In Your Arms (Montana Romance) (14 page)

“
Lily was worried about Two Feathers, about all of you,” Christian said, reaching back into the wagon to hand Lily the satchel of books. “I offered to bring her out with me this afternoon I have some business to discuss with your father anyhow.”

“I see.” Snow In Her Hair
smiled, glancing between Lily and Christian.

Lily felt the tell-tale flush of embarrassment rising on her cheeks.
She was afraid that Snow In Her Hair did see.

“I brought these books for
the children,” she said, stepping away from the wagon and Christian. “I thought that if they were upset by last night’s events, perhaps I could read to them.”

“The children are playing
. They have no concerns for last night other than that their team won. But I am certain they would enjoy a story.”

“
Thank you.”

They
walked on between the houses together, almost like friends. For a change, Christian did not follow her. He strode around the back of his wagon to speak with Sturdy Oak’s son. It didn’t feel right.

“So you came with
Christian, did you?” Snow In Her Hair said.

Lily swallowed the
anxiety that raged in her stomach. “I did.”

Snow In Her Hair smiled.
“That is a good catch.”

“I haven’t caught anything,” Lily protested.

“Oh, I think you have,” Snow In Her Hair laughed. Before Lily could protest further, she called out, “Children, come in! Singing Bird is here to read to you!”

The happy sounds of children playing swirled to high-pitched squeals of delight.
A dozen grubby children hopped up out of the snow and rushed to greet her. Two Feathers stepped around the corner of the barn to see what the commotion was. Lily’s knees went weak with relief.

“Two Feathers.”
She rushed to him, stopping short instead of hugging him as she wanted to. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Why?
Do you not think I am a thief, too?”

It was as if she had been hit in the chest with a snowball.
“What? I…. No! Not at all!”

“Two white men break into the pharmacy, but I am accused and another of our people just passing by is arrested.
Now I am forbidden from leaving my home!”

He turned abruptly and marched off, leaving Lily cold and gaping.

Snow In Her Hair touched her shoulder with a heavy sigh. “He is angry. He says he saw the men leaving the pharmacy, saw the unknown man pause to investigate only to be set upon. We have warned him to stay home until the furor passes.”

“But if he saw the true thieves he could identify them.”
Hope filled her at the prospect.

Snow In Her Hair shook her head and led her on to the big house.
“He will not say anything. He would not be believed anyhow.”

The painful ache of the truth filled Lily’s gut like stone.
She walked on with Snow In Her Hair, sick with frustration. But at the same time, it hardened her resolve. She needed to prove herself as a teacher in Cold Springs now more than ever.

Chapter Eleven

Christian hauled the last sack of flour from the wagon bed and onto his shoulder. His back ached and his muscles were warm and loose with use, but the battle of conflicting emotions hadn’t subsided.

“This should hold you through for a few weeks at least,” he said to Sturdy Oak as the two of them started their last trip to
ward the main house. “You shouldn’t have any reason to go to town until this mess has blown over.”

Sturdy Oak nodded.
It was one of those calm, accepting nods that left Christian with no idea if the man agreed with him or if he was merely being polite.

“This man who was captured.
Did he say who he is? Who his people are?”

“No,” Christian answered.
“Once he saw the writing on the wall, he clammed up. I went to see him this morning, but as far as I could tell he hadn’t moved an inch.”

“He is a wise man,” Sturdy Oak said.
“When one is silent, one’s words cannot be used as weapons.”

Christian smiled.
Philosophical to the core. Philosophy wouldn’t stop a fool with a bad idea though.

“You know
, people think that Two Feathers was involved,” he said, losing his smile.

They reached the main house and Sturdy Oak held open the door for Christian.
“Two Feathers is strong in body and in will. If these thefts had not happened, the ignorant would have found other blame to bring to his door.”

“
I’d argue with you if I could,” Christian agreed.

He shifted the heavy sack of flour and scooted sideways through the door.

His gloomy thoughts were cut short by the sight of Lily sitting on a stool in the middle of the large room, a pack of a dozen children of different ages sitting in front of her. She held a large book with colorful pictures that she showed to the children. Even Red Sun Boy—who sat at the table reading his own book—glanced up from time to time.

“
Who can find a word that begins with L?” she asked.

The children scooted closer to study the pages of the book.

Lily was radiant when she wasn’t angry or anxious. The lines of her shoulders were loose and relaxed and she moved with easy grace. Her face glowed with such care and affection for the children that Christian stopped what he was doing to watch her. She leaned forward on her stool as one of the children poked a finger on the page.

