“Aye. She can hear a much longer distance than folks think. ’Twas no distance at all today.” Surrounded by her sheep and Nellie, Beti let down her arms and moved once again to her wagon. She emerged from its depths with a rifle nearly as tall as herself. After expertly priming the pan, she slung the weapon over her shoulder using a brightly woven tape of red, white and blue, that reminded him of the flag.
She ordered the cluster around her and remained until her wagon creaked forward. She was going to stay in-between the wagons.
Thankfulness bloomed as Zeke took his seat on the bench and stretched his leg out.
Beti joined her sheep glad for her hook to lean on especially with the added weight of her rifle hung by a newly woven tape across her body. The trembling would stop soon. She’d been through it before.
And just how many of the concerned mothers who’d accosted her would have let an unattended child meander off into the woods? No one had even asked her what had happened. Oh, Beti understood their reasoning. Of course, she should have known better. An offspring of a pirate learned to be careful everywhere, not just the woods. Heat ran up the back of her neck, and her stomach twisted at the memory of the feel of the bad man holding her so tightly against his body. And the woman with her roving hands.
Beti fingered the letter sitting in her pocket. Her mother’s kingdom. Did the emissaries want her to come home? And when had she started thinking of her mother’s kingdom as home? It wasn’t. For all she knew the emissaries came to kill her off to ensure the line of the throne for someone else. For some reason that Beti didn’t know, her mother had left and refused the crown when it was offered. Beti would be wise to remember that. No more foolish decisions based on what she was feeling in the moment. One of those was enough for this lifetime.
A longing drew at her heart. She would be accepted there would she not?
Of course, nothing was ever as simple as it seemed. After one day on the trail, she’d managed to turn the group of people she’d hoped would be her community against her. They all thought she shouldn’t travel with them, that she’d put them in danger.
With a sigh she looked back to Zeke’s wagon only to catch his eye and a smile. She put a hand to her chest. She would never forget the feel of his arms as they cradled her after the attack.
Beti turned her face to the sun and indulged in a sigh of relief as she exited the last of the swampy woods. Warmth without the pressure of humidity was felt across the stubby field before them. Silas traipsed off to the left, the ewes trotting happily along behind him. Nellie brought them back.
Zeke made his way up the wagon train. Beti brought her sheep forward.
The walking she’d done since the incident in the woods had restored her appetite with a vengeance. Beti carved a generous piece of ham and placed it on a leftover biscuit. She made two for Toby before hefting a water bowl for Nellie and taking a seat on an uneven stump. Silas and his crew munched happily on the new grass sprouting in the ditches next to the road. From her perch she could see all twelve wagons. Mistress Hardbottle and Mistress Baggage each sent her scolding looks in turn. Even Aggie, whom she thought of as a friend cast a worried glance her way.
The old longing once again drew on her heart. She had hoped these people would become her friends. She wasn’t so naive as to think they would be perfect. That wasn’t possible, but the hope of belonging to a community faded with each glance at the families before her bustling to feed themselves and take care of other necessities during this short break. She raised her mother’s bracelet to her nose.
At least they were angry at her for something she had in fact done. The thought made her smile.
“How long have ye had that dog?” The young Curd boy gazed up at her from the shadow of his hat. He chewed a well-formed biscuit with an overlapping piece of ham.
“Since she was a pup.”
“Did she really come to yer rescue in the swamp?”
Beti grinned at the child. “Yes, she did.”
Mrs. Curd appeared behind her boy, “I beg ye pardon, I hope Sammy has not inconvenienced ye. We have been speaking of yer remarkable dog.”
“’Tis no inconvenience to me, I love to speak of my Nellie.”
“Have ye recovered from ye ordeal this morning?” Eyes of soft blue scanned her up and down. “Did ye get hurt?”
Beti looked down to hide the teary response to the unexpected kindness of the woman. “I am well.”
Mistress Curd took a couple of steps forward to place a gentle hand on her arm. “I am sure I would have been frightened to death.” The woman made a laugh-like sound. Strength of mind blazed through the soft eyes.
All at once, Beti understood. “I do not believe that.”
“Do not ye?”
“No ma’am. I believe ye are made of sterner stuff.”
A slight lift of her lips, “Aye, perhaps yer right.”
“I must confess that I am frightfully sorry that I put us all in danger by my mistake.”
“Would ye care to tell me exactly what it is ye did to put us all in danger?”
Beti told her story in a few words. Satisfaction surged in her breast at the mere opportunity to be heard. It would make no difference of course, but she got to tell at least one other person and that felt great.
“There ye have it,” Beti finished. “I am terribly sorry I put us all in danger.”
“If ye account is true, and I have no reason to doubt ye, it seems to me we were all in danger in any case. Ye found it out and made us aware that we are right to be cautious. I thank ye for ye bravery.”
“I am not brave.”
“Nonsense. Ye chased a child not yer own into a dangerous swamp to protect it from harm. That is brave.”
Beti’s cheeks heated with the praise. The woman had gone too far in her assessment. Beti’s contentment lie in the rare opportunity to tell her own story.
The telltale creeping of the forward wagons had them both scrambling for position.
“We shall speak more.” Mistress Curd once again placed a gentle hand on Beti’s arm. “Take heart, ye have friends here. Come along, Sammy.”
The rest of the road to Norfolk was flat with plenty of new green tufts along the way to please Silas and crew. Each time she paused with her herd, Zeke paused his wagon a grin on his face. They pulled into the old harbor town at dusk. The air smelled of the salty Elizabeth River and the slightly farther off Chesapeake Bay. Ghostly shapes of burned-out buildings haunted the horizon. A shiver ran down Beti’s spine at thoughts of the lives lost and ruined.
“Looks like someone is rebuilding.” Zeke nodded to two large brick houses in different stages of completeness.
