"Samuel?"
He jumped, grabbed at the windowsill, and looked over his shoulder at the loft ladder. Luke's head appeared as the boy climbed up.
"Samuel?" he said again, louder this time. "I finished collectin' the eggs. You gonna let me help with the animals now like you said?"
"Uh… yeah." Samuel took a deep, shuddering breath and turned his back on the window. He crossed the loft, and when Luke started down the ladder, Samuel followed.
"He sure is a fine-lookin' wolf," Luke said softly.
Samuel's hand moved carefully over the animal's bandage. He kept a wary eye open, ready just in case the wolf changed his mind about accepting help. When he was finished, he slowly backed out of the cage and closed the door behind him. Not until he was safely outside again did he answer the boy.
"Yeah, he is, Luke." Samuel sat in the dirt, looking up at him. "But he's still a wild animal… and even more dangerous when he's hurt."
"He don't seem to mind you none."
"True." The man glanced at the cage behind him. "But you just never know when or if he'll turn on you."
Luke mumbled something Samuel didn't quite hear.
"What was that?"
The boy shrugged and said offhandedly, "Nothin'. Just that he's no different from some folks that way. I mean about... turnin' on ya."
This was the first time Luke had volunteered anything at all about his past, and Samuel wanted to hear more. There had to be a reason that a child like him was all alone.
"You know some folks like that, do you?" he asked.
The fawn belonging to the caged, injured doe wandered over toward the boy. Its long spindly legs shook with each step, and its sharp nose twitched delicately as it sniffed at Luke's bent head. Thoughtfully the boy ran his hand over the curve of the fawn's neck and down its back. The little animal moved closer to the affection, nuzzling Luke's arm. Quietly the boy said, "Used to. While back."
Samuel held his breath. He didn't want to make any mistakes now. Finally he decided to wait and let Luke decide if he wanted to go on.
After a small eternity passed, Luke spoke again.
"My real folks, they died on a wagon train." He looked up at Samuel. "We was headed for California. My pa, he wanted to get a farm. Heard most anything'd grow out there." Luke let himself slump down onto the ground, where he sat with his shoulders slumped, hands in his lap. "But Ma — well, she took awful sick. Don't rightly know what it was, but she was real poorly for quite a time, then — she died. Pa buried her on the trail. He found a nice little tree to put her under so's she'd always have a shady spot to rest." He took a deep breath. "Pa didn't seem to care much about anything after she went… and one night while he was ridin' guard on the wagon train's animals, somethin' spooked his horse, and he fell off and broke his neck."
Samuel watched the boy. It pained him to see the remembered hurt on the child's face. Even more so to watch him try to hide it.
Luke sniffed, rubbed one hand over his eyes, and added, "Anyhow, the captain of the train took me in. I'd knowed him since Independence, always seemed a nice fella." His fingers continued to pet the tiny deer. "But the thing was, he turned out to be kinda like that wolf there. Real nice most of the time, but every once in a while he'd turn on a body for no reason." Luke raised his gaze to Samuel. "I stayed with him almost three years. But the last time he hit me, I lit out. That was pretty near a year ago now. Been on my own since."
Samuel kept his face from showing any of the fury that was raging inside him. Luke was ten years old. So that meant that the bastard wagon train captain had started in hitting on a six-year-old boy! At that moment Samuel wanted nothing more in his life than to have that man in front of him for just five minutes! Five minutes would be all he needed to make sure the man never harmed another child.
Luke sat across from him, still as death. His eyes fixed on the deer, his hands slack. Samuel remembered his first look at the boy. Half-starved, shoeless, cold, and more lonely than anyone should have to be. And still, after all he'd been through, Luke had a shining heart. Ready to love. Wanting to trust. It made a man ashamed of complaining about his own little problems. He looked at Luke. The boy seemed to be waiting for something. Perhaps Samuel's approval? "You done a fine job on your own, Luke. I know some grown men couldn't have done no better."
The boy smiled, obviously relieved. "Yeah, I did all right, I reckon." He looked at Samuel and added softly, "But it surely is nice havin' a place to stay… and folks."
