Brides of Cedar Creek
Book One
Cora’s Deception
Historical Christian Romance
Mildred Colvin
Cora’s Deception
by
Mildred Colvin
Copyright © 2012 by Mildred Colvin
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved
Cover design by Vanessa Riley
Cover Photo© PBblood|Dreamstime.com
Cora’s Deception is a rewritten version of the original book formerly published as Cora by Barbour Publishing.
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events, is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter 1
Cora Jackson took George Merrill’s hand and ran around the corner of the house.
“Over here, Cora. Hurry.” George pulled her toward the smoke house. He ducked his head and tramped through the doorway. Cora followed over the sill. They’d made a clean get-a-way. Even Eliza hadn’t seen them leave. Cora giggled as George closed the door, shutting out the bright, sunshiny day.
He frowned. “What’s so funny?” His eyes searched hers from under a narrowed brow. “You’re moving, and I thought you loved me.”
“Oh, I do, George.” Cora sobered. It wasn’t a game. She’d be leaving within the hour for the wilderness of Southern Missouri clear across the state from their home in St. Louis. This couldn’t be real. Even now the wagons waited in front, loaded to the hilt. Father and the other men had been working since before dawn getting things ready.
“Why’d your father do this? Why would he give up a prosperous business here to settle in the wilderness? There’s nothing there, Cora. Your house sold. Where will you live?” George acted as if this were her fault. He paced away then turned and glared at her. “How will you train to be a lawyer’s wife in western Missouri? Even the Indians didn’t live there after the government gave it to them. I did some research when my brother said he was going with you. Did you know the Kickapoo receded it back to the government a little over a year ago?”
Cora looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head. “No. Why would they do that?”
He snorted. “Because it’s a wasteland, obviously. White men think they can live on land the savages refuse. Does that make sense to you?”
She shook her head again as moisture filled her eyes. “But I don’t want to go. I have to.”
George threw his hands out in a helpless gesture. “Don’t cry about it. We’ll still get married. I’ll need a good wife if I’m to be successful.”
Cora stared into his eyes. Had he just complimented her? Or insulted her? She blinked away her tears. George had been her companion since she was five years old. He’d been the one who decided what they played and where they’d go.
“We are still getting married, Cora.” He glared at her.
“Of course, George. I know that.” She’d grown accustomed to his authority and fell in with his plans. She loved him and hated to see him disappointed. She’d stay in St. Louis if she could, but her father had his heart set on pioneering the wilds of Missouri. “I don’t understand, George. What do you want? How can we get married if I’m not here?”
“Just be quiet. I’m thinking.” He turned from her, rubbing the back of his neck.
Cora wrinkled her nose at George’s back. Father had already sold their home and his Chandler shop as well as his half of the cooperage. What could she do except join her family? Even George’s brother, John, who’d married her older sister, thought this move was a grand adventure.
Finally, he swung around to face her again. His frown relaxed. “Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong. It could be for the best in the long run. I’ve got some time at Christmas. I’ll come for you then, and we can be married. We’ll have to live with my parents.” His frown returned. “This isn’t the way I’d planned. It’ll be another year before I even go to law school.”
“I’m sorry.” Cora interlocked the fingers of both her hands and clutched them under her chin. What could she do to make him feel better?
His light blue eyes brightened. “Oh, well, we should look at the ending rather than the obstacles along the way. By living with my mother, you’ll learn a great deal that will be helpful once I have my own practice.”
Cora’s heart sank at this latest insult, for that’s what it was. Mother had trained her well to take care of a household. She didn’t need Mrs. Merrill’s instructions. George took her arms and pulled her close to him. His intent was easy to see as he lowered his head and slipped his arms around her. His lips had no sooner touched hers than Eliza’s voice penetrated the loose board walls of the smokehouse.
“Cora! Where are you?” Sounded like Eliza had rounded the back of the house.
Cora giggled.
George growled. “Your little sister has great timing.”
“Cora.” Eliza’s voice became louder and then fainter. She’d moved away.
George’s breath brushed Cora’s cheek. His lips touched the corner of her mouth, and she turned to him. The kiss was long and demanding. They’d shared kisses before, but never had George acted as if he would possess her. Could he miss her so much already?
Then his hand moved to her front and her breath caught. She jerked back, but his hold on her tightened. She struggled for freedom as he covered her mouth again. She felt his hand at the buttons of her bodice, his other arm a band of steel around her, drawing her close. She renewed her efforts and freed her mouth. Her breath came in short puffs. “George, don’t do that. We mustn’t.”
“Don’t you love me, Cora?”
“Of course, I do. But—”
Something hit the smokehouse door. “Cora, I know you’re in there.”
George let go with a curse.
Cora staggered, her hands shaking as she straightened her dress and re-buttoned her bodice. She moved back from George. “All right, Eliza, what do you want?”
