Hannah Howell (22 page)

“A bear is not an animal you can shoo, Mama. Chances are good that he will seek shelter when the storm hits, just like any other animal would.”

“Yes, but then we shall be caught out in the storm.” Agnes frowned up at the nearly black sky. “And it looks as if it will be a severe storm.”

Clover shivered. She had been too busy trying to escape the bear to notice the increasingly threatening weather. The wind was very strong and the sky was a swirling mass of black clouds. She looked down at the bear again.

“I think I would rather take my chances with the storm, Mama,” she said. “Let us hope that he leaves soon.”

Ballard strode into the house calling Clover’s name. He frowned when no one answered. The others were just coming in when Adam walked out of the kitchen and handed him a piece of paper.
We have gone exploring in the woods. Be back soon. Clover.

Ballard cursed and looked at Adam.

“Ye let them go out into the woods alone?”

“Nope. I ain’t been here but a few minutes meself,” Adam replied.

“Something wrong, Ballard?” asked Shelton as he and Lambert joined him.

“My wife and her mother have gone exploring in the woods.” Ballard crumpled the note in his hand.

“But a storm is coming,” mumbled Lambert. “They must have seen that. ‘Tis dark as night out there.”

“They might not understand the danger such a storm can pose,” Ballard replied.

“They would understand that it brings rain, Ballard, and I cannot believe they would wish to be caught out in the wet.”

“Nay, they wouldnae. Something has gone wrong.”

“Perhaps they have gotten lost.”

Ballard took the musket down from over the fireplace. “Shelton, ye come with me. Lambert, ye stay here and help Adam secure everything and get everyone in the storm shelter if need be.”

“Why must we leave the house?” asked Molly. “‘Tis a good sturdy place. A little wind and rain should not be hurting a house like this.”

The fact that Molly did not understand the threat of such a storm confirmed Ballard’s suspicion that Clover and Agnes would not either. “Have ye e’er heard of a tornado, Molly?”

“No. What is that?”

“A verra large whirlwind. A storm like this at this time of year can spawn one of those hellish things. I have seen only one, soon after I came here, and I thank God for each year that passes without another. It can pull trees right out of the ground and toss cows about like they were child’s toys. If Lambert tells ye to, ye are to get into the storm shelter.”

“There is no storm shelter in the woods,” Molly said in a quiet voice.

“If they are nae too far away, I will get them back here in time.”

“Godspeed,” Molly called as Shelton and Ballard hurried off.

Shelton pointed at the ground just beyond the veranda. “Until the rains come we can at least follow their trail.”

“Aye. Let us move as fast as we can, brother. That rain isnae going to wait on us.”

Ballard fought to remain calm. He would need all his wits to find Clover and her mother. When he noticed little twine bows on the trees, he was at first relieved. At least the women were not foolishly ambling through the woods without giving a thought to getting back home. Then he realized that if they had so carefully marked their path, they should have returned by now. His fears doubled. When they could find no more markers, Ballard had to fight the urge to start running and yelling Clover’s name. He gritted his teeth and joined Shelton in searching for some other sign to follow, then cursed when the first drops of rain began to fall.

“Over here, Ballard,” Shelton called, waving.

“Have ye found their trail then?”

“Nay, and I dinnae think ye are going to like this.”

One look at the tracks Shelton pointed to confirmed Ballard’s worst fears. “A bear.”

“Aye. I thought we had driven them out of the area. It has been a long time since we have seen any sign of them.”

“He couldnae have just plucked them up and run off, so there must be some sign of their tracks around here. We just have to look harder.”

What with the wind and increasing heavy rain, it took Ballard several minutes before he picked up Clover’s trail. It was clear from the tracks that the
women had run off with the bear close on their heels. Ballard did not have to say a word to get Shelton to follow with speed. They both knew that the rain could swiftly wash away the trail and leave them with no clear way to find Clover and her mother.

Clover felt the first fat drops of rain and almost cheered. The bear shook the tree once more and then lumbered away. Her mother started to climb down, but Clover grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“But the bear has left,” Agnes protested.

