"Oh?" Nate said.

Evelyn blushed.

The storm lasted more than an hour. It rained so hard that at its peak the ground was inches deep in water. Gradually the downpour tapered to a sprinkle and ended entirely. The sky turned from black to gray and then to blue. In its wake it left pools and puddles and mud and muck.

Nate was still at the window, Winona at the counter placing a pie she had baked in a basket. "It's a mess out there," he said. "I should go tell everyone to hold off a couple of hours. Give things time to dry out."

Evelyn jumped up from a chair by the table. "Let me, Pa. I'm tired of being cooped up."

"Is that the only reason?"

Evelyn blushed again. "Of course."

"You'll have to ride careful. The ground is slippery."

"I will. Don't worry," Evelyn said. "Nothing will happen."

Chapter Fourteen.

During the height of the storm the rain cascaded into the gulley as water over a waterfall. The gully quickly filled. It often did when rain was heavy. Usually it rose to a gap near the bottom and was channeled out and over the adjacent ground before the bottom was covered. This time the rain came down so hard and so fast that the level rose more swiftly than it ever had, and the gap wasn't wide enough for the water to drain out before it covered the gully from end to end.

The rain kept on falling and the level kept on rising and the water reached the cleft and flowed in and down. It poured into the underground chamber like water down a funnel. It drenched the enormous ma.s.s of serpents and the ma.s.s writhed to life, annoyed. Like strands of unraveling thread, the mult.i.tude uncoiled and unwound and swarmed up the cleft. Not by scores or by hundreds but by the thousands. So many filled the cleft that they temporarily stopped the water. In a living torrent of their own they flowed out of the cleft and up and out of the gully onto the ground above. They didn't stop there. The battering rain, the wet and the cold, were not to their liking. In sinuous cl.u.s.ters they fanned out, crawling every which way, anxious in their instinct to escape the wet.

But there was no escape. The rain was so heavy that the ground couldn't absorb it all. The snakes crawled in water inches deep, and they didn't like that. Some crawled faster and farther than they had ever gone, to all points of the compa.s.s. Those that fled to the west vanished into the trees. The rest spread out along the lakesh.o.r.e, living currents of reptilian flesh.

The rain went on and on and the snakes crawled and crawled until finally the black clouds drifted east, the lightning and thunder dwindled and the rain became a mist that soon ended.

In many places the water was still inches deep, with scattered pools and countless puddles.

Nearly everywhere, the water moved as if alive.

Evelyn King couldn't saddle her horse fast enough. She was eager to be on her errand. She would give her father's message to the Worths and her brother and his wife and then ride on to the Nansusequa lodge and give the message to them, and get to see Dega.

As Evelyn smoothed the saddle blanket she thought of the night before when she snuck out to see him. A warm tingle spread through her tummy. His kisses were like sweet honey. Strange that a girl would think that of a boy, but there it was.

Evelyn swung her saddle on and bent to the cinch. She had chosen a sorrel she was fond of. It had a gentle disposition and never gave her a lick of trouble. The bridle was already on so when she lowered the stirrup all she had to do was swing up and jab her heels and she was away. She was wearing a light blue dress she had made herself and shoes she bought in St. Louis. The shoes were a bit too tight, but they were the fanciest she owned and she wanted to look especially pretty for the get-together, and for Dega.

The thought of him made her warm again. She stayed close to the water's edge where there were fewer rocks and she could go faster. The Worth cabin was off to the northwest a ways and she would have to cross the sh.o.r.e to reach it. Then on to Zach's.

"Why go to them first?" Evelyn asked out loud. She had a better idea. Why not go see Dega first and give the others the news on her way back? The sooner she saw him, the sooner they could sneak off into the woods to hug and kiss. Laughing at her brainstorm, she brought the sorrel to a trot. Its heavy hooves dug deep into the rain-softened earth, leaving broad pockmarks.

To her right was the lake, to her left puddles and pools and areas where the water appeared to be ankle high. She thought she saw something move in one of the puddles.

