Brides of Ohio (17 page)

Katherine sat on her bed, still dressed in her work clothes and staring at her dresses hanging in the simple walnut wardrobe. She couldn’t quite decide which dress was proper for a lamb being led to the slaughter to wear. The swish of petticoats caused her to look up and meet Adele’s gentle smile.

“Such lovely dresses,” Adele said as she swept over to the wardrobe door.

“Thank you,” Katherine muttered. “Mary and I altered a few of hers. There’s only one that’s new.” She and Mary had only managed to make one dress for her since their arrival. It was a pretty day dress with a rosette print and a background of deep blue.

Adele immediately reached for it. “I will tell you a secret. In spite of how I felt, I always liked this on you. You must wear it, and we will be a pretty pair as we sit together this morning.” She saw the terrible look on Katherine’s face, and becoming more serious, the young widow sat down beside her. “This is not right. They will not come to accept you if you are not there.”

“That’s what Daniel said.”

“He is right, you know.”

“I know, it’s just …” Katherine paused and looked back up at Adele. “Am I truly helping you to heal?”

A strained look crossed the young widow’s face, and she placed her hand over Katherine’s. “If you had not come here, I would have drowned in my hate. I would have grown into a bitter old woman and died far from God.”

“But you’ve been attending church.”

“Only for the sake of my son.” Adele squeezed her hand. “And going to church does not make you close to Him, you know.” She placed her free hand over her heart. “You must have and know Him here.”

Katherine nodded. She had attended services many times with her family, but it had only been for the sake of appearances. The words of their reverend had not touched their hearts as they had hers. “But how could I have possibly been an example to you? I’ve hardly seen you.”

“But I have seen you. You treated my son with much kindness, and I would watch you during services, and I knew how patiently you accepted how people treated you. May would tell me.”

“May?” Katherine asked hopefully.

“Yes, she is a dear young lady, and she likes you very much.”

“Her parents certainly don’t,” Katherine replied sadly.

“They are good people,” Adele reassured her. “Do not think too badly of them. I hope you will come to know them as I do.” She smiled. “Now you must get dressed. Your Daniel is waiting for us I am sure.”

Katherine blushed, happy and shy at the same time. “Mrs. Stephens—”

“If we are to be friends, you must call me Adele.”

Katherine’s throat went tight. “Then, I hope you will call me Katherine.”

Adele’s smile broadened, and she leaned toward her. “We will go together and sit side by side. If anyone wants to say something, they will say it to me.”

Whatever courage she had taken from Adele’s words melted away at the first shocked look she got when the three of them walked up to the church door.

Daniel seemed to sense her discomfort and looked down at her. “It’ll be all right.”

Her heart flipped at the look he gave her, and she squeezed his arm tighter. She had no notion how she had managed to win the heart of such a good and handsome man. Katherine pressed her lips together at the sweet memory of his kiss this morning. No, last night hadn’t been a dream.

A great deal of murmuring and pointing went on as they sat down in a pew near the front. Adele smiled calmly and greeted a few people who answered her back in stunned voices. Katherine sat down beside her and immediately reached for a hymnal. She didn’t look up until the end of the opening song when she felt Daniel slide away from her. Startled, she saw none other than May Decker daintily stepping in front of him, settling herself next to her with a barely suppressed smile. Katherine began to panic. May’s parents would be furious that she had not returned to sit with them after playing the opening hymn.

Adele took her hand then, and Katherine turned to see Reverend Warren step up to the lectern. A small smile was on his face, and he gave her the barest of winks as he bid them all to open to the book of Galatians.

The service slipped by more quickly than Katherine had ever remembered. May rose all too soon to play the closing hymn, and afterward the room was deathly quiet. Within a few minutes, people began to stand awkwardly yet still not saying much of anything.

Unabashed, Adele rose, pulling Katherine along with her. Linking her arm through hers, the young widow started to walk her down the aisle, Daniel and May not far behind. Katherine nearly gasped when she saw Mrs. Warren approaching them with Ruth Decker quickly coming up behind her.

“Adele,” Mrs. Warren exclaimed, “how nice to see you.” She glanced hesitantly at Katherine.

“Thank you, Mrs. Warren. It is good to see you as well.” She smiled pleasantly. “Is it not good that Miss Wallace was able to come this morning?”

