The Promise of Morning (4 page)

Aunt Ruby’s hands rested on the rim of the basin. “I still think you’re making a big to-do over nothing. Mr. Wolcott said lots of towns back east have acting troupes come to present Shakespeare.” She scooped up a handful of forks and dropped them into the water.

Matthew looked up from the game of checkers he was playing with Uncle Arthur and pinched his lower lip between thumb and forefinger. Ellie smiled inside. She’d seen him do this countless times when he wanted to stop himself from making a quick rejoinder.

He jumped one of Uncle Arthur’s checkers, then responded. “Did you see the notice at the mercantile?”

“We were there last Thursday when the rider came through and put it up. Isn’t that right, Arthur?”

“Yup. Didn’t look evil to me—just a regular person. No horns or tail.” He aimed a teasing smile at Matthew.

Startled, Ellie looked at her uncle. She was accustomed to deferring her opinions to those of her husband because of the sixteen-year difference in their ages. But if Uncle Arthur saw nothing amiss, maybe Matthew was wrong about actors.

“The man said there would be an introduction before the play started, so we’d all know what the story would be about,” Aunt Ruby said. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I didn’t say the play was bad. It’s having actors loitering about town that worries me. It’s well known that they’re people of loose morals.”

Uncle Arthur raised an eyebrow and jumped two of Matthew’s checkers, then leaned back in his chair. “Your move.”

Matthew frowned at the board, then at Aunt Ruby. “You and Arthur never allowed Ellie to attend dance frolics or entertainments when she was a girl. Why have you changed your thinking?”

“There’s dancing and then there’s schooling. Mr. Wolcott says Shakespeare is schooling.”

“Then let’s teach it in school and that’ll be the end of it.”

“Humph.” She lifted the basin from the counter and moved to toss out the dirty water.

As soon as she opened the back door, smoke curled out of the firebox and drifted across the room. Julia wrinkled her nose and exploded in a series of sneezes.

Ellie threw a corner of her apron over the baby’s head. “We’re all going to catch our death. Hurry and shut that door.”

The latch clicked. “That only took a moment, child. No need to get in an uproar.” Aunt Ruby sat at the table and pinned Matthew with her gaze. “Times are changing. We don’t live in the backwoods anymore. I, for one, am pleased to have the opportunity to improve myself.”

Matthew stood. “We’ll see.” He took his coat from a peg next to the door and shrugged his arms into it. “Time to do the milking.”

Once the door closed behind him, Ellie turned to Aunt Ruby. “He cares about the folks in town, you know that. You never used to disagree with him.” She handed Julia a wooden spoon to play with. “In fact, you seemed to think he was well-nigh perfect when he came courting.”

“He’s a good man, I don’t deny that.” She tucked stray wisps of faded blonde hair behind her ears. “But I think he may have jumped in here without checking to see how deep the water is.”

Aunt Ruby and Uncle Arthur both believed Matthew was wrong. Ellie rested her cheek on Julia’s curls.
Is he?

Apparently misinterpreting Ellie’s silence as anger over her criticism of Matthew, Aunt Ruby said, “I know your place is at your husband’s side.” She spoke in a placating voice. “But I don’t have to follow his lead. I hope the play does come to Beldon Grove.”

Intrigued in spite of Matthew’s disapproval, Ellie leaned forward. “Where do you think it would be performed?”

That night, while Ellie readied Julia for sleep in their upstairs bedroom, Matthew stepped across the hall to settle a wrestling match that erupted between Jimmy and Johnny. She heard thumps and bangs as the twins rolled each other back and forth on the bare wooden floor.

In a few moments the commotion subsided and Matthew entered the room grinning. “I think Jimmy won that one.” He walked over to the bed and tickled Julia’s round belly.

The baby laughed and wiggled, her feet flying free of her linen nightdress. Ellie picked her up and carried her to an oak crib placed against the back wall of the room.

“Time to settle down.” Once she had Julia covered, Ellie leaned on the rail and watched her. “She’s blinking long blinks. She’ll be asleep in a moment.”

Matthew put an arm around Ellie’s waist and pulled her to his side. “Come over by the light. I need to show you something.”

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer, so she followed him to a small table near the door. Using a wooden stool at the side of the bed, she climbed up and sat beside him on the feather tick.

“I’m waiting.”

Matthew removed an envelope from his shirt pocket. “This came on Wednesday.”

“You’ve been carrying a letter around for five days? Why on earth did you wait until now to show it to me?”

An apprehensive expression crossed his face. “I didn’t want you to see it at all, but then I figured you had to know.”

“Know what?” Her heart thumped. “Tell me.”

Matthew lifted the flap and took out two folded sheets of paper. Clearing his throat, he read, “‘Dear Brother Craig. I propose dropping you a line for the first time, though not for want of respect for you. The circumstance of my writing is to give you some information . . .’”

