Remember Me - Regency Brides 03 (12 page)

Helen, stil overwhelmed by this latest obstacle, nodded absently.

"Pierre, poor dear, is sick this morning with what appears to be some sort of stomach ailment. Is there any way you and Josie could take the barouche and make sure Reverend Campbel has al he needs today? Pierre tel s me he stil burns everything he tries to cook, and I know you have some knowledge in this area ... ?"

She let her voice drift off in a question.

Helen managed to curve her lips into a smile that she truly did not feel. "Of course I'l go."

"Excel ent! I normal y would have one of the house servants go, but since I know you like to spend time with him, I didn't think you would mind," she told her in a gentle, teasing tone and then left the room.

Yes, Helen loved spending time with North; but the more she was in his presence, despite their growing feelings for one another, the more she got the feeling that a future between them could never be.

~

There was a great deal of self-pity in North's thoughts and even in his walk as he practical y dragged himself from his little house out to the barn. He'd sat in his house an hour after he'd received word that Pierre wouldn't arrive, hoping someone would be sent as a replacement.

No one came.

So he came to terms with the fact that if he didn't go out and retrieve the milk and eggs himself, plus get a slab of bacon from the underground ceramic urns that served as a way to keep his food cool, he was going to starve.

Well
, he amended to himself,
he would certainly be very hungry
. That would lead to his being cranky, and he would be unable to begin to study his new sermon for the upcoming Sunday.

Since he was actual y beginning to enjoy his studies of the Bible and finding just the right message to share with his congregation, he decided to search for nourishment.

So here he was, about to enter his least favorite place in this world ...his barn. He had to admit he was getting better at milking the cow, although he managed to connive Pierre into doing it most days.

Thankful y, this morning Queen Mary must have "been in the mood" because she gave over her milk without a lot of fuss. The chickens were another matter altogether, however. They seemed not at al like themselves; instead, they were restless, jittery, and unwil ing to part with their eggs as usual.

He final y managed to grab a few but not without war wounds to show for his struggle.

He'd no sooner swung open his heavy barn door when he spotted the source of his chickens' anxieties. There, stretched out straight with his mouth wide open toward North, was the most ferocious, ugly beast he'd ever encountered.

Alligator!

What had he heard about them? His mind raced. Did they attack? Did they eat humans? The creature chose that moment to snap his jaws shut and crawl forward a couple of inches as if showing North what he was capable of.

North didn't doubt him one little bit!

The wise course of action at this moment, he knew, would be to get away from the al igator as quickly as possible. The problem was that when the reptile moved forward, he blocked the door from being shut and there was no other door in the barn.

Except...

North glanced around to gauge the distance between himself and the ladder to the loft. From there he could try to jump out of the hayloft door.

Hopeful y he would not break a leg and arm in the process!

As he turned and sprinted toward the ladder, he held tight to his bucket of milk and basket of eggs. Climbing was a lot more difficult with them, but there was no way he was letting that beast take what he'd worked so hard to get! Once he was out of harm's way, North watched the al igator to see if it would go away.

It didn't.

For what seemed like hours but actual y was only minutes, the creature just lay there, not moving one muscle, despite the fact that his animals were al restless and moving about noisily.

Even
they
recognized danger.

After
a few more minutes, North concluded he was going to have to try to jump from the loft. For al he knew, it might be days before the creature would decide to leave.

It took him a moment to locate a rope to lower his items. He was in the process of tying them together when he heard a movement from below. Quickly North scrambled to the loft door leading to the outside and peered down.

He nearly toppled out of the smal door when he spotted Sam cradling the now-dead al igator in his arms as he walked out of his barn.

"What are you doing here?" he barked brusquely. He suddenly felt ridiculous, hiding up in his hayloft while the Indian had taken no more than a few seconds to take care of the problem.

Sam didn't so much as glance up as he tied the reptile to the back of his horse.

The black gelding stirred in protest because of the weight of his new passenger.

