carriage. I took the bag of goods the Coleys had given me
into the kitchen. When I entered the parlor, I was surprised
to see Todd sitting at the desk with some papers in front of
him.
“I thought you were going to Mr. Fields" today.”
He looked up from the papers and smiled. “I don"t
need to work there anymore. I just brought home our own
tractor. Soon I"l start working here.”
“That"s wonderful! Can I see it?”
“I was hoping you"d ask.” He quickly grabbed his
sweater and led me to the barn. “It"s used but the parts
work. I should know. I helped him repair it.”
“You worked on this?” I stepped around to examine
the red machine that would sit one person. It looked large
and intimidating.
“It"s a John Froelich tractor. It runs on gasoline.”
“Instead of steam?”
He nodded. “I"m going to buy a threshing machine.
This tractor will pull it during the harvest season. It"l cut my
time down because it"d take longer if I used the horses.”
I was impressed he could use the tractor, let alone
understand what to do with it. “You must know a lot about
farming.”
“I learn a little more each day.”
I hugged him, laughing. “Your dream is final y
coming true! You"re a farmer, Todd.”
I could tell he was pleased, and I was pleased for
him.
***
By the end of March, I woke up in the middle of the
night not feeling well. It was a mild nausea so I thought I
could ignore it and go back to sleep, but it bothered me
enough that I had to get up. I tried not to wake Todd as I
took the kerosene lamp and went down the steps. I waited
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until I was in the kitchen before I lit it. I turned the knob so
the flame was low.
I sat at the table. The mild illness wasn"t anything I
had experienced before, so I tried to decide what could be
causing it. After a few minutes, I stood up and went to the
calendar that hung on the wall. In the news of my parents"
plans to move to town, I had forgotten to keep track of the
days in my cycle. When I realized I was late for the month
of March, my heart fluttered with excitement.
“Is everything alright?”
I turned to the kitchen door. I hadn"t heard Todd
come in.
“When I woke up, you were gone. I came to see if
anything is wrong.”
I couldn"t stop smiling. “No, nothing"s wrong. I think
I"m expecting.”
“Real y?” Suddenly he was wide awake.
“I"l have to see the doctor to make sure, but I"m
pretty sure. Barbara told me everything I need to know
about it.”
He walked over to me and kissed me. “Ann, this is
great news. I never imagined my life would change so much
in a year.”
“I can hardly remember what life was like before we
came out here. Isn"t that strange? I"m glad you took me
with you.”
“Me too.”
***
I couldn"t wait until Thursday to go into town, so I
went to Barbara"s house the next day and we went to see
the doctor. She was as excited as I was when he confirmed
my suspicions. “It looks like you"l be having an early
Christmas gift this year,” he said.
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Of course, I had to stop by the mercantile and tell Mr.
and Mrs. Coley the news. I even told them to let Mrs.
Carson know the next time she came in. I sent a telegram
to my parents. I knew they would be thrilled. The ride home
was longer than usual, for I couldn"t wait to confirm the news
with Todd. After I took Barbara and Molly home, I put the
horses and buggy in the barn.
I noted that Lightning was gone. Todd must have
gone out to the fields to make plans on where he would
plant his crops. He had mentioned needing to do that. I
dismissed my disappointment. It wasn"t like he didn"t
already know.
I went to the house and gathered food for the dog.
Sometimes the cats liked to eat with the dog, so I put the
food in an extra large bowl. I walked out to the front and set
the bowl on the porch where the dog and cats quickly ran up
to me. I grinned. The only time they seemed to care about
me was during mealtime. I sat on one of the chairs and
watched them enjoy their meal. As I rocked back and forth,
I felt tired from the day"s events. In all the excitement the
night before, I couldn"t sleep. I went over to the porch
swing, laid down and took a nap, wrapping a warm blanket
around me.
Patches" barking woke me up. I tried to ignore it but
the dog"s persistence paid off so I sat up to see what was
bothering him. Perhaps Barbara was coming over. He
often barked no matter who came to visit. I frowned as a
man on a black horse rode toward the house. I didn"t
recognize the horse, and it was too soon to recognize who
the visitor was. John didn"t come over unless he brought his
wagon. He usually brought some tools to work on Todd"s
farming equipment. Perhaps it was Mr. Fields coming to
check the condition of the tractor. Did he have a black
horse? I wished I had paid more attention when I visited
him and his wife a month ago. But Todd would be here if he
expected Mr. Fields. He wouldn"t be out in the field.
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Feeling uneasy, I pushed the blanket aside and
stood up. I grabbed the empty bowl and took it into the
house. After I placed it on the kitchen table, I hastened to
the parlor and peered out the window. A feeling of dread
came over me. It was Kent! Why was he coming here? He
wasn"t supposed to come back. He even made it a point to
apologize to my parents. So why was he here? I couldn"t
dismiss the feeling that something was wrong. I quickly
locked the front door and backed up.
Patches" barking grew more persistent. Kent was
getting closer. I stopped walking when I reached the back
door of the house. I looked out the window by the door.
