LEATHER AND LACE

Chapter 2-Coming to Terms

Franklin County, Virginia, September 1816

The atmosphere at the Bell farm was festive. As they neared the property, Quinn and Martha could already hear the fiddler playing a jig, and their feet were tapping in the wagon. Martha's older brother, Finn, the object of Quinn's interest, was driving the wagon. They had had to bring Elizabeth Sinclair with them and he let her sit on the seat with him. Quinn kept hearing him call her 'Beth' and it was enough to drive her crazy.

From all outward glances, it would appear that Quinn and Finn were courting. He had called on her several times since her 16th birthday, usually with his sister Martha though. None of the other boys who lived nearby interested her like Finn did. He was tall, muscular, tan in the summer, friendly, and smarter than most of the lads. She had totally set her cap for him, and she was pretty sure he was interested in her too.

Just the other day, she had brought him a lemonade and sat down next to him on the bench in the front of her house and her hand brushed his. He had kind of smiled and blushed, pulled his hand away, but still they had touched! She knew that meant something. Her mother's youngest sister, Anne, was courting a man named David Harter and that was what she had told Quinn, when they touched you it was almost the same as saying I do.

She stared daggers into Elizabeth Sinclair's back on the drive over to the Bell's. What did he see in that mousy-haired skinny girl? She was a year younger than Quinn and Quinn considered herself a woman now since she had developed breasts and a tiny waist and began getting her monthly. Of course, she had tried to talk to her mother about that and was sent to her grandmother, Laura Palmer, a midwife. Granny Palmer told her what to do during that time of the month (stay in bed) and why it happened (to have babies). She hated it, not because of the mess it created but because it kept her confined to a bed during her 'lady days'. She wanted to be outside and active, riding horses, helping in the garden, painting (her newfound passion), just walking. Sometimes she'd lie about her time of the month so she could get out but her mother usually found out and into bed she went for a week.

On one walk, she decided to go into the forest where she and Peyton had played for many hours over the years. Her earliest memories were of playing in the woods and a sweet blonde-haired boy they had met there. She recalled he was related to the Feazels and stayed there because his mother had died right after his birth. She remembered Peyton scolding her for saying he had big lips. She wandered that day close to the Feazel farm, wondering what had happened to him, and came upon a giant oak tree carved with her initials. She almost missed seeing them since they were carved at about the height of her ribcage, as if a small child had carved them. She smiled, wondering if the blonde-haired boy had done that. She couldn't remember his name for anything though.

A jolt in the dirt road brought her back to the present and Finn was steering the wagon down the drive of the Bell's farm. She could now smell the barbecue and couldn't wait to get out of the wagon and have her supper. She grabbed Martha's hand and leapt out of the back of the wagon as soon as Finn had it stopped. She didn't miss the fact, when looking back at the wagon after running past it, that Finn was helping Elizabeth Sinclair out of the wagon, offering her his hand! She decided then and there she'd dance as many dances as she could with the other boys who clamored for her attention and maybe that'd get Finn's attention.

xxxxx

By the end of the evening, Quinn had danced at least twice with every boy there who was acceptable for her to dance with (not too young, not too old) and from what she could tell Finn had danced every dance with Elizabeth Sinclair. The fiddler announced the last waltz of the evening and she noticed Finn sitting alone, no Elizabeth in sight. Quinn felt like a cat pouncing on a mouse when she made her way over to him. She was just brazen enough to do this, she thought.

"Why, Mr. Finn Hudson, you don't seem to have a partner for this last waltz. Would you like to share it with me?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

He looked around, presumably for Elizabeth. Not seeing her, he smiled at Quinn and stood up, knowing it would be highly impolite to refuse her gentle offer. He offered his arm, and she took it, following him to the dance stage. Inside, she felt butterflies...she had held his arm! Now, he had one arm wrapped around her waist and was holding her hand. She felt faint.

"I see you have had a lovely evening, dancing with every boy here," he said cordially.

She smiled; he had noticed. "And you with that Elizabeth Sinclair! You need some variety in your life, Finn Hudson, and dancing with one girl only will not provide that for you!"

"I like dancing with Beth..." he said, almost apologetically.

"Really now? You don't like dancing with me?" she purred.

"Of course I do, Miss Quinn! How dare you suggest otherwise!" He could play the game just like everyone else. In a way, he wanted to confide in someone about how he felt for Elizabeth Sinclair. Not one of the other boys; they'd just laugh. He had always considered Quinn Fabray a likeable girl, smart, pretty. He decided to tell her and see how she responded.

