Lilly fluttered her eyelashes at Moses as she wrapped Truth in a tight embrace. “I’m
very
pleased to meet both of you. Jarena tells me you’ll be joining us after church. I trust we’ll have time to become better acquainted.” She grasped Moses by the arm and flashed him a beguiling smile.
“Truth mentioned that she had an aunt—living in New Orleans, if memory serves me correctly.”
Lilly squeezed his arm. “Why, I’m flattered Truth would even think to mention me. After all, I haven’t been an important part of the girls’ lives.”
“Now dat’s a fact,” Ezekiel said as he approached. “Let go of the boy’s arm, Lilly.”
Her eyes gleamed, and Jarena wondered what she was thinking.
F
ollowing Sunday meeting, Jarena watched in silence as Aunt Lilly used her feminine wiles to win Moses’s attention. There had been little doubt of the older woman’s anger when she had been intentionally shuffled to the end of the church pew—as far away from Moses as possible. Her father’s purpose had been as obvious as Aunt Lilly’s flirtatious behavior.
The moment the final amen was uttered, Aunt Lilly elbowed Jarena aside and positioned herself beside Moses, immediately clasping his arm and leading him to a quiet spot in the churchyard. Truth, who was completely uneducated in the art of seduction, had left Moses’s side and was chattering gaily with her twin, far from the secluded location chosen by Aunt Lilly. Poor Moses looked like a cornered animal seeking a path of escape.
When her father didn’t arrive to separate the twosome, Jarena decided she could watch no longer. With quick strides, she approached the pair. “Did you find this morning’s message enlightening, Aunt Lilly?”
“What? Oh, the sermon? It was much the same as all the others I’ve been subjected to. If you’ve heard one, you’ve heard them all.”
Moses attempted to use the opportunity to extract his arm, but Lilly quickly tightened her hold. “Now, don’t you try to get away from me,” she cooed. “I’ve only just begun our discussion.”
Undeterred, Moses deftly loosened her hold. He waved to a gentleman across the churchyard and, without giving Lilly opportunity to object, strode off.
Lilly pursed her lips into a girlish pout. Had Jarena thought this was a game, she would have laughed aloud at such childish behavior from a grown woman. She hoped her suspicion was incorrect, but it truly appeared as if her aunt had some plan in mind, one that obviously included Moses, which Jarena found both frightening and appalling.
“Now there’s a man worth his salt! He’s educated, handsome, charming, ambitious—” “And engaged to marry my sister.”
Lilly chortled. “A fact I find totally amusing. What could a man such as Moses Wyman possibly see in your little sister? She has absolutely nothing to offer him. She’s much too young for a man of his maturity and sophistication. Moses needs a woman who can stand by his side and help him get ahead in the world. A woman who knows how to entertain and who won’t embarrass him in public—and a woman who knows how to lavish affection on him.”
Jarena narrowed her eyes and leveled a warning glare at her aunt.
“A woman like you?”
Lilly gathered her skirts into her hands and began walking. “No, of course not. But you must admit that Truth is an unlikely choice for a man such as Moses. In our brief conversation, it was immediately apparent that Moses needs a mature wife, someone who can help him develop to his fullest potential. Someone like you, Jarena.”
“Me? Don’t be foolish. I love Thomas Grayson. Once he completes his assignment with the army, he’s going to return to Nicodemus and we’re going to be married. His acreage adjoins ours. Did you know that?”
Lilly shot Jarena a look of disgust as she looped arms with her. “Farming! You’re no more suited to be a farmer’s wife than I am. You’re bright and quite beautiful, I might add. You need to expand your horizons and look to the future. What kind of life will you have out here on the prairie? With a man such as Moses, there’s no limit to your future. Think of it, Jarena—you could help shape him into a man of importance. With Moses, you could see the world, travel to Europe, and mingle with people of importance. You’d be able to go places and experience a life most colored folks can only dream about.”
Jarena yanked her arm loose as she stopped in her tracks. “How can you even think such things? Truth is my sister. She loves Moses, and he loves her. He obviously thinks she’ll make the perfect wife. All of that aside, I have no desire for any man other than Thomas Grayson.”
“And what if Thomas never returns to Nicodemus? What if he dies out there in Indian Territory fighting for some white officer who’s only too happy to send him off to battle? From what I observed in church this morning, there are very few suitable unmarried men in Nicode-mus.”