"Rescuing you from an al igator, preacher man," he answered sardonical y, as he checked then double-checked his knots.

North, feeling less than a man, backed away from the smal door and, with his milk and eggs, made his way back down the ladder. He placed his goods down on a table and then walked out to meet Sam. North noticed him examining his smal garden.

"I have something to put on the soil of these carrots that wil help them grow,"

Sam offered. Again he hadn't even looked up to see North walking toward him, and North was sure he hadn't made a sound while walking on the soft grass.

"Thank you, but I have my own way of gardening," he answered, knowing it was childish but finding it hard not to show his irritation where the swaggering Indian was concerned.

North heard Sam make a snorting sound, which just made him more irate.

"How many gardens have you planted?" Sam asked, this time standing up and looking straight at North. The Indian had an unnerving stare.

North couldn't know for sure, but he was almost certain he'd never even
walked
around a vegetable garden in his entire life. "Is there a reason for this visit?"

Sam smirked at him, stil giving him that odd stare. It made North, for the first time, wonder if he'd been a violent man in his past, because he truly wanted to hit him.

The truth was, however, that North felt strangely inferior to the Choctaw.

He seemed to be a man of the earth, capable of defending; feeding, and protecting himself and anyone he cared about. He appeared comfortable with this wild, untamed land, whereas North constantly felt like an outsider.

North was smart enough to know he shouldn't compare himself to the Indian, because they were raised in two different worlds and taught very different things, but he found he did anyway:

He hated not being able to do simple things for himself He even had trouble dressing himself and was 'almost certain he'd had a servant to do it for him in Scotland.

He didn't want to be pampered and waited on. He didn't want the kind of life he saw the plantation owners leading, where servants or slaves did everything for them and they
did
nothing for themselves.

"In your country, what do you do when another man wants the lady who you want?" Sam asked, bringing North's attention· back to the smirk he was stil sporting.

North had a feeling this was the reason why Sam had come. "The lady chooses the one she loves," he stated with confidence, knowing with al his heart that Helen was fal ing in love with him. It was in every glance, every mile she gave him. As far as he was concerned, Sam wasn't a rival for her affections.

Sam surprised him by bursting out with a loud, mocking sort of laugh-the kind that real y set North's teeth on edge. "You let your women decide? Your people do things peculiarly!"

“And just how do
your people
do things?" North countered. "Throw the women over your horses and whisk them off to your caves until they relent?"

"Since we don't have caves in Louisiana," Sam began, his voice slow and deliberate as though he were talking to a child, "we issue a chal enge to our opponent."

North didn't like the sound of that. With a disapproving frown, he told him, "Are we talking about a duel? Because I am most certain they are il egal."

Sam sighed and looked skyward as if trying to hold on to his patience. "This is another thing that irritates me with
your
people. You jump right away to the worst conclusion." He turned and walked back to his horse and withdrew a bow. "This is what I am talking about. A chal enge. A contest to see who the better man is."

North eyed the bow and made every effort to pretend to be unfamiliar with one.

He knew instinctively that he was familiar with how to handle the weapon. "You want to chal enge me to an archery contest?" North asked, to make sure he understood that they weren't going to be shooting arrows at each other. "And if I don't know how to handle a bow ... ?”

Sam shrugged, his overconfident smirk back on his face. "There are always guns or knives."

North wanted so badly to accept the Indian's offer and show him that he was just as much of a man as Sam was. But he had the distinct feeling Helen would not be pleased, and neither would his congregation, once they found out their preacher was in a contest to win a girl's affections!

"Wel , Sam, as interesting as that sounds, I wil have to turn your offer of chal enge down," he told him and watched the Indian's face turn to disappointment.

North couldn't help but wonder if the Indian was trying to befriend him in his own odd little way. "But I would love to join you for target practice sometime. Maybe even try my hand at hunting," North impulsively offered, just to see if he would accept.

Sam appeared interested but only after he studied North a moment, unsure of the preacher's motives. "I wil come by in two days," he told him and then pointed toward the al igator. "I'l bring you half of the meat I get from the al igator tail, too."

