Mary Connealy (73 page)

“Adam, you’re here. You came,” Sally whispered.

Beth turned on her little sister, surprised but relieved. “You told Adam to come?”

Sally shook her head.

“No, Beth—I did.” Tillie appeared in the window.

“But you promised not to tell.” Beth was traitorously glad Tillie had broken her promise.

“I did promise, and I meant it when I said it.” Tillie gripped the windowsill so tightly Beth saw her black knuckles turn white. “But after I thought about it awhile, well, I admit free and clear I broke my promise. I didn’t think you girls could take him.”

Mandy snorted. She pointed at the floor. Everyone looked at the spot where Parrish stood, still frozen, his mouth agape as he stared at Adam.

Mandy jerked on a cord that came up through a knothole in the floor and hung inconspicuously from a hook attached under the top of Master Parrish’s desk. The floor collapsed under Parrish’s feet. With a shriek, Parrish dropped out of sight with a loud crash.

Tillie stood on her tiptoes and looked through the window at the hole where Master Parrish had just stood. “Sorry, I never should’ve doubted you.”

Mandy sniffed.

Beth giggled.

Adam and Tillie disappeared from the window. Clay McClellen came in the front door. Luther was only a couple of steps behind him. Adam and Tillie appeared seconds later.

Clay came to the front of the schoolroom and looked down at the hole in the floor.

Beth saw Parrish glaring up, rage etched on his face.

Sally leaned against Pa’s leg. He rested a hand on her shoulder, and she seemed to soak in his strength.

Beth wondered why she hadn’t tattled on Parrish the first time he’d punished her little sister for nothing.

“Did you dig that hole?” Pa turned to look at Mandy.

“I dug it, Pa.” Beth stepped forward. If there was punishment, she’d take her share.

“I fixed the braces and rigged the trip line so we could make the floor fall in,” Mandy admitted.

“I carried buckets of dirt outside and hid ’em in the woods,” Sally added.

Tillie stepped up, her head bowed. “I helped them smuggle tools to town, Clay.”

Adam came up beside her. “You didn’t tell me all that. You just said the girls needed help.”

Tillie shrugged. “They did need help…this morning. Yesterday digging the hole, they were fine on their own.”

“When did you do all this?” Pa lifted his cowboy hat with one gloved hand and rubbed his hair flat as if soothing his brain.

“Uh, we, uh…we snuck out of church yesterday morning.” Mandy arched her brow as if asking how much trouble was coming her way.

“You were sitting with us. You weren’t gone long enough to—”

“I left with one of the twins, ’member, Pa?” Beth said. “Right away at the start of the service. Tillie had the tools hid in the wagon so we could pry up the floorboard and dig.”

“And I left with the other baby,” Mandy confessed.

“I took Laura out when she started into hollering.” Sally stared at her toes peeking out from under her dress.

Beth didn’t blame Sally for being a bit nervous. This had always been the weak part of their plan. Missing church was a no-no. She tried to be helpful. “We watched the little ones real careful, though, whilst we dug.”

“Laura even helped carry dirt a little.” Then guilt clouded Sally’s eyes, and she looked at the floor. Beth swallowed hard, worrying. What now? Maybe they’d all get a beating out of this yet.

Pa sighed. “What did you do, Sally?”

“I, uh, pinched Laura to make her cry to begin with, ’cause she was behaving herself right proper in church.”

“Well, that was a plumb mean thing to do, girl.” Luther bent down, grabbed Parrish by the back of the neck of his black suit coat, and pulled him out of the hole. Luther tossed him onto the floor like a landed catfish.

The children gathered around, enjoying watching their teacher get his comeuppance.

Pa leaned over and looked down into the hole. “You girls didn’t put spikes in the bottom of that, did you?”

“Nope.” Mandy sounded as though she regretted skipping the spikes.

Beth nudged her.

Clay looked at Sally and crouched in front of her. “Let me see your hand, darlin’.”

Sally held her palm up. The bruising was dark, and there were several cuts in her tender flesh.

Pa gave her hand a kiss then lifted her into his strong arms as he rose and hugged her tight. He pulled back far enough to look her square in the eye. “You could have told me. I’d’ve listened. You’re not a little girl to tell lies, and I’d’ve trusted you.”

Sally’s eyes filled with tears, and she flung her arms around her pa’s neck. Beth thought Sally might squeeze the life out of him.

“Now you know better ’n to cry, Sally.” Pa patted her on the back. “Remember rule number one.”

Mandy tossed herself against Pa’s leg.

Beth hugged him, too. Somehow he had enough arms to hug them all.

When they let go, Luther said, “Drat. I was plumb distracted by your caterwauling womenfolk, and Parrish lit out of here.”

“No matter,” Pa said in a mild voice that gave Beth the shivers. “I’m in the mood for hunting varmints.”

There’d been a time not so long ago when there’d been only Ma and her sisters to stick up for her. Not that they needed a man, but a good one could make himself purely useful.

Pa’s eyes swept over all the students. “I saw what you all did, standing up for Sally. I’m proud of every one of you. I’m sorry we didn’t get Parrish taken care of sooner.”

Solemn faces turned to smiles all around.

“For now, school’s out until we hire a new teacher. You can all go home.”

He looked at Sally, still perched in his arms. “Your ma is waiting for you in the wagon.”

“How’d you get her to wait outside, Pa?” Beth asked.

“When Adam told me there was trouble, I told her I was riding to town, but I didn’t say what for. She thinks we need supplies. I also left her holding both twins and Laura on her lap.”

“That’d slow her down some,” Beth said. “I hope she didn’t hurt Master Parrish.”

