Cora's Deception (9781476398280) (6 page)

“That’s not fair, Cora.” Eliza crossed her
arms and frowned. “You just don’t want to stick your head in the
smoke. Well, neither do I.”

Cora lifted her eyebrows. “You’re lighter
than I am, Eliza. I don’t trust that rickety ladder leaning against
the log that’s just sitting there on the ground. How do I know my
weight won’t push it over?”

“As if you weigh that much more than I do.
You won’t push it over. What do you think the sticks leaning
against it are for? Braces, maybe?”

“What’s wrong with you going up?” Cora’s
fists landed on her hips.

Eliza’s frown deepened. “I’m not going to do
it.”

Cora stared at Eliza. Her stubborn sister
would never back down. She stomped to the tree and put her foot
hard on the bottom rung of the ladder. Step by step she climbed,
clinging tightly with each creak of the ladder. Finally, at the top
she carefully removed the board roof then lowered it to Eliza.
“Here, take this.”

The rush of smoke in her face did nothing to
soothe her anger. Eliza never ceased to amaze her when they were
alone because that’s when she showed her true colors. Cora squeezed
her eyes tight and held her breath as she groped for a piece of
meat hanging from the sticks Father had inserted through the log
wall. Her hand brushed one. She grabbed and lifted. A shrill scream
from the boys startled her. The meat slipped through her fingers,
dropping into the coals and ashes below.

Mother would have a fit. She turned from the
smoke and filled her lungs with fresh air. “Lenny Jackson! Look
what you made me do.” She climbed down. “Eliza, I dropped it. Open
the bottom door and get it before it’s covered with ashes and
burned up.”

“Cora!” Lenny yelled at her.

She ignored him and bent to help Eliza.

“It’s too hot to reach in there.” Eliza
knelt on the ground with the bark door swinging on its leather
hinges. She looked up. “I can’t get it.”

“Cora, come here.” Lenny wouldn’t stop.

Cora ran to the woodpile and grabbed a
pointed stick as big around as her wrist. She started back when
Lenny yelled again. “Cora, Nick’s hurt.”

If she could, she’d ignore him, but
something in his voice told her he wasn’t playing this time. She
tossed the stick toward Eliza. “Here, use this.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to help.” Eliza’s
voice and Lenny’s blended as they both called to her.

She ran to the log pile where Lenny stood
pointing at the tiny blue coat Nicholas wore.

Tears streamed down Lenny’s face. “He’s
dead. Cora, Nick’s dead.”

Fear clutched Cora’s heart as she bent over
the little boy lying in a crumpled heap. His head lay against a
log, his body bent over another. His face was pale.

“No, he can’t be.” She cried out, wanting
assurance. She carefully lifted her two-year-old nephew from the
logs and carried him to the shelter. The world around her blurred
into oblivion as her vision focused on the small body in her
arms.

“What happened?” Eliza kept pace.

“He fell.” They neared the house when the
little boy stirred, and his eyelids fluttered open. Tears sprang to
Cora’s eyes.

“Want Mama.” He sounded so weak.

“I’m taking you to her.” Cora hugged him
close and ran the rest of the way.

When she burst through the doorway, Vickie’s
face paled. “Nicholas. What happened?”

“He hit his head on a log.” Cora
relinquished her nephew.

“He was knocked out.” Eliza brushed
past.

Cora glared at her younger sister. She’d
been too busy complaining about having to pull the meat from the
fire to know what happened. “Where’s the meat, Eliza?”

“Oh, I left it outside in all the
excitement.” Eliza ran out the door.

Nicholas’s eyelids drooped as he looked at
his mother. “Hurt, Mommy.”

“What hurts, precious? Where do you
hurt?”

He touched the back of his head, then closed
his eyes and snuggled against Vickie.

“I don’t believe he should go to sleep.”
Mother touched his cheek. “Remember Doc. Hardy told us that when
Ben fell off the house.”

Vickie sat in the rocker holding Nicholas
while Lenny played with him to keep him from sleeping. Cora helped
Eliza clean the meat covered with ashes and dirt.

Without warning, Nicholas heaved his
breakfast on the floor.

“Mother!” Vickie held her coughing son at
arm’s length. “Help me.”

