“God wanted to keep you on earth,” Hannah said, not sure what else to say. They were alive but twenty seven had died. There had to be a reason and the earthquake wasn’t God’s fault. It was part of His earth and the fault was with people who made houses from wrong materials.
But adobe, she knew, was a long lasting material for building a house though surely people round here, if they had experienced earthquakes before, should have realised it wasn’t a good material for the area. Was that why Seth built with wood? Maybe she would ask him later but for now they must see to the comfort of their guests. Their guests? Seth’s guests because this was his house, something which made Hannah feel a bit bleak.
But there was a home for her in Lower Pine though maybe the other Seth’s house had fallen down also. If it had she would help him rebuild, just like she would help anyone else who needed it.
“Was anyone hurt badly in Lower Pine?” Monica asked.
Hannah frowned in concentration. She didn’t want to tell her because it was so sad but what else could she do? “Some broken limbs in Lone and Middle Pine,” she replied.
“They will heal,” Monica said.
“Twenty seven people died in Lone Pine.”
“Twenty seven!” Monica’s tone was distraught.
“Yes.”
“Were any children killed?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure how many.”
Monica rubbed a plate with more vigour than necessary. “That is dreadful.”
“”Yes, it is. Nearly all the houses were flattened and also in Middle Pine where Seth and I helped, but not the houses in Lower Pine because they’re made of wood. People were going to the Reverend’s house to be treated and the church seemed to be alright.”
“And we lived. Why did they die and not us?”
“I’m not sure,” Hannah said. “I just don’t have any answers to life and death.”
“We have a lot for which to be thankful. I don’t think I’ll tell the children.”
“No. They shouldn’t know. They’ve taken everything very well and the thought of building a new house helps, I think. Maybe they’ll react later.”
“I think you’re probably right. We’ll have to get clothes or at least material to make them,” Monica said. “Did the post office survive?”
“I don’t know,” Hannah replied. “The two stores in Lower Pine were alright. But I have two trunks with a few dresses there. I could let you have a couple though you’d have to take up the hems because I’m taller than you. Seth says there’s another way to get there.”
“I grabbed what money we had,” Monica said. “They might have some supplies in Independence depending on how the earthquake affected them. Or else we can go south to Olancha. They have a post office. We can discuss it in the morning. Lucille could come down and sleep with us and you and Seth could sleep there.”
“They need a proper bedroom,” Hannah said. “We’ll be fine. Seth has taken bedding to the barn and he says it’s comfortable. It will be an induction to California.”
“Is there anything you would like to talk about?” Monica asked.
“Pardon?” Hannah looked bemused.
“About your marriage.”
“Seth and I have to get to know each other a bit.”
“Yes, of course. If you want to ask any questions I’ll be happy to discuss things with you.”
“Thank you. Is Wilfred in any pain at all? Seth might have something to relieve it.”
“He says his leg is comfortable now.”
And maybe she would have been nervous, Hannah thought later on her way to the barn, but not with Seth because he was just a friend. She looked up at the sky before going in and the stars were as bright as the previous evening. So much had happened since then and what was still to come? Were other people trapped and should they be sleeping when that was a possibility?
Except that Seth had said there were not a lot of houses within his vicinity and also said that the Reverend told him people were going around checking on farms. But nobody had checked on Wilfred and Monica’s one with almost disastrous results.
She went into the barn and he was kneeling on the straw making a bed up, with another one a few feet away. Turning as she walked in, he stood.
“I’ve brought everything I think we’ll need,” he said. “There’s a washroom through that door over there.” He pointed. “I’m sorry I have no clothes for you. We could get your luggage tomorrow or we could go to Independence or Olancha. I brought some pajamas for you which I purchased recently for myself. They’re brand new. The legs will be too long but you can roll them up.”
“I could sleep in my dress,” Hannah said.
“You’ll feel fresher with something clean. I was going to wash your dress because it’s got rather grubby from all the work you’ve been doing today. If I hang it up during the night it should dry by the morning.”
“It is a bit grubby,” she said, looking down. “I can wash it. You don’t have to feel obliged to do so.”
“No. You go in the washroom and change and I’ll wash it when you’re ready. Maybe we won’t wash your petticoat though we could do it and dry it separately, also your undergarments. Just leave it all in a pile on the floor.”
“Are we sure nobody else is trapped?” Hannah asked. “I know you said the Reverend told you people had checked the farm but nobody had been to Wilfred’s farm.”
“It was just beyond the gully and I said I would check it, also the others we checked”
“I didn’t know that. I didn’t mean to criticise you.”
“You’re very ....” Seth paused.
“Untrusting? Thoughtless? Stupid?”
“Sweet.”
“Sweet. I’ve never been called that before, well, except by my mother and I thought she was being soppy the times she said it. Now I.” She emphasised the I. “Think it was sweet of her to say it because I never have been sweet. I’ve taken everything for granted really.”
“I think I’ve taken everything for granted too, and your mother is right. You are sweet.”
