Chapter Seven
“It’s nothing,” Paul said, waving his hand dismissively over the pot, which disturbed the lingering smoke, dispersing it in random black curls in all directions. “The roast is just a little crispier today,” Paul added with a nonchalant shrug.
Neil marched in wide strides toward the counter and looked inside the pot. A large piece of charcoal lay in the center of it.
“Crispier?” Neil exclaimed, almost in disbelief.
“That’s burned! Completely burned!” he yelled.
To prove his point, he took a large fork and stabbed it into the big chunk of meat.
The charred crust crackled loudly when he stabbed it.
Infuriated, he turned to Poppy, who didn’t even look at him.
Instead, she cowered over her little sister, completely avoiding his eyes.
“What are we going to eat now?” he yelled angrily. “Didn’t you claim you could cook?”
Poppy inhaled sharply. She slowly got up from her knees next to Sophie, then she spun around to him. Her eyes were openly spewing daggers at him. Finally, he saw some kind of reaction from this woman.
“Yeah, I can cook!” she yelled back, matching the volume of his own voice. “For a family, not an entire army!” Neil scoffed at that. “It was never discussed that I was supposed to cook for so many people! That was never part of the agreement!” she screamed at him.
Neil stared at her with wide eyes, shocked at her accusation. Granted, it was true that it had never really been mentioned, but Neil had assumed that a woman who could cook for a family should be able to provide for a few more men.
Paul took out the large clump of meat, put it on the countertop, and began to cut it into smaller pieces.
“Look! It’s actually perfect on the inside!” he exclaimed as he started to cut the charred parts away from the pink inner pieces. “This looks delicious.”
Neil scoffed again, glaring at Poppy. “What did you expect? You’ve moved to a ranch!” he yelled even louder. “People work here!” Poppy stubbornly raised her chin.
“I didn’t expect to be taken advantage of like this!” she yelled back at him.
“Why don’t we all calm down and eat?” Paul injected. “The meat turned out great—mostly anyways.” He held up a juicy piece to show Neil, but he was ignored.
“I am not taking advantage of you!” Neil yelled, outraged. What was this woman thinking? “You’re trying to take advantage of me! Am I not the one who has to provide for you and your sister? If she even is your sister!”
Neil was so livid, he questioned ever bringing her home.
“That’s what husbands do,” Paul said sternly, and this time, he was the one glaring at Neil. “You married this woman, now it’s your job to provide for her and her sister and make sure that they’re safe and protected.”
Neil gaped at him for a second. How could Paul switch sides like that? They’d been friends for as long as he could remember, and they’d gone through thick and thin together. How could he not see his point in that moment?
“Fine!” Neil exclaimed, almost helplessly throwing his hands in the air.
“Then let’s eat what’s left! Barley, go get the men!
” he yelled angrily. He was so furious, he spoke too harshly to the young boy, which he’d never done before, and he immediately noticed the way the boy shrank back a little.
“Would you, please?” he added softer. Barley nodded, then he ran out of the kitchen toward the barn.
At the same time, Poppy returned to Sophie and lifted the little girl onto her right hip.
“Shall we go and set the table, sweetie?” she asked softly.
“Will you help me do that?” She didn’t look at Neil, didn’t acknowledge him whatsoever as she walked out into the large dining room.
Neil rolled his eyes when he heard that.
He could only imagine how long that would take with a child in tow.
Not even ten minutes later, twenty-eight men sat at the table, each in front of a meticulously set place, loading their plates with foods from several steaming bowls and pots.
At the center sat the large piece of wood with all the chunks of meat Paul had saved, and it looked mouthwateringly good.
Cups were filled with water or beer, whichever they preferred, and when Poppy returned to the dining room, she had changed back into her old clothes, which fit her much better.
Neil watched how she walked in, all small and quiet, and walked past all the men without looking at them, holding Sophie close by her side. She finally reached her seat next to his at the end of the table, but just as everybody started to dig in to eat, Poppy cleared her throat.
“Gentlemen!” she called out, holding up both of her hands, which clearly surprised most of them, and the noisy talk and laughter died instantly. “I must insist. We should bless the food I’ve prepared before we eat.”
