FIFTEEN
The winter months passed, and spring barreled forth. The warm winds that blew from the west reminded Maggie of the coast. Maybe one day she would return. But if not, the glory of the mountains was home enough for her.
Although they hadn’t seen the last of the cold fronts, Levi moved the flock back to the upper pastures. The women assisted, and they all watched contentedly as the new lamb trotted alongside its mother. Soon, more offspring would arrive.
In the evenings, they continued to have their time of devotion in the parlor.
At first, it felt strange to be only the three of them again.
Levi and Abigail began to involve Maggie more and more, no longer just letting her sit and listen.
They asked her questions regarding the scripture and her thoughts, prompting her to delve deeper into the meaning behind the words.
It was a little bit annoying, if truth were told.
Maggie was comfortable admitting God was real, but that was as far as she wanted to go.
She preferred spending most of her day helping to prepare the garden. The soil must be turned to prepare the ground and in another month they could plant the seeds they’d so diligently gathered.
Every other Sunday, Abigail and Maggie walked down to the Browns and on the alternate weeks, Elijah came to them.
On one such visit, he brought Rebekah with Hannah accompanying them as a chaperone.
Maggie was delighted to get to know all of the Browns, but especially Rebekah, on their visits.
As Levi was unable to come with them to the Browns, she realized that this visit was for him.
Levi might’ve known Rebekah from all the times the families gathered in the past, but now it was different.
Elijah clearly wanted his father’s approval for his future choice of bride.
The time together was filled with laughter and familiar ease. Rebekah fit right in, and Hannah was a delightful girl who had a good sense of humor about everything.
After the noon meal, Levi took Elijah up to see the flock while the Brown girls helped clear lunch away. With the weather being so nice, they all sat on the porch after, enjoying the warm sunshine.
Conversation was light. Hannah joked about Elijah and Rebekah, making Rebekah blush.
“Oh, stop, please,” Rebekah pleaded.
“I’ll stop only to save thy face from turning any pinker,” Hannah teased.
Rebekah covered her face with her hands, but Abigail said, “I don’t think it’s embarrassment so much as a little bit of sunburn.”
Rebekah removed her hands. “Really? Mother’ll be cross. She warned me to wear a bonnet. I’d best go back inside.”
“Yes, thee best cover thy face or Elijah will have a blistered future bride,” Hannah teased.
Although spoken in jest, Rebekah looked mortified. The courtship was still unofficial.
Abigail paid it no mind and said lightly, “That we can’t have. I’ll find thee a spare bonnet to wear home.”
The banter between the women had been harmless.
But Maggie’s spirits fell. Rebekah was a few years younger than she was, and very beautiful.
Despite that, Rebekah was worried about what Elijah would think about a sun blister…
Hannah was only teasing when she said it, but still, an element of it rang true.
Maggie’s own mother drilled into her the importance of beauty untarnished.
What would Rebekah think of Maggie’s scar running down her chest? Would it mortify her to think that a man would one day see it?
Henry already has, Maggie reminded herself. But it’s one thing to see it when he was saving my life. It’s another thing to see it as my husband…
Subconsciously, Maggie placed her hand on her chest, imagining the puffy, red line mangling her body. In all the months since, she still refused to look at it. If only she could erase it, along with so much of her past.
“Maggie, is thee coming?” Hannah asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She forced a smile on her face. “Of course.”
The following day after Elijah and the Brown sisters had gone, Levi couldn’t shake some sort of sense of dread.
The visit had gone well. Maggie had been a little more withdrawn towards the end, but perhaps she was thinking of Henry.
But, deep down, he still felt the spirit readying him for something.
The feeling only grew more and more pronounced the next two days.
“Going to the upper pastures today?” Maggie asked him over breakfast.
Shaking his head no, he replied, “Let’s stick close to the house. Just in case.”
Maggie looked confused at his response, but didn’t press him. Abigail, on the other hand… After two decades of marriage, she knew him as well as she knew herself. Her eyes bore into his, suddenly concerned. Likely not wanting to alarm Maggie, she didn’t voice her worry aloud.
Everyone went to bed early that night, keeping their devotion short. Alone in the privacy of their room, Abigail confronted him. “What is it? What isn’t thee saying?” She whispered as she cuddled close to him under the sheets.
