Cora's Deception (9781476398280) (5 page)

“Please, tell us about the rest of the
family.” Mother’s voice cut into Cora’s thoughts.

“You said there were five of them.” Vickie
sat on the corner of one of the beds. “I assume two of the five are
his parents?”

Cora nodded. “Yes, and that’s all I know.
Ralph’s older brother looks a lot like him. Ralph said they have a
sister named Ivy. She’s almost eighteen. Ralph said she’s spoiled
rotten, but I’m hoping she’ll become a good friend.”

A faint smile touched her mother’s lips. “It
will be nice having neighbors. Do you know where they live?”

Cora shook her head. “No, but I think it’s
on the other side of the woods. They turned that way when
they—”

Ben burst through the door. “There won’t be
any lack of meat around here. Come and see.”

Chapter 4

C
ora followed the others outside. John and her father stood by
the wagon, where a large buck hung by its back legs.

Ben’s eyes shone. “Father shot it right
through the heart. We’ll have to let it hang overnight and cut it
up tomorrow.”

Large brown eyes, vacant of expression,
stared at Cora. She stood, unable to move, while the details etched
into her mind. Drops of pink foam oozed from the mouth past the
deer’s lolling tongue before dropping to the white snow below. The
men had already slit the deer down the front from the throat to the
back legs. A stick, as a wedge, held the still warm cavity open
while steam poured from the gaping hole where the innards had once
been.

Cora’s stomach churned. How could Father
kill such a beautiful animal? How could her family stand to look at
it? She turned away. She loved the taste of venison, but she hadn’t
known this was what it looked like before it was prepared for the
table. She took deep breaths, fighting nausea with each step. So
this was the way food would be brought to their table in this
horrible place. She might never be able to eat meat again. She
hated it here. She wanted to go home.

~*~

Late in the night, Cora awoke to a noise. A
dark shadow by the doorway startled her before her mother’s whisper
came from the other bed. “What is it, Orval? Can you see?”

A low growl rumbled outside. “Some kind of
dog. Coyote, probably. He wants our meat.”

The blanket door fluttered as Father slipped
through. One shot rang out, followed closely by a loud yelp. Cora
held her breath in the silence afterward. Finally, the blanket
moved again and Father re-entered. “I saw one, but there’s bound to
be more. John heard it from his wagon. We’ll take turns watching
the rest of the night. He’s out there now.”

Cora lay back beside Eliza, and snuggled
beneath the warmth of their comforter. They’d been in this wild
country two days already. A sharp pang of homesickness stabbed her
heart and she longed for her old bedroom with its delicate white
curtains and four-poster walnut bed. She drew her knees up to her
chest. Although the double bed she now shared with her sister was
better than sleeping on the ground, it was a far cry from her own
soft bed at home.

The next morning, Cora stepped outside to
call the men in to breakfast. The deerskin lay on the ground with a
pile of dark red meat to the side. Her stomach heaved.

“Cora, take a slab of that meat in to your
mother and we’ll be along. We’ll have fresh venison for
dinner.”

Cora swallowed and lifted the moist meat
with fingers and thumb. She held it out to the side and kept her
gaze on the shelter as she hurried toward it. If she didn’t think
about what she carried, she’d be fine. Soon she’d be back in St.
Louis, and she’d never have to do anything so vile again. She
brushed the quilt aside and stepped into the shelter. “Where do you
want this?”

Vickie was setting the table. She looked
around their limited space and pointed to the cook stove. “Why
don’t you put it in a skillet? There’s no place for anything extra
in here.”

“That’s for sure.” Cora muttered under her
breath as she stepped over Nicholas.

“I’ve been thinking about the meat.” Father
came through the doorway followed by John and Ben. “We need to
smoke it so it’ll keep.”

Mother set a large bowl of oatmeal on the
table. “Yes, but we don’t have a smoke house.”

“Don’t need one.” Father grinned. “I
remember once when I was a boy, my pa used a hollow log for a smoke
house. It’s not fancy, but it’ll work. We’ll go to the woods later.
Might as well get a load of logs for the house while we’re at
it.”

After breakfast the men headed for the
forest, axes slung over their shoulders. One of the huge workhorses
walked between them to drag logs from the woods.

