Home to Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 3)

by Nanette Kinslow

  “Which way?” Colleen looked around at the tall trees and big mills, quiet on a Sunday morning.

  “That way. Up the path,” Mark indicated.

  They staggered together through the packed snow, Colleen supporting him whenever Mark felt weak or dizzy.

  When the forest spread out before them and Colleen set eyes on the estate she nearly collapsed.

  “Saints in heaven,” she whispered.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Timothy Elgerson poured his coffee in the kitchen as usual and pulled on his heavy boots. He had not visited the mills in weeks and taking advantage of a quiet post-holiday weekend to do some paper work seemed like a good way to get things off his mind.

  He pulled on his wool lined suede jacket and set his hat firmly on his head, then stepped out onto the back porch.

  Timothy scowled. It hadn’t happened in several years but this morning he could clearly see two vagabonds trudging up the pathway from the mills. They likely got kicked off the train, he thought. He’d give them some food, as he used to do, and a ride into town.

  He decided to toss down his coffee first. They looked ragged and exhausted and he might have to hold them up.

  Timothy sighed, drank down his brew and peered at the pair.

  He looked again and shook his head slowly.

  Timothy took off his hat and shielded his eyes against the glare of the snow.

  The girl looked up and she stopped. He felt certain he had seen her face before.

  She spoke to the man who staggered beside her with his face down.

  He looked up.

  Timothy Elgerson threw his coffee cup into the snow pile beside the porch and ran across the yard, his chest tightening and his eyes brimming with tears.

  “Mark?” He reached his son and the boy fell into his father’s arms. “Oh, thank God!” Timothy held the boy to him.

  “Pa,” Mark uttered, swallowing hard, his lips quivering.

  Timothy looked up at the girl, her face pale as if in shock and he recalled where he had her.

  “I thought you were a lawman,” she muttered.

  “Colleen, this is my father.” Mark swayed.

  Colleen Muldoon nearly fainted from the realization that this big man had been standing in her house. Mark could have left long ago.

  “I thought you wanted to arrest him,” she tried to explain.

  Timothy looked at her and nodded. “You brought him home, that’s all that matters.

  “Welcome to Stavewood, Colleen.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Birget tied her apron strings around her generous waist and sighed. The scent of coffee drifted up the stairs from the kitchen. It seemed no matter how early in the morning she got out of her bed, Tim was there before her. She’d at least try to get a good breakfast into him before he started his day, she thought. She walked down the back stairs and the door flew open in front of her.

  “Mark’s home!” Timothy bellowed through the house and the woman nearly jumped out of her skin.

  “Oh, my heavens!” Birget hurried to the boy’s side and hugged him ferociously. “We all nearly died of worry!” she gasped. “And who’s this?” She eyed the girl up and down.

  Neither wore proper coats, or even warm clothing and both of them looked pale and starving.

  “Birget, this is Colleen, my fiancée.” Mark slipped into a chair at the big table.

  “Fiancée?” Timothy shook his head and ran up the stairs to wake the family.

  “You two look like you both could use a good meal!” Birget thought Mark appeared unusually thin and the girl no better. She didn’t know where he’d found the lass, but she had that fine complexion Birget recognized and she was a pretty as a picture, she thought.

  “We are starving.” Mark fought to keep his mind clear. “Can you make us a big breakfast please, and cover it all with maple syrup?”

  Birget hurried to set out rolls and mounds of fruit and heated up her heavy skillet.

  Mark and Colleen tore into the food ravenously, both quickly regaining some strength.

  “Mark!” Rebecca ran into the kitchen in her dressing gown and threw her arms around him. “Oh, you cannot imagine how worried we all were!” She turned to Colleen and smiled beautifully. “Thank you for bringing him home.”

  “I don’t imagine I could have stopped him even if I wanted to,” Colleen blushed. “He just wanted to be back at Stavewood.” Colleen was beginning to see why.

  “Oh, Tim!” Rebecca gasped. “You have to ride over and tell Emma and Roland!”

