“Peter, what happened?” And then her mouth opened wide as she answered her own question. “The hail?”
He nodded. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he murmured. “It’s like running through a shower of rocks.”
Understanding slowly dawned. “You came for me?” she said in awe.
He nodded, then smiled, stroking Betsy Jo’s hair now, whispering softly into her ear. The great shudders of relief were lessening now and she was no longer crying. Finally he looked at Kathryn. “I saw Matthew this morning on his way to the temple. He told me Jenny was going to bring him supper. I was at the printing office and suddenly I wondered if you were alone.”
She jumped visibly again as another flash of lightning, followed by another thunderous crack, shook the house. He moved closer to her, pulling Betsy Jo with him. Smiling, he put one arm around her, putting his body against her leg so as to help brace the baby too. “It’s all right, Kathryn,” he said. “I’m here.”
She closed her eyes, her body sagging back against the seat. “Yes,” she murmured softly. “Yes.”
“I can’t believe it,” Will said, shaking his head. “Pa and I must have seen thirty or forty windows broken out, and that was just coming here from the northern landing.”
“The boat captain nearly ran aground,” Joshua said with a nod. “For a while there, we couldn’t see ten yards ahead of us. The river looked like it was boiling.”
“I believe it,” Matthew said. “For a time there, I could barely see the ground.”
They all nodded, each remembering with a trace of horror the storm that had swept over them just a couple of hours before. They sat in Matthew and Jenny’s main room, filling every chair and bench. Though it was smaller than the other houses, by common consent everyone came here because they knew that with the heavy mud and the street littered with debris it would be hard for Kathryn to maneuver her wheelchair. They gathered naturally, without any specific call to do so. They were here to discuss the damage and make plans for correcting it. To their great surprise and relief, they had barely gathered, when Joshua and Will had arrived, returning from their trip to Galena a day earlier than expected.
And so began the reports of the damage. Every house had windows shattered and shingles gone. Carl had lost a whole run of bricks when several inches of water flooded one of his drying sheds. Derek’s cornfield was little more than a forest of stubs and shredded stalks. His watermelons and cantaloupe looked like they had been blasted with buckshot. At the dry goods store, the two north-facing windows had both been blown in, and a room full of barley and wheat had been flooded. A cabinet, finished except for receiving its stain and varnish and which had taken Matthew over a month to construct, was sitting directly under one of the windows at the cabinet shop that had been blown out. It was now sodden and terribly warped.
“Let’s just hope the rain has stopped for now,” Derek spoke up. “We need some time to get those roofs patched up again before more comes.”
Joshua grimaced. “I’ll bet there is damage at the freight yard. I just hope the men had sense enough to get the stock in.”
“They did,” Peter spoke up. “I walked down there just before dark to check on things.”
“You did?” Joshua asked in surprise.
“Yes. The stock was all inside the stables and the men said your warehouse lost a few shingles, but that’s all. You don’t have windows, so nothing seems to have been flooded.”
“Well, thank you, Peter,” Joshua said, completely surprised by that. Kathryn too was giving him a strange look.
Matthew was looking at Peter oddly as well. “You had a busy night tonight, didn’t you?”
He shrugged and looked away.
Joshua reached out and took Caroline’s hand. “I was going to go check on things later tonight, but I’ll take Peter’s word on it that everything’s all right.”
“What about the rafts of lumber?” Nathan asked. “Will they be all right?”
“I think so,” Joshua answered. “They’re probably a day, maybe a day and a half behind us. The storm may have missed them completely.”
“Normally,” Will added, “they tie up on shore if a storm is coming. I think they’ll be all right.”
“And are you taking the lumber on down to St. Louis?” Alice asked. She spoke to Joshua, but it was Will who was getting the sidelong glances.
Will smiled. “Pa thinks we can sell off about a third of it here. Frenchie will take the rest on down to your father.”
“So you won’t be going?” Alice blurted. There was no mistaking the open pleasure in her voice, and several smiled, including Joshua.
Will shook his head firmly. “Nope. I’m here to stay for a time.”
“Frenchie?” Nathan broke in. “So Jean Claude is still your foreman up there?”
“Aye,” Joshua said, “and there’s not a better man in all the pineries either.”