Mother kept the girls busy throughout the
morning trying to make the shelter more livable. Cora helped,
although she thought it a waste of time. How her mother thought she
could make a home out of this hovel was more than she could
understand.

After trying for several minutes to flatten
a braided rug in the center of the room on stubble left from the
broken prairie grass, Cora put her hands on her hips and faced her
mother. “Has Father said when he’ll start on a house?”

Mother smiled. “You mean one with a real
floor?”

Cora nodded. “Yes. Walls without holes and a
decent roof too.”

“Yes, that would be nice.” Mother’s smile
faded. “Father is doing his best. I’m sure you, too, are thankful
to have this shelter so quickly. I know it’s not the best, but we
are in out of the snow. Complaining never accomplishes anything,
Cora.”

Mother had been raised in Boston’s elite
society. In St. Louis, she’d moved in the best circles. Even here
in this uninhabited wasteland, she held herself erect, always the
lady. She was used to the best, yet she hadn’t once acknowledged a
lack in their present circumstances. Remorse for her own ungrateful
words made Cora look away. “I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to
complain.”

Vickie smoothed the quilt over the corner of
the girls’ bed and sat on it “I’m sure Father will build a house
right away. John says we’ll stay and help until you’re
settled—maybe even through the winter—then we need to move to our
own land.” She laughed. “Of course, we’ll have to find it
first.”

Mother’s lips pinched together. “There’s no
hurry in you moving way off by yourselves.”

Vickie sighed. “We’ve been over this before,
Mother. I’m married now. John wants to have his own land. He’s
promised we’ll stay close by, so you don’t need to worry.”

Lenny and Nicholas flew through the doorway.
Nicholas ran to Vickie. “Mans come here.”

Lenny pranced in front of the door. “They’ve
got long guns like Father’s and they’re almost here.”

Cora’s heart raced as she almost ran over
Lenny. Men with guns sounded dangerous. She peeked out while the
rest crowded behind her. The three small figures, dark against the
snowy background, grew larger. Each man carried a gun over his
shoulder. The one in the middle had a bulging cloth bag. Something
seemed familiar about him.

Air rushed from Cora’s lungs, and her limbs
grew weak. “It’s all right. That’s Ralph and his brother. The other
man must be their father.”

She stepped through the doorway, and Ralph
raised his hand in greeting. “Hey, I see you made it home.”

Cora made a face toward the shelter then
turned back to smile at Ralph. “I’d like you to meet my mother and
sisters.”

She introduced her family, then Ralph
pointed over his shoulder. “You already met Aaron, and this here’s
my pa, Walter Stark.”

The older Stark’s lined face had been
browned by weather. On top of his thick, graying hair sat a dirty
hat. He pulled it from his head and nodded toward the women. “I’m
right proud to meet you folks.”

Mother shook his hand. “I’m pleased to meet
you. We’ve met no one as of yet. My husband isn’t home. He’ll be
sorry he missed you.”

“No, he won’t.” Eliza looked toward the
woods. “Here they come now.”

Father lifted his hand and waved. Mr. Stark
headed toward the men, and the others followed. Ralph’s older
brother, Aaron, fell into step with Cora. “Iffen you don’t mind,
I’d like a word.”

Cora met his eyes, but he looked away. Was
he shy? How could brothers look so much alike and be so
different?”

She stopped, letting the others go ahead.
“Of course. My brother and I really appreciate the help you gave us
yesterday.”

He shrugged. “We didn’t do nothin’
on-common.” He shuffled his feet. “I didn’t mean to be short with
you. I mean about the pecans.”

He pushed a white flour sack toward her.
“Here.”

Cora stared at the bulging sack in her
hands. She rubbed her fingers over the small, hard bumps in the
fabric. She held far more pecans than she’d lost. There must be ten
pounds at least. He was already walking away. “Thanks!”

“That’s all right.” He answered over his
shoulder without looking. “I’m proud I could replace ‘em.” His long
strides carried him across the yard to where the men were standing
a hollow log upright.

Cora turned to put her pecans in the
shelter. Aaron was an interesting young man. He was either shy or
rude. But he’d gone to the trouble of replacing her pecans, and
that wasn’t rude. One thing for certain, the two Stark brothers
were nothing alike.

