Her father opened his arms. Ann stepped into the familiar warmth. “Ye shake the dust off yer sandals and ye move on to the next town.”
“I doubt it will be that easy.”
“It never is, Annie. It never is.”
~*~
Reed bowed to the woman and ran to his horse knowing that his more congenial cousin would persuade the woman to remove her baby to more hospitable accommodations.
The lack of cultivation of the Johnson place worked in Reed’s favor. The narrow road, nearly reclaimed by the surrounding woods, couldn’t hide anyone in a hurry. Reed heard Hugh round the bend toward Tappahannock. Once he’d rounded the bend, Reed gave Knight his head, and the stallion proved his worth. Reed caught Hugh just as the road widened. “Stop!”
“I don’t have to stop for ye.”
“Hugh, we were friends.”
Hugh pulled an abrupt stop. “That’s just it. We were friends.”
“I have one question for ye.”
“And that’s just it, isn’t it? I don’t answer to ye. I don’t answer to anybody.”
“We all answer to higher Power, Hugh.”
“Ye think yer so much better than everyone else.”
“Did ye know that woman was in the cabin?”
Hugh paused with outrage in his expression. “What?” His mount shuffled as he sat forward. His voice was low and vicious. “How was I supposed to know Jane was there? I told you it was abandoned when I placed the fireworks there.”
Shock wiped the anger from Reed. “Ye know her.”
Hugh’s own shocked face answered Reed’s question.
“That child is yorn.”
Hugh’s outrage returned. “I do not know that.”
“I have instructed Griff to take them to Mother Gibson’s. Ye may visit them there.”
“Why should I visit a bawd and her brat?” He scoffed and rode off.
“And what makes ye think she is not a widow?” Reed asked into the night. Disappointment in his old friend rode with him home. He’d known that things and people would be pruned from his life after he’d chosen Jesus, but it had yet to be easy to say goodbye. Griff met him in the hall.
“She’s at Mother’s, safe and warm.”
“Did she say who she was or why she was in the old cabin?”
“Silent as a painting.”
“Nothing?”
“She said thank ye.”
“Hugh called her Jane. I think the child is his.”
Griff let out a guff and slapped his leg.
“Meet me at daybreak, we have to ascertain her purpose. Perhaps Hugh was mistaken.” Reed didn’t think so, and by the look on Griff’s face, he didn’t either.
“Ye don’t plan for us to see her alone, in the morning?”
“Do ye have a better idea? We cannot risk any unfounded stories about her being told. Even if they were untrue, she would be ruined whether Hugh compromised her or not.”
“I see yer point, but I still don’t believe it’s a good idea. The two of us, alone.”
“Can you think of a suitable woman to bring?” Reed waited while his cousin thought. “Neither can I. Meet me at daybreak.”
~*~
A rosy dawn kissed the door of Mother Gibson’s house when Reed ascended the steps followed by his cousin.
The lusty cry of a hungry baby met them at the door.
She was tall, raven-haired, and tired. The child rested in her arms clearly wishing to finish its breakfast. “If ye will wait in here,” she motioned to the parlor, “she will be asleep in a few minutes.” Without waiting for an answer, the woman and her child disappeared to the back of the house.
“This was a bad idea.” Griff clumped across the room to stir the fire.