Mrs. Warren seemed to hesitate, and Ruth Decker now spoke up. “Adele Stephens, you can’t be serious. She’s a secesh.”

Katherine felt Daniel move behind her, and she reached back to lay a hand on his arm. His eyes were dark with anger, but he took heed of her imploring look and said nothing.

“Miss Wallace is not a secesh,” Adele declared calmly. “She is a sister in Christ. I am ashamed to say I have not always seen her that way, but over the past month she has shown me that God tells us to love our enemies, not so we can heap coals upon their heads but so we might learn to love them.” She looked around at the other members of the congregation who stood watching the little scene play out. “We have all lost much. Brothers, sons … husbands.” Her voice shook on the last word, and Katherine squeezed her hand in sympathy. “But I will not allow myself to lose my faith as well. I will accept Miss Wallace as my sister in Christ.”

“And so will I,” May declared.

Ruth Decker seemed completely thunderstruck, but Mrs. Warren stepped toward Katherine and took both her hands in hers. Her face was awash with shame, and tears began to fall from her eyes. Reverend Warren came to stand next to his wife as she spoke. “Miss Wallace, I am so sorry. When Paul told me we needed to accept you, I couldn’t …”

Katherine gently squeezed her hands. “Mrs. Warren, please don’t give it another thought. Your husband told us about your nephew, and I am so terribly sorry.”

She glanced over at Ruth Decker, who had backed off and looked very uncertain. Mr. Decker stood beside her and gave her a tentative smile. Without hesitation Katherine walked up to the woman and smiled gently. “Mrs. Decker, I never got to thank you for your kindness and hospitality when Mary and I first arrived. Thank you kindly.”

Ruth Decker burst into tears and caught Katherine up in a firm embrace. “I am so ashamed of myself,” she sobbed. “I can be so ridiculous at times. There’s no possible excuse for how I acted.”

“That’s all right, Mrs. Decker. Don’t worry yourself. I hope we can be friends now.”

“Oh, of course,” Ruth exclaimed as she released her and mopped at her eyes with a handkerchief. “I’m going to have a quilting bee very soon, and you and Mary and Adele must come.”

There were other apologies after that. Not as many as Katherine would have liked but, she mused as they rode home, it was a good beginning.

Adele grasped her hand, and they smiled at each other. “I am looking forward to the quilting bee,” she said.

“I am, too,” Katherine replied. “Mary and I have been working on a quilt, but it won’t be ready for a while yet.”

A gleam appeared in Adele’s eye, and she threw a quick glance at Daniel who was sitting in the seat in front of them driving. “A Double Wedding Ring pattern perhaps?” she asked in a hushed voice.

Katherine clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. “Adele!” she hissed.

The young widow’s eyes danced, but she said no more.

Katherine was glad to see her so cheerful, a stark contrast to how she must have been feeling a mere week ago. She glanced up at her new friend.

“If you had not come here, I would have drowned in my hate. …”

“Your example has shown her what she needs to do.”

Adele’s and Daniel’s voices echoed in her mind, and suddenly coming here made sense. She remembered the day Mary had told her she was going to abandon her plantation and go home to Ohio. The urge to go with her was so strong she had felt sure it was God Himself guiding her.

The anxiety and worry she had felt for the past two months vanished as she now recognized her part in His plan. That God had used her as an instrument of healing gave her a sense of confidence she hadn’t felt for a long while. Not since before all that had happened with Chloe.

She fingered her scar thoughtfully.
Will I ever find out what happened to her, Father?

Daniel had written his friend as he had promised, but the man had been unable to find out anything.

Her hand dropped away from her face, and she squared her jaw resolutely.
Trust Him
, she told herself.
Don’t lean on your own understanding.

They pulled up the Kirbys’ drive, and Adele immediately climbed out. Katherine knew she was eager to see how Jacob was. The boy was weak, but Mary had declared he would be fine after a few days of rest.

Adele was in the house even before Daniel had a chance to help Katherine out of the carriage. His fingers wrapped around hers as he helped her step to the ground, and her heart did a double flip as he pulled her close and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “You were wonderful this morning,” he murmured.

She smiled and was about to reply when they heard the door to the house open. They turned to see Adele standing there, her face deeply distressed.