  “On my way,” Timothy smiled. “Good to have you home, son.” Timothy patted Mark’s shoulder and headed out the door.

  Timothy Elgerson stood in the middle of the yard and looked up at the big house. He let a tear fall that he would never allow anyone to see. He didn’t know where his son had been, or why, or what he was doing calling the milkmaid his fiancée, but it didn’t matter. The boy was home and everything else would be alright.

  “Mark, Mark, Mark!” Louisa leapt from the stairs and climbed into her brother’s lap. “You made us all so worried. Mama got so upset she won’t even be able to have her new baby now. Why didn’t you come home?”

  Mark looked up at Rebecca questioningly and she nodded her head discreetly.

  “And we had to have Christmas without you, but we’re going to have another. I’m so sad about Sam, but I knew you’d be back.”

  Mark smoothed the child’s hair and kissed her forehead. “I missed you all so much.” He swallowed hard.

  “Who are you?” Louisa looked at Colleen suspiciously.

  “Loo, this is Colleen. She brought me home.”

  “Thank you,” Louisa frowned. “Are you going home now?”

  “Louisa!” Rebecca scolded. “Of course she’s not going home now! She brought Mark all the way back from Missouri.”

  “Colleen is staying here now.” Mark looked at Rebecca seriously. “I’ll tell you all why after breakfast.”

  Rebecca nodded with trust and smiled at Colleen. “If Mark says she stays, then she stays.”

  Louisa frowned.

  “Louisa,” Colleen said to the child softly. “That is the name of my favorite poetess.”

  Phillip toddled into the kitchen and looked up at his big brother.

  “And you!” Mark lifted the child into the air and, feeling a bit dizzy, set him on his knee. “Look how much you have grown while I was away! You look even more like Grandfather.”

  Phillip smiled at Colleen shyly and the young woman put out her hands. He went to her easily and Colleen tousled his hair.

  Rebecca nodded to Mark with approval.

  Birget chuckled and she began setting out stacks of pancakes as Emma and Roland arrived with Ottland. Everyone was barely awake, but filled with relief and excitement.

  Mark hugged them all between mouthfuls and introduced Colleen who sat quietly with little Phillip on her lap eating fruit.

  Ottland walked over to the girl and looked up, watching Phillip eating merrily.

  “Dada!” he announced and put up his arms.

  The family laughed as Colleen scooped him up and both boys smiled broadly.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Colleen Muldoon sat with the two toddlers on her lap, sharing her breakfast in the big kitchen at Stavewood. It was clear that the house was bursting with love. The huge family packed the big room, laughing loudly, their eyes filled with affection for Mark. Each and every one of them stopped enjoying the delicious and generous breakfast or conversation often to pat his shoulder, ruffle his hair and hug him unashamedly. Colleen had always been alone as a child. There had always been only her and her father, and it was clear that, although he loved her, she certainly had been a burden for him to raise alone. The warmth of the big house was overwhelming and Colleen found herself fighting back tears several times.

  Everyone at Stavewood was rosy cheeked and healthy, with the exception of Rebecca, but Colleen had caught enough of the conversatio
n to deduce that she had lost a child recently.

  She could see Mark’s color returning and she sighed. Colleen wasn’t sure exactly how she might adjust to Stavewood, or the families to her, once the excitement of Mark’s return had passed. But, if she could adjust, it seemed a wonderful place to live. It was also clear that this is where Mark belonged and she wanted very much to fit in wherever he was happiest.

  “You two must be exhausted. Colleen, you and Mark come upstairs with me.” Rebecca took Phillip from Colleen’s lap and Emma took Ottland and everyone smiled.

  “Good idea!” Tim hollered as he took a big bite of fresh hot sausage. “We’ll wait here and finish up all this food!” He laughed, his heart light with immense relief.

  Mark finally pulled himself away from the jovial crowd and let the door swing behind him.

  “It sure is good to be home!” he announced to Rebecca and Colleen in the open foyer of the estate.

