Chase the Wind

by Cindy Holby - Wind 01 - Chase the Wind

  Chapter Six

  The ferry master looked at them in disbelief when the mud-covered couple begged to be taken across. The storm had made the waters of the Ohio swirl and turn, so passage would be hazardous at best. It wasn’t until the young woman with the pale blue eyes laid her hand on his arm and said, “Please, sir, it means everything to us,” that he agreed. He shook his head as he swung the boat out into the river. The couple just stood with their arms around each other, the horse hanging his head over the man’s shoulder, the three of them seeking comfort from each other. They were quite a bedraggled sight. The captain wondered what had made them take flight on a night like this. It probably was best that he did not know. The ferry dipped and lurched in the raging waters, taking every bit of his strength and knowledge to keep the course straight and true. The couple still stood, wrapped in each other’s arms. The horse seemed a bit nervous with the water swirling around, but the man stood tall and spoke soothing words to the animal. When the ferry finally came to a halt against the bank, the couple hesitated. It seemed they didn’t know what to do next.

  “Do you need some shelter for the night?” the ferry master asked. “I’m goin’ to my sister’s, you’re welcome to come along.” There was something about these two that had struck a chord in his heart.

  Ian looked down at Faith, who wearily nodded. “That would be very nice,” he said. “I could pay her for a bed and bath.”

  “I’ll let you work that out with her,” the man replied. “Come along; let’s get out of this weather.”

  Ian and Faith followed the man, leading the horse with them. They walked a few blocks through the town, Faith wearily wondering if she would ever be dry again. The rain had washed most of the mud off of Ian, but he was still in sore need of a bath. They soon came to a cheerfully lit cottage. The man led them around to the back and directed Ian to a shed where he could bed the horse. He guided Faith to the back door, where a well-rounded woman stood with a lantern in her hand.

  “Jonas, I can’t believe you made the crossing in this weather,” she scolded.

  “At the time it seemed like the right thing to do,” he replied dryly. “I’ve brought you some company.”

  The woman held her lantern up to Faith’s face and immediately started fussing over her like a mother hen. “Oh, you poor thing, what are you doing out on a night like tonight? Get in this house and let me get you dried off.” She took Faith’s arm and led her into the kitchen, where a huge pot of soup was bubbling merrily on the stove. Faith stood in the middle of the room, blinking like an owl.

  “Her man’s in the shed puttin’ his horse away.” Jonas jerked his thumb in that direction. “I told him you’d give ‘em shelter. He has some coin,” he added.

  “The first thing you need is a bath,” the woman began. Faith didn’t know or care if the mention of Ian’s coin had motivated her. She just knew that at the moment a bath would be wonderful. The woman sent her brother off to get the tub with instructions on where to put it. She then put some water on to heat.

  Ian appeared at the back door with their bags. The woman gave him a good look up and down. “I take it you have stolen this lassie away.” Ian flashed his grin at her through his mud-smeared face. She looked at Faith and winked. “He’s a keeper, for sure.” Faith smiled at her, and the woman took her arm and led her into a small room off the kitchen. “We’ll do your bath in here and then let your man have the leftovers.”

  Jonas came clanking in with a tin washtub and deposited it in the middle of the floor. He returned shortly with the water that had been heating and filled up the tub. Faith could see Ian in the kitchen beyond, inspecting the pot of soup on the stove.

  After Jonas left, the woman said, “Let me take your clothes. We’ll get them washed and dried before morning comes.” Faith let the woman help her out of her wet clothes, wondering if this was what it would have been like to have had a grandmother. The woman left, and Faith settled into the tub with a sigh of relief and let the hot water soak the chill out of her aching bones. She finally felt inspired enough to wash her hair, and rinsed it with a bucket of water that had been left for that purpose. She dried herself with a towel and wondered what she was to put on when the woman showed up with a huge robe.