"My heart belongs to Miss Beth Sinclair, Miss Quinn," he said quietly.

She stopped moving to the music and stared at him. "What?"

He repeated what he said and felt her stiffen. "I see then, Mr. Hudson. You have a most pleasant evening, then," she said curtly and turned on her heel and left the barn. Once outside, she ran and at a safe distance she cried.

xxxxx

The night of the barn dance Quinn was sleeping at the Hudsons with Martha. Martha had no sisters and considered Quinn and Quinn's younger sister Kate as surrogate sisters. In the morning, there was a shocking discovery made.

Finn Hudson had not returned home after the dance.

They later found out that Elizabeth Sinclair had not gone home either.

The consensus was they had eloped in the nearby town of Rocky Mount. Finn had just turned 18 so they needed no parental consent.

Quinn Fabray was devastated. She asked one of the farmhands to hitch her horse to her buckboard, she hugged Martha who was also crying though happy tears, and rode toward her father's house.

For the next couple weeks, she claimed she had lady issues and did not leave her bed.

xxxxx

"Guess what Sam? The preacher from Bedford will be here this Sunday! You must come hear him at the revival...it's just what you need," Grandmother Feazel told him excitedly, reading from the letter from relatives in Bedford, Virginia.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, finishing dinner, when she told him. She was right, maybe that was what he needed.

"I think I will attend. Thank you for telling me about it," he said quietly.

"I have something for you then," she said, scurrying off to the sitting room of the house. He heard her rummaging around and then she returned with an old leather-bound Bible. She handed it to him. "It was your mother's."

He looked at it, suddenly feeling a connection to the woman who had given birth to him 20 years ago. She had held this in her hands, he thought solemnly, opening it slowly. He traced his finger over her handwriting, spelling her name in the front, Elizabeth Ann Feazel Evans. His grandmother squeezed his shoulder. "She asked for it as she died. She held it and you as she took her final breaths..." He then realized he was not the only one hurting due to loss. She had never shared these details with him.

"Can you cut my hair before the revival, grandma?" he asked quietly. He had let his beard go also; he might need a shave.

"I think that is a dandy idea, Samuel!" she said, ruffling his shaggy hair. "You're due for a shaving, as well."

"What was she like?" he asked her.

"Your momma? Oh, she was quite the pistol, let me tell you! As was your father. He was disowned from the South River Monthly Meeting for using foul language. That did not sway her decision about him, though. They were married by a Baptist minister in Bedford in 1794. They did love one another quite passionately. When she died, I think your father didn't know what to do, especially with you. He asked us to raise you until he got remarried or you were old enough he could handle you better."

"He remarried Mrs. Candler in 1800, though, and he didn't send for me?" Sam asked.

"I think he was busy raising his other children," she answered, watching the expression on Sam's face darken.

"I see," Sam said, not truly understanding his father's decision. "Can you show me where she's buried then?"

"Of course, son. She's in our family plot, next to the west field. Let's go now; I haven't been to visit anyone in weeks!"

She hated to see the young man so disheartened. As a boy, he had reminded her very much of his mother and sometimes it was hard for her to get close to him. Now, he looked more like his father, and she was doing whatever she could to get to know him better, knowing he had lost his young wife and was very saddened by it. His mother asking to hold him one last time nearly killed her. It had been an extremely difficult delivery, Sam being born feet first, and his mother had bled to death. He had never asked how she died and no one had ever told him. Grandmother Feazel remembered how Sam's mother had smiled at him weakly as she held him and that old Bible that had been a gift from Aaron. She had whispered, "You are loved, Samuel." She passed away then, her mother and Aaron Evans in attendance. He took Samuel from her arms, weeping, and handed him to Grandmother Feazel. He left then, returning days later to tell the Feazels he was going back to Stokes County, North Carolina, where his father lived, and he'd send for Samuel.

Walking to the family cemetery, she remembered that night vividly. She had lost young children before and that was difficult but losing her grown daughter was harder than anything she could imagine. She had delivered many babies during the course of her life but could not save her daughter, nor could the doctor they sent for.

At the cemetery, there were several field stones marking old graves. Even Grandmother Feazel couldn't remember who was buried where. Sam's mother had a headstone, though. "Your grandfather made that for her." She was buried next to her father and two infant siblings.

It was carved and said "Elizabeth Ann Feazel Evans 1772-1796". He sat down in front of the headstone and ran his fingers over the carving.