  Colleen looked up at the grand staircase and caught her breath. Mark laid his arm across her shoulder and smiled proudly.

  “This is home, Colleen. We can be happy together, I know it.” He kissed her forehead lovingly.

  Rebecca took the girl’s hand warmly. “Amazing isn’t it? I came here with nothing. I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else now.” She patted Colleen’s hand, sensing that she was overwhelmed.

  “I was thinking that maybe she could take the third floor guest room, the one with the big bath?”

  “Wonderful idea!” Rebecca nodded.

  “Until the wedding,” Mark winked at Colleen.

  “Another wedding at Stavewood!” Rebecca grinned and led the couple up the stairs.

  “Saints in heaven!” Colleen gasped as they entered the room.

  “Do you think you could make do in here?” Mark chuckled.

  The room was large, with a comfortable seating area surrounding a massive fireplace. On the other side of the chamber there was a large four-poster bed and several bureaus and cabinets. Mark led Colleen to the bathroom and she gasped.

  “This is too much,” she looked up at him, overwhelmed.

  “For you, it is perfect.” He kissed her hand softly. “I promised you it would be better. Enjoy it, Colleen. You deserve it.

  “I’m going to my room. I’m going to get a hot bath and fall into my own bed for a while. Are you ladies okay?”

  “We’re perfectly fine. I’m sure Colleen would enjoy a bath and a nap as well.”

  Mark pulled Colleen to him excitedly and kissed her full on the lips, leaving her blushing in surprise. He bowed gallantly in the doorway, closing the door behind him.

  When he opened the door to his own room he stepped inside reverently, shut the door behind him and sank down into the chair. Burying his face in his hands he began to sob silently. He was home. Colleen was with him and he swore he would never leave again. He cried out his relief privately, took a hot bath and lay in his own bed.

  He thought of Barite and what they might do there when they found the abandoned milk wagon and the letter to the sheriff. He expected that his father and the Barite sheriff were communicating. There would likely still be charges to face, but he needed to get home to gather his strength and he needed Colleen beside him. No matter what he had told her he knew any reasonable person could imagine it was all a lie. Now she was here, at Stavewood. It was imperative to him that she knew in her heart that he was no killer. He needed her by his side for whatever might happen.

  Within minutes exhaustion overtook him and he slept hard.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Rebecca sat on the plush settee and patted the seat beside her and asked Colleen to sit next to her.

  The younger girl looked at the woman and studied her face.

  Rebecca was possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her face was finely detailed, her complexion flawless and creamy. Even rousted out of bed in the early morning she looked well groomed and elegant. Colleen looked down at her stained attire and chapped hands in embarrassment.

  “I’m so awfully dirty,” she sighed. “I don’t belong on your fine furniture.”

  “Colleen, sit down.” Rebecca was gentle but firm with the girl.

  Colleen sat reluctantly and hid her hands in her apron.

  Rebecca took the girl’s hand from the folds of her smock and spread out her palm. Then she looked at the girl clearly in the eyes and smiled sweetly.

  “You might think me awfully bold, and perhaps I am, but I have something I want to say to you and I will not keep it to myself. I don’t know if you brought Mark home, or he brought you, and it doesn’t matter either way. I know almost nothing about you, and that does not matter either, because I know the most important thing. I know that it is clear that Mark loves you. Because of that I want to know you too, and I want you to know me.”

  Colleen never knew a mother of her own. She had imagined all of her life what it would be like to have a female around to know her and know her fears. Someone who could understand when there were things she felt that only a woman could comprehend. Rebecca looked at her with such warmth and kindness that it touched her heart and she felt she must be as open as this kind lady was being to her.

  “I love Mark,” Colleen began. “He wanted nothing more than to come home here, to all of you. He spoke of it, he dreamt of it, he cried out for it when a fever overtook him. For the life of me I don’t know why, in all of that need and desire, he wanted to bring me with him.

