Buckeye Dreams (20 page)

His soft green eyes glowed with gratitude.

“Well, I wish I had been in the root cellar instead of the barn,” Jacob said. Simon Peter had hustled everyone into the secret room Daniel had been sleeping in after making sure the livestock had been set loose. The young boy hadn’t liked going down into the closed-in space in spite of the fact they’d had two lanterns.

“Better there than out in the storm,” Mary said. She glanced at Katherine and Daniel. “You two were lucky you weren’t blown off the face of the earth.”

Daniel frowned, and Katherine knew he was thinking about Scioto again. “Where did you and Simon Peter and the boys look this afternoon?” she asked.

“We didn’t have enough light to look very far,” he said thoughtfully. “I wish I had seen which direction he had gone. I’m going to go looking for him after church tomorrow.”

“I’ll come with you,” Katherine said.

“Jacob and I could use some exercise, so we will come, too.” Adele smiled as her son gave a little whoop and thanked her. “Four sets of eyes are better than two. Do you want to come with us, Mary?”

“Well, I don’t know about me,” she replied. Her foot, while mostly healed, was still a little tender. “I think I’ll stay behind and read my Bible.”

Adele, Katherine, and Daniel looked at each other with knowing smiles. Mary might start out reading her Bible, but she would end up taking a Sunday afternoon nap. But she more than made up for it as she usually read every night before going to bed.

“Well, Jacob,” Daniel said as he opened his Bible, “since we bored you with Cicero for the past few nights, what Psalm should I read?”

“Can we read a story instead?” the boy asked hopefully, “about Elijah and the prophets of Baal?”

As Daniel turned to First Kings, Katherine took up her sewing and caught the glint of gold on her right hand. Her heart jumped as she glanced at the ring Daniel had given her. Mary said she remembered her sister wearing the band on her right ring finger after Joseph had proposed to her, and Katherine eagerly did the same.

She glanced up at Daniel, who was now reading to a very attentive Jacob. He’d noticed what she’d done at dinner and had smiled with approval. Daniel intended that she be a fall bride. When the leaves would be just beginning to match her eyes, he’d said.

Katherine bit her lip and smiled. She hadn’t been able to understand at first what was so different about her appearance when she looked in the mirror over the past couple of weeks. Then she finally understood she was seeing herself through Daniel’s eyes and the love he had for her. She started in on her sewing with a contented smile.

“
I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart
.”

U
nfortunately, Scioto was not standing outside the barn door or anywhere else about the farm by the next morning.

After services, Daniel decided the best way to look would be east of the farm. “He would have been trying to head away from the storm once I let him go,” he reasoned.

After lunch he, Adele, Jacob, and Katherine set out over the fields. Daniel grasped Katherine’s hand, and he showed her what fields had been planted and which fields were lying fallow for the season. But he was clearly distracted, and Katherine knew he was worried about his horse. She glanced at his belt. He’d brought his Colt with him. She just hoped if they did find the animal he wouldn’t have to use it.

“Where did you get Scioto?” she eventually asked.

“He found me.” Daniel stopped for a moment and scanned the horizon. The only things in view were a line of trees and Adele and Jacob walking several feet away to their left. “I’d gotten nicked in the leg by a bullet,” he said as they continued walking. “I was lost in some woods, and I wasn’t sure if I was behind enemy lines or not. My horse had been shot out from under me. Then I heard movement in the brush nearby, and there he was, large as life, urging me to get up. I managed to swing myself up, and he just took off. I was back with my regiment before I knew it.” He sighed and looked over the horizon once more. “As swift and sure as the Scioto River. That’s how he got his name.”

Katherine squeezed his hand. “We’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

“Thank you, Kat.” He kissed her on the forehead.

Katherine was about to ask him why he was suddenly calling her Kat when Adele called out to them. They quickly made their way over to her and Jacob.

“Mr. Kirby, I found hoofprints!” the boy said excitedly.

