A Bargain Struck (Choc Lit)

by Liz Harris

  Maybe it meant that he was getting used to her. It was hard to know.

  Not that it really mattered much. She had her work to do, and he had his. Apart from in bed, they’d probably only meet at meals, and in the evening Bridget would be with them. And when Bridget was asleep, he’d have the sorts of things to do that he wouldn’t do in the day, such as repairing any worn out bridles or mending the cinches, and she’d probably have some sewing or reading to do. He’d noticed that she’d brought some books with her. So no, he couldn’t see their lack of familiarity with each other causing any problems.

  And he didn’t anticipate any real difficulty with his daughter. Or not for long, anyway.

  Bridget had a good heart. She loved Peggy, and she loved Oonagh Quinn. Oonagh having been in her life since she was born, a friend of both his and Alice’s, it was natural that Bridget would care for her. Of course, whether that warmth would survive Oonagh becoming her schoolteacher, it was too soon to know, but he was pretty sure that it would.

  Whatever he might think of her, Oonagh had been good to both him and Bridget since Alice had passed on. She’d supported them throughout that terrible year, she and Peggy. He didn’t know how they’d have got through it without their help.

  The sound of horses’ hooves reached him, and vibrations rattled the fence. He glanced along the track and saw the wagon, a distant speck half hidden by a cloud of dust. A sudden wave of anxiety shot through him. Bridget would be home very soon. If he was still out in the fields, the first person she’d see would be Ellen O’Sullivan.

  He had to get back to the house before the wagon reached it. He jumped off the wooden bar, spun around and started to run back along the path. He had to stop Bridget from speaking too plain when she saw the woman’s face. Whatever she’d done or not done, the woman he’d wed didn’t deserve the hurt that would cause.

  Chapter Four

  Ellen heard the clumping of horses’ hooves and the creak of a wagon as it drew to a halt in the yard, followed by the sound of a high-pitched voice. A child’s voice. She knew that she should go outside at once, a smile on her face, but she couldn’t move. Standing in the centre of the living room, her back to the front door, anxiety gripped her limbs and paralysed her.

  She thought that at last she’d got used to people staring openly and to the cruel remarks they made within her hearing, that they no longer bothered her and she no longer feared them, that going outside to meet Connor’s daughter and his neighbour would hold no terror for her, but it did. And she stood there motionless, chill dread creeping through her.

  She heard the door behind her open. Two narrow columns of light fell to the floor in front of her and she whirled around, her heart beating fast. But it was only Connor standing in the doorway, his broad shoulders cutting off the light.

  ‘The wagon’s here,’ he said, drawing his breath in ragged gasps. ‘I’ve been running. I wanted to get here before Bridget. I see you’ve put your travel bonnet on. It’s my wish that you take it off and come outside and meet her.’ He stood back from the doorway to let her through, and the stream of light flooded into the room, trapping her in its harsh glare.

  She stepped aside, into the shadow.

  ‘Take off your bonnet and come now,’ he repeated, a trace of impatience in his voice.

  She didn’t move.

  He walked across the room to her.

  She put her hand quickly to the crown of the bonnet. ‘I think it would be better if I kept my hat on,’ she said. She could hear her voice shaking. ‘To make it slightly less noticeable. Not every day, of course, but today. Until she is more used to me. To the way I look. I’ve been thinking about this and I believe it would be wiser.’

  She looked at the floor, and bit her lower lip.

  He was silent for a moment. She sensed him staring down at her.

  ‘And I think differently,’ he said at last, quietly but firmly. Positioning himself squarely in front of her, he removed her hand from the bonnet, untied the bow beneath her chin and let the yellow ribbons hang loose.

  She caught hold of the ribbons and inched back from him.

  ‘I should have told you when we exchanged letters,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t. It was unfair on you. Unfair on your daughter.’

  ‘Yup, you should have told me, Ellen. But you didn’t, and you’re here now. And you’re my wife. Bridget must see your scars some time, and that time should be now. That’s what I think.’

  She glanced past him to the doorway, and she felt the blood drain from her face.

  ‘We’ll go out together,’ he said, and he took the bonnet from her head. ‘It’s only right that your husband is at your side when you’re introduced to his daughter, and I will stand with you.’ She watched him as he leaned across to the table, put the bonnet down and turned back to her. ‘If you’re ready, we’ll go.’

