Heaven Sent (8 page)
"Papa, Papa, help me," Hannah screamed. "Stop this," she told them struggling and kicking. She landed a good blow on the shin of one of her captors. He cried out and the other men laughed heartily.
"You got yourself a fighter here, Watson," a man said, "I wonder who'll pin who in tonight's wrestling match."
Laughter and jests continued as they forced Hannah into a wheelbarrow.
"All right, Henry Lee," a voice said, "we're letting you off easy. You ride your new bride three times around the church and back down to the house and we'll let you take her in."
Shouts of laughter and agreement were heard as Henry Lee protested. "I can't see a blame thing, I couldn't even find the church!"
"Your bride's eyes are wide open, she'll tell you which way to go."
"Yeah," another man added, "that's what you have to learn, to be a married man. Let your wife tell you what to do."
Henry Lee even laughed at that. Grasping the handles of the wheelbarrow and raising it up he asked, "You ready, Hannah?"
"This is ridiculous!" she said. "Let me out of here at once!"
"Seems the bride is in a hurry to go to bed," a voice called out. Hannah felt her face flame with embarrassment.
"Hannah, just tell me which way to go. They are not going to be talked out of this."
Hannah resigned herself to being pushed around in the awful wheelbarrow and began to direct Henry Lee around the church. Unfortunately, from inside the wheelbarrow it was impossible to see the ruts in the yard and twice he spilled her out. The men quickly grabbed her and put her back into the barrow with jokes about the bridegroom's clumsiness and the inability of women to give directions.
Finally they made it back to the porch of the house with much shouting and celebration. Henry Lee tore off his blindfold and before Hannah could climb out of the wheelbarrow he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins that he scattered behind him then pushed the wheelbarrow, with Hannah in it, onto the porch, through the front door, and into her bedroom. He slammed the door behind him and dumped Hannah on the floor, wedging the barrow into the door frame so that the door couldn't be opened. Then racing across the room to the window, he quickly slammed the shutters closed and secured the wooden bar to hold them. Almost immediately, the sounds of banging pans and shouting jests commenced both at the door and the window.
Hannah, still sitting on the floor, put her hands on her ears.
"
Hopkins
! You're no friend of mine!" Henry Lee shouted through the door. This statement was met by hoots of laughter. "Now get away from our door, you've had your fun."
"Don't mind us, Henry Lee,"
Hopkins
called back. "Go on about your business, the racket is meant to keep us all from hearing the bedsprings rattle!"
Henry Lee shot a look at Hannah, her eyes widened in shock and her face blazed crimson. She averted her eyes from Henry Lee and helped herself off the floor.
"Just ignore them," Henry Lee told her. "It's late and everybody is tired. They'll stop in a little bit."
"I can't imagine why my father didn't put a stop to this," Hannah said angrily.
"Because you are not his responsibility anymore, you're mine."
Hannah looked at him, startled at the truth of that statement. He was right. She was his wife now, for better or worse, and her father no longer had any say over her. It was a frightening thought. She hardly knew this man, and suddenly he had complete control over her. Wasn't she just planning yesterday to take control of her own life?
Hannah turned away from him, but found that there wasn't really any place much to turn. The small bedroom that she shared with Myrtie seemed dwarfed by the huge man now occupying it. The tight space and the closed window served to make the room uncomfortably warm. Hannah wanted to take off the beautiful silk dress that now felt more like a sticky blanket.
She glanced up at Henry Lee, who leaned indolently against the wall. The sounds had died down and now they were singing "Oh
Promise
"It's so hot," Hannah said, hoping that Henry Lee would take the hint.
"Yes, ma'am, it surely is," he answered, wondering if talk of the weather was typical of wedding night conversation. He wanted to take off his coat, but he was afraid it would frighten her. He certainly didn't want her screaming with people just outside the window. He decided that the best thing to do would be to try to relax her with a little conversation. He'd always been told that he had the gift of gab and could talk pretty near any woman right off her feet. But for some reason, he couldn't think of one light, amusing story to entertain a nervous bride.
"At my place we have a big red oak that shades the house, it helps to keep the heat off the house. And makes it a bit more tolerable in the summertime."
"Yes, well," Hannah murmured, "it's too bad we don't have some of that shade here." She looked around as if trying to find her courage in the walls or the furniture. "Do you think you could leave now?"
"What?"
"Do you think you could leave now? I know they are still singing, but perhaps they wouldn't bother you if you left," Hannah said.
Henry Lee's expression was condescending. "Where exactly am I supposed to go, ma'am?"
"Why, I don't know," Hannah answered uncertainly, "but surely you can find some place to spend some time so that I might have some privacy."
Henry Lee roused himself from the wall and running a hand impatiently through his hair he came over and sat down on the bed. Unconsciously Hannah moved away from him. He rubbed his temples as if to soothe a pain.
"I can't go anywhere tonight, I have to spend the night with you. It's expected. You do understand that married people sleep together?"
"Well, of course I understand that." Hannah's face flamed red. Did this man think that she was totally ignorant? "Could you just go somewhere for a while, this dress is so hot, I've just got to take it off."
"I can turn my back."
"No, I'll have to have help, my mother or my sister."
"Hannah, I can't leave and your mother or sister can't come in, that's why they are singing out there, this is our wedding night." Henry Lee cursed silently. How had he become stuck with such a naive girl? "We aren't supposed to have any privacy, this is how married people get to know each other."
Hannah, who prided herself on her usual maturity and bravery, found herself feeling very young and afraid.
