Carol Arens - Rebel with a Heart

“Stars shine bright, sleep tight tonight,” he repeated, dusting off the phrase and polishing it. Amazingly, he began to get sleepy.

Behind his eyelids he saw young Lilleth in the woods.

Summer heat shimmered off the ground even though it was hours after sundown. Leaves on the trees drooped, looking wilted under the light of a full moon.

She ran toward Red Leaf Pond holding the hem of her white nightgown in her fists.

She didn’t appear to see him sitting on the rotting tree trunk at the edge of the pond. She must have been trying to escape the heat, just as he was.

His own ma and pa didn’t mind their boys running loose after dark. His sister complained to high heaven, but she was a girl, and therefore confined to the safety of home.

But Lilleth didn’t live by those rules. Her mother wouldn’t care that she was out, even if she knew.

Just now, Lils ran barefoot and free. Her red hair streamed out behind her, winking at the moon.

At the water’s edge she waded in past her ankles, then began to lift her shift, clearly intending to draw the thin, worn fabric over her head.

“Hey, Lils!” He stood up quickly and strode into the moonlight. “Mind if I come in, too?”

She dropped the hem of her nightgown and grinned at him. “I’ll race you to the middle,” she called.

She waited for him to strip to his underdrawers before she dived in. She didn’t need a head start, for she swam like a tadpole.

They met in the center, circling around each other and laughing. Moonlight dappled the surface of the pond where they kicked and splashed.

“Oh.” Lilleth ducked under the water, then surfaced again. “The day’s been blistering. This feels so good.”

“Yeah, but Lils, you shouldn’t be out by yourself at night. It’s not safe.”

“Safer than home, I guess.” She brushed her hand across her face, sluicing water from her eyes and nose. “Mama has a new man and Beth and I haven’t got him figured out yet. Besides, I’m not alone, you’re here.”

“I might not have been.” He ducked under the water and came up blowing out a mouthful, pretending to be the spout of a fancy fountain. “What if Horn and Pard Higgins are slinking about?”

“Well, they aren’t. And you are here.”

With that she flipped beneath the water and grabbed hold of his feet. She yanked him under. He caught her around the middle, feeling ribs under cotton, and then hoisted her up. He surfaced in time to see her flying through the air, laughing and sputtering.

They played like that for a long time before Lils began to shiver and they swam for shore.

He put his clothes on while she wrung out her hair.

“I’ll walk you home,” he said.

“I’m going to run.” She flashed him a grin with pond water still speckling her lashes. “You won’t be able to catch up.”

“My legs are longer.”

“Mine are quicker.” She bounced up on her toes and pecked his cheek. “Stars shine bright, sleep tight tonight.”

Then she was off, a streak in the moonlight. He laughed out loud. His longer legs never were a match for her quicker ones, but at least he’d get there in time to see her close her front door safely behind her.

Trace twitched in his sleep. He groaned and woke up.

That night, he never did see Lils open her door. He heard her scream.

Bursting out of the woods, he saw the Higgins boys push Lilleth to the ground. Horn knelt over her, pinning her wrists to the parched earth. Pard laughed and called her obscene names.

Lils spat back oaths that would have sent ordinary mischief-makers running, but Pard and Horn weren’t ordinary. The twins fed off each other, one disrespectful and the other mean. Even adults kept out of their way.

Running full speed, Trace plowed into Horn, but didn’t see the jagged stick that Lils had gripped in her fist, ready to jab her assailant with.

He knocked Horn over. The bully slammed into his brother. Blood spurted, some from Horn’s ear and some from Pard’s nose.

It looked as if the boys didn’t care for having their own blood spilled, because they ran away crying and cursing. And a good thing, too, because Trace couldn’t have moved a muscle to protect Lilleth.

The stick that she had intended to jab Horn with now stuck out of his own chest. Blood pulsed from a long gash across his ribs. Lils looked like a blur leaning over him, pressing his wound and yelling at him. After a moment even her screams sounded like whispers.

Trace sat up in his chair and let his feet hit the cold floor. He’d been sick—close to death, he’d been told. Mostly, all he remembered was a visit from Lils.

She had come to his house weeping, and blowing a kiss at his scar. He told her he didn’t mind it, that the scar was bound to heal into an L, for Lils. She’d laughed and dried her tears.

That’s when she gave him a quick, sweet kiss on the lips, pressed his hand to her heart and vowed to marry him and only him.

Then, suddenly, she was gone, and no one knew where or even exactly when her mother had packed them off.

He’d been right about the scar. From that day until now, all he’d had of Lilleth was her initial across his heart.

* * *

Lilleth stepped cautiously onto the boardwalk. Ice crunched under her feet. Early morning sunshine peeked under her hat and gave the illusion of warmth even though her breath fogged in front of her face.

The