by Irene Brand
“I think so, but I’d better rescue your passengers first.” He lifted the bridle of the gray horse and eased slowly into the water. Before he reached the side of the truck, Tom called, “My passengers are Julia Mayfield and her nephew, Bobby. Ma’am, meet David Armstrong.”
Julia acknowledged the introduction, and as David reined his horse close to the truck, she noted again that he looked too perfect to be real.
“I’ll take the boy to safety first and come for you.” His voice, deep and compassionate, conveyed genuine concern over their predicament.
Bobby pulled back and hid his face on Julia’s breast. “No.”
David flashed his even white teeth in a smile. “No reason to be afraid, Bobby. My horse wants to take you for a ride.”
Bobby glanced up at Julia. “Horsey?”
“Yes, just like the one you play with at home, only a lot bigger,” she encouraged, with a grateful glance toward their rescuer.
“Open the door, and I’ll reach in for him.”
Bobby whimpered piteously and cringed against Julia, but he relaxed somewhat when she said calmly, “It will be fun. You’ll see.”
Perhaps the man’s irresistible smile made Bobby more confident, for he lifted his hands without further protest. David took the boy in his arms. Guiding the horse with his knees, he delivered Bobby to Tom, whirled the horse, and again splashed through the creek toward the truck.
In a deep, calm voice, he asked, “Do you want to ride astride behind me? Or I can hold you in front like I did the boy.”
Julia glanced at her short, narrow skirt, envisioning what a spectacle she’d make astride a horse. “You’d better take me the same way you did Bobby.”
David moved behind the saddle and leaned toward her. “Step out of the truck, and I’ll lift you.”
Julia suddenly understood Bobby’s fears. As she stepped on the narrow running board, the muddy water lapped at the soles of her shoes, and a quick glance at the swift-flowing stream made her feel dizzy. She was no lightweight. Could this man lift her, or would she fall into the creek?
She raised her hands, and his muscular arms wrapped around her waist. He lifted her without noticeable effort and cradled her gently on the saddle with his left arm, guiding the horse with his right hand. When they left the creek bed, David carefully lowered her to the ground.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
Bobby’s shoes were already muddy, so Julia let him explore the area while the men prepared to tow the truck to land. Tom walked into the water, took a long chain out of the truck bed, connected it to the front of his vehicle, and tossed the other end to David. He fastened the chain to his saddle and stepped to the horse’s head.
“Wait until I get behind the truck,” Tom said. “I’ll push and help the horse a little.”
Watching as David calmly encouraged the large gray horse to pull the truck, Julia was impressed by his patience. He gently urged the horse by patting its neck and speaking softly. “Come on, Clyde, pull a little harder. You can do it.” Within a short time, the pickup was out of the water and parked beside the road.
“We’ll leave the truck here till mornin’,” Tom said.
“What about my suitcases?” Julia protested. She could manage with the clothes she wore, but she would need changes for Bobby.
“How many do you have?” David asked.
“Three.”
“I’ll strap one behind Clyde’s saddle, and I’ll carry the other two.”
David reached inside the truck bed and removed her luggage as well as a small mailbag. He turned to Julia. “You and the boy can ride. Tom and I will walk.”
Considering the width of the saddle and her narrow skirt, Julia shook her head. “Thank you, but Tom’s clothes and boots are wet, and he must be uncomfortable. Why can’t he ride and carry Bobby? I’ll walk and help with the luggage.”
David lifted his eyebrows speculatively. “It’s over three miles to Mistletoe.”
“That’s all right. I’m used to walking.”
Tom argued stubbornly but finally agreed to ride the horse and hold Bobby in front of him. Julia guessed that Tom probably had grandchildren, for he soon gained Bobby’s confidence. The child snuggled against him and put one chubby hand on the reins. It was obvious that Bobby was more at ease with the mail carrier than he was with her.
