His Defiant Wife, the Adventures of Linnett Wainwright, Book 2 (3 page)

“It took me a
while to, well, to understand the danger of life out here in the
wild. My father was a school master and he had never...er...
spanked
me as a child,” she tried to explain. “Hans did just
that, and I... well I was afraid of him for a while. I expected him
to punish me
every time
I disagreed with him. It took me a
while to realise that he was a fair and just man, that all he
wanted from me was the loving respect and obedience due to him as
my husband.”

John looked at
her thoughtfully. “So what shall I do to convince Linnett that I am
not some kind of monster about to thrash her every time she
disagrees with me?”

“Have you tried
talking to her?” Sarah asked him.

“No....I don’t
know where to start,” John said spreading his hands helplessly.

Sarah pondered
for a moment. “I know! Why don’t you buy Linnett a gift? Linnett
would love her own horse, John, and then perhaps you could find a
way to talk about this.”

“What an
excellent idea! I promised to buy her a horse when we arrived on
dry land, Sarah. You are not only a very pretty lady, but a wise
and clever woman to boot! Why did I not think of that?” John jumped
up, went around the table and planted a kiss on Sarah’s soft cheek.
“Hans is a very lucky man to have you, Sarah, and I shall go and
tell him that!”

John turned and
strode out of the house, leaving Sarah shaking her head, a
delighted blush spreading across her cheek.

A trip into the
small settlement town was needed to stock up on supplies for the
winter months. After much discussion, it was decided that instead
of a visit up to the cabin, John and Linnett should move up there
as soon as they bought supplies. They talked about who should go to
buy the goods and who should stay behind at the farm. Finally, it
was decided that Hans, John and Linnett would go.

The morning of
the trip dawned crisp and clear. The first warning of the winter to
come was in the cold fresh bite of the bitter wind. They set off
with John and Linnett riding the buckboard and Hans on horseback.
The journey took a good hour, and Linnett was chilled to the bone
by the time the small wooden township came into sight.

Linnett looked
around with interest at the rough wooden buildings, with their
covered walkways. Many had a horse or small wagon tied to a
hitching rail out at the front on the dirt road. The little town
seemed packed with people, and the atmosphere seemed almost like
that of a fete or carnival. Whole families wandered the street
together. Small children rode on their fathers’ shoulders. Hans
looked at John, his eyebrows raised questioningly. John shrugged in
return, both men nonplussed by the unexpected crowds.

Penman’s
General Store was in mid street, and they pulled up outside the
store in a line with three other various types of wagons. John
helped Linnett down and, curious, she went inside the
strange-looking store. It was full of every type of household need,
from pots and bowls, pans, cups and utensils to grain and coffee,
cloth and even children’s candy. Everything, in fact, a family
could need. Linnett spotted some stacked bolts of cloth and went
over to study them. Sarah had asked her to buy something warm to
make winter clothes for her and shirts for Peter and Hans.

As she fingered
the serviceable material, John came and stood behind her. “You had
better choose something for yourself as well. You need warm dresses
for the winter here. Linnett, I have an errand to run with Hans. Do
you think you will be alright here alone for a little while? Select
what you need and Mr. Penman will add it to our bill.”

Linnet looked
up at him, surprised. “Yes, of course I’ll be fine, but how long do
you think you might be?”

John had
already turned to walk away but answered, “Only about half an hour,
perhaps. No more.” He paused and turned, his gaze directed to his
wife, as he said, “Oh, and do not stray from this store, do you
understand me, Linnett?”

Linnett could
not meet her husband’s eyes because oh yes, she understood his
meaning -- only too well. “Yes sir,” she replied quietly.

John gave her a
brief kiss on the forehead. “Good!” was all he said. Then he called
over his shoulder for Hans and the two men left.

Linnett turned
back to the pile of cloth, immediately engrossed in the selection
of colours and texture of the materials. She decided on serge for
the shirts along with a blue and cream checked material for Sarah.
Mr. Penman, a tall thin stooping man with thinning grey hair, took
the cloth away to cut the lengths Linnett required.

