Except that she wasn’t his wife. The thought which he tried so often to push away returned. His wife would be Rachel and fetching Hannah’s trunks gave him a good chance to find her. That was what he would do because he was being more than unfair to her. An hour later he rode into the village and made his way to the Reverend’s house.
But the couple weren’t there, the maid told him, because they were in the church, along with a few other villagers who were helping them prepare food for those who needed help in Lone and Middle Pine. But the trunks were here, she said, and he could take them.
He lifted them in turn and swung them into the wagon. Huge trunks, heavy and his expression was soft. Of course she would have lots of things because she came from a wealthy family, but that hadn’t made her pretentious at all. It hadn’t stopped her from mucking in with everything, even down to milking cows and she had learnt quickly how to do that.
He looked down the road to where the church stood. It was a big church and they were fortunate to have the Reverend and his wife because they were kind people. They loved God and showed His love to everyone around them. They pointed people to Jesus.
Was Rachel with them because she was bound to be staying here until he came to claim her? He had better go and have a look. He started to walk towards the church, paused and all but ran back to the wagon. Shaking the reins he took off as fast as the horses could go.
He was a coward. He was a cad. He was plain nasty. There was a woman staying here who he was abandoning and how must she feel? She had come all the way from Boston to be with him and he wouldn’t even see her. He pulled the reins, the horses came to a halt and he buried his head in his hands.
Rachel was a nice lady. He knew that from her letters. He had fallen in love with her and she with him. She was his bride to be and he owed it to her to marry her. He had to marry her because no gentleman abandoned the person he had brought thousands of miles to be with him.
But if he did everything that he had got used to over the last couple of days would disappear and how did you marry one woman when you were in....? He caught the thought at birth and shook the reins to start back to the church, his chest constricted and not far from tears. “Hello, Seth.” Linda walked out of the building. “How are you? Is your farm alright? How is Hannah?”
“I came for her trunks,” Seth replied, not moving from where he sat holding the reins. If he stayed there he could just take off at top speed and forget consequences.
“Good. She’ll need them. When are you both coming to get married?”
“Soon. We’ve been busy helping people.”
“Well, no hurry, but be discreet. Everything is under control. We’ve been fortunate that there has been hardly any damage in Lower Pine. I think it’s because the villagers have wooden houses. Does anybody need mattresses? We have a few and some bed clothing.”
“Wilfred and Monica’s house was flattened,” Seth said.
“Then come in and get what you need. We have a huge supply from things people have donated. Do they need clothing? They must do if the house is flattened.”
“They need everything,” Seth said and couldn’t believe it as he jumped to the ground. He all but ran into the church and carried out mattresses one at a time. Three single, one double, and there were pillows, pillowcases, sheets and blankets.
“Can you make frames for the bed?” Linda asked.
“Yes. We’ll do that.”
“Take what clothes you think you need and anything else that is required. Take toys for the children also and while you’re choosing what you need I’ll get you some food.”
“Thank you.”
She was so kind, he thought when she gave him bread, cakes, meat and sweets. She had toys for the children, which included jigsaw puzzles, a doll for Lucille and a dolls house with furniture. There were balls for all of them in varying sizes and toy soldiers for the boys plus some board games.
“We have animals,” she said. “Would you like some kittens and puppies? They desperately need homes.”
He took five puppies and five kittens which Linda put in a big box with holes in it. What Wilfred and Monica would say, he could not imagine, but he wouldn’t show the children until he spoke to their parents first. If they didn’t want them he would take them home without the young people seeing them. Linda was relieved, he knew, and it was the least he could do in view of their kindness.
He packed the wagon as quickly as he could, not at all sure why Rachel wasn’t around or why Linda hadn’t said anything about her. Probably because they knew that he and Hannah had been helping with things and maybe she was involved here. He spoke briefly to a couple of people in the church, leapt onto the front of the wagon and pulled off at speed. As he did so he suddenly felt tears trickling down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Lord. I’m so sorry.” His voice was jerky as he spoke out loud. “But I don’t know what to do. Does it go in my favour that I came back? If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have all this stuff and couldn’t have taken the animals which is helping Linda.
“But I’m still being a coward and I don’t know how to stop being one or how to face up to things. I don’t want to hurt anyone but I’m so confused. Please forgive me and work it out because I can’t. Please bless the people who have been affected by all this and comfort those who have been bereaved. Please help us to be able to help as many people as we can.”
He wiped his eyes impatiently, stopped talking and looked around him while he travelled. There were signs of earthquake damage nearly everywhere though not houses because there weren’t many once he got out of the village. If only all the other places, which included Independence, Lone Pine and Middle Pine, had not used adobe. They knew that was not a good material for an earthquake area. He knew it, which was why he built his house with wood.
But he had not expected an earthquake and had told Rachel in one of his letters that they didn’t have such things. What a naive and stupid thing to say when there had been earthquakes in California a few times over the years. And the first thing to greet Rachel was an earthquake. Apart from anything else, he was not the kind of man for her because he was unreliable, a liar and had treated her badly. He was not the kind of man for anyone.