  “I know it’s a mite big, but it’ll do for tonight,” she explained. Faith smiled at her gratefully and wrapped the thing around her. She went into the kitchen and found Ian sitting at the table wrapped in a blanket. He motioned with his eyes at the heap of wet clothing on the floor by the door. He flashed his grin and went back to work on the bowl of soup in front of him, ignoring the wet and matted hair that hung over his eyes. The woman set a bowl of soup in front of Faith.

  “Molly here is famous for her soups,” Jonas commented from his place at the table. His own bowl was nearly empty.

  “I can see why,” Ian added, and the woman beamed.

  “Why don’t you go on to your bath and have another bowl when you come out,” she suggested. Ian hastily finished his bowl and, gathering the blanket around him, disappeared into the other room. When he was safely behind the closed door, Molly sat down at the table. “Is anyone chasing after you two?” she asked Faith.

  Faith looked at the brother and sister, who were gazing back at her with some concern. Behind her in the bath she could hear Ian whistling, and she imagined him lathering himself with the soap. She set her spoon down and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes,” she said quietly. “I was supposed to marry Randolph Mason tomorrow.”

  Jonas began to laugh. “I told you, Molly. I told you she was the one.”

  Faith’s eyes grew wide with fear as she looked at the two who were laughing at the table. Surely they hadn’t come all this way just to be betrayed now.

  “Jonas, you’re scarin’ the girl,” Molly said and reached out her hand to comfort Faith. “Randolph Mason is not my brother’s favorite person.”

  “If takin’ you two in can cause him any pain, then I’m glad I did it, the cheap bastard,” Jonas sputtered out between his laughter. “I never had dealin’s with such a spoilt brat in all my life.”

  “Jonas can carry a grudge for years,” Molly said.

  “Well, then you’ll be pleased to know we left him lying in the mud with a bullet in his shoulder,” Faith said with a smile.

  “Yer man took care of him?” Jonas asked.

  “He put him in the mud. I added the bullet,” Faith explained. Brother and sister exchanged looks, then broke into uproarious laughter. Jonas began to choke, and Molly came to his aid by heartily pounding on his back. Ian chose that moment to come back into the room. He had on a pair of pants that Jonas had loaned him. They sagged dangerously low at the waist, and the hem hit him at mid-calf. The sight of him standing there clad in only the pants made all three of them burst into laughter again. Ian looked down at himself and tugged the trousers up to a decent level. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself and sat down at the table.

  “I believe you promised me another bowl of soup,” he said to Molly when the laughter had subsided a bit.

  “Yes, I did.” Molly hastily filled his bowl. She gathered up the wet clothes and went to make good use of the remaining bathwater. In no time she had the muddy pile clean and hanging over the stove to dry.

  Faith sat at the table listening as Molly and Jonas pressed Ian for the story of their adventure. He filled them in briefly on their history and got to the evening’s escape fairly quickly. Her mind wandered back to their afternoons on the riverbank when they were sharing their dreams. The next thing she knew, she was in Ian’s arms and he was following Molly down a hallway to a room. Molly turned back a bed and set a candle on the stand. Ian safely deposited her on the mattress and pulled the covers up over her. He gently kissed her and blew out the candle.

  “Where are you going?” she asked sleepily. “Stay with me.”

  “I will when we are man and wife,” he replied.

  “When will that be?” Faith yawned.

&nbs
p; “As soon as possible,” he said from the door. Faith was asleep before he closed it.

  Faith awakened the next morning to the sight of Ian leaning over her. He had a daisy in his hand and had been using it to tickle her nose.

  “Are you going to lie here all day?” he asked when she finally focused her eyes. She rubbed the end of her offended nose and tried to ignore him. “Come on, sleepyhead, it’s your wedding day, or did you forget?”

  “It depends.” She yawned. “Exactly who am I marrying today?”

  Ian lowered his face so that it was inches from her own. “Ian Duncan, him and no other. Perhaps a sound beating would help you to remember.”

  Faith reached around to rub her backside. “I believe I’ve already had one, from the way I feel,” she mumbled.

