Cora's Deception (9781476398280) (32 page)

She found Ben and Esther and stayed with
them the rest of the evening. Aaron had left without her. Her heart
broke into a million pieces. Did Aaron feel the same? He wouldn’t
have left her here with George otherwise. Hope rose within her.

Tomorrow everything would be better.

~*~

Cora woke late and threw her arm across her
puffy eyes. The light hurt her head. Vivid memories of the evening
before hurt her heart. Aaron had walked out on her. She couldn’t
wait until he decided to ask her for the truth. She’d have to go
see him.

Ivy arrived from the woods before Cora left
the yard. She took one look at Cora and whistled. “You look like
somethin’ Ole Blue might drag up to the door. Let’s go for a
walk.”

Cora tied her bonnet under her chin and the
two girls set out back toward the woods. They walked in silence for
several yards before Ivy turned toward Cora. “Did you know Aaron’s
gone?”

That’s what George had said. She shook her
head. “What do you mean, gone?”

“I mean he’s gone. Packed up and left early
this morning before the sun came up.” Ivy’s bright blue eyes, so
like Aaron’s, stared at Cora as if searching for truth. “He didn’t
tell you he was goin’ neither, did he?”

“No.” Cora shook her head and clutched Ivy’s
arm. “Where did he go? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I don’t know where he went. He didn’t say,
and he didn’t say why, neither. That’s why I came this morning.
Why’d he leave, Cora? What happened last night?”

“George Merrill lied to him.”

Ivy snorted. “What’d that struttin’ rooster
say?”

“That he came for me. He told Aaron I sent
for him.”

“No.” Ivy shook her head. “That ain’t the
real reason he took off.”

“What other reason is there? Are you saying
he didn’t want to marry me after all and only used that for an
excuse?” Cora’s heart sank. Maybe Aaron didn’t really love her.

“Can’t you see?” Ivy stopped and faced Cora.
“He left for you. He don’t want to get in your way. He thinks you
want that rooster, all right, but he mostly thinks you need him and
his money.”

“What for?” Cora stared at Ivy, trying to
make sense of her words.

“A big house with a buggy and high-steppin’
horses to pull it. Fancy clothes and pretty dishes and stuff like
that. He said he can’t get you all them things, and George Merrill
can. He said Merrill was smart, like you.”

Cora shook her head. “No. Ivy, I told George
last night I never want to see him again. I want Aaron. Nobody but
Aaron.”

“I guess you lost your chance, ’cause he
said he ain’t never comin’ back.” Pity shone from Ivy’s eyes. “I
surely am sorry it turned out this way. I’d like to been your
sister-in-law. I was gonna ask you to stand up with me at my
weddin’. You think you might still?”

“Your wedding?” Cora blinked. “I didn’t know
you were getting married.”

Ivy smiled, her bright blue eyes dancing.
“It happened last night. At the dance. Bill Reid asked me. Aaron
give us his blessin’ before he left.”

“Mr. Reid?” Surely Ivy didn’t mean Mr.
Reid.

“Yes. Can you stand up with me? With Aaron
gone, we don’t want to wait long. It’ll be end of this month.”

Cora shuddered. She’d scarcely escaped Mr.
Reid’s clutches and Ivy acted happy about marrying him. He was at
least fifteen years her senior. She spoke without thinking. “Do you
really want to marry him?”

“Of course I do.”

“But he’s old.”

Anger flashed from Ivy’s eyes. “He ain’t
old. ’Sides, it ain’t none of your business what I do, Cora
Jackson. Now do you wanna stand up with me or not?”

“I’m sorry, Ivy. Of course I’ll stand up
with you. I just wish I could ask you to return the favor.”

Just when she thought her supply of tears
had already been exhausted, more flooded her eyes. She wiped them
away and struggled to keep from letting any fall.

“You really liked him, didn’t you?” Ivy’s
soft voice sounded beside her.

“I love Aaron with all my heart.” Cora
pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve to catch an errant tear.
“I’ll never marry anyone else. Please tell him I’ll wait for him
the rest of my life if I have to.”

Ivy shook her head. “Cora, I’m right real
sorry for you and Aaron both, but I don’t look to ever see him
again. He said he’s never comin’ back.”

