River of Tomorrow by Dorothy Garlock

Author:Dorothy Garlock [GARLOCK, DOROTHY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780759522848
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2001-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Mercy was standing beside the fire when Daniel came in. The firelight played over her. She stood still and small, as if she were depleted of all strength, and looked down at her hands, clasped in front of her.

The muscles clamped above the jawline of Daniel’s face as he bent to throw another log on the fire.

“There’s a trickle of a creek out back. I can bring in enough water for you to wash decently if you want me to.” His voice was not quite even. “This is a hell of a place,” he went on gruffly. “Damn creek’s not even deep enough to wet your ankles.”

Mercy’s face in the firelight was without expression. Her eyes were like empty stars. She said nothing and her hands pressed down the sides of her dress nervously. Daniel turned and walked away, out the door, as if he had to be alone. Mercy went to the door and watched his tall figure merge with the darkness. Then he was gone, as if forever.

Her frozen voice suddenly thawed.

“Daniel . . . you don’t need . . . to bring in more water. I can manage with what’s here.” She wanted to cry again. She had not realized he was so miserable in her presence.

“I’ve already got it.” His voice, coming from the side of the cabin, held a note of irritation. “I’ll leave it here because the goddamn bucket leaks.”

“Thank you. Come eat something.” Mercy lifted a tired hand and brushed wisps of hair from her face. Misery swelled her throat.

There was a long pause.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Mercy had poured the tea and laid out the sweet potatoes and a handful of raisins by the time Daniel came in. The firelight illuminated her face. The eyes that sought his were wide and uncertain. Her braid had come loose, and hair hung down over her shoulders and back. In the firelight she looked young and slim; she was like a wraith out of a man’s dream.

“I’m sorry if I seemed out of sorts. My anger was not directed at you. Never at you, Mercy. I want you to believe that.”

There was a silence while Mercy waited until she could trust herself to speak evenly.

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Daniel said with unexpected fervor. “But let’s drop it for now.” His features took on a look of carved stone, and his dark eyes grew cold and unseeing before he turned away from her.

She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Whatever she had been going to say was frozen in the silence of bewilderment.

Daniel ate in silence. Mercy made a halfhearted attempt to eat the sweet potato and to nibble on the raisins. She felt sick, and it was an effort to swallow. While they were drinking their tea Daniel drew a paper from inside his shirt and handed it to her.

“Here’s the marriage paper. You should keep it in your carpetbag.”

Mercy took it from his hand. Without looking at it, she slipped it down inside her open bag.

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