“Nugget is my sister,” Joseph answered for Annabelle. “And she’s a little shy, so give her some time to get used to you.”
He nudged Nugget to get her to move forward, but her hands dug farther into his pants. “I’m not hungry.”
Annabelle was no help in the matter, as she just stood there, staring.
“Let’s do as your father says.”
With a soft sigh, Annabelle nodded. “Come on, Nugget.” She held out a hand, as if that hand would somehow make whatever was wrong with Nugget suddenly all right.
Nugget loosened her hold on his pants, then took Annabelle’s hand, still grasping him with the other.
They trudged toward the cabin with painful slowness. Annabelle because she seemed to be doing everything she could to avoid getting there, and Nugget because she wouldn’t let go of Joseph or Annabelle.
“I declare, you are as slow as molasses, Annabelle.” The older woman stepped toward them and wrapped her arms around Annabelle. And, by default, Nugget.
“I don’t know what’s kept you from us for so long, but you are a sight. All skin and bones, what is that Maddie feeding you? Or not feeding you, I should say. Well, never mind that, I just fixed a mess of fresh eggs, and we’ve got bacon and biscuits so flaky you’d think you were eating a cloud. Polly’s becoming quite the cook, aren’t you, Polly?”
The woman stopped her rambling speech to point out a girl stirring a pot over the fire.
“And you must be Joseph. Frank told me all about you. Says you’ve been looking into Bad Billy’s estate. Now that’s a sad state of affairs if I’ve ever heard one. Poor fellow got all mixed up with one of them dance hall girls and, well, she foisted someone’s git on him. At least he died before he had to deal with the heartbreak of finding out she had the pox. Can you—”
“Don’t talk about my mama and papa that way!” Nugget flew from the protection of Joseph and Annabelle, then kicked the woman squarely in the shin before running off.
“Nugget!” Annabelle and Joseph said the name in unison, but Annabelle propelled into action.
“I’ll take care of it,” she called over her shoulder, running after Nugget.
“And she will, you know,” the woman said to Joseph. “Annabelle has a way with children. Such a terrible loss when she stopped coming here to work with the little ones. Come, let’s get you a plate.”
He looked at the woman, still full of cheer, and completely oblivious to Annabelle’s misery.
“Thank you kindly, but I’d better help Annabelle.” He looked her up and down. “And while I’m grateful for your hospitality, I would appreciate it in the future if you’d avoid making such comments about her mother or our father.”
The woman flushed. “I meant no harm. I was only repeating what I—”
Joseph held up a hand. “I’m sure you didn’t. But Nugget is my sister, and I take affronts to her honor seriously.”
“Of course. I...” She looked at Joseph, then over at Frank, then back to Joseph. “I apologize.”
“Thank you. I’d better see if Annabelle needs any help.”
He left the woman standing there and headed in the direction he’d seen Nugget and Annabelle run. It didn’t take long to find them, sitting beside a large rock at the edge of camp.
Annabelle held a sobbing Nugget in her arms, rubbing her back, whispering what he assumed to be soothing words into her hair.
“Is she all right?”
“Yes.” Annabelle continued rubbing Nugget’s back. “She’s been so far removed from the gossip for a while that it’s hard to have it come back at her. Especially with being reminded of their deaths. Poor little thing misses her mama and papa, and this just brought all the sadness back up.”
She smoothed Nugget’s hair. “But it’s going to be all right. Everyone’s entitled to be a bit sad from time to time when they miss someone they love.”
The sweet kiss Annabelle pressed to Nugget’s head tore at Joseph’s heart. She wasn’t just offering words of comfort to Nugget, she was telling it to herself.
Who rubbed Annabelle’s back and whispered words of comfort to her?
The wind whipped down the hill, cold against their backs, reminding him that a warm fire and breakfast awaited them.
“We should get back.”
His stomach concurred, grumbling its opinion.
“You go. We’ll just be a little longer.” The smile Annabelle gave him was mixed with sadness and unshed tears.
When did Annabelle get to cry over her losses?
Joseph looked around. Though people milled about the camp nearby, they were still out in the wild. “I don’t—”
“We’ll be fine.” Annabelle pressed Nugget closer into her. “She’s not all cried out yet. It’s best if we let her get it all out.”
More advice that he assumed had to have come from Annabelle’s own life. Something she probably didn’t allow anyone else to see, just like everything in her life. Had things been different for her when her siblings were alive? Back home, he told Mary just about everything. He sure could use her advice now. Of course, he’d never seen Mary cry. But surely she’d know what to do about the situation.
Though Annabelle seemed to have Nugget well in hand, he couldn’t help but wish for something to ease Annabelle’s pain.
“You’re sure you’ll be all right?” He hoped the look of concern he gave her would be taken in friendship.
She nodded and gave the kind of Annabelle smile he lived for. Would that their lives were simpler. That he didn’t have a family to provide for. Even then, what did he have to offer her, or any other woman?
“Thank you,” he said instead.
“Of course.” Annabelle snuggled Nugget closer in to her. “She just needs time.”
The look she gave him made him wonder if maybe it wasn’t just Nugget she was talking about.
But the impossibility of the situation and his rumbling belly pushed him in the direction of the camp. “I guess I’ll get back then.
