AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They walked west, toward the foreman’s house. Lamplight filled the windows. They saw Roper and Cassie in matching rocking chairs talking to each other. Cassie’s back was to them, but Roper faced them, a smile of pure contentment filling his expression.
“He looks happy.” The words were out before Brand could stop them.
“I expect he is. He’s gone from a lonely man raised in an orphanage and never knowing family, to a man loved and adored by a wife and a ready-made family.”
They passed the house.
Sybil sighed. “Kind of makes you envy him, doesn’t it?”
Brand had thought exactly that, but it seemed weak to say it. And why would she think such a thing? She’d been raised in a loving home. Of course, she was now an orphan. “Do you plan to return to England?”
She hesitated long enough for his lungs to ache for air.
He remembered he had to breathe.
“It’s the only home I have.”
You could stay here. The words hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back. He had nothing to offer her. No fine house. No abundance of books. Nothing. So he kept silent.
The children ran down the path behind them calling, “Not it.” Thor, the fawn, raced after them, darting from one to the other.
They drew closer. Dawg whined and looked back.
“Do you want to play with them?” Brand asked.
The dog gave a little bark.
“Go ahead. Suit yourself.” He never would have guessed Dawg would want this.
But Dawg yapped and ran toward the children, his wounds completely forgotten. The youngsters halted and waited, uncertain about Dawg’s behavior. Thor bounced a safe distance away and watched the dog with wide eyes.
“He wants to play,” Brand said.
Neil crouched down and held out a hand.
Dawg went eagerly, squirming with excitement. Suddenly all the children surrounded him, then backed away, calling him, as Dawg ran from one to the other, barking happily.
Daisy turned toward the adults. “Do you want to play tag?”
Sybil grabbed Brand’s arm. Her fingers dug into his muscle. He couldn’t tell if it signaled fear or anticipation. Was she afraid of the children? Or did she long to play with them? He was about to say no when Billy tagged Sybil.
“You’re it and you can’t catch me.”
The children closed around them, teasing her to catch them. Brand had instinctively stepped away from her so he became part of the circle.
In the moonlight her eyes were dark and unreadable, but her lips were parted as if surprise held her immobile.
Billy darted toward her. “Catch me if you can.”
She scrubbed her lips together, considering the challenge, and then darted toward the boy.
He shrieked and ran away. The other children scattered.
Brand ran, too. He’d played this game many times as a child. Often with Cyrus thudding after him. His heart clenched. He missed Cyrus. Not the man who had become part of the Duggan gang, but the big brother who had played with him. He lost his concentration and turned to look up the hill toward the little graveyard. Even if the sun shone overhead he couldn’t see from where he stood, but he knew the exact location of Pa and Cyrus’s final resting place. Would he see them both along with Ma in the hereafter?
He realized footsteps raced toward him, and ducked away.
They played a rowdy game of tag with the children, catching and being caught their share of times.
He was it again, having been tagged by Neil. The children raced off, disappearing in the shadows. But Sybil’s golden hair caught the moonlight and gave away her position. He knew if he raced toward her, she would run the opposite direction, so he tiptoed in a roundabout way until he came up behind her. She strained forward, listening for his approach, ready to take flight. For a heartbeat, two, three, he didn’t move. He simply stood there taking in the fact of his freedom. For the first time in many years he could take part in a simple game of tag without glancing over his shoulder, fearing the Duggan gang.
Grinning for a dozen different reasons, he tiptoed forward.
Sybil must have heard him, for she turned just as he reached forward to tag her. His hand caught her arm. “You’re it.”
Was that hoarse voice his?
“Oh, you. Sneaking up on a girl like that.”
