Destiny - The Callahans #1 (29 page)

“Harold,” Teresa said pleasantly, looking up
from her chair to greet him. “Look what a surprise I have for
you!”

“I . . . I . . . I see,” he stammered.

“Well, aren’t you going to give your wife a
kiss, and one for your sister as well?” Teresa asked.

“Ah, yes, of course,” he mumbled, bending to
kiss Teresa on the cheek and then stepping over to Katrina to kiss
the top of her head as she remained seated in her chair, silently
watching and trying to understand how the man she thought she had
loved could be guilty of so much deceit.

“I told you that Katrina should stay with us.
It was good that Mrs. Olsen no longer needed her assistance, don’t
you think?” Teresa asked.

“Yes, ah, yes, of course,” Harold repeated,
taking a chair from the wall and placing it between the two women,
assuming his seat. “And how did this all come about?” he asked,
beginning to regain some control of his thoughts.

“I went to New Hope and found Katrina. We’ve
had a lovely day. I showed her the new house, and she’s agreed to
live with us until . . .” Teresa also hesitated, unsure how to
phrase her thoughts—“. . . until the baby comes. She needs family
to look after her, Harold, and we can both look after each other.
Won’t that be wonderful?”

“Yes, of course.”

Throughout the evening, Harold stumbled his
way through introductions and most discussions. Don Sebastian
returned from a trip down the coast to check on his holdings, and
introducing Katrina as his sister, created in Harold an acute sense
of embarrassment. He avoided looking at Katrina, but it was painful
to imagine the loathing she must be feeling for him. Dinner was the
longest ordeal of Harold’s life as Don Sebastian, Miguel, and
Teresa all extended themselves to get to know this new person in
Harold’s family, who was often at a loss to answer their questions
about her and Harold’s early lives.

But Katrina stood the test well. She retained
her composure and carried off the pretense that she was Harold’s
sister very well. If Harold had not been worrying so much about how
he was going to explain himself to her, he would have been proud of
his young wife for her pluck.

As the evening ended, Teresa and Harold
walked Katrina toward her bedroom, pausing for Teresa to give
Katrina a quick hug and a kiss. “I’m so happy to have a new sister.
I always wanted someone besides Miguel, since I grew up as the only
girl on the hacienda. We’ll be great friends, I just know it.”

Halfway to their room, Harold excused himself
and walked back toward Katrina’s room, tapping lightly on the door.
Katrina opened the door, stepping back inside as Harold entered and
carefully closed the door. He stood silent, facing Katrina as she
glared at him, her eyes blazing and her manner defying him to
condone his actions. Katrina spoke first.

“And when did you plan to tell me of this
charade, Harold, after the children were born?” she demanded.

Harold started to answer but ceased as
Katrina held her hand in front of her face, palm facing Harold and
fingers spread apart, turning her head so as not to hear his
answer. “Not a word,” she demanded through clenched teeth. As she
continued to speak, it was clear to Harold that she had taken the
day to make some sense out of her discovery and to decide on her
course of action.

“I have honored my agreement to perform as if
I were your sister, Harold,” the words coming in staccato, “and I
will continue to do so as long as it is necessary. But, you will
not see me alone again until this charade has ended and you have
made your choice. Is that clear?” she demanded.

Harold nodded his head slowly, his eyes on
the carpet in front of her feet.

“I understand it all now, Harold—your
excommunication, the family’s decision to move to Mexico. I have no
understanding, however, of what thought you took for our vows in
the temple—my church membership, my feelings, or those of our
coming child. This is not the way of the Lord, Harold, and I will
have no part of it.”

Harold interrupted her. “Katrina, the Lord is
pleased . . .”

“No, Harold,” she spat out. “The Lord is
not
pleased and neither am I. I will write my father and
request his assistance in this matter. Whether I will stay or not
is uncertain. Until that decision is reached, I will not dishonor
you in front of your . . . ” she hesitated briefly, waiting until
Harold raised his head to meet her eyes, “ . . . your new family,”
she said, lowering her head a moment before resuming her stare
directly at Harold—“as you have dishonored our family, Harold.”

She waited silently as Harold stood quiet,
unable or unwilling to respond. “I think you should leave now,” she
said.

