This Healing Journey by Misty M. Beller

Author:Misty M. Beller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian historical fiction, Christian Western, Christian historical romance, christian novel, rocky mountain story, rocky mountains western and frontier, canadian rocky mountains, Montana mountain ranch, mountain man
Publisher: Misty M. Beller Books, Inc.
Published: 2019-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

HANNAH MAY NOT BE A swift hand at cutting slabs of wood for corral fencing or floors, but she could chink cabin walls with the best of them. She’d certainly helped with her fair share of re-chinking projects at their cabin or one of their family members’.

The men had all gone their separate ways—the doctor to stop by Reuben’s house before returning to town and Nathaniel and her father out to check the cattle, then work in the hay field. She’d cleaned up from the morning and swept out the cabin again, stopping to visit with Itu every time the girl was awake. She was able to get the child to drink some willow tea, but Itu shook her head every time Hannah tried to spoon corn gruel into her mouth.

Her body needed sustenance, but she surely felt too miserable to eat. Hannah would have to keep trying.

For now, though, it was time to mix some chinking mud and set to work. She’d packed lunches for her father and Nathaniel, so there was a chance she could get two or three walls patched before she had to stop to prepare the evening meal. Of course, that depended on how hard the old mud was to scrape out.

A few hours into the project, she stood in the warm summer sun sweating and covered in chinking material. Itu had slept with only one interruption, which was surely good for her. Mama always said sleep contained healing powers.

The old chinking mud between the logs fell out easily, but she’d forgotten exactly how long it took to do a thorough job.

And how much mud the task required. At this rate, she’d only get one long wall finished today.

But that was one wall Nathaniel wouldn’t have to worry over. She scooped up another handful of the mud and grass mixture and pressed it into the crevice between two logs.

A sound from behind made her pause. It was only the snapping of a twig, but something about the noise made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She eased around to study the trees around the clearing.

Nathaniel had said he’d seen evidence of someone watching from the woods, but that had been several days ago. With all the anxiety of yesterday, she’d forgotten to be on her guard.

Was someone standing out there now? Watching her?

She hadn’t brought her rifle outside with her. Foolish. Were the Indians here friendly like the Piegan back home? Reuben had said he thought Itu was from the Hidatsa tribe, but she knew nothing about them.

Perhaps if she greeted the stranger in the woods, they could convince the person that Itu needed to stay here where she could be cared for adequately. Together, they could all help the child heal. Surely Itu would be overjoyed to see her family again.

Rubbing the mud from her hands, she stepped toward the trees, into the open land between the cabin and the woods. “Hello?” Maybe the stranger knew English, but maybe not.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.