Hogtied

by Coleman, Lynn A.

  “Mom sold me by then. I don’t know where she is. She took the money and run, I guess.”

  His mother was a horrid woman, but never in his wildest dreams would he have suspected she would sell her child for profit. “How could she sell you?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I wish ya’d found me sooner,” she whispered.

  The lump of potatoes stuck in his throat. He forced it down. “I tried, Katherine. I’ve been looking for you for six years. Unfortunately, we only had a short period of time in which to do our searching. So every fall we’d return to the area and ask people questions. Three years ago, at a revival down in Hardshell, we heard there was a gal fitting your general description who was a servant in someone’s house. So I’ve been concentrating up here. I met up with Shelton Greene in Hardshell, and he told me where you were and how I could find you.”

  “Are you able to buy my bond?”

  “I will. I have to go home and borrow the money from my parents, but somehow I will buy it, Katherine. I promise you won’t have to stay here too long.”

  “It hasn’t been a bad place to work,” she mumbled.

  Urias reached over and placed his hand on her arm. “Katherine, I’m sorry you’ve gone through all of this. I should have taken you with me.”

  Tears welled in his sister’s green eyes. Urias could feel the same happening in his own.

  “I’ll pack my bags.” She stood to leave.

  “Katherine, I can’t take you with me. Mr. Greene does not trust me. My word means nothing to him.”

  Katherine nodded. “Very well,” she droned, her words reaching down to the pit of his stomach. Urias doubted he had ever seen a person this depressed before. He couldn’t leave his sister here much longer. She needed rescuing, and, thank God, he’d been sent to rescue her.

  “I love you, Katherine. You’ve never stopped being in my prayers.”

  “Prayers?” Her eyes flickered like fire and her face flushed. “Prayers are worthless.”

  ❧

  Prudence couldn’t believe her ears. Her parents had been arguing for the better part of an hour. Not a morsel of food had been touched on either of their plates. Father insisted she had disgraced the family and must be married immediately. Mother felt marriage was a bit extreme. Finishing school was Mother’s answer, and had been for the better part of a year.

  Urias O’Leary might also feel marriage a bit extreme, Prudence guessed. What had she done by meeting with him? Dear Lord, please intervene.

  Prudence left the table and dining room as quietly as possible. Her parents weren’t talking with her—just about her and around her. She felt fairly certain Mother could talk Father out of a forced wedding, which she had no interest in participating in. But should she warn Urias? The only way would be to go out to the barn. Kate hadn’t come back in from her visit with her brother. Prudence pondered for a moment, hesitating in the hallway. If she went out to the barn, Father would be furious enough that no matter what reasoning power Mother had, it would be useless. She chose the stairs and the solitude of her bedroom.

  In her room, Prudence prayed. She opened her money box and removed what little savings she had. Eighteen years old and not yet pledged in marriage—it had been a source of contention in her home since her sixteenth birthday. Women in the hills of Kentucky were married at thirteen or fourteen, and Prudence was rapidly approaching her spinster years. But marriage should be more than an arrangement between her father and some business partner’s son. At least, she’d always hoped and prayed it would be. She wanted love. Someone who loved her more than her father’s money.

  Oddly enough, when Father began spouting off her need to marry Urias, the possibility hadn’t seemed completely intolerable. He was a handsome man, and a girl could get lost looking into those marvelous green eyes. Prudence shook off the thought. She wouldn’t be forced into marrying for simply talking with a man. They’d done nothing wrong. Fortunately, she had found a brief moment to explain to her mother what had transpired before her father came in the house, ranting and raving.

  But something wasn’t right about the price of Kate’s bond. Father would never pay that kind of money even on a good horse, much less for a servant. But why would he overcharge Katherine’s brother? He’d always been a fair man in business. But recently he’d been making some strange decisions—from what little she had heard in the closet beside his office. I really must stop eavesdropping, she reminded herself for the hundredth time.