"Couldn't we start getting to know each other tomorrow?"
Her request sounded like a plea. Henry Lee, looking around at the closeness of the room, could not help but commiserate with her. It was an impossible arrangement. Half the territory was standing just outside their window, and they just total strangers. Nothing good could ever come of such a wedding night.
"Turn around, I'll unbutton you."
"You can't!"
"Of course I can. Turn around or you'll have to wear this dress all night." Shaking his head in exasperation, he added, "You were wearing less out by the wellhouse this morning."
Blushing at the truth, Hannah bravely offered her back to him and Henry Lee, still sitting on the bed, pulled Hannah between his spread thighs facing her away from him and commenced undoing the buttons on the wedding dress. Hannah cringed at the close contact. She could smell the clean male scent of him and his big hands gently touching the silk of the dress. It gave her a curious lightheaded sensation. It must be even hotter in this room than she thought.
"This thing sure has a lot of buttons," he said.
"Fifty-two," Hannah answered. "One for each week that my parents were engaged."
"That's a pretty long engagement."
"Long engagements allow people to really get to know each other and to make sure that they can make the other person happy," Hannah unthinkingly repeated the position that she frequently had explained to Myrtie.
"You like long engagements?" he asked teasing her. "I wouldn't have known. Ours wasn't even fifty-two hours!"
"But ours was a…
"
Hannah's voice trailed off.
"A what?" he asked, completely stopping his progress with the buttons and concentrating on what she was about to say. He wanted to know, what she had thought she was doing forcing him to marry her.
Hannah wanted to say that theirs was a mistake, but she knew that she couldn't say that. She didn't really know this man, and she wasn't sure what his reaction would be. Suppose he got violent?
"It was," she answered lamely, "an unusual engagement."
Henry Lee gave a kind of half laugh, half shrug and resumed his work on the buttons. "Yes, I guess you could say that. Unusual. A very good word for it."
His progress on the buttons had reached almost to her waist. The lower his fingers moved, the more uncomfortable and exposed she felt. Henry Lee was concentrating on the buttons, trying not to think how long it had been since he'd undone a woman's dress.
When he got past the waist he could see the laces on her corset and ties for her underskirt. His mind conjured up the image of firm young flesh underneath these layers and his body responded accordingly. He squirmed slightly adjusting his posture to accommodate the change in his anatomy. His thigh, now resting comfortably against Hannah's hip, had a disquieting effect on Hannah.
Hannah's mother had only briefly talked to her about the duties of the wedding night, and that had been years ago. Being a farm girl, she had a fairly basic idea about what was involved in mating. She had witnessed the birth of many animals and she had even gone along to help when Greta Snyder's last baby was born, although she was sent to the kitchen just before the miraculous event occurred. However, she had never chanced to witness the mating of any animals in the wild, and because Reverend Farnam believed that the propagation of God's creatures was not a fit sight for his innocent young daughters, her father had never allowed either of his daughters around the stock during breeding.
Hannah's main source of information on sexuality was Bessie Turnball. Although Bessie was more Myrtie's contemporary than she was Hannah's, she seemed to know a great deal about the subject of men and women and never hesitated to explain it to whoever would listen.
To Hannah, the whole thing sounded a bit untidy, embarrassing at best, but she was sure that she could survive. What she was not too sure of, however, was what these flustery, warm feelings were all about. She wanted to move away from him at the same time she felt the need to ease up more closely.
Henry Lee undid the last button and gently pushed her away.
"You'd best change into your night clothes and get into bed," he told her. "We'll have a very busy day tomorrow."
She looked at him with anxious confusion. Fortunately Henry Lee was sensitive enough that she needn't express her hesitation.
"Don't fret now, Miss Hannah, I'll turn my back." Which he proceeded to do, staring at the door, his hands jammed into his trouser pockets. Hannah was held frozen in place for a moment and then with incredible haste, but almost total silence, she went to the hook in the far corner that held her nightgown. She changed her clothes without taking her eyes off Henry Lee for one moment. She tried to be very quiet, thinking that not drawing attention to herself somehow made her safer. As if he were a wild animal that might not know that she was there if she didn't disturb the leaves or grass.
Even as quiet as she was, Henry Lee was very aware of what was happening behind his back and was busy trying to drown out the telling silence with his own silent admonitions. She was a virgin, and not a ripe one, but rather an overripe spinster who undoubtedly was horrified at the idea of sex. And even if she weren't so terrified, she did, after all, seek this marriage in a very desperate manner. She was so anxious he would surely hurt her, and he certainly didn't want her screaming or crying with her parents and most of the community right outside the door.
No, he told himself, he would wait a few days until they got a little more used to each other and he would start out slowly, a few kisses tomorrow, some serious hugging the day after until she was more used to him. If there was one thing he had learned about women it was that patience has its rewards. Tonight he would be patient.
Hannah, dressed in her flour-sack cotton nightdress, stood uncertainly beside the bed. She couldn't decide what her next move should be. If she just stood there, he would turn around and see her, but if she were to hide herself in the bed, it would seem as if she were anxious to couple with him. Finally she gave up the effort of making a decision, and turned the problem over to Henry Lee.
"Should I get in bed now?"
"Yes, go ahead," Henry Lee answered as he waited for the sounds of her movement into the bed. After he was sure she had settled herself, he turned without looking at her and lowered the wick in the lamp, and then blew it out completely. Normally, on these hot summer nights, he slept naked, but he wasn't ready to do that with Miss Hannah. He stripped down to his small clothes and decided it was enough.