Romancing the Wilderness: American Wilderness Series Boxed Bundle Books 1 - 3 Page 7

  Stephen managed a slight smile. Jane’s obvious physical reaction to his affection warmed his heart, making him even more determined to protect her.

  He turned her around to face him and tenderly traced the line of her jaw. “Jane, I am so grateful that you were able to protect yourself and our girls. I’m proud of your courage. But unfortunately, that was not the end of danger.”

  “Why?” She stared at him, her eyes wide with concern.

  He hesitated and swallowed hard, searching for courage. “Sam tracked Bomazeen. The devil headed toward the Pennacook village in the mountains, but tracking him is next to impossible and he had a long head start. The tribe will probably heal his wound. But you also wounded his pride. That won’t heal. He’ll come back and try again.”

  Jane unclenched her fist and put the kitchen knife down. “Stephen, I admit this was a close call, too close. This event shook us all, but you must have faith that God will keep us from harm.”

  She moved to the table and lit some candles, brightening the room considerably, but not Stephen’s mood.

  “It’s not that simple. Savages have butchered many people of faith,” he said.

  “Then we’ll be ready for them. Men around here have fought the natives before. What’s different now? I know you’re not afraid of them.”

  “The difference is that in the past they only stole horses or cattle during a raid. But now they’re stealing women, and Bomazeen wants to capture you. The natives need wives to replace their women who died from smallpox and they need slaves to tend crops. Bear says they have started raiding again from here to Canada. Bomazeen is helping them. It is nearly impossible to rescue a woman or child once stolen. One of the girls stolen recently, Lucy, was just sixteen.” Stephen almost choked on the words. He pitied the poor young woman. His heart twisted in his chest when he thought about how close Jane and Martha had come to the same fate.

  “Sam and Bear agree you are in grave danger. Our girls are also in peril. I’m not afraid to fight, but it is my responsibility to keep you safe. I believe the best option is to leave.”

  There, he’d finally said it.

  Jane froze in her tracks. “Leave? But this is our home.”

  Stephen started to pace. “This farm is remote and isolated. When we built here, no one thought the natives would again be a threat. And they probably wouldn’t be now if disease hadn’t wiped out their wives. I would die fighting to keep anyone from taking you. But I cannot always be here to stand watch. And if, Lord forbid, I were to die in a fight with Bomazeen, I could no longer protect you and the girls. I won’t let you become a slave. To be certain that does not happen, I have to keep both of us safe. I had been thinking about heading west, to Kentucky, before this happened. Now, I’m certain it’s what we need to do. Sometimes it takes courage to make a wise decision. We need to make a wise decision now.”

  Jane put her hands on his arms to stop him. She stared at him, her face flushing. “How can you be so ready to give up our home? Leaving won’t keep us safe. There are countless dangers on the trail to Kentucky. Probably worse hazards. Have you considered that?”

  “That’s all I’ve thought about lately. My brothers and Bear will be joining us so we will have five men—six if Edward comes—not just me to protect you. And we won’t be sitting here waiting for danger to come to us. I’ll not live here with your life in jeopardy or with us worrying about the girls disappearing every time they go outside to play. Why should we when so much opportunity waits for us there? Daniel and Squire Boone call Kentucky a second paradise. Boone’s axe men cleared a trail all the way to the Kentucky River. They say the grass there is lush beyond belief.”

  “Pastures—so that’s what this is all about. I should have known.” Jane threw down the towel in her hand.

  “No! It’s not just about land. It’s about opportunity.”

  “What about Indians in Kentucky?”

