A Chance In Time (7 page)

No more smiles. No more laughter. No
more kisses and hugs. No more stupid fights over things that didn’t
matter. No more working on the land together. No more friendship.
No more love. In one moment, their marriage had become null and
void, and all that was left was a piercing agony that wouldn’t let
her go.

But in time, it did let her go. After
she brought his body into town and watched the men lower his casket
into the ground, she could never imagine loving anyone ever again.
She knew he wanted her to. When the men came by for her while she
stayed with Sandra for a month after the funeral, she quickly told
each one she couldn’t have children and that was enough to get rid
of them. Originally, that had been her intention. She didn’t want
to marry again. Then she returned to her lone cabin and spent
months trying to sort out why a loving God would allow such a thing
to happen.

She didn’t have the answer. All she
could do was trust in Him and carry on with her life. Everything
had been mechanical and empty. Until she found Cole. Then there was
a reason to live again. Maybe there would be a reason to live yet.
If she couldn’t have the man she loved by her side, then maybe she
could make someone else’s life easier.

She wiped her tears and took a deep
breath to settle the emotions raging through her. “I’ll never
forget you, Randy. Thank you for the year we had
together.”

She stood and walked back to the
wagon. She climbed into her seat and picked up a canister. She held
it to the woman in the passenger seat. “Water?”

The young Indian turned her eyes to
her. “W-ater,” she slowly pronounced.

Penelope pretended to drink from it to
show her what she meant.

Martha nodded. “Water.” She took the
canister and drank from it.

Penelope wasn’t sure what made her
offer to take Martha back with her. The poor thing was younger than
her, but she wasn’t a child either. The growing child in her womb
was so large that Penelope guessed she was within a month of giving
birth. And though Martha couldn’t speak her language, Penelope saw
a fear in her eyes. For some reason, Martha didn’t feel safe. As
soon as she learned that a group of Indians was searching for her
in town, Penelope understood that Martha had run from them. Why?
She might not ever know. But she wouldn’t allow the young woman to
go where she didn’t want to be.

After Penelope took the time to draw
out a map to her cabin, Martha agreed to come with her, and Martha
looked so relieved that Penelope somehow knew she was doing the
right thing.

Martha finished drinking and pointed
to the grave.

“
Husband. My husband. He’s
dead,” she whispered.

She pointed to herself. “My husband
dead.”

Penelope gave her new friend a closer
look. “Your husband is dead? Like that?” She motioned to the
grave.

“
He dead.” She made a
swinging motion, letting her hand stop at her neck.

Though she couldn’t be sure, Penelope
thought Martha was telling her that her husband had been beheaded.
And white men were more likely to use guns than something that
swung. Something that swung? An axe? Indians used axes. If she put
the pieces together well enough, the Indians killed Martha’s
husband, which explained her fear.

Penelope took a deep breath and eyed
the rifle the peaked from under their seat. If they ran into
trouble, she’d need to be prepared. She reached out and touched
Martha’s arm. “Friend.” Then she pointed to herself.
“Friend.”

Martha smiled. “Fr...end.”

Penelope nodded. “Friend.” Then she
picked up the reins, released the brake, and let the horses take
them home.

Chapter Eleven

Penelope pointed to the horse and
looked at Martha.

“
Orse,” Martha
said.

“
Horse,” Penelope
corrected.

“
H...horse.”

“
Good. You’re doing good.”
She smiled and pointed to the hay.

Martha shook her head.

“
Hay. Horse eats
hay.”

“
Hay food.”

“
Yes. For
horses.”

Penelope decided that Martha had
learned enough for now, so she led the younger woman back to the
house. She grabbed four potatoes and set them on the
table.

“
Potato cut?” Martha
asked.

“
Oh, yes. Thank you.”
Penelope hastened to grab the knife from the shelf and gave it to
Martha. “I’m going to get the meat from the cellar. I’ll be right
back.”

Martha shook her head.

Penelope thought over her words. “Me
get meat. Food. To eat.”

“
Yes. Eat.”

Penelope smiled and went to grab the
meat from the deer that Cole had shot before she helped him cut the
deer and preserve the meat. The sight of it shouldn’t have brought
tears to her eyes but it did. When would she be able to go about
her business around her home and not be haunted by his memory? She
should recall Randy since he built it. But she didn’t. She thought
of Cole.

Sighing, she wiped the tears and
grabbed the slab of meat to take back to the cabin. When she saw
Martha gasping in pain, she ran over to her. “Martha?” She threw
the meat on the table and sat her in a chair.

“
Baby,” Martha said,
holding her stomach.

“
Baby is
coming?”

“
Baby. Hurt.”

There was no doubt about it. Martha
was probably in the early stages of labor. Penelope took the knife
from Martha and set it on the table.

Martha relaxed and looked at her.
“Happy...to be...friend.”

She smiled and squeezed her hand. “I’m
happy to be your friend too. Baby is coming. That’s
good.”

`“Good.”

“
Maybe painful but good.”
Penelope pointed to her. “Mother.” Then she pointed to her belly.
“Baby.” Penelope decided to get things ready for the
birth.

As the day passed into night, Penelope
did everything she could to make Martha comfortable. It was around
one in the morning when Martha gave her last push and Penelope
caught the baby in her hands. After a moment, the baby gave out its
first cry. Penelope laughed and gave the little girl to her
mother.