Neil stared at her with an open mouth, then he gaped at his men, who all dropped their forks and spoons and bowed their heads in prayer. Then Poppy addressed Neil, turning her head toward him without looking at him.
“Would you do the honor?” she asked quietly, flashing him a quick smile that was clearly fake.
When Neil saw the grin on Paul’s face, he lost it. What on earth was that woman thinking?
“I will not,” he exclaimed, which made Poppy flinch, and it caused some of his men to peek over to him. Then he grabbed his spoon and began to shovel a large bite of potato into his mouth.
“Lord in Heaven, blessed be thy food,” Poppy began, and her voice shook ever so slightly, but then it gained in strength as she continued.
“Thank You for this feast we are receiving today. May it nourish the hardworking bodies of these men and fill their hearts with gratitude for what You are providing for us. Thank the Lord. Amen.”
All of the men replied with “Amen,” including Paul and Barley, before they dug in.
Neil scoffed dismissively. He wasn’t into all that, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been to church to attend a mass or truly pray to God.
If it wasn’t for Paul, who truly was a God-fearing man, Neil wouldn’t even think about it at all.
He simply didn’t want to believe anymore.
Surprisingly, the food turned out to be all right.
Some of the men were almost raving about how good it was.
Poppy was clearly nervous about being spoken to by so many, because the moment the third man praised her for the food she had prepared, she excused herself and disappeared into the kitchen, dragging Sophie with her.
Once they had had their fill, all the men went back to work, including Paul, Neil, and Barley.
“Why were you so harsh earlier?” Paul asked Neil, as they rode out toward the back corner of the pasture, to check the fence line. “Poppy did a great job on her first day.”
Neil grunted.
“Not only that, but today is her wedding day!” Paul added. “Most women get to celebrate those, you know? You, however, made her cook for two dozen men on the second day in her new home! That’s harsh!”
“The food was decent enough,” Neil said dismissively. He didn’t want to admit that his reaction in the kitchen had been completely uncalled for. The roast had actually turned out perfect, exactly how he liked it, and everything else had been tasty, too.
“I’ll ask you again,” Paul said. “Why were you so harsh? Poppy seems to be such a lovely woman, not to mention that she’s absolutely beautiful, so what’s your problem with her?”
Neil inhaled sharply, then he steered his horse up on a ridge and down a path. They had to go single file, which gave him a little bit of time before Paul rejoined him. Going by his questioning gaze, he hadn’t forgotten about his question.
“I don’t know,” Neil admitted to his friend. Since they were alone, he felt a little more comfortable to talk openly. “Maybe it’s because of that God stuff...”
“What about it?” Paul jumped in, raising both of his eyebrows in a challenge. Neil knew that his friend believed in and prayed to God, so he gathered that his comment may have come off offensive.
“The blessing of the food!” Neil complained. “She wanted to say a blessing last night over dinner and this morning, too. Is this going to happen with every single meal now?”
“Well, yes! Of course,” Paul said matter-of-factly, but Neil wasn’t finished.
“And then her Bible!” Neil continued. “Every time I want to talk to her, she’s reading that book! How much time can a woman spend with her Bible?”
“As much as she needs to,” Paul exclaimed, and Neil noticed how loud his friend had gotten. “She only just arrived here. Today, she got married to a man who doesn’t even value her. What do you think that does to someone, let alone a young woman like her?”
“What do you mean, I don’t value her?” Neil asked. Somehow, that comment rubbed him the wrong way, even though he had no idea why. When Paul raised both of his eyebrows, shooting him a pointed side glance, he was almost offended.
“The only other time I have seen you yell at a woman like that was with her,” Paul finally explained.
“And even then, you didn’t scream the way you screamed at Poppy today.
Whatever it was that made you so angry, you completely forgot that Poppy had been in the kitchen—all by herself, might I add—making all of us lunch for the first time on her wedding day!
And you yelled at her as if she had burned your entire house down! ”
“Nonsense,” Neil replied, but deep down he knew that Paul was right.
Somehow, his angry outburst against Poppy had escalated. He knew that his past was to blame for most of his temper tantrums and that he should rein it in, but that was easier said than done.
