Ten #2
“You’re welcome, little shaver.” Whitley stepped out of the stall and into a room full of saddles and bridles.
He set the food on a workbench, then rejoined them.
“I’ll walk you to the river, but we had best hurry.
The ferry should have left a few minutes ago.
You shouldn’t have any trouble rowing across if you are up for the task. ”
“We’ll be fine, sir. There were two lobsters clacking about on the bank when we arrived,” Lucy said in a hushed tone. “It might be best if you stay here.”
“Aye. It would be best not to encounter those two.” Whitley removed his hat and tipped his head to Lucy.
“I would proudly serve with you any day, miss. You and the young lad are braver than you know.” He pointed to a path through the trees.
“If you follow that, you’ll come out right on the bank and can avoid the road to the ferry. ”
“Thank you, sir. Take care.” Lucy grabbed Theo’s hand, and they rushed along the path into the trees.
The sun dipped closer and closer to the horizon, and the evening shadows were beginning to lengthen.
Anxious to be home for a variety of reasons, Lucy hastened her step, and Theo was nearly running to keep up with her.
They remained quiet until they were in the boat and headed back toward the Pennsylvania side of the river.
“Lucy?” Theo asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes,” she wheezed as she rowed, feeling like each movement might rip her arms right out of their sockets.
“Weren’t you scared, especially when the Redcoats stopped us?”
“Terrified, Theo. I was terrified,” Lucy admitted, unwilling to tell Theo anything but the truth.
“But you didn’t act like it.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I think Papa would say that’s being brave. It’s not about being unafraid. It’s doing what you must even when you are. You are incredibly brave, Theo, and I’m so proud of you.”
His face radiated joy. “I’m proud of you, Luce.”
Theo, wise child that he was, waited until they had reached the bank beneath the rickety wharf to throw his arms around her neck and hug her tightly from behind.
She would have tickled him or picked him up for a proper hug if she thought her arms would have functioned. They had gone numb, which was better than the splintering pain she had felt most of the way across the river.
After shaking her arms until the pain returned, she removed her shoes.
The thought of carrying them in the basket where they packed food seemed repulsive, so she tossed them up the bank, then threw the basket with their waterskin to join them.
Theo climbed onto her back, and she waded through the mud.
Lucy set Theo where the ground was dry before she secured the boat to a half-rotten post with the rope her brother had kept tightly held in his hand. Her stockings were hopelessly ruined, so she merely gathered her shoes while Theo lifted the basket with the waterskin, and they hurried home.
Because she feared who might be watching, she and Theo returned to the end of High Street.
Street lamps had already been lit, illuminating the gathering darkness as they made their way past the market stalls, which were now all closed for the evening.
Theo took off at a run when they reached their group of buildings and hastened around to the back door.
Lucy stepped into the garden, hearing Theo call for their mother when he raced inside the kitchen.
Lucy could hear a smacking noise, envisioning her mother raining kisses on Theo’s cheeks, as she peeled off her ruined stockings by the well, no longer caring if anyone saw her.
She washed the mud from her petticoats and feet before she squeezed as much water from the cloth as she could.
Already a mess, she splashed water on her neck and face, and filled a pail to take inside the house with her.
Heedless to her muddy, messy state, Cleta set Theo down and hugged Lucy so tightly, she nearly cut off her ability to breathe. “Thank goodness you two made it back. Are you hungry?” the woman asked, appearing relieved to see them both unharmed.
“Famished, Mama,” Lucy said, kissing her cheek. “I am filthy. I’ll clean up first. May I check on our friends after I do?
“Yes, of course. I’ll bring a tray downstairs for everyone to enjoy.” Cleta gave Theo a nudge toward the storeroom, where the trap door had remained open, and the door into the shop closed. “You go on down and see the men, Theo.”
Theo raced to the trap door and started down the steps.
As soon as his head disappeared from sight, Cleta closed the kitchen door, and then she helped Lucy unfasten the pins and ties holding her clothes in place.
Lucy left her things in a heap on the floor and rushed up the stairs to her room, where she washed, changed into a clean dress, and combed her hair.
She returned to the kitchen just as Cleta filled a pitcher with cider. “Here, Mama. I can carry that.”
Cleta smiled and wiped her hands on a towel. “Give me your hands.”
Lucy held out her hands, and her mother dabbed a little rosewater on her wrists. “You want to smell nice for your young man.”
A blush warmed Lucy’s cheeks. “Branch isn’t exactly mine, Mama. He hasn’t made any declarations of love. Not yet.”
“I’m sure he will. Give him time, Luce. You might as well accept that when it comes to matters of the heart, most men will drag their feet until they can drag them no more, then they forge ahead with unexpected haste.”
Lucy laughed and picked up the pitcher of cider and a plate holding more of the molasses cakes. “Is that how Papa behaved when you fell in love?”
“He was worse, but I’ll share that story another day.” Cleta lifted a tray holding cups and napkins.
The women made their way down the steps. Lucy was surprised to see Theo sitting on Ward’s knee as he relayed every detail of the adventure. All four males looked to Lucy when she set the cider and cakes on the table that no longer held medical instruments or supplies.
Thomas was pale but awake, resting in the bed with bandages wrapped around his chest and side. Branch sat on the other bed, wearing one of her father’s shirts. For a man who’d been shot earlier in the day, he looked wonderful.
“Daughter, your brother has been filling our ears with your adventure across the river. Did your heart not fall down to nestle by your toes when the Redcoats surprised you on the riverbank?”
“It certainly did, Papa. I was frightened half witless, but I certainly couldn’t say, ‘Pardon me, we have a coded Rebel message to deliver. Please move out of our way.’ Could I?”
