Sweetbriar Read online

  Corinne held Linnet to her. “You ain’t mad at me no more for lyin’ to you?”

  “No,” Linnet said truthfully. “It’s turned out all right, and that’s what matters.”

  Corinne sniffed and looked away as Worth Jamieson proudly introduced his new little wife.

  “What’s the matter, boy, you ’fraid you gonna lose her again?”

  Linnet turned to see Devon hovering near her.

  “Don’t blame ’im none,” Gaylon continued. “If I found me a little gal dressed like that runnin’ loose in the woods, I’d be afraid of losin’ her, too.”

  Linnet looked down at her ragged dress. The skirt was torn up to her thigh on one side, one shoulder and half the neck were torn away at the top.

  “You two old men ain’t changed none, always buttin’ in where you ain’t needed,” Devon drawled.

  “Ain’t needed!” Doll exploded. “Why, when we found you two you was—”

  “You young’uns stop it right now!” Agnes commanded. “In case nobody’s noticed, we’re standin’ amongst somethin’ not so pretty.” Her words made everyone look at the carnage about them.

  “Cord,” Linnet said. “They killed—”

  “We know.” Esther patted her arm. “He went quick though, and we done buried ’im.”

  “All right,” Agnes said. “Let’s get to buryin’ these. Esther, you and Corrine take Lynna and Mac somewheres and let ’em rest.” She eyed Devon. “And don’t you give me no trouble. Your back’s so ugly it makes me hurt just to see it.”

  “You should see his feet!” Linnet said, then stopped when she met silence from everyone until Doll began to laugh.

  “Go on, Corrine, take ’em somewheres, and don’t you start no fights between ’em like you done before,” Doll told his daughter.

  “Ah, Pa,” Corinne said, “I’m done married to Jonathan now.” She turned to Linnet. “I got me a little boy.”

  Linnet almost told her of her own daughter but didn’t. Devon refused to move more than a foot from Linnet and held her hand constantly. She needed the reassurance, fearful that she’d wake and find herself tied to a pole as Crazy Bear danced around her.

  The others returned quickly, and Agnes pointed to a tall, thin blond man Linnet didn’t know. “That’s Lester Sawrey. He’s come to Sweetbriar since you been there.” Lester seemed to be a man of importance.

  Lyttle went with Jonathan to the horses, several miles away, and all the people sat together around a fire, and when the supplies were brought, they began to eat.

  “How is Lincoln?” Linnet asked Esther of the child she had helped deliver.

  “Lord!” Agnes said. “Esther’s already had another one since you left. If Mac don’t come back and keep Doll at the store, she’s gonna get wore out havin’ kids.”

  Esther hid her face, but Doll grinned from ear to ear.

  “How’d you know?” Devon asked as he looked from one person to the other.

  “Phetna,” Doll said as he motioned his head back to the woman. “There I was just settin’ on my front porch, mindin’ my own business, whittlin’ and workin’ like I’m always a doin’.” His eyes danced with merriment. “When this here woman sticks her ugly face up and grins at me. It didn’t take me but a minute to know it was Phetna. She always was so ugly she could turn a man’s hair white with just one look, and she ain’t changed a bit.”

  He paused and looked at his audience. “Later somebody told me she’d been in a fire and was burned, so I looked real hard and you know, they’re right. She ain’t quite so ugly as I ’membered.”

  Everyone, and loudest of all, Phetna, laughed and Linnet knew how good the woman felt to be part of a group of people again. They spent the day talking, the men preparing crude shelters for the night and remembering the days they had spent together in Sweetbriar.

  Linnet remembered Cord and thought how he would have been glad when Devon called him brother. Agnes understood her sorrow and talked to her about Cord, how he worried about getting old, how maybe it was better this way. Linnet didn’t believe a word of what she said, but at least she had good memories of him.

  Strangely enough, the people asked very few questions about Linnet, and she wondered how much Phetna had told them. She felt the blood rise in her face when she thought of all Phetna could have told them. The sun was setting and the long day was finally coming to an end. Linnet stretched and was glad it was over, that they were finally safe, but she cast one wistful look at Devon. Only last night she had spent the night in his arms. How long would it be again before she got to spend another night with him. The Squire’s words about Devon haunted her. Would he still want to marry her after all they’d been through? He’d gotten what he wanted from her so why should he marry her? When Devon met her eyes, she looked away.

  “I reckon it’s time,” Doll said as he exchanged looks with Agnes.

  “I reckon you’re right.”

  The others in the circle sighed in resignation and avoided Devon’s and Linnet’s eyes. Slowly, they rose to their feet.

  “No,” Agnes said, “you two just stay there. This is somethin’ we gotta do whether we like it or not.”

  The people walked into the woods and Devon took Linnet’s hand. “What do you think they’d say if I crawled into your sleepin’ roll tonight?”

  She jerked her hand away. “Please don’t. I had enough of that in Spring Lick.”

  “I got ’im,” Gaylon said and they looked up to see the man holding a long rifle aimed at Devon’s head.

  “Gaylon!” Linnet exclaimed and started to rise but she felt something behind her and looked at Agnes aiming a rifle at her.

  “Just what the hell’s goin’ on?” Devon asked and started to stand, but Jonathan grinned and pushed him back down, with more force than was needed.

  “Doll, you’re the talker, you tell ’em,” Lyttle said.

  “Well now, Sweetbriar was a real peaceful town until Mac here brung home this little English girl.” He grinned at Devon’s frown. “Since then things been turned upside down. Mac’s gone half the time, either chasin’ her or tryin’ to get away from her, and when he’s in Sweetbriar, he’s so ornery, can’t nobody live near him. Now this happens. Phetna comes tearin’ into Sweetbriar on a mule with this god-awful story that we can’t hardly believe but she swears is true. What’s more, she’s got this young’un in the saddle what she says belongs to you two.”

  Linnet bent her head, not able to look at any of them.

  “Now that just ain’t right,” Agnes said. “It ain’t right for you two to be moonin’ after one another and causin’ two towns so much trouble, but when you two start makin’ babies and still ain’t married, then that’s goin’ against the Lord, and we figure we gotta do somethin’ about it.”

  “And just what’re you plannin’ to do?” Linnet could hear the anger and hostility in Devon’s voice.

  “We decided to take matters into our own hands,” Doll continued. “We decided we can help undo some of what’s been done.”

  “How’s that?” Devon snapped.

  “Lester, here, if you remember, is a preacher and he’s gonna marry you two. And if you don’t agree, I reckon we’re gonna have to do somethin’ about it.”

  Linnet looked at the familiar faces holding rifles, pitchforks, scythes, and couldn’t help wondering how much Doll really meant.

  “You ain’t sayin’ nothin’ you’re gonna back up, old man,” Devon said, anger saturating his voice, his every movement. “I don’t like anybody tellin’ me what I’m gonna do, especially who I’m gonna marry. I’ll make up my own mind whenever I want, and I don’t need anybody tellin’ me when that’s gonna be.”

  “Shoot him,” Linnet said quietly, and everyone looked at her, her eyes flashing the red Jessie and Lonnie liked to tease her about. “You heard me, shoot him. You cannot imagine what I’ve been through since I met this man, and for the last week he’s been swearing he loves me and wants to marry me and now I find he’s been using m