Her aunt’s words struck like a blow to the stomach. Already, Jarena worried daily about Thomas, crying herself to sleep when an expected letter was late arriving—or didn’t arrive at all. Didn’t she already fear the worst for him? She didn’t need her aunt’s cruel reminder that he was constantly in harm’s way.
Grace jogged up beside Jarena, obviously noticing her faraway look. “You thinking about Thomas? Come on, Jarena. Pappy says we need to get started home.”
Jarena shook off the worrisome thoughts and forced herself to speak. “Yes, I was.” She turned and watched Lilly approach Moses and Truth. She’d been so caught up in her own feelings she’d not even realized Lilly had left her side. “Run over and tell Aunt Lilly that Pappy wants her to ride with us,” she ordered. “You can ride with Moses and Truth if you like.”
“But Aunt Lilly said she was going to ride with them.”
“I don’t care what she said. You go on now, and do as I said.”
Jarena watched as Grace sprinted off to deliver the message.When Lilly turned to glare in her direction, Jarena merely smiled and waved her aunt forward. For the time being, she decided she would do what she could to keep Aunt Lilly away from Truth and Moses.
After Jarena and Lilly had boarded the family wagon, Jarena’s father tipped his hat and cautiously maneuvered his wagon around the Beyer family. “I invited Miss Hattie and Nellie and Calvin to come over this afternoon for a visit.” His comment was spoken in a calm, even tone though his expression was hard as he studied Lilly.
“Oh, that was a wonderful idea, Pappy!” Jarena said. “I haven’t had a chance for a visit with Nellie in a long while.”
Ezekiel smiled and nodded. “Know’d you’d be happy to hear they was coming, Jarena. Tol’ Miss Hattie they should plan to stay and take supper with us. She said to tell you she’d be bringin’ some vittles along with ’em, so you shouldn’t worry none ’bout having enough food for everyone. Hope she brings one of them red raspberry pies . . . or gooseberry. Um, um, that might be even better.”
Jarena laughed along with him. “If Miss Hattie doesn’t bring one, I’ll go berry picking next week and bake you a pie.”
Ezekiel flashed his sister-in-law a toothy grin. “You be sure and take your aunt Lilly along. That way she can learn where all the best berry patches is. Thataway, she can keep us supplied with berries the whole time she’s visitin’ with us.”
“I’m simply not one for spending my time outdoors.” Lilly’s words were as smooth as the silk ribbons that decorated her lavish hat.
“You’ll adjust. I’ll see to that. You best enjoy yourself today, ’cause come mornin’ you’s gonna start earnin’ your keep, jest like the rest of this here family.” Ezekiel pulled back on the reins as they neared the house. “See to it that you act proper this afternoon, Lilly,” he cautioned as he helped her down from the wagon.
“What are you afraid of, Ezekiel? You think I might be able to do something to break up your little kingdom out here in the middle of nowhere?”
When Truth and Moses approached in their wagon, Lilly rubbed her hands together with far too much glee—at least that’s what Jarena thought. There was little doubt this day would be filled with worry.
As they walked into the house, Lilly slipped by Truth and positioned herself alongside Moses. “I’d be most interested in hearing about your life back in Boston, Moses. I realize everyone else knows all about your past, but I would like to learn about your early years. In fact, we could go and sit outdoors so we wouldn’t disturb the others.”
Ezekiel frowned and pointed to a chair. “Seems you was tellin’ me only a few minutes ago that the outdoors don’ agree with you. Best you stay put inside the house. Anyways, we don’ mind listening to Moses tell ’bout his life afore he come to Kansas. Do we, girls?”
“No, not at all,” Jarena hastily agreed.
Moses turned an apologetic look toward Truth. “And what about you, Truth? Are you weary of this story?”
She smiled in return and shook her head. “You go ahead and visit with Aunt Lilly.”
Lilly clapped her hands with obvious delight. “Good! First of all, I want to know about your parents. I told Jarena you could easily pass for white—at least in the North, where folks aren’t so familiar with mixed bloodlines. Down in Louisiana, you might have a lick of trouble if you tried to pass.”