Katherine felt Daniel’s arms tense. “What is it, Adele?” he asked. “Is it Jacob?”

She quickly shook her head. “Katherine has a visitor.”

Katherine stared at her in surprise. “Who?”

“You must come inside,” she replied stiffly before disappearing into the house.

The look on Adele’s face so upset her she was up the steps and into the house before Daniel. At the door to the parlor she gasped.

A gaunt man dressed in Confederate gray stood in front of the sofa where Mary and Adele sat looking at him. He turned to Katherine, and she was shocked to hear her brother’s voice come from the skeletal form. “Gather your things, Katherine. I’ve come to fetch you home.”

T
he soldier in Daniel immediately reached for his Colt the instant he saw Confederate gray. He cocked the weapon as he moved to stand in front of Katherine.

The Southern officer glared at him. “You would shoot an unarmed-man, sir?”

Daniel hesitated. Glancing at the man’s belt, he saw his holster was indeed empty. “No,” he replied as he slowly uncocked his weapon and lowered it.

Katherine moved to go around him, but he blocked her with his arm, causing the soldier’s glare to intensify. She laid a hand on his arm, and Daniel looked down at her. “It’s all right,” she said. “It’s my brother, Charles.”

Daniel reluctantly let her go by.

She started to hug her brother. When he did not return the embrace, she hastily stepped back a bit, hands clasped together. “Charles, I’m so glad to see you’re alive. Aunt Ada and I found your name posted on the lists. Where have you been all this time?”

“An unfortunate clerical error. I’ve been a guest of the Union army for the past eight months,” he replied, glaring at Daniel.

Daniel held his tongue but watched him carefully.

“The last three were at Camp Chase. I was released just yesterday. Had I not been wounded, I would have written sooner to tell you and Aunt Ada I was alive. When I finally was able to, she told me how you had abandoned her to come here.”

Katherine pursed her lips slightly, but her gaze did not waver from her brother for a moment.

Mary broke the silence that had settled over the room. “You look so thin, Charles,” she said gently. “Let me get you something to eat.”

“No thank you, ma’am.” Charles’s polite words were offset by the sneer on his face. “I have only come to take my sister home.” He looked piercingly at Katherine. “Her fiancé is waiting for her.”

Daniel’s eyes widened as Katherine gasped. “Charles, what do you mean? I was never engaged.”

“You are now. Aunt Ada has it all arranged. You will finally bring prestige to our name with your marriage to Thaddeus Adams.”

“Charles, you can’t be serious!” Mary exclaimed. “Thaddeus Adams is nearly three times her age.”

“You will kindly stay out of this.” Charles snapped. “This is a family matter and no concern of yours.”

“Don’t talk to her that way. She’s been more like family to me than you ever were, Charles.”

Daniel stared at Katherine in surprise. This was a new side to her, so unlike the meek, soft-spoken woman he’d come to know. But as much as he loved her gentle ways, he was glad to see her more assertive and sure of herself. And he did not fail to notice she wasn’t even reaching for her scar, as she certainly would have before. He silently cheered her on as she defiantly glared up at her older brother who was nearly as tall as he was.

Taking a deep breath and calming herself, she went on. “I’m sorry, but I won’t even consider leaving here to marry Mr. Adams. Ohio is my-home now.”

Her brother’s face grew red. “As head of our family, you are under my protection,” he shot back. “You will do as I say.”

“No!”

Charles’s face contorted with rage as he backhanded Katherine across the jaw.

As she crumpled to the floor, Daniel sprang forward and pinned Charles Wallace against the wall, his pistol pointed directly between his eyes. Suddenly Daniel wasn’t in his family’s parlor but on a smoke-filled battlefield, his enemy backed up against a bullet-riddled stump. He cocked his gun.

“Daniel!”

He jumped at the warm hand on his arm and blinked as the image melted away.

Adele was standing next to him, the pressure from her hands growing as she tried to force him to lower his weapon. Mary knelt on the floor next to Katherine, who he desperately hoped was only unconscious.

He swallowed and backed away but kept his Colt trained on Charles. “Get out,” he said roughly. “Get off my property and don’t come back. If anyone’s going to marry your sister, it’ll be me.”