While she was
waiting, Linnett’s eye was caught by a beautiful deep green velvet
bolt of cloth virtually hidden under the pile of material. She
eased it out and ran her fingers over the soft folds. It was
surprisingly good quality, thick and rich, the pile close together.
Should she buy some? It certainly wasn’t suitable for farm living
but it would look wonderful with the green of her eyes. Would John
approve? Linnett thought not, sure that he would tell her to wait
until they reached Boston before indulging herself.

She hesitated,
then sighed, pushing the bolt back into the pile, deciding she had
no wish for a spanking if her husband didn’t approve. Linnett then
reached for woollen serge in a dull grey and took it to Mr. Penman
for cutting.

He took the
bolt of cloth from her and gave her an indulgent smile. “I saw you
looking at the velvet,” he said, while measuring out the serge. “Oh
yes, it is very fine but unfortunately not very practical. I
ordered that for a lady last year, and blow me if she didn’t go and
die the very week it arrived. I can do you an excellent price on it
Mrs., er?”

“Foster...Mrs.
John Foster, but you would need to ask my husband on his return,
Mr. Penman,” Linnett replied absently as she fingered lengths of
ribbon. Linnett bought thread and needles for sewing and some
velvet ribbon for trimming in various colours. She then turned her
attention to stockings and garters, and finally, all her packages
were wrapped and stacked with the household order.

Awaiting the
return of the men folk to pay and pack the goods into the wagon,
Linnett went out onto the sidewalk and noticed the crowds milling
up the street; obviously something was going on to be attracting
such a crowd. Linnett hesitated but then decided to join the mass
and to find out for herself. She would tell John the crowd swept
her along with them.

People gathered
at the edge of the street where a large rough wooden structure
stood. Linnett thought it might be some sort of a stage and waited,
watching along with the happy, jostling crowd. There was a
commotion to the left of the structure and an expectant hush fell
over the gathering. A priest appeared on the platform followed by a
young fair-headed lad who stood with his hands behind his back.
Linnett wondered whether a sermon was to be preached.

It seemed she
might be correct when the priest started saying prayers and the men
in the crowd removed their hats and every one joined in the Lord’s
Prayer. Linnett murmured the familiar words and then looked up to
see what would happen next. Two older men had appeared on the
platform and were moving the young lad back to the middle. One
placed a thick rope around the boy’s neck. Linnett’s eyes widened
with dawning horror of what she was about to witness.

Frantically,
she cast her eyes around her looking for a way out from the crush
of people. She caught sight of John at the edge of the crowd waving
at her, trying to catch her attention, a worried frown on his face.
Linnett lifted her hand and waved to him, trying to push her way to
where John stood.

There was a
shout from the crowd and a woman’s sharp cry. Linnett’s gaze was
involuntarily drawn back to the platform and its fatal drama. The
young lad stood straight, his head held high with the thick rope
twisted about his throat. The breeze stirred his blonde hair.
Linnett could see that tears flowed down his cheeks, yet he made no
sound. A deadly hush fell, save for the wailing of a single woman
whom Linnett could not see.

Linnett held
her breath; there was a sudden crack of noise and the boy fell feet
downwards, kicking grotesquely at the end of the rope. Linnett was
mesmerised, unable to look away. She watched his purpling face and
his tongue protruding and then promptly, and blessedly, she blacked
out.

John shouted
for Hans to follow him as he pushed and shoved his way through the
crush of people, elbowing them aside in his desperation to get to
Linnett. What on earth was she doing there in the middle of the
crowd
? God, would she never learn to stay
where he left
her
! Finally, he reached her unconscious form and stooping,
lifted her into his arms and pushed his way back through the press
of people who politely parted to let him through.

Hans hurried
over, patting at Linnett’s pale cheeks. “What a thing to happen.
Why was she not safe in the mercantile?”