Neil scowled at that. His plan was to not get too emotionally involved, but he suddenly realized that he had a conscience. The sudden guilt bubbling up to the surface had a sour taste to it.
“Did you not see how scared she looked?” Paul exclaimed, staring at Neil in disbelief.
Neil exhaled a deep sigh. He had seen it, and if he were honest, he had felt awful. Paul scoffed.
“You’re just trying to find a reason not to like this woman!
” he said, and Neil could clearly hear the anger in his voice.
“Well, I’ve got news for you, buddy. You married her, so you need to put your ego to the side and treat her with the respect she deserves!
What she doesn’t deserve is your temper just because of what someone else did to you! ”
Neil hung his head, and his shoulders sank. Paul was right.
Everything he said struck a chord deep within Neil, and it released something he didn’t know he was holding on to. He’d married Poppy out of convenience, and he’d tried to keep his distance, because he didn’t want to get hurt again, but she didn’t deserve his nasty outbursts.
The more he realized it, the more he could feel the tension in his whole body dissipate, and it made him see Poppy in a different light.
“You’re right,” he finally admitted. “I should apologize to her.”
Paul nodded at that. Then he smiled at him.
As planned, both of them rode along the fence line leading all the way around the paddock toward the barn, checking that all was in order and making the odd repairs here and there whenever they needed to replace some wire.
They had always worked well together, and before they knew it, several hours had passed, and they were almost on the other side of the barn, fixing the last remaining yards of fencing.
Suddenly, both men were interrupted by a loud squeal from one of the horses near the barn.
Neil immediately straightened up to see what the problem was and saw one of his geldings rear up on its hind legs, eyes wide with fear.
Then the animal tumbled to the ground, and he could hear the heavy breathing.
“What was that?” Paul asked, already running a few steps toward the seemingly injured animal, when a second horse showed the exact same behavior. Squealing, rearing up, then tumbling to the ground, seemingly unable to catch a breath.
Worried about both of their horses, Neil and Paul made sure that theirs were tied to the nearest fence post before they went to check out what the problem was.
Neil ran toward the second horse and saw that it looked sweaty. Its eyes were wide, and its gums were pale. The animal was clearly in a panic, and the wheezing of it trying to breathe wasn’t a good sign.
Terrifyingly, this happened at least three more times.
Neil was horrified as he watched one horse after another struggle with the same strange affliction. Their legs buckled, their eyes grew wide with panic, and then they struggled to breathe.
“What on earth is happening?” Paul yelled to him from halfway across the paddock.
“I have no idea!” Neil yelled back. “I’ve never seen this before!”
“What should we do?” Paul asked when yet another horse stumbled right in front of him, groaning in obvious pain.
“Get the other horses out into the other paddock!” Neil yelled when he saw five of his men running toward them. “Separate the healthy ones from the sick horses! We need to find out what the problem is first! It looks highly contagious!”
Neil bent down and felt the inside of one of the gelding’s mouths. It was a dangerous undertaking since the panicked young horse was thrashing wildly, but he could definitely determine that it had an elevated temperature. The grunts it made didn’t fill him with a lot of confidence.
“Keep all of the horses away from this area! Something isn’t right here!” Neil called to all of the men, who came running to help.
At this point, seven horses had gone down, and all of them showed the exact same symptoms, regardless of their difference in age, gender, or whether they were castrated or not.
That was very strange, because as far as Neil knew, most illnesses would only afflict a certain group of animals—not all of them randomly.
Then his eyes darted over to the house, where he saw Poppy jump off the porch, rolling up her sleeves as she marched toward the paddock where the injured horses were.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Neil yelled as he jumped to his feet. He ran as fast as he could toward her. He didn’t want her to come near those animals, not until he knew what the problem was. “Do not step foot into this paddock, Poppy! It’s dangerous!”
Poppy kept walking. She ignored him as if he hadn’t yelled all across the yard for everyone to hear. Neil wanted to strangle her for being so stubborn.
When he finally reached her, his hand grabbed her elbow a little too forcefully, and he yanked her back around to him. She yelped in shock, and her dress slapped against his legs when she came directly face to face with him.