The movement only lasted for a few seconds but neither noticed when it ceased as they stood holding each other. It seemed as if time had stopped for them and everything was going in slow motion. It seemed as if the moment would last forever. But eventually Seth took his arm away and tried to make his tone sound casual as Hannah moved from him. “That was quite a movement, wasn’t it?”
She started to walk on. “Yes, it was. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hang on so hard. It makes a person feel a bit disoriented when the earth is moving under you. It usually feels so solid. Thank you for holding me up.”
His tone was a bit gruff. “That’s alright. I wasn’t trying to be familiar. I just didn’t want you to fall.”
“I know that. We’re both engaged, anyway. Seth said he would buy me a ring when I got here but that will have to wait until everything is settled. Maybe our marriage will have to wait too. I do hope none of his family is hurt.”
“So do I,” Seth said, thinking of his mother. Hopefully she was too far away in Los Angeles to be affected but the quake had been terrible and probably spread a few miles at least.
“Do you think he would like a ring?” Hannah continued. “I wasn’t sure if men would want one. You’re a man. What do you think?”
He smiled widely as he looked at her. What she said sounded so good though he didn’t quite know why. “Yes, I am a man.”
She looked back at him, giggled then began to laugh. The most musical laugh he had ever heard, he felt. “Sorry.” She straightened her face, he chuckled and she giggled again.
“As a man I would definitely like a ring,” he said. “If you show it to me I’ll give you my opinion.”
She dug into a large pocket in her skirt, one he had not seen because it was hidden under a fold but from where she had got a few things. Taking out a little box she opened it. “It was expensive but I’m quite well off. Well, my father is though I have some of my own money which my great grandparents left me. Try it on and see if it fits you.”
“Put it on my finger,” he said, holding out his hand.
She slipped it on and he looked at it. “It fits perfectly,” he said. “Shall I show you mine so you can also give your opinion? It’s not at all expensive because I don’t have a lot of money but I got the best I could afford. Tell me if you think it looks too cheap and I’ll see what I can do about getting another one.”
“I’d love to see it.”
He dug into his pocket, took out a box similar to the one she had and the ring stood majestically on the box’s velvet base. He took it out and Hannah stroked the velvet.
“That feels nice,” she said.
“Nicer than the ring?”
She laughed, the kind of laugh that was infectious, he thought, and the kind it would be nice to hear. How he hoped Rachel had a laugh like that.
“Can I put it on your finger?” he asked.
“Will she mind if you do?”
“Do I have to tell her?”
“Maybe you’d better not.”
Hannah held out her right hand. “Your left,” he said. “I want to see the full effect.”
“You definitely mustn’t tell her. Well, not near me in case she claws my eyes out though I don’t think any of the ladies who came here would do that. They all seemed nice and we got on very well.”
Seth slid on the ring. “Hold out your hand,” he said. She did so and he surveyed it carefully. It was not as small as Rachel said hers was but it was smooth, the fingers were long and it was definitely not dainty though very nice. It was a strong hand, he knew, by the work she had been doing.
“Do you play the piano?” he asked.
She screwed her face. “No. Why would I do that?”
Rachel did and he was looking forward to hearing her play on the one he had managed to acquire second hand. It had pushed his finances to the limit but he was very proud of it.
“Because....” He paused. “Because....” He chuckled.
“Because what?”
“I just thought it was the thing genteel ladies do.”
She screwed her nose again. “I am not genteel. My mother did her best to make me a society lady but I never will be one. Is that the type of woman you’re expecting?”
“Yes.”
“So what....?”
She paused. Is her name, she was going to say, but suddenly she felt as if she didn’t want to know. Why, she couldn’t define, and it was nice not having to try to be someone you weren’t because you felt comfortable being yourself.
“Do you think genteel involves?” she finished.
He looked at her thoughtfully. What did it involve, except that he knew from Rachel’s letters that was what she was? “Breeding. A liking of fine things. Maybe intelligent. A gentle touch.”
“How do you touch a pan gently when you’re trying to lift it?” she asked and he chuckled again.
“I’m not sure. Maybe graceful would be better than gentle.”
“We could practise that when we get to your house. What else does genteel involve? Draping yourself gracefully round the furniture? Not having a hair out of place?”
“Something like that,” he smiled.
“I think I’ll avoid being genteel. It sounds a bit exhausting. What’s the male equivalent of genteel?”
“I think it covers men and women,” Seth said.
“Show me how a genteel man walks.”
Seth looked at her thoughtfully. “He doesn’t swagger,” he said.
“He definitely doesn’t. I think he probably carries a cane or an umbrella.”
“Would he have a bowler hat?”
“Definitely a bowler hat.”
“Not a cowboy hat then?”
“Definitely not that. Show me how he would walk.”
Hannah stopped in her tracks and stood with her arms folded. Seth grinned and ran a few steps ahead of her. He stopped, turned and minced towards her. She dissolved into giggles, the relief of being able to relax wonderful.
“Now you be a lady,” he said, drawing parallel to her.