John shook his
head “I just don’t know! Look, I will go and settle up with Mr.
Penman. Would you stay with Linnett while I am gone please, Hans?”
John asked and laid Linnett carefully in the back of the wagon.

Han’s tucked a
rug around her. “Of course I will, my friend, but when the paper
work is sorted, you come back and see to your wife and I will load
the goods,
ja
?”

By the time
Linnett came round and was aware of what was going on, John was
back beside her. She stared up into his anxious face and groaned
that her head ached. “My God, John, that poor boy
! It was just
like on the ship
...” Her voice was so low, John almost missed
the last part of what she said.

John helped her
up so that Linnett was sitting with her legs dangling over the tail
end of the wagon. He leaned forward and held her against his chest,
and he wrapped his arms tight around her. He kissed her pale
forehead and smoothed back the tendrils of hair fallen around her
pinched white face.

“Linnett, now
listen to me, it was
not
the same as aboard the ship. Do not
grieve for that boy; he was a murderer and a rapist. He deserved
his end.”

Linnett raised
her head and looked intently at her husband. “Really, that young
boy was a killer?”

John looked
steadily back and said firmly, “Yes, really. You are to put all
thoughts of what you saw out of your lovely head... I would like to
know, though, what on earth you were doing there!” He put his face
close to hers and growled, “
I told you to wait at the
store
!”

Linnett tensed.
“I know...I suppose that now you will...beat me?” she asked
quietly.

John groaned
and hugged her tight. “No I won’t
beat
you, I would never
beat
you! Come now, you’ve suffered a nasty shock. Do you
feel strong enough to walk, darling? Why don’t we go and find
something to eat, and then I have a surprise that will cheer
you!”

John lifted
Linnett down from the wagon. Linnett frowned and firmly pushed him
away from her. “No, John, we must talk. I
need
to talk!”
John saw that she meant what she said.

He held up both
his hands and sighed. “Alright, alright if you need to talk, I just
think that you need to forget the hanging and the events aboard
ship. It does you no good at all to dwell upon these things.”

Linnett shook
her head. “I am not going to dwell on them!” she snapped. “I just
want us to talk quietly about the awful things that have happened
to us and how we feel about each other.”

John took her
arm and turned Linnett to face him. “I know how I feel about
you!”
John planted a soft kiss on her lips, “
I love you,
Mrs. Foster,”
he whispered into her ear.

Linnett drew
away and looked searchingly into his eyes. “Do you, John?” she
asked earnestly.

John studied
her face for a moment and then said, “You are serious....well then
we do need to talk! Come along.”

John grasped
her arm and led her to the front of the wagon, where he helped her
up onto the front seat. John climbed up beside her. “This is as
good a place as any, we are almost private. At least no one can
hear us.” He turned to face her and took her hands in his.
“Alright, sweetheart, tell me what it is that troubles you.”

Linnett dipped
her head and chewed her lip, gathering her thoughts before she
began to speak slowly. “After we were safe ashore, I felt so guilty
about the men on the ship, Captain Pettigrew and D...Duncan.”

Linnett’s voice
broke. John squeezed her hand and she took a deep breath before
continuing, “I couldn’t stop thinking about how we were sat safely
in our cabin while our friends were up above
fighting
for
their lives! We might have helped them but we didn’t even try!”

John
interrupted her. “In all probability, darling, we would have
perished alongside them.”

Linnett
wrenched her hands out of his. “
But you can’t be sure
!
Anyway it isn’t only that!” Linnett wondered how best to explain to
him what she was feeling. “You see, when I asked you to go alone to
Boston it was because I couldn’t face seeing you every day. I felt
such guilt that you had survived and they had not. I prayed when
you were unconscious,
begged
, that you would live. Yet when
you did, I resented you for being alive when they were dead and it
made me feel so guilty. I
hated
you for not helping them. I
hated
you for not protecting me....oh John I was so
confused
!

“Then, after I
thought you had left me behind and gone to Boston, I realised how
much I did love you and I regretted sending you away. That’s why I
went off to find you, so that I could make everything right again
between us.”