Lenny scrambled away while Mother grabbed a
cloth and wet it. She crooned to the little boy while she cleaned
him up. “It’s all right. The worst is over now. Doesn’t this feel
good?”

When both Vickie and Nicholas were clean,
Mother stood looking at the mess by the chair. She shook her head.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I now see a definite advantage
to a dirt floor. Eliza, see if you can find the spade in John’s
wagon.”

When Eliza returned, Mother took the spade
and cut through the tough grass roots. She turned vomit and grass
neatly upside down in the shallow hole she dug. Cora’s knife poised
over the meat she’d been cutting as her dignified mother calmly
smoothed the fresh dirt in the middle of their home. Then she
packed it into place with her high-topped shoes.

How could she adjust to these primitive
conditions? Mother had never been a stranger to cleaning. She’d
always insisted on helping the hired lady, just as she’d insisted
on her daughters doing their part. But digging in the floor was not
normal cleaning. This was barbaric. No woman should be required to
live like this.

Cora turned from the dark scar on the floor
to Nicholas lying on the bed. Vickie sat beside him stroking his
head by gently brushing his hair back from his white face.
Something was terribly wrong with him, and there was no doctor
within a hundred miles in any direction. What if he didn’t get
better?

Mother sat on the other side of her
grandson, but she watched Vickie. “Maybe you should stay in the
shelter with us tonight.”

Vickie looked up. “Why, Mother?”

“In case you need help.” Mother stood.
“Perhaps this happened for a reason.”

“What do you mean?” Vickie frowned.

“God is showing us we need each other. What
would you have done if you and John were off by yourselves? The
girls said Lenny was with Nichols when he fell. What if no one had
been there? What if you hadn’t found him right away?”

Tears glistened in Vickie’s eyes. “He’ll be
all right. They did find him and brought him right in.”

“Yes, this time. But Vickie, if you move
away from here, out by yourself, there will be no one to help you
in case something happens. Surely you realize we need to stay
together.”

“But John . . .”

“There’s land right here that John can
have.” Mother moved off the wooden platform to the stove. Her
straight back indicated the conversation was closed.

Cora handed Mother the venison she’d cut
then took a bowl and the pecans Aaron had given her and slipped
outside to shell them. If Father could work in the woods on Sunday,
surely she could pick out a few pecans. The trail the wagon had
made through the tall grass was empty. Why didn’t the men come
home? Aaron had been working with them, but in the two weeks he
helped her father she’d seen little of him. Not that it mattered.
He almost never spoke to her. He was good-looking, though, and he
intrigued her, drew her in a way she’d never felt before with any
other young man. She sighed. He had the most interesting dimple in
his chin.

Ralph’s friendliness made Aaron seem even
more reticent. Cora picked the halves from a pecan and dropped them
in the bowl. Ralph was so open he probably didn’t know how to hide
his emotions. For brothers, they were sure different. She cracked
another pecan. That day in the woods, when she first met Aaron, she
thought he was gruff and unfeeling. But he’d noticed her spilled
pecans and cared enough to replace them. When he gave them to her,
he seemed kind and a little shy.

Ralph hadn’t bothered to bring pecans.
George wouldn’t have even thought of such a kindness. Only Aaron
had gone out of his way for her. For two weeks, he’d worked hard in
the woods for her family, expecting nothing in return. He was much
nicer than she first thought.

The image of Nicholas lying so still and
white kept intruding into Cora’s mind. Maybe Mother was right. They
needed to stay together. What of Father’s disregard for the day set
aside to worship God? They hadn’t been to church since they left
Saint Louis. Of course, there was no church to attend, but did that
mean they could work on Sunday as if it were any other day? Mother
said Grandfather Melville would turn over in his grave. Maybe
Nicholas getting hurt was a punishment. Again, a gentle nudge for
her own shortcomings touched her. She shivered and turned back to
her pecans.

Cora’s bowl was almost full when the wagon
bounced over the trail toward home. She met the wagon and told the
men what had happened. John rushed to Nicholas and lifted him
carefully into his arms. Father shook his head, his normally
pleasant face sober. “I was afraid something like this would
happen.”