“That takes a bit of thought. I’ll have to do what my mother does.” She stood looking a him thoughtfully. “A lady. Well, first I would need very high heels. Then I would need an ivory dress. I bought one for my wedding. At home I have a lot of dresses but I didn’t bring most of them with me. I didn’t want to look too pretentious.”
“I’m sure Seth will like the dress,” Seth said, thinking of the one he had bought for Rachel.
“I won’t discuss clothes with him,” Hannah said.
“Why not?”
“You don’t tell your intended those sort of things. Do you want to see me being a lady or not?”
“I want to see you being a lady,” he said.
She walked away, turned and lifted herself a bit onto her toes. “High heels,” she said.
He grinned. “Very convincing.”
“Now the walk.” But she already walked with an easy grace, he had found, and he preferred her own walk to the one she did now though even that did not detract from her beauty and gracefulness, nor did the fact that she had smudges on her face and dress.
“It’s good,” he said. “But you are certainly a lady and that has nothing to do with the way you walk or even with you coming from a wealthy family. What do they think of you coming out west?”
“They don’t know,” Hannah said.
“When are you going to tell them?”
“After I’ve married. They think I’m staying with friends.”
“Won’t they ask your friends?”
“The friends are fictitious. I don’t have many lady friends.”
“What about men?”
“The kind of men who are interested in me are not the kind I want. Many of them are married. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to leave.”
Seth frowned. “No man has a right to force his attentions on a lady. You are an extremely beautiful woman but they still don’t have a right.”
She bent he
r head and began to walk away from him, for some reason which she could not quite define blushing. He walked after her to catch up with her.
“Do you have a family?” she asked.
“A mother. She lives quite a long way away in Los Angeles. My father died a few years ago and she has recently remarried. She’s very happy.”
“Has she come to be at your wedding?”
“I didn’t tell her either. I’m glad now I didn’t because I wouldn’t want her to be here at the moment. It’s a good thing your family didn’t come either. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. I wouldn’t wish it on you or the other ladies but we can do nothing about such things.”
“No, we can’t.”
“What do you like doing?” he asked.
“Maybe I should tell you what I don’t like doing,” she replied. “That is, if you promise not to tell Seth.”
“I promise.”
“I hate cooking. We have a cook but that isn’t why I hate it. My mother can cook and wanted to teach me but I always managed to escape when she got the urge to do so. I can cook eggs and make crisp bread in a pan though.”
“I do that,” Seth said.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. The bread gets all crisp and if you put a bit of fat in too it tastes delicious.”
“You can put other things in with the egg,” Hannah said.
“Bits of pork though I cook that first in the oven then cut bits off. Sometimes I add some cheese.”
“Do you have pigs?”
“No but I buy it from a farm nearby. I could do you some when we get to the farm because you must be hungry.”
“Thank you. That sounds nice.”
“What else don’t you like?” Seth asked.
“Sewing. Doing housework. Pretending to be a lady. All ladies are ladies, however little or much they have.”
“They definitely are,” Seth said, thinking of Rachel. She had very little but she was definitely a lady.
“I do hope your house is still standing.”
“Yes, but if it isn’t I’ll build it again.”
“You built it yourself?” Hannah asked with interest.
“Yes.” He hadn’t told Rachel that because he wanted her to think he had the money to get someone else to do it. Why, he wasn’t sure, but then why he had exaggerated a lot of things he also didn’t know. It was nice to be able to tell a woman the truth and not feel he had to try to impress her.
“That’s clever,” she said.
“Not that clever. I bought the land with a barn on it and lived in that for a while. That meant I could do the house slowly.”
“If I’d been here I could have helped you.” Hannah paused. “Well, maybe not. Seth might think it wasn’t ladylike.”
Seth definitely would think that, Seth thought, because he seemed to have definite ideas on what a lady should be. “Your help would have been appreciated,” he said out loud.
Hannah flexed her arm. “I’m quite strong.”
He looked at it with more appreciation than he felt he should. “You are. You were invaluable lifting rubble.”
Her expression saddened. “Twenty seven people died. It’s so sad and it must be worse for you because you know them all.”
“Not all but it is very sad,” Seth said. “Some of them were children.”
“It makes you realise how fragile life is, doesn’t it?”
He hadn’t had time so far to think about that, Seth thought, but she was right. “Yes. I wonder why God made the earth so there would be earthquakes.”
“Earthquakes have a reason,” Hannah said. “The study of them is called seismology but I’m sure you know that.”
“I don’t,” Seth replied.
“I read an article about it. Robert Mallet wrote it and he evidently coined the word seismology. He has done and is still doing studies on earthquakes and has published a few papers. I’d like to read them but I didn’t know how to get hold of them because he’s Irish and the papers would have been published in London.”
“You’re clever,” Seth said.
“Not really. I just like reading. Earthquakes have something to do with disturbances in the crust of the earth. Plates move, I think, so the earth can be more flexible. God created the world so He would have done it that way for a reason. What we need to do if we live where earthquakes occur is build houses which won’t collapse like the ones did today. They seemed to just cave in, that is, apart from the Reverend’s house and the others in Lower Pine. The Reverend’s house, Rex said, is made mostly of wood and you said yours is too. That is much better.”