"I think I'll stay here a little while, grandma," he said.

"I'll be at the house, son," she said and walked back.

He sat there quietly for a bit, not really knowing what to say. He took a deep breath and said what was on his mind.

"Grandma gave me your Bible. She said you were holding it and me when you died. No one has ever said anything but I feel like I'm the reason you died. Maybe that's why pa avoided me for so long. I kind of know how he feels though. My wife died a month ago and I really miss her. We had only been married a short while but I had known her a long time. I think you would've liked her. Maybe you've met her by now. I should probably tell you I haven't been to church since she died; I just don't understand why God would take her from me, probably what pa felt when you died. I'm going to church this Sunday though to ask God why, why he left me alone in this world. I wish I would've got to know you, ma." He stopped there because the breeze picked up and blew his long hair all around. He stood up and returned to the house.

xxxxx

"You're going! And that's all there is to it!" Quinn's mother yelled at her. Quinn knew she was in trouble; her mother never raised her voice.

Quinn was presently lying in her bed, feigning illness. "I just don't think I can, mother. As wonderful as it sounds, I just ache too badly to get out of his bed!"

"You have been in that bed since the Hudson boy ran off with the Sinclair gal! It's time to get over it. You're pale from no sun, and it looks like you're wasting away, Quinn Amelia! You will enjoy this revival; it's just what you need!"

Quinn grumbled and rolled over to avoid her mother's accusing glare. She knew she needed to get out. It was early autumn, one of her favorite times of the year. The thought of running into Martha Hudson though just made her want to die. Of course, her brother Peyton was at the Hudson's constantly it seemed and always brought back news of Finn and Elizabeth's elopement and their housekeeping in the town of Rocky Mount.

"I have something that might cheer you up!" her mother said, running down the hall to her bedchamber and then back to Quinn's. Quinn's interest was piqued now.

"Your father hates to see you so sad, Quinny. He bought you this in Richmond!" Her mother has holding a large white box and brought it to Quinn's bed to open it.

It was a new gown of course; her father always bought her clothes to cheer her up. This one was beautiful to Quinn. It was a brown satin with black velvet piping and black embroidery over the bodice with slippers and a bonnet to match.

"Oh mother! He has outdone himself this time!" Quinn lifted the gown out of the box by the shoulders, smiling. "I'll attend the revival on Sunday."

xxxxx

Quinn rode with Peyton and Martha Hudson to the revival on Sunday. Her new brown gown fit her like a glove. She had her mother fix her hair in a bun and wore the brown bonnet too. Martha had mentioned that Finn and Elizabeth might make an appearance at this revival since everyone wanted to hear the preacher from Bedford. As they approached the meetinghouse, Quinn pinched her cheeks and bit her lips to add some color to her pale complexion. Peyton helped Martha out and then went around the buckboard and helped Quinn down. Peyton then left the girls to go to a group of young men. Quinn scanned that group quickly for one Mr. Finn Hudson but did not see him. A young man in a black suit a little too big for him caught her eye; he must be new as she didn't recognize him.

James Martin ran up to them. "Miss Quinny, may I please have the honor of sitting next to you during what is sure to be a wonderful revival?" He was too eager for Quinn's tastes but she nodded, allowing him to sit next to her. He grinned widely and ran back to the boys; she could overhear him saying she said yes! She sighed quietly. Of course, Peyton would be sitting between her and Martha as would be customary since he and Martha were only courting and Quinn acted as chaperone. She stood with Martha and the other girls their age doing little more than gossiping. She kept scanning the gathering crowd for Finn but did not see him.

xxxxx

James Martin ran back to the group of young men.

"She said yes! She said yes!" he spoke excitedly, shaking the other boys' hands. Sam stayed close to the group, leaning against a tree, as if he were a part of their group but really only so he didn't appear to be alone. He clutched his mother's Bible to his side. He was given a hand-me-down suit of his late grandfathers, black in color, and wore a white linen shirt beneath the jacket. His grandmother had trimmed his hair though it was covered by his black hat and Sugar had shaved his blonde beard and moustache. He felt naked without the facial hair. A young man joined the group, and he heard him called 'Peyton'. He suddenly became more interested in what the boys were talking about.

"Your sister said yes, Peyton!" the Martin boy told Peyton.

"Oh, she did now? To what, your hand in marriage?" There were many guffaws from the young men.

"To allow me to sit with her during this revival!"

"Oh, I see. So, I'll be sharing the bench with you, then?"