“I’ll go and change,” Hannah said and felt rather self conscious after she had washed and put on Seth’s pajamas. She had to roll them up her legs because they were far too long and she felt embarrassed for him to see her. Leaving her clothes in a pile in the washroom she made her way out but he did not look at her when she came through and she dived under the covers when she reached the bed he had made up.
He took a little while in the wash room. While he was there she looked round. At the other end of the barn through a door were the horses which had settled down, and Seth had obviously cleared up because everything smelt sweet and clean. The poultry were in another shed, he had told her, and he liked to keep the animals inside at night, which included the cows in another division beyond the horses.
It was a huge barn and well cared for. He did the work himself, he had told her on the way to the barn, because he couldn’t afford to employ anyone. However, his friend Jason would come sometimes if there was something big to do and he would pay him. She could help him now, she had thought before the inevitable truth returned. She was not going to be his wife.
He walked through with the dress and hung it on a couple of hooks which were in a beam, with the petticoat beside it and her other undergarments hidden behind it out of sight. She shouldn’t have left them, she thought, but it was too late now. It wouldn’t get too cold, he told her, so everything should be dry in the morning.
He slid under his covers and Hannah noticed that he had a Book next to him. It was a Bible, he told her when she asked, and he wondered if she would like him to read to her. Or else she could read to him, he added. She would like him to read, she said, and the ground under them shook once again.
She huddled down under the covers. Could there be another earthquake and if there was could it bring the barn down around them and also Seth’s house? She mustn’t think of it and she mustn’t show the fear which sometimes seemed to en
gulf her. Twenty seven people had died and why should she be spared?
“It’s just the shaking that comes after an earthquake,” Seth said, looking across at her.
“Yes.” There was another shake which was a bit more violent than the first one. He rolled over in his bedclothes right next to her as he noticed her shivering and put his arms round her to hold her tightly.
“It will go away soon,” he said. “They’re not coming so often now.”
“No. I’m sorry. I’m being a baby.”
“You’re not a baby. You’re the bravest lady I know. Do you want me to hold you for a bit?”
“Yes, please.”
“What shall I read?”
“I don’t know the Bible very well,” Hannah said. “I don’t really know God very well either.”
“”When I was younger I didn’t bother too much about God,” Seth replied. “He was way down on my importance scale.”
“Importance scale?” Hannah smiled.
“Yes. Then a couple of years ago my mother became very ill and I was terrified she was going to die. I don’t see her that often but she has been the greatest mother out. My father died a few years ago and I missed him a lot. I prayed to God and told Him I would follow Him if he made my mother better and I started to read my Bible. I read in John chapter one verse twelve that to as many as received Jesus He gave the right to become children of God. So I received Him and told Him He must do what He wanted about my mother.”
“And she got better?”
“Yes. She got better.”
“I’ve never done that,” Hannah said. “I didn’t know you needed to. How do you do it?”
“You just pray and tell Jesus you receive Him. I’ve read the Bible quite a lot since and realised that we need our sins forgiven because sin separates us from God. Jesus died on the cross in punishment for our sins and He forgives us when we belong to Him.”
“I want to do that,” Hannah said. “I’ve done a lot of lying lately and I need Him to forgive me for that. I also left home without telling anyone, as I told you.”
“So have I. You’ve made me realise how wrong I’ve been.” Seth moved away from her a bit. “I have asked God to forgive me and I know He will. I read in Romans that He credits us with righteousness but I do want to do what He wants.”
“I’ll pray and ask for forgiveness and tell Jesus I want to receive Him,” Hannah said. “Shall I do it out loud?”
“In Romans ten it says that if we confess our sins He is faithful to forgive us,” Seth replied. “Praying out loud is a confession.”
Hannah shut her eyes. “Dear Lord Jesus. I’m sorry for all the lying I’ve done lately and all the wrong things. I’m sorry for being frightened because I know You will look after us, even if that means us dying. I receive You.” She looked at Seth. “Is that alright?”
“That’s good,” he said. “Now you’re a child of God and you’ll go to Heaven when you die.”
He shut his eyes. “Thank You, Father, for looking after us and thank You for Hannah and that she’s now one of your children.” He paused and with her eyes shut Hannah did not see his face screw as he continued to pray. “Please bless the marriages we are going to embark on soon and please forgive us for lying about being married. We didn’t know what else to do. In Your Name, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Amen,” Hannah said. She looked at Seth with a little frown. “I’d forgotten about that. We were wrong to lie, weren’t we, but it could be embarrassing for Wilfred and Monica if we tell them yet and the children won’t understand.”
“No. I think we have to keep up the pretence for a bit.”
“We shouldn’t even really be here together.”
“I don’t know what else to do,” Seth said, standing and making his way back to where he had been lying. “But we’re just friends so it doesn’t really matter.”
“No.”
He lay quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. “Seth is a lucky man,” he said.
She closed her eyes. “Not really. Do you think he’ll be cross because I came here?”
