by Caryl McAdoo
“But you were grown, Mama.”
“Scripture doesn’t stipulate any age. John and Patricia Abbott will always be my parents, and I will always be their little girl, no matter how old I get or how far I run away. Just like you’ll always be mine even after you’re married and have children of your own. Nothing can change that. I’ll always love my little girl.”
* * *
HENRY TOPPED A LITTLE KNOLL. The trace curved a bit, then he saw it. A steep hill that was more than a pretty good pull. He checked the western sky. Another hour or better of light, but not enough to tackle it this late. He reined to the side, then turned around and signaled for Sue to stop next to him. “Let’s camp here tonight.”
She pulled her wagon parallel to his and stopped with about ten feet between them. “We’ve got better than an hour of light. We can make another mile or two, can’t we?”
He jumped down, went around, and pointed at the incline. “That’s a hard pull, Sue. We may not make it without doubling the teams. We won’t know until I try, but we’ll have a better chance with fresh animals.”
She looked to the west and then faced him. “You’re right; first light will be best.”
He couldn’t have been more pleased or proud of her. Not even a debate. He held out his hand, and she took it and stepped down.
Rebecca stood on the edge and held out her arms. “Catch me.”
He did and then leaned in close to her ear. “After supper, before you go to sleep, give me the ring, all right?”
She nodded with tight lips so as not to give any secret away, then slid down.
By the time Henry and Levi had seen to the mules, Sue and Rebecca had a cook fire going with fatback sizzling in a thick layer of sliced potatoes. Henry stopped at the back of his wagon. Someone grabbed his pants leg, and he jumped. Rebecca stood behind him holding the ring out.
He bent and took it. “Ah, thank you, darling daughter.”
She giggled and hugged his waist. “You’re welcome.” Then she stopped abruptly and pointed.
The hairs on the back of Blue Dog’s neck bristled.
“What is it, boy?”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
SUE TOOK BECKY’S HAND, then joined Henry and Blue Dog at the top of the knoll they’d stopped on. She could make out the shape of a wagon. Its canvas top’s lighter gray contrasted against the darker shades of the far tree line. The sound of tinkling brass drifted on the evening breeze. “Are those bells I hear?”
“Afraid so.” Henry kneeled beside Blue, whispered something in his ear, and then pointed toward the woods off to the right. The dog trotted off.
Levi stepped to the side of the man he’d come to admire so much with the powder horn draped over his chest and his long gun in hand. “Where you want me?”
“Ease out with Blue, but stay where you can see them. Warn me if anyone slips out of the back or the bottom of their wagon.”
Sue moved closer and spoke under her breath. “Do you know who they are?”
“Only ones I know who bell their teams are gypsies.”
She’d heard stories about the traveling vagabonds but had never been around any. “I thought they were fortune-tellers and jugglers and the like, happy heathen who entertained.” As the wagon neared, the bells’ tinkling increased, and she could make out a man and woman in the driver’s seat.
“True enough. They’ll do all that while they’re stealing you blind.”
“Really?” She hadn’t heard anything about that.
He looked at her and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. They sure will.” The visitors pulled up to the top of the knoll where he and Sue waited. Henry waved and smiled. “Hello.”
The man reined in a scraggy pair of mules. “Smelled your smoke, neighbor. Mind if we camp here with you? For the fellowship and safety. We’ve got plenty of food to share.”
Becky stepped out. “Are you gypsies?”
The older woman in the seat burst out laughing. “Oh, my, no, child. My husband’s a gunsmith by trade.” She turned to Sue. “You have a beautiful daughter. I’ve got two girls of my own in back.”
The news of girls to play with obviously thrilled her daughter. Becky jumped up and down. “Can they stay, Mister Daddy?” She quickly covered her mouth, “Oops. Can they, please?”
“What did you just call him?”
“Sorry, Mama, didn’t mean to.”
