Oh dear Lord. If her uncle was still alive… “We must go to him.”
“Straight away.” Expression rich with longing, he held her at the waist. In a swift motion he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth, the promise of passion in the tender touch of his lips. “Sandwich awaits.”
Stepping around Anvil, Joseph went to check the saddle one last time. Hannah reached up and prepared to mount but halted when a chill rushed over her skin. A voice…
Chest tight, Hannah spun around, her heart racing. But she could see no one and blinked away her foolish imagining. Her mind played tricks, surely. Yet something kept her looking. ’Twas so real. It was as if her heart had heard something more than her ears.
Perhaps…she shook her head. She was merely tired.
Preparing to turn round, she heard it again and halted. This time the soft, sweet sound was so familiar, so rife with heavenly strains it reached deep through her soul.
I love you, my child.
Hannah’s breath caught, and she pressed a hand to her chest. Father. ’Twas almost as if she could see him smiling at her as he had when she was a child, that familiar warmth and joy in his face. He had given his all, and though he was gone, yet would he live.
A hot tear streamed over her cheek, and she whispered into the night. “And I shall always love you, Father.”
Epilogue
Six months later…
The scent of sun-heated grasses and flowering brush made the air as delicious to her nose as the sound of birdsong was to her ears.
From her spot on the blanket some steps from the pond, Hannah leaned on her arm, gazing dreamily at where Joseph stood at the edge of the water, Jacob beside him with fishing pole in hand.
“I can hardly believe six months have passed.” She turned to Ensign, who sat beside her, legs cocked up, arms around his knees. “Can you?”
“I cannot.” He smiled as he answered. “Life is but a breath, and then we are gone.” He looked at her, wisdom circling his vibrant eyes. “I am so pleased we have at last returned to Eaton Hill. More pleased than I can say.”
Such simple words for a meaning much deeper. “’Tis a blessing Joseph is more needed at the foundry than on the battlefront.” She gazed down at a small black beetle that seemed to find her petticoat a pleasant place to rest. Picking it up, she rested the happy thing in the grass. “I am not sure I could have borne the grief of his leaving…and the fear of him not returning.”
A hand grazed her wrist, and she looked up, Ensign’s grin warming her more than the summer sun on her back.
“God has given you a gift, my dear.”
He had given her many gifts indeed. A memory tickled her heart, and she gazed back at the grass. Hadn’t Caroline said that very thing—that perhaps God had more happiness planned for her future than she could ever have imagined? How right she had been.
She raised her eyes again to Joseph. He bent beside Jacob, smiled, and said something as he straightened and pointed into the pond, raising his arms with a triumphant laugh that filled her soul. ’Twas then he looked to her, his white smile beaming. Tapping Jacob on the shoulder, he nudged the boy to look at her, and his bright expression shouted with myriad pleasures as he waved.
Sitting up, Hannah waved in return as a heated lump formed in her throat. They were a family. At long last. It seemed only yesterday they were riding through the winter night to safety. But ’twas only two months after their arrival in Virginia they were told that the British had left Boston for New York and that Joseph had been requested to return to Eaton Hill and produce goods for Washington’s men. The Patriots needed much in the way of munitions, and Joseph was eager and willing to supply.
Hannah watched as the two of them chuckled and pulled at the fishing pole as something in the pond fought back with intrepid effort. It filled her soul to see Joseph so happy. He loved the boy as his own, just as she did. A flutter began in her chest, and she bit back a smile. And soon more joy would greet them…
“What are you smiling about so secretly?” Ensign ducked his head, a single eyebrow slanting up.
Hannah giggled, the news nearly bursting from her lips, but she held it back. Joseph must be the first to hear. “Oh…I am simply…simply happy.” She leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I owe Mrs. Smith so much for caring for you. And how desperately I wish I could thank whoever it was that saved you. God will surely bless such a person.”
“I pray for him morning and night.” His gaze drifted away, the past luring him backward. “I remember so little…I felt sure I would not make it through that night.”
Hannah quirked her head to look at him. “You still do not remember anything of that night?”
Brow cinching, Ensign gazed forward. “I have been pondering it at great depth, but I can only recall a few vague details.” Pausing, he sighed. “I remember being carried by someone very large, very strong. His ear was deformed or scarred, it seemed to me.” At that he looked to her. “But it was so dark, and I was in such agony of pain I feel my memory cannot be trusted.”
Illuminating her mind like a candle in a hall, a light settled on a vision she’d forgotten, and a chill rushed up her spine.
She turned to Ensign. “Is that all you remember? Is there anything else?”
An incredulous smile tipped his lips, and he scratched the back of his neck. “It seems unreal, I know. But…I remember his red coat.” At that, he turned to her. “Hannah, I believe…I believe I was saved by a soldier.”
Dear Lord! Higley had been Ensign’s rescuer. A cooling breeze dusted against her skin, and it seemed her spirit stepped away from her, falling into the clarifying clouds of memory.
Captain Higley saw to his burial, and I can assure you, Higley would have treated him as his own.
Hannah’s breath began to chase.
Miss Young, I should like to at last offer my sincerest apologies regarding your uncle. I know this must be of great distress to you, but I beg you to not give up hope.