Martha held her child and cried. The
pain of labor had been replaced with tears of joy, and Penelope was
glad to see a person born in this place after there’d been death
and sorrow over the past year. It was time for
happiness.

“
Girl,” Penelope told
Martha.

“
Girl. Baby
girl.”

Penelope nodded before she set to the
task of cleaning things up.

***

Two weeks passed with the two women
taking turns staying awake to care for the baby. Penelope found
that both Martha and her baby brought a sense of comfort in her
life. Even with the heartache still fresh, at least she wasn’t
alone in the world anymore.

The late morning brought a clear blue
sky and enough wind to cool the summer heat, so Penelope decided
she’d weed the garden before it got too hot in the day. She glanced
at Martha who slept with her baby before she slipped on Randy’s
gloves and tied her hat around her head. She didn’t often wear a
hat but thought she should to avoid burning her skin.

As she stepped out of the
house, she caught sight of a familiar figure. She stood still, not
believing her eyes. He came back in her dreams but not in real
life. And yet here she was, wide awake, and he was here. She
blinked to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. Cole. It
was
Cole. He had
returned!

She wanted to run to him but shock
held her in place, so she waited as he approached her, his steps
slow as if he wasn’t sure she’d welcome him back. But how could she
not when she loved him?

He stopped a short distance from her
and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. I
love you, Penelope. I don’t deserve you. You’re a good woman, but
I’ve made a real mess of my life. I’ve done things I’m not proud
of, and after I tell you what they are, you may not want to be with
me. You see, I-”

“
Are you married?” she
interrupted. That was the only reason she could think of that would
not make her want to be with him. She prayed that wasn’t what he
meant.

He shook his head. “No.”

The sense of relief she felt at
knowing for sure overwhelmed her. She exhaled. “I thought when you
left me, it was because you were already married. I thought you had
a wife to go back to.”

“
No. I was married, but I
got a divorce two years ago. I caught her sleeping with my brother.
But there are other things, things you should know.”

She stepped forward, bridging the gap
between them. Other things? What did they matter? He wasn’t
married. He was free to be with her! “Cole, I don’t care what
you’ve done. I just care about who you are. The past doesn’t
matter. You can’t change it.”

He bent his head, but she caught the
tear that trickled down his cheek.

No more tears.
She’d seen enough of them to last a lifetime.
Smiling, she reached up and brushed it away.

He took her hand in his and kissed it.
His lips were warm. His actions gentle. “I love you. I want to make
a life here with you. Will you come to town with me? We’ll leave
right away and find that preacher you mentioned.”

She laughed. “I’ll marry you, Cole.
But we should have something to eat first. Then we need to get
ready for the trip.”

“
Alright, but let’s be
quick about it. I’ve waited too long to meet someone like you, and
I don’t want to waste any more time.”

She didn’t want to waste any more time
either. She stepped up on her toes and kissed him, glad she was
finally free to express her love to him. And as strange as it was,
she felt as if Randy was happy for her. When the kiss ended, she
leaned against him and closed her eyes, enjoying the way he held
her.

“
This isn’t getting things
done to go to town,” he said.

She chuckled. “Are you
impatient?”

“
I just want to make sure
you don’t change your mind.”

“
You have no need to worry
about that.” Reluctant, she pulled away from him. “Cole, there’s
something that happened while you were gone. When I was in town, I
was visiting Randy’s sister and she introduced me to Martha. I
don’t know anything about her except that she’s an Indian who is
hiding from someone. She gave birth a couple weeks ago here, and
her child is lighter than her.”

“
You think a white man is
the father?”

“
There’s no doubt about it,
but she’s scared and needs someone to help her.”

“
Do you plan to keep her
here?”

“
I thought it would be
best.”

He caressed her cheek. “You have a
good heart. As much as I admire that about you, I want you all to
myself so I’m going to build her a cabin. That should be a good
spot.” He motioned to a section of land that was half an acre from
where they stood. “I want to do some things with you that wouldn’t
be appropriate for others to see.”

Blushing, she playfully shoved him
away. “Not until we’re married.”

“
Why do you think I’m
anxious to get to town?”

“
Well, if you’re that
anxious, then you won’t mind getting the horses and wagon
ready?”

“
It’d be my pleasure to do
anything for you.” He kissed her before he headed for the
barn.

Heart light, she went to the
house.

Chapter Twelve

Cole rode the steed while Penelope,
Martha and the baby took the wagon. He wanted to be close to
Penelope so he could touch her, but he reminded himself that later
that day when they reached town, they’d be married and then he
could stay in the same room with her at the inn. Then he’d be able
to kiss and hold her at his leisure. He smiled at the thought of
finally being able to enjoy a woman who loved him back.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he
didn’t realize Penelope had stopped the wagon until she called his
name. Stopping the horse, he glanced back. “Is something wrong with
the wagon?”

Penelope pointed to the
south.

He turned his gaze in that direction
and frowned. What were the chances that someone would be this far
out from town at the same time they were? He’d only traveled this
path three times now but he never saw anyone an hour outside of
town. Squinting, he barely made out the fact that the three riders
weren’t white. He looked over at Penelope and saw that she had
grabbed a rifle from under her seat. She motioned for Martha to
hide in the wagon.

This didn’t seem promising. Cole drew
closer to the women just as Penelope covered Martha and the baby
with a blanket. “Who are they?” he asked, his body primed to
fight.

“
Martha can’t tell from
here, but she thinks they are Sioux.” Penelope turned to him. “What
do you think we should do?”