The letter went on through many polite formalities, until Ellie interrupted. “Matt. Who’s this from? Why are you being so mysterious?”

He turned to the second page and read, “‘It is my sad duty to inform you that my son, George Long, died December last on his homestead land in Brazoria County, Texas. We are looking into any inheritance rights which might pass to the family.’” Matthew handed her the papers. “It’s from your Grandpa Long.”

The room grew dark. Matthew receded into the distance, becoming smaller and smaller. “He’s writing about my father.” Ellie leaned forward to stop the dizziness that threatened to engulf her. “How can this be? He died twenty-five years ago.”

4

Ellie moved the tall candlestick to the edge of the table and reread the message, using her index finger to follow the tightly spaced words. Matthew slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

His initial plan had been to destroy the letter. It would only upset Ellie, and to what end? She believed, as he did, that her father had died when she was a small child. The message promised to bring nothing but turmoil into their lives. He studied Ellie’s face, wondering what she was thinking.

She folded the pages and laid them on the table next to the candle. “You haven’t said why you waited so long to show this to me.”

“I didn’t want to see you hurt.” He cleared his throat. “No, that’s not the reason.” Matthew studied her, praying for understanding. “I was afraid. Afraid of what this might mean to you. To us.” He choked on the words.

Her voice took on an edge. “Then why show me at all?”

“Your grandfather said they’re looking into an inheritance. I decided there was a chance more might come of this and you wouldn’t be prepared.” He lifted her onto his lap. “I’m sorry.”

He rested his cheek against the top of her head, savoring the fragrance of the rose oil she used to dress her hair. After a few seconds, she looked up. The candle glow turned the tears on her cheeks into pearls of light.

“They told me my mother and father were in heaven. If this is true, my father gave me away—like a
puppy
—so he’d be free to go adventuring.” Ellie’s voice broke.

He rocked her back and forth. “I know. I don’t understand any of it.”

“They lied to me. They’ve lied to me all my life.” Ellie slid off his lap and marched across the room to the clothespress. She flung the doors open and dug around inside. “Where’d I put my boots?”

“What d’you want with your boots at this hour?”

“I’m going to Aunt Ruby’s right now and make her tell me the truth.”

“Wait until morning. We’ll both go.”

When Matthew woke at daybreak, Ellie wasn’t in bed next to him. He pushed himself up on one elbow to check the crib. No Julia. His breath caught in his throat. He jumped out of bed, grabbed his pants, and slipped them over his long underwear. After shoving his sockless feet into boots, he hurried out of the room, laces dragging the floor behind him. As he clattered down the stairs, his nose caught a whiff of boiling coffee.

His heart slowed its frantic beats.“You’re still here.”

Ellie turned. “Of course. Why aren’t you dressed? I want to leave right after breakfast.”

Julia toddled about the room, touching the walls to keep her balance. Matthew scooped her off the floor and cuddled her against his chest. Her chubby hands tugged at his beard.

He pried Julia’s fingers loose while answering his wife’s question. “I thought . . .” His voice trailed off. He didn’t know what he thought. Instead, he walked over and kissed her cheek. A skillet filled with salt pork and apples bubbled on top of the stove. “Smells good. I’ll go finish dressing.” Still carrying Julia, Matthew turned toward the steps.

“Hurry the other children along, will you? We can take them to school before we go to Aunt Ruby’s.”

Matthew nodded, grateful for a diversion into the commonplace. “They’ll be happy they don’t have to walk.”

He swallowed around the knot of dread that formed in his throat at the prospect of a confrontation with Ruby and Arthur. No matter how he studied on it, for the past twenty-five years they’d kept them from knowing Ellie’s father was alive.

Matthew turned right on the street in front of Bryant House Hotel. He passed Wolcott’s store and stopped at the school just as Molly’s four children walked toward them.

Her oldest son, James, paused and waited. “Pretty rich, riding to school,” he said to the twins and Harrison when they scrambled out of the wagon.

James’s brother, Franklin, followed him into the school yard. Watching him, Matthew recalled the time eight years ago when Franklin had been held captive for several months by the Fox tribe. He still moved like an Indian. Matthew doubted he’d ever outgrow his careful way of placing each foot before taking a step.

He waved at the boy and then jumped down to help Maria out of the wagon. She slipped free of his grasp and squished across the thawed ground toward Lily and her older sister Luellen.

“How can you walk and read at the same time?” she asked Luellen when she reached her side.

Franklin turned. “That’s what I’d like to know. I think we should put a rope on her and lead her to school so she won’t get lost.”

Luellen lowered her book and directed a scornful glance at him. “Don’t worry about me. I know where I’m going.”

“Matt?” The sound of his wife’s voice jerked Matthew back to the reason they’d come to town. “Are we going to sit here all morning?”

“Just waiting to be sure the children get inside all right.”