LITMIR.BIZ

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we’re away from the house from dawn till dusk.”

      Ruth gave a derisive sniff. “That will all end when little Abigail returns, I assume. Although I wouldn’t allow an indentured felon the care of one of my children.”

      Meagan literally bit her tongue to keep from saying that had it not been for Ruth Somers, she wouldn’t have been convicted in the first place. She longed to ask the woman why she had made such wild accusations and was almost ready to do so when Josh guessed her intent and shook his head, silently warning Meagan to be silent.

      Ruth was oblivious to the whole situation and continued her harangue regarding the return of Josh’s little daughter.

      “I think you should let the child come and stay with me. I could give her a good home and a warm and natural family life. She’d even have children of her own age to play with.” Ruth warmed to her theme, throwing her sons into the bargain. “Far better off with me than living in her father’s house with a murderess.”

      “Abbie won’t come back until the end of the summer. By that time most of the work will be done and I will be here in the house to keep an eye on things.” And then he asked what Meagan had not dared to. “Why are you so hostile toward Meagan? You admitted that you hardly knew the girl when you took her to your home, and that you had thought to hire her permanently if she had shown herself to be a good worker.”

      Ruth dabbed her eyes with a wisp of linen. “The girl caused the death of my friend. What’s more, she did so in my home. I cannot abide the sight of her.” She glared in Meagan’s direction.

      “Then turn your back, Ruth, because I’m afraid that as long as she causes me no trouble, Meagan is here to stay.”

      “I’d be more than willing to speak to Judge Osborne,” Ruth offered. “Perhaps I could talk him into hanging her instead of leaving you saddled with a criminal for the rest of your life.”

      The teacup rattled against the saucer as Meagan placed it on the table. She took a deep breath. The hatred and something more that she couldn’t name emanated from the guest. How she wished that Josh would say something more on her behalf, but he only shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps he felt the same way and managed better to contain his anger and his hatred for his indentured servant. Meagan had no way of knowing. Surely his demeanor toward her had been clipped and abrupt as he had given orders as to what he expected done about the house.

      Meagan had done what she could to avoid making Josh repeat his instructions, and only asked questions when she did not fully comprehend what he had said. He had no quarrel with her work or her willingness, and she knew it. However, he apparently had little compassion for her plight, for rather than refute Ruth’s suggestion about having Meagan hanged, he simply went on talking about the crops and the livestock and then to ask about her husband, Rafe.

      A pot of tea later, Ruth prepared to leave.

      Josh helped the woman into her wagon and held the reins as she arranged her ample posterior across the seat. “I want you to know that should there be any question of Abbie’s safety I will expect you to bring her to me right away. And see that you remember,” she admonished as she wagged her finger at him, clucked to the horses and was on her way.

      Josh started back toward the house where Meagan stood framed in the doorway.

      “Now what do you suppose that was all about?” they said in unison. And, realizing what they had done, their laughter, also in unison, echoed over the little valley.

      A short distance down the road Ruth Somers caught the sound and pulled her horse to a halt to listen. Of course, she couldn’t be sure it was laughter she heard, but Meagan was attractive and Josh was still young. She would have to keep an eye on them. After all, Judge Osborne had said that should Meagan Reilly seduce Josh or, most likely any other man, it would mean the hangman’s tree for her.

      Yes, Ruth would have to keep her eyes open, but more than that, she would have to make sure she kept her own husband far away from the Daniels household. For the girl was young and pretty, and Rafe Somers was only a man.

      

      Life in the Daniels house had fallen quite easily into place. Josh was not a vindictive man, and while he resented the girl’s presence to a certain degree, he could not deny that her willingness to work and make the best of a bad situation had made life a great deal easier for him. He often wondered what she was thinking as her great dark eyes followed him. She could be spunky, as he had discovered on their trip home from Banebridge. Josh saw no reason to make the situation any more difficult for either of them, so he did not question her any further about her part in Lily’s death. Instead, he went about his own business and made sure she tended to hers.

      It had not taken Meagan long to discover that the cozy little room at the back of the house was the hub of the home. The front room had apparently been used only on special occasions. She dreaded going into the musty shadows to sleep even though it had the best feather bed in the house.

      She lay stiffly on the bed, jumping at every creak and snap of the night-filled house. She dared not say a word about her nervousness, for Josh would surely believe her fears were caused by a guilty conscience rather than her inherent fear of being alone in the dark. A fear she had not been able to outgrow since childhood.

      The only thing she feared worse was a storm. The apex of her fears struck before the week was out.

      The wind was already moaning through the trees when she hurried across the little dogtrot and closed the door. The room was tight and sound. She would close her ears to the storm and pull the blankets up over her head and go to sleep, she promised herself.

      Meagan pulled the blankets up, but the wind whined and sobbed, and then began lashing the house when it failed to disturb the human creatures who dared build a house in its domain.

      For all Meagan’s promises she found her eyes wide open and her hands clenched against the feather bed. The wind and rain continued to strike the house. Tree branches bent and cracked as they whipped the house in fury. The wind seemed to come from all sides as it fought to find a chink in the walls. At the height of the storm Meagan heard the sound.

      It groaned through the room. First one note, then two, and finally a full chord resounding in ghostly pleasure above the storm.

      Meagan leaped from the bed. She stood in the middle of the floor as the lightning lit the night in unearthly splendor. The sound faded as Meagan backed toward the door, her eyes locked on the area where she knew the organ to be.

      Once again the notes began, increasing in intensity until they drowned out even the wind. As they reached their highest intensity Meagan gave a yelp and dashed into the night.

      Many times she had heard the Indians speak of the souls of the dead who found no peace and walked the earth during the storms. And though she knew no guilt in Lily’s death, she had been forced by the living to assume the blame, and she wasn’t about to see what punishment the dead might conceive.

      The rain blew against her with full fury as she threw herself against the door to the room in which Josh slept. Her fingers slipped from the wet latch. She beat against the wood.

      “Josh! Josh! Let me in!” she screamed. She rattled the useless latch as she hollered and banged, aware that the organ continued to sound out its ghastly melody.

      “What in the hell is going on here?”

      The door burst open against her pounding hands, and Meagan fell into Josh Daniels’s arms. She could feel the smooth warmth of his skin against her hands and buried her face against his chest to try to escape the sound that seemed to follow her. She felt his hand press ever so gently against her head, stroking her hair as though she were a frightened child. His other hand rested on her back, firmly, holding her against him as she relished the warmth and safety she knew when he enfolded her. The hair on his chest brushed her cheek and tickled her nose but she only burrowed closer, desperately trying to shut out the terror of the night. Her sobs quieted and she fought to gain control of herself, to curb her childish fears. She longed to stay with him as she had the night they had spent

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