  She really didn’t care about knowing the personal details of other people’s lives. She merely wanted to understand the workings of finance. For some reason, it had always piqued her interest, even as a small child.

  Wrapping her small savings into a handkerchief, she set it aside to have Kate bring out to Urias. Sitting down at her writing desk, she penned a brief note to him, letting him know the monies were to purchase additional hogs. She blew the ink gently to finish off the drying, folded it neatly, and placed it inside the folds of the handkerchief, then scurried down the hallway to the rear of the house to the servants’ quarters.

  “Kate,” she whispered, tapping the door.

  No answer. She turned the crystal knob and pushed the door open. Kate wasn’t in her room. Prudence worked her way down the back stairway to the kitchen. Again, no Kate. Where could she be?

  Prudence heard her parents still discussing their problem of what to do with their daughter. Sometimes Prudence wondered if she’d been born into the wrong family. Kate had to be in the barn with Urias.

  Taking in a deep breath, she hurried out to the barn and prayed she wouldn’t get caught. She didn’t enter but stepped in the doorway and called out to Kate.

  “She’s not here,” Urias answered.

  “Do you know where I might find her?” Prudence asked. “Urias, I have something for you. I’m leaving it wrapped in a white handkerchief by the door. I can’t come in or Father would be beside himself. You should be warned; he’s planning on us getting married.”

  “What?” Urias popped out of the dark shadows of the barn. “I’ll not stand for it.”

  The sharp response hurt, even though she knew Urias was right. The idea was ridiculous. “Mother is trying to convince him to send me off to finishing school. Please take this. It’s a little more to help you buy more hogs.”

  “Prudence, I have not decided whether or not to purchase the hogs.”

  “But?” Prudence stepped closer to the door and to Urias.

  “I cherish my parents’ counsel, and I’ve been praying and thinking I should speak with them. But if I leave my horse to insure my return, that will take weeks. I simply don’t know what to do. Katherine doesn’t trust me. I don’t know if I can blame her. She didn’t say anything but…”

  “Oh, Urias.” She stepped forward and placed her hand on his forearm. “You have to give her time. She’s had a rough life, and you seem to have had a good one.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut. “I should never have left her with our mother.”

  “You were a boy. Don’t be—”

  “So hard on myself? That’s the problem. I was only thinking of myself. I never thought what my mother would have done. She was a drunk and she beat me. Of course she’d beat Katherine once I was gone. I never looked beyond myself. This is all my fault.”

  “No. I can’t believe that. I don’t know you, but a child can’t be responsible for an adult’s actions. You weren’t responsible for your mother beating you any more than you’re responsible for your mother beating Kate.” How can I get through to this man? “Stop thinking on the past, Urias. Kate needs you now. You’re here now. Take this.” She handed him the handkerchief. “It’s all I have at the moment.”

  His fingers brushed hers as he reached for the proffered gift. A flash of heat shot through her like a bolt of lightning.

  “That settles it!” her father shouted from the back stairs of the house.

  “
Settles what?” Urias whispered.

  “Our marriage.” Prudence blushed.

  Dear God in heaven, help me, Urias prayed.

  “Prudence Greene, get in this house this moment!” Hiram Greene shouted for all to hear.

  The barn began to spin. Urias grabbed the rail to stabilize himself. This couldn’t be happening. No one would force someone to marry for simply speaking with another. It wasn’t legal, was it?

  Urias stuffed the handkerchief in his pocket as he watched Prudence walk toward her father. Her shoulders drooped farther with each step closer. The man was a tyrant, or so it would seem. If he treats his own daughter this way, how does he treat Katherine? Urias closed his eyes and tried to keep his mind from thinking the worst.

  “Mr. O’Leary, come to my office,” Hiram ordered.

  If ever a man needed divine inspiration and wisdom, it was now. Lord, I am up against a post here. Prudence says her father is going to insist on us getting married. I can’t do that. I need Your help and guidance.

