“Curious.” Reese pulled her into his arms. She didn’t roll away. “I was Joy’s age when I saw my first black man. I was terrified. I ran crying to my mother.”
“But why? There’s nothing to be afraid of. People are people.”
“That’s exactly what my mother said. She said it was foolish to fear something as natural as skin color. It was like fearing a red-haired man because his hair was different from mine and not fearing a black-haired man because my hair was also black. Skin color is superficial. The blood underneath is the same.”
“I’m ashamed.” Faith began to cry in earnest. “I feel so foolish! When I saw Mary I remembered asking Charlie how he came to settle in Wyoming. And now I realize he must have followed the trail from Georgia to the Indian Territory. Oh, Reese”?she clung to his shirt? “how he must have suffered coming all that way. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…but you never said anything, and then”? she sniffed, and Reese handed her a handkerchief?“when I met Mary she looked at me so…I thought you didn’t tell me because you were ashamed of me… Maybe you should have chosen someone else. I mean, I haven’t a cent to my name, and I’m dressed in rags…and I shamed you in front of your family.”
“Shh.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Shh, sweetheart, you haven’t shamed me.” He kissed the tip of her reddened nose. “And Mary likes you very much.”
“She does?”
“She does. In fact, she ordered me to make peace with you.”
“She didn’t.” Faith hid her face in his shirt.
Reese touched the underside of her chin with his finger, tilting her face up so he could see her eyes. “She did. She chased me around the kitchen with a wooden spoon”?Faith smiled at the image?“and ordered me to come upstairs and make peace with my bride.”
Faith’s smile died on her lips. She stiffened in his arms and tried to pull away. The lie hung between them.
“Well, now, you’re safe.” She smiled brightly. “I’m not your new bride. I’m only rented. Temporarily.”
“Faith, I’m sorry.” He tried to kiss her. She avoided his lips. Reese stared at her face. He saw the pain in her eyes. For the first time, he damned his contract and his elaborate scheme. “Faith, please…”
Faith studied his face. She saw the look in his eyes, and for the first time, she was glad of the contract and his crazy plan. It was too easy to love him, and much too painful. She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, telling him with her lips the things she couldn’t say aloud.
Chapter Nineteen
The Trail T was home to four families—all relatives of Reese. The arrangement of the ranch resembled that of a plantation, and at supper her first night on the ranch, Faith learned it functioned in a similar manner.
Charlie, Sarah, and Sam lived in a log house behind the main house. Reese’s grandparents, Duncan and Elizabeth, lived in the cabin closest to Charlie and Sarah. Mary lived by herself in a cabin several hundred feet away. The cabin next to the smithy belonged to Joe, the blacksmith. He was also part Cherokee, from another clan, a relation by marriage. His wife was dead. He shared the cabin with his two children. The ranch hands shared a dormitory-like building, called the bunkhouse.
The Cherokee were a communal society and well as a matriarchal one. Everyone worked for the good of the ranch and the ranch provided food, clothing, and shelter for the people who lived there. Reese had even provided a schoolhouse for the children. Mary was the teacher. She had three pupils—eleven year old twins, Jimmy and Kate, the blacksmith’s children, and fifteen year old, Sam. The lessons were taught in English and in Cherokee. Faith quickly decided Joy should become Mary’s fourth pupil.
Mary tentatively broached the topic of school and the other children at supper. She had been surprised to learn Joy hadn’t been enrolled in school in Richmond.
“The school system was rather chaotic after the war.” Faith explained, “I was afraid to send her. I started her lessons back in November, but I’ve been very lax.”
Reese looked at Faith across the length of the long, dining table. “We can hire a governess if you like.”
“Why spend the extra money,” Faith asked, “when she can go to school right here? I’m sure Mary is as good a teacher as any governess.”
“Better.” Reese told her, “How many governesses do you know who speak Spanish, French, English and Cherokee?”
“Don’t forget Latin.” Mary warned him, laughing at Faith’s stunned expression.
Reese explained, “It’s a family joke. Before David and I went off to school, my father hired a British schoolmaster to tutor us. Mary put up such a fuss at being excluded, my father decided she should be allowed to attend our lessons. Mary excelled in all the romance languages. She did better in Latin than either one of us.”
“Do you teach all those languages?” Faith asked.
“Only English and Cherokee.” Mary told her, “Unless you want the works,” she added, hopefully.
“Or, happen to be her brother.” Sam groaned.
“Joy and I want the works.” Faith announced.
“You?” Reese was astonished, “Are you serious?”
“Why not?” Faith asked, “My education was interrupted by the war.” She said defensively, “I would like to be able to complete it. And I hate being the only person on the ranch who doesn’t speak the Cherokee language. I want to talk to Sarah.”