“That one!”

“Lion. Very good, Sees The Clouds.” Lily smiled, resting the book on her knees so she could ruffle his hair. “There’s one more.”

“
I know! I know!” Meadow pointed at the book. “Love.”

“
Yes. Love. Very good.”

Her eyes flickered up to meet Christian’s.
It was only a peek, less than a glance, before her attention shifted back to the children, but Christian felt it as though she’d taken him in her arms and kissed him square on the mouth.

Love.
Maybe it was.

Sturdy Oak tapped his shoulder
. For a moment Christian struggled to remember where he was. Sturdy Oak gestured for him to bring the sack of flour to the pantry. He followed, but the world seemed completely disoriented, the floor tilted. Any direction that he went in that wasn’t straight to Lily felt wrong.

“Snow In Her Hair says you brought Singing Bird to us today,” Sturdy Oak
said as he helped Christian roll the sack off his shoulders.

“She’s right.”
He smiled in spite of himself, in spite of all the things old Sturdy Oak would know from that smile.

True to form, Sturdy Oak nodded as if he had come to understand most of the secrets of the universe with just a few words.

“She is a good woman. Lost, but good.”

“Lost?”
Christian frowned.

“She is like the fawn who wades into the river after its mother, but whose mother is washed away.
She does not know how to cross the river or how to get back, so she panics.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” Christian murmured, rubbing his chin.

“If you go into the river to help her, she may kick you.”

“She already has.”
He arched an eyebrow.

Sturdy Oak laughed.
“You are like the otter, who deserves to be kicked.”

Christian laughed with him.
“Any advice on how to win her?”

“Yes,” Sturdy Oak said.
“Let her win.”

Christian blinked, smile faltering at the old man’s advice.
Sturdy Oak took one look at his expression and chuckled. He then thumped Christian’s back and steered him into the main room where Lily was still reading.

“The mouse said to the lion
, ‘Your Majesty, if you let me go, I promise I will be your friend forever. I may even save your life one day!’”

“How could a mouse save a lion’s life?”
Sees The Clouds asked.

“You will just have to be patient and find out,” Lily answered.
She winked at the beaming boy.

Christian watched her, transfixed.
He wished she would wink at him. Wink and ruffle his hair and a list of other things. Sturdy Oak handed him a steaming mug, which he sipped without tasting. Let Lily win, eh? What a novel concept. A mouse who could save a lion’s life.

Christian’s thoughts and Lily’s
reading were interrupted as the door flew open. Two Feathers marched in, scowling even deeper.

“There’s a woman here,” Two Feathers announced.
He strode across the room to Sturdy Oak, avoiding Lily and the curious children who instantly forgot their book.

“What woman is this
?” Sturdy Oak asked, unflappably calm in the face of Two Feathers’ tangible hostility.

“
She says she’s come with a donation, but I do not trust the look of her.”

“Is this the house?” a woman’s voice sounded from just outside the door.

A moment later Alicia Kuhn—dressed in an elaborate coat and hat full of ostrich feathers—was shown into the house by one of Sturdy Oak’s granddaughters. Isabella trailed behind her, arms full of something wrapped in a sack. Alicia’s color was as high as if she’d run all the way from Cold Springs. Her eyes were wide and frantic as she glanced around the bare wood of the house’s walls and ceiling. She twisted her neck, taking in every detail of Sturdy Oak’s house as though searching for something.

Her furtive glance settled on Lily
. She swallowed a yelp of triumph. A moment later she smoothed her skirts and put on the phoniest smile Christian had ever seen.

“Oh, Miss Singer,” she said.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” The lie was plain in her voice.

Lily rose from her stool.
The children rose with her.

“Mrs. Kuhn,” she greeted the woman.
All of the softness of her manner and expression drained away, leaving the tough schoolmarm. “What a pleasure to see you.”

Christian knew a formality when he heard one.
He set the mug Sturdy Oak had given him on the fireplace mantle and stepped forward.

“Mrs. Kuhn.
” He nodded.

“Mr. Avery, what a pleasant surprise.
And it’s Alicia, please.” Alicia tittered. She had the same civilized smile that Samuel had, a smile that hid knives. “I didn’t expect to find you all the way out here, what with the town in such an uproar. Why, I would have expected you to be hot on the trail of the second thief!”

She shot a look straight at Two Feathers, then, as if she realized her transparency, laughed and sidestepped toward a bookshelf.
Her fake joviality slipped as she scrutinized the contents of the shelves.

