The Believer (43 page)

"For you. Not for me:"

Payton stared over at him. "What are you going to do?"

"What I have to do, the same as Elizabeth:" Ethan looked off down the road that led out of the village. He couldn't stay in the middle of the river. He had to swim through the waters, no matter how rough, toward one of the shores.

A man who had been checking his saddle girths beside the road up ahead of them suddenly mounted up and rode straight toward them. Ethan and Payton jumped for the grass beside the pathway, but the man came after them. He reined in his horse with inches to spare. "Payton Duncan," he said. "I have been waiting for you"

It was Colton Linley. The man Payton had feared Elizabeth was going to. Ethan could not bear the thought of this man touching her. Ever.

"Where is she?" the man demanded. "I've been watching all day. Where have these crazy people hidden her?"

Ethan stepped in front of Payton. "You have no business here. Be on your way." His voice shook, not from fear but anger.

"I remember you" Linley leaned down from his horse toward Ethan. "You're the one that kept me from taking her last time I was here, but nobody is going to stop me next time. The woman is mine and I take what is mine. So tell me where she is or I'll burn this whole place down one building at a time"

"You're the one who has been setting the fires?" Payton stared up at the man with big eyes.

"An eye for an eye. You people believe that, don't you? You burned mine. I'll burn theirs:" He let his horse prance a couple of steps closer to them. "Now I want to know where she is or some people are going to be very sorry. Starting with you two"

"I don't know where she is;' Payton said as he backed up a couple of steps.

Ethan stood his ground. The man's horse was so close that if the horse tossed its head, it would likely hit Ethan and knock him to the side. He looked into the horse's eye and saw the animal's panic. Ethan made a soft sound with his tongue. A horse knew when a man meant to treat it kindly. It wasn't Ethan the horse feared but the man on its back. Ethan looked at the bit pulling back against its mouth and saw flecks of blood. The Shakers would never use such a cruel bit.

"What goes on here?" Brother Micah spoke behind them.

Ethan kept his focus on the horse, but out of the corner of his eyes he saw other brothers coming toward them. The horse skittered to the side away from Ethan.

The man on the horse turned his attention to the new arrivals as he said, "I have come for this boy's sister. She is to be my wife"

"If you speak of our former sister, Elizabeth, we know not where she is. She left our village yesterday," Brother Micah said.

The news seemed to surprise the man and throw him off balance.

Ethan spoke up. "This man admits to setting the fires we've suffered"

Brother Micah glanced at Ethan and then narrowed his eyes on the man on the horse. "Is that true?"

"His word against mine;' Linley said even as he gathered his reins to turn his horse away from them.

`And mine;' Payton said.

The man stared down at Payton. "Who would believe a boy who has the smell of smoke on him?"

"Our brothers do not lie. If you ever come into our village again, we will have you arrested;' Brother Micah said.

A worried look flashed across Linley's face, but then he laughed and pulled his horse sharply back from the men gathered there behind Ethan and Payton. "It's good to know you don't lie. That means the woman I seek will be in the town. No doubt seeking me. I told her she would come to me"

Ethan forgot the brothers around him. "She will never come to you:"

The man looked straight at Ethan. "Oh, but she will. One way or another. I've done plenty to make sure of that and no pretty boy like you can stop me. Best stay here and keep dancing:" He laughed again as he wheeled his horse around and galloped away.

"We've surely seen the last of him and good riddance,' Brother Micah said. "Now our supper awaits. Come, brethren, we must not tarry."

Ethan looked at the men around him. He no longer belonged with them. He was Hawk Boyd's son. He wanted to kill the man on the horse. He was no longer a man of peace. "I must go to her," he said.

"Nay, my brother, your place is with us:" Brother Micah looked truly distressed.

"It was, but no more:" He stepped away from them.

Brother Micah didn't give up. "Think of what Brother Martin would tell you. You are a Believer. Do not risk eternal damnation for the carnal lust of a woman:"

Ethan didn't turn, but kept walking away through the dust the horse's hooves had stirred up on the road. Behind him, he heard them begin stomping and crying, "Woe:" He didn't hear Payton's young voice among them.

Even so, the sound mashed down on his heart. He knew not what he would do without his brothers, but he could not turn around. He'd made his decision. He was swimming through the rough waters toward Elizabeth. Pray that he would be in time. Pray that the Eternal Father would still hear his supplications even if the seed of Hawk Boyd was flowering within him.

He had no horse. No weapon. No idea of what he could do to stop the man, but he kept walking toward the town even after darkness fell. He did have one thing the man did not. He knew where Elizabeth was. The storekeeper might help them, and there would be a sheriff in the town.

So he prayed as he walked that he would reach her first. And even though he was walking away from what he had been taught to believe by Brother Martin and the elders, he didn't feel deserted by the Lord. His mind went back to Preacher Joe, who had always walked hand in hand with the Lord. He hadn't been a Shaker, but he had believed. He had taught Ethan Scripture. And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

It was after midnight when he reached the town. He took shelter in a stable to wait for the morning light. The man's horse was there, put into a stall without the proper care. Ethan laid his hand on the horse's nose and spoke into his ear. Then he rubbed him down before he led him to the water trough. The horse had no part of the evil of his owner.

Mr. Wiley kept insisting they call him Uncle Felix, and by the end of the first day under his roof, the name rolled off Elizabeth's tongue as if he actually was their uncle. Elizabeth and Hannah cleaned and straightened the back living quarters all through the day. She wasn't exactly hiding from the eyes of Uncle Felix's customers, but at the same time she couldn't keep from worrying what Colton might do when he found out they were there.

