After eating a lunch of boiled potatoes, ham, and green beans, Preston suggested that he and Wesley walk Sophie together. There was apparently something he needed to talk to Wesley about alone.
Lisa and Maryanne did the dishes while they were gone, discussing Clara in whispers. “I don’t see how they could possibly know!” Lisa said for the tenth time.
“I know they do. We have to figure out what to do with her. She can spend one more night in my house, but after that, she’s got to be gone. She’s getting healthier, and she’s awake more hours. I don’t think it’s safe!”
“It’s not like they’ll hurt us if they find her. They just might be a little mad.”
“Some men hurt their wives when they’re angry!” Maryanne protested.
“Not a Mountie, though. They’re above that.” Lisa wasn’t certain why she was so sure, but she was. The Mounties wouldn’t hurt them, no matter what they did. Well, maybe if they tried to raise a baby bear…
“I hope so.” Maryanne continued scrubbing the dishes while Lisa dried them and put them away. “I still think we should find a place for her to stay tomorrow. I’m really worried. Especially with all the Indians talking about us having a wild animal here. That’s crazy. How do they all know?”
Lisa shrugged. “I think they’re watching us more than either of us realize.”
“So they can tell on us to the men?”
“Probably. I don’t know how their minds work.” Lisa put away the last pot and sank down onto a chair at the table. “The other ladies will be coming over tomorrow. Maybe one of them will want to take Clara.”
Maryanne sighed. “Or we could let her go. Her leg seems to be mostly healed.”
“But she’s a baby! There’s no way she could survive in the wild without her mother, and we have no idea where her mother is. What if she was killed?” Lisa couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to Clara.
“You’re going to make me crazy, aren’t you? Are we going to take in every injured animal we see for the rest of our lives?”
Lisa shrugged. “I sure hope so. I can’t stand to see anything suffer when I know I can help.” Lisa rubbed her bad arm. “How do you like Preston?”
Maryanne blushed. “He seems like a good man. Ask me that again in a month or two, would you?”
“Sure.” Lisa frowned. “I want to make something special for Jess and Theodore’s baby, but I don’t know what. Do you have any ideas?”
“Do you do any crafts?”
“I have a hard time with my arm the way it is.” Lisa glared at her offending appendage. “I wish I could. I’ve always loved the look of crocheted blankets for babies.”
“Why don’t I work with you on learning to crochet? I agree that there are some days you wouldn’t be able to do it. But on good days, why can’t you?”
“I’m not sure…”
“I am. I’m not going to sit back and not let my friend reach her full potential.”
Lisa laughed. “I think I’ve already reached it.”
“I think you’re wrong. At first, I thought you were like my sister, but you’re really not. You have the ability to do so much more than you realize. I’ll start teaching you on Tuesday, if you’re having a good day. Hopefully I’ll no longer have a cougar living under my bed by then.” Maryanne got to her feet. “Do you want help making another pumpkin pie for Wesley? You said he was happy with the first!”
“Would you mind?”
“You know I never mind helping you. You’re my friend.”
*****
After they’d finished their dessert that evening, Wesley leaned back in his chair and patted his belly. “You’re a fine cook, Lisa.”
“I enjoy cooking, but I have to admit, Maryanne helps me some. She’s better than I am, but I’m learning fast.” She wished she could take all the credit for their meal, but she wasn’t about to let him think she was better at things than she really was. He’d find out soon enough anyway.
“I think that’s one of my favorite things about you…”
“What is?” Lisa had no idea what he was saying to her.
“I like that you’re not only always willing and ready to learn, but you give credit where it’s due. You could have let me think that you cooked everything all by yourself, but you told me that Maryanne helps you. I think that’s commendable.”
Lisa made a face. “I wish I was the one doing everything.” She looked down at her hands for a moment. “Maryanne is going to try to teach me to crochet. I’ve always wanted to learn, but I didn’t think I could. She pointed out that I may not be able to crochet every day, but if I can do it some days, it’s worth learning.”
