Jed maintained a stony silence. The fight hadn't cleared the air as Kid had hoped. If anything, the air around the Cole home was even more charged with tension. Eleanor and Wallace still refused their help, so they spent the morning fishing.

"All your talking about fishing got me in the mood to go," Kid commented as they sat down on the grassy bank and cast their lines.

She laughed. "We fish all the time. I can't count the number of times we've gone fishing."

"But never just for the fun of it."

"Oh, so we ain't planning on eating them, then? We're just going to throw them back into the water after we've hooked them? Sounds kind of cruel to me."

"You know what I mean," he said, grinning.

"I do and it would make me feel better to know we were contributing something. I feel like a moocher."

"We try to help."

Ruth continued to talk. He interjected comments occasionally to let her know he was listening, but she was content to carry the conversation and he was content to listen.

"Am I annoying you?" she asked at last.

"Naw, I like to watch you talk."

She looked at him funny for a moment, wondering if the mistake had been on purpose and then broke into a smile when she saw that it had. "They just ain't biting today, are they?"

"Maybe we'd have more luck if the two of us worked together." He drew his pole out and got behind her and wrapped his arms around hers as if his only goal was to help her hold the fishing pole up.

She leaned her head back against his chest. "Keep this up and we ain't going to get much fishing done."

"But it's more fun this way," he said, burying his lips and nose in her hair.

She'd finally seemed to run out of words. The quiet allowed him to think and remember other times he'd fished at this river. "Ben and I used to love fishing together. Hunting too, but especially fishing. You seem to be able to say things to a person fishing that you never can anywhere else. Sounds silly, don't it?"

"I don't think so." She reached up with her free hand and caressed the side of his face.

He'd talked to her about Ben but being back in Arkansas territory seemed to be bringing back all kinds of memories he himself had forgotten and he shared them with her now and she just listened. That's one of the things he loved about her. She loved to talk, but she loved to listen too.

They went on that way for a long time but then there was such a hard tug at her pole, it almost slipped out of her hand.

She grabbed hold of it with both hands. "I've never got one this big."

"I'll talk you through it," he assured her.

She nodded and began reeling.

"Reel it in carefully," Kid cautioned. "You don't want to get in a hurry or you'll lose him, but you can't go too slow. Let him get a little tired in the struggle and it'll make your job easier. Now carefully stand up and we'll walk it back."

His arms stayed around her as they got to their feet, guiding her on the pace to walk backwards.

With a quick jerk, a bass almost the length of Ruth's arm came flopping out of the water and onto the ground.

"Whoo," she said, wiping away imaginary sweat. "I don't have that much trouble catching sinners."

"You may be called to be a fisher of men, but you're a fine fisher of fish too," he complimented with a smile as he pulled the fish from the hook for her. "Did you make your brothers jealous with your fishing skills?"

"Nah, they had me there. I was too fidgety to sit still long enough to make good catches. I was an excellent finder of worms though."

"I can imagine," he said with a fond smile. Then turned his attention back to the fish in his hands. "Look at that thing, would you? It's a wonder it didn't break the line. Remember when we didn't have reels on our poles when we were kids. This thing makes it a lot easier, don't it? What will they think of next?"

As they admired the fish, they heard the rustle of something making their way through the bushes. Ruth took the fish and put it in the basket they'd brought along to free Kid's reach to his gun, in case it was a hungry, newly woken bear or some equally fierce creature, but a cheery whistle soon proved that it was man and not beast.

The young man stepped out into the open. His whistling stopped as he took in the couple and Kid's eye. "Looks like you went and got yourself a woman that can keep you in line. Think she can teach me to punch like that?"

"You're as funny as ever I see," Kid said half annoyed but clearly happy to see the newcomer. "This is Ruth," he said.

"Ah, the notorious Sister Ruth. You're all my fiancée can talk about since she heard you preaching yesterday. You must be good."

"And, Ruth, this is my friend, Jack Pearson."

"Best friend, I'll have you know," he said with a smile. He shook his head. "You've got to be one of the prettiest ladies I've ever seen and you've got a character to match from all accounts," he said, pouring on the charm. "How'd you ever get saddled with this clown?"

"Watch it, Jack," Kid warned good-humoredly. "That's my wife you're talking to."

"Darn, there goes my plans to ask her to run away with me," he said, clutching his chest as if he had a broken heart. He suddenly became serious. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry about Ben. I never got a chance to tell you that."

"Thank you. That means a lot," Kid said.

Ruth slipped the watch out of Kid's pocket to check the time. "Oh goodness, we lost track of time. The revival starts in about half an hour." She looked at Jack apologetically. "We got to run. It don't look good when you're late to your own revival."

He laughed. "I like you. No, I don't reckon it does."

"You going to it?" she asked.

"No, ma'am. My fiancée's going again, but there ain't much hope for a rascal like me," he said glibly.

"I don't know about that, but maybe you can come visit longer at the house. I'm sure there'll be plenty of fish."

"Might be better if ya'll come see me," he said, "but I'd like to catch up."

"Still living with your parents?" Kid asked.

"My mom. My dad passed on."

"Now I'm sorry. Ain't been keeping up with things. He was a good man."

"That he was. See you both after the revival then. Ya'll can come over for supper."

"You didn't tell me you had a friend," she said to Kid as they headed back toward the house. "Why ain't you gone to see him before now?"

"Didn't know I still had any friends."

Millie went with them to the revival with out so much as a well wish from her parents or Jed. There were more people there than yesterday. Millie and Ruth waded out into the stream not too far from the church. Ruth saw a last minute arrival.

"Your momma's here," she said low enough that only Millie could hear.

Millie's smile widened and she shared that smile with her mother, who nodded at her.

"You ready?" Ruth asked.

Millie nodded and Ruth moved her hands so that she would be ready to immerse her.

"Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is your Savior? Will you choose to follow Him as Lord of your life?"

"Yes," Millie answered.

"I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," she said plunging her in and raising her up. "'Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'"

Kid stood ready with a warm woolen blanket and wrapped his sister in it and then helped Ruth up onto dry land.

Ruth watched Eleanor leave but affection for her grew. She'd clearly defied her husband to come show her support to her daughter. That said more than words could.