"Most certainly! Maybe in the future you could chaperone us if I'm so lucky as to court Miss Quinn," James Martin said, obviously very proud of that thought. More muffled laughter from the boys.

Peyton. Quinn. The names were familiar to Sam. Which one is Quinn? he wondered, looking at the group of young ladies on the other side of the dooryard. They all wore bonnets and were close together, talking and giggling. One girl in a brown dress, though, stood back from the crowd and he noticed how she kept looking through the crowd, as if she was waiting on someone who wasn't there.

The church bell rang and Sam hung back, watching who James Martin walked up to. The crowd was thick that Sunday due to the popular preacher visiting. He lost sight of the Martin boy. Once inside, it was standing room only and he stood at the back of the room, looking for James Martin. The ladies removed their bonnets and then he saw it…the golden hair, next to James Martin.

His thoughts raced as he watched her from the back of the room. Surely that was not the same little girl from the woods from years ago. The lady in the brown dress was a beautiful young woman, though she looked distressed or worried. He watched as she ignored James Martin and kept scanning the crowd in the meetinghouse.

Then, it happened. He was staring at her and her eyes stopped on him. Those hazel-green eyes…he'd know them anywhere.

xxxxx

Quinn kept waiting on Finn and Elizabeth Hudson to appear outside the meetinghouse. She basically ignored the girls her age who were clustered around each other giggling and gossiping. Oddly enough, she felt like she was being watched but didn't see anyone looking at her except for James Martin. Then, the church bell rang, signaling the beginning of the revival.

She moved quickly to the door behind Martha Hudson and shuffled in with the rest of the crowd, hoping James Martin would get lost in the shuffle. However, he attached himself to Peyton, and they made their way to Quinn and Martha's bench. James sat down next to Quinn at a respectable distance as she and Martha were removing their bonnets.

The room inside the meetinghouse was full to capacity with men standing along the walls and in the back. Quinn kept looking around for Finn, looking at all the men standing. Her eyes skated over the young men lining the back wall and passed over a blonde-haired man taking his black hat off. She looked back at him and he was staring at her. The lips! She knew the lips of that boy. Lips like a fish.

She turned her eyes to the front quickly. James was talking incessantly to her; she was not paying one bit of attention to him. Could that be that boy from the woods? It sure looked like him. She glanced around the room again quickly, looking for any of the Feazels.

The preacher approached the pulpit. He was Alexander Campbell. He was a young man preaching about baptism and conversion being the choice of the individual. He was very charismatic and was making a name for himself in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia.

The congregation was very motivated by the sermon. Quinn could not concentrate on it, her mind on Finn Hudson and the blonde boy standing in the back of the room. Sam stood at the back of the room, holding his mother's Bible, listening to Preacher Campbell. He decided he needed to speak to the preacher after the service and ask him his thoughts on death; he wanted answers as to why he was motherless and a widower at 20 years old. The preacher was espousing how Jesus Christ always watched over you, God should be your solace in all your difficult times…Sam wondered why he couldn't find solace in the Lord in his time of need, why he questioned God for taking his mother and wife from him. The excitement in the air was palpable all around him, yet he was crying. Maybe baptism was the answer he searched for. His wife had been baptized in Kentucky; he promised her he would but never did before her death. Maybe that was what he was missing. His faith had been badly shaken since the death of Elizabeth. He needed something in his life, some hope that tomorrow things would get easier and be better but every day seemed harder than the day before it.

As Preacher Campbell's sermon wound down, he made his way down the center aisle asking anyone who needed to to come speak to him outside under the poplar tree. He'd be there as long as someone needed to talk to him. Sam fell in line with nearly everyone following him out to the dooryard. While waiting in the long line a small child in front of him began crying; he realized the child was separated from his parents. Sam set his mother's Bible down on a bench and picked up the child and made his way through the crowd trying to find the child's parents.

xxxxx

When the sermon ended and everyone followed Preacher Campbell to the tree, Quinn sat still on the bench. She wanted the quiet reverence of the meetinghouse to pray. She sent James Martin with Peyton and Martha and told them she'd walk home.

Once those three left her alone on the bench, she slyly looked over her shoulder to see if the blonde boy was still in the back of the room but no one was there. She sat on the bench, alone in the room, in the blessed silence finally and bowed her head to ask God why he sent Finn Hudson away from her.

xxxxx

Sam found the parents of the missing child farther ahead in line than he had been. He left the boy with them and moved back to the end of the line. After an hour, he finally shook hands with Preacher Campbell. He explained how he had lost his mother as an infant and then his young wife.