  “The Shawnee, by terms of the truce, agreed not to harm white settlers. Once we reach Fort Boonesborough it will be safe.” He truly believed that was true. He stayed informed on the news of the frontier, reading everything he could get his hands on and Sam’s contacts with the military and other hunters and trappers provided reliable information. They also learned a good deal from newspapers. He removed a newspaper clipping from his writing-table drawer. “I was going to show you this even before Bomazeen came here. It’s from the New Hampshire Gazette, December 15, 1796.” Stephen read it aloud to her, “‘The Wilderness Road from Cumberland Gap to the settlements of Kentucky is now completed. Wagons loaded with a ton weight, may pass with ease, with four good horses. Travelers will find no difficulty in procuring such necessaries as they stand in need of on the road; and the abundant crop now growing in Kentucky, will afford the emigrants a certainty of being supplied with every necessary of life on the most convenient terms. Joseph Crockett, James Knox, Commissioners.’”

  He put the clipping away and then continued. “Everywhere I go, Jane, men are talking excitedly about the beautiful grass in Kentucky, so rich in color, settlers call it Bluegrass.”

  He remembered the plentiful grass his father had cultivated on their home place, but a massive mountain slide of rock, mud, and snow buried his parents’ entire three-story brick home and most of their property. Tragically, his father, mother, and sister all perished, buried forever at the base of what people would later name Wyllie Mountain.

  Jane turned back to making dinner, shaking her head from side to side. “I’m more concerned about the safety of my daughters than a plenitude of pastures.” She smacked the biscuit dough with more force than needed.

  “I am too. That’s why I want to leave,” he persisted, fatigue making him even less patient than normal.

  “Well, I don’t. I can’t believe your brothers agreed to this madness.”

  “They all see the potential and agree it is time for a move. Well, all but Edward,” he said tersely, admitting to himself that he wanted his stubborn brother to come. The five brothers, despite their differences, had always been close and he wanted it to stay that way. He still held out hope that Edward would change his mind. He put a log on the fire and stoked it repeatedly.

  “We need to think about this. You’ve waited this long, it can keep until we’re both sure.”

  “Damn it, I am sure. I’m sure we need to leave now.”

  “Well I’m not!” She stomped her foot and glared up at him. A flush of red crept up her throat as her anger flared.

  He was running out of options. He had to make her understand. “If we stay, and that devil’s spawn grabs one of our girls, will you be able to live with that? This is just a house. We can replace it. We cannot replace one of them. If he comes back, what do you think he is going to do to you? I promise you rape would be the easiest part.”

  “Don’t threaten me with what Bomazeen might do. I know what he’s like. I felt his hot stinking breath on my face and my breast still bears his filthy mark. He nearly killed my baby,” she screamed. “But I won’t turn tail and run like a frightened rabbit. This is our home.” She choked back a sob.

  “Settle your temper. The girls will hear you. They’ve been through enough. And so have you. I don’t want you to go through that again.”

  She lowered her voice, but not her obvious anger. “Would you have decided to go if this hadn’t happened—if Bomazeen had never come here?” She glared at him, her green eyes nearly burning a hole through him.

  It seemed everyone had the same question for him. “Yes. I already made up my mind that I wanted to go. I think this is something my father would have wanted for me. And I hoped you would too.”

  “When did you plan to talk to me about upsetting our whole world? I don’t care what your father wanted.”

  “But I do,” he said simply. He swallowed his frustration. “And I care about what you want too.”

  Stephen decided to try to calm her. “You’re correct, of course. With all of our futures at stake, we must decide this wit
h great care. There will be only one chance to make the right decision.” He took her hand and squeezed it. He could tell she was a long way from committing to leave. There was little conviction in her grip.

  He let go of her hand and started to pace again, but then stopped abruptly and faced her. “I want your happiness Jane—more than my own. You mean everything to me.”

  “Then think about this. We have been so happy here. It would be a terrible sacrifice to leave our home, everything we have worked so hard to build. It might not be much, but it’s ours.”

  He set his jaw and moved closer to her. “Our forefathers made sacrifices and endured misfortunes to come to the New World. They didn’t seek ease and comforts in coming here. They expected hardships and discouragements. I don’t think they did it just for themselves. They did it for us. They faced exactly the same choice we face, stay or go. They let God’s will guide them.”