Henry looked to Sue. She smiled and held her hand out toward their fire. “We were about to have supper. Certainly, you’re welcome to camp with us.”
The gunsmith nodded and waved his reins over the mules. “Thank you, ma’am. Mighty grateful for the hospitality and company.” He drove his team near the other two wagons and set the brake.
“Come on, girls. Come meet everyone.” Two comely young ladies climbed out from the back of the wagon. The younger appeared to be about Levi’s age, the older in her early twenties maybe.
“They’re old!” Becky pouted. “I wanted to play house with our dolls.”
The older of the two kneeled beside her. “Oh, but a girl is never too old for that. Let me see your baby. I still love playing house. Don’t all young women?”
While Becky showed off her Trudy, Levi came trotting into camp with Blue and his eyes seemingly glued on the younger daughter. He was smiling ear to ear. The girl acted somewhat shy but kept looking back over toward him. He walked up to her and extended his hand, pulled it right back and rubbed it on his breeches, then held it toward her again. “My name’s Levi Baylor. What’s yours?”
She offered the tips of her fingers. “Grace. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Levi.”
After introductions and pleasantries were exchanged all around, Henry went to help the man hobble his mules, and his wife brought a slab of ham and sweet potatoes from her larder to add with what Sue already had cooking. Sue made room for her pan on the fire. “It’s been a while since we’ve had ham.”
“We bought it already butchered for our trip north and after we get settled. We’ve been eating high on the hog I guess you could say.” She laughed.
“So how long have you been on the trace now?”
“We’re two days out of Jefferson. Them mules he bought off those gypsies don’t seem very healthy. Had a heap of trouble getting over two pretty good-size hills. One’s just there behind us.”
“Yes, we wanted our teams to be fresh to go over, so figured we’d wait till the morning.” Sue checked on the Dutch oven. “Biscuits are almost done, and there’ll be plenty.”
* * *
HENRY HANDED THE RIFLE BACK. “Nice piece, a bit heavy though.”
“It’s that, but shoots true for better than a hundred paces.” The man set the long gun back in his wagon. “Anything else you interested in?”
“No, sir, but thank you. Any news you care to share?”
For the next few minutes, while the ladies finished supper, He listened to the man run down President Jackson and praise Henry Clay, his opponent. Henry had not expected the news to be a lecture on the evils of Andrew Jackson. Finally, he held a hand up, palm toward the visitor. “May all be true; but I don’t think so. We don’t need a bunch of banknotes floating around getting people cheated out of their hard-earned money. To my thinking, Jackson’s the better man.”
The smith looked like he wanted to fight, might have started something if he’d been a few years younger. “You can’t say that. You have no idea what he’s doing to the country.”
Henry did know, leastwise best he could from month-old newspapers that he got semiregularly. The man’s older daughter joined her father, so Henry decided not to say more. Ladies usually didn’t care for political discussions. He nodded as she slipped her arm into her father’s.
She smiled. “Did I hear right? Your name is Buckmeyer, and the lady is a Baylor?”
“That’s correct.” He turned back to her father. “When you get to Titus’s Trading Post in Pleasant Mound, ask the man for some tobacco for your mules. Looks like
they may be wormy.”
“Hadn’t thought of that, but I sure will. Thank you kindly.”
The girl smiled every time he glanced her way and batted her lashes a bit too much. “Oh, I almost forgot. Mama sent me to fetch you men. Supper’s ready.”
Through the whole meal, Henry could feel the young woman’s eyes on him. He avoided even looking her direction. Were all girls that age man crazy? Or was it really baby crazy, and they just needed a partner? He was proud Sue had never acted like that, at least not with him, but he figured Andrew Baylor may have gotten a good dose of it.
He noticed her watching the girl watching him a time or two. He loved what a lady she was. He faced the girl’s mother. “Ma’am, might I impose on you and yours to keep an eye on our little miss? I’d like to take Mis’ess Baylor here on a little walk.”