She changed from black patent pumps to flat-heeled walking shoes. Against David’s protest, she insisted on carrying the medium-sized case, leaving him with the larger one. They walked a mile or more in companionable silence until David cleared his throat hesitantly. “Normally I don’t meddle in a stranger’s business, but I am curious to know why you’re visiting Mistletoe.”
Julia had been wondering how she would go about finding Bobby’s family. She was acutely aware that the afternoon was waning, and she didn’t know where she could spend the night. Perhaps David was the one to advise her.
“Do you know where the Walden family lives?”
David sliced an astonished glance in her direction. “You’ve come to visit them?”
She nodded. “I didn’t intend to stay with them, but I may have to. Tom said there isn’t a hotel in Mistletoe.”
“Do the Waldens know you’re coming?” David persisted.
Julia shook her head.
“Well, Miss…” He looked at her left hand. “It is Miss Mayfield?”
“That’s right. I’m not married. Bobby is my nephew.”
“Ever since Mr. and Mrs. Walden received word that their son, Robert, was killed in the war, they seldom leave the house,” David explained. “Their door is closed to all visitors.”
Startled by this information, Julia stopped in her tracks. Her mind reeled in confusion.
“You won’t be welcomed by the Waldens,” he continued. “I don’t mean to pry, but before we reach their house, I should know what brought you here.”
“Bobby is their grandson,” Julia said.
David stopped abruptly and stared at her in disbelief.
They continued walking slowly as Julia explained, “My sister, Margaret, worked in Washington, D.C., during the war. She met Robert Walden shortly before he was shipped overseas to the Pacific battlefront. They had a quick courtship and were married a few days before he boarded a train for the West Coast.” Julia stumbled and quickly righted herself. “Soon after their baby, Bobby, was born, Margaret became ill. She had strep throat as an infant, which led to rheumatic fever, and she’d suffered health problems the rest of her life. When Bobby was about a month old, she developed an infection in the lining of her heart and died.”
The woman was facing a big problem, and David didn’t know how he could help her. He waited for further explanation.
“Margaret received word that Robert was missing in action, and when she knew she was dying, she wrote a letter asking me to bring Bobby to Mistletoe to meet his paternal grandparents. I was away from home during most of the war, so I never met Robert. I thought my parents should have brought Bobby before I came home, but that’s another story.”
In the gathering dusk, her face seemed to register irritation, and David detected a note of bitterness in her voice. Sighing, she continued. “Margaret was my only sibling. I’d always done what she asked me to do, and this was the last thing I could do for her. But I don’t think Robert ever knew he had a son, so I doubt his parents know about Bobby.”
“They may not even know that Robert was married. If they did, they’ve never told anyone.”
“This is the most frustrating thing that has ever happened to me. Normally I’m an organized person, so I can’t believe I undertook this trip without some advance preparation.”
Although he thought it was hopeless, David decided to help her. “Robert and I were best friends, and they’ll come nearer talking to you if I’m along.”
“I’d appreciate your help. The sooner I can make contact with the Waldens, the better. I didn’t expect to be away from home more
than a week, but it’s been that long since I left Baltimore.”
David noted the weariness in her voice. He sensed that Julia was an independent, self-sufficient woman, and the fact that she didn’t protest when he took the suitcase she carried convinced him of how tired she really was. He slowed his stride and covertly watched her.
She was of medium height with a strong body, and she walked with long, purposeful strides. Sunrays filtering through the trees highlighted coppery tints in her short, wavy auburn hair. When she had stood on the truck’s running board looking up at him, he’d noticed that her hazel eyes, with sweeping dark lashes, gleamed from a strong but beautiful face.
David was convinced that Mr. Walden wouldn’t allow Julia to enter the house, and he wondered what he could do with her and the child. No one in the Mistletoe community took in boarders. He lived alone, so he couldn’t invite them to stay at his house. The only alternative was to take them to his grandmother’s.
When they neared the Walden house, David called to Tom, who’d kept Clyde at a slow pace. Tom halted the horse, and with Julia’s permission, David explained her presence in Mistletoe.