Branch and Thomas grinned, and Ward chuckled. “I suppose not. I’m so proud of both of you. Branch is most fortunate the buttons haven’t popped off my waistcoat and taken out an eye.”
Cleta set the tray of cups and napkins by the cider and began pouring the liquid. “I’m also proud of you both for being so brave. I wouldn’t have gotten as far as the riverbank, let alone all the way to the New Jersey shore.”
“Yes, you would.” Lucy settled an arm around her mother’s waist. “You’d do anything you needed to do, Mama, because that’s who you are.”
Cleta’s face turned pink, but she appeared pleased by Lucy’s praise as she passed around the cups of cider.
“To Lucy and Theo! Brave heroes are they!” Branch declared, lifting his cup in a toast.
“To our heroes!” the others echoed.
Lucy touched her cup to Theo’s before she winked at him and took a sip.
Thomas was clearly in need of rest, and so was Branch. Although Lucy longed to sit with Branch, she retreated to the kitchen with Theo. Her father and mother planned to take turns sitting up with Thomas in case he awakened and required assistance during the night, hopeful that Branch would rest.
Her mother offered to sit with Thomas, since Ward had been in the cellar all evening. With Cleta down in what Lucy thought of as the spy room, she took charge of her brother.
“Up to bed with you, Theo.” Lucy gave him a nudge toward the stairs, then quickly washed the dishes they had dirtied. She tucked Theo in, kissing his cheeks and whispering in his ear how brave and strong he had been, then brushed the hair from his forehead as he fell immediately asleep.
She returned downstairs and looked outside to see her father sitting on the bench in the garden, staring up at the night sky.
“Papa, may I sit with you?” Lucy asked softly as she stepped outside.
He motioned for her to join him, and she walked to the bench, sitting beside him. She felt as though she were a little girl again when he settled an arm around her shoulders, pulled her to his side, and kissed the top of her head.
“My dear daughter, the task we pressed upon you would have tried the nerves of a fully grown man, yet you and Theo accomplished it and returned home able to find humor in your adventures instead of dwelling on the terror. As I said before, I am so proud of you. Thank you for making the effort tonight, and for the work you’ve done over the past weeks.
I didn’t feel at liberty to share anything with you about my own work, but I’m glad you now know.
It hurt my heart each time I could see disappointment in your eyes when you assumed I leaned too far toward the enemy. ”
“I’m glad I could help. Can help. I shall endeavor to continue to do so in any way I may be useful, Papa. It’s how you and Mama raised us to be.”
Her father nodded and settled back against the bench.
Lucy leaned her head on his shoulder, wondering when she had grown up, and her father had begun to grow old.
Life changed so quickly, the years blending together.
Would she blink and be sitting beside her own grown child on a starry night, sharing wisdom and dreams?
“Papa, how did you know what to do to help Thomas? And how do you have a chest full of medical tools in your possession?”
Her father sighed before he cleared his throat.
“When I was young and foolish, I wanted no part of my father’s work as a goldsmith.
I wanted adventure and excitement. I ran off and joined the fighting in the French and Indian War.
I hated it. Hated every part of it. When I was injured, I spent time watching the doctor work, then helping him.
I was a willing student and learned all I could.
Months later, when I returned home, the doctor presented me with that chest of tools.
I keep it ready to use. When your mother and I took over the shop after my father died, I realized the gift my father had passed to me with this shop and the skills given to create what we do.
I also realized I could be a help to others.
We turned the cellar into a secret room and have done what we can to help those in need of a hand when they find themselves unable to find assistance elsewhere. ”
Lucy had no idea about any of it. How many nights had she blissfully slumbered in her warm bed while someone injured or in need of refuge had been in the secret cellar beneath the storage room?
Her father patted her hand. “Someday, you’ll leave here, Lucy.
Don’t hesitate to follow your heart, wherever it takes you.
I’m aware Theo has no interest at all in becoming a goldsmith.
He will thrive at the farm with your grandparents.
It’s what he loves, and what he will likely feel called to do.
Farming is a noble and necessary profession.
Without farmers, where would any of us be? ”
Rather than wait for an answer, her father continued. “The days and months ahead will be filled with uncertainty, fears, and things we can’t begin to imagine. Hold on to your faith and your love, Lucy, and trust God’s leading. If you do that, everything will work out just as it is intended to.”
“I’ll do my best, Papa, and I thank you for sharing your past with me. I had no idea about any of it.”
Her father nodded. “It wasn’t a time of my life of which I am proud, and wanted to put it behind me as best I could once I returned here and started working for my father and then met and married your beautiful mother.
It is a relief for you to know the truth of who I am and the path that led me here.
I’ll tell Theo someday, when he asks. For now, he needs to enjoy the moments of being a child while he can.
I fear this war will steal it from him before it draws to an end. ”
“I hold some of those same fears, Papa, but I think Theo will weather them better than most. It’s just who he is.”
“True.” Ward kissed the top of her head again, then stood and held out his hand. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet, and they walked inside the house. “Rest well.”
“Good night, Papa. I love you.”
“And I love you, Lucy.”
She turned and hurried to her room, lit a candle, and wrote down all her experiences in her journal. Somehow, it seemed important to capture her thoughts on paper and preserve them for the future. She would just have to be careful her journals never found their way into enemy hands.
Once she blew out the flame and climbed into bed, Lucy found it hard to quiet her mind. Finally, sleep claimed her.
Exhausted, she slept longer than she intended and was late arising the next morning. She hastily dressed, then rushed downstairs, eager to see Branch.
Only, he was gone.