Page 89 of Always to Remember
“She’s too frail. I don’t think she could travel this far.”
“She could if we used the wagon. I’ll put a couple of mattresses and several blankets in the back. We’ll go slow. I’ll carry her to the wagon. Then I’ll carry her in here.”
“When would we do it?”
“Tomorrow?”
Meg knew it was unlikely that Mama Warner would live long enough to see the monument completed, but Clay had finished carving what she would care about most. “People are traipsing in and out of her house all day. All we need is for one of them to tell Robert or Mr. Warner, and after you dared Robert to shoot you, what’s left of the family would probably come after you with all guns loaded.”
“We could do it in the evening.”
Meg planted her hands on her hips. “So Robert wouldn’t have to come looking for you? He could just shoot you as you cross the threshold?”
“Not if he doesn’t know I’m crossing the threshold. The man’s gotta sleep some time.”
“You mean go late at night?”
“Why not? She’s never put locks on her doors.”
“And if we get caught?”
“I’m willing to risk it.”
The following night Meg sat in the wagon, hoping she wouldn’t regret what she and Clay were about to do. Their good intentions could easily bring harm Clay’s way if they were discovered.
“Take off your boots,” Meg whispered as she worked off her shoes.
“Why?” Clay asked.
“So we don’t wake Robert when we’re walking through the house.”
“Does he wake easily?”
Meg snapped her head around. “I don’t know, but Kirk did. I assume since they’re cousins …”
“Wish I’d known …,” he mumbled as he jerked off his boot.
The lantern resting at Meg’s feet in the wagon cast its light on his large toe as it peered through a hole in his sock. He pulled the bottom of his sock over the hole and wedged it between his toes. Meg bit back her smile. She’d never in her life known a man as modest as this one.
He jumped off the wagon and walked around the mule. The moon was but a silver sliver in the sky, the stars sparkling like a thousand diamonds. She didn’t know if they could have picked a better night for their clandestine adventure.
After helping her climb out of the wagon, he reached for the lantern. She laid her hand on his arm, and he stilled. “Promise me if we wake Robert that you’ll walk out the door.”
“And leave you to face his wrath?”
“He won’t get angry at me. In all likelihood, he’ll shoot you.”
He chuckled low. “I won’t run, Meg.”
“I’m not asking you to run. I’m just asking you to leave if we wake Robert.”
“How will you explain what you’re doing in the house?”
“I’ll say I couldn’t sleep and came to look in on Mama Warner.”
Bowing his head, he studied the ground. “Do you think I’m a coward?”
“I just don’t want you to get shot in the middle of an act of kindness.”