The woman nodded, glancing at her older daughter, then looked back. “Well, certainly, we’ll be glad to.”
Rebecca jumped to her feet with a grin wider than Levi’s. “And I won’t be hard to watch either. It’s about time for me to get to sleep anyway.”
Henry smiled at her and stood. “Yes, ma’am, you’re right. We’ll need to be gone first light.” He extended his hand toward Sue. “Ma’am? A walk?”
She let him pull her to her feet but didn’t release his hand. “Of course.”
He led her to the top of the knoll, then started down the other side. “You’re such a lady, Sue, and I sure do appreciate you.”
“Oh, I don’t know. You might not say that if you knew what I was thinking. In my mind, I sent Blue after that young woman three times. He just didn’t get the message. You’ve got to teach me how to do that thing you do with him.”
“You might sic him on me then.” Henry laughed.
“Never! And he probably wouldn’t mind me anyway.” She straightened her shawl, pulling it tighter around her. “Now with Becky, he might just take her side over yours.”
“I best not ever cross her then. Don’t know if I could whip Blue in a fair fight.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone you couldn’t whip, fair fight or not.”
He laughed again. “Now don’t go to thinking that. I wouldn’t want you matching me against one of the prizefighters. Those monsters are vicious.”
She stepped in closer and put both of her hands on his chest, then peered into his eyes. “Wouldn’t matter how big or vicious they were, you’d win.”
He loved hearing her tell it, but he wasn’t so sure. He had taken a few beatings in his day. But he needed to get to it; he hadn’t brought her out there alone for small talk. “Want to keep walking or sit a spell? Thought we might star-gaze some.”
She leaned back, looking a bit surprised, then smiled. “Sitting would be fine. I do love enjoying the beauty of the Lord’s night sky. I love the stars.”
He helped her to the ground, then sat close beside her with his back to a pine. He had practiced this but seemed all out of kilter. How to start?
“Aren’t they beautiful? Like diamonds in the heavens. Did you know God has every star named?”
“One of the later Psalms, near the end, David said God has them numbered and calls them all by their names.”
She leaned out from the tree. “Henry Buckmeyer, you never cease to amaze me. How is it that you’ve read the Word enough to know such things yet escaped God’s wonderful plan of redemption?”
“Isn’t God or His Word that I have trouble with. It’s men and their religious rules, judgments, and self-righteousness. No one could look at such a sight”—he waved his hand across the expanse of the starry sky—“and not believe in a higher power.”
He rose and turned toward her on one knee, looked her square in the eye. “Sue, I’ve come to admire you more than you can know. These days on the trace—they’ve been the happiest days of my life. I can’t imagine going back and leaving you. I love you, Susannah Baylor, and I’d be the proudest man in Texas if you’d agree to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
She sat back, stunned. “Marry you! Marry you?”
“That’s right, Susannah. I’m asking if you’ll spend the rest of your life with me, because I sure want to spend mine with you.”
Total fulfillment and elation soured to heartbreak in the time it took for her to digest his proposal. The yes died on her lips. She never looked away from his eyes. “Oh, Henry! There’s nothing I’d ever want more! But I can’t say yes, even though my heart is aching inside to have to tell you that I can’t.” She shook her head. “It was my fault Andrew died. I made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break no matter how much I want to.”
“Let me rephrase my question, then.” He grinned. “Susannah Baylor, if your father gives us his blessing, will you marry me?”
Her heart leapt and skipped a beat, and a tear flowed from her blurry eyes to her chin. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t deserve it. Oh, God, how could he love her? “Oh, Henry, how did you know about my father?”
He slipped his hand over hers. “Men and boys don’t sit around and gossip all day, but we do talk about the important things, like the most beautiful widow in the Red River Valley.”
She laughed, tears streaming over her cheeks. “Oh? And what do they say?”
He took her face in both hands and gently wiped her tears back with his thumbs. “Consensus is she’ll be a good-looking widow the rest of her life.”