“Father says we’re leaving in twenty minutes. Mother wants you at the wagon in ten minutes. You’d better be there too.”
“Tell Mother I will. In plenty of time.” Cora shot a quick glance at George. His jaw clenched tight, his arms crossed over his chest.
Eliza’s voice slipped into a sassy singsong. “Oh, Georgie. You can come, too, if you want to. We’d all love to tell you goodbye.”
George’s expression grew dark as his eyebrows met above his nose.
Cora sighed. Her sister was only teasing. He took things so seriously. She’d never understand why he got in these moods. “Eliza, I said I’d be there.”
Silence stretched while Cora waited for another sound from her sister. George stood expressionless for several moments before he peeked through a crack in the door. He turned back to Cora, his frown smoothed away as he reached for her. “She’s gone now.”
Cora sidestepped his hands. The fun had evaporated from their little tryst. “I’ve got to go. Please, come and say good bye to John and my family.”
~*~
Cora stood on a high bluff in southwestern Missouri and peered down at the rushing
river below. Two rivers, according to John. The Sac and the Osage flowed from two directions and joined below where she stood, making the Sac Osage River. Father said they’d be home tomorrow if they got an early start in the morning.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. How could he ever call this wild country home? They’d traveled all day without seeing a single settlement. Tomorrow could bring anything.
A cold November wind blew across the river to loosen her coat and circle her body. She shivered, pulled the heavy coat closer around her shoulders, and turned back toward camp.
Eliza met her halfway. “Cora, Mother called you three times. Couldn’t you hear?”
Cora frowned. All she wanted was a few minutes of peace away from the others where she could think. Nothing could be as important as that. “No, I didn’t hear. What does she want?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, the sun is going down.” Eliza gave her a smug look. “If you want to sleep tonight, you’ll have to lay your bedroll out before it’s too dark to see what you’re doing.”
Of course. It wasn’t as if they could be normal and expect to climb into a real bed at night. Cora’s teeth clenched as she followed her little sister to the wagons. She jerked the heavy quilts from the back and threw them on the ground. Animals slept outdoors, not people. Oh, but people did too. She mustn’t forget. She’d been sleeping in the cold for weeks with nothing between her and the glittering stars above. They winked at her now as if mocking her rebellious spirit. She kicked a rock away and spread her quilts near the others already laid out. Every night small, sharp rocks poked and bruised her body while howling coyotes struck fear to her heart. Even the fires that burned all night didn’t shut them up. A vision of her bedroom in the large, two-story brick house near downtown Saint Louis filled her mind.
A sudden flare of light, as her father threw a stick on the fire, startled Cora.
Father’s deep laugh brought warmth to her cheeks. “Caught you daydreaming again, didn’t I, Cora girl?” He patted her shoulder. “Time to hit the hay. If we get on the road early enough in the morning, we should be there by dark tomorrow.”
“Then we can stop sleeping on the ground?” Cora turned a hopeful gaze on her father.
He chuckled. “Aw, it isn’t so bad. Think of this as an adventure, Cora. A chance to better ourselves.”
She stared after him as he walked past the fire toward the wagons. How could his thinking have become so twisted? She sat on her rumpled bedroll and loosened her shoes. Vickie and John strolled by with their two-year-old son, Nicholas, between them. He hung on their hands and giggled when they swung him.
Lenny scrambled after their older brother, Ben, as he stepped away from camp. Cora grinned. Lenny always tried to do whatever Ben did, even though he was ten years younger. Ben, at eighteen, barely tolerated his little brother’s presence.
Mother and Father secured the tarp on the wagon for the night before heading toward their pallets.
Eliza dropped to her bedroll near Cora’s and leaned back on her elbow. She brushed her light brown hair back from her eyes and sighed. “I’ll be so glad when we get there, won’t you?”
Cora’s frown settled back in place. “I’d rather go home.”
“To what?” Eliza raised her eyebrows. “Father can’t sell candles with gaslights on every street corner. Before long no one will be using candles, anyway. Not even in their homes.”
Cora shaded her eyes as if trying to see into the distance. “Well, what do you know? I don’t see any gaslights out here.” She hated the harsh sound of her voice, but couldn’t stop. “There probably won’t be ever. It may be ages before any spread this far west. And if they did, it looks like Father could have helped Uncle Sidney in the cooper shop.” She lowered her voice. “Father just wanted something new. An adventure is what he wants.”
Eliza shrugged. “Maybe. But what difference does it make? Besides, Uncle Sidney doesn’t need any help.” She sat up and pulled off her shoe, setting it neatly to the side of her bedroll. “Besides, you want to go home so you can be with George.”
Cora tossed first one shoe and then another to the end of her bedroll and slipped between the quilts. “I don’t see where George is any of your concern.” She plopped to her side with her back to Eliza.