Ralph and Aaron helped Ben unchain the logs
from the horses. Aaron worked quietly while Ralph kept up a steady
chatter with Ben and Eliza. Cora smiled at Eliza’s expression as
she stood to the side and hung on Ralph’s every word. Eliza was
developing quite a liking for this fellow she’d just met. Hopefully
she wouldn’t get hurt.

The Starks stayed until after lunch. While
the younger men hauled more logs from the woods, the rest fashioned
a peaked roof of short boards split from a log to set over the top
of the hollow tree and cut a small door in one side near the
bottom. They drove small sticks through holes drilled in the sides
of the tree near the top. From these, the men hung the pieces of
meat they’d salted early that morning. They built a fire with green
hickory chips inside the log. Thick smoke curled around the little
roof and blew away in the breeze. Memory of the slaughtered deer
faded as Cora thought of delicious venison.

Mr. Stark looked at their shelter and shook
his head. “You’re gonna need somethin’ better’n that afore winter
sets in. Reckon you could get enough logs out in a week or so for a
cabin? Me and the boys’d be proud to help put ‘er up, iffen you’d
like.”

Father nodded. “We’d appreciate any
help.”

“Give us a holler. There’s a couple others
nearby would likely come help too. We’ll get word to ‘em soon as
you’re ready.”

“I reckon I can help get the logs in.” Aaron
looked at his father.

Mr. Stark nodded. “Me and Ralph can take
care of things for a spell.”

Aaron offered Father his hand. “I’ll be here
early Monday mornin’ iffen you can use me.”

As Father shook Aaron’s hand, he grinned.
“You bet we can.”

He shook his head. “I know we made the right
decision coming here. A man’s got to have good neighbors to get
along in this world. You can’t imagine how much I appreciate all
you’ve done for us already. Soon as that venison’s ready, there’ll
be a piece for your family.”

Chapter 5

“M
other, will he never stop? Surely, we don’t need any more
logs.” Cora shaded her eyes against the sunshine. Father said they
were enjoying Indian summer. Maybe it would last until the logs
were all cut and the house was built. But to work on Sunday didn’t
seem right.

Mother faced the wagon as it rolled toward
the woods. “I’m sure we can use every one they haul out.” She
sighed. “Your grandfather Melville would turn over in his grave if
he knew his son-in-law worked on the Sabbath. He tolerated no work
of any kind on Sunday. Even our food was prepared the day before
and eaten cold. Many people still believe that way.” She turned
toward the door of the shelter. “But we’re a long way from either
Boston or Saint Louis.”

Cora followed. “Aaron Stark must think it’s
wrong to work on Sunday. Father said he wouldn’t be helping
today.”

“I’m sure your father wouldn’t be either, if
he didn’t feel it was important.” Mother lifted the blanket
covering the doorway and disappeared inside.

Grandfather Melville had probably been
strict beyond reason. An uneasy feeling weighed on Cora’s heart as
she followed her mother into the dimly lit shelter.

Eliza stood by the made beds, folding
Lenny’s bedroll. Mother took it from her. “I’ll do this. You and
Cora go out and check the meat. Do you remember how to tell if it
needs more chips on the fire?”

“Yes, Mother. It should be a thick, white
smoke.” Cora pulled the blanket aside and moved out of the way as
Nicholas ran past followed by Lenny. “How long will we keep smoking
it?”

Eliza stepped down from the raised floor.
“Father said another week would be enough.”

“Another week? It may be burned to a crisp
by then.” Cora hurried outside and reached the smoking tree before
Eliza.

Lenny and Nicholas ran to the mountain of
logs and started climbing up. Cora cupped her hands around her
mouth and called. “Father said for you not to play there.”

She waited until they were both away from
the logs before turning toward the hollow tree. No wonder they
wanted to climb the huge pile. It looked like fun.

“What do you think, Eliza? Does the smoke
look blue enough to add some chips?”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt.” Eliza stood
beside her. “Mother said to get some for lunch. Let’s do that
first.”

Cora watched the thin wisps of smoke curl
out from under the loose-fitted roof at the top of the hollow log.
“You go ahead. I’ll gather the hickory chips.”