“Well, I’ve never heard the like,” Tom said in surprise. “I had a notion that there was something familiar about this boy. Let me see your fingers, sonny.”
Bobby lifted his hands. Chuckling, Tom pointed to the two middle fingers, which were the same length on both hands.
“It’s the Walden birthmark, all right,” David said.
“I don’t understand.” Julia’s brilliant hazel eyes questioned him.
“In almost every generation, the Walden men’s fingers are like that,” David explained. “Robert’s fingers weren’t even, but his father’s and grandfather’s were.”
“He favors the Waldens,” Tom said. “Even his curly light hair and blue eyes.”
“Then his grandparents will surely want to see him,” Julia said, eyeing David hopefully, but he didn’t respond.
“Tom, you take my horse and stable him at your house. I’ll try to persuade the Waldens to see Miss Mayfield and Bobby. If they refuse, I’ll take them to spend the night with Granny.”
“You want me to take the suitcases?” Tom asked.
“I’ll need the small one with Bobby’s things,” Julia said.
David handed the case he carried to Tom and took a deep breath, dreading the reception they might receive at the Waldens.
Chapter Three
As they’d walked, the mountains had seemed to press in on each side of the road, and the shade was so deep that the sunlight couldn’t penetrate through the trees. Julia felt isolated, as if the outside world no longer existed. She stifled momentary panic that threatened to overcome her.
The Walden home was in a clearing on the mountainside. Although it looked rundown and neglected, the house seemed to be a larger, better-constructed residence than the others Julia had seen along Buffalo Creek.
David set the suitcase outside the picket fence and took Bobby into his arms before climbing the steps to the porch. The blinds were pulled, and an oppressive silence surrounded the residence. Julia stayed close to David, trying to draw strength from his rock-solid presence.
He knocked on the screen door several times. No answer. He pounded on the door frame with his fist. Anyone in the house could have heard it, and although she didn’t think she could feel any worse, Julia’s emotions plummeted.
When there was no response, David called loudly, “Mr. Walden, it’s David Armstrong. I must speak to you.”
Julia didn’t hear a sound until the hinges squeaked slightly and the door opened about five inches.
“What do you want?” a man muttered in a harsh, raw voice.
“I have someone who wants to talk to you,” David said, gesturing for Julia to come to his side.
On trembling legs, she stepped forward and took her sleeping nephew from David’s arms. She shook Bobby gently to awaken him. The waning twilight revealed a white-haired, whiskered man with a vicious expression on the stony mask of his face.
“Mr. Walden, I’m Julia Mayfield. My sister was married to your son, Robert,” she explained in a shaky voice. “She died two years ago when their son was a month old. Her deathbed wish was for me to bring your grandson to meet you.” She thrust her nephew closer to the screen door. “This is Bobby.”
The old man gasped, and a keening wail escaped his lips. “Go away, go away!” he shouted. “You lie. I’ll kill you if you ever come here again. I’ll kill you.” Wailing like a banshee, he slammed the door, and a key turned in the lock.
Julia staggered backward, stunned not so much by what Mr. Walden had said as she was by the venom in his voice. Although she’d never fainted in her life, sweat spread over her body, and her eyes refused to focus. Bobby started crying, also apparently frightened by his volatile grandfather.
David quickly took Bobby and put his arm around Julia to steady her.
“Come, sit down,” he urged. While he murmured soothingly to Bobby, David guided Julia off the porch and held her while she slumped on the top step.
“We have to get away from here,” she muttered. “You heard what he said.”
Julia couldn’t stop trembling. Still holding Bobby in his left arm, David pulled her toward him and cradled her head on his right shoulder.
In spite of the warmth and tenderness of his friendly embrace, Julia had never felt so alone in her life. Twilight was creeping into this isolated hollow. She was among strangers. She’d never before been solely responsible for the care of a child. A man had just threatened to kill her, and another man, whom she’d met only a few hours earlier, was holding her in his arms. Things like this didn’t happen to Julia Mayfield. Surely she would wake up soon and realize it was only a dream.