Dearest Higley. She flung her gaze to Joseph. All that he had done for them, and they the supposed enemy…
Bless him, Lord.
“You think me mad.” Ensign gave an apologetic chuckle. “’Twas they who intended my death, so why should one risk to save me?”
“I do not think you are mad.” She rested her hand on his arm. “Though one wished you dead, that does not mean they all did.”
“Look!”
The mirthful call of Jacob’s voice brought her head around, and she smiled as he hobbled forward, crutch in one hand, a fish in the other.
“See what I have caught?”
“My goodness.” Hannah hurried to her feet to clutch the boy in an embrace. Grinning wide, she rested her hands on his shoulders. “The second one this week. You have a talent, Jacob, I do believe.”
Joseph stopped beside her, circling his arm around her waist. “Have you ever beheld a catch of this size? And to own the truth, I did not but help him pull it in.”
“I am truly impressed.” She tousled Jacob’s hair. “Why don’t you place it in the basket and tell Uncle Ensign the details of your conquest while I speak with Joseph for a moment.”
Jacob nodded, grinning almost as wide as the fish was long. He stepped closer to the blanket, and Ensign rose, helping the boy onto the ground.
With the fish in place and the two once more seated, Hannah hooked her arm around Joseph’s and tilted her face to him. “Walk with me.”
A playful smile quirked over his lips. “Gladly.”
The hot August air cooled in the shadows beside the water. Hannah led him into the grove and craned her neck to be sure Jacob and Ensign were out of sight.
“Joseph, I—”
His kiss cut off her words. Passionate but tender, his lips covered hers, and she answered his want with her own. Smoothing her hands up his firm chest, she skimmed her fingers over his smooth jaw and lifted on her toes, pressing harder against him before she pulled away, her news too eager to
be revealed.
She laughed spritely. “Can you not wait until we return home?”
He shook his head, eyes hooded. “I cannot.”
He descended again, and she stopped him with a coy look and a finger to his lips before painting the worried look over her expression as she’d practiced. “There is something I must tell you.”
The slight backward jerk of his head and pinch in his brow spoke before his voice did. “Something is wrong.”
“I…” She dropped her hands and tilted her head, hoping to lure him further. “I haven’t mentioned this for fear of worrying you, but I have been feeling quite peaked of late.”
Joseph’s features slackened, and his eyes trailed her face, as if searching for signs of her ailment. “What do you mean? You are ill?”
Such an effort it took not to smile. Hannah cleared her throat and looked down for fear her joy would spill over her face and he would discern her secret before she was ready. She studied her fingers. “I haven’t been able to eat as well as before and—”
“I had noticed.”
She couldn’t help but look up. “You had?”
He nodded, concern darkening his eyes. “Aye, but I thought perhaps ’twas—” He stopped himself and shook his head. “We must call for a doctor right away.”
That smile inched upward, and she tried fruitlessly to stop its growth. Marrying her gaze with his, she allowed it to bloom in full. “I do not think we need one just yet.”
“Of course we do. I won’t let you…” His words stilled, and his eyes rounded, while his mouth hung open. He stuttered. “You are…do you mean you are…”
“Aye.” Her heart nearly burst from happiness. “You are to be a father. Again.”
His breath went airy. “You are in earnest?”
She laughed merrily through her smile. “I am.”
“I…I can scarce believe it. A child.” Joseph’s throat bobbed, and his eyes misted as they drifted to her belly. Stepping forward, he closed the few inches between them and enclosed her in an embrace that filled every tiny crevice in her soul. His velvety tone was fissured with joy. “I am so happy, my darling.”
Hannah gripped his strong back, savoring the ethereal beauty of a moment she’d thought would never come. As she gazed out over the shimmering water, birds trilling, insects humming, her eyes brimmed with emotion. “I am not sure how to carry so much joy.”
“All this we owe to our Father in heaven and to your father.” Joseph stroked her back and rested his chin on her hair. “I cannot bear to think of what our lives might have been without his sacrifice.”
Hannah could only whisper her reply, her throat so thick with sorrow and gratitude. “I think of it every day.”
“As do I.” He made little circles on her arm with his thumb. “I pray I may live worthy of it. And now, knowing we shall have a child…”
“God has given us so much.” Pulling away, she took his hand in hers. “I am so pleased that at last our past sorrows are no more.”
“’Tis our past that brought us to where we are—our griefs and our joys.” He tugged her back into his arms and rested his cheek against her hair. “We cannot know what awaits us, but I promise you this. Whatever comes, we need not fear, for we shall face it together, my darling. Hand in hand. Forever.”
Bless you for reading Joseph and Hannah’s story. Your willingness to turn the pages means more to me than I can ever express.
I loved bringing these characters to life and including those vibrant, gripping historical details that are too beautiful to neglect.
Book five, So Bright a Hope, will feature James Higley and Caroline Whitney. And I must say, I can hardly wait to share their romance with you.
If you would like to contact me, you can visit my website, www.amberlynnperry.com or visit me on Facebook—Amber Lynn Perry, Author. I would love to hear from you!
For liberty,
Amber
So Pure a Heart (Daughters of His Kingdom Book 4) Page 35