“We tried to keep them away from the logs,
Father.” Cora still thought part of the blame belonged to him.
“Maybe if you hadn’t worked today . . .”

He looked at her. “What difference would
that have made?”

She studied her hands. Her voice lowered.
“It’s Sunday.”

“So?” Father combed his fingers through the
thin blond hair on top of his head. “Cora, you’re not making any
sense.”

A special bond had always existed between
Cora and her father. As a small child, she’d been his shadow. The
candle shop was her second home. Often when Father started a
sentence, she knew how it would end. The dreams and thoughts they
shared had been the same. Until now. Until he decided there was
something wrong with civilization.

“Thou shalt remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy.” She met Father’s gaze.

He stared at her, a frown on his face.
Without warning, he grinned. “So we’re quoting Scripture. How about
the one that says if your ox gets in the ditch on Sunday it’s all
right to get him out?”

Was he joking? Cora frowned. She looked at
Nicholas and back at Father. “Nicholas could have been killed,
Father.”

The grin left his face. “Two little boys
disobeyed. Do you somehow think I caused this by trying to use
every spare moment of daylight to get a house built for my family
before winter sets in?”

He patted her shoulder and walked away with
a sad smile.

Cora stared after him. That made sense. What
kind of God would hurt a little boy for something his grandfather
did? Was God an unbending, unloving, forceful God who frightened
people into serving Him? If so, what good was there in being a
Christian, anyway? She wouldn’t bother worrying about such things
when there was so much else to think about. Only one more week
until their house raising when they’d meet all the neighbors. She
could hardly wait.

Chapter 6

C
ora woke to the morning sun shining across her face. Her feet
barely touched the dirt floor before her mother called to her.
“Cora, will you please set the table?”

Eliza came in from outside and spoke before
Cora could. “I’ll do it, Mother. Cora probably needs to go out
first.”

“Oh, of course. Run on, Cora.” Mother
glanced up. “Hurry back in. As soon as breakfast is over, we’ll
have to start on the noon meal. The beds need to be made up. I
wonder how many there’ll be to feed.”

“The Starks will be here.” Eliza smiled as
she moved to the stove. “And didn’t they say there were a couple of
other families nearby that might help?”

Cora pulled the blanket of the shelter back
and stepped outdoors. Low clouds covered the sky, but the
temperature wasn’t too cold. At least they’d get a real house
before winter. Eliza seemed in a good mood. Knowing her, she hoped
to see Ralph Stark. Cora went down the faint path to the hastily
constructed outhouse. Father and Ben were already working at the
building site.

As Cora returned to the shelter, a man’s
voice called out. The Starks had arrived early. She ducked inside.
“Mother, the Starks are already here. We haven’t even had
breakfast.”

Mother frowned. “We’ll have the men eat
first so they can get right to work. That’ll leave room for the
rest of us when they’re finished.”

“I’ll go see if the Starks have eaten.”
Eliza headed toward the door.

Mother sighed. “I supposed we’ll have to
ask, although I don’t know what we’ll feed them. Eliza, if their
women folk came, too, invite them in.”

Cora carried the everyday dishes to the
table. She finished just as Vickie stepped in and held the blanket
back as one after another began filing in until there was scarcely
room for another person. Father came in last.

“We just come in to say howdy.” Mr. Stark’s
friendly voice boomed in the crowded room. “We done et, ma’am, but
sure do thank ye for the invite. Guess you city folks lay abed a
mite longer than we’re used to. Me and the boys’ll step back out
and get some of them bottom boards laid out for ya.”

He nodded toward Mother and stepped out the
door. Aaron followed him while Father, John, and Ben sat down to
eat.

Ralph grinned at the girls. “Sure couldn’t
cuss a cat in here without gettin’ hair in your mouth, could
ya?

Cora looked into Ralph’s laughing blue eyes.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said ya sure couldn’t—”

“She heard you. Now say it proper-like so’s
she can understand.” A girl near Cora’s age stood beside Ralph. Her
large blue eyes looked from Ralph to Cora.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with the way I talk.”
Ralph glared at the girl.

She glared back. “Not if you don’t never
plan to better yourself.” Her expression softened as she turned it
on Cora. “He meant it’s crowded in here.”