Wishes on the Wind (22 page)

    Johnny addressed Cook directly. "Meg ain't coming to work   today. Her Ma died yesterday. There's to be a wake today and a funeral tomorrow. She"

    David Lang interrupted sharply. "Who told you Mrs. O'Connor died?"

    Johnny eyed David Lang's belligerent expression with a knowing gaze. He'd never understand how Meg could believe this haughty fellow just wanted to be her friend.

    "I asked you a question, Law."

    "Meg told me."

    Young Lang's expression tightened, but John stood his ground. There was no rule that said he couldn't go down to the valley on his own time, and that's what he had done. Lang couldn't get him in trouble for it.

    David Lang took an unexpected step forward, grasping him by the shoulder, and Johnny's spontaneous protest was simultaneous with Grace Lang's frightened gasp. Turning sharply toward his cousin, David Lang ordered, "Stay here, Grace. I'll be back in a minute."

    Almost jerked from his feet as Lang pulled him out into the yard, Johnny remained silent as Lang turned to assure himself they were out of sight of the kitchen. Johnny did not blink when Lang looked back at him, glaring.

    "I thought I told you to stay away from Meg."

    "I used my own free time to check on a friend. There ain't no harm in that."

    "A friend…" Lang's lips twisted in a sneer. "You spoke to meg herself? How is she? What did she say?"

    John responded unwillingly. "She's all right. She said to tell the mistress she won't be coming to work for a few days."

    "A few days?"

    "She's got that much time coming, ain't she?" Johnny's anger assumed a defensive note. "It ain't every day somebody's ma dies!"

    "I ask the questions here, and if you want to keep your job, you'd better remember that! Now get back to your work. I don't want to see you hanging around the kitchen unless you're called, understand?"

    "Yes, I understand." Johnny nodded stiffly. "I understand, all right."

    Lang walked back into the kitchen, and Johnny controlled an almost overpowering urge to spit in the fellow's footsteps.

    Johnny's fair face flushed hotly, and his frustration soared.

    Damn that faint-hearted priest! He thought everything would be all right after he talked to him about Meg a while back, but it looked like the priest was just as scared of the Langs as everybody else, because nothing had changed. Well, if the priest wouldn't do anything about what Lang had planned for Meg, then he would.

    Johnny stared at the doorway through which Lang had disappeared, the determination inside him growing.

    The weather had turned sharply cooler, but Meg knew her shuddering had little to do with the temperature of the day as she stood at Sean's side in the familiar graveyard. She clutched her shawl tighter, and looked up as Sean slid his arm around her shoulders. Sean's face was tight with sorrow and Meg's heart squeezed with pain. The past few days had been the most difficult of her young life.

    The simple wooden coffin was lowered into the ground, and Meg watched with a peculiar fascination as it finally came to rest. Father Matthew led another prayer, but she did not join in the response recited by the mourners around her. Instead, she allowed herself to indulge in the brief fantasy that had given her courage during the terrible days since Ma had left them.

    Ah, yes, Ma was with Da and the boys now. In her mind she could see them as they welcomed Ma back among them. She could see Da's handsome face and his laughing eyes as he hugged Ma against his chest. She could see Ma's frailness lost in his arms as she protested his enthusiasm with a radiant smile. She could see the boys standing around them Kevin, Patrick, Daniel, Dennis, and, aye, young James all waiting their turn to tell Ma they had missed her. Meghan felt the warmth of their reunion in her heart, and her eyes filled for the joy of it.

    But her joy was short-lived as the voices around her suddenly stilled, and her eyes were drawn again to Father Matthew's solemn face.

    "Meg…"

    Meg turned her head at the sound of Sean's voice. She knew the time had come, and gathering her courage, she walked with him to the edge of the open grave. Picking up some of the cool, black dirt piled nearby, she watched as Sean did the same. Trembling, she tossed it down onto the coffin.