  ‘Yes, I am,’ she said, hastily gathering together some stray strands of light-brown hair and tucking them into her French knot. ‘Yes, I think I am.’

  He started walking towards the door, and she followed close behind him. As they went through the doorway, she brushed against his arm and she felt tension coiled inside his hard muscle. A wave of guilt ran through her.

  They came out into the sun as a plump woman was just beginning to climb down from the wagon, her back to them. Instinctively Ellen raised her hand to her face, but Connor caught it and placed it gently at her side. He gave her a slight smile.

  She tried to smile back, and then looked again at the wagon. The back of a girl’s head could be seen in the rear, just above the side, but she seemed to be making no attempt to get out.

  Leaving Ellen standing in front of the doorway, Connor went across to Peggy Thomas and helped her down the last step.

  ‘Thank you, my dear,’ Peggy said, smiling broadly at Connor as she raised her hands and made an attempt at pushing wisps of greying brown hair into the loose bun that hung low on the back of her head.

  ‘You sure kept Bridget a good amount of time, Peggy,’ he said as he led the horses to the short rail in front of the house and looped the reins over the rail. ‘We appreciate that.’

  ‘It was a pleasure. It always is,’ she said cheerfully, turning towards him as she brushed the dust from her worn blue cotton skirt and shook stubs of dry grass out of the folds.

  Connor glanced back at her and laughed. ‘I’m not sure how true that is.’ He pulled a couple of pails of water in front of the horses. ‘She’s awfully full of energy,’ he said, returning to Ellen’s side. He took her by the arm and turned her to face Peggy. ‘I only hope she didn’t wear you out.’

  ‘Don’t you worry, Conn. Your daughter’s good company. When she’s around, that is,’ she added, looking towards the back of the wagon. ‘Come on, gal,’ she called. ‘We’re here now. I think your pa’s got someone he wants you to meet.’

  She turned to Ellen with a broad smile. A look of surprise crossed her face, and her smile wavered. She glanced up at Connor, her eyes questioning. He stared back at her, his face expressionless.

  She looked again at Ellen, then she went forward, her hand outstretched, her smile welcoming. ‘Mis’ Maguire,’ she said warmly, shaking Ellen’s hand up and down. ‘I’m mighty glad to make your acquaintance. I hope you’ll be real happy with us here in Liberty.’

  A bolt of relief shot through Ellen, weakening her with its force.

  Her knees trembled and she leaned against Connor. He put his hand under her elbow to steady her.

  ‘I’m real pleased to meet you, Mrs Thomas,’ she said, feeling her strength return. ‘Connor’s told me what a good neighbour you are.’

  ‘I’ve been glad to give a hand now and then. But there’s more here that needs doing than I can do, and I’ve been telling Conn for a while that he must get in proper help. Someone to be here all the time. That makes you a very welcome sight, my dear.’ Peggy stopped abruptly, and stared at Ellen in horrified embarrassment. Ellen went red. ‘There are
n’t so many of us hereabouts that a new neighbour isn’t always good to have,’ Peggy added quickly. ‘So you’re real welcome.’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Thomas.’ Ellen’s voice shook with gratitude.

  Peggy leaned forward and patted Ellen on the arm. ‘You’ll be fine, my dear. There’s nothing for you to worry about. For the most part, the folks in Liberty are easy-going. And something else they are, is much less formal than the folks back East. Round here, everyone calls me Peggy.’

  ‘And I’m Ellen.’

  Peggy turned to Connor. ‘If you don’t get that gal of yours out of the wagon, she’ll take root along with the potatoes she’s sittin’ on. Reckon she’s feeling a mite shy in front of your new wife.’

  ‘I guess you’re right at that,’ he said, and he went over to the back of the wagon.

  ‘Ellen here is waiting to meet you,’ he said. ‘D’you want a hand getting out?’

  ‘I can get out by myself.’ Bridget’s voice was sharp. ‘I don’t need anyone to help me.’ She clambered over the back of the wagon, put her foot on the large metal wheel, jumped down and landed on the ground with a light thud. She had vivid red hair, Ellen noticed.