They all ran outside.

“Parrish must have sneaked out the window,” Tillie said.

“Yep,” Mandy agreed. “Because Ma would’ve caught on that something was wrong if she’d’ve seen him sneaking out, and she’d’ve had him.”

Luther tugged on his fur cap. “You’d better see to your young’uns, Clay. Adam and I’ll head after him. Send Buff out to pick up our trail. Adam ’n’ Buff ’n’ me’ll hunt up Parrish.”

Adam slung his arm around Tillie and said, “If you boys can handle one measly schoolmaster alone, Tillie and I have a few things we need to do before the wedding.”

“What wedding?” Clay, Luther, and the girls all asked.

Adam grinned.

“What wedding?” Tillie asked.

Beth noticed Adam’s eyes narrow as he looked at Tillie, and Beth knew what wedding. Now all he had to do was convince Tillie.

Staring at Tillie, Adam said, “I can see we definitely still have some planning to do.” He snugged Tillie’s waist tight and dragged her away from the schoolhouse.

Beth heard Tillie’s soft laugh as they disappeared.

“The young’uns are fine with Sophie, Luth.” Pa’s words drew her attention back. In a voice that thrilled Beth because this was
her
pa, protecting
her
and
her sisters
, Pa said, “Reckon I want in the hunt for any man who puts his hands on my girls.”

Luther asked, “How are we going to get Sophie to stay out of it?”

“That’s gonna be harder than tracking down that varmint Parrish.” Pa’s shoulders slumped, and he walked toward the wagon.

G
race looked at the empty doorway then reluctantly glanced at her sons John, Ike, and Mark on the bed with her. Luke and Abe stood beside her. All of them stared after their father. As if their necks were all controlled by the same muscles, they turned to look at her.

“You’re gonna
die?
” John asked.

“I—I don’t think so.” Grace looked at her stricken son, the one who loved her first and most.

“Pa seemed pretty sure.” Mark sounded as though he was prepared to face facts and not get overwrought about it.

Mark’s calm acceptance—so calm it bordered on eagerness—John’s teary concern, and the bed wavering as if it might collapse under the squirming weight of four people, helped settle Grace’s stomach and clear her head.

She swung her feet over the side of the bed and carefully stood. The room behaved. “Now, boys, whatever your pa said, I’m not going to die. Your ma did, but there are lots of women who have babies without dying. Why, Sophie McClellen has had a whole passel of young’uns and she’s fine.”

“Yeah, but…” Mark looked as if he was going to insist the family settle on Grace’s dying.

“Enough, Mark. I’m living and that’s the end of it.” Grace hadn’t heard that tone of voice from herself before. It was more fearsome than her teacher voice. She decided she would use it often. “Now scoot on out of here so I can get ready for the day.”

The boys headed for the door. John was slow climbing off the bed, and Ike tried to pass him with a hard shove. A bare foot whizzed past Grace’s face as the two of them ended up in a tangled heap on the floor, twisted up in blankets. Mark stepped on them as he climbed out. Ike yelled out in pain, loudly enough to hurt Grace’s ears. He twisted his body when Mark stepped square on his back. Mark fell forward into Abe. They left the room, yelling and shoving each other.

Grace realized their antics didn’t even bother her—that was just the way they moved from one place to another. She closed the door and turned to get dressed without seriously considering telling them to quiet down.

She had a worrywart husband to find. First she’d give him a big hug and tell him not to worry—she wouldn’t leave him. Then, if that didn’t work, she was going to hammer some sense into him.

And if she had to, she’d use a real hammer!

Parrish had learned the hard way that you needed to know where you were going and how you were getting there because you might have to leave town quickly. He always had an escape plan. He hit the ground running when he ducked out of the schoolhouse window, and he hadn’t stopped yet.

“Stupid hicks are probably still there talking,” he muttered gleefully. He slipped between buildings, coolly asked to rent the blacksmith’s horse with no intention of returning the nag, and headed south out of town.

He rounded a curve in the trail, looked carefully around to make sure he wasn’t being watched, and rode into rough country following a game trail that would take him north…to Grace.

“He went up the hillside, Ma,” Abe yelled, pointing at the obvious tracks in the muddy ground.

Grace plunked her fists on her hips as she stood in the pouring rain. “Your pa is the most stubborn man I’ve ever known. Why would he go up that slippery trail this morning?”

“Reckon it’s ’cause you’re gonna die.” Mark sounded a shade too chipper. A crack of thunder sounded as the rain soaked them to the skin.

“I’m not going to die.” Grace ignored the rain to glare at Mark. “Now stop that foolish talk.”

“Pa said.” Mark didn’t sound as if he was hoping for it. He just wasn’t all that upset.

“Don’t die, Ma. I love you.” John threw his arms around her legs and almost knocked her over. A wave of dizziness swamped her, and she was glad the sturdy little five-year-old held her steady.

She turned and hugged him close, his sad face buried in her soaked skirt. His rain-slicked hair was cool under her hand. “Now, John, your pa’s just being foolish. He’s worried about me because of your ma, but lots of women have babies and live through it just fine. Your own ma did it once.”

John lifted up his face and looked at her. His eyes were filled with tears.

Grace did her best to buck him up. His brothers would torment the living daylights out of him if they caught him crying.

“And how about Sophie McClellen?” Grace ran her hand down John’s head and rested it on his rosy cheek.

John nodded, sniffling a little. He glanced behind him and saw all four of his brothers. He buried his face in Grace’s stomach again and discreetly blew his runny nose on her dress. Grace grimaced, but she willingly sacrificed her dress to the cause of manliness.