But he would marry her because he had brought her here for that. He would come in a few days when he finished helping the people near him, which could include the people in Independence. For some reason Linda said there was no hurry so he needn’t hurry, and Hannah didn’t seem keen to rush to her betrothed. He looked back at the things he had in the wagon and began to speak out loud again.
“We didn’t even ask You and You supplied what we need. You are so kind. I don’t deserve Your kindness but Monica, Wilfred and the children do. I thank You that You have put Your righteousness into me because I certainly don’t have any of my own.”
He stopped speaking and for some time said nothing as he travelled along, his eyes on the rocks around, some of which had obviously rolled some way. Occasionally the earth would shake and he would see rocks falling in the distance. Once a rock rolled within feet of him.
But his biggest reality at this moment, he found, was God and the way he felt he had let Him down. His greatest desire was to get it right with Him. Which maybe he couldn’t do totally until he stopped living the lie he was living at this moment with Hannah, and would God understand in the circumstances? How he desperately hopes so because he wanted to please Him at all times.
By the time he reached Wilfred and Monica’s farm he felt that he had some peace concerning the situation.
Chapter 11
“I think it’s safe to start clearing rubble,” Hannah said to Monica as they stood surveying the stones and bricks. “We just have to be careful where glass is concerned so we don’t cut ourselves.”
“Yes, we do. Children, go and see if you can help your father in the barn. You could decide where everyone is going to sleep and divide the areas.”
“I’ll make a plan,” Lucille said, begin
ning to walk away. “Come on, infants, and make yourselves useful for a change.”
“We are not infants,” Aaron said, following her. Monica smiled and turned to look at the mound of bricks, stones and glass in front of them.
“I don’t hold out much hope that anything will be usable,” she said. “The beds will be flattened and so will the furniture. But we can sleep on hay maybe.”
“How about making hammocks?” Hannah said. “My dad made them for us when we were children and hung them from tree to tree. He used tent material.”
Monica looked at her thoughtfully. “That is a good idea. I’m not really sure how healthy hay is because the smell sort of fills your nose and can make you cough and sneeze.”
“Seth covered the ground with tarpaulin where we lay,” Hannah said. “And we cleared the hay from the living area where you will sleep. We could go back and get that.”
“He’s given us so much already,” Monica replied. “We can’t ask for his tarpaulin also.”
“He won’t mind.”
And Hannah was quite sure he wouldn’t because he had shown himself to be more than generous. He was amazing and she was so proud of him. “He was the one who did the text,” she continued. “He found your paints and painted it after he’d carved the words. He’s very clever.”
“You really love him, don’t you?” Monica said.
“With all my heart.” And that is true because I do love a Seth, and probably this Seth will come back and say he’s married his bride to be and would bring her with him. She had better treat him right or....
Or what? Hannah started to lift bits of rubble and throw them with some force into a pile while Monica did the same beside her.
It was three hours before Seth’s wagon appeared in the distance and by this time Hannah was a bag of nerves. He definitely must have married because it surely wouldn’t take that long to get to the village and back, she thought as time progressed. Maybe he wouldn’t come back at all, or at least for a little while because he would need to be with his wife alone.
Except that he wouldn’t let them down, she knew, because he was a reliable and thoughtful man. When he eventually jumped off the wagon she ran over and the tone of her voice was sharp.
“Was it necessary to take that long? We’ve been waiting for you.” He looked at her briefly before going to uncover the back of the wagon and she felt more than guilty. “I thought you were hurt or something.”
She frowned in concentration. That wasn’t true and she shouldn’t be lying anymore than necessary because she was now a child of God. She shouldn’t be lying at all.
“No. That isn’t true. I’m just annoyed because you took so long.”
He turned to look at her, walked towards her and held her tightly. “Help me unpack, woman, but not that box. You can lift the lid but I don’t want the children to see them.”
“See who?”
“Just look.” She opened the box, went to lift a puppy and he put his hand on her arm. “Nobody must see yet. They’re homeless.”
“Not now they’re not. They have two dogs here already. We’ll have them all.”
“Shut the lid and help me carry things. Monica!” He called over to where Monica was still removing rubble. “Come here. I’ve got something to show you.”
He lifted a mattress. “Four mattresses and everything that is needed to set up home. They’ve started a relief fund in the village and have stacks of stuff. More than they need, Linda said, but there will be others who need things also.”
Monica looked at everything, her face screwed in concentration. “That is very kind of them,” she said.
“It’s what you would do in similar circumstances. Look in that box.”
Monica lifted the lid, looked down and the tears began to pour down her face. “You don’t have to have any of them,” Seth said worriedly. “Linda had loads of homeless animals and I felt I should take some. I’m showing you these before the children see them because I know they’ll want them. We can take them all if you feel it’s too much.”