“Yes.” Seth looked at Hannah thoughtfully. He never knew talking to a woman could be so interesting but then he didn’t really know any women well, except his mother and she was certainly intelligent.
“God expects us to use our brains, I’m sure.”
“I guess. We’re about to pass the farm of someone I know a bit. Would you mind if we stop by to see if they’re alright? Their house is made of wood but I’d like to be sure.”
“We should do that. What are their names?”
“Ronald and Sadie James. They don’t have any children because they married older. They’re a nice couple.”
Hannah reached up to smooth her hair. “I must look a mess.”
“Let your hair down,” Seth said. “And then I’ll pull it back if you want it back, only a bit looser. Or else you could just leave it down.”
She reached back to try to remove the string but it was stuck. Seth moved behind her. “It’s a bit tangled,” he said. “Shall I untie it?”
“Yes, please.”
He pulled it gently but it seemed to be firmly stuck. Some of the hairs came through the piece of string but not all. “I’ll have to get the hair through bit by bit,” he said.
“That’s alright. You don’t have to try to be gentle. I promise not to scream.”
He chuckled, something he could not recall doing for a while and which he had done a few times, despite the sadness and trauma of the day and night. He pulled the hair through a few strands at a time and the last few hairs would not disconnect from the string. Could he cut them with his knife, he asked.
He could, she replied, and he did. He went to drop the hair on the ground and paused. Pushing it into his top pocket he ran his fingers through her hair to separate it and began to walk away, suddenly a bit embarrassed by what he had done. He hadn’t meant to be forward. It had just seemed the natural thing to do.
“Thank you,” she said, following him. “Do I look alright?”
He turned. “You are a beautiful woman,” he said. He paused. “A beautiful lady.”
“Is it very tangled?” She took a comb from her pocket and began to comb it bit by bit. “It might be better if I put it back up again. I have a ribbon in my pocket which I’d forgotten about. Could you tie it back for me?”
“You seem to have a lot of things in that pocket,” Seth said.
“I do. It’s a hidden pocket so nobody will realise it’s there and try to rob me. Ouch!”
“I could comb your hair if you want. I’ll be able to see the knots.”
“Would you?” She handed him the comb, turned her back on him and he combed carefully. It would be good practise for combing Rachel’s hair, he thought, because she might like him to do it if it got tangled. Hannah stood quite still until he finished and handed back the ribbon at his request.
“Is my face dirty?” she asked after he finished.
“A bit grubby. Mine must be also. We could ask Sadie and Ronald if we can wash up a bit.”
“Yes. The house looks good from here.”
“Yes.” They approached the building and it was with some relief that Seth noticed that it seemed alright. But they needed to check for cracks, he thought, because that would be dangerous. As they walked up the path Ronald opened the door.
“Sadie’s in labour,” he said.
“In labour? I didn’t realise she was with child,” Seth replied.
“She never showed very much and she didn’t want people to know. She’s seen the doctor a couple of times and, if his reckoning was correct, the baby is coming a couple of months early.”
“Maybe it’s the shock of the earthquake,” Hannah said.
“She says that. Will you stay with us until the baby arrives? I’m a bit frightened I’ll do the wrong thing.”
Another delay, Seth thought, and would he ever meet Rachel? He looked at Hannah.
“Of course we will,” she replied.
“Have you ever delivered a baby?” Ronald asked.
“Quite a few.”
She had never seen a baby born, let alone delivered one, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell him that. An expression of relief covered his face.
“You’re an answer to prayer,” he said. “Please come in. Must I boil hot water or something?”
Hot water? Why? But if that’s what he thought he should do maybe she should go along with it. “Yes,” she said. “Where is your wife?”
“I’m in here,” someone called from the adjoining room. Hannah walked through and was terrified. Deliver a baby? How did you do that? She must think and she must think quickly.
“Get clean blankets and sheets,” she told Ronald. “And bring a mattress from upstairs, Seth.”
The two men ran and within minutes the mattress was on the floor and covered by tarpaulin at Hannah’s suggestion, with a pillow for Sadie’s head. Sadie lowered herself onto it, Ronald brought the water and Hannah had no idea what to do with it.
She looked at her hands and they were filthy. The baby wouldn’t benefit from that nor from the men being dirty.
“Let’s all wash our hands,” she said. “And then we’ll tie sheets round us so the baby doesn’t get any of our dirt on him or her. We don’t want to cause any harm.”
“We’ll need something to cut the cord with,” Seth said.
Cord? What cord? To attach the baby to its mother, of course, and she definitely must not show her ignorance. “Which must also be clean,” she said.
Clean? How could you clean a knife so there weren’t any harmful things on it and would a knife be the best thing because it could cause the baby and the mother to bleed? Maybe something abrasive but not sharp?
Lone Pine Bride (The Brides Of Lone Pine Book 1) Page 6