  Urias dusted off his pants and walked toward the front door. He couldn’t leave this plantation soon enough. But first he had to get something in writing concerning Katherine’s bond and the agreement he had with her owner. Then he’d shake the dust from his heels faster than any disciple leaving an unholy city.

  He walked into the house and straight into Hiram Greene’s office. There he waited, counting time by the construction of a small spider web in the upper right-hand corner of the brick fireplace. The sun had set, and a bracing coolness filled the house. Perhaps it isn’t only the weather, he mused. Should he light a fire? Would it be considered neighborly or imposing?

  Finally, he sat down in a fancy, hand-carved oak chair. He quieted his heart and prayed.

  “Mr. O’Leary.” Urias startled as Hiram Greene marched into his office. “I’ve called for the preacher, and you shall marry my daughter this evening.”

  Urias held down his temper. “With all due respect, Mr. Greene, I will not marry your daughter. We did nothing improper.”

  “You will marry my daughter, or I will not sell you your sister’s bond. This is not negotiable, Mr. O’Leary.” Hiram Greene sauntered across his office and sat down behind the desk as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “You can’t do this. You can’t force your daughter to marry me or me to marry your daughter. We had an agreement for my sister’s bond.”

  “Yes, but that was before you dishonored me and my house by your indecent behavior with my daughter.”

  “I did no such thing!” Urias defended.

  “I beg to differ, sir, and since I am the head of this household and I make the decisions here, that is my final decision. You will marry my daughter when the preacher arrives, or I’ll have you thrown in jail.” He leaned forward. “This is within my power and my right as a father.”

  Not only had he threatened to not sell Urias his sister’s bond, now he threatened a jail sentence. If the circuit judge came around these parts as often as he did in Jamestown, Urias could be sitting behind bars for quite a while.

  Urias heard a team of horses and a carriage coming up toward the house. “Preacher is here, son. What’s it going to be?”

  Four

  Prudence cried throughout the entire ceremony. The things her father had said to her were so hurtful, she didn’t even want to think about them. He also told her that if she didn’t go through with the wedding, he would sell Kate to someone else and put Urias in jail until the circuit judge came by—which, in Prudence’s estimation, would be next spring. She had little choice but to stand beside Urias and repeat the vows the preacher performed.

  Once the ceremony was over, Urias placed his hat upon his head and exited the house. Who could blame him? She certainly couldn’t.

  She ran up to her room and cried as she packed her bag.

  “Prudence,” her mother called from behind the door. “May I come in?”

  Prudence didn’t bother to answer. Since when did it matter to her parents what she wanted? Her mother entered the room. “Darling, look at the bright side—you have a husband.”

  Prudence narrowed her gaze on her mother.

  “All right, maybe that was the wrong thing to say. But you’re not getting any younger.”

  What little dignity Prudence had left flew out the window. Even her own mother thought the only way Prudence could get a husband was to be forced into a marriage. “This is not a marriage, Mother; it’s a jail sentence.”

  “Maybe he isn’t a bad sort.”

  What little she knew of Urias, he wasn’t a bad sort at all. He cared deeply for his sister, enough to persistently search for her for years.

  Prudence opened her closet door and pulled out her carpetbag.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Packing. I’m married now. Don’t I have to live with my husband?”

  “But I thought you and he would live here.”

  Was her mother that oblivious? “Mom, he has a family, a job of his own.”

  “But your father said—”

  “I don’t know what Daddy said, but I know one thing; he cannot control Urias O’Leary. If he hadn’t threatened Urias with the loss of his sister’s freedom and jail time, I doubt he would have married me.”

  “Oh, my dear, I don’t want you to leave. I’d hoped he’d move in with you.”

  “No, Mother, he has his own life. Somehow, I have to figure out a way to share it.” But not for long. There has to be a way to have the marriage annulled.

  There was a knock at her open door. Prudence glanced over. Kate stood there, shaking. “Urias told me to tell you he’ll be leaving in the morning and return as soon as he can with the money for your father.”

  “Thank you.” Prudence sighed.

