Cora's Deception (9781476398280)

Brides of Cedar
Creek

Book One

Cora’s Deception

Cora’s Deception

by

Mildred Colvin

Copyright © 2012
by
Mildred Colvin

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

Cover design by Vanessa Riley

Cover Photo
© 
PBblood
|
Dreamstime.com

Cora’s Deception
is a
rewritten version of the original book formerly published as
Cora
by Barbour Publishing.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King
James Version of the Bible.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, or to events, is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or
given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it
was not purchased for your use only, then please return to
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the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

C
ora Jackson took George Merrill’s hand and ran around the
corner of the house.

“Over here, Cora. Hurry.” George pulled her
toward the smoke house. He ducked his head and tramped through the
doorway. Cora followed over the sill. They’d made a clean
get-a-way. Even Eliza hadn’t seen them leave. Cora giggled as
George closed the door, shutting out the bright, sunshiny day.

He frowned. “What’s so funny?” His eyes
searched hers from under a narrowed brow. “You’re moving, and I
thought you loved me.”

“Oh, I do, George.” Cora sobered. It wasn’t
a game. She’d be leaving within the hour for the wilderness of
Southern Missouri clear across the state from their home in St.
Louis. This couldn’t be real. Even now the wagons waited in front,
loaded to the hilt. Father and the other men had been working since
before dawn getting things ready.

“Why’d your father do this? Why would he
give up a prosperous business here to settle in the wilderness?
There’s nothing there, Cora. Your house sold. Where will you live?”
George acted as if this were her fault. He paced away then turned
and glared at her. “How will you train to be a lawyer’s wife in
western Missouri? Even the Indians didn’t live there after the
government gave it to them. I did some research when my brother
said he was going with you. Did you know the Kickapoo receded it
back to the government a little over a year ago?”

Cora looked at him with wide eyes and shook
her head. “No. Why would they do that?”

He snorted. “Because it’s a wasteland,
obviously. White men think they can live on land the savages
refuse. Does that make sense to you?”

She shook her head again as moisture filled
her eyes. “But I don’t want to go. I have to.”

George threw his hands out in a helpless
gesture. “Don’t cry about it. We’ll still get married. I’ll need a
good wife if I’m to be successful.”

Cora stared into his eyes. Had he just
complimented her? Or insulted her? She blinked away her tears.
George had been her companion since she was five years old. He’d
been the one who decided what they played and where they’d go.

“We are still getting married, Cora.” He
glared at her.

“Of course, George. I know that.” She’d
grown accustomed to his authority and fell in with his plans. She
loved him and hated to see him disappointed. She’d stay in St.
Louis if she could, but her father had his heart set on pioneering
the wilds of Missouri. “I don’t understand, George. What do you
want? How can we get married if I’m not here?”

“Just be quiet. I’m thinking.” He turned
from her, rubbing the back of his neck.

Cora wrinkled her nose at George’s back.
Father had already sold their home and his Chandler shop as well as
his half of the cooperage. What could she do except join her
family? Even George’s brother, John, who’d married her older
sister, thought this move was a grand adventure.

Finally, he swung around to face her again.
His frown relaxed. “Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong. It could
be for the best in the long run. I’ve got some time at Christmas.
I’ll come for you then, and we can be married. We’ll have to live
with my parents.” His frown returned. “This isn’t the way I’d
planned. It’ll be another year before I even go to law school.”

“I’m sorry.” Cora interlocked the fingers of
both her hands and clutched them under her chin. What could she do
to make him feel better?

His light blue eyes brightened. “Oh, well,
we should look at the ending rather than the obstacles along the
way. By living with my mother, you’ll learn a great deal that will
be helpful once I have my own practice.”

Cora’s heart sank at this latest insult, for
that’s what it was. Mother had trained her well to take care of a
household. She didn’t need Mrs. Merrill’s instructions. George took
her arms and pulled her close to him. His intent was easy to see as
he lowered his head and slipped his arms around her. His lips had
no sooner touched hers than Eliza’s voice penetrated the loose
board walls of the smokehouse.

“Cora! Where are you?” Sounded like Eliza
had rounded the back of the house.

Cora giggled.

George growled. “Your little sister has
great timing.”

“Cora.” Eliza’s voice became louder and then
fainter. She’d moved away.

George’s breath brushed Cora’s cheek. His
lips touched the corner of her mouth, and she turned to him. The
kiss was long and demanding. They’d shared kisses before, but never
had George acted as if he would possess her. Could he miss her so
much already?

Then his hand moved to her front and her
breath caught. She jerked back, but his hold on her tightened. She
struggled for freedom as he covered her mouth again. She felt his
hand at the buttons of her bodice, his other arm a band of steel
around her, drawing her close. She renewed her efforts and freed
her mouth. Her breath came in short puffs. “George, don’t do that.
We mustn’t.”

“Don’t you love me, Cora?”

“Of course, I do. But—”

Something hit the smokehouse door. “Cora, I
know you’re in there.”

George let go with a curse.

Cora staggered, her hands shaking as she
straightened her dress and re-buttoned her bodice. She moved back
from George. “All right, Eliza, what do you want?”