    Folded into her brother's arms, she did not raise her head again until she heard Father Matthew's voice beside her.

    "Meg, dear, it's all over now."

    Drawing back from Sean's arms, Meg was about to respond when Sean spoke in a tone threaded with menace. ''You're wrong again, Father."

    "This attitude will do you little good, Sean. Your mother would not have wanted to add to your bitterness, and she would not have wanted you to entertain thoughts of revenge."

    "Don't speak to me of my Ma." Sean's voice was a low hiss. "Not now not ever!" Sean took Meg firmly by the hand. His eyes softened slightly as she looked up at him with a shadow of reproach in her eyes. "No, don't preach to me now, Meg. I've a right to my sorrow, and whatever comes from it. I've earned it with the sweat of my brow and the pain in my heart, and if you dispute my feelings, leave it for another time."

    Not waiting for her reply, Sean turned back to Father Matthew. "There's nothin' more you can do for the O'Connors now, Father, so I'm thinkin' you should go back to your church where you belong. Meg'll be all right. I'll take care of her. I'm sworn to that for the rest of my days, although there's no burden in the thought. We don't need you any more."

    "Sean!" Unwilling to allow her brother to continue, Meg looked at Father Matthew with a plea for understanding. "We thank you, Father, for helping us as you did." Her eyes moving over his face, Meg found words slipping away, only to regain her voice again as she attempted a smile. "But we'll be all right, Sean and me."

    Suddenly glancing around her to see the other mourners had drifted away, and that even Aunt Fiona and Uncle Timothy were making their way back home, Meg took a deep breath. "I thank you for your concern, and I suppose I'll be resuming my reading lessons again now that Ma…"

    Biting her lips against the words she could not speak, Meg stepped away from her brother and hugged Father Matthew briefly. "Goodbye, Father."

    Father Matthew turned toward his church, and Sean followed the priest with his gaze for long moments before looking back at Meg with a frown. "I suppose Ma would be happy to know you gain comfort from that fellow, but for myself, I've no use for the man."

    "Sean, please." Her eyes holding his, Meg continued softly. "As you said, now's not the time to argue. It's a time for doing what must be done while the pain heals."

    "Aye, Meg." Gentleness returning to his demeanor, Sean again   took her hand. "It's just you and me, now. And while Ma's fresh in her grave nearby, I swear that you'll never be alone while there's still a breath in my body. I'll do my best for you, always, and never desert you."

    "Aye, Sean. My pledge is the same, and I give it willingly."

    Meg's heart lifted as Sean gripped her hand and drew her onto the path without looking back.

    Still standing beside the gnarled oak in the corner of the cemetery where he had been for the past hour, David watched as the last of the silent mourners began dispersing. The morning sun had drifted behind a cloud, adding an even more somber note to the scene as Mary O'Connor's coffin was lowered into the ground. He did not think he would ever forget the way Meg's slender body quaked as she stepped to the edge of the grave to follow the barbaric ritual of dropping the first handful of soil onto the coffin.

    Sean O'Connor had then drawn Meg into a comforting embrace. He had recognized the fellow immediately, for more reasons than made him comfortable.

    David had made it his business to familiarize himself with Meg's remaining relatives, if only from a distance, after she came to work at the house. Meg and her brother resembled each other in many ways. Sean had the same curly black hair as Meg, even if his did not appear to have the same glorious sheen, and his eyes were similar in size and color. The same dramatic length of dark lashes that lined his sister's eyes lined his as well, but it was there that their similarity ended. For where there was a warmth and life in Meg's eyes that touched his heart, there was a look in her brother's eyes that turned him cold.