  “Your home is so beautiful, and you all love him so very much. I am a milkmaid with nothing. It’s as if I have walked into a dream and I feel I will wake up and he will be gone and I could not bear that. I can’t fathom why he brought me here, and I’m afraid. Here it looks as if the world is so perfect, so sweet,” she confided.

  Rebecca chuckled quietly. “I knew the day that Mark was ready to give his love to someone she would be perfect. Enjoy the dream Colleen and just keep loving him. With love in your heart the world is always sweet.”

  Colleen sighed.

  “When was the last time you had a fine hot bath?” Rebecca rose and began to pull thick towels from the cupboard.

  Colleen looked down at her hands and cleared her throat. “Never,” she admitted.

  “Then you are in for a real treat!” Rebecca smiled. “Follow me.”

  Colleen undressed while Rebecca left the room briefly. She stood shyly, wrapped in a big towel and peered nervously into the tub.

  “I promise you will not drown.” Rebecca returned, her arms filled with more towels.

  “Let me help you.” Rebecca took the girl’s hand and directed her to step slowly into the deep tub. Colleen grasped the woman’s hand nervously and stepped in, then slid down slowly.

  Volumes of bubbles slid up over her and she gasped. The water was warm and enveloped her deliciously, soothing her dry skin and aching muscles.

  “Saints in heaven,” Colleen exclaimed. “I expect I could get very used to this!”

  Rebecca laughed lightly and gathered a tray of tall bottles. “You’re going to enjoy this as well. Relax for a moment and I’ll turn down the bed.”

  Colleen laid her head back and surrendered to the steaming bath. Taking a deep breath she slipped under the water briefly and then slid back to a sitting position and smiled. Colleen decided that she liked a bath very much.

  “Is everyone decent?” Emma tapped on the bedroom door and poked her head inside.

  Colleen lay back and listened.

  “Timothy has sent me up to tell you that you are not to overdo,” Emma scolded Rebecca.

  “I’m fine,” Rebecca smiled. “I couldn’t possibly leave Colleen to her own devices.”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Enjoy yourself, Colleen,” she called to the girl soaking in the tub. “When Rebecca gets finished with you, you will feel like you’ve gone to heaven. She has the finest collection of potions in the territory.”

  Colleen smiled, realizing that there were several women eager to welcome her to Stave
wood. She hoped everyone else was as friendly. She thought of how Mark’s father could have rescued him much earlier, and decided she need to tell both Mark and his father how sorry she was.

  “I’ll leave you two to get to know one another then.” Emma smiled and closed the door.

  Colleen had noticed at breakfast that Emma looked very different than Rebecca, but she was equally stunning. Both women had lovely complexions and attractive figures. Colleen hoped she could fit in with such beautiful women.

  Rebecca instructed the girl to lie back in the tub. Colleen felt too heavenly to be embarrassed any longer and surrendered to Rebecca’s care. The woman lathered her hair luxuriously, commenting on how delicious her curls were and promising that they would be magnificent when she had finished.

  She helped the girl rinse, wrapped a towel around her and left her to dry while she turned down the bed. She could not help but notice that Colleen had a beautiful and voluptuous figure, but her ribs showed above her breasts and her skin was chapped and raw.

  “Rub this all over.” She handed Colleen a large jar, smiling with encouragement. “It’s nearly as wonderful as the bath.”

  Once Colleen was lathered in the emollient Rebecca helped her slip into a silk nightgown and Colleen purred like a kitten.

  “Oh, Mrs. Elgerson. You are being far too good to me. I don’t know how to accept such coddling.”

  “Call me Rebecca. I’m nearly done,” she chuckled.

  She rubbed another of her concoctions into Colleen dripping tresses and ran her fingers through the girl’s hair and Colleen thought she would melt away from the pampering. Rebecca combed the girl’s hair soothingly until the curls fell gleaming onto her shoulders and Colleen returned from her trance and looked into the mirror. The girl who looked back was barely recognizable and she sighed.

  Chapter Fifty-Five