working with beads.
I’m glad you like it.”

“How could I not?” Cora flung her arms
around Esther. “Try to come see me soon.”

Esther nodded. “I will. Maybe for your
birthday. It’s soon, isn’t it?”

Cora smiled. “Yes, January ninth.” She’d be
married by then. How could she have forgotten? There’d be no reason
for Esther to come, although she couldn’t say anything, not even to
such a good friend.

As they left, Mrs. Newkirk handed Ben a
large package of cookies to take home. With everyone calling out
their thanks and good-byes all at the same time, Ben helped his
sisters on the horse. Cora’s heart filled with gladness as she
waved to her friends. She would hold this day in her memories for
later when she was in St. Louis. But for now, she looked forward to
their next stop. Ben headed the large workhorse east toward the
Starks’ place.

Chapter 12

A
skinny hound greeted them with long, loud brays that sounded
threatening to Cora. He ran alongside the horse, jumping and
barking as they carefully picked their way around various
odd-shaped bumps in the snow.

The Starks’ sturdy cabin appeared smaller
than the Jacksons’ house. It had no loft. Instead, two shed-like
rooms projected from either side of the main cabin as if they’d
been added later.

The dog continued to accentuate each bark
with a jump at their feet. When the door flew open, two more dogs
ran out, adding their voices to the din. Ralph stood framed in the
doorway, a huge grin on his face. He yelled over the dogs’ brays.
“Hey, come on in and make yourselves at home.”

Cora sat high on the
horse.
So this is how a treed raccoon
feels

Eliza’s grip on her arm tightened. Maybe she
would change her feelings toward Ralph.

Ivy shoved past her brother. “Ralph, don’t
you have no manners at all? Call them dogs off so’s they can git
down.”

“Why? They’s jist bein’ friendly. Ain’t like
they’re gonna bite nobody.” Ralph grinned at the two girls.

“Old Blue!” A deep, commanding voice brought
instant silence. Aaron walked around the corner of the cabin,
grabbed the largest dog by the short rope on its neck, and led it
back the way he’d come. The other dogs followed with their tails
tucked.

Ben dismounted and helped his sisters down.
Cora glanced at the corner where Aaron had disappeared with the
dogs. She followed her brother inside, hoping for another glimpse
of Aaron.

“Howdy.” Mr. Stark raised himself to a
sitting position on a braided rug before the fireplace. “Gitcha a
chair.”

He motioned toward five stumps arranged
around a taller stump with a smooth-sanded board nailed on top.
Cora stared at the amazing collection with wide eyes. It was a
dining table and chairs. The center stump, driven into the dirt
floor, looked as if it had grown there.

Before Cora sat down, she slipped the small
package containing Aaron’s handkerchiefs into the full gathered
material of her sleeve and hoped no one noticed. She couldn’t give
him a gift in front of his family, even if he returned from taking
care of the dogs. She hadn’t been thinking. She might not be able
to get his gift to him.

“Don’t speck ta see no more warm days now
afore spring.” Mr. Stark spoke.

“No, I don’t suppose so.” Ben sat on one of
the stumps. “What sort of crops do you grow here?”

Ralph chuckled. “Ain’t nothin’ much but
corn’ll give you any cash. Corn liquor that is.”

Mr. Stark nodded. “Yep, that’s the cheapest
way they is to make a livin’ off’n corn. Hit’d take a whole wagon
train to take as much to Springfield as we take on our one ox’s
back.”

“I see.” Ben squirmed and looked around the
room. Maybe he was remembering his encounter with their corn liquor
and the headache he’d had the next day. “Well, we came by to wish
you a merry Christmas and deliver a gift.” He looked at Cora.
“You’ve got it, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” She stood and crossed the room to
Mrs. Stark who sat in a rocking chair. “This is from all of us to
all of you. We hope you’ll enjoy it.”

“Well, if that ain’t nice. You be sure and
thank yore ma fer us.” Mrs. Stark’s rough, work-worn hand gently
touched the white paper then moved to the green ribbon holding it.
When she looked up, the beauty of her large blue eyes touched Cora.
An inner light seemed to radiate from the woman’s soul as though
she’d been denied beauty for so long, she’d forgotten she even
missed it.