Of Needles and Haystacks by Ann Elizabeth Fryer

Author:Ann Elizabeth Fryer [Fryer, Ann Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ann Fryer
Published: 2021-03-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

MAY 11, 1880

I must have gaped when Aunt told me. “I reckon you can walk to town on your own now.” Her head gave a little dip, a gentle shove from the nest.

Everyone else was much too occupied to walk with me. I involuntarily shivered. The minister and his wife expected me within the hour. This forced both my independence and a breathless stride. I’d be dusty upon arrival.

Helen tossed her mother a pleading look, which was expertly ignored. Her life, more than mine, was completely tied to the farm except for Sundays and the occasional invitation. Her school days over, she must long for companionship—and a chance to beam at the young men in town. No wonder she’d had only eyes for Chess—the only single male who did occasionally come by. I wondered why she’d ignored his brother.

What if I met strangers or snakes along the way? I felt for the pocket knife. Never mind that I’d been trekking about the farm on my own for a few weeks now and hadn’t experienced anything frightful. Little good it would do if I did chance upon danger.

Ernest handed me a walking stick, curiously twisted about as if it could have been a vine but was sturdy as steel and smooth with use, much like Mr. Bleu’s. With my black gown and shawl, I must have appeared a crooked old lady!

When I arrived at the crossroads, I placed the stick behind a low stone fence for the journey back. The day was lovely and I made better pace without the third leg. Of course, fear makes one’s pace quicken. Perhaps I should have kept the stick.

Several minutes later, horse hooves came flying far behind me, I scarce gave the rider a glance and moved nearer the ditch, walking in moist overgrowth for several minutes. I didn’t dare look behind me again—such a glance would be blatant. The horseman slowed as he approached me. I angled my head sideways. Mr. Bleu.

“Whoa, Bucephalus.” He nodded. “Saw you from my hill—overlooking the crossroads.”

Where I squirreled away the stick. He’d been watching. I smiled up at him.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Of course.” Relief and intensity mingled. My heart began to pound. I waited for him as he dismounted.

We walked for a few minutes in silence as he led the horse behind us. “Are you well rested from the gala?” He smiled, his characteristic lip catching upward, unhindered by the scars.

“Only just,” I smiled back.

“The Birch siblings do you in?”

“I’ve thought of nothing else. Uncle might have warned me. Or you.”

Mr. Bleu shrugged, exasperated. “I might as well warn you that the entire town knew your mother and Mr. Birch quite well. I’m not even from here and I’ve heard the same sad story many a time.”

I shook my head, despite my earlier sentiments that they were just normal people being friendly. “What do they want from me? I am not my mother, nor her first husband’s child. I am a complete stranger to the Birch family.

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