"Why would God do such a thing? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to spite the Lord ever," Sam said. "I'm so lonely without Elizabeth. I've even stopped turning to God for comfort." He hung his head, ashamed of himself and hurt by his own admission.

"So you have lack of faith son, that God did these heinous things to you, to hurt you. And, boy, I feel your pain, I do. Though it is difficult now to understand why, God does these things for a reason, I feel. I ask that you read Psalm 27:14. I feel your heart is broken, boy…pray to Jesus Christ to heal it." He gripped Sam's arm and urged him to pray with him, which Sam did while also trying to remember the Bible verse. Then, he realized he was empty-handed.

xxxxx

Finally, Quinn felt she had prayed, and cried, enough alone in the meetinghouse. Even after all her fervent praying and crying, it still was not enough to make Finn Hudson appear. It was quiet outside; she figured everyone had seen Preacher Campbell. She affixed her bonnet back over her hair, put on her gloves, picked up her Bible, and headed for the door.

Sam was headed back inside the meetinghouse, hoping he could find his mother's Bible. He rushed up the few steps and into the open door just as Quinn was about to step out of the door. They ran right into each other. Since he was moving quickly he pushed her backward and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep them both from falling down. In an instant, he realized his body was pressed up against hers. She gasped and then he also realized who he had just run into.

xxxxx

It happened so fast she wasn't quite sure what had hit her, or ran into her, from outside. When she opened her eyes, she was staring into a white linen shirt, a man's chest only mere inches away from her eyes. His weight had pushed her back and he had grabbed onto her so they both wouldn't fall down. Once everything stopped, he didn't move and neither did she.

"My apologies, miss! I am so sorry!" He finally released his grip on her and stepped back.

She didn't speak but looked up at him. It was the blonde-haired man from the back of the room, only now he had his black hat on, sitting at an angle due to their collision.

"My mother's Bible…I left it here and I need to retrieve it. I can't lose it," he stammered.

She finally found her voice. "Of course. Shall I help you look for it? Where did you have it last?"

The sound of her voice caused him to pause and just stare at her. "Is your name Quinn?"

She stared back at him. "It is. And how do you presume to know me?"

"I'm Sam, Sam Evans…from the forest…" he said. She probably thinks I'm a gnome, he thought, biting his lip. "You said I had lips like a fish."

He remembered! Oh no! she thought. "We looked for fairies, correct?"

"Yes, we did. Your brother Peyton? Is he here? How are you getting home?" Sam asked her.

"I told Peyton I would walk. I wanted some alone time after the crowd left here. I always feel closer to God when it's peaceful," she said. "Your mother's Bible…what does it look like?"

"Small, brown leather, worn…"

They both moved away from the foyer and looked up and down the benches.

"Is this it?" she called to him, holding up a small leather-bound Bible. He came over to her to inspect it.

"Yes! Yes, it is! Thank you so much! This means a lot to me," Sam said, clutching it to his side again.

"You're most welcome…Sam…" Hearing her say his name made him smile. He had not smiled a real smile in weeks, it seemed.

"May I walk you home?" he asked her.

She did something that other girls would never do…she reached up and righted his black hat on his head.

"Now you may…" she said, smiling back at him.

A/N: I am indebted with gratitude to the fabulous author ReadingTooMuch! Not only has this person taken the time to review my work but also brainstormed with me to come up with the title for this story. RTM brought the song Leather & Lace to the table and it's perfect! I'd like to thank RTM publicly for encouraging me to put this story into words and share it with all of you.

Regarding the lyrics from Leather & Lace, they'll show up in different chapters (there was one line in chapter 1!). Think of it like Easter eggs hidden here and there! :D

Also, I don't own any of these characters; it's completely historical fiction. I've tried to make this as close to real as possible but a lot of it is my imagination. I shouldn't say completelyfictional; some of this story comes from genealogical research I did about my own family. Names changed to protect the innocent, e.g. Sam Evans and Quinn Fabray are NOT my great-great-great-grandparents yet they're doing an excellent job at filling the roles. :) The parts about Sam's mother dying when he was 8 days old? That is true (in my family history). The part about Sam's first wife dying young? That is also true (in my family history).

And please, don't hate on me if I err in describing something historically. Since none of us were there do any of us really know what happened then? And, like RTM told me, it might be written somewhere that "this is how they did things" but people are different and found different ways of living and doing so I reiterate this is largely fiction and a lot of my imagination. Anyway, please enjoy!