Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

A fter they had finished the night feeding, Sadie locked up the tack stall as well as the blacksmith stall. She had to admit that she felt a little better about leaving the barn knowing that someone was staying there overnight. Somehow, inherently, she knew that Mr. Thomas was trustworthy. Maybe it was the way that he handled the horses, or the fact that he put away the tools after use in the right way, but she didn't see greed when she looked into his eyes.

In his eyes, she found something akin to a kindred spirit. There was loneliness there and hurt, and it seemed that Mr. Thomas was protecting himself from being hurt again. Sadie could relate to those feelings. She understood them. Now that the upstairs hayloft was where he was staying, she no longer felt comfortable making her way up there to drop hay down into the stalls of the horses who would be staying in, so she explained to him what she wanted, and he got it done.

Then she took hold of her lantern and turned toward the barn door. He stood by the ladder he'd just descended as she clicked the lock on the tack stall. "Come up to the house anytime after sunrise. Penelope will have breakfast ready shortly after."

"I should walk you home," he offered.

Frowning, Sadie shook her head. "I'm fine. I walk myself home every evening."

He shook his head. "I insist."

Rolling her eyes, she decided it wasn't worth arguing over and waved a hand toward him as she started out the barn door. "Do what you will."

Every day, she walked the few hundred yards from the barn to the house, and admittedly, there were some nights when she found the walk harrowing. Nights when the saloon noise was a bit louder than others. Nights when there was a customer that looked her up and down the wrong way and made her want to shove a pitchfork in between them. She had errant thoughts on those nights that she could run into someone that would want to do her harm, but they were fleeting and she'd never had any of them come to fruition.

They were walking along in the warm summer air with the waxing moon overhead casting silvery light into the shadows that her lantern couldn't reach. And then they heard screaming.

Sadie's heart jumped into her throat. The sound was coming from the bushes up the path, but the voice small as if the screams were those of a baby or small child. Her hand fluttered to her chest as she stepped closer and tried to shine the light of the lantern toward the darkened bush. "What is that?" she asked as she peered back at Mr. Thomas.

With worry creasing his forehead, he drew closer and put an arm in front of her and took the lamp from her fingertips. "Stay here," he ordered her quietly and then approached the bush himself. The screaming continued.

She had no intention of staying back, so she followed right on his heels. He looked back once and gave her a disapproving glance, but she didn't care. Curiosity was getting the better of her. Once they reached the bush, he pushed some of the leaves and branches to the side and the light of the lantern reached within. The shine of a pair of predatory eyes turned toward them and the animal hissed, its face covered in blood. Immediately it started to turn around, its black and white tail raising like a warning flag. It didn't take more of a threat than that for both Sadie and Mr. Thomas to back quickly away from the bush.

"A skunk?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"And it seems to have found a clutch of baby bunnies," Sadie said sadly.

"I didn't even know that skunks ate bunnies. I guess I never knew what skunks ate actually."

Then they caught sight of the skunk scampering away in the other direction, and they both kept their distance. It was then that Sadie realized that she'd been holding on to the gentleman's arm that he'd held out toward her protectively. Immediately, she pulled her fingers from their hold and stepped to the side to gain some distance and clarity as her heart thrummed in her chest.

"Where do you think the mother is?" he asked.

Sadie shook her head, hoping that he wouldn't turn and look at her in the light and realize how red her face had to be, as it had heated so much. She'd never touched a man so intimately. Even through the cottony fabric of his long sleeve, she could feel the heat of his skin underneath and the hardness of his muscles. She could only blame it on her surprise or perhaps the fear of being skunked.

It seemed he had the same thoughts and didn't notice her holding onto him or release since he didn't even bat an eye her direction. "We're lucky it didn't spray. Do you think any of them survived?"

Her heart sank at the thought of leaving any of those poor babies in the nest with the blood and gore of the others. "What if the skunk returns?"

"I'll check."

This time, she kept her distance while he returned to the bush with the lantern and looked a little deeper within. When he returned, he held a small brown bundle in one of his hands. "This seems to be the only survivor."

"Is it injured?"