Alligator tail?
North didn't say a word. He didn't want Sam thinking he was less of a man because he'd never eaten any. He'd eat every bite if it kil ed him!

Sam gathered the horse's reins and began to walk off when he unexpectedly stopped and turned for one last comment. "I am stil determined to marry Helen Nichols, preacher man," he stated, wanting that particular point understood.

"So am I," North countered, knowing he truly did want nothing more than to marry Helen.

They exchanged a measuring look, and then without another word, Sam grinned and turned to walk away.

Both were surprised to see Helen come from around the house with Josie.

"Sam!" she exclaimed, clearly shocked to see him. "What are you doing here?"

' Alligator hunting" was al Sam said as he walked past her, tugging his horse behind him. Helen opened her mouth as if to say something as she turned to watch him walk away, but no words seemed to come out.

"Did you real y go al igator hunting, Reverend North?" Josie asked, using her own version of his name, as she ran up to him, her long, bound hair bouncing as she went.

North reached out and gave her hair a playful yank that made her giggle. There was absolutely no way he was going to tel them what real y happened. A man had to maintain some sort of dignity. "Something like that."

"You weren't fighting with him, were you?" Helen asked as she, too, walked up to meet him. "Sam can be a little overbearing, but I wouldn't let him aggravate you.

He lives by a whole different set of rules than any other man I know."

North reached out and pul ed a ladybug off Helen's shoulder. It was interesting to note that she didn't flinch or jerk away from his touch. Instead she looked at his hand and smiled as the red bug flew away. "Sam
is
very different from most white men," he noted, watching to see what "her reaction would be to his next words. "Some women like the outdoorsy, rough-and-tough type that he is."

He almost laughed when Helen actual y shuddered. "I don't know of any woman who enjoys polite society and gently bred manners who would want Sam as a husband!" she stated emphatical y.

"I would!" Josie piped up, causing both of the adults to gape at her with astonishment. "He wouldn't care if I had any manners at al !" Helen shook her head disapprovingly. "You wil not get out of learning your lessons on the art of curtsying today, so stop trying." Josie made a
humph
sound and folded her arms defiantly at her chest. "Why do I need to learn that? I'm an American! We don't bow down to anyone!"

North exchanged a long-suffering glance with Helen; then she looked back down and answered, "Your sister wil one day be the Marchioness of Moreland. She wil have to bow before the king, and you and your parents wil have to do the same thing."

Josie rol ed her eyes and made a growling noise. "I'm going to talk to the chickens. At least there I don't have to be polite or remember my manners."

Helen and North laughed softly as the young girl stomped into the barn.

"You
know, if Sam can wait a bit, Josie just might be the perfect match for him,"

North observed. "But you can't always choose the person you fal in love with.

And if he is truly in love with you, he might not want anyone else." North saw a sadness fal over Helen's face as she murmured wistful y, "That's true."

He bent his head toward her and brought her chin up so she was looking directly into his eyes. "Helen," he began, almost afraid to ask the question.

"Were you once in love with someone?"

She just stared at him for a moment, and North wasn't altogether sure she was going to answer him. But final y she did, and the answer hit him squarely in the heart. ' Yes, once. A few years ago."

His hand was stil on her chin, and she didn't seem to mind when his thumb began to softly caress the skin along her jaw line. "What happened?"

"Nothing. He was not a man of my station. In fact, he was way above it." She paused as if she were gauging his reaction. "He was a nobleman, and though we were friends, he chose not to pursue a relationship outside of that friendship." A fire lit within North's heart, and indignation for her hurt flowed from his lips. "That is preposterous!" he articulated passionately. "To throwaway a chance at love that may only come once in one's lifetime, just because of one's birth, is an injustice to God and al He created us to be." He spoke it with such fervor and with such vehemence that North had the feeling he'd grappled with this very situation before; only it had been he who'd faced such a decision. He realized then that Helen was looking at him as if she didn't believe a word he said.