Cora's Deception (9781476398280) (8 page)

Outdoors, the breeze ruffled Cora’s hair
when she lifted her arms and twirled around. “This is so much nicer
than that cramped shelter.”

Esther nodded. “Yes, but you’ll have a new
house soon. Won’t that be wonderful?”

Cora looked toward the building site.
Evidence of the men’s work showed in the walls half her height.
Only, it didn’t look like any house in St. Louis. Especially not
their house. George couldn’t come too soon.

“I’m glad you’re here, Cora.” Esther’s soft
voice pulled her away from disquieting thoughts. “I hope we’ll
become the best of friends.”

Cora wrinkled her nose. “I thought this
morning Ivy would be the only girl here my age. It would’ve been
awful today without you. I’d have had to spend the day with her or
by myself. She’s so disagreeable. How can you be nice to her?”

Esther looked into the distance. “I don’t
think Ivy is so bad. So often we look on the surface.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ivy seems very unhappy. There may be
problems in her life we don’t know about.”

“Like her parents?” Cora’s face burned as
quickly as the words left her mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
said that.”

Esther laughed. “I won’t tell. But I’m very
thankful for my parents, aren’t you for yours?”

“Yes.” Cora’s laughter joined Esther’s.

The younger children giggled and shouted as
they played tag well away from the men. Esther nodded toward them.
“They look fine to me. I already know there are five Newkirks in
that bunch. How many children in your family?”

“Only two. Did you notice how many are in
the shelter?”

Esther counted on her fingers. “Ivy and her
mother, your two sisters, my baby sister, and our mothers, and the
two of us make nine. That plus seven children is sixteen. Let’s see
how many men there are now.”

At that moment, loud voices from the
children caught their attention. A squabble broke out between two
of the Newkirk boys. Esther sighed. “I’d better take care of that.
Do you mind counting the men by yourself?”

“No, of course not.” Cora stepped closer to
the building that grew taller as she watched. She couldn’t see a
door or any windows. There were plenty of gaps between the hewn
boards stacked one on top of the other, though. What was Father
thinking? This building might be larger than the shelter, but it
wasn’t any better.

“Well, what do you think?” A male voice
spoke.

She swung to find Aaron standing close
beside her. He looked toward the cabin. She followed his gaze. “I
don’t know. It doesn’t look like it will keep the north wind
out.”

“Is that so?” He grinned at her.

Her heart leapt and warmth filled her
cheeks. What was wrong with her? A shock of wavy dark hair fell
across his forehead, and she wanted to brush it back into place.
George had better keep his promise to come. This place was addling
her mind.

She crossed her arms and pulled her
attention from Aaron. “There are huge cracks between every board.
The wind will go right between them.”

He nodded, and she couldn’t keep her gaze
from straying toward him. His brilliant blue eyes danced in
amusement. He was laughing at her. How dare he? She tightened her
hold on each arm to keep from smacking him.

“I figured your Pa’s gonna chink the
cracks.”

Chink the cracks? What kind of language did
these people talk? She frowned at him.

His grin grew. “Yep. You know, fill ‘em in
with clay or something.”

“Clay?” Cora looked down at the grass under
her feet. She gasped and her eyes widened. “Do you mean dirt?”

He chuckled. “Not just any dirt. Clay’s
known to be sticky, and it’ll harden in the gaps to keep that ol’
north wind out.”

“But it will dry and fall out into the
house.” What kind of house was Father making with dirt in the walls
and probably for a floor too.

The dimple in Aaron’s chin deepened when he
laughed at her. She forgot about smacking the smirk off his face
while she watched it. George couldn’t stand next to Aaron for
looks. In fact, she’d never seen a more appealing man. Never felt
such churning inside just from watching him talk.

“It shouldn’t.” Aaron’s lips moved, but she
forgot to listen.

“Shouldn’t? What shouldn’t?”

He chuckled again. “The clay shouldn’t fall
out, not if your pa puts clapboards behind it.”

Cora covered her face with both hands and
shook her head. She peeked out at him and laughed. “Oh, all right.
I give in. You know I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking
about. I don’t even think I want to know. I’ll have to live here
even if the wind blows dirt in and I have to sweep it out every
day.”

“Hey, what’re you doin’ layin’ off work,
talkin’ to a pretty girl while the rest of us break our backs?”
Ralph walked toward them.