    David knew of Sean O'Connor for another reason as well, for it had been reported by informers on his shift that the young O'Connor would one day spell more trouble than the Lang Colliery would deem worthwhile. Had Uncle Martin not been a fairer man, he knew the boy would not have lasted long on the job after the death of his father, despite the fact that he worked harder than most of the fellows his age, for he seemed to resent the work more than most, too. O'Connor was more vocal than his uncle appreciated in his complaints against his "bobtail" check at the end of each month, and his grumbling was beginning to spread. Sean O'Connor and he had not yet met face to face, but he had low expectations of the moment that was fast approaching.

    His gaze fixed on Meg and her brother as they approached the   exit gate nearby, David dismissed thoughts of the inquisitive glances he had received as the mourners filed past him onto the street. He was grateful the priest had taken another route out of the yard, because, for some unknown reason, he was not up to facing the man. But he would have remained where he was in any case, for he was unwilling to let this day pass without Meg's awareness that he was part of it with her.

    Aware of the exact moment Meg and her brother noticed him, David felt his heart leap at the spontaneous smile that flickered across her lips. Noting, also, that her brother's face turned cold, he waited until they drew abreast of him before stepping forward to speak.

    "Meg, I couldn't let the day pass without coming to tell your brother and you how sorry I am"

    "We're not interested in your sympathy, Mr. Lang." Meg flashed her brother a look of silent despair as he continued purposefully. "My sister will be back to do your laundry in a few days, if that's your worry. You can pass that message to all them up there on the hill."

    David took firm hold on his patience. "I was concerned about Meg's state of mind, and I wanted to know if there was anything I could do for her."

    "Meg's state of mind is my concern, not yours, Mr. Lang, and there's not a thing you can do for her except to stay away from places where you're not wanted."

    "Sean!"

    Sean gave his sister a warning glance. "Aye, Meg, I said what I meant, and I'll say it again. I've had the shadow of the Langs and their like hangin' over me all my life, but I'll not have it make this day any darker than it is already."

    "Meg…"

    Meg turned to David as he spoke her name. Freeing his sister's hand, Sean stepped forward. "I'll say it one more time. Go back where you belong, Mr. Lang. You're not wanted down here with us common folk, not today, most of all. And if you don't go, I'll send you packing."

    "Sean, please!" Turning to David with a pleading glance, Meg continued softly. "Please go, David. Sean's not himself."

    "Aye, I'm myself! It's this one here who's pretendin' to be other than he is, and I'll not have him use this day to play more of his charade."

    David's patience began to wane. There were a few simple    things he had come to say that he cared and suffered Meg's pain with her that he would be there if she needed him. He tried once more.

    "Meg, I just"

    Moving between them as Sean took a threatening step forward, Meg gasped softly, "Please go, David. You may tell the mistress, if you please, that I'll be mourning my Ma for a few more days, and I'll then return to work."

    "I'm sorry, Meg."

    "I know."

    "I'll warn you one more time"

    Not allowing Sean to finish his threat, David turned on his heel and walked swiftly down the path. He did not look back to see Meg restraining her brother with low whispered pleas.

    Still fighting to control his anger as he mounted the horse secured nearby, David was certain of only one thing. Sean O'Connor was headed for trouble. He had to get Meg away from her brother before he dragged her down with him.

    Aunt Letty's fair brow creased in worried lines, and she heaved a soft sigh. David had returned highly agitated from an excursion into the valley only a few minutes before, and had immediately sought her out. She did not have to ask him where he had gone. News from the town below them was very prompt in arriving at the Lang manor, despite their isolation on this quiet hillside. She knew that Meg O'Connor's mother had been buried that morning. She had been totally unprepared, however, when David took her arm and urged her into the privacy of the morning room to make his startling request.

    Take Meghan O'Connor into the house to live with them? Impossible!

    "It's not impossible, Aunt Letty."

    "Oh, my dear boy, I fear it is!"

    "It isn't. And it's necessary, if we want to save Meg."

    "Save her? From what, David? Her own people?

    "Yes, from them! She's better than they are, Aunt Letty. She's bright and quick, and her mind cries out for more than she'll learn among those ignorant devils."