~*~

Early that evening, Cora sat alone in her
room gradually becoming aware of male voices downstairs. When she
recognized George’s voice, she covered her ears. Then Father called
from the foot of the ladder. “Cora, you have company.”

A tremble began deep inside Cora’s soul. She
couldn’t see George. He’d become a monster to her, and she feared
him as much as she blamed him for driving Aaron away.

Father called a second time, but she only
burrowed deeper inside herself. Then she heard a noise at her door.
Father stepped into the room, his kind eyes chasing the tremble
away. “Cora, what’s going on? Is there something you’ve forgotten
to tell me?”

Cora looked up into her father’s concern and
opened her heart to him. When she finished, she said, “I love
Aaron, Father, and George made him leave. I told him I never want
to see him again, and I meant it.”

“All right.” Father stood, his face stern.
“I’ll get rid of George and then we’ll talk.”

Cora listened to the rumble of voices
downstairs until all grew silent. She crept toward the doorway and
peered down into the room below. Father stood at the foot of the
ladder. He smiled at her. “Come on, Cora. I think George decided
he’d overstayed his welcome. He’s going back to St. Louis.”

Cora scurried down the ladder into her
father’s arms. He led her to Mother, and she sat on the floor at
her mother’s feet, relishing the warmth of her family’s love.

Father sat down across from them. “Now,
Cora, tell us where Aaron went.”

“I don’t know.”

“Was he on foot?”

Cora nodded. “Yes, Ivy said he turned the
farm over to Ralph. All they have is the ox and it’s Ralph’s now
too.”

“Then he doesn’t plan to come back?” Ben sat
beside Esther across the room. Esther looked as if she might
cry.

Cora looked at the floor, fighting her own
tears. “No.” Her voice choked up and she coughed. “He said he’s
never coming back.”

Father swore under his breath. “Looks like
George did his dirty work well.”

Ben leaned forward. “Why don’t we go after
him? He can’t have gotten far on foot.”

Father nodded. “Maybe he’s gone to
Springfield. We’ll wait until morning when we can see. Even with a
day’s head start, we should catch him if he stays on the
trail.”

Cora’s heart lifted with hope.

Chapter 25

C
ora glanced out the open doorway again. Father and Ben had
been gone since daybreak. What could be taking them so long? Gentle
pressure at her waist and Esther’s hug let Cora know she wasn’t
alone with her worries. Because of George, Ben, Father, and Aaron
were out on the prairie somewhere and the sun would go down
soon.

“Oh, Esther, I’m sorry to be such a burden
to everyone. If not for me, Ben would be at home with you where he
belongs.”

“And Aaron and Father.” Esther shook her
head. “But you aren’t to blame. You didn’t know George would pull
such a stunt, and Aaron made his own decision.”

“I would gladly attend another church
service tonight if Aaron were here.” How many times today had Cora
bargained with God, telling Him she’d attend church every service
if only He’d bring Aaron home to her? At least a dozen, and still
they weren’t home. “Oh, what is keeping them?”

“I remember hearing my father say there’s
more than one trail to Springfield.” Esther’s voice was gentle.
“Please, Cora, don’t get your hopes up too much. God knows what’s
best in our lives. Aaron belongs to Him now. He’ll take care of
him.”

Esther’s words, meant to comfort, brought
unrest to Cora’s restless heart. She turned away and went outside.
She clasped the porch post and leaned her cheek against it. Shadows
lay long across the ground. A long sigh tore from her throat. She
sat in the rocker and covered her face with her hands.

“God, please bring them all home.” How could
she pray for them? If Aaron came home, she’d crawl on her knees
before God. She’d done so many wrong things in her life and every
one of them taunted her now. She’d tell Him she was a sinner. If
that’s what it took to have Aaron back, that’s what she’d do.

Cora lifted her head and wiped the tears
from her eyes. The shadows of evening disappeared as night crept
over the land. She stood and walked to the edge of the porch. Dark
shapes moved in the east. She was sure of it, although night was
darkest there. She stood watching, straining to see.

“Esther, come out here.” She called without
turning toward the house. “Mother, Eliza, I think they’re
back.”