“They probably belong to our plow horses,” he said as he knelt down to examine the prints. “No, these can’t belong to Belle and Babe.”

“Why not?” Katherine asked.

“They’re too small for one, and there’s only one set of them.”

“Then these might belong to Scioto?” Adele asked.

“Yes,” Daniel muttered and started walking in the same direction as the prints. Katherine, Adele, and Jacob followed. The tracks stopped just before the fence that marked the edge of the Kirby property and continued on the other side.

“This is Elijah Carr’s property,” Adele said. Her face tensed slightly. “At least it is now.”

“Adele?” Katherine laid a gentle hand on her arm, and the woman clasped it.

“This land used to belong to her and Nate,” Daniel said quietly. “Jacob and I could go on. Let Kat take you back to the house.”

Adele looked out over the fields for a moment. “No, I will be all right.”

Daniel started to climb the fence, but Katherine was hesitant, remembering how Carr had chased Jacob off his land a few weeks ago. “Do you think we should?”

“While I was out with Simon Peter, we met up with one of Carr’s farmhands chasing after a stray cow. He said we could look if we needed to.”

Once they were over the fence, Katherine walked on with Adele. “Our house was over that way,” Adele said, pointing to the line of trees. Katherine caught sight of a slate roof.

The field they were walking over was lying fallow, and they lost the prints in the tall weeds and grass that had grown in it. They spread out, hoping to find them again, and Katherine thought it would be worth taking a peek at the farmhouse.

Brush and young trees had grown up around it, and she pushed her way through until she came to a sort of clearing. The house stood before her. It was a small frame house, and as Jacob had said, the glass windows were broken out. A pump stood nearby, and she could imagine Adele pumping water from it to get Jacob or Nate something to drink. Her heart ached for her friend’s loss.

“Father,” she whispered, “help Adele find happiness again.” Katherine had noticed how wistfully the young widow would look at her and Daniel. She knew no one could ever replace Nate in the young widow’s heart, but she believed the Lord could bless her with room for another. And then Jacob could have a pa again.

Suddenly a familiar face appeared around the corner of the house.

“Scioto,” Katherine exclaimed softly.

The horse grunted as she approached, and she gathered the reins that hung broken from his bit. She led him out further into the clearing, pleased to see he seemed perfectly sound. She made certain by leading him around in a circle before bringing him to a stop. She rubbed his neck and he nuzzled her. “We’ve been worried sick about you, boy,” she murmured.

She stiffened as she heard the click of a gun being cocked. She turned to see Charles step out of the trees.

“And I have been just as concerned for you, sister dear,” he said as he leveled the gun at her.

“Charles!” she gasped.

“I’m glad to see there was no permanent damage done.” He was referring to the blow he had dealt her, and she raised a hand to her face. “It’s just too bad I didn’t knock some sense into you.”

“What are you still doing here? Where did you get the gun?”

“As I told you before, you will do as I say. We’re going to leave for home right now on that horse, so lead him over.”

Katherine turned, and in one swift movement slapped Scioto on the hindquarters. The horse screamed and took off running toward the fields. “Daniel!” she yelled as Charles grabbed her and threw his hand over her mouth.

“What’d you do a fool thing like that for?”

“It’s a good thing she did, secesh.” Elijah Carr rushed out of the trees, a shotgun in hand. “You were planning on walking out on our deal. She still has to get Kirby over here, remember?”

Charles scowled at the older man. “Well, you heard the man, sister dear,” he growled as he dug his gun painfully into her ribs. “Call him again.”

Daniel saw Scioto burst out of the brush at the same moment he heard Katherine calling for him. He knew instantly something was wrong. His horse came to a stop before him. Had Scioto hurt her somehow?

Adele and Jacob rushed up as Katherine called for him again. She sounded frightened, and Daniel drew his Colt.

“Daniel, what is it?” Adele asked.