“Katrina, I . . .”

“Good night, Harold!”

“Good night, Katrina. I am truly sorry it had
to take place this way.”

“Harold,” she said, folding her arms across
her chest and continuing to stare directly at him, her
five-foot-six frame as intimidating as she could make it, “I am
truly sorry it had to take place at all.”

By early December, the Strombergs’ new home
was completed, and Harold, Teresa, and Katrina had moved in. Teresa
had noticed, but had not made mention of her observation, that
Katrina took pains to avoid Harold. The two women, on the other
hand, formed a firm friendship, riding through the countryside at
every opportunity, with Teresa teaching Katrina about horses and
Spanish saddles. By the end of December their occasional rides were
accomplished in the buggy Teresa had originally used to bring
Katrina into the hacienda. In her seventh month, Katrina’s
pregnancy no longer permitted horseback riding.

A week before Christmas, Magnus Stromberg
arrived with the second contingent of colonists, bringing the total
in New Hope to just over three hundred people from about
eighty-five families. The residents of New Hope kept to themselves
a good deal, but they did patronize local artisans, shopkeepers,
and businesses in Mazatlán, a situation that enhanced the local
economy, just as President Diaz had anticipated.

If the local residents knew anything of the
practice of polygamy among Mormons of an earlier day, nothing was
made of it now. There had been some notice taken of the
inordinately large number of women and children as compared to men.
However, nothing had been said and no challenge to the colony’s
practices had been issued.

When Magnus arrived, accompanied by his wife,
he stayed for a few days with Don Sebastian. In a frank discussion,
Magnus explained to Señor Cardenas that he did indeed have three
other wives with their children, and they were also being relocated
to New Hope. They had been members of his household for many years,
and he wanted to live out his life in Mexico without fear or
pressure from church or government sources. Don Sebastian, while
voicing his religious disagreement over the issue, nevertheless was
a compassionate man and most understanding of Stromberg’s
desires.

Moving in temporarily with Harold, Teresa,
and Katrina, Magnus brought his first wife into the household as
well, arranging temporary accommodations for his three other
families in New Hope, in housing that Harold had prepared prior to
his father’s arrival.

Christmas might have been a joyous occasion
for all, except for the tension that Teresa noted between Katrina
and her father, Magnus Stromberg. There was no evidence of
affection, and, given the relationship that Teresa had with her own
father, it seemed odd to her that Magnus never embraced his
daughter or even paid much attention to her. Teresa came to the
conclusion that Señor Stromberg disapproved so of Katrina’s
unmarried status and her pregnancy that he couldn’t bring himself
to forgive her.

Determined to ease young Katrina’s burden,
Teresa tried all the harder to build the friendship the two young
women had formed, and Katrina responded warmly, confiding her
feelings, as much as she could, to the gracious and loving Spanish
woman.

The most startling discovery Teresa made
regarding Katrina’s strange behavior, came quite by accident. By
the second week in February, Magnus and his wife had already moved
into their unfinished home in New Hope. Accompanied by Miguel, on
horseback, Teresa returned home unexpectedly one afternoon from a
buggy ride to her father’s house. As they entered the house, they
heard angry voices upstairs, coming from Katrina’s quarters. Not
wishing to interfere in a brother and sister quarrel, they actually
smiled at each other for a few moments, recognizing the argument as
similar to those they’d had in earlier years. Miguel excused
himself, saying he’d return the next day to talk to Harold about
their cattle buying trip. Teresa slowly mounted the stairs, intent
on reaching her own room without further embarrassing Harold and
Katrina.

Perceiving, however, that Katrina was near
tears, Teresa moved quietly toward the sound of the quarrel,
waiting for an opportune moment when she might intervene and try to
calm things down. It was evident that Harold and Katrina were
arguing over Katrina’s baby, confirmation to Teresa that the
Strombergs were continuing to struggle with the idea of Katrina’s
condition.

“I refuse to agree to that, Harold,” Katrina
screamed.

“But there’s no other way, Katrina. The
baby’s name will still be Stromberg,” he said.

“As well it should be, Harold, it’s
your
baby,” she cried.