Evelyn pa.s.sed the Worths' cabin and her brother's place. Smoke curled from his chimney. The door was closed and the curtains were over the window. She almost hollered a greeting but didn't. If they came out, she would be obligated to stop and she didn't want to stop until she reached the east end of the lake, and Dega.

"You handsome devil," Evelyn said softly. She had never felt about anyone as she did about him.

The sorrel had not been ridden in a while and was eager for the exercise. Head straight, mane flying, it raced along the open belt that edged the lake.

Evelyn glanced at a tract of water-covered ground and noticed dozens of ripples. Odd, she thought, since the wind had nearly died. Almost as if fish were in the water, swimming about. They must be small fish, she reasoned, since the water wasn't very deep. She couldn't account for how they got there since the lake hadn't risen much during the storm. Not like the time a while back when it poured rain for half a day and the lake rose midway to the trees.

Ahead, the belt of clear s.p.a.ce narrowed; a strip of rocks and small boulders came down nearly to the water. She slowed and saw that a shallow pool had formed on the near side of the strip. She must cross a swatch of water maybe ten feet wide.

Suddenly the sorrel stopped.

"What on earth?" Evelyn was perplexed. She hadn't pulled on the reins. The horse had halted on its own and now it was staring at the pool.

"What's gotten into you?" Evelyn poked with her heels, but the sorrel just stood there. She didn't know what to make of it. The sorrel had never acted this way. She jabbed her heels harder, but all the sorrel did was bob its head. Annoyed at the delay, she slapped her legs and lashed the reins. The sorrel took a few steps-and stopped.

"You're being contrary," Evelyn complained. She lashed the reins again, but the sorrel wouldn't move. She stared at the water and noticed the same eddies as elsewhere. Could they be minnows? she wondered. Or maybe frogs? She remembered once after a heavy spring rain seeing a lot of frogs.

Evelyn tried yet again to coax the sorrel forward. "Come on, boy. I want to see Dega."

The sorrel bobbed its head and nickered.

Evelyn was losing her patience. There was only one explanation. Some horses didn't like water. She'd never had cause to think the sorrel was one, but that must be the case. She smacked him and whipped him with the reins and he walked into the pool and once again stopped.

Evelyn felt a shaking sensation. With a start, she realized the sorrel was trembling as if cold or afraid. When it turned its head toward the forest, she turned hers. She figured it must have caught the scent of a bear or a mountain lion. But when she followed the direction of its gaze it hit her that the sorrel wasn't interested in the woodland; it was staring at the pool.

"You're not afraid of a few fish, are you?" Since force hadn't worked, Evelyn resorted to kindness. Bending, she patted the sorrel's neck and spoke soothingly. "There, there. Come on, big fella. You're a good horse. Move those legs of yours. You're keeping me from my man."

The sorrel trembled.

"This is plain stupid," Evelyn declared. She slapped her legs once, twice, three times, and the sorrel edged ahead as if it were walking through brambles. She was pleased, but she was also mad that it was moving so slowly. "I don't have all day."

To her dismay the sorrel once again stopped.

Evelyn glanced down. The water was above the sorrel's hooves. Everywhere there were the strange eddies. Again she tried to get the sorrel to move, but it refused. She was mad and confused. She went to slap her legs as hard as she could and happened to glance down just as the head of a snake rose out of the water near the sorrel's front leg and swam past.

Evelyn gasped. She recognized what kind it was; a rattlesnake. Scarcely breathing, she leaned down as far as she dared while clinging to the saddle and peered intently at the movement in the water. Her eyes were slow to adjust to the blend of light and shadow but when they did, fear spiked through her. Those weren't fish. Those weren't frogs. They were snakes. Lots and lots of snakes. And G.o.d help her-as near as Evelyn could tell, they were all rattlesnakes.

