Читать книгу Thaddeus Lewis Mysteries 5-Book Bundle - Janet Kellough - Страница 42

The roads were dry, the weather sunny and bright, and Moses and Nancy were ready to head west.

Minta had been delighted that they were to be married at her house, or at least in one side of it, and although it was a quiet affair as weddings go, she and Betsy spent long hours preparing the breakfast. Betsy kept trying to shoo her away, as it was by now evident that Minta had another child on the way. This one seemed not to be taking the same toll on her as Henry had, and she was cheerful and full of energy, her face aglow from the new life inside her.

Lewis chose to speak of the bond between man and wife, and the partnership that comes with a strong marriage, and he made Betsy blush when he praised her for her support and faithfulness over the years. He thought Moses had chosen well, and said so. Nancy seemed a very sensible girl, her parents both hard-working people who in turn appeared pleased with their daughter’s choice. Already he could see that the young couple were acting as a team, their eyes firmly fixed on the goal of owning their own farm.

“You hate to see them go off so far away,” Nancy’s father said. “But I can understand it. It’s a new country they’re building. The future is in their hands, not ours anymore. I just hope they do a better job of it than we did.”

Nancy’s cheeks coloured prettily when he pronounced Moses and she united, then Martha made everyone laugh by applauding loudly. It was a propitious way to start a marriage, he thought.

And then, too soon, it was the next day and the new couple was making ready to leave. Moses had acquired an old wagon and mended the wheels on it. He had built a frame over part of it and covered it with a piece of canvas.

“That should keep things dry if it starts raining again,” he said. Lewis could see that Moses had been planning this move for some time, and had slowly accumulated the things he figured he would need: tools, lengths of rope and chain, and several iron pots. As a wedding present, Nancy’s parents had given them an old draught horse to pull the wagon. Lewis hoped the beast could make the journey, for it was sway-backed and tired-looking.

“I just want him to get us there,” Moses said. “If he’s still in decent shape, I’ll keep him for ploughing. Otherwise, I’ll sell both the horse and the wagon and use the money toward stock.”

Nancy’s trousseau chest was full of bolts of cloth and seeds for the kitchen garden, and Betsy had made up a sewing kit for her: thread, needles, scissors, lengths of lace and trim and a paper of pins— none of which had the Lord’s Prayer on them.

Luke was beside himself with anticipation and excitement. This was an adventure he had scarcely dared hope for and he scurried around helping Moses load up the wagon as if he were afraid that some event might intervene that would keep them from setting off after all. Martha was excited, too, mostly because everyone else was, and made a nuisance of herself, getting in the way until Minta swooped down and took her off to play with Henry.

“I’m sorry to see you go,” Lewis said to his youngest son, echoing the words said by Nancy’s father, and Luke had a moment when the anxiety of leaving his family warred with his desire to follow his brother. “You’re a good lad, and I’m sure you’ll make a great success of this enterprise.” The boy reddened at this unexpected praise, and Lewis wished he had given it out more freely in the past. He had spent too much time mourning his girls; he should have looked up and noticed that his boys were becoming men. “There is one thing I want to say before you go.”

He could see that Luke was expecting some admonition, a warning against falling in with bad company perhaps, or a caution to be careful with his money, and so his surprise was almost comical when Lewis said, “I know it hasn’t always been easy being my son. I know it was hard moving all the time and not ever having any money and having so much expected of you because you’re the preacher’s son. And I just want to let you know that I understand that, and I thank you for turning into such a fine young man in spite of it all. Your mother and I are very proud of you.”

Luke blinked back a few tears and smiled.

Lewis felt he had no need for similar words when it came to Moses — he had received the blessing he craved on the day he had announced he was going west. He merely wished the boy good luck and, at the last moment, thrust a letter into his pocket. “It’s for Will,” he said. “And Nabby.”

Moses looked wary and Lewis laughed. “It’s all right. It’s not a tirade. I’m just opening the door a crack.”

It had taken him nearly an hour to compose the short letter. He was a man from whom words flowed easily as a rule, and yet his emotions on this topic were so complex and confused that he found it difficult to summarize them into any sort of coherent statement. In the end, he kept it short, and hoped that it would be received in the same spirit that it was offered:

My Dear Will and Nabby,

I sincerely regret the terms on which we parted and I would like to proffer my apologies for any offence I may have given. I am unwilling to let our differences of opinion come between us any longer, and I would like, at the very least, to see a restoration of communication within our family. Your mother and I are anxious to know how you are getting on.

If there is any way in which I can assist you, now or in the future, I hope you will not hesitate to call upon me.

With great love,

Your father

The letter cost him dearly in terms of his pride, and he feared it would quite probably cost him money in the future, but he was determined to make peace with his eldest son. He would let this boil fester no longer.