Felix assured her she had no reason to fear. That he'd been running the store in the town for many years, and in that time had dealt with more than a few reprobates. His cousin, the sheriff, was right down the street at the courthouse, and he was the kind of sheriff who knew what was going on in his town.

"You're every bit as safe here as you were out at that Shaker village;' Felix told Elizabeth. "That scalawag comes around here, we'll send him packing. So don't you be worrying none about that" He smiled at her. "You just think on making some fried pies out of those dried apples over in the cupboard. Then we'll have one fine supper. Could be if we have any leavings, they might even taste good come breakfast. My Hilda did always say I had a terrible sweet tooth. I told her that was why I fell for her."

It was good being with Felix. He laughed as easily as most people smiled. And though Elizabeth would always carry the memory of Ethan in her heart, she had no regrets leaving the Shaker village. She had offered Ethan her love and he had turned from it. Now she had to push thoughts of him aside. She couldn't dwell in sadness. Instead she had to believe the Lord had guided her steps to this place where she and Hannah could begin a new life.

On the second morning, Elizabeth was laying bits of kindling and wood on top of the red coals of the fire in the cookstove to make coffee as daylight began creeping into the kitchen. While no rising bell sounded here as it did at Harmony Hill, the horses in the street had brought her awake. She didn't mind. She was happy to cook for Felix to earn their keep. Besides, it was good to be in a kitchen again where she could cook as she pleased and not just be relegated to stringing up peppers or peeling potatoes all through the day.

Aristotle sat at her feet in hopes she would drop a crumble of bacon or biscuit. It was so much like being in the cabin that for a moment Elizabeth almost thought she might look up and see her father coming in to the table with a book in his hand. With the corner of one of Hilda's aprons she had found neatly folded in a drawer, Elizabeth brushed away the tears that welled up in her eyes. She would talk today with Felix about her suspicions that her father had been poisoned. She had no proof, but perhaps her word of that and Hannah's word that she saw Colton setting fire to the Shaker house would be reason enough for the sheriff to run Colton from the town. Forever.

The bacon was sizzling in the iron skillet and Felix was stirring in his bedroom off the kitchen when Aristotle raised his head off his paws with a low growl as someone began banging on the store's front door.

"What in the world!" Felix came out of his room pulling his suspenders up over his shoulders. "Who the heck could that be?"

Elizabeth grabbed for his arm. "Don't open it"

He paused a minute to pat her hand. "It's nothing, girl. Happens all the time. Somebody gets up and they don't have sugar for their coffee. They think I don't have nothing better to do than wait on them"

But it wasn't that kind of knock. It was a shattering knock. Hannah came running down the steps from the room upstairs and grabbed Elizabeth. "It's him. I looked out the window."

Elizabeth called to Felix, but he was already to the door, turning the knob, letting Colton Linley push into the store. She pulled Hannah back from the kitchen door as she eased it almost shut to keep Colton from seeing them as she said, "Run. Go find the sheriff Uncle Felix talked about:"

"It's too early. He won't be at the courthouse:" Hannah's eyes were wide and frightened.

"He'll be somewhere:" Elizabeth leaned down and spoke directly into Hannah's face as she squeezed her upper arms tightly. `And no matter what, don't come back in here unless he's with you. Don't let Colton see you:'

"I don't want to leave you:" Hannah looked ready to cry.

Elizabeth shook her a little. "I'll be all right. Colton won't kill me, but I don't trust his intentions with anyone else. He might hurt Uncle Felix' She pushed Hannah toward the back door. "Now go!"

The slight creak of the back door opening and closing was covered by Colton's demanding voice in the front of the store. "Where is she?"

"I don't know who you're talking about. I live here alone' Felix's voice was firm without any sign of fear.

"Then you won't mind if I take a look around:"

Elizabeth peeked through the crack into the store. Felix stepped in front of Colton to block his way back to the kitchen. "Indeed I do mind. You've no business here. Now be on your way:" He pointed toward the front door.

"She's here. You're hiding her. I see the lie in your eyes" Colton laughed and shoved him roughly to the side. "Did she forget to tell you she belongs to me?"

Aristotle was barking frantically now as he pawed at the kitchen door. In the store, Felix grabbed an axe handle out of one of the barrels. Colton blocked Felix's intended blow with one hand and yanked the wooden handle away from him. He swung it at the old man, who threw up his arm to protect his head. Even in the kitchen over Aristotle's barks, Elizabeth heard the bone crack.

Felix fell backward and hit the floor. He scrambled away from Colton as the man raised the axe handle again. "Run, Elizabeth;' Felix yelled.

But she couldn't run. She stepped through the kitchen door and said, "Stop! I'll go with you:"

Aristotle ran to stand in front of Felix with his teeth bared at Colton.

"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" Colton said to the dog before he turned slowly to Elizabeth. He smiled. `And so you have finally come to me:'

"Yes. Just leave Mr. Wiley alone"

"What about the dog? Can I kill him?" Colton slapped the axe handle against the palm of his other hand. "I never did like him much:"

"You've killed before" Inside she was quaking, but she refused to let him see her fear as she stared straight at him.

He lifted one side of his mouth in a knowing smile. "You figured that out, did you? About your father?"

"You didn't have to kill him"

"It was self-defense," Colton said.

"You lie:"

"Well, near to self-defense. He said he'd see me dead before he let you marry me. So I didn't have much choice, did I? There has never been any doubt that sooner or later you would marry me:" Again he hit the axe handle softly in the palm of his hand. "Or perhaps we won't bother with weddings now. I've had much trouble with you. I'm not sure you are deserving of the title Mrs. Linley."

"You don't have to go with him, Elizabeth,' Felix said as he pushed himself up off the floor with his good arm and got to his feet.

"Shut up, old man" Colton turned menacingly on the man. "Unless you want another broken bone or two:"