Quiet descended as the rest of the family settled down to sleep. An occasional coyote and the late night call of a hoot owl sounded, making Cora’s heart jump. How could she sleep like this? She flounced and tried to concentrate on George. He said he’d come for her. Now would be a good time.
~*~
“Mother!” Lenny’s screams pierced Cora’s sleep. She sat up, immediately awake.
A strange, fiery light streaked across the dark sky, plunging close to the earth before disappearing. One after another, the fire lights came without end. Cora sat spellbound while her heart nearly burst in frenzied fear. Had her complaining brought this on? In her imagination she saw God pluck and hurtle the stars toward their camp.
“We’ll be killed.” Eliza clambered over the quilts and grabbed Cora in a death grip. Sobs shook her frame.
Vickie clung to her husband, crying against his chest, their young son pressed between them. “It’s the end of the world. It is, isn’t it, John?” Her voice barely reached Cora’s comprehension.
“I don’t know.” John’s voice trembled. He looked wild-eyed at the sky. “No, of course not.”
“What is going on, Father?” Ben always tried to put on a brave front. “There must be some logical explanation.”
Father shook his head. “Probably. Looks like every star in the sky is going to fall tonight. I’ve heard of meteor showers. Maybe that’s what this is.”
Cora clutched Eliza close as the frightful display continued. Fear invaded her heart. Was this the judgment of God on a wicked world? Once a visiting minister had come to their church and talked of God’s judgment to come. He paced back and forth behind the pulpit, his face red, his eyes bulging as he shouted accusations and threats against the congregation. Cora squirmed that morning, wishing she could shut out the frightful words.
Later, when church ended, Mother told her not to worry about things like that. God didn’t judge good people. Father said their quiet, educated pastor shouldn’t have allowed such a man to take over his pulpit.
Still, the spectacular scene continued above Cora’s head, and she wondered. She knew deep in her heart she wasn’t always such a good person. Maybe she was too rebellious. Flaming fragments of rock streaked through the atmosphere and burned out before plunging to the earth below. An occasional ping sounded as one hit nearby and she cringed from the sound. But none touched any of them. Surely, Mother was right. God didn’t punish good people. Her family attended church. They had for as long as Cora could remember.
She closed her eyes, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, prayed that God would spare their lives. Surely, this was a sign that the wilderness was not habitable. This would not have happened in Saint Louis.
Cora’s body grew stiff from holding Eliza until the fiery missiles began to thin and stopped with the first rays of the sun reaching toward them from the eastern horizon. Eliza pulled away and Cora flexed her muscles. She was cold and stiff. Sharp prickles ran the length of her legs when she moved them.
“Ouch!” She stretched out and lay down, letting circulation return.
Eliza had no such problem. She stood and started folding her bedroll. “Looks like we aren’t going to die after all.”
If Cora could’ve moved, she’d have given her sister more than a withering look. Her heart would never beat normally again. The Kickapoo Indians gave the land back. George’s words haunted her. Now she understood why. Indians were smarter than white men. “How can you be so calm after all we just went through?”
“I don’t guess I’m all that calm inside, but it’s over now. There’s really no sense in sitting around worrying about what’s done.” Eliza lifted her bedroll. “You’d better get your stuff pu
t away. Father said he wanted to get an early start.”
Cora made a face at her sister’s back. If last night wasn’t God’s judgment for their wrong doings, it was a warning. A warning to stay out of this forsaken land. But Father would never turn back. Mother, too, seemed happy to be leaving her beautiful home where every modern convenience had been hers.
Cora sat up and looked at each member of her family. Vickie and John thought they were going to a Garden of Eden where they could raise a family in paradise and John could farm his own land. To Ben, this move was an adventure. Eliza always agreed with their parents so her opinion didn’t count. Lenny and Nicholas were too young to have an opinion. Was she the only one who wanted to go home?
“Cora.” Mother’s gentle hand on her shoulder brought little comfort. “We’ve all had a terrible fright, but it’s over. Let’s get our things picked up. The sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll be at our new home.”
“What home?” The words burst from Cora’s mouth.
Reproach shone in her mother’s brown eyes before she sighed. “I’ll need help with breakfast. As soon as your bed is on the wagon and you’ve cleaned up a bit, please peel some potatoes.”
Cora’s shoes were always hard to find. She searched through the quilts and finally dug them out. As soon as she pulled them on, she rolled her quilts and tossed them on top of the others in the wagon. She grabbed a washcloth and towel then made the precarious descent down to the riverbank to join her sisters at the river’s edge.
Vickie filled a washbasin with cold water and washed Nicholas who was doing a good job of dancing out of her reach.
Cora rolled her eyes at the depth her family had sunk. “Why didn’t you heat the water?”
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