It was a struggle for Christian to keep the polite smile on his face.
“I make it a habit to visit Sturdy Oak and his family on the weekend, seeing as they’re friends of mine,” he said. “What brings you all the way out here?”

“I’ve brought blankets
made by the women in my knitting circle,” Alicia announced with a broad smile. She crossed the room to where a carved trunk sat under a window. “Why don’t we put them in here. Isabella!”

The steel in Alicia’s voice
as she called her daughter made Christian cringe. Red Sun Boy stood from the chair where he’d been reading and shifted closer to Isabella.

Isabella
stepped forward, hesitating between Lily and Snow In Her Hair. “Who should I give these to?” she asked in a small voice.

“Isabella, where are your manners
?” Alicia snapped. “Do not speak until you are spoken to! And I told you to put them in here!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Isabella mumbled.

Without asking, Alicia lifted the lid of the chest. The fierceness in her eyes faded when the chest proved to be filled with nothing but old boots. She wrinkled her nose and let the lid drop.

“On second thought….”
She surveyed the room once more. Her enthusiasm returned when she spotted the cupboard next to the kitchen counter. “I bet it’s in…I mean, let’s put those in here!”

She rushed across the room and threw open the cupboard.
It was filled with cans and sacks of food.

Christian grimaced, rubbing his chin.
It was downright embarrassing. He peeked at Lily, who stood with her head bowed, staring at the book in her hands, jaw clenched. Snow In Her Hair watched Alicia glance through the cupboard with tight lips and narrowed eyes. Two Feathers crossed his arms, daring the foolish woman to quit her games and admit her purpose. Sturdy Oak was the only one who moved, and that to shake his head.

“Mama, is that woman crazy?”
Meadow asked in a whisper.

Alicia whipped to face her, eyes wide.
It was the first she looked at any of the Flathead directly.

“
Red Sun Boy will take those,” Snow In Her Hair said before anything else could be.

She gestured to
Red Sun Boy, who set his book on the table and crossed to take the bundle. He and Isabella exchanged smiles—his bold and hers shy—like the conspirators they were.

“
Well, it looks as though everything is right as rain here,” Alicia said, breezing across the room. If she was aware of the interaction between her daughter and Red Sun Boy, she didn’t let on. “I…I suppose that’s a blessing.” She didn’t look at all convinced.

“Won’t y
ou sit down, Mrs. Kuhn?” Snow In Her Hair asked. “Join us for tea.” She extended a hand and crossed around the wide-eyed children to offer Alicia one of the room’s two old stuffed chairs.

Alicia went as pale as if Snow In Her Hair had invited her to climb the gallows.
“No!” She pulled herself back together with an intake of breath. “No, I didn’t come to pay a social call, I came on a mission. That is, a mission of mercy.”

Snow In Her Hair only missed a beat before saying, “Your blankets will be greatly appreciated.”

“I do hope so.” She attempted one final survey of the room.

“You will not find anything here that should not be here, Mrs. Kuhn,” Lily finally snapped.

All eyes in the room turned to her.

“What?
I don’t understand what you mean.” Alicia blinked, red staining her pale cheeks.

Lily
glared at Alicia, her expression unmoving. One of the smaller children clung to Lily’s skirts, sucking his dirty thumb. Lily smoothed a protective hand over his head, like a mother lion defending her cub.

“These people are not thieves, Mrs. Kuhn,” she said.
“They are not stupid either. They know as well as I that you need a warrant to search someone’s house.”

“And I won’t be issuing any,” Christian added.
“Charges against trespassing, however….”

“Well!
” Alicia fluttered into a nervous laugh, wringing her hands and backing toward the door. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I just wanted to drop by with the blankets. That’s all. I’ll just be leaving now. Isabella!”

Isabella jumped away from where she had had her head together with
Red Sun Boy. She snapped her hands behind her back and rushed to her mother’s side. Christian caught a flash of blue ribbon in Red Sun Boy’s hands before he hid it in the bundle of blankets he carried.

“
Have a safe journey home,” Sturdy Oak spoke to his guests at last. “The winter is cold and we would not want for you to be caught out in it.”

Alicia wrinkled her forehead, scooting sideways towards the door as though Sturdy Oak had hurled some sort of curse at her.
“No, no we wouldn’t,” she said. “Goodbye.”

She opened the door, shooed
Isabella outside, and shut the door so swiftly behind her that Christian started. Sturdy Oak gestured to Two Feathers, who hopped across the room and outside to follow them. As soon as he was gone, Snow In Her Hair shook her head.

“Is she the first ‘guest’ who will come to visit us?” she asked.