  “See? He is a reasonable man. You can stop packing now.” Her mother exited the room.

  Prudence dumped the contents of her carpetbag out and began repacking. This time she packed for a wilderness journey. Her mother might be pleased with her staying, but Prudence needed to leave this house, and she needed to help earn Kate’s freedom. Somehow, she and Urias would figure a way out of this foolish marriage. Then hopefully Prudence would find a place for herself in this world apart from her family—a place where people would accept and appreciate all of her hidden talents.

  “Prudence,” Kate whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “Hush. This isn’t your fault. It’s my own. I shouldn’t have gone to the barn a second time. I should have waited to find you to deliver the… What does it matter? It’s over, it’s done with, and now your brother is paying for my foolishness. I’m the one who is sorry.”

  “Can I help?” Kate asked.

  “Thank you.” Prudence grabbed the carpetbag and set it right side up on the bed once again. The handle came off in her hands. Fresh tears filled her eyes.

  ❧

  Urias woke at the sound of the rooster’s first crow. He rubbed the back of his stiff neck and moaned, then stood up and stretched. He doubted he’d ever had such a fitful night’s sleep. Every hour he seemed to wake with the nightmare of the evening before. Married at the end of a pointed sword. Granted, there had been no blades present, but it certainly had felt like it.

  All night he kept having this nagging feeling that something besides Hiram Greene’s daughter’s honor was at stake in this forced marriage. To threaten Katherine’s freedom and jail time meant the man didn’t play fair in business. That realization only solidified Urias’s original thought that the bond he’d agreed to pay was much higher than the debt his sister owed.

  He reached for his saddle and proceeded to hitch Bullet up. Urias had decided somewhere around the middle of the night that since he’d been forced to marry Prudence, the original agreement for the purchase of his sister’s bond was null and void. With Bullet, he could possibly make it back to Jamestown in three days. Time was of the essence now. Hiram Greene was not a man to be trusted. If he would force his daughter to marry a stranger with
no respect for her feelings, would he honor the agreement of selling off Katherine’s bond? And now that Urias had found her, he wasn’t about to lose her.

  The barn door creaked open. Urias chastised himself again for not having closed it last evening when he rendezvoused with Prudence.

  Prudence stood there with a hastily mended carpetbag in one hand and dressed for travel. Her brown hair was pulled back under a white cotton bonnet. She was a beautiful woman; he’d give her that. But no man should be forced to marry her. What was Hiram Greene’s problem?

  “Good morning,” she said in a timid voice.

  “Morning. Going somewhere?”

  “With you,” she replied and walked over to him.

  “No, no. I agreed to marry you, but I’m not taking you with me,” Urias stammered. “I mean, I’m not taking you with me to my parents’ house.” That didn’t sound right, either.

  She squared her shoulders and replied, “I’m your wife now.”

  “I’m well aware of that fact.”

  “What I mean to say is, I’m free to go with you and I want to help. With my help, we can herd the hogs to the Cumberland Gap in less time.”

  He had forgotten about her ingenious plan regarding raising the money himself. “I was planning on speaking with my parents and borrowing the money.”

  “How long would that take?” she asked.

  “Eight days—ten at the most. The problem would be how fast we could get the funds.”

  She nodded. Urias knew—he wasn’t sure how he knew—but he could tell she was conjuring up a scheme of some kind. “I’m not of a mind to tell you what to do, but for the same amount of time, we could probably herd some hogs down to the Cumberland Gap and back again.”

  The idea of not owing his parents five hundred dollars for his sister’s bond was appealing. With the profit, he’d be able to buy his own property and start breeding horses.

  “Even if we don’t raise enough capital,” she continued, “I’m certain we’d raise enough for Father to release Kate. Especially since we are married now.”

  Urias sunk his hands into his pockets and felt the folded handkerchief she’d given him the night before. He pulled it out and opened it. Inside he found some money and a note. Reading it, he realized once again how deeply this woman cared for his sister.