“Yes,” Nathan said softly. “He’s a good man.”
Will turned to Alice. “It was Jean Claude and Nathan who pulled me from the river up there. They saved my life.”
Caroline shuddered slightly. “Please, don’t talk about that. I had nightmares for months after I learned what happened. I can’t bear to think about it.”
“Is he still a Mormon?” Lydia asked.
Joshua pulled a face. “Frenchie? Yes, and converting half the camp as well.” But it was said without rancor.
“Really?” Nathan exclaimed with open pleasure.
Will laughed at his father. “He’s converted four others. That’s hardly half the camp.” Still smiling, Will went on. “In truth, he could convert the whole territory of Wisconsin and baptize them Mormons, and Pa wouldn’t do much. He’s too valuable. If he loses Jean Claude, he’ll have to go up there himself again.”
“Perhaps we ought to send your father back up with Jean Claude, Will,” Kathryn said with a straight face. “Maybe the Frenchman could get him baptized as well.”
For a moment everyone looked startled, none less than Joshua, then several laughed. Joshua turned and gave the girl in the wheelchair a fierce look. She smiled coyly at him. Of all the family, only Kathryn dared tease Joshua about the Church.
Jenny was delighted with her sister’s boldness and clapped her hands. “I say we take a vote. How many want to send Joshua up to Wisconsin for the winter so he can find religion?”
Every hand shot up, including Caroline’s. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Joshua turned to Alice. “My greatest fear is that one of these nights a member of the family is going to creep into my bedroom, knock me over the head with a truncheon, and drag me down to the river. I’ll be baptized and a holder of the priesthood before I even wake up.”
There was a moment of stunned astonishment. Joshua was joking about being baptized?
To everyone’s further amazement, Carl jumped in too. “I lock my door and post a watch every night, just in case,” he suggested evenly to Joshua. For one long moment, there was shocked silence as everyone stared at Carl and Joshua. Then Carl grinned shyly and the room exploded with laughter. Carl too? That
was
a healthy sign. Even Melissa was laughing.
“Actually, Joshua locks our door too,” Caroline said mischievously, “but if you let me know when you’re coming, I’ll see that it’s open.” That really brought a roar from the family as Joshua yelped in protest.
Alice waited for things to subside, and then tentatively spoke up, looking at Will as she did so. “Well, if someone will just knock on my door, they won’t have to drag me at all.”
For a moment Will’s expression was that of disbelief; then he lit up as though a lamp had just been turned onto his face. “Are you saying that . . .” He reared back a little, not daring to believe.
She nodded.
“What?” Joshua asked suspiciously. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’ve made up my mind. I am going to be baptized.”
The room went totally silent. This was no longer just speaking in jest, and Joshua’s face had lost all humor now. He repeated his question. “What are you saying, Alice?”
Alice had not said what she did on mere impulse. She had been waiting for the right moment, and she guessed what the reaction from Will’s father would be. She was ready for his question. “I came up here to find out for myself, Mr. Steed.” Her head was up and her eyes steady. She did not flinch from his perturbed glare. “And don’t be thinking your family has pushed me into it. This is my decision, and my decision alone.”
Will was out of his chair, standing before her, staring down at her in wonder. “You mean it?” he blurted. “You really want to be baptized?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Your father will be livid,” Joshua said, shaking his head. “You just can’t come up here alone and make a decision like that. You have to talk to your father.”
“I have talked with my father. I am quite clear on where he stands.”
He whirled on Caroline. “I could have guessed.”
Again to everyone’s surprise, Carl spoke up. “Actually, it was not Caroline’s doing, Joshua. Of all of us, she has been the most circumspect in not trying to sway Alice’s feelings.”
“You too?” Joshua cried, feeling betrayed. “You support this too, Carl?”
“No, I don’t,” he answered evenly. “As a matter of fact, Melissa and I tried to convince her that she should not be baptized. If anyone’s been preaching at her, trying to change her mind, it’s been us.” He smiled at Alice warmly. “Obviously we failed. But it really is her decision, Joshua. Not yours. Not her father’s.”
Alice smiled back at Carl. “Thank you, Mr. Rogers.”
Carl pulled a face. “Really, Alice, since you’re going to be part of the family, you’ve got to stop calling us Mr. Steed and Mr. Rogers.”