He sighed. “I’m not sure. It’s probably nothing. But I don’t want thee out of my sight for the next few days.”
Abigail searched his face in the darkness but didn’t say anything. She pulled him close and tried to stop his worry with a deep kiss. Levi willed any thought other than Abigail out of his mind and kissed her thoroughly, letting their love distract him.
It was early hours when something woke Levi. His heart pounded, but the house was quiet.
Trust, the Spirit said.
Beside him, his wife snored softly on the pillow next to her. He studied her face. The face of the woman that he’d spent more than half his life with. Not wanting to wake her, he lay still and poured his fears out in prayer. Clinging to God’s mercy and grace.
By the time that the light in their room began to change and Abigail awakened, he’d come to terms with whatever was to come. The Lord had prepared his heart.
It was time to face today.
“Maggie,” Levi called from below. “Come here, please.”
Hurrying the brush through her hair, she set it down and hurried down. Levi waited with Abigail beside him.
Foreboding washed over her and she was on high alert. “Is someone hurt?”
Before he could answer her, sounds filtered through the house from the open window. The earth even seemed to vibrate. Instinctively, she ran to Levi and Abigail reached out to hold them. Levi walked them to the door and opened it to the chaos happening outside.
They couldn’t see them yet, but they heard them. Only an unimaginably large number of men marching up the pass would make that kind of noise. Horses brayed, men shouted orders, wagon wheels creaked as they climbed. The clatter of the pots and pans hanging rang out.
“No. Oh God, no,” Maggie pleaded under her breath. “Go around. Go away.” The terror in her voice was growing thick.
Abigail grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, squarely looking her in the eyes. “Breathe, Maggie. It will be alright. No matter what happens, do not lose faith. Think of Henry. Think of all that thee has survived.”
The pep talk cleared away some of the fog of terror. Trying to do as Abigail instructed, Maggie closed her eyes and pictured Henry’s eyes. The way they danced when he laughed. She had to survive this.
Without opening her eyes, she knew they were there.
Levi moved protectively in front of her and Abigail.
A cloud of pollen seemed to rise through the air as the hoard of men pushed through the heavily wooded forest. The sea of grey uniforms spread as wide as the farm.
Too many to count, they crushed their path into the ground. It was an army.
They seemed to barely notice the three of them huddled together. To them, it was just another farm on their road to destruction. A few men spread out, throwing open the barn doors to check, but finding nothing of value, they fell back in line and continued on.
When they reached the house, neither Levi, Abigail, nor Maggie tried to stop them. They moved to the side and remained frozen. Waiting out the flood.
What small mercy that the flock had been moved back up the mountain. As long as the army didn’t drift east, the sheep were safe.
Perhaps because she was holding her breath, it took her several minutes to detect the smell of smoke. Frantically scanning to locate the source, she saw Levi’s gaze locked on the barn. Small wisps of white smoke drifted out the doors.
Before she could take a step towards it, Levi stopped her. “Do nothing,” he said in a voice thick with emotion.
The smoke grew and became dark as it consumed the barn. Flames licked the roof, traveling fast up the wooden beams. Cracks were audible inside the barn as the fire caught hold of everything inside, destroying everything it touched.
Sobbing, Maggie could only look on.
Next, the smokehouse was lit, and all of the other outbuildings followed suit. The fence that enclosed the pasture was knocked down. Only the house behind them remained.
They watched as a small group of men attempted to push over the large cross in the field. They struggled against the base of the heavy wooden beam until they gave up and waved over to a man. Maggie hadn’t noticed him until now, hidden within the mass of bodies. He held a torch.
Heart constricting, she prepared to watch Abigail’s beloved cross go up in flames. Before it could, a man on horseback rode over and stopped them. His voice was inaudible over the roar of destruction and marching, but the men left the cross alone and rejoined the march.
Spotting the group near the house, he parted the grey sea and rode over.
Three others followed him. The gold braids on his uniform indicated he was a high-ranking official, with the three behind him of lesser rank.
Their uniforms were more similar in fashion to Henry’s.
Officers? Making their commander a general, perhaps.
“Which one of you women is Mrs. Howard?”