A Quiet Life Read online

  “Yes?” the man repeated.

  Lucy nodded and looked at Rev. John, who had slapped his knee at her answer.

  “Wait ‘til I tell Mrs. John,” he said. “She’ll think this is just like something outta one of her novels.” The man shooed them up the steps of the church. “Get inside now. Let’s do this.”

  Lucy followed the two men into the small white church. Breathing was no longer automatic as she had to concentrate on her lungs to make them work properly.

  Rev. John turned at the end of the aisle and beamed at the two young people in front of him. “My first elopement,” he muttered as he opened his bible and then cleared his throat.

  It was difficult to pay attention to the brief ceremony with the word elopement vibrating through her head. Was that really what she was doing? Was she really about to run off with... Rev. John did say Baker, right? If she was wrong, then in a minute she wouldn’t even know her own name.

  Lucy fought against the fuzzy darkness at the edges of her vision. She did not want to mar the dream that she never thought could actually come true. She had fainted from heat once and split her lip when her face smacked against the dirt. There was no room for blood in a fantasy.

  Her eyes focused on the man with the bible as he said, “You may kiss the bride.” He turned away, either for privacy or out of respect for the fact that a pair of strangers might not be ready for the passionate embrace that Lucy was picturing.

  The man who was now her husband simply took her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. The light touch warmed her more than the image in her head. This was real.

  That rushing in her ears returned.

  “You don’t think your pa will try to come after you, do you?” he asked.

  Lucy shook her head, trying to clear it. Why would her pa expend the effort? She couldn’t be sold now that she was already married. She was married. Really married? Why was her brain having so much trouble keeping up?

  “If there looks to be any danger of that,” Rev. John said, “the man could likely be led to believe his daughter left on the morning stage without me having to utter a direct falsehood.” He winked. “Now you two best be off.”

  Lucy followed the men again as she left the church. Her new husband helped her onto his wagon before he took the seat next to her. Not that she needed help. She could have floated onto the seat. She was really doing this. The man next to her had light brown curls sticking out around the edge of his hat and dark eyes that crinkled when he’d smiled at her. He compared favorably with the men who populated her dream world. But this one was living, breathing…

  “Ah-choo.”

  …and sneezing right next to her. Lucy was running away with a handsome stranger. She thought about pinching herself.

  Her father, Sam Haid, had always been the sort of man for whom gruff would have been a kind adjective. She and her siblings had little contact with him when they were small though. Their ma was a sort of buffer, keeping them out from underfoot and shielding them from his flashes of anger.

  Lucy was eleven when her ma died. Her older brother, Sam Jr., left home two days after they buried their ma. He hadn’t been heard from since. The household chores fell to Lucy and her sister Caroline, who was four years older. They tried to please their pa, a man who yelled at everything they did and everything they didn’t do. Caroline got married after two years so that she could move out.

  Sam Haid changed then. He didn’t become any softer towards Lucy but he clung to her dearly. He pulled her from school and forbade her to leave their farm. Caroline was the only company she was allowed to keep and she couldn’t visit as often as either sister would have liked.

  Their pa spent more and more nights away from home and Lucy knew he was always at a card table. He pinched pennies tighter and tighter to pay for it. She stitched their clothes from flour sacks and kept her shoes put back, knowing money for more might not exist when they wore through. Their last harvest had been more meager than usual because her pa had lost motivation to properly tend the fields. Lucy had been skipping meals to make what they had last the winter. It was when her father began acting strangely, showing sparks of gentleness to her, that she somehow knew that something dreadful was surely coming for them.

  On a recent night, a man had come home with her father. Mr. Thale was repulsive in appearance and manner. He had blackened teeth and insects in his beard. He made lewd comments and slapped Lucy when she dared to look affronted. Sam Haid did nothing to stop the behavior and prevented Lucy from leaving the room when she begged to be excused.