“I want to be sure he is far, far away before I get back down. I have no idea of a bear’s capabilities. Let us wait just a few minutes so that we are sure he can neither hear us nor see us get down.”

Agnes frowned up at the sky. “We shall be very wet before we get home.”

“Better wet than dinner for that bear. Ah … we may have another problem—getting back home.”

“Not that much trouble, surely.”

“We are not woodsmen, Mama, and the moment we saw that bear we stopped marking the trail.”

“And we took a very crooked path.” Agnes shook her head. “I am sorry, dear. It was a silly idea to go into the woods.”

“No, we just should have waited until someone who knows this forest could come with us. We acted a little rashly.”

“Ballard will keep us locked in the house after this,” muttered Agnes.

“I am sure the idea will occur to him. I just hope he does not worry too much when he finds us gone.” Clover started to climb down the tree. “Come along,
Mama. That bear must be far away by now. We had better see if we can find our way back to our marked trail.”

“And pray that this wind has not ripped our markers off the trees.”

Clover silently cursed as she continued to climb down the tree, pausing to help her mother from time to time. Once on the ground, she sagged against the gnarled trunk and looked around, trying to remember how they had approached the tree. To her dismay everything looked the same to her. She could see nothing that urged her to go one way or another. She shook her head and stared at the ground, desperately trying to concoct some plan. Just as she was about to admit defeat, she noticed something on the ground.

“Mama, look there. Those are our footprints. And the bear’s too. Can you see them?”

Agnes frowned and nodded. “Very nice, dear.”

“Mama! We can follow our own footprints back to where we met the bear.”

“They will not all be as clear as these are.”

“True, but there may well be other signs to follow. Two women and a bear racing through the woods without a thought have to leave some marks.” She grabbed her mother’s hand and tugged her through the woods. “We had better hurry, for this rain will most certainly wash away any marks we made.”

“So we follow this just as some trapper or hunter would.”

“Only a great deal more slowly. And we pray that our running steps left nice, deep, clear prints. A footprint is something anyone can follow—even us. If
they fade or wash away, we will be right back where we started—hopelessly lost.”

Hand in hand they walked with their gazes fixed upon the ground. Clover felt the growing strength of the rain on her back and could only hope that their ignorance did not cost them dearly.

“The rain is getting heavy,” Shelton said as Ballard paused to study more closely the signs they followed.

“I ken it. The women were running hard and fast, leaving deep prints, but they are already being washed away. They ran a lot farther than I expected them to.” He started walking again.

“A bear on your tail can make ye strong and swift.” Shelton followed Ballard for a few yards before stopping. “Do ye hear that?”

Ballard listened carefully, struggling to hear over the wind and rain. Finally he realized what had alerted Shelton—voices. Someone was coming their way. Ballard tried to keep his hopes from rising too high as he hurried on.

Suddenly he saw Clover coming through the trees. Despite his worry, and the anger that always comes with such concern, he had to smile. Clover and her mother were oblivious to everything save the tracks on the ground. They walked along hand in hand, water dripping off their bonnets, bent slightly forward. He was sure that if he did not speak up soon, they would walk right into him.

“Clover,” he called, and laughed when she and her mother screeched in surprise.

Clover was so pleased to see Ballard, she sprinted across the last yards that separated them and flung
herself into his arms. Her mother quickly followed, grasping Ballard’s arm as if it were a lifeline. The trail they had been following had been growing dimmer with each drop of rain and Clover had begun to fear that she and her mother would be lost again.

“We are so glad to see you,” said Agnes. “We can go home now.”

“Aye, and when we get there, we can have us a wee talk about what possessed ye to go for a stroll alone in the woods.”

“We were doing just fine,” Clover protested as Ballard took her hand and started to drag her along. “Unfortunately, a bear came and we forgot to mark our trail. Of course, that would have been a little difficult while we were running for our lives.”

“So ye did meet the bear.” Ballard could see no outward signs of injury on either woman.

