Beside Two Rivers

6





A week went by after the gathering at Twin Oaks. The day dawned warm, and by late noon the honeybees played over the zinnias in the garden. So absorbed in the small book of poems she was reading, it wasn’t until Martha’s shadow fell over the grass beside her, that Darcy closed the book and looked up.

Martha sat beside her in the shade. “Darcy, have you wondered if Mr. Brennan will keep his word and visit us?”

With a sigh, Darcy leaned back against the tree. “I have not given it much thought.”

“I do not believe you,” Martha laughed.

“I mean not much thought today.” Darcy ran her hands through her locks with a smile. “I want him to visit us—out of curiosity.”

“I dare not ask for an explanation,” Martha said. “I know he said he’d come alone.”

“I doubt he shall.”

“Surely he will not bring Miss Roth and her little entourage?”

“Miss Roth would not stoop so low as to pay us a call. It is obvious she feels she is too good for us, too blue-blooded to grace us with her imperious self.”

“Perhaps he will bring Daniel Rhendon with him.” Martha looked hopeful.

Darcy reached over and cupped her cousin’s chin in her hand. “Yes, perhaps he will. We shall have to wait and see, won’t we?” She stood and stretched her arms. “I need a walk. Care to come along?”

“Not I. Mother wishes me to wash Dolley’s hair. She got into the honey earlier and how she managed to get it into her hair, the Lord only knows. Do not venture too far. You know how my mother worries.”

“Say nothing to her. But if she asks, tell her I have gone to fetch lady slippers for Uncle Will.”

When she reached the Potomac’s stony shore, she raised her hand above her eyes to spy out the opposite side. She slipped off her shoes, lifted her dress, and stepped into the water. The muddy bottom seeped between her toes. The swirl of water moved around her ankles in time with the sighing breeze.

In the middle of the river, a stretch of boulders gleamed in the sunlight smooth as a ship’s deck. Where she stepped the river was shallow, and she decided she would wade out to the stone ledge, sit upon it and watch the swallows and herons. Reaching it, she pulled up her legs and sat with her arms hugging her knees. The river flashed and murmured, and the sun grew into a great orange orb, surrounded by white thunderclouds.

“Lord, I wish I had someone to share this with.” She dipped her hand into the water and drew it back when a bass nibbled her fingertips. “I suppose the fish and birds will have to do.”

She was over twenty and Darcy wondered if men thought she was homely. Perhaps it was her spirited nature, her love for the outdoors, for trekking the countryside that put them off. She had no dowry to bring to a marriage, and she was orphaned. Those two things alone would make most men look the other way. Whatever caused them not to pursue her was troublesome, for her heart yearned to be loved. Her desires surprised her, for they were as raging as the rapids ahead. Then she smiled and shook back her hair. This is how it is supposed to feel, she told herself, when a woman wants to be a wife and a mother someday.

She dropped her knees and slapped the water with her hand. The confusion that Ethan had brought her was overpowering. Standing, she walked to the edge of the rock. Others were before her, stretching toward the Virginia side but not without a span of water to cross. She put out her arms for balance and then went forward. Here the river flowed deeper than she thought, up to her knees, but no threat. Then it reached her hips, and she pulled her feet up and swam toward the great rock ahead. The river was calm at first but unpredictable. It pulled at her from beneath and she went under.

Panic seized her as the river dragged her down. She jerked her legs free and swam to the surface. She gasped for air and thrashed forward while the current moved her along. She reached the rock and hauled herself up to the edge, gasping for air. It was slick and she lost her grip. The water claimed her and took her into a plane of deeper currents that ran swift. Ahead she saw a fallen tree, and stretching her fingers as wide as she could, she reached for it, grabbed a branch, and hauled herself up against it for dear life. Frightened, she wondered if her time had come, if angels would lift her from the water. Would it be over quickly and painlessly?

She had no fear of entering eternity, but the fear of drowning so young seized her so violently that she railed against it and rallied the fight within her. She gripped the old tree. Her fingers turned as white as the foam in the surge. Her hands shook and her nails dug deep. Shocked by the cold rushing water, she held tighter and looked up at heaven above her.

“You know, God, if you spare me, Aunt Mari is going to kill me.”




Down the river path and under a canopy of trees, Ethan galloped Sanchet. To the right the trees opened and he could see the river clearly. The Potomac flowed in the sunlight, reflecting forest and cliff and seams of an azure sky. Mallards skimmed the shallows, and a blue heron opened its wings and flew from the bank to the opposite side.

Now, to see it for himself, he understood why the river received such high praise, and why those who loved it longed to see it again. Its beauty and peace touched his inner man, and he wondered if he, too, could leave it.