“I like the way she thinks! She’s really a good friend to you, isn’t she?”
Lisa nodded. “I’m so glad she’s the one who married Preston and moved in next door. I need her.” She stood up and started clearing the table. “I’ll get the dishes done while you walk Sophie.”
He smiled. “I’m just glad you don’t ask me to do them while you walk Sophie.”
Lisa leaned over and kissed the top of Wesley’s head. “I won’t. You work hard enough keeping this community safe.”
Wesley watched his beautiful wife as she limped toward the basin. She wasn’t perfect, but in his eyes, she was pretty darn close.
*****
All of the others were there an hour before lunchtime on Monday. Lisa was happy to be reunited with both Isabelle and Elaine. The four women made a good lunch for all of them. Wesley had told Lisa that Monday was the only day he ate lunch at home, because the other men were there and they ate together.
The other women helped her, and they put on a feast for their men. After the fun, boisterous lunch with eight people in Lisa’s tiny little cabin, the men went off to have their meeting while the women cleaned the dishes. After that chore was done, Lisa had everyone gather at her table, and she said, “We need help. The kind of help only a true friend can give.”
Maryanne looked down at her hands, obviously wanting nothing to do with this conversation. “Not we. Lisa. Lisa needs help.”
Lisa could see she had Elaine and Isabelle’s full attention. “Let’s go over to Maryanne’s. It’s the easiest way to explain.” She stood and led the other women to her friend’s house, waiting as Maryanne pulled Clara from under her bed. “I found her the day Miss Hazel left. She had an injured leg, but I brought her home with me to take care of her. The Indians were all talking about how I had a wild animal in my house, so Maryanne agreed to hide her for a while. Wesley searched our cabin, but no one has thought to look here yet. We think that’s only a matter of time.”
The other two women were looking at Lisa with surprise, and Elaine kept shaking her head. “That’s a wild animal. It could kill you!”
“She’s just a baby!” Lisa protested. She picked Clara up and snuggled her under her chin. “Now she still needs to drink milk, so I’m warming a little milk and dipping a cloth into it when I can. She’ll drink it cold if she needs to.” She thrust the cougar at Isabelle. “Here. Take Clara. You’ll see how sweet and gentle she is.” Lisa needed her friend to fall as much in love with the animal as she had.
“Clara? You named a baby cougar Clara?” Isabelle asked, unable to take her eye off the animal’s little face.
Lisa shrugged. “Seemed like the thing to do at the time.”
Isabelle took her and held her close. “She’s so soft!”
With a sigh of relief, Lisa picked up Clara’s crate. She knew she’d won. “She needs to be fed every three hours during the day, and if you can give her a good feed right before bed, she will make it through the night.” She went on to give instructions for the care of the cougar, and Isabelle seemed to be concentrating. Elaine was still shaking her head, obviously thinking her friends were crazy.
Isabelle smiled. “I’m happy to take her for a while. She’s such a sweetie.” She frowned. “I think I need to wait another week to take her with me. I have to get a place ready f
or her, and I can have Dermot bring the wagon next time. It will be easier to hide her in a wagon.”
“All right.” Lisa exchanged a look with Maryanne. There would be a lot of praying done in the next week, trying to keep the men from finding out about their baby.
The rest of the afternoon seemed positively anticlimactic to all of them, now that Clara was settled for a little while longer. Lisa still wondered how the Indians knew about their little pet, but hopefully they would escape notice by moving little Clara to the other village.
*****
Lisa walked with Wesley that night as far as the river that raged beside the small village. “I love walking with you at night.”
Wesley slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Enjoy the walks while you can. The weather is going to turn cold very soon, and we won’t be able to do this for a while.”
“Every time you mention winter, I get the impression that you’re dreading it.”