“Well, why do they say that?”
“Seems most of them figured going all the way to Tennessee on a maybe wasn’t ever going to happen.”
“And you? What about you?”
He squeezed her hand. “First time I saw you, standing in front of the Sulphur Fork Trading Post with your hair blowing in the breeze staring down that storm; so beautiful and strong. I should have paid a visit back then, told you. I have no excuse. I’d never seen a more desirable woman before and still haven’t to this day.”
Her cheeks warmed. She sat back, hoping the darkness concealed her blush, and smiled. “What a kind thing to say. I’m glad you liked the wind was blowing my hair.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. You looked that day exactly like I’ve come to find you are. Beautiful but resolved, passionate but with a kind streak I could drive both wagons through. You’re so much like my mother, but even more. You’ve succeeded where she failed.” He smiled. “Susannah Baylor, I love you more than life, and if your father is half as smart as you are, he’ll see it.”
She searched his eyes and adored what she saw. He loved her! He wanted to marry her! And was willing to get her father’s blessing! She was getting married! She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes! I will marry you. I’ll be the happiest woman on the face of the earth.”
He stood, pulling her to her feet and hugging her so tight, she became a part of him. She floated back into camp, his arm around her. When he said good night, she thought he might kiss her, but was glad—well, sort of glad—when he didn’t for the sake of being right before God.
Sue lay on her pallet of his furs. She could hardly believe everything that had happened. The difference one day made simply astounded her. She never wanted this day to end, and yet, the stars twinkled in the night sky, marking its demise. The last day that so changed her life had been for the worse.
Back then, she’d never dreamed living would be sweet again, but along came Patrick Henry Buckmeyer. Oh, how awful she had been to him in the beginning. She couldn’t imagine why he would still want to love her, but, oh, how she loved him now. This day, the change had been a joyful one. She couldn’t wait to tell Elaine and all her friends back home.
Then a question sauntered through her mind. It wasn’t one she asked herself but came from outside her own thinking.
What have you done? You cannot marry an unbeliever.
Indeed.
What had she done?
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
SLEEP ELUDED HER. Sue’s mind kept spinning, thinking on every detail. She should be overjoyed; they�
�d be in Jefferson tomorrow. She’d sell her cotton, probably for six cents a pound. More money than she’d ever dreamed. Then Henry would take her and the children to Tennessee. She’d see her father again, and he’d meet his granddaughter that he never even knew he had.
But would Daddy give his blessing? He might not even speak to her. Maybe he had received her letters but written her off as dead to him. Surely he’d want to get to know Becky, though, even if he couldn’t forgive Sue. And now, she’d gone and fallen in love with another poor man with no trade. Would it be the situation with Andy all over again? And even worse; Henry wasn’t a Christian.
What would she do if it turned out that way? Could she live her life without Henry now?
She rolled over, wide awake, and stared at Becky.
It all swirled across her mind’s eye. There should have been a background of white, puffy clouds floating in sunny, blue skies with birds singing. But instead, a dark storm loomed and overshadowed all her happy thoughts.
What had she done?
Did she just forget what God’s Word said? What was she thinking? Wait a minute. That was the problem, she hadn’t been thinking at all.
She must talk with him first thing in the morning. It wouldn’t be fair to let him keep assuming the only hurdle was her father’s blessing. More than anything she ever wanted, she wished it would be as simple as leading him to salvation, but no doubt his mother had tried a hundred times.
Sue had to dig deeper, not let him off the hook so easy with his “I have no trouble with God or His Word.” She could not let him get away with that; she must find out exactly why he rejected God’s sacrifice of love. She had to overcome whatever his objections were. He couldn’t have any decent reasons.
It shouldn’t be hard. If he loved her, he’d share his heart.
She turned toward his wagon and wondered if he was asleep. Tomorrow, Jefferson. Surely, she’d be in time. Henry had seen to it. The buyers just had to still be there so that they could purchase her cotton.