  Connor turned around to walk back to Ellen. As he did so, he held out his hand to Bridget, but she ignored her father’s outstretched hand, folded her arms in front of her, waited for him to walk ahead and then trailed along behind him, her eyes on the ground.

  ‘This is my daughter, Bridget,’ he said, stopping in front of Ellen. He looked back down at Bridget. ‘This is the woman who’s become my wife.’

  Bridget raised her eyes to Ellen, her expression hostile.

  Her forehead creased in sudden amazement and she took a step back. She looked up at her father, bewilderment clouding her face, then she looked again at Ellen. Her mouth fell open and her arms dropped to her side. The hostility in her eyes gave way to revulsion, and she took another step back. ‘What’s wrong with your face?’ She wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘It’s red and ugly.’

  Connor moved closer to Ellen’s side. ‘That’s no way to speak to anyone, Bridget. I’d like you to apologise.’

  ‘Why did you marry someone ugly like her?’ she asked, her tone accusing, her eyes still on Ellen’s face. ‘I don’t want her anywhere near me.’ She rounded on him. ‘You should have married Miss Quinn if you had to get married at all. Miss Quinn’s real pretty, not like her. Miss Quinn would have married you. You know she would.’

  ‘You’re old enough to know better than to talk like that, Bridget,’ he said quietly. ‘What must Peggy be thinking of you? And Ellen. You say that you’re sorry to Ellen at once.’

  Bridget’s mouth set in a hard line and she stared up at him, her face cold. ‘What for? For telling the truth? Well, I’m not sorry for what I said and I’m not going to pretend that I am. She’s ugly and I don’t want anything to do with her.’

  ‘Go to your room.’ His voice was steely. ‘I’ll bring your things in from the wagon.’

  She tossed her hair, pushed past him and went into the house.

  Ellen stared at the ground, feeling heat rise to her face.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ellen,’ Connor said. ‘I figured she’d have something to say, but not that she’d say it quite as rudely. I guess me having a wife is gonna take her some getting used to.’

  She looked up at him and shook her head. ‘You’ve nothing to apologise for. It’s my fault. I should never have come here. Not without telling you first. I’m sorry, Connor. I really am.’

  ‘Her feelings are all mixed up, my dear,’ Peggy said, patting Ellen on the arm. ‘That’s all it is. She’d have found it difficult, whoever Connor married. She’ll come round soon enough. She’s a good girl. You mustn’t think badly of her – she’s still hurtin’ after her ma. All this’ll take her some getting used to.’

  ‘I don’t think badly of her at all. I know this is a difficult situation for her, and the fact that I look like this makes it even harder. I blame myself, not Bridget. I didn’t tell Connor what I looked like before I met him and I should have.’

  ‘Blamin’ people’s no good, my dear, whether you’re blamin’ yourself or others. It don’t alter anything so it’s a waste of your time. It’ll work out fine; you’ll see.’ Peggy gave Ellen a reassuring smile, then glanced up at the sky. ‘I reckon I’ll be on my way now.’

  ‘Surely you’ll eat first!’ Connor exclaimed. ‘I was about to grain the horses, and Ellen’s done some food for us. You’ll have lunch with us before you set off, won’t you?’

  ‘Yes, you must join us,’ Ellen said. ‘It’s not much – I’ve made a thick bean porridge and flavoured it with a bit of salt pork that I found – but we’d like you to share it with us. Wouldn’t we?’ she appealed to Connor.

  He nodded. ‘We sure would.’

  ‘That’s sure neighbourly of you,’ Peggy said. She smiled at Connor. ‘If your wife can do that on her first morning here, I reckon you’ve got yourself a woman who can cook.’ She turned back to Ellen. ‘Most times I’d stay and eat with you, my dear, but this isn’t most times. And I thought it wouldn’t be, so I brought me some bread and ham, and I’ll have that on the way home. The three of you need time by yourselves. Bridget will settle down soon, so don’t you worry. I’ll let you help me back on to the wagon, Conn, and then I’ll be off.’

  A heavy silence hovered above the table.

  Ellen spooned the porridge into three dishes, dreading the meal ahead. She passed the first to Connor, picked up the next and held it out to Bridget. Bridget’s hands remained beneath the table and her eyes stayed resolutely on the table-cover. Rising slightly from her chair, Ellen leaned across and put the plate in front of Bridget. Then she took the last dish for herself.