Alice gasped a little and went a deep crimson. Melissa looked at her husband sternly. But Carl was in a strange mood, it seemed. He ignored his wife, ignored Joshua’s glowering countenance, and turned to Will. “Well, it’s no secret, is it, Will? Don’t you love this girl?”
Alice dropped her head, not daring to meet Will’s eyes, absolutely mortified.
Will looked down at her, then went down on one knee to face her. “I’m glad you asked that, Carl, because the answer is yes. I love Alice Samuelson, and I’m glad she’s here, because on the way here from Galena I decided I was going to sail right on down to St. Louis and ask her father for her hand in marriage.”
As the whole family erupted with applause and cries of congratulations, Alice’s head came up slowly. Her eyes were wide and shining with disbelieving joy. Will leaned forward, took her face in his hands, and kissed her gently. “That is, assuming Miss Samuelson approves.”
That was enough to even put Joshua’s dismay at her announcement of baptism aside. He jumped to his feet and strode across to them. “You really mean it?” he said, clapping Will on the shoulder.
“I do.”
Caroline was up too. By the time she reached Alice, Alice was up and walked right into her arms. “Welcome to our family, Alice.” Caroline pulled back and smiled at her. “I told you I thought there might be something to wait around for.”
Now the others crowded in, pounding Will on the back, grasping their hands, hugging Alice, and shedding a few tears of joy together.
When things finally settled down a little, Kathryn suddenly started slapping the arm of her wheelchair with the flat of her hand to get everyone’s attention. As they quieted and turned to her, she held up both hands. “In light of this wonderful announcement, there is a request I would like to make of this couple.”
“What?” Will asked, standing beside Alice, and turning to face Kathryn.
Now the room was all but still. “I know this is a lot to ask of two people who are so much in love, but I’m wondering if you might consider postponing your wedding somewhat.”
There were soft cries of surprise and dismay. “Postponing it?” Will asked with a puzzled expression. “What for? I mean, we haven’t even set a date yet.” He laughed. “Alice is still trying to get her breath here.”
That won him a round of good-natured laughter all around.
“Actually,” Kathryn said, very sober now, “I was wondering if you might postpone it long enough to plan a double wedding.”
For several seconds it didn’t register. A puzzled look was on every face. “Double wedding?” Lydia finally said. And then her eyes flew open and her hand went up to her mouth. “You, Kathryn?”
Suddenly she was as red as Alice had been a moment before. “Yes—that is, if I can get Peter here to propose to me, like Will just did to Alice.”
Every eye turned to Peter but he didn’t see them. Thunderstruck, he gaped at Kathryn.
It was Matthew who reacted first. He reached out, grabbed Peter by the arm, and propelled him toward Kathryn’s chair. “Are you daft, man? The lady just asked you for a proposal of marriage.”
Peter took two steps forward, haltingly. His gaze was fixed on Kathryn’s face, still in complete astonishment.
Rebecca handed the baby to Derek and got to her feet. She picked up where Matthew left off, taking Peter by the hand and leading him to Kathryn’s chair. “Go down on one knee like Will did,” she whispered. “That was a very nice touch.”
He did, only slowly, still dazed. Kathryn was laughing at him now, and crying at the same time. “You really mean it?” he stammered.
“Yes, Peter.”
“But . . . but why?”
“Why?” Joshua said softly, grinning widely. “You have to ask why at a time like this?”
But Kathryn knew exactly what he meant. She reached out and touched his bare arm, covered now with angry red cuts and scratches. She caressed it gently with her fingertips. “Because you came,” she murmured.
Five days later and some thirty miles southeast, Solomon Garrett came in from putting his horse in the barn. As he entered the back door, Jessica and the children were all waiting for him at the end of the hall. He smiled at the expectant look on their faces. “Well, what have we here?”
Jessica held up the letter she was holding. “This came today. It’s from Lydia.”
“Oh? And how are things in the City of Joseph?”
Jessica smiled. Out of habit almost everyone still called it Nauvoo, but since last April conference when the name had been officially changed to the City of Joseph, her husband never slipped. It was always the City of Joseph.
“Can I tell him, Mama?” young John cried out. “Please?”