  She threw her hands in the air and looked up. “How does anyone really know what God’s will is?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. He considered her question for a moment and then said, “I do know that we’re not here to just exist—to just get by. We’re here to accomplish what He puts in our hearts, even if it’s difficult. I think those sparks, those ideas that give us hope, that make us want to open a new door, come from Him. If we don’t accomplish anything, why are we even here? We must always try, even though we won’t always succeed. I know I would rather die trying than die without ever having tried.”

  She appeared confused.

  “Kentucky offers a chance for a better life. Don’t we owe that to our daughters?” Worn out by their argument and lack of sleep, he collapsed in his favorite chair and yanked off his boots. He noted he would need to see the cobbler for a sturdy new pair before they left for Kentucky. “You’ve been through an ordeal and might not want to think about this now. But at least consider how much opportunity lies out there waiting for us before you make up your mind.”

  Jane didn’t respond. Instead, she fetched a pot of coffee from the stove and poured them both a cup. “Stephen, if it were just us, I wouldn’t hesitate. This is not about what’s right or wrong—it’s about choosing between two rights.” She stomped back to the kitchen to resume cooking for the moment.

  He hoped the streaming brew would refresh him, while he pondered what she had said about two rights.

  Jane’s head spun with dozens of questions, a myriad of doubts. What if we get there and he can’t find the kind of land he wants? What if the good land is already taken? How will we even know where to look? What if Stephen gets hurt or worse, dies?

  So many emotions thrashed around inside her head she could not think clearly. Her serene world had disappeared. The future approached like a thundering crashing avalanche, not the soft powdery flurry she’d grown used to. It was too fast and too much. She couldn’t keep up.

  Her confusion sent her to the verge of panic. Tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t want her world to change. She wanted everything to stay the way it was.

  She threw down her biscuit dough and stalked over to stand in front of Stephen. “Damn it, we need to just stay here. You will never convince me that even the best pastureland would be worth putting our girls in jeopardy. And you’ll never convince me that we need to leave to stay safe.”

  “Jane, there’s a new home for us out there somewhere. Trust that He will keep us all safe on our journey.”

  “I trust that He will keep us safe here.” She stomped her foot. “This is beyond impossible. I won’t do it!” she yelled. “We can’t leave our home.”

  “We can and we will.” His voice was uncompromising, yet gentle.

  The straightforward statement deflated her. She groaned and sat down at the table, nearly unable to stand with the weight of what her husband was asking of her. She knew Stephen’s heart—he was just trying to keep them all safe. But at what cost?

  Was he right? She wanted to trust her husband. But change was frightening. She brought her fingers to her lips and slowly rubbed her mouth, a habit she had when worried.

  Stephen just wasn’t thinking clearly. This whole incident with Bomazeen had shaken him to his core. A trip to Kentucky would sound like a convenient way to escape that problem. He probably imagined them riding through the woods, side-by-side, sleeping together under the stars. She wasn’t so sure. This was where she wanted to sleep with her husband. She had her babies in that bed. She was happy here, so content.

  Until Bomazeen. She closed her eyes and shuddered.

  Could she forget the horror that took place here? Would the girls remember the terror he inflicted every time they passed through the room? Would the devil come back for her? Or, heaven forbid, Martha? She had to admit, the thought terrified her.

  Maybe she should leave this house. Make new memories in a new home in another place. A place safely away from Bomazeen.

  She glanced at Stephen. His eyes held the same hopeful spark she had seen in them when he came back from the barn. He was looking at the future, while she still clung to the past, desperate to hold on to it. Was it time for her to look toward the future too?

  Would he do this anyway, no matter how much she objected? No, he loved her too much. But her husband’s ambition, if thwarted, would make him a man who would always wonder what might have been.

  A man’s life had to have a grander purpose than to just feed himself and his family.