"I know just what you mean, boy." Samuel glanced from the smiling boy to Abby, still sewing in the sun. "It surely is nice." He turned back to the child. Samuel said slowly, "I want you to know somethin', Luke."
The boy's wide blue eyes stared at him.
"What I said the other day… about you earnin' your keep? Well, I meant that… and…" Samuel rubbed his hand over his jaw nervously. "Hell, I just want to tell you that you got a home. Right here. As long as you want it, boy."
Luke grinned briefly, then glanced over at Abby.
"No matter what happens between me and Abby… or who ends up ownin' this place… it's your home." That was a safe promise to make. Samuel well knew that once Abby heard the child's sad tale, there would be no stopping her from cuddling and coddling him to death. No matter what… Samuel wanted Luke to feel — safe.
The boy's lips twisted, and the muscles in his throat quivered. Samuel knew Luke was doing everything he could to keep from crying. In feet, he felt an unfamiliar dampness in his own eyes. To spare them both, he quickly changed the subject and said a little gruffly, "How about you and me go on over to the creek and catch us some fish for dinner?"
"You mean it?" The boy's eyes lit up in anticipation.
"Hell, yes, I mean it. We done enough work for one day!" Besides, Samuel told himself, the creek is only a short holler away. If Abby needed him… if anything should happen… he could be back to her in seconds. Right now he just wanted to make the boy in front of him happy. "Well," he said, "git! Go fetch the poles. I'll put the fawn back in with his mama and get some bread dough from the cabin for bait."
Luke grinned, leapt up, and raced for the barn. Abby tied a knot in the thread and neatly snipped it off with her scissors. Minerva's dress was finished. As she tucked the needle back into its case, Abby thought regretfully that the yellow rosettes would have given the simple gown such an elegant touch. But then, she sighed and told herself, it was more important to prove to customers that she was able to do the work well and quickly than it was to give them fashion advice.
She rolled her head on her neck slowly, to ease out the kinks in her tired muscles, and Listened absently to Samuel and Luke as they squabbled over their checker game. Abby glanced covertly at the pair across the room from her.
Man and boy were seated opposite each other at the no-longer-rickety table. Abby smiled. Samuel had fixed the table only the day before, and she'd been wise enough not to say a word about it. As they bent over their game, arguing affably over which move would be the better one, Abby took the time to study
Luke.
Relaxed and happy, the boy seemed perfectly content with his world. Samuel was probably right, she knew. It was best if they simply treated Luke as they always had. No doubt it would only dredge up dreadful memories for the child if they spoke of his past again. Abby's fingers clenched in her lap. Still, every time she thought of the tale Samuel had repeated to her, Abby wanted to scream. That anyone should treat a child so shamelessly… She shook her head. It was over. Luke was safe now. And would always be. She completely agreed with Samuel's promise to the boy and knew that she would do everything in her power to see that he was never hurt again.
Carefully she folded Minerva's dress and let her gaze drift over the cabin. Everything neat and tidy, and the little house glowed with warmth. From the crackling fire to the soft lamplight, to Luke's and Samuel's voices, the cabin filled her with a comforting peace. Maverick and Harry snored gently by the hearth, and the wind outside batted at the windowpanes. She was home.
With her lips curved in a smile, Abby pushed herself to her feet and said quietly, "I'm off to bed." Luke and Samuel looked up from their game of checkers.
"Good night, you two." She smiled and gathered up her sewing kit. "We'll have to be up early if we expect to make it to church in time for the services."
Samuel grimaced, and Luke whined, "Aw, Abby, why ever did you tell that preacher we'd go to service?"
"We've been through this already." She tried to look stern and failed. "Reverend Knight made a special effort to invite us." Actually, she told herself, it was Mrs. Knight who'd hustled down to Mullins's Mercantile with the special invitation… but they didn't need to know that. "Besides," Abby went on when Samuel started to speak, "as Samuel's always saying, soon it will be winter, and there'll be too much snow to make it down the mountain."
Luke's face brightened. "Don't see no need to go," Samuel said softly, not meeting Abby's gaze. "We're a part of this town, Samuel. It's only right to worship with our friends and neighbors."
He began to mumble again, but she ignored him. "Oh, and Luke, thank you again for dinner." Abby smiled. "Best fish I ever ate!"