A sudden movement in the trees caused his horse to sidestep. From a willow, a brown hawk mounted the sky like a wind-blown leaf. Ethan watched it soar higher and then dive with folded wings to an outcropping of rock in the middle of the river.

Sanchet’s mane snapped back in the rising breeze, and Ethan’s eyes traveled from the hawk to a woman clinging to an anchor that could only keep her safe for a few moments. Alarm seized him. Digging his heels into the horse’s sides, he spurred it down the slope to the river’s edge, leaped from the saddle, and yanked off his coat. Without a moment to lose, he hailed her as he rushed to the water’s edge. She turned her head and gave him a weak smile, looking embarrassed and frightened.

“Is that you, Darcy?” he called, a serious panic in his voice.

“It is, sir.” Her soaked dress clung to her shivering body, and she sank further into the water so he would not see. The bronze tresses of her hair floated and swirled around her shoulders.

“What are you doing out there in the middle of the river? You must be a very good swimmer.” Ethan unbuttoned his waistcoat, tossed it down on top of his coat.

“Indeed I am.”

“I sincerely doubt it.” Ethan pulled off his boots.

Darcy thrust her head upright. “I can swim back with no difficulty, Mr. Brennan. If you please, I would prefer that you ride on.”

“Would you?” He hurried out into the water. “I’m coming out to get you.”

“I am capable …”

“Of drowning. I have no doubt this same stubbornness got you in this fix.”

With haste, he plunged into the water toward her, fighting the currents, hoping to reach her in time.




The timber inched away and risked taking Darcy along with it. Fear tightened her throat and shot through her chest. She dug her fingers into the bark not caring how it tore her skin. As soon as the tree broke loose from the rock that moored it, it moved slowly at first. Then the river pulled at her and she slid under the water after her hands lost their grip and the tree floated away.

For her life, Darcy kicked and twisted to gain ground, her lungs ready to burst out the air she held within them. Her head surfaced and she let out a gasp. Ethan called to her and she reached for him against the flow of water. She watched him drag himself head down through the current, his arms battling the river’s power. The moment he reached her, she sank under the water and felt his hands drag her up to the surface. His arm went around her waist and held tight.

“Hold on to my neck and do not let go.” He swam with her beneath his chest held by his arm, her cheek in the curve of his neck. When they reached the shallows, he set his feet into the riverbed. His breathing hurried and his hair clung to his shoulders as he trudged from the river to the shore. He set her down and unlocked Darcy’s arms from around his neck. Her lips trembled, and kneeling in front of her, he rubbed her hands within his.

“Mr. Brennan,” she murmured. “Thank you.”

He picked up the clothing he had cast off, and put his coat over her shoulders. Then he reached for his boots and slipped them back on. She had no idea what he was thinking—that she looked a waif, a creature of the river and woods.

He glanced up at the sky. “Come, I will take you home.” He extended his hand and when she placed hers within his, and he closed his fingers over hers, he lifted her up into his arms.

“You need not carry me,” Darcy said.

He looked into her eyes and laughed. “You have been through a trial. You are shivering. In fact your lips are blue.”

She touched them. “Really?”

“Blue as the sky above.” He carried her up the bank to his horse. “When there are no clouds gathering. Looks like rain, Darcy.”

She stared out at the river. Grave silence fell over her, so suddenly snatched out of Death’s hand that the sense of awe that she was saved washed over her. The fine thread that was life grew more precious. It was a miracle Ethan had come and had seen her in the water when he did. Shutting her eyes, she breathed out, then in again, and whispered thanks to the One who made her. Life had become more precious, and she would cherish every breath from that moment on.

She held tight to Ethan as he guided his horse. The pale light of day slanted through the forest. In the branches overhead, a mockingbird sang. Chickadees chirped and fluttered from tree to tree.

Ethan looked back over his shoulder. “Which way is home?”

“To the right. We mustn’t stray from this road, else we will be lost.”

His eyes glowed at her words, as if they had some double meaning. He looked away, ahead to where the road curved. Then he walked the horse on.

“Will you grant me one more favor?” she asked.

“What is it?”

“Please do not tell my aunt I nearly drowned. She is so fearful of such things.”

“She will ask what happened, and your uncle will demand to know.”

“You are right. There is no getting out of this.”

Soft rain fell from the clouds and drenched the earth, sparkling on leaves and vine. Thunder cracked overhead, frightening the horse and causing it to rear. Darcy held tight. Gaining control, Ethan galloped Sanchet down the river road toward the Breese house and the anxious family that waited there.