Evelyn straightened and sat perfectly still. No wonder the sorrel didn't want to move. The horse somehow knew. She looked down, wondering what she should do. The sorrel was only a little way into the water. If she could reach the clear strip that fringed the lake, they would be all right. But which way should she go? Forward or back?

Evelyn's mouth was dry. So many rattlesnakes, so many fangs, so much venom. Should the sorrel and she go down, they would be bitten to death within moments.

"Oh G.o.d."

Shifting, Evelyn stared at her brother's cabin. Maybe if she yelled he would hear and come to her aid. She opened her mouth but closed it again. Knowing Zach, he would come charging across the sh.o.r.e, through a dozen pools left by the rain, pools teeming with eddies and the serpents that made them.

"G.o.d," Evelyn said again. "What do I do?" She gazed longingly to the east where the Nansusequa lodge was partly visible in the shadow of the big trees. "Dega," she said.

The sorrel gave a hard shake.

Evelyn looked down and her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth. A large rattler was coiled around the sorrel's front leg and was slowly winding up it. She gripped the reins with both hands. She had forgotten her rifle and was glad she had. She could predict what would happen next, and it did.

The sorrel whinnied and exploded into motion. It reared, kicking out with its front legs, seeking to kick off the rattler. The snake slid partway down. Uttering another whinny, the sorrel burst into motion. It was clear of the water in a few bounds and on the clear strip, but it didn't stay there. It veered away from the lake toward the woods-and toward another, larger, pool.

Evelyn clung on for dear life. She tried to turn but the horse was in a panic. The rattler had fallen off its leg. She wondered if the sorrel had been bitten and prayed not. In front of them loomed the pool. She hauled on the reins with all her might but it had no effect. The sorrel galloped headlong into the pool. Water-and snakes-went flying. The water rose fully a foot, hardly enough to deter a full-grown horse. Beyond the pool was a short stretch of open ground. Evelyn had hopes the sorrel would make it if it kept moving fast enough.

Without any warning, the sorrel stopped in the middle of the pool.

"What are you doing?" Evelyn slapped her legs. The water around them was alive.

The sorrel snorted and wouldn't budge.

"Please," Evelyn said, and slapped again. She might as well be trying to get a log to move.

All the sorrel did was shake.

Evelyn didn't blame it. Her skin was crawling. She saw a triangular head break the surface and swim toward them and dip from sight. She couldn't begin to imagine how many snakes there must be.

A pebble's toss away the biggest head yet broke the surface. It rose a good foot and the forked tongue flicked at them and went on flicking as the rattlesnake approached.

The sorrel saw the snake. Its eyes were mirrors of fear. It shook so violently that Evelyn gripped its mane.

The rattlesnake glided closer. It made no sound other than the soft, wet swish of its body cleaving the water.

Evelyn drew one of her pistols. She pointed the heavy flintlock with both hands and thumbed back the hammer. She was nowhere near as good a shot as her brother or her pa or even her ma, but the snake was near enough that she was confident she could hit it. She took a deep breath and held the air in as her father had taught her and aimed at the blunt head and held the pistol as steady as she could. The snake wasn't more than an arm's length from the sorrel. "Please let me hit it," Evelyn said, and fired.

The flintlock belched smoke and lead. To her delight her aim was true. The ball struck the rattler in the head and the head blew apart like a small melon, spattering skin and flesh. The body went into a paroxysm of convulsions.

And the sorrel bolted.

Evelyn had no inkling of what it was about to do. One instant it was motionless, the next it was hurtling pell-mell toward the trees. Instinctively, she grabbed at the reins and the mane. To grip them she had to let go of the flintlock and it fell with a splash.

The sorrel broke out of the pool onto the wet ground.

Holding fast, Evelyn looked down-and almost swooned. Rattlesnakes were wrapped around both front legs and one of the back legs. She saw heads whip and fangs sink in. A terrible certainty gripped her.

The horse veered and another pool barred their way. Without slowing, the sorrel barreled into it. It proved to be the deepest pool yet; the water rose as high as the sorrel's belly. It roiled, and not from the sorrel. Rattlesnakes were everywhere, writhing and twisting. Many attacked the intruder.