Aaron jerked away. Cora’s insides jumped as
he strode toward his brother and grabbed one of the heavy boards
lying nearby. “Take hold of that end and let’s get this up.”

Ralph grinned at Cora and shrugged. “Boss
man don’t put up with no lolly-gaggin’ unless he’s the one doin’
it.”

He picked up his end, and the two young men
carried the board to the building. Cora sighed. Ralph was friendly
and had been from the first time they met, but Aaron seemed to be
warming up to her. At least he made fun of her in a nice way. She
started counting men as she walked around the new building. She
crossed the trampled grass to meet Esther.

“There’s a man here alone. I mean he didn’t
bring his family. Anyway, I counted nine men.”

“We had sixteen before plus nine is
twenty-five.” Esther glanced toward the men. “That single man is
probably Bill Reid. He lives across the creek, and he’s not
married. I imagine he brought his fiddle. When the work is done,
there’ll probably be a dance.”

“Really?” Cora couldn’t help but glance
toward the men. Ralph and Aaron carried another board to add to the
wall. A dance? Would either of them ask her to be their partner?
What would George say if he knew? She shook off the image of George
that persisted. He wasn’t here, so he’d never know.

“Twenty-five?” Mother frowned when the girls
gave her their count. “I think we can seat that many around a
couple of tables. Agnes came up with a great idea for the tables.
She suggested we use some of the boards cut for the house. We can
put them on the stumps Father hasn’t split into firewood yet. We
can do the same for benches, using shorter stumps.”

“I’ll tell Father what we need.” Cora
started for the door when Ivy stopped her.

“Wait, I’ll go with you.”

Esther, Eliza, and Rebekah followed her.
Esther caught up with Cora. “Maybe we can set up the tables if we
all help. Then the men won’t have to leave their work.”

“I don’t know. Those boards look heavy.”
Even Aaron asked Ralph to help him lift a board. “Let’s see what
Father says.”

Cora told her father their plans, and he
nodded. “That’s a good idea. You can use the boards that will be
last going up. Think you girls can handle it?”

Ben stood to one side. “I’ll help them,
Father.”

Aaron turned from setting a board in place.
“I can help too.”

“Yeah.” Ralph followed his brother. “You
can’t expect pindlin’ girls to do a man’s job.”

Father’s eyebrows lifted before he smiled.
“All right, but don’t waste time getting back to the real job of
the day. You boys are too valuable to stop now.”

The three young men headed toward a pile of
boards stacked to the side. Esther hurried toward them. “We could
do this without any help. There are five of us. Surely we could
lift one log at a time. It seems a shame to take you from your
work.

Ben grinned. “It’s not a problem. Really,
it’s our pleasure.”

Ivy stepped between Ben and Esther. “But
Ben, we came to help too. Why don’t we do it together? I can help
you.” She tossed a smile at Esther. “Why don’t you help Aaron or
Ralph?”

Esther looked down, but Ben frowned. “I
don’t think that’ll be necessary. Two men on a board and the other
can get a stump. You girls show us where you want them.”

“All right, if that’s what you want.” Ivy
moved several feet in the other direction. She turned and smiled at
Ben. “Why don’t we set up here?”

Cora felt rooted where she stood. Esther
seemed to have the same problem. She stood quietly, her eyes turned
toward the ground. Had she been hurt by Ivy’s rudeness? How could
anyone be so rude to someone as sweet and kind as Esther?

The three men set up one long two-foot-wide
table with two twelve-inch boards side by side. Then they set
another identical table at the end of the first, leaving a walkway
between them. They used one wide board on each side of the tables
for benches. And they put them where Ivy said.

The fact Ivy was syrupy sweet to Ben and
rude to Esther at the same time would’ve been enough to turn Cora
against her, but she’d also taken over. Even more infuriating was
the fact that Ivy’s choice location for the tables appeared to be
the best. It was flat ground, away from the building, and easily
accessible to the shelter.

“That does it.” Ben stepped back from the
tables and turned toward Esther with a smile.

“Thank you.” Esther’s eyes lit up with her
answering smile.

Ivy’s didn’t. Her eyes flashed below lowered
brows. Cora’s lips turned upward. “Come on, everyone. I think we
have some table cloths inside.”