“Oh yes, we met the bear. We were just headed back home when he ambled up to us.”

“Ye were bloody lucky, lass.”

“I was surprised that we outran him.”

“He
let
ye outrun him. Ye were lucky in that ye met a bear who wasnae hungry or in a bad temper. He was just playing with ye.”

“Playing?” Clover stumbled over a rain-slick root, but Ballard gave her very little time to regain her feet before dragging her along.

“Aye—playing. A bear intent on catching ye can do so with ease. They dinnae always want to, though. We are nae their first choice of a meal.” He nodded grimly at the women’s wide-eyed expressions.

“Thank God he had a full belly then,” Clover murmured.

“Now we must get to some shelter.”

Even as he spoke, thunder crashed and both women screeched at the deafening sound. They barely had time to recover when a tree only yards in front of them was split by lightning. Ballard got Agnes and Clover out of the way just before the smoldering tree crashed to the ground. He spared only a moment to assure himself of their safety before joining Shelton in throwing mud on the fire that was struggling to life in the stump.

“Does that happen often?” Clover asked as he returned to her side.

“More often than I like,” Ballard answered as he resumed tugging her along.

Clover tried harder to keep up with Ballard. They had suffered some harsh storms in Pennsylvania, but she could recall none as fierce as the one raging around them now. The house was just coming into view when she heard another crash. Ballard cursed.

“Did ye hear where that came from, Shelton?” Ballard asked, looking around.

“It hit near here again?” Clover asked, sure that it had, yet hoping Ballard could assure her that it had been far away.

“Aye. Over there,” Ballard cried, pointing to a knot of trees right behind his barn. “It caught. Ye can see the smoke.”

Within minutes Shelton had urged everyone from the house and they had established a bucket brigade. The rain was easing already and Clover knew they could not count on it to douse the flames in those trees. Her arms ached as she pumped water from the well near the stables and passed bucket after bucket to her mother, who handed them swiftly down the line to Ballard who threw the water on the flames.

By the time Ballard declared the fire out, Clover was trembling with weariness. It took her a moment to realize that the rain had stopped and the dampness she felt on her face was sweat. She pumped a little water into her hands and splashed it on her cheeks and forehead. When Ballard reached her side, she shivered and stood a little closer to him.

“Are you sure the fire is out?” she asked.

“Aye, but Shelton, Lambert, Adam and I will keep a close watch all through the night. Ye did weel, lass.”

“We have bucket brigades in Langleyville too, you know, although I have never manned one.”

“I hope ye dinnae get much more practice here either.”

“I wholeheartedly share that hope. You live in a very exciting place, Ballard MacGregor.”

“It does keep a mon alert.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “I think we need to have us a wee talk about what ye can and cannae do—for your own safety of course.”

She smiled up at him. “Of course. Shall we have this talk over a good meal? I am absolutely famished.”

Ballard laughed and escorted her into the house, the rest of the family trailing wearily behind them.

“Well? What do you think?” Clover carefully spun around in front of Ballard.

She had altered one of her better gowns, removing some of the expensive lace and silk ribbons for a simpler style. The last thing she wanted was to attend the revel dressed better than anyone else. The men would probably not notice, but the women might resent her if she arrived decked from head to toe in her best finery. It would be the surest way to start her relationship with her neighbors on the wrong foot. After a little over six weeks in Kentucky, she had no intention of ruining her first real chance to make some new friends.

But Ballard, studying her, was suddenly not sure he wanted to take her to the spring revel. Every man there would be after her. Her blue-green gown complemented both her fair coloring and her slim figure, and her breasts swelled gently above the low neckline. Her thick golden hair hung loose down her back, the sides tied with ribbons that matched her gown. She looked beautiful. So beautiful that
he had to fight an urge to keep her hidden away at home.

“Ye look lovely, Clover.” He kissed her palm and led her out of the room. “I will be beating the lads off ye all night.”

Clover laughed and grabbed her cloak from the wall hook. “I was thinking much the same about you in your fine courting clothes.”