  ‘I hope you like it,’ she said, picking up her spoon. ‘I don’t know where everything’s kept yet, but if one of you shows me where you store the rest of your provisions later on, I can be more adventurous tonight.’ Her nervous smile encompassed them both.

  ‘Maybe Bridget will show you after we eat,’ Connor said, glancing at Bridget.

  ‘And maybe she won’t.’ Bridget stuck out her lower lip.

  He frowned at her, and turned back to Ellen. ‘Peggy was right. You’ve done well to make us something for lunch. It can’t have been easy in a strange place, and with a stove you’re not used to. I really shoulda shown you around this morning.’

  ‘It’s of no matter. Having time to find my way around the kitchen on my own really helped, and the stove was easy to use. And I’m guessing that the trap door in the pantry floor will lead to a cellar where I’ll find a lot of the things that I’ll need,’ she added with a slight smile.

  ‘You guess right.’

  She fell silent.

  ‘This is good,’ he said after a few minutes. ‘In fact, it’s real good.’ He paused. ‘Isn’t that right, Bridget?’

  Her eyes on her plate, Bridget continued to eat, a sullen expression on her face.

  ‘It’s nice of you to say so, Connor,’ Ellen said. ‘It’s not much.’

  ‘We’ll go into town at the end of the week,’ Connor said after a few minutes, breaking the silence that had fallen again on the table. ‘There’ll be things you need to buy. We’ll all go,’ he added.

  Bridget looked up, alarm in her eyes. ‘I’ll stay here. There’s nothing I want in town.’

  ‘You’ve forgotten that you need things for school. You need a lunch pail, and you need books and a slate for a start, and the only place to get them is Massie’s. And you’ll need a new dress. That’s woman’s stuff. We’ll go to Massie’s together, and then you and Ellen can go to O’Shaughnessy’s while I go to the livery stables. So like I said, we’re all going into town together.’

  Bridget’s lips tightened, and she glared at her father.

  ‘I’m thinking that it might be better if you and Bridget went alone, Connor. I could give you a list of what I need. Yes, I think that would be better.’

  ‘So do I,’ Bridget sai
d sharply.

  ‘And I don’t agree. We’ll go into Liberty as a family.’

  Bridget threw him an angry glance, opened her mouth to say something, caught his eye and closed her mouth.

  They continued eating in silence.

  ‘How far is Liberty from here?’ Ellen asked, breaking the silence.

  ‘About as far away as Peggy’s, but in a different direction. You go north for Liberty and east for Peggy’s. Our neighbours, the Careys, live to the west of us. It takes about half an hour to get into town by horse, a bit longer by wagon,’ Connor told her. ‘The schoolhouse is on the edge of the town. I reckon it’ll take Bridget an hour and a half to walk there. Isn’t that right, Bridget?’

  Silence.

  ‘But she’s a strong girl and she’ll do it,’ he continued. ‘And when the winter blizzards come and she can’t get there, she’s got someone in the house who can help her with her letters. Ellen’s got education, Bridget.’

  ‘If you’d wanted a teacher in the house, you should have married Miss Quinn,’ Bridget said bluntly. ‘She’s got a licence. She’d have been able to help me with anything I couldn’t do.’

  Ellen glanced swiftly at Connor, then at Bridget, then looked quickly back at her plate.

  Connor nodded. ‘That’s true. She’s been a good friend to you – to both of us, in fact – and I’m sure she’ll continue to be so. But now you’ve got Ellen and she can also help you.’ He took two pieces of cornbread from the bowl in the centre of the table and put one of the pieces next to Bridget.

  Throwing Ellen a look of dislike, Bridget dug her fingers into the cornbread, crumbled it into pieces and pushed the crumbs away from her.

  Ignoring Bridget’s action, Connor took a bite of his cornbread. ‘So what did you do at Peggy’s?’ he asked.

  ‘Fishin’. I went fishin’ with William.’

  ‘What bait did you use?’

  ‘Worms. Just after we started, I thought it was gonna rain and I wanted to go back to the house, but William said that fish bite well in the rain so we stayed put. And then it didn’t rain.’