Evelyn couldn't help herself. She screamed.

The sorrel slowed. It staggered. Head low, it lurched toward solid ground.

"You can do it," Evelyn coaxed. "Just a little farther." She glanced at the Nansusequa lodge, so distant it might as well be on the moon. "Oh, Dega," she said.

The sorrel stumbled.

A rattlesnake arced at Evelyn's left leg, and she jerked her leg clear. The snake missed and fell back. All she could do was hold on and pray as the sorrel grew weaker and weaker.

The last few feet, the horse could barely stand. Evelyn exhaled in relief when it was clear of the water and kicked to get it to trot. Instead, the sorrel gave a last whinny and pitched onto its side.

Evelyn tried to push clear, but she wasn't fast enough. She uttered a cry of her own as the sorrel crashed down. For a few seconds she lay paralyzed with pain and fright. Then she turned her head toward the pool.

A rattler was slithering toward her.

Chapter Fifteen.

Emala Worth felt as snug as a bedbug in a blanket. Although she abhorred bed bugs, just like she did most every other bug. To her way of thinking bugs made no sense. They bit people and crawled on people and got into food. She couldn't for the life of her understand how they fit into the Almighty's scheme of things, but since he had made them, they must have a purpose.

Surprised at her near-blasphemous thought, Emala rolled onto her side to stare at the window.

The rain had finally stopped, the storm finally ended. For a while there, when the elements were fiercely battering their cabin, Emala had been half afraid it would buckle from the ferocity of the storm. But the walls and ceiling held, and with the door shut and a blanket over the window, not much rain got in. It had puddled some under the window, but that was all.

Everyone was resting. Samuel was on the blanket beside her. Randa was on another over by the wall and Chickory was stretched out near the door. Emala looked at each of her children and her heart was filled to overflowing with her love for them. They were everything to her.

Her new home counted for a lot, too. Emala loved the cabin. It was much more s.p.a.cious than their shack on the plantation. A lot st.u.r.dier, too. She couldn't wait for Samuel to build some furniture; a table and chairs for the family to sit and eat, and a rocking chair for her, and a bed. Three beds, actually, since Randa and Chickory were too old to sleep together.

A good wide bed for Samuel and her. She tingled at the prospect. Next to singing and eating, one of the things she liked most was nighttime. Nothing beat that wonderful feeling of being snuggled, warm and cozy.

Emala closed her eyes. She wanted to rest a bit more. But everyone would be there soon to eat and have fun and she had to get up and see that the dirt floor was smooth and tidy.

That was another thing. They needed a wood floor. She would speak to Samuel about it just as soon as he stopped snoring. She marveled that he had slept through the storm. That man could sleep through anything.

Over by the door, Chickory Worth was feeling restless. He'd wanted to stand at the window and watch the rain and the lightning, but his ma made him lie down and try to get some sleep like they were doing. He heard his mother moving, and then a sound pierced the stillness. He sat up. "Did you hear that?"

"The thunder far off?" Emala said.

"No. It was a shot." Chickory stood. "I'm sure it was a shot."

"Maybe Mr. King or Mr. McNair shot somethin' to eat," Emala said. "I hope it was one of them elks. I am growin' powerful fond of elk meat."

Chickory stepped to the window and moved the blanket. The sky was clearing, the gray giving way to blue. The air smelled fresh, and was on the chill side. He shivered slightly.

Water covered much of the ground up to several inches deep and appeared to be deeper off toward the gully. Chickory reckoned it would all soon drain away. As he stared, the water rippled as if moved by the wind but he couldn't feel a breeze. "I want to go out and look around, Ma."

"Whatever for? You'll track mud into our new house."

"I'll wipe my feet before I come in."

Emala sighed. The boy always had an answer. "You don't go far, you hear? The Kings and everybody will be here soon and I want you inside when they come."