“It will do them the world of good,” Monica said, taking out a handkerchief to blow her nose. “A puppy and a kitten each. I’ll go and tell Wilfred.”
She ran to the barn and Seth started to lift items from the wagon. “There’s masses of things,” he said. “And Linda sent cakes and other food also. God is really good, isn’t He?”
“He’s amazing,” Hannah replied. “I suggested we make hammocks for them to sleep on but now they’ve got mattresses and all we need to make is bed frames.”
“We’ll start on those later. I did bring the tarpaulin you and I slept on in the barn because we’ve got the house now.”
“I thought you might have someone with you,” Hannah said.
“Have who?” Seth turned back towards the wagon and busied himself with lifting down more items.
"Anyone you might know.”
“Show us,” Lucille said, running out of the barn with the boys close behind her.
“Show you what?” Seth asked.
“The surprise mama says you have for us.”
Seth looked at Wilfred who swung himself out behind his children. “I’m outnumbered,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
“We’re also all very blessed. They can have one each of each.”
Seth lifted down the box to put on the ground and opened it. Ten little faces looked up and the children screamed in delight. “Choose a kitten and a puppy each,” he said.
The children lifted one of each and cuddled them, their faces a picture of wonder and delight. Hannah bent and lifted the other four all at once. She sat on the ground with them. Pets they had at home and she missed them but they weren’t specifically hers. Seth sat beside her.
“I’ve never got round to keeping pets,” he said. He stroked them in turn. “They are rather cute.”
“They’re beautiful. Have they got names?”
“Linda didn’t say they have.”
“I want to name mine,” Lucille said.
“And me.”
“And me.”
And they would be the biggest healer, Wilfred said, because for the children it was a shock even though they probably wouldn’t verbalise their feelings. They had woken the night before, he continued, and needed some comforting and assurance. He looked at the furniture and mattresses which Seth had leaned against the wall.
“God is good,” he said and turned back into the barn, his voice trailing back. “You need to fuss Ben and Dan, children, or they’ll be jealous. Bring them all in and let the animals meet one another.”
The children fussed them all and it was a while before Seth brought in the toys which also delighted them. They sat to eat from the food Linda had sent and afterwards Seth and Wilfred started on the beds.
It was dark before Seth and Hannah left to return to his farm. They would come back the following day, he said, looking down at the now sleeping children who were surrounded by animals who had all snuggled up together. Would Wilfred and Monica be alright because they could stay if they needed them?
They would be fine, the couple said, and they mustn’t worry about them. They had everything they needed, which included the food Linda had sent and lamps which had also been sent.
Seth was atypically quiet on the way to the farm. Hannah, after a couple of attempts at conversation, gave up. He was getting sick of having her, she felt, and she must go soon. She would get the other Seth to come and help with what needed to be done and then Seth would be free to marry his fiancé. When they got to the farm they carried in the animals and Hannah went for food for them.
“They’re so cute,” she said, looking up at Seth from where she crouched beside them. “Shall I take them upstairs to sleep with me?”
“They’ll grow,” he said.
“Yes, but they haven’t yet.”
“I’ll go and change the sheets,” he said, and virtually ran from the room.
She frowned in concentration.
He definitely was getting sick of her and tomorrow she must go. But she hadn’t finished his text yet and she had promised to do some things at Wilfred and Monica’s farm tomorrow.
But she could come back and do that once she was married. She heard Seth run down the steps and he called out. “I’m just going to check on the animals.”
She ran up the stairs and looked at the room she had been assigned. A sizeable room with a single bed. She opened the other door and had a quick peep.
A double bed with a wardrobe and dressing table. It looked rather bare overall. But the room with the single bed had the flowers in the shaving mug which were still fresh and which Seth must have taken upstairs again. There was a pretty nightdress under the pillow. She took it out and held it against her. Far too short and it was definitely for someone who was not as tall as her. Maybe five foot three but not six inches taller as she was. Seth obviously liked small women, which wouldn’t include her.
She folded the nightdress, put it back under the pillow and looked round the room, her face creased in a frown. It had seemed alright sleeping in the barn with Seth but she couldn’t sleep here. It wasn’t for her and it wasn’t fair to be using another woman’s room. It wasn’t right to be here at all and she couldn’t justify it in any way by saying she was helping.
Because they had done what needed to be done and Seth’s new wife needed to be here to carry on with that. Hannah would continue to assist in rebuilding the community with her Seth, of course, and he would want to do that because she knew from his letters what a nice person he was.
She sat on the bed, her expression sad. Nothing had turned out the way she expected but what had she expected? She wasn’t at all sure. A handsome husband? A nice home? A safe environment?
Well, she had met a handsome man and he had a nice home. The environment was not at all safe and probably never would be. Maybe she should just return home and carry on as she had before. She could talk to her father and he would sort things out where his employees were concerned. She could carry on with the life she had before.
Lone Pine Bride (The Brides Of Lone Pine Book 1) Page 16