“No, of course he won’t. He’ll understand.”
“Would you be cross if you were in his place? I could have gone to the Reverend’s house instead of coming here, which is where everyone else went. But I wanted to get clean before I saw Seth and I didn’t think beyond that.”
“Nobody could be cross with you,” Seth said. “I’ll explain to him how things have been and how invaluable you’ve also been. If it wasn’t for you Wilfred and his family would be dead.”
“We worked as a team,” Hannah replied.
“Yes, which meant I couldn’t have done without you. Maybe God organised it that way. You don’t have to worry about Seth.”
“You’re a nice man,” Hannah said.
“Not that nice.”
“My mother says that when someone compliments you, you should just say thank you. If they’re being sarcastic it will throw them off balance. If they mean it they’ll be pleased.”
“You said not really when I said Seth was a lucky man.”
She opened one eye to look at him. “Seth is a lucky man,” she said.
He grinned. “He is.” His face straightened. “Thank you for everything you’ve done today. You’ve been invaluable.”
“So have you.”
This time they both smiled widely before Hannah slid down a bit. “Goodnight,” she said. She opened her eyes again. “Read to me before we sleep.”
“I’ll read Psalm ninety one. That’s about God keeping us safe.” He began to read. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the Shadow of the Almighty! I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.’ ”
He looked across at Hannah and wasn’t sure if she was asleep or not. If he stopped reading and she was she wouldn’t say anything. If she was awake she would open her eyes and ask him why he had stopped. He paused and there was total silence. Looking down at the Bible he carried on reading quietly and his expression was pensive when he finally put it down.
Tomorrow they would go to Seth’s home and Hannah would marry him while he himself would marry Rachel. Everything would be sorted and they would get on with their lives and help the people who had lost homes to rebuild them.
Well, maybe tomorrow because they needed to help Wilfred and his family and it wasn’t fair to ask Rachel after he married her to have to entertain them. There might be other people to assist too and he was planning to travel towards Independence to check the houses there. Maybe he should have done that today but it would have been impossible to look in the dark and he rather suspected that the Reverend would stick to his word. Houses beyond Independence the army would hopefully check.
And Hannah would want to help him in anything he did, he was sure, because she was really involved with everything. She had taken on the problems of the community even though she had only been here a couple of days. And they were a good team because they seemed to think things through together, nor did she criticise him concerning anything to do with the house because he hadn’t tried to pretend with her.
She was the most beautiful, brave and enterprising person he knew, even to her cooking a meal for so many people. She didn’t mind that he was stupid enough not to remember the fish, and the cheese had tasted really good on the potatoes. Only she would have thought of something like that.
But maybe he would try to catch a fish in the morning for breakfast to feed their guests, and the children needed nutrition because they were so full of energy. Wilfred needed nutrition to help his leg heal. At least he knew how to cook fish though whether it was the way it should be done he didn’t know. Hannah would work it out too, even though she hadn’t cooked before, because she was clever.
He looked across to where she slept, his smile twisted. What an induction to a new life and a new country. What a way to start what she might have regarded as an adventure. Yet she hadn’t complained once. We
ll, he was going to make it up to her and the other Seth could go and....
He caught the thought at birth, shut his eyes as exhaustion overtook him, and they both slept heavily until six in the morning despite the few times the earth shook below them.
Chapter 9
Hannah opened her eyes, stretched and shut them again. Opening them once more she looked across to where Seth was doing the same. Morning. An earthquake. Asleep in a barn not far from the man she wasn’t going to marry. It all flooded back.
Seth looked across at her and smiled. “Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning.”
He reached for his Bible. “Shall I read you something?”
“That would be nice,” she said. “
“Where?”
“Could you read what you were going to read last night? I must have fallen asleep because I can’t remember it.”
“Yes, and then we’ll do Genesis in the morning and start the New Testament in the evening. Will that be alright?”
“I should go to Lower Pine today,” she said.
“I’m not sure how the road will be.” Seth frowned as he bent over the Bible and didn’t want to think about it. Instead he started to read.
Hannah lay with her eyes shut listening. He had a nice voice, she thought, and she wanted to hear as much as she could. When he reached the end of the first chapter of Genesis after reading the Psalm she asked for more.
“I’ll do the second chapter,” he said. “But then we must get dressed and check how everyone in the house is. I also have a bit of farm work to do.”
“I’ll make breakfast,” Hannah said. “Just read chapter two and then we’ll get ready.”
He took down her dress after he finished reading and it was dry, he told her. He would go in the wash room to dress and then she could get dressed in peace while he fed the animals and collected the eggs. He would then need to milk the cows, which really he should have done the evening before.
She washed, dressed and carefully put her hair up after he left. She must look pretty for Seth, she thought, because she would probably be meeting him today. Meeting him and she wasn’t at all sure he would understand about her leaving Middle Pine with this Seth. He sounded really nice in his letters but he was sure to wonder why she came.
Lone Pine Bride (The Brides Of Lone Pine Book 1) Page 12