“Father says we’re leaving in twenty
minutes. Mother wants you at the wagon in ten minutes. You’d better
be there too.”

“Tell Mother I will. In plenty of time.”
Cora shot a quick glance at George. His jaw clenched tight, his
arms crossed over his chest.

Eliza’s voice slipped into a sassy singsong.
“Oh, Georgie. You can come, too, if you want to. We’d all love to
tell you goodbye.”

George’s expression grew dark as his
eyebrows met above his nose.

Cora sighed. Her sister was only teasing. He
took things so seriously. She’d never understand why he got in
these moods. “Eliza, I said I’d be there.”

Silence stretched while Cora waited for
another sound from her sister. George stood expressionless for
several moments before he peeked through a crack in the door. He
turned back to Cora, his frown smoothed away as he reached for her.
“She’s gone now.”

Cora sidestepped his hands. The fun had
evaporated from their little tryst. “I’ve got to go. Please, come
and say good bye to John and my family.”

~*~

Cora stood on a high bluff in southwestern
Missouri and peered down at the rushing river below. Two rivers,
according to John. The Sac and the Osage flowed from two directions
and joined below where she stood, making the Sac Osage River.
Father said they’d be home tomorrow if they got an early start in
the morning.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her
head. How could he ever call this wild country home? They’d
traveled all day without seeing a single settlement. Tomorrow could
bring anything.

A cold November wind blew across the river
to loosen her coat and circle her body. She shivered, pulled the
heavy coat closer around her shoulders, and turned back toward
camp.

Eliza met her halfway. “Cora, Mother called
you three times. Couldn’t you hear?”

Cora frowned. All she wanted was a few
minutes of peace away from the others where she could think.
Nothing could be as important as that. “No, I didn’t hear. What
does she want?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, the sun is
going down.” Eliza gave her a smug look. “If you want to sleep
tonight, you’ll have to lay your bedroll out before it’s too dark
to see what you’re doing.”

Of course. It wasn’t as if they could be
normal and expect to climb into a real bed at night. Cora’s teeth
clenched as she followed her little sister to the wagons. She
jerked the heavy quilts from the back and threw them on the ground.
Animals slept outdoors, not people. Oh, but people did too. She
mustn’t forget. She’d been sleeping in the cold for weeks with
nothing between her and the glittering stars above. They winked at
her now as if mocking her rebellious spirit. She kicked a rock away
and spread her quilts near the others already laid out. Every night
small, sharp rocks poked and bruised her body while howling coyotes
struck fear to her heart. Even the fires that burned all night
didn’t shut them up. A vision of her bedroom in the large,
two-story brick house near downtown Saint Louis filled her
mind.

A sudden flare of light, as her father threw
a stick on the fire, startled Cora.

Father’s deep laugh brought warmth to her
cheeks. “Caught you daydreaming again, didn’t I, Cora girl?” He
patted her shoulder. “Time to hit the hay. If we get on the road
early enough in the morning, we should be there by dark
tomorrow.”

“Then we can stop sleeping on the ground?”
Cora turned a hopeful gaze on her father.

He chuckled. “Aw, it isn’t so bad. Think of
this as an adventure, Cora. A chance to better ourselves.”

She stared after him as he walked past the
fire toward the wagons. How could his thinking have become so
twisted? She sat on her rumpled bedroll and loosened her shoes.
Vickie and John strolled by with their two-year-old son, Nicholas,
between them. He hung on their hands and giggled when they swung
him.

Lenny scrambled after their older brother,
Ben, as he stepped away from camp. Cora grinned. Lenny always tried
to do whatever Ben did, even though he was ten years younger. Ben,
at eighteen, barely tolerated his little brother’s presence.

Mother and Father secured the tarp on the
wagon for the night before heading toward their pallets.

Eliza dropped to her bedroll near Cora’s and
leaned back on her elbow. She brushed her light brown hair back
from her eyes and sighed. “I’ll be so glad when we get there, won’t
you?”

Cora’s frown settled back in place. “I’d
rather go home.”

“To what?” Eliza raised her eyebrows.
“Father can’t sell candles with gaslights on every street corner.
Before long no one will be using candles, anyway. Not even in their
homes.”

Cora shaded her eyes as if trying to see
into the distance. “Well, what do you know? I don’t see any
gaslights out here.” She hated the harsh sound of her voice, but
couldn’t stop. “There probably won’t be ever. It may be ages before
any spread this far west. And if they did, it looks like Father
could have helped Uncle Sidney in the cooper shop.” She lowered her
voice. “Father just wanted something new. An adventure is what he
wants.”

Eliza shrugged. “Maybe. But what difference
does it make? Besides, Uncle Sidney doesn’t need any help.” She sat
up and pulled off her shoe, setting it neatly to the side of her
bedroll. “Besides, you want to go home so you can be with
George.”

Cora tossed first one shoe and then another
to the end of her bedroll and slipped between the quilts. “I don’t
see where George is any of your concern.” She plopped to her side
with her back to Eliza.

Quiet descended as the rest of the family
settled down to sleep. An occasional coyote and the late night call
of a hoot owl sounded, making Cora’s heart jump. How could she
sleep like this? She flounced and tried to concentrate on George.
He said he’d come for her. Now would be a good time.