She ran to meet them as they rode toward the
shelter.

Father gave her a tired-looking smile.
“Cora, let us take care of the horses before we talk.”

Aaron wasn’t with them. She ran alongside.
“But Father, did you find him?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. We looked
everywhere.”

An arm around her waist kept her from
slumping to the ground. Esther led her to the porch. “Sit down,
Cora. Let’s wait to hear what they’ve done and if they know
anything else.”

Mother sat in the rocker, so Cora took the
straight-backed chair. Tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto
her clasped hands, although she scarcely noticed. Esther and Eliza
stood on either side of her, their arms around her shoulders. After
a while, Father and Ben stepped on the porch. Cora launched herself
into her father’s arms.

“Let’s go inside.” Father kept Cora close.
His solid comfort was the only reason she didn’t crumple into a
heap on the floor.

Ben told of searching for Aaron. “We found a
campfire where he might have cooked a rabbit or squirrel. After
that, we lost his trail. I’m sorry, Cora. Even if we’d gone all the
way to Springfield, we might not have found him. It’s too far, and
to be honest, we don’t know if it was Aaron’s campsite we saw. He
might have gone another direction.”

Despair crept into Cora’s heart, filling the
vacuum left from Aaron’s absence. She pulled herself up the ladder
to her room where she fell across her bed, praying sleep would
relieve the pain in her heart.

When Cora opened her eyes, the sun shone
through the window. Had she slept the entire night? A figure bent
over the bed, and Eliza came into focus.

“Cora, are you going to get up today?”

“Oh.” Cora pressed her eyes to block out her
sister and the morning sun. “My head hurts.”

“Probably because you cried all night.”
Eliza sat on the edge of the bed. “You can’t do this to yourself.
Why don’t you get up and get dressed. Mother’s worried about you
and so is Father.”

“All right.” What difference did it make?
Her life was over as surely as if she’d succeeded with the
laudanum. Just as it would have been if George had taken her away
from her home and from Aaron. Her eyes filled with tears that ran
silently down her cheeks.

All through the day, she tried to hide her
sorrow from her parents, but still they watched her as if she might
break. Truly, she wondered the same thing.

During the darkness of the second night, she
woke to softly spoken words coming from Ben and Esther’s bedroom.
They were praying for her. Their love surrounded her, but still her
heart remained shattered. Although the night passed and days and
more nights slipped by, Cora ached with the weight of broken
love.

She lay in bed early one morning, staring at
blackness as dark as her dreams. She slipped from bed, careful not
to disturb Eliza. Today Ivy would become Mrs. Bill Reid. Cora
dressed and descended to the floor below. With the silence of a
shadow, she made her way to the kitchen and lit a lamp. By the time
the summer sun touched the eastern horizon and the rest of the
family began to stir, she pulled a pan of biscuits from the oven
and placed them on the table with oatmeal and crisp bacon.

“This looks good enough to eat.” Father
joked as he pulled Mother’s chair out and waited for her to sit
down.

Mother caught Cora’s arm as she passed
close. “You didn’t have to do this, Cora, but it does look
wonderful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Cora smiled. If she could
keep her mother from working so hard, maybe her life would have
purpose after all.

After they ate, Eliza took Cora’s shoulders
and turned her away. “You’ve done your share this morning. Go get
ready to stand up with Ivy. You’ll be all right, won’t you?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” Truthfully, Cora felt
more alive than she had since before Aaron left. She could live
without Aaron. Resolve grew within. She would survive.

As the wagon rounded the last curve in the
trail, the rough log church building came into view. Cora loved the
pretty setting with the rugged church sitting beside the trail.
Several trees created shade for the yard. The Newkirks had been
generous in their donation of the land. Many others in the area had
given their time and labor to build the church and the small cabin
in back for Reverend Timothy Donovan. Some of the people had
started calling him Brother Tim, but Cora didn’t feel that freedom
although he was near the same age as Ben.

She’d been so numb this last month since
Aaron left, church had been just one more thing to go through. She
stepped into the building and looked around. Primitive plank
benches on either side had already started to fill with men and
women from the area. Bill Reid was well liked for his fiddle
playing. Had most come to see him get married or had they come for
Ivy?