  The next day, her pa had presented her with two new, store-bought dresses. They were a gift from Mr. Thale, the man she would marry in the morning. Lucy sobbed and protested. Her pa looked for a moment as though he wanted to relent but instead confessed that if she refused to marry Mr. Thale, they would lose their farm to him. Then he refused to discuss it further.

  Her groom was supposed to be waiting at the church. Her pa had gone to fetch him and admitted it might take some time. Lucy assumed that Mr. Thale was sleeping off a night of drinking. She thought now how fortunate the delay was.

  There would be gossip in town about her departure. She hoped that whatever version of the story reached her sister would make Caroline happy, happier than it currently made Lucy. After two hours sitting in near silence on a hard buckboard, she was beginning to grasp the flaw in all of her fantasies. They ended within moments of her choice to run away.

  What was she supposed to do now? She didn’t know how to talk to a man, let alone how to make sure he didn’t regret bringing her along. Her new husband – still a foreign way to identify him – had offered her a blanket near the start of the journey. At one point, he mentioned that they would need to camp two nights. That was all he’d said. Was he naturally quiet or had she already upset him? Lucy was accustomed to solitude and wouldn’t have minded the lack of conversation except that her curiosity was about to boil over. What was the proper way for a lady to ask her husband his name?

  He seemed to notice her shifting in the seat because he said, “Do you need a break, Miss Haid? It’s a bit early for a meal but I’m sure the horses wouldn’t mind some water if you want to walk around.”

  “If you think that’s best.”

  The horses quickly obeyed the command to stop and Lucy climbed off the side before she realized that she should have waited for her husband to come around to help her. He began to laugh and she felt her face flood with heat. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I’m afraid I’m not…”

  He sobered quickly when he realized she was trying to apologize. “Oh, no. No, I’m not… I was laughing at myself. I realized that I called you Miss Haid and that’s not your name anymore, is it? Then I pictured arriving home and my brother’s reaction when I couldn’t even introduce my own wife.”

  A smile tugged on the corners of Lucy’s mouth but her lingering anxiety wouldn’t let it win.

  “What is your given name?”

  “Lucy.”

  “Lucy Baker,” he said. “That sounds right nice together. I’m Justus, if I didn’t tell you that. Ma liked biblical names… said she was reading Acts when I was born.”

  Lucy gave a slight nod.

  Justus walked towards the back of the wagon and motioned Lucy to follow. “Let’s water ourselves while we’re stopped, too. I think Ma was partial to Acts because she gave my brothers Matthias and Peter.” He took the lid off a canteen before he handed it to Lucy. Then he picked up water to take to the horses.

  Lucy sipped the cool water. It tasted fresh. She watched Justus with the animals without moving any closer. He seemed to whisper encouraging words to them and he patted them firmly but gently. The actions would have set Lucy more at ease if she hadn’t seen her father be just as kind to his animals. Her fantasies were warring with her memories on what to expect from this man. He returned to the back of the wagon and swallowed a long drink from the canteen.

  He closed up the back of the wagon an
d looked at Lucy. He removed his hat with one hand and ran the other through his hair. It ruffled the sloppy curls that had been matted and Lucy was struck by how attractive he was. But he faced her with a troubled expression that made her instinctively step backward.

  Justus responded by putting another foot of space between them. “Don’t fear me,” he said. “I aim to be a good husband and simply don’t know how to begin.” He turned to stare at the horizon. “I’ve been too quiet, haven’t I? Driving seems to clam up my mouth. It’s unusual for there to be anyone on the seat next to me. Not an excuse for ignoring my wife, is it?” He made some effort to straighten his hat on his head and then held out his hand to her.

  Lucy slid her fingers across the rough palm. It might have been the skin to skin contact and it might have been the way his eyes seemed to be asking for her help. Something made her blush and look at the ground.

  “You’re cold,” Justus said. “Let’s get you back under the blanket and then… then we’ll be on our way.”