  “Not even a full day in the saddle and you’re already complaining.” Ian shook his head. “It looks like I’m going to have to toughen you up.” He pulled her up from the bed. “Come on. The day’s awasting.”

  “Ian, do you think they could still be after us?”

  “I don’t think Mason will be after what you did to him. However, I wouldn’t put it past him to sic the law on us. At least we don’t have to worry this morning, since Jonas has the only ferry on this part of the river.”

  “I found something out last night about my mother.”

  Ian came and put his arms around her. “What?”

  “Melvin Taylor murdered her.” Ian looked down into her face. Tears were brimming in her eyes. “He said he should have killed me along with her, that he had pushed her down the stairs because her money had run out. He was paid by my mother’s family to marry her because she was with child. I don’t even know who my real father is.”

  “Perhaps the fact that you know he’s a murderer will keep him from pursuing us.” Ian didn’t want to add that it might also make Taylor want to kill them. “Your mother must have been very special, to have raised you the way she did.”

  Faith wiped her eyes on a comer of the oversize robe she was still wearing. “She was, but she was always so sad. I guess now I know why.”

  “Is there no one you could ask?”

  “No. Her family was all taken in a flood. I have no one.”

  “You have me, Faith. We’re both orphans, but we have each other, and that’s all I need.” Ian gently kissed her, then stuck the daisy in her hair. “Now get dressed. We need to find a preacher.”

  Faith quickly dressed and braided her hair. When she reached the kitchen, Molly had just set a plate of eggs on the table. Jonas and Ian had their heads together over a map. Jonas was showing Ian the best route west.

  “I need to find Faith a good mount. I might as well get a mare so we’ll have a start on our herd.”

  Jonas recommended a few places for Ian to look. Ian, however, felt that there wasn’t enough distance between them and Mason and decided to move on a ways first. Molly handed them a sack with enough provisions for the next few days, and the couple bade the brother and sister goodbye, Molly giving both of them a teary hug.

  The day was beautiful. The storm had washed all the humidity away, leaving the air clear and cool. The gray was feeling good and rested and was inclined to prance about a bit as they hit the trail west.

  “Is this the horse you always talked about?” Faith asked Ian after they had laughed over the horse’s antics.

  “Yes, he’s the one. I delivered him from his momma and raised him up to be the fine upstanding young stud you see today.”

  “What do you call him?”

  “Storm. I thought he looked like one, all black and gray mixed up together.”

  “Sounds appropriate after last night.”

  Ian laughed. “Yes, it does.”

  “You haven’t told me yet why you came back.” Faith tilted her head around Ian’s shoulder as she asked him.

  Ian caressed the arms that were wrapped tightly around his waist. “You said you wanted things I couldn’t give you. I came to tell you I could give them to you now.”

  “I don’t care about that. I never did,” Faith said against his back.

  “It didn’t make a whole lot of sense when you said it last December. Now I know why you said it, but I guess I just let my pride take me on out of town.”

  “I was so afraid of what they would do. Randolph seemed to enjoy talking about killing you, and I just couldn’t let that happen.”

  “The man is a bit mad, I’m afraid. It’s past us now. We’re together and we have a future before us.”

  “Is there any particular place we’re going?”

  “I’ve heard that Iowa territory is nice—lots of land to be had for those who aren’t afraid of hard work.”

  “Sounds wonderful. Do you think we’ll get there before my backside gives out?”

  Ian looked over his shoulder in an attempt to peruse Faith’s posterior. “You leave your backside to me,” he said with a flash of his grin. Faith pinched what little she could grab of his.

  “You’d best make me your wife before you start on my backside or anything else.”

  “That’s my plan, as soon as we can come up with someone to do it.”

  They rode on towards the west, stopping once to enjoy the lunch Molly had prepared for them. When late afternoon came they were on the outskirts of Chillicothe. They rode past a church in a grove of oaks by the road. Ian turned the gray down the drive to the small white church. An elderly couple came out of the door as they rode up.