  Maybe, she could at least consider his proposal. Maybe it was wrong for her to doubt him.

  “If I agree to this, and I’m still not sure I can, it will be against my better judgment. I will not do it because we are running from danger. But it will be for our future—yours, mine, and the girls,” Jane said guardedly.

  Stephen's face brightened at once. “Keeping you safe is my future. I have no future, in the west or anywhere, if you’re not a part of it. I know we can make a better future for our family there.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I can’t believe you are truly ready to do this.”

  He came closer to her, looking down at her intensely, and took her hands in his. “It is overwhelming to think about,” he said, his voice conveying excitement. “It will not only change our lives but the lives of our daughters and all those who’ll come after us. New Hampshire won’t be home to our descendants. I want to create a future they will benefit from. Someday, they’ll know we did this, and be grateful that we did it. I hope they will love the land as I do. This is going to be a great country someday; maybe even go beyond Kentucky. By God, we might even go beyond Kentucky.”

  Her blood froze at his words.

  Jane could only stare at him, wondering if she could even go beyond her doubts.

  Chapter 10

  With Sam and Bear there to keep a vigilant watch, Stephen felt he could get away for a short while to talk to his other brothers. He wanted to speak to all three together if he could, so he decided to get John first and then go into Barrington where Edward and William both lived.

  While he rode, Stephen thought about his discussion with Jane. He marveled at her keen mind. Having her as his wife and confidant was his greatest blessing, but her stubbornness went beyond bearable sometimes. And she called him pigheaded. Sam had promised to talk to her while he was gone. Perhaps he could make her understand how important this was for all of them and how serious a threat Bomazeen really was.

  He arrived to find John saddling his sorrel mount and Little John’s old grey pony. John’s steed stood nearly 16 hands high to accommodate its owner’s long legs. The horse’s copper-red mane and tail sparkled in the morning sun reminding him of Jane’s hair. He would do whatever it took to protect that lovely head of hair.

  “Where you headed?” he asked John, without dismounting or greeting them.

  “Good morning to you as well,” John said, smiling. “We’re going to Barrington to check the progress of the new schoolhouse. I want to be sure the carpenters and masons are following my plans correctly.” He threw his sad
dle over a blanket and adjusted its weight on the horse’s back.

  An excellent builder, John had designed and built several area homes, bridges, and churches. Currently, John was working on Barrington’s first schoolhouse, something the town was sorely missing.

  But today, Stephen’s mind was not on his daughters’ education, but their future.

  “Figure out who can take over for you. We’re leaving for Kentucky,” he said.

  John stopped, and looked up at him. “Why so soon? I thought we were still making up our minds. And if we decided to go, I didn’t think we were leaving until early summer, after the heavy spring rains. I can’t just leave the school half done.”

  “Finish saddling. We’ll talk in Barrington with Edward and William,” he answered.

  “All right. There’s some coffee left if you’re interested,” John offered as he grabbed the girth strap and gave it a tug.

  “I just want to get to Barrington. Let’s go!”

  John glared back at him.

  Stephen softened his tone. He didn’t mind being abrupt, but he did not want to be rude. “Please hurry.”

  Within minutes, the horses and pony carried them at a steady trot, down the winding valley trail to Barrington. A crisp morning breeze carrying the scent of spring wafted against his face and he inhaled deeply.

  “What’s the rush Uncle?” Little John asked.

  “You’ll see soon enough.” His mind raced, filling with the numerous tasks to take care of before they could leave. They would have to sell their properties or turn them over to someone to rent. He would auction most of his livestock. They would need six months’ worth of key supplies, plenty of ammunition and guns, extra horses, and a roomy wagon. By the time he reached Barrington, he had many of the details already worked out in his head.

  He tugged George to a stop in front of William’s house. The simple two-room dwelling was suitable for an unmarried man. William kept it neat, but it lacked the warmth of a woman’s touch. What would his life be like if he didn’t have Jane?