"Samuel cooked 'em," Luke said.
"But you caught them," Abby retorted. "Without you, he'd have had nothing to cook." Samuel feigned outrage. "Told you, they weren't bitin'." Abby winked at Luke. "Well, they weren't biting your hook, anyway, Samuel." Luke muffled his giggle with a hand over his mouth.
"All right, have your laugh. Both of you." Samuel shook his finger at Luke. "But I'm winnin' this here game, ain't I?"
"Ain't over yet," Luke crowed and brushed his too-long hair out of his eyes.
Abby shook her head and walked to her room. At the door she turned and looked back. Samuel's gaze was waiting. Her heart thudded painfully, and her insides twisted as she read the desire etched on his features. And though she'd already called herself a fool many times over for risking a pregnancy, Abby knew she wanted him just as badly. Whatever the con sequences, she would accept them readily to have more time with Samuel.
If she ended up having to leave this place, she wanted at least to carry the memories of him with her. And if she carried a child away, too… well, she could always move west and tell folks her husband had died.
Heat rushed up her cheeks. Abby could hardly credit that she had come to this. That she was willing to risk everything she'd always held dear… her reputation, her pride… for the love of Samuel Hart.
Slowly, pretending a calm she didn't feel, Abby went into her new room and closed the door behind her. Quietly she undressed and slipped under the blankets.
Her new room was small, but large enough for her. The smell of the forest still clung to the unpainted boards, and she inhaled it gratefully, hoping to calm herself.
The last two days had stretched her nerves to the breaking point. She and Samuel hadn't had a moment to themselves, even though the only time he'd left the cabin had been to go fishing with Luke.
In fact, it was almost as if he felt he couldn't leave the cabin. After knowing the man as well as she'd come to the last few weeks, Abby was quite certain that staying so close to the place was driving him crazy! Why, he hadn't even taken the dogs for one of his long walks in the woods. All in all, he'd been acting very peculiar.
She sighed tiredly and told herself she was being foolish. Reading something into his actions that wasn't there. For heaven's sake, most men didn't go traipsing off into the woods! Abby frowned. But Samuel did. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that his strange behavior had all started with his visit from Sarah Dumont. Maybe she should just come right out and ask him what was going on. Yes. Yes, that's just what she would do. At her very first opportunity.
She reached behind her head and pulled her mass of hair over one shoulder. Idly her fingers twisted it into one long braid. Abby then settled back against her pillows, drew the blankets up under her arms, and waited.
Chapter Seventeen
Samuel was awake long before the first rooster crow shattered the stillness. In fact, he'd been awake most of the night. Tossing and turning in his makeshift bed on the floor, his mind had conjured up images of Abby, waiting for him in the darkness.
He glanced across the room at Luke. The boy was stirring slightly and would soon be fully awake. Groaning softly, Samuel turned away and stared blindly up at the ceiling. Years of trying to protect himself from an adult's rages had no doubt made Luke a very light sleeper. It was the only explanation.
Closing his eyes, Samuel remembered the night before. Not long after Abby retired, he and Luke had finished their game and gone to their beds. Samuel had waited what seemed an eternity for the sound of Luke's soft, regular breathing to tell him the boy was asleep.
Finally Samuel crept out of his blankets, stood, and moved carefully across the room. His tread was so quiet, not even the sleeping dogs noticed his passage. Bathed in the light of the dying fire, Samuel reached for the knob on Abby's door.
"Wha'cha doin', Samuel?"
He froze.
Samuel spun around and squinted into the half light. He was just able to make out Luke, sitting straight up in his bed.
Harry jumped up and trotted to the boy's cot. Maverick raised his head, gave a half hearted whine, and went back to sleep.
"What?" Samuel whispered, stalling for time.
The boy rubbed at his eyes and moved over for the little dog that had joined him. "I said wha'cha doin'?"
"Oh." Samuel straightened up and turned away from the child's interested gaze. Giving Abby's closed door a frustrated glance, he bent down and picked up a log from the stack of firewood. Whispering over his shoulder he said, "The, uh… fire's dyin'. Just feedin' it some."