Cherished Mercy by Tracie Peterson

Author:Tracie Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC014000;Frontier and pioneer life—Fiction;Christian fiction;Love stories
ISBN: 9781441265449
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-07-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

14

After insisting they bury the dead, Mercy was relieved to leave the village. Her only regret was the insistence of the army that the surviving Tututni remain with them. They were to be sent to join a larger group of Indians being marched north to the reservation.

The tearful good-bye left Mercy with an enormous sense of loss. Would they be all right? Would the soldiers treat them fairly? There was no way to be certain they would even survive the brutal march north.

With the help of three soldiers and the use of two large Tututni canoes, Mercy and Adam managed to get Eletta and Faith to Gold Beach without further problems. Mercy had taken what they could pack of clothes and personal articles, as well as a crate that Adam stuffed with food. There was no way of knowing what the situation in Gold Beach might be, he had told her. She was glad he was thinking of such things. Her thoughts were a terrible scramble of worry over Eletta and Faith and acceptance of her feelings for Adam. Thankfully, she hadn’t been forced to deal with Billy Caxton, although he and his men were still somewhere nearby.

Gold Beach was much the same as she remembered it. The small fort being built was further along, with a much higher wall of dirt mounded around two small buildings. There were several families in residence, as well as soldiers and other single men.

The army physician arranged for Mercy, Eletta, Adam, and Faith to have a small house normally shared by some soldiers who were off fighting Indians. It was hardly more than an unpainted plank shack, but Mercy was grateful for a roof over her head and a floor, albeit a very rough one, beneath her feet. So many of the others were living in tents.

It would normally have been inappropriate for a single woman to share a house with a single man to whom she wasn’t related, but these were difficult and dangerous times. Mercy wasn’t about to be left alone to watch over Eletta and Faith without Adam to watch over all of them.

Mopping Eletta’s brow with a damp cloth, Mercy continued to pray, thanking God for their safe arrival and pleading for the life of her friend. When Mercy went to wet the cloth again, she was surprised to find Eletta awake.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m. . . .” Eletta said nothing more about herself. “How’s Faith? Is she bearing up all right?” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.

“She’s doing well. She’s just outside in the main room. Would you like to see her?”

Eletta shook her head. “Not just yet. I want to talk to you alone.”

“What is it?”

“I know I’m dying. I believe the child inside me has already passed.”

Mercy bit her lower lip to keep from contradicting Eletta in empty encouragement. The army physician had already told Mercy that he believed the unborn baby to be dead. He had told Mercy and Adam that he could

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