Chapter 2
The next few weeks were uneventful for me, tending to the farm, making repairs to the carts, something that hadn't been done in years. Readying everything for the harvest, I even tended mother's vegetable garden crawling around on my hands and knees, sweat dripping from my brow, tugging away some root vegetables for tonight's supper. It wasn't until the carriage rattled to a stop by the fence that I noticed the horse, no one around here owns a quality horse like that except the Wells family. I went back to work, they had nothing I cared about.
The hooves came down the road by my house, on my property. My head snapped up when I heard the soft giggle of a... little girl? I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand, smearing my face. I looked up to see a horse and buggy next to my fence, a dark haired, dark eyed little girl smiled at me just as sweet as strawberries, I started to smile back until I remembered the driver, "Wells, what are you doing here?"
Helena smiled, "Why hello to you too Mrs. Bering Martino, it is such a warm, beautiful afternoon that I thought Christina and I would picnic down by the lake." I blinked, "Christina, this is Mrs. Myka Bering Martino." Helena nodded toward me, I came forward, reaching out my hand to greet the little girl "Pleased to meet you little Miss." I grumbled, I really was happy to meet her, but I disliked being giving permission to greet someone.
I did my best to smile as Christina shied away from me, probably put off by my grumbling. Helena smiled at me again, I wish she would stop, I don't really want to like her. "Do you know which way to the lake from here?" She asked pleasantly, then frowned a little, "By the way dear, you have a smudge of dirt on your face."
Great just perfect, "If you give me a minute to clean up. I can show you. How would you like that little Miss?" I turned to the little girl, offering her a cheeky wink, Christina gave a small giggle, "You want to pick some apples for your picnic while you wait? I'll be right out."
I came out of the house, wearing a fresh white, long sleeved blouse, some dark brown trouser, hair pulled into as neat a ponytail as my rebellious curls would allow. I pulled up my suspenders and looked at the little girl with a smile, "Let me get my horse." My smile faded as I locked eyes with Helena.
"Come now Mrs. Bering-Martino, there is plenty of room for all three of us." Helena patted the seat of the buggy, inviting me to join her.
"I have crop to get ready." I deflected, turning toward the barn.
"I will let you drive." Helena retorted with a smirk, seeming to just know how much I hated letting others be in charge. I stopped dead in my tracks, I glanced back to see the pleading look in the little girl's eyes. I sighed, there was no way I could deny someone so sweet.
I rolled up my sleeves and climbed in the buggy, "Its not far, the walk back will do me good." It's not like I was going to spend any time with them, I was just being polite. Like a decent person. I would stretch my legs walking back in time for the other hands to arrive in the orchard. No one would notice if I arrived a little late. Helena held Christina on her lap as we headed for the lake.
I halted the buggy near the lake, leading the horse to a nearby tree where it could graze to its heart's content. I picked a couple of apples from the basket and offered them to Christina,"Here little miss, this is for the horse." She took them, and I helped Christina get down from the buggy, the little girl rushed over to feed the horse. I turned to Helena,"I'm going now." Helena let out a soft curse, she had caught the hem of her dress trying to get down, I rolled my eyes, "Here, let me."
I helped Helena get down, listening to her grumbles, I realized we had a bit more in common than I thought. "My damn brother and his social proprieties, its a bloody picnic, not a ballroom dance."
We both rolled our eyes at the same time, "It seems your dear brother pisses both of us off." I smirked as I walked over to grab the blanket. I looked at her speculatively and decided I could stay to spread out the blanket under the big shade tree.
I finished and started to walk down the path that lead back to the farm house. Helena stopped me with the tug of her hand on my shoulder, "Please, at least let me thank you for all your help, come, join us Mrs. Bering Martino." I looked at her, searching for ulterior motives, but I was met with a gleam of sincerity in her eyes.
I sighed, rubbing my eyes, I was defeated, "Please, it's just Ms. Bering now."
"Excellent. I may have even brought some of that whiskey you are so fond of." Helena grinned. I almost wanted to accuse her of planning this. All three of us sat under the shade of the tree, eating lunch. I listened to the little girl tell fantastic stories of train and boat rides they had taken to get here.
"India?" I quirked my head towards Helena, who was smiling indulgently.
"Yes, it was a journey, my husband was a general in the army over there... Christina, why don't you go feed the horse some more?" Helena smiled at the child and shooed her off, turning back to stare at the ground, looking far less pleased now that her girl was out of sight. She really loved the child. "It was an arranged marriage, my father's idea, he was... Well, the army was his mistress, I really didn't mind much, we left each other alone. But when Christina was born, it changed everything for me, I didn't care about anything but her. He didn't really have much time for her, especially not after we moved to India." Helena added onto Christina's stories about living in India.
I rubbed her shoulder, understanding what she had gone through. Living practically alone for long stints only to receive a husband still thinking about his work. She paused. I guess it really didn't take much more explanation after her husband died, no family with enough to spare would allow one of it's female representatives to live alone with a child.
Everyone knew of the Wells, they moved into town just a few years before I came back, rich, recently ennobled for the many heroic acts performed by their family. "With Sam, he was my husband. He would leave for days chasing outlaws, and whenever he came back, he was preoccupied with the ones he hadn't caught yet. He never had time for a family." I hesitated.
Suddenly I noticed the how still the air was, I realized that that the two of us inched closer together while sharing our stories. Our eyes met, it felt like the world had stopped spinning. Helena lifted her hand to push back a stray curl that had come loose, breezing across my face. The sound of a splash of water yanked my eyes away from Helena's. A loud cry came from the lake.
"Christina!" Helena jumped up the same time as I did, we had been so lost in each other we didn't even see Helena's fragile Christina playing around the waters edge. I ran towards the scream, Helena racing on my heels. I saw the girl go under the water and dove into the freezing lake it's waters barely touched by the sun. Helena tripped over a rock, rushing to get up she saw me coming up from under the water, Christina in my arms. She had barely gone under when I got to her, but her tiny body was chilled, a harsh breeze freezing us both to the bone.
Before Helena could jump into the water I yelled at her, "Go and get the blanket, now!" She rushed back and grabbed it, running to wrap Christina up, hoping to stop her from turning any more blue, both her and I were shaking the from the ice cold lake water. "Take her, wrap her up, I'll get the buggy, we need to get her to the Doctor."