Moses shifted in his chair beside her. “I’m not ashamed of my ancestry, Miss Lilly. In fact, it seems to make whites more uncomfortable than anyone else. As you’ve so perceptively noted, I am of mixed bloodline—more white than colored, I’m told. Both my grandmother and mother were of mixed blood. My mother and I were sired by the same man—the vile owner of a Louisiana plantation. My mother had jumped the broom with another slave, but that meant nothing to the plantation owner. He continued to have his way with her.”
Apparently unimpassioned by the sordid revelation, Lilly continued her inquiry. “So how did you end up in Boston and get educated?”
Leaning back in the chair, Moses told how his small family’s freedom had been purchased by the Houstons, a wealthy family living in Lowell, Massachusetts. He explained that Mrs. Houston had grown up on a cotton plantation in Mississippi but had never believed in slavery— which led to her subsequent activity with the abolitionist movement. Consequently, on one of her journeys to the South, Mrs. Houston had managed to strike an agreement with the plantation owner and secure their freedom. Though Moses was quick to add that his story was much more involved, he didn’t elaborate further except to mention his thanks that he’d been spared a life of slavery.
Lilly sat forward, hanging on each word of Moses’s unusual tale. “What an exciting story—and so Mrs. Houston simply handed you your papers?”
“No. The Houstons offered work on their horse farm as well as a place for us to live. I was but a small child at the time, and the Hous-tons had a young son, Spencer, who was the same age. We became friends, and the Houstons extended me the same educational advantages as those given to their own son. I was privately tutored alongside Spencer; later we attended school together.”
Lilly waved her hand eagerly. “Do go on. I want to hear everything.” Moses shrugged. “There’s not much more to tell. After graduating from college, Spencer and I briefly went into business together, but soon our lives took us in differing directions. While Spencer wanted to continue the operation of his family’s horse farm and involve himself in several production ventures, I wanted to try my hand in either the newspaper business or politics.”
Lilly’s eyes widened at the mention of politics. “Truly? You
are
a man of vision.”
Though he quickly admitted political office wasn’t widely accessible to coloreds just yet, Moses declared people must be prepared to step forward when the opportunity finally arose. With that thought in mind, he had taken a position with a Boston newspaper, but feeling as though he’d reached his goals, he found himself restless and ready to accept a new challenge.
“So you came to this vast wasteland?” Lilly’s words were spiked with disdain and bewilderment.
“Indeed! I investigated stories that had been circulating about the development of several all-colored communities, and I determined it would be an excellent opportunity to begin a new chapter in my life,” he enthusiastically replied.
Lilly looked at him as though he’d lost his senses. “And?”
“And it has! Though my original plan had been to set up a newspaper office in Nicodemus, I became acquainted with a young lieutenant on the train coming west. He introduced me to his father, Dr.
Boyle, who in turn directed me to the widow of the previous newspaper owner in Hill City. I was able to purchase the building and equipment.
Now I print papers for both Hill City and Nicodemus. And, quite possibly, there could be a political future for me here in Kansas. Of course, the best part was meeting Truth,” he added, glancing at his bride-to-be. “Truly?” Lilly asked.
Moses smiled broadly and gazed lovingly at Truth. “Absolutely. If ever I doubted God’s hand in sending me to the prairie, when I met
Truth, I knew without doubt why He’d sent me.”
Lilly’s lips tightened into a disgusted sneer. “You are an educated man, Moses. Please don’t tell me you came traipsing out here because God told you to. Such a statement would make you sound downright foolish.”
He laughed. “I gave up caring whether I sounded foolish long ago, Miss Lilly. I care more about what is right and wrong, good and evil. However, if you’re asking if God actually whispered in my ear, the answer would be no. But I knew I was supposed to leave Boston, and I knew He was directing my path. I try to keep my eyes and ears open to His leading. Simple as that. Now, then, I believe it should be your turn. Tell me about yourself and why
you’ve
come to this vast wasteland— that
is
what you called it, isn’t it?”
Lilly pushed away from the table. “I should likely be helping the girls prepare the noonday meal.”
Jarena immediately took advantage of the break in their conversation. Like Moses, she was anxious to hear Aunt Lilly recount her past. Jarena motioned for her aunt to remain seated and then added her own appeal that Lilly relate her story. Both Grace and Truth echoed the sentiment and drew near, asking for details about life in New Orleans.