  She let herself be led back to the front of the wagon and gripped his hand tightly as she climbed to the seat. She felt warmer than she had a few moments earlier but pulled the blanket over her lap and slipped her hands under it. The seat jiggled as Justus joined her and got them moving.

  “Now,” he said, “is quiet better or is talking better?”

  Lucy had grown more comfortable during the few minutes of talking so she decided to be honest and venture to hear more. She liked his voice, strong but not too loud. “I guess… I guess I’d like to know more about where we’re headed.”

  ~~ ~~

  Justus had begun the journey feeling pleased as punch with himself. He had rescued a helpless woman from a bad marriage and was bringing home a pretty prize for his efforts. But as his bride seemed to shrink further and further inside herself, his satisfaction withered. He had taken advantage of her desperation and she would only feel rescued if he could convince her she’d chosen a better situation. Now she wanted to hear about the farm and that felt as though she would give him a chance to prove it.

  “Pa took us out to the claim some twenty years ago. He wanted to get the house built before Peter was born but Ma couldn’t help much when her time was getting so close and Matthias and I were just boys. He’s older than me by about two years. We spent that first winter in the wagon. I was so young I’m not sure anymore how much I remember and how much I know from being told over and over. Pa liked to tell stories. We buried Peter before we got the house built. It was just two rooms to begin with, a main room with a kitchen and parlor space and a bedroom for Ma and Pa. We added a storeroom eventually and when Matthias and I were big enough to help, we added bedrooms for the two of us. Our fields are mostly grain and beans, but we’ve built up a good variety in the kitchen garden so we eat well enough. Are you sure this is better?” He turned to his new wife, half expecting to find her dozing off to the sound of his rambling.

  She smiled somewhat shyly. “You don’t have to keep talking if you don’t want to.”

  It was plain that she’d be disappointed if he grew quiet again. And she seemed to be relaxing a bit. “We eat better since Matthias married,” Justus continued. “Grace is a fine cook. You’ll have to share a kitchen with her at first. She’s real nice though. I don’t expect you’ll have any trouble getting on with her. We plotted out a space for a second house before I left for town. Matthias was going to work on it during the winter but Grace is a tiny little thing so I don’t expect they got the walls very high without me. I got a stove in the back and a few panes of glass for later. When I picked out the stove, I was beginning to figure I’d be using it myself. You can cook, right?”

  “I… think so.”

  Justus completely lost his train of thought. He had been expecting a quick confirmation. While a negative answer would not have upset him – she could learn – an uncertain one just confused him. He looked at Lucy. She had her bottom lip tucked between her teeth as though she was afraid of more questions. He tried to probe lightly. “You haven’t done much cooking?”

  “No, I have. I… My ma died before she could teach me all she knew and my sister’s learned some dishes from her husband’s ma that she showed me but… mostly I just haven’t had much chance to taste anyone else’s cooking so I don’t know how mine compares.”

  “I understand,” he said. “Don’t worry about disappointing me. Ma didn’t have any daughters and well… she had showed me how to make cornbread once. It was raining and I was bored and… that’s the only thing I knew how to cook when she died. Pa thought he knew a few things but couldn’t seem to make anything without burning it and I didn’t even know as much as I thought I did. We ate a lot of charred beans and hard cornbread for a few months. The preacher in town – the one before Rev. John – he eventually brought his wife out to help us. She taught us a few tricks and left some recipes. That definitely helped. But Pa still burned everything. Matthias once said he thought he was doing it on purpose so we wouldn’t mind as much when one of us had a turn. Anyway, we’ll be fine if you can try not to burn the food too often.”

  She was smiling at him, a real smile that lit up her eyes.

  “I just have one important question,” he said. Lucy’s smile made him feel like teasing. He kept his face serious. “Can you bake a pie?”

  “I can make apple and pumpkin and—”

  “Good.” He cut her off with a relieved sigh. “I was afraid I’d have to turn this wagon around and dump you back on the church steps.”

