Page 27 of Eleanor’s Earrings

“I told you to remain on shore.”

“You fell.”

“That did not require you to follow.”

“The rope was attached to you. Would you have preferred I let go?”

“I would have preferred you not enter the water.”

“You are being very unreasonable for a man who has just been rescued.”

His expression changed. Anger disappeared, leaving something that looked very much like fear.

“You could have been swept away,” he said.

Eleanor's answer caught in her throat.

“So could you.”

For a moment, they stood too close while brown water rushed around them.

Then Rebecca reached them. “If the two of you are finished arguing, some of us would like to get out of the river.”

Eleanor turned toward shore.

She did not notice the empty place at her left ear.

*****

THE FERRY OPERATOR worked through the night to repair the cable. By morning, he had added a second line and allowed Nathaniel to inspect every knot before the first crossing.

Nathaniel wanted to refuse the ferry entirely. He also knew the river would not become safer simply because he disliked what had happened.

The Whitaker wagons crossed first.

Eleanor stood beside the lead wagon on the platform. She was dry now, though a dark bruise showed near her temple where she had struck a half-submerged branch while wading after Nathaniel. Her ribs ached where the current had driven the rescue line across her left side. Nathaniel had insisted on examining both injuries. She had insisted on telling him he was not a doctor.

Both statements had been true.

The ferry moved slowly. Eleanor watched the cable, the water, and each wheel in turn.

“You can breathe,” Nathaniel said.

“I am breathing.”

“Not often.”

She inhaled deliberately.

They reached the far bank without trouble. The second Whitaker wagon followed. Then Nathaniel returned with the ferry for the next group.

“If you go into that river again, I shall object,” Eleanor said.

“You have objected to nearly everything I have done,” Nathaniel said.

“Then you understand the seriousness.” She glanced toward the water. “Besides, I am running out of dry clothes suitable for rescuing unreasonable men.”

The crossings continued all day.