The Tarnished Necklace. Trish Inc. DuffinЧитать онлайн книгу.
They had watched her leave and return. Maria was secretly relieved to hear they hadn’t followed her to the lake, as that was a special time to her. They admitted they attacked Peter and he had merely defended himself. Their parents were both horrified and angry at their sons. Though they had obviously agreed to their sons labouring on the farm they found it perturbing to hear the full story come out. Andrew apologised to Jasper and explained about the lost note. Jasper begrudgingly accepted his apology, but was chastened when his father added that it didn’t excuse him in any fashion. It was agreed on that the young men would continue working until all the harvest was in, as that was seen as fitting punishment for the crime. Also the four of them were to pay a quarter each of the doctor’s increasing bill. Fortunately Peter was looking like he was going to make a full recovery. Damien had his own punishment as his leg was not healing well and caused him considerable pain. The doctor was considering re-breaking his leg. He had, at least, decided against partial amputation.
Andrew, Maria and Susan came home from the meeting, glad to have had everything clarified. They sat beside Peter and filled him in on the admissions and consequences. He nodded gravely, it all made sense and it was good to have this sorted out. By Saturday, two weeks after Jasper’s attack, Peter felt he was up to going back to his house. The family sat down and discussed how to help him, as he clearly wasn’t up to looking after himself. It was agreed that Andrew would come over each morning to get him started for the day and then Peter would join them for dinner each night. That evening, after the meal, Peter stood by the wagon giving Susan a hug and expressing his appreciation. “Thank you for everything Susan, I truly appreciate all that you did for me.” His words seemed insufficient as, he thought of all the time she had spent preparing small special meals for him, helping him when he was completely unable to help himself and tending to his wounds. He then gave Joanne, Alice and Grace a big hug each. For young girls they had spent hours upon hours beside his bed, being there for him. Their help and comfort meant a lot to him and he loved them dearly. They each gave him a big hug in return. It was good to see him now standing and getting stronger. They had been so scared when he first arrived in the house and there had been many events in the first week that frightened each girl.
Then he held Maria close. She had been there for him throughout the day and slept in the chair beside him for the first few days. He was reluctant to leave her daily company but knew he had to make this move. The deal with Jasper was definitely off.
Andrew took him home and got Peter settled in. Just before Andrew took his leave the two men sat down for a quick chat. “Thanks for all you have done Andrew,” said Peter. “Also thanks for sorting this entire situation out. It’s nice not to have the mystery of what happened hanging over me.”
Andrew shrugged, “It’s the least I could do, especially since I lost that letter.” He was clearly embarrassed about that and still hadn’t forgiven himself.
Peter thought for a second. “I reckon it is a good thing it did happen. Imagine if Jasper did win Maria over. She could have found herself engaged or married to someone with a really nasty temper. Now the truth is out and no woman within 200 miles will go near him. He is going to have a hard time finding a wife, what with all the gossiping that is happening.”
Andrew nodded. Peter had a good point, but what a painful way to discover what Jasper was like. “I don’t know if I can forgive either Jasper, or myself, for what happened.”
“I have a choice Andrew,” replied Peter. “I can live with resentment and anger or forgive and move on. I am going to choose to forgive and move on. I won’t let what happened get to me. The Lord’s Prayer has become rather relevant to me in the last week, especially the section where we ask God to forgive us in the same fashion we forgive other people. Think on that verse.”
Andrew realised it was time to go as Peter’s face said he was close to exhaustion. He made his farewell and headed off, chewing over what Peter had just said. He realised he also needed to forgive, starting with himself.
Peter settled into his bed that night, sleep quickly overcoming him. It was good to be home but he was already missing Maria’s company.
Chapter 17 Back Home
Sunday morning came and Andrew came over. He helped Peter get ready for the day before departing for church. Peter slowly walked around his home. Obviously Andrew had made the boys spend hours splitting wood. Peter reckoned he wouldn’t need to split wood for another year, due to the size of the wood pile. He grinned when he felt the wood. It was hard wood and he could only imagine the blisters those boys would have. He went out behind his house and confirmed his suspicions. A tree had come down in the late spring storm and Peter had made a few tentative chops before being discouraged over how hard the wood was. Now the only evidence of it being there were crushed weeds and small chunks of wood everywhere. He turned back to his house and spotted Jake making his way down the road.
The next few hours were restful, the dog at his feet, the call of birds in the air, the soft clouds sliding across the sky. Peter felt he had visited hell and was now back in heaven. Then his mind turned to more practical details. Two areas of consideration came to mind. One was obviously Maria, the other was the approaching winter. It didn’t make sense for him to stay in this little house over the winter period. He would be more sensible finding work elsewhere to bring money in. There was the snag, elsewhere, not here. Also what work could he find? His previous work on the railway lines was out of the question. He winced at the thought of waving a sledgehammer around for ten hours. Last year he did that but this year he couldn’t even move his arm. Hopefully he will regain use of his hand before winter set in. One option was seeking employment with the railways in planning, strategy or advising. He doubted such employment could be found in this small town, so again he was going to have to consider leaving for the winter period.
Perhaps he could stay? No, that was a foolish idea - to have no income for four months was silly. His crops will bring in some welcome money but not enough to cover the planting period. He had his investments but he couldn’t rely solely on them. He liked working for his money. At least his property was paid for.
So, back to Maria. He sat there and pulled his mind back over the last half year. Her friendship to Chenoa spoke volumes to him. Maria wasn’t bigoted and was a warm friendly person. Her excitement over the baby spoke of her warm heart and her love for children. He had seen her deal with her sisters and had been impressed with her gentleness and kindness. She was a good cook, pretty, intelligent and one thing he loved doing was simply sitting with her and talking. That was one thing he and Chenoa had never been able to do, due to neither being fluent in each other’s language, though they had both learnt fast.
Peter’s mind swung to Susan, Andrew was a lucky man to have her as a wife. Maria was very much like her mother. This meant she would make a wonderful wife. So he had convinced himself that Maria was worthy of courting, he hadn’t had to work hard on that. Was he worthy for her? He had a few secrets that he needed to tell them about before courting her. He grimaced. It was time to tell them about how he met Chenoa. Also he begrudgingly decided he should tell them about his father as well. They had never asked him about his past.
So, now what?
Jake walked over and he fondled the dog’s ears.
Peter made his decision. He was going to ask Andrew permission to court Maria. He was going to tell them, well, not the children though, about Chenoa and he was going to get on with his life. Over the winter period he would work elsewhere, coming back in the spring to his home and have her in the house as his wife by next winter. Easy, except for the winter part.
He sighed.
He was missing her.
He was lonely. Even Jake wasn’t much company, he had gone to sleep again.
Peter found himself walking towards Andrew’s home, not intentionally, he just was thinking about them. He got to the turnoff and paused. This is where it all happened. He stood there and images flickered through his mind, all of them violent. He recalled rolling down a bank, it must have been here. Brief flashes flicked through his mind, the look of hatred in Jasper’s eyes, someone screaming, blows from behind and his last fleeting thoughts before