David knew he had to take Julia and Bobby to safety right away. Mr. Walden might be aiming a shotgun at them this very minute. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d used a gun to drive trespassers off his property.
Julia didn’t look like she was in any condition to walk, and he couldn’t carry both her and Bobby too. When Julia took a deep breath and stood, David decided that he had apparently underestimated her strength.
“I don’t think he was joking about shooting us, so we’d better move on. I’m sorry to have caused you all of this trouble, Mr. Armstrong, but I have no choice except to impose on you further. If your grandmother will let us stay with her tonight, I’ll make arrangements to return to Maryland tomorrow.”
“It’s no trouble, miss,” David assured her. “Granny likes to have company. It’s not too far now. She’ll welcome Bobby and you.”
Bobby stirred in his arms, but the boy didn’t say anything so David figured he was napping again. Nightfall came rapidly in this deep hollow, and David wanted to reach Granny’s house before dark. He doubted that Julia had ever been in such an isolated area, and at night, these mountains could be intimidating to a stranger.
His admiration for Julia Mayfield increased steadily during the rest of their journey. She matched his stride step for step, and if she wanted to walk more slowly, she didn’t mention it. Slanting a sidewise glance toward her, he saw that her chin suggested a stubborn streak. Drops of moisture clinging to the smooth forehead of her oval face had dampened a few tendrils of her hair, which gleamed like gold in the fading sunlight.
David’s wife had died a few months before he’d enlisted in the army. During the war, he’d focused on his job and pushed personal needs into the background. Suddenly it struck him like a sledgehammer that he had been lonely. Without realizing it, he’d longed for a companion to walk beside him, rejoicing when life was good but never faltering when bad times came their way.
He sensed that Julia Mayfield was that kind of woman, but he surmised that she was as far out of his reach as the moon and the stars. She would probably leave Mistletoe tomorrow, and he would have nothing but the memory of a few fleeting hours of her company.
They came to a small clearing along the creek where a
church and a schoolhouse were located. “I suppose this is Mistletoe,” Julia commented with a bitter laugh.
“This is it, ma’am. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“I wish you’d call me Julia.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “Folks around here mostly go by first names. I’m David. As for my grandmother, just call her Granny. Everybody in these parts does.”
“Are we close to her house? If not, I’d better carry Bobby. For a two-year-old, he’s quite a load. I’ve been lugging him around for the past week, so I know how heavy he can be.”
“I’m all right,” David assured her. “After carrying a heavy duffel bag all during the war, Bobby seems light as a feather.” Pointing, he added, “See the log cabin in the hollow straight ahead? That’s Granny’s house.”
This will be a first, Julia thought humorously. During the war years she’d slept in a lot of different places but never in a log cabin. As she walked steadily beside David, she surveyed the area he’d indicated.
The cabin had the splendor and patina of long years of habitation. Several rocking chairs stood invitingly on a porch that ran the length of the cabin. In the pale light shining from the windows, Julia saw a black hound unwind lazily from the porch and, with tail wagging, run toward them. Barking joyfully, a pup followed the older dog. David spoke quietly to the animals. The barking ceased, but the dogs stuck close to David’s heels as they crossed a small level field to the cabin site.
Julia’s heart was touched by the beauty and serenity of the rustic dwelling. When they drew nearer, a tall, gaunt, gray-haired woman stepped out onto the porch and raised her hand in greeting.
“Hey, Granny,” David said when they reached the porch. “I’ve brought Julia Mayfield and her nephew, Bobby, to spend the night with you. They’re from Maryland. Julia, this is my grandmother, Elizabeth Armstrong.”
Without asking questions, Granny said, “Well, come on in! You’re just in time for supper.” Reaching for Bobby, she added, “Give me that precious baby.”