He shrugged. “You know, I love the Yukon in winter. It’s a beautiful place, but it’s absolutely frigid. More than anything, I’m worried about how you’re going to handle winter here. I worry that you’re going to feel worse with the winter and that you’re going to hate being snowed in. So many women get cabin fever in the winters, with as isolated as it is.”
“I might feel a little isolated, but we’ll be so close to Maryanne, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She nodded down toward the little dog on the leash. “And Sophie will keep me company. She’s been my constant companion for two years.”
“I hope you still feel that way in a few months. Make sure you have everything you need for winter projects this week. I don’t want you to be caught with nothing to do when the snows start. And I have a feeling they’ll be starting awfully soon.”
“All right. I’ll get what I need from Jed.” She was a little intimidated by the shop keeper, but that wouldn’t keep her from getting what she needed. She would rise above her fears and inadequacies, no matter what it took.
“I have an account in the store. Just tell him that you want to put whatever you need on it. Within reason, of course. Don’t go buying ridiculously expensive stuff, because I can’t afford it.”
Lisa smiled happily. “I’ve never had expensive tastes. I just like to have what I need. I don’t need anything fancy.”
“Okay, good. When do you start your crochet lessons?” he asked.
“Tomorrow. I guess I need to go get some yarn in the morning.” She was nervous about trying to learn. She wanted to do it so badly, and she just didn’t know if it would work for her. She didn’t want to be left disappointed.
“I’ll be out late tomorrow night, so don’t hold supper for me. There’s a cougar that’s been coming into the village, and the Indians are getting afraid. They’re saying that you women are bringing on the wrath of the animals just by being here.”
Lisa wrinkled her nose. “How could we do that?”
He shrugged. “You aren’t keeping a cougar in our cabin, are you?”
She sighed. “You checked the cabin yourself.”
“I know. The Indian braves are convinced that you’re keeping one though. I told them I looked everywhere and didn’t see one. They said I should search again.”
Lisa shrugged. “You’re welcome to do so. I promise you, there is no cougar in our cabin.”
“I believe you.”
Chapter Seven
The next few days were difficult for Lisa. She threw herself into learning to crochet with everything she had in her. A bad day on Friday frustrated her terribly, because she’d just been getting the hang of it and she couldn’t do anything for a day. So instead, she and Maryanne went into the village and talked to some of the children. They seemed to understand English better than any adults, which always amazed Lisa. Why did children learn languages so effortlessly? There’d obviously been Mounties posted to the area for years, or the children wouldn’t speak English so well.
Lisa sat on a log with a child on each side of her, Sophie playing at her feet. “Why do you walk funny?” a little girl asked.
“I was hurt during birth,” Lisa answered.
“Did your mama die?”
Lisa shook her head. “No, but I was the only baby she could have.”
“My mama died when I was born,” the little girl told her. “So my daddy had to find a new wife to be my mother. Now I have two little brothers.”
“I’m sorry your mama died. Do you like your brothers?”
The little girl shrugged. “They cry a lot, and I have to take care of them and help my new mother.”
“How do you help?” Lisa couldn’t imagine a girl her age—no more than six—being of much help.
“I carry water, and I help cook.” She jumped up then. “I’m supposed to be fetching water!” She ran off, carrying the bucket she’d brought for the water with her. The other children ran after her, leaving Lisa alone with Maryanne again.
Lisa frowned after her. “I wish her life was easier.”
Maryanne sat down, patting Lisa’s arm. “She doesn’t know any differently, so she probably thinks her life is wonderful.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Think about it. I could ask you how cerebral palsy makes you feel, but would you be able to really answer? You’ve never lived any other way. Each of us has our burden to bear.”
Lisa nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right. I mean, I know that it affects my life in ways that I can’t keep up with others, but maybe it’s for the best. Who’s to say I don’t need to be this way for some reason? Maybe I’m supposed to develop a pill that will make the leg spams stop. I wouldn’t want to do that if I didn’t have them all the time!” She rubbed her leg, very annoyed with the spams, which were particularly bad that day.