  Lucy quickly pulled her hand out from under the blanket to cover her mouth. He heard a laugh behind it.

  “You just laughed, didn’t you? I can hardly believe that. I ain’t had much practice being charming.”

  She laughed again and said, “I don’t believe that.”

  “You don’t believe I can be charming?”

  “I don’t believe you haven’t had practice. You must have courted many girls.”

  Now it was Justus who laughed. “That’s right,” he said. “Dozens of ‘em… and not a one would have me.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s true. I knew what I was doing when I married you before you could figure out a reason not to.” He grinned at Lucy and was rewarded with the first laugh she didn’t try to hide. She actually appeared to be warming up to him and she was so pretty he wanted to kiss her. Wanting to kiss his wife was not a problem. Trying to do it while the horses were jostling them about might be one though.

  He pulled the animals to a stop and set the brake. He put the reins down and turned in the seat to face her. Lucy’s eyes widened and though she didn’t back away, her shoulders came together as though she was trying to make herself smaller. She was still a little afraid of him. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She didn’t move at all but seemed to want to nod.

  “Time for food,” Justus said as he jumped from his seat. He helped Lucy down and unhitched Molly and May so they could graze nearby. Justus was happy to discover that Miss Mary had greatly overestimated his appetite. There was one biscuit left after both he and Lucy had their fill. Lucy also appreciated Miss Mary’s talent with jam.

  Once the horses were back in place, Justus and Lucy walked alongside the wagon to stretch their legs until Molly seemed annoyed with the slow pace. Justus slipped into silence for parts of the afternoon and tried to think up stories about his youth when he noticed the lack of conversation.

  He knew it was time to stop for the day when he felt Lucy’s head jolt away from his arm. Her eyelids slowly floated up and down and it was clear that she was struggling not to fall asleep against him. Justus would not have minded that but he didn’t want to see her wake with every bump.

  He set up a camp and they had jerky and apples by the fire. “Tomorrow,” he said, “we’ll make it to the lake and I’ll catch us some fish for dinner.”

  “I don’t remember the last time I had fish.”

  “Is that because you don’t care for
it?”

  “I do like it,” Lucy said quickly, as though she might offend him by not looking forward to the fish. “The stream near our farm had such tiny ones it might take all day to catch enough to make a meal.” She took a bite of her apple and chewed slowly. Her eyes appeared to flit over the bible he’d taken out of his bag.

  “I thought I’d pick out something to read tomorrow,” he said, “what with it being Sunday and all.”

  Lucy opened her mouth and closed it again without saying anything. It seemed that she stopped herself from asking a question. Justus waited patiently. He didn’t know if it was the same question she had been about to ask but she did, in a very meek voice, ask him to read.

  He was happy to oblige. Reading was easier than thinking of something she might want to know about him. He suggested they start at the beginning of the New Testament since they were beginning a new life together. She smiled, either at the idea or the sentiment behind it. Justus opened to Matthew.

  He read only two chapters before he began to feel sleepy. Lucy was staring at the fire while she listened. Her bonnet was hanging down her back now that the sun was low and a section of her dark hair had fallen from her bun. She appeared more comfortable than she had all day. He thought he’d try a few simple questions before they turned in. “What animals did your pa raise?”

  “Chickens mostly. I took care of them so I can help if you have some.”

  Justus nodded his approval, hoping Lucy would have more to say if he kept quiet and looked interested.

  “We used to have a milk cow but… Pa hasn’t replaced her yet.”

  “Can you ride?”

  “I think... if I remember. I learned when I was little but Pa wouldn’t let me near the horses after Caroline left. I wasn’t allowed to go to town without him and he figured I’d be more likely to try to defy him if I was comfortable on a horse. He thought…”

  Both of Lucy’s hands flew up to cover her face. Justus was worried for a moment that something was wrong before he realized that she was trying to fight off a fit of giggles. He enjoyed watching her lose. She laughed so hard she nearly fell forward into the grass.