"It doesn't seem to be. I don't know if we should leave it here in the hopes that the mother will come back, or if that would only seal its fate if the skunk returns."

"What would we do with it?"

"I'll put it in a crate with some straw. We'll see if it will eat some of the horses' oats? Maybe your aunt could spare a carrot or other vegetable?"

"I'll ask her."

He nodded and held the small bunny closer to his chest. "Once it's a little bigger and can make it on its own, we'll release it. But for now, I think we should just work to keep it safe."

"All right," she said, taking the lantern from his other hand and reaching out to lightly stroke the brown fur of the small animal that was the length of Mr. Thomas's hand. "It's so small."

"It'll grow quickly."

She looked up at him and met his eyes. "How do you know about rabbits?"

He shrugged. "I don't really, but they eat grass and things similar to horses. How much of a difference can there be?"

For a moment, she searched his eyes, and when she realized he was teasing, she couldn't help but smile. Wanting to roll her eyes again, she turned on her heel and started for the house once more. The light in the parlor showed that Aunt Penelope was waiting up for her, as she normally did. Sometimes, Sadie would find her asleep in the chair. Other times, she'd find her aunt cleaning. Either way, it felt good to have a loved one waiting for her return. At least they could keep each other safe. When they reached the bottom porch step, Sadie turned around and offered Mr. Thomas the lamp. "Here."

He shook his head. "I'll be fine by the light of the moon. I'll light the other lantern that's in the barn and make sure it's out before I go to sleep. Not to worry about a barn fire."

She blinked. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"Good," he said, "Put it out of your mind. I'll just take care of this little one and then off to bed."

Thinking about how the man would be sleeping on a pallet in her barn not too far away made her stomach twist a little. It wasn't exactly nervousness that she felt at the thought, but it was similar. Her heart fluttered at his kindness. But her feelings seemed to be all her own, as he was looking down at the brown fluff in his hand and turning to walk away. She watched him for a moment before he turned around again toward her, looked up and said, "Good night."

"Good night," she said, but quietly for she was feeling a little breathless.

Still, he seemed to hear and gave her a thin-lipped smile and a nod. And then he walked far enough away that she could barely see a silhouette of him in the shadows. Releasing a breath, she headed inside. Her aunt greeted her and then headed for bed. Sadie barely grunted in response. She took care of her nightly ministrations quickly and without any thought. This day had gone very differently than she'd been expecting when she woke. She wasn't nearly as tired as she'd been for the last month or so when she went to bed. It was a blessing that she'd been able to carve out a little time to work with the buckskin pony and to get in a training session with two of the other horses she was planning on taking to the sale at the end of the month.

Even though she'd been against bringing in a person to take on the blacksmith role and to work in the livery with her based on salary and room and board, perhaps this was going to work out better than she'd expected. As she lay down in her bed, she couldn't help but think about the soft spoken man who showed kindness as if it were second nature to him. He wasn't trying to impress anyone with his actions, but just seemed to do them because he genuinely cared about the horses… animals. Because he even showed the same kind of care with the baby bunny.

Then her mind started to drift elsewhere, in comparison. How would someone else have handled the situation? Would Joe Curtis have put an arm out to protect her? Would a man like Joe attack the skunk instead of letting it go? Would he have searched to see if there was a live bunny still in the clutch? Would he be willing to care for the small creature until it grew enough to make it on its own?

Somehow she doubted a man like Joe would.

As she was getting to know Mr. Abraham Thomas, she was coming to realize that he wasn't much like Joe. In fact, she could see more of the kindness in his eyes that her father had befor he left for war. He wanted to go and serve his country as a horseman, and he'd been adamant about that, especially after what happened in Lawrence with Quantrill's Raid. But still, why would he leave her alone like that? She swiped at her eyes as tears threatened to overflow. She did a good job of stuffing down her emotions when there was work to be done but when she was alone in her bed in the darkness, sometimes those feelings would rise up again. The tears came faster than she could swipe them away. And she cried out in prayer for her heart to be healed. Without ever saying amen, she fell asleep on her dampened pillow.