“That’s true. See? Sometimes our circumstances make us special. God has reasons for everything He does.”
As Lisa fought through her tasks that afternoon, her leg throbbing and spasming the whole while, she told herself repeatedly that she was the way God wanted her to be. It always made her feel better, because she knew God never made mistakes.
When Wesley got home, he saw the pain on her face. “Let me put supper on the table tonight. You’ve done enough just by cooking it.” He was concerned she’d fall and burn herself with the hot food.
“No, I can do it. You worked all day.”
He shook his head. “Lisa, sit down and let me help you. I can see you’re in pain, and there’s no reason for you to increase that. I’m tired, but being tired doesn’t hurt.”
Lisa frowned, but she sat down. He was right. It was causing her physical pain to carry things to the table, and with the way her leg had been acting all day, she wasn’t sure it would continue to support her. Dropping hot food and burning herself was not going to help anyone. “Thank you.” She knew the words sounded forced, but they were the best she could manage at the moment.
He put the baked chicken and mashed potatoes she’d made on the table, and sat down across from her. “I’ll pray.” In his prayer, he thanked God for bringing him such a sweet, hard-working wife, and asked Him to help her to feel better.
When he looked up, Lisa had tears pouring down her face. “I’m sorry. I’ve been cranky all day because the pain has been a bit overwhelming, but you don’t deserve that.” She shook her head. “It’s so hard to stay happy and smiling when the pain is taking you over.”
He shrugged. “You haven’t done anything wrong. If I went through the kind of pain you do, I’m sure I’d spend all my time being cranky. The Indians would call me ‘Cranky White Hair,” instead of “Sergeant White Hair.”
Lisa grinned. “Your hair isn’t white. It’s blond.”
“They don’t care about those subtle differences.” He took a bite of his mashed potatoes. “Did Maryanne help you cook today?”
Lisa nodded. “I really wasn’t up to it. There was little I could do to even help her. I don’t know what I’m going to do when she’s no longer right next
door.” Lisa truly felt like she was worthless, because she couldn’t do what he needed her to do. Why have a wife if she couldn’t even cook your supper?
“You’ll manage. I have a feeling you work hard to make sure you can do all the things you need to do on a daily basis. You’ll always find a way.” He shrugged. “I can start asking for city assignments as well. I like working with the native Canadian people, but I know that your health and comfort is more important. Just say the word, and this will be my last assignment in the North.”
“I don’t want you to have to give up what you love just because of me. I’ll get used to the North, and everything will be fine.” She took a bite of her chicken. “This is really good. I wish I could claim that it was my work. Thank God for Maryanne.”
*****
Wesley was home on Saturday, surprising Lisa. When she asked him about it, he said, “I told you I’d make you a wagon today, so I’m making you a wagon.” He sat down with a pencil and paper and made some quick lines on a paper. “This is my idea.” He turned the paper toward her so she could see it. “This area here will be for putting anything you need to carry.” He pointed to the back, which looked strange to Lisa. “This part is for when you get fatigued. It will be the most comfortable chair I can possibly make out of wood.” He frowned. “If you feel up to it, you could even make a cushion for it sometime soon.”
“That looks wonderful! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
He grinned. “I really think it’ll work well for you.” He drew a few more lines. “In the winter, I’ll remove the wheels and add on runners, effectively turning it into a sleigh. You can still sit in it when you’re tired, and you’ll still have the area to carry things, but it will be easier to move through the snow.”
Lisa threw her arms around Wesley’s neck, and he caught her waist, pulling her down into his lap. She was startled for a moment, but she dropped a kiss on his lips. He’d never been quite that physical with her, but she found she liked it a lot. “Thank you for working so hard to design something that would be just perfect for me. You have no idea how excited I am to try it out.” Shopping and rescuing baby cougars would be so much easier with something like that at her disposal. Perhaps she could even branch out to squirrels and wolves!
RNWMP: Bride for Wesley (Mail Order Mounties Book 5) Page 6