They covered the tables and set them with
Mother’s everyday dishes as well as some Mrs. Newkirk had brought,
Cora smoothed a wrinkle from the cloth. “Esther, your mother is so
nice. I don’t know what we would’ve done without her help. We’d
have run out of dishes and food both, I guess.”

Esther waved a hand as if brushing off the
compliment. “My mother is used to cooking and taking care of
people. She enjoys it.”

“Girls, can you help?” Mother called from
the doorway of the shelter. “We’re ready with the food.”

“As if we haven’t been helping.” Cora
muttered and Esther laughed.

They carried dishes out and set them on the
tables, reaching around the men and children, who’d already started
coming. Ben stood to the side watching Esther. The touch of pink in
Esther’s cheeks told Cora she wasn’t the only one to notice his
interest. Maybe she could help them. “Follow me, Esther.” She
pointed to the end of a bench. “Let’s sit here.”

She stepped back to let Esther in first and
motioned for Ben to sit beside Esther. His grin of thanks to Cora
warmed her heart as he stepped over the bench. “Mind if I sit
here?”

Esther’s cheeks colored. “No, I don’t mind
at all.”

Cora scooted in beside Esther. Eliza and
Rebekah sat across from them. Ivy stomped up to the table and
squeezed into the end across from Cora, her face a stormy mask.

“Hey, reckon I’ll sit here.” Ralph stepped
over the bench and plopped beside Eliza. She gazed at him as if
he’d given her a gift. Aaron sat by his brother.

“You girls enjoying your day?” Ben leaned
forward to speak to them all.

Ivy’s expression transformed with a smile.
“We sure been busy, haven’t we?”

Ben nodded. “Sure have.”

He turned his grin on Esther. “Did you
notice how fast the house is going up?”

She nodded. “Yes, it looks nice.”

“Thanks.”

Father stood and held his hand up. “I must
tell you how much I appreciate all our friends. You may have been
neighbors when you arrived this morning, but you are friends now.
The house is going up solid and fast thanks to you men.” His hand
swept out to include both tables. “And look at what the ladies have
done.” He turned to Mr. Newkirk. “Henry, I’d be honored if you’d
say the blessing for us.”

Cora bowed her head. Esther’s father spoke
as if God stood beside him. “Father, before I thank you for this
food, I want to make sure You know we’re mighty glad there ain’t a
one of us here with a single injury in spite of all the work we
done. We’re real thankful we had the health and strength to come
and help our new neighbors. This food looks and smells awful good.
You gave us every bite. Thank You for that and, please, if it’s not
too much bother, bless it and our bodies as we eat it. Oh, just one
more thing. Father, if there’s anyone here who doesn’t know You,
I’d like Your help in introducing them to You. Amen.”

Mr. Newkirk’s prayer echoed in Cora’s mind.
He sat down and everyone began dipping out the food. How could
anyone not know who God was? Esther’s family was unusual but
nice.

“Cora, what’re you hiding down there?” Ben
leaned forward and grinned at her.

“Um, there’s something in this bowl.” She
lifted the pudding Ivy had made and passed it to Esther for Ben.
Her gaze met Ralph’s, and he winked. No, he wouldn’t do that. She’d
imagined it just because he grinned at her. Aaron gave Ralph a hard
nudge with his elbow and frowned. Maybe she hadn’t imagined it. Her
cheeks burned. She looked across the space between the tables at
her parents in an animated conversation with the single man.

Mother grabbed Father’s arm. “Did you hear
that? Mr. Reid is from Boston.”

Father nodded. “So I heard. My wife comes
from Boston. She’s a Melville, one of the leading families in the
area. Their line dates back to the Pilgrims.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of them.” Mr. Reid looked
younger than Father maybe in his late twenties or early thirties.
His full head of hair was dark and neatly parted. A small moustache
sat above his upper lip.

“Ben, have you tasted the pudding yet?”
Ivy’s voice brought Cora’s attention back to their table.

Ben turned to Esther. “I ate some pudding,
didn’t I?”

Esther nodded. “Yes, you did. Remember, you
said it tasted just like some your older sister made once.”

Ivy’s smile faded and a scowl settled in its
place. Her hand shot out, knocking her glass of water across the
table. Cora jumped out of the way, but Esther’s lap was drenched.
She squealed and brushed at the puddle on her skirt.