She got back to her horse, mounted as quickly as she could and rode back to the house.
When she got there, she dismounted just as swiftly and ran up the steps and through the front door. She couldn’t hear any noise and went straight to the baby’s room. Emilia was awake. She was just lying there looking out at Claire with wide blue eyes. She smiled instantly and Claire picked her up.
“Good morning, sweet one,” she whispered. “Hello there.”
The baby made a cooing noise and giggled. Claire giggled with her. She moved to the window so they could watch the sun rise together. “Look at the beautiful sky, Emilia. Look how it shines bright when the sun peeks over the mountains. See all the pretty colors? Look how blessed we are.”
She became quiet looking out at the sunrise. It was the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen in her life. “Thank you, Lord.” She whispered, tears rising to her eyes. “Look what you’ve done for me. Look at the life you’ve given me. You are so good. Help me to be good for this little girl and for Jonathan. Help me to understand them and raise them right and be the mother they need.” She lowered her head and let a few tears roll down her cheeks. One dropped on Emilia’s little head and Claire softly wiped it off. “Sorry, sweetie,” she whispered. She looked back up through the window.
“Please help me with Jonathan, Lord.” She said in a low voice. She knelt with the baby cradled in her arms and lowered her head again. “Please help him understand I’m not going to hurt him, that I don’t want him to forget his dear mama. Please let him know that I only want to protect him and help Edward raise him the right way. I know you will. And please…” She swallowed. “Please tell Beth that I will be good to her children. Tell her that they are safe. Let her know that everything here on earth will be okay.”
She stopped praying, continuing in her mind.
After a few moments, she felt a small hand touch her on her back. She looked up in surprise, into Jonathan’s eyes. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at her. She looked back. His face looked different. He was staring at her in silence.
“Jonathan?” She asked softly.
Without answering, the little boy wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed her tightly. She wrapped her free arm around him and hugged him back.
“It’s going to be all right, Jonny,” she whispered. “Everything is going to be all right.”
*****
THE END
A Bride’s Hope – A Clean Western Romance
Chapter One
Minnie looked down at the telegraph with great fear in her heart. It was from the army. She hadn’t heard from Tom for almost two months but had been hoping and praying everything would turn out okay for him. That he would return home to her soon and she would hear him playing with their little boy, Billy, in the yard. It was what was supposed to happen.
But it wasn’t what happened. The telegraph was gripped in her hands, the paper curling up around them. She sat in one of the porch chairs and stared down at it some more. He was gone. He really was gone. They had confirmed it, found his…body. She shivered.
“Damn this war!” Her father was storming up and down the porch. “How could this happen? How can he not come home to his wife and baby?”
“Papa, quiet down!” Her mother was soothing her father, trying to get him to calm down some. “You’re upsetting Minnie even more. You must calm down.”
“I can’t be calm!” Her father thundered, making her cringe. She knew he was nearly as upset as she was but she didn’t think she could take it today. She got up and went in the house, making her way to her room on deadened feet. She could hear her father still storming outside, his emotions overwhelming him. He had cared for her husband, too. Even his wife’s tears didn’t calm him. She expected him to burst out in his own tears at any moment. When he quieted down, she assumed that’s what had happened.
Minnie dropped herself on her bed face first. She was glad Billy was asleep in the cradle near her bed. She didn’t have the resolve to do anything for him right now. She pressed her face into the bed and let her tears come. She sobbed for many minutes, her marriage and love for her husband running through her mind over and over and over.
She felt like she would never recover from this. Her dear husband, Tom, had been one of the men killed at the Battle of Averasboro, NC. He was shot by the enemy and left in the field like the rest of the men that had died there. It would be impossible to bring his body home. She didn’t know why. It’s what they told her. She didn’t think Averasboro was that far from her little town but she didn’t question their authority. They weren’t going to listen to her anyway.
He’d died a hero and President Lincoln had even sent her a note expressing his dismay at his loss and that he had been a strong and courageous soldier.