Free Linda Ford by Cranes Bride Page A

recall back in Colhome I promised ‘’til death do us part.’ I ain’t changed my mind and don’t plan to.”
    She sighed. “That’s something, I guess.”
    “Yup.” What more did she want? Theirs wasn’t a romantic liaison; it was a business arrangement—one they both stood to benefit from. His parents had married out of love and passion, and look how that turned out. He decided he was more’n happy to do it his way.
    “And we’ll take care of Ted and Betsy?”
    “I ain’t about to leave them to fend for themselves.” He’d learned to take what life handed him without asking too many questions, but it seemed Maggie wasn’t so inclined. “No point in trying to figure out everything. It only boggles you down with worry.”
    “I’m not trying to figure out everything.” She sounded annoyed. “Only where I stand and what I should expect.” A minute later she added, “I feel like I’ve been swept into a whirlwind.”
    He chuckled. “Mostly of your own making.”
    “I can’t seem to help it.”
    “I suppose not.” Not if she meant to rescue everyone she thought was in trouble.
    “I guess I act before I think.”
    “Umm.”
    He heard a tiny sigh. “But even if I sat and thought about it a week, I wouldn’t put either Betsy or Ted back where they was.” Her voice hardened. “It wouldn’t be right.”
    “Nope.”
    “It’s just—” She sounded uncertain. “I only—”
    He waited, letting her sort her thoughts.
    “You said you needed a God-fearing wife to begin a new life in the West. And now here you are with me and two young’uns. It’s not what you bargained for.” She took a gusty breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’d understand if you said you wanted out.”
    He thought he’d made it clear he was going ahead as planned. What more did she want? He wriggled away from a lump under his back. He could not promise the future; he could only say, as he already had, he was prepared to continue their journey.
    Again he shifted so he could drape his arm over Betsy’s sleeping form. Maggie’s arm was still there. He found her hand and rested his own on top of it. She curled her fingers away but made no attempt to pull her hand out.
    “The past is best left behind, and there’s no point in trying to guess what the future might hold. So we make plans as best we can and take each day as it comes.”
    Her fingers tightened into a ball. “Together?”
    He squeezed her hand. “I meant what I said.”
    The tension in her arm eased. Slowly her fingers uncurled to lay warm and relaxed in his grasp. The child between them snored softly. Maggie’s breathing deepened, but he couldn’t be certain she slept. Across the fire Ted shifted in his sleep and moaned, the sound choking off as if he’d tied a rope around it.
    Crane lay with the child under his arm and Maggie’s hand in his. No promises other than the one I made in front of the preacher. And no assurances. It was enough to be like this—husband and wife united to face the future. As to the rest of it— His chest tightened so it hurt to breathe. The rest would come later.
    The next morning, anxious to be on the trail, Crane silently urged everyone to hurry. Breakfast complete, he left Maggie to clean up as he went to get the horses ready. He was tightening the pack in place when a sound stopped him. He paused to listen. It was a high-pitched keening sound.
    Silent as a shadow, he slid between the trees toward the sound. Through the leaves he glimpsed the gurgling water of the river, and as he lifted his gaze to the shoreline, the skin on the back of his neck crawled.
    Betsy stood waist-deep in the slow, persistent current, her arms flung out as she struggled to keep her balance. The water caught the too-big shirt she wore, tugging her downstream. Her face was contorted with fear. The keening sound rose from her lips.
    Ted stood on the shore facing Betsy, the expression on his face sending shudders across Crane’s