Could I make it to the barn in time? Should I stay here or go
to the barn? My heart pounded fiercely in my chest. Where
was I safer? The distance to the barn seemed to span an
eternity.
The sound of someone knocking on the front door
made me jump. I knew it was him without looking out the
window. I quickly locked the back door and ran up the
steps. I didn"t consider that my movements would be loud
enough for him to hear from outside. In my panic, I thought
if I stayed in the house, he would assume I wasn"t home and
go away. I breathed heavily when I made it to the guest
bedroom, which was the first bedroom upstairs.
Just stay quiet and he’l go away.
Patches continued to bark but I could still make out
the sound of knocking from downstairs.
I forced myself to take deep breaths so I could calm
my nerves. He would go away. He would have to go away.
He doesn’t know I’m here. Does he? Did he hear me
running up the steps? Oh God, why wasn’t I more quiet?
I stood in the doorway. I couldn"t see the front door
but I could hear what was going on. The sound of glass
smashing nearly made me scream. I put my hand over my
mouth before the sound could escape my throat. Was he
really going to break into my house?
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What should I do? What should I do?!
Patches was growling and Kent screamed at him.
Sounds of a struggle made its way up the stairs. I took the
moment to take my shoes off since they made the loudest
sound possible on the hardwood floors. My feet were quiet
as I anxiously made my way across the room. I looked out
the window. I groaned when I didn"t see a tree to climb
down. Todd"s old bedroom had the tree in front of it.
Downstairs, the struggle between Patches and Kent ended.
Was Patches dead? The sound of Kent walking across the
parlor moved me to action. I slid under the bed. The bed
was high but the blanket was so long it was inches from the
floor. I readjusted it, praying that it would hide me. I set my
shoes at my head and closed my eyes, forcing my breathing
to slow down.
Pretend you’re wearing one of those horrible
corsets.
It wasn"t long before I heard footsteps coming up the
stairs. “Ann? Are you here?”
I cringed at the sound of his voice.
Go away!
“Ann, I know you"re here. I saw you from the porch
when I was coming here.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. That was my mistake. I
should have gone to the barn. He would be searching the
house and I would be safe out there.
He casually made his way up the steps.
Don’t look
under the bed!
He stopped at the guest bedroom. I saw a
drop of blood fall to the floor. Was it his blood or Patches"
blood? He walked in and looked around the room. I held
my breath as his shoes stopped in front of the bed. He left
the room and went to Todd"s old bedroom.
I had to get out of the house. When he didn"t find me
in the other bedrooms, he would surely start looking under
the beds. I had to move quickly but quietly. I slid out from
under the bed and tiptoed to the door. I peeked around the
corner. He was inside the room.
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He laughed. “I don"t understand why you"re hiding
from me.” Then he grew serious, “Is Todd here too? Is he
keeping you quiet?”
I made my way down the stairs as quietly as I could.
Since he was talking, it made it easier to hide the squeaky
sounds my footsteps made on the steps. Just as I made it
downstairs, he came out of the second bedroom. I stopped,
pressed my back to the wall, and waited to see if he would
look in my direction. I noted his bloody arm. It looked like
Patches bit him. Kent didn"t look at me. He went to the third
bedroom.
His voice turned sour. “Hmm... It looks like you two
got friendly. I thought you were going to stay pure for me. I
told you I"d be back for you.”
I didn"t listen to him. Every instinct in my body told
me to get to the barn. I ran as slowly as I dared, hoping he
wouldn"t hear my footsteps as I made my way through the
house. I unlocked the back door and opened it. Since he
was still talking, it was easy to avoid being heard.
Once I was out of the house, I ran as fast as I could
to the barn.
“Ann? Are you running away from me?” he yelled
out of my bedroom window.
I didn"t look back. I just kept running, my heart
pounding loudly in my ears. I knew Kent would be able to
outrun me. I just prayed I had enough of a head start to
make it to the barn first. Once I got the gun, he would have
to leave me alone.
I heard the back door slam shut. That meant he had
left the house.
“Ann! Wait! I can forgive you for sleeping with
Todd,” he yelled as he pursued me.
Where was the dog? Where was Todd? What did
Kent plan to do to me? I recalled my encounter with him in
the mercantile.
What am I supposed to do when he won’t
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listen to me? I can tell him no but he won’t accept it. Do I
have to point a gun at him to make him listen?
I made it to the barn. I ignored my shaking hands as
I went to the pile of chopped wood. I nearly cried in alarm
when I saw that the gun was gone. I glanced up on the
shelf and saw the axe. I grabbed it and frantically looked
around. I needed to get to Todd. He would know what to
do. My breathing was so fast that it made me lightheaded. I
forced myself to take a deep breath. I needed to think
clearly. Now wasn"t the time to faint.
Just talk sense into him.
Did I really expect him to
think I was trying to talk sense into him when I was holding
an axe in my clammy, shaky hands? I considered laying the
axe down but something stopped me. What if he didn"t just
kiss me? What if he went further than that? With Todd and