  “Can I help you?” the man asked.

  “Are you the minister?” Ian asked as he took off his hat.

  “I am. Do you need my services?” the man answered.

  “We’d like to get married,” Faith volunteered.

  “As you can see, the bride is most anxious,” Ian added dryly. Faith pinched him again and dared him to react.

  “Is there a reason for the rush? Have you no home where you can do this?” the minister asked.

  “The rush is we’ve waited some six months and don’t want to wait any longer,” Ian explained. “We’re on our way west to find a home, and we’d like to do that as man and wife.”

  The minister looked at his wife, who nodded in agreement. “Come on down and let’s get you ready,” she said to Faith.

  Ian helped Faith to dismount, and the woman led them into the church. It was a quaint little sanctuary, light and airy and sweet-smelling with a vase full of flowers on the altar table. The woman selected several blooms from the display, wrapped her lace handkerchief around them and handed the bouquet to Faith. Ian had left the church while this was going on and returned with a very satisfied look on his face and his hair flopped over into his eyes.

  Faith pushed the locks back, and he flashed his grin.

  The minister directed them to a place in front of him and opened his prayer book. “Dearly beloved,” he began. Faith and Ian followed the ceremony, responding when directed. When the minister called for the ring, Ian produced a carved silver band from his pocket and slipped it on Faith’s finger.

  “It was my mother’s,” he explained. Faith looked at it in wonder, then lost herself in his deep blue eyes. The next thing she knew, Ian was kissing her and the minister was calling them man and wife. Ian shook the minister’s hand and gave the man a coin. The woman gave Faith a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They waited while the minister filled out a marriage certificate.

  Before they mounted, Ian discreetly placed Storm between them and the church and gave Faith a kiss that would not have been appropriate inside the sanctuary, a kiss full of promise for the night to come. When he finally stopped, Faith dreamily leaned into him for more.

  “If I start again, I won’t be able to stop,” he whispered into her ear.

  “I don’t want you to stop,” she replied, turning her face up to his. She was surprised when instead of kissing her again, he mounted Storm and soon had her up behind him. “This is not what I had in mind,” she said mournfully.

  “You’ll get your way soon enoug
h,” he said suggestively. They waved to the minister and his wife, who had been watching the exchange from the steps of the church.

  “I think they found us just in time,” the wife said to her husband. The minister looked at her with a pained expression for her facetious reference to sin, and then took her hand. They watched the Duncans as they rode out of sight.

  When they were back on the trail, Faith decided to try out the role of wife. With her arms wrapped securely around Ian’s waist, she took advantage of the proximity to do some exploring. Each small foray below his waist made him jerk just a little, which sent Storm dancing around on the road. And each time, he took his wife’s hand and put it firmly back in place, where it stayed for a minute or two before it was back testing the waters again, going further and further each time. He finally stopped the horse in the middle of the road.

  “Faith,” he said slowly, as he would to a child. “Do you wish to spend your wedding night under yon bush?”

  Faith examined the bush he was indicating. “I don’t think so,” she finally answered. “Why?”

  “If you don’t stop what you’re doing, I will have to drag you into the woods and have my way with you. I had something else in mind for our first night together,” he patiently explained.

  Faith let out a disappointed sigh. “I’ll be good.”

  Ian checked to make sure her hands were in their proper place and moved on, leaving one hand over Faith’s as they rode. They soon came into Chillicothe without further incident. Ian stopped to ask a local for some information, and he directed them to a little inn off the main trail. They checked into a small room at the back of the building. Ian took quick inventory of the windows and closest exit.

  “You’re afraid they might still be after us, aren’t you?” Faith asked when he was done with his examination. He came to her and took her in his arms.

  “I don’t want to take any chances where you are concerned.” He kissed the top of her head. “Yes, he could still be after us. We’re not making good time doubling up on Storm.”

  “When do you think we’ll be safe?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe when we cross the Mississippi, maybe we’re safe now, I just don’t know.”