“Something’s wrong,” he said. “Take Scioto and get help.”

Without hesitation she swung herself up into the saddle, and Daniel helped Jacob climb up in front of her. As they galloped off, he jogged toward Nate’s old house, slowing as he drew close.

He reached the clearing and saw Charles standing near the house with a gun pointed at Katherine’s head. “Katherine!”

“Now, now, she’ll be just fine as long as you do as I say.”

Daniel felt the muzzle of a shotgun in his ribs, and he instantly uncocked his weapon and let go of the grip so it hung from his finger.

Elijah Carr took it and, sticking it in his belt, nudged him toward a large stump where a pen and inkpot sat. “We’re just going to conduct a little business.”

Daniel watched as Carr walked around him and laid the sale papers on the stump. “Where did those come from? They should still be with Mr. O’Conner.”

“Mr. O’Conner had to stay with me for a while until the storm blew over.” He smiled meanly. “One of my hands managed to get ahold of these for me.” He nodded toward the papers. “Now sign.”

Daniel looked at Katherine and then back at Carr. There was no way around it. If he didn’t do what Carr asked, either he or Charles would shoot Katherine, more than likely killing her. His heart pounded, and he knelt down, picked up the pen, and dipped it in the ink.

He was about to sign his name when Katherine spoke. “Mr. Carr, all the land in the world won’t bring your brother back,” she said softly.

Carr stared at her. “What do you know about my brother, secesh?”

“I know he died a horrible death at the hands of foolish men. I’ve been praying for your nephew and your sister-in-law. And for you.”

Something hit Daniel’s boot. Carr’s attention was diverted, and Daniel slowly looked down to see a buckeye lying at the base of the stump. He stared at it in amazement, not because it was nowhere near the season for the nuts to fall but because of the letters he saw etched in it. J. M. K. Jonah Michael Kirby. Praying that he was not imagining things, he laid the pen down and rose.

Carr looked at him then noticed the unsigned papers. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“We’ve all been praying for you, Elijah,” he replied. “Even Adele. Even me.”

A look of amazement fell over Carr’s face, much to Daniel’s surprise. He didn’t know the man’s face could look anything but greedy and hateful. His mother had been right. He should have been praying for the man all along.

“Mr. Carr, I—” Katherine began. She winced as Charles roughly grabbed her arm.

Daniel had to fight the urge not to do something stupid.

“My sister is obviously disturbing you, sir,” he said. “So we’ll be on our way.”

Carr’s face resumed its normal expression. “Just what makes you think you’re free to leave?”

“It was part of the deal,” Charles snapped.

“I don’t deal with Johnny Rebs,” Carr replied, turning his shotgun toward the pair.

Katherine screamed as Charles shot Elijah Carr in the chest. The man fell to the ground, and Daniel dove for his gun. He pulled it from Carr’s belt, but Charles rushed up and kicked it out of his hand.

“Your turn now, Billy Yank,” Charles sneered, aiming right at Daniel’s head.

A shot rang out, and Charles slumped to the ground next to Carr. Daniel heard Katherine gasp as his own brother stepped from the bushes.

Jonah looked at him. “Guess it was his turn.”

T
he babble of Mill Creek filled Katherine’s ears as she sank down on a rock by the water’s edge. She breathed deeply and looked out over her peaceful surroundings, but her hands were still shaky and she still could not quite believe what had happened. Her brother was dead, and Elijah Carr had only survived long enough to die in his own bed.

When Charles had left the Kirby farm, he had wandered onto Elijah Carr’s land and found the Stephenses’ old farmhouse. According to one of Carr’s farmhands, he’d been staying there for the past two weeks before being discovered the day of the storm. When Carr questioned him, he realized he could use him to get Daniel to sign the sale papers.

She began to shake as the whole episode played out in her head once more. If it hadn’t been for Jonah, Daniel would be dead right now, and she would be getting dragged back to South Carolina to be forced into a loveless marriage.