Teresa paused at the door, her hand on the
door knob, stunned by the accusation she had just heard. She
turned, retracing her steps to her bedroom and closed the door
behind her, totally confused by the revelation. Harold’s baby? His
sister? Unsure how to deal with the issue, Teresa retrieved a
woolen shawl to ward off the evening chill and went back
downstairs, quietly leaving the house and walking to the stable.
Roderigo had unhitched her horse and was grooming him following her
ride with Miguel.

“Roderigo, prepare the buggy, please. I’ll be
going out again.”

“Sí, Señora,” he replied.

Pushing the horse, Teresa overtook Miguel
about two miles from her father’s house, and explained that she
felt she didn’t want to intrude on Harold’s argument with Katrina,
and so she had decided to return to the Cardenases’ hacienda to
spend the night. She’d return home in the morning, she said. Miguel
laughed, calling her a coward for avoiding domestic issues in her
own household.

Instructing one of the Cardenases’ household
staff to ride over to her home and advise Harold that she would not
be home until the morning, she went up to her old bedroom where she
remained all evening and through the night.

Teresa’s stay at her father’s hacienda
stretched into four days, with Harold appearing the first morning
for a scheduled trip with Miguel to buy cattle. They would be gone
about ten days according to Miguel, and in the brief meeting Teresa
had with Harold, he discerned nothing out of the ordinary, and
Teresa did not divulge her newfound knowledge.

Late on the evening of the fourth day, one of
the servants from Harold’s home awoke the Cardenases’ household
with news that Miss Stromberg was having her baby. Teresa was
awakened by the disturbance downstairs and descended the stairs to
discover what was happening. Calling for the midwife to get ready
and instructing Manuel to rig the buggy, Teresa raced back upstairs
and got dressed.

When Teresa and Carmen, the midwife, arrived
at Teresa’s home, Katrina was in deep labor.

“She’s nearly six weeks early,” Teresa told
Carmen.

“Sí, Señora. We will do what we can,” Carmen
said and went to work examining Katrina. Within moments she had
identified that the baby was coming breech and told Teresa. The
development was withheld from Katrina, who was experiencing painful
contractions and unsure of how to proceed. Both women tried to calm
Katrina down, Teresa sitting by her side with a damp cloth, and
Carmen waiting at the foot of the bed, preparing to help deliver
the child.

Hours later, as light filtered through the
drapes drawn over the window, signaling the arrival of dawn,
Katrina slept soundly, the ordeal having exhausted her strength.
Carmen had gone away with the stillborn son, and Teresa remained,
fitfully dozing in a chair at the bedside. A small groan from
Katrina awoke Teresa, who moved closer to the bed, reaching out to
stroke Katrina’s pale face.

Katrina opened her eyes and reached for
Teresa’s hand. “The baby?” she asked, her eyes now wide in
anticipation.

Teresa held Katrina’s hand and sat without
speaking, not knowing how to deliver the news. Looking into
Katrina’s tired face, now filled with anxiety, Teresa felt a great
wave of affection for this woman she had accepted as a sister.
Choking with emotion, Teresa couldn’t speak, but her tears said it
all. Katrina also began to cry, and the two women sat for awhile,
holding hands and sharing the grief.

Teresa’s mind reeled also with another
concept—the relief brought about by knowing that the baby’s death
provided a partial solution to the problem of its incestuous
conception, something that had weighed almost constantly on her
mind for the past four days.

“Katrina, perhaps,” Teresa tried to say, “ .
. . perhaps it is for the best,” she said.

“What?” Katrina asked, confused at such a
statement. “Why?”

“Your brother’s child, I mean. Perhaps God
took the matter into his own hands.”

“What do you mean?” Katrina asked.

“Katrina,” Teresa pleaded, “. . . I overheard
the argument you had with Harold. Your brother’s child, Katrina . .
. perhaps it’s for the best.”

Understanding slowly dawned on Katrina. Not
yet having come to terms with the loss of her baby, and weak with
fatigue and sorrow, she had now to wrestle with this new
accusation. Her mind raced: Somehow, Teresa has discovered the baby
is Harold’s, and since she has the impression he is my brother, of
course she would assume . . .