Preparing to turn round, she heard it again and halted. This time the soft, sweet sound was so familiar, so rife with heavenly strains it reached deep through her soul.
I love you, my child.
Hannah’s breath caught, and she pressed a hand to her chest. Father. ’Twas almost as if she could see him smiling at her as he had when she was a child, that familiar warmth and joy in his face. He had given his all, and though he was gone, yet would he live.
A hot tear streamed over her cheek, and she whispered into the night. “And I shall always love you, Father.”
Epilogue
Six months later…
The scent of sun-heated grasses and flowering brush made the air as delicious to her nose as the sound of birdsong was to her ears.
From her spot on the blanket some steps from the pond, Hannah leaned on her arm, gazing dreamily at where Joseph stood at the edge of the water, Jacob beside him with fishing pole in hand.
“I can hardly believe six months have passed.” She turned to Ensign, who sat beside her, legs cocked up, arms around his knees. “Can you?”
“I cannot.” He smiled as he answered. “Life is but a breath, and then we are gone.” He looked at her, wisdom circling his vibrant eyes. “I am so pleased we have at last returned to Eaton Hill. More pleased than I can say.”
Such simple words for a meaning much deeper. “’Tis a blessing Joseph is more needed at the foundry than on the battlefront.” She gazed down at a small black beetle that seemed to find her petticoat a pleasant place to rest. Picking it up, she rested the happy thing in the grass. “I am not sure I could have borne the grief of his leaving…and the fear of him not returning.”
A hand grazed her wrist, and she looked up, Ensign’s grin warming her more than the summer sun on her back.
“God has given you a gift, my dear.”
He had given her many gifts indeed. A memory tickled her heart, and she gazed back at the grass. Hadn’t Caroline said that very thing—that perhaps God had more happiness planned for her future than she could ever have imagined? How right she had been.
She raised her eyes again to Joseph. He bent beside Jacob, smiled, and said something as he straightened and pointed into the pond, raising his arms with a triumphant laugh that filled her soul. ’Twas then he looked to her, his white smile beaming. Tapping Jacob on the shoulder, he nudged the boy to look at her, and his bright expression shouted with myriad pleasures as he waved.
Sitting up, Hannah waved in return as a heated lump formed in her throat. They were a family. At long last. It seemed only yesterday they were riding through the winter night to safety. But ’twas only two months after their arrival in Virginia they were told that the British had left Boston for New York and that Joseph had been requested to return to Eaton Hill and produce goods for Washington’s men. The Patriots needed much in the way of munitions, and Joseph was eager and willing to supply.
Hannah watched as the two of them chuckled and pulled at the fishing pole as something in the pond fought back with intrepid effort. It filled her soul to see Joseph so happy. He loved the boy as his own, just as she did. A flutter began in her chest, and she bit back a smile. And soon more joy would greet them…
“What are you smiling about so secretly?” Ensign ducked his head, a single eyebrow slanting up.
Hannah giggled, the news nearly bursting from her lips, but she held it back. Joseph must be the first to hear. “Oh…I am simply…simply happy.” She leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I owe Mrs. Smith so much for caring for you. And how desperately I wish I could thank whoever it was that saved you. God will surely bless such a person.”
“I pray for him morning and night.” His gaze drifted away, the past luring him backward. “I remember so little…I felt sure I would not make it through that night.”
Hannah quirked her head to look at him. “You still do not remember anything of that night?”
Brow cinching, Ensign gazed forward. “I have been pondering it at great depth, but I can only recall a few vague details.” Pausing, he sighed. “I remember being carried by someone very large, very strong. His ear was deformed or scarred, it seemed to me.” At that he looked to her. “But it was so dark, and I was in such agony of pain I feel my memory cannot be trusted.”
Illuminating her mind like a candle in a hall, a light settled on a vision she’d forgotten, and a chill rushed up her spine.
She turned to Ensign. “Is that all you remember? Is there anything else?”
An incredulous smile tipped his lips, and he scratched the back of his neck. “It seems unreal, I know. But…I remember his red coat.” At that, he turned to her. “Hannah, I believe…I believe I was saved by a soldier.”
Dear Lord! Higley had been Ensign’s rescuer. A cooling breeze dusted against her skin, and it seemed her spirit stepped away from her, falling into the clarifying clouds of memory.
Captain Higley saw to his burial, and I can assure you, Higley would have treated him as his own.
Hannah’s breath began to chase.
Miss Young, I should like to at last offer my sincerest apologies regarding your uncle. I know this must be of great distress to you, but I beg you to not give up hope.
Dearest Higley. She flung her gaze to Joseph. All that he had done for them, and they the supposed enemy…