That smile softened the hard lines, brought light to the gray eyes. Clara realized she had never seen him smile before." Not once in three years." "You sound like my mother," he said. She used to say, "Worry was just praying for what you don't want." ""Your mother sounds like a wise woman."" "She was." The smile faded, replaced by something quieter. She's been gone 15 years now.
Clara wanted to ask more about his mother, about his past, about all the things she didn't know about this man who had been her neighbor for three years and remained a stranger. But before she could speak, a small voice interrupted. Mama. They both turned. Kaya had risen from her corner and crossed to where Nolan lay kneeling beside her mother with her small hand pressed to Nolan's cheek.
Nolan's eyes were open clearer now than they had been in the depths of fever and fixed on her daughter's face with an expression of pure overwhelming love." I'm here," Nolan whispered." I'm here, little one." Kaya said something in Apache. the words tumbling out fast and desperate. And Nolan answered in the same language, her voice soothing despite its weakness. Clara did not understand the words, but she understood the meaning, the comfort of a mother reassuring her child, the relief of a child finding her mother still alive.
She had to turn away, had to press her hand to her mouth to hold back the sound that wanted to escape. because she remembered this, remembered holding Thomas when he was small and frightened, remembered whispering that everything would be all right, remembered believing it was true. A hand touched her elbow. Eli, standing close, his expression unreadable, but his touch gentle." I'll go check the animals," he said quietly." Give you some time." He was out the door before she could respond, leaving Clara alone with her grief and her guests and the weight of memory pressing down on her chest.
But she did not have time for grief. Not today. Today there was breakfast to make and a sick woman to tend and a frightened child to somehow reach. Clara wiped her eyes, straightened her shoulders, and got to work. By afternoon, no one was strong enough to sit up, though Clara insisted she stay wrapped in blankets beside the fire.
The color had returned to her face, warm brown instead of fever gray, and she watched Clara move around the cabin with eyes that missed nothing. Clara had managed a breakfast of fried potatoes and weak tea, stretching her supplies as far as they would go. Eli had returned with a rabbit. he'd snared in the woods, and Clara set it to stewing with the dried beans, filling the cabin with an aroma that made her stomach clench with hunger. Kaya had moved from her corner to her mother's side, and had not left since. She sat pressed against Nolan, one small hand, fisted in the fabric of the blanket, as if afraid that if she let go, her mother might disappear.
"You saved us," Nolan said, breaking a silence that had stretched for several minutes." I do not know how to repay such a debt." "There's no debt," Clara said, stirring the stew." I only did what anyone would do." "No." The word came sharp, certain." Not anyone." Many would have turned us away. Many would have.
She stopped swallowed." We have not been shown kindness by your people." Clara set down her spoon and turned to face Nolan fully." What happened to you? Why are men looking for you?" For a long moment, Nolan was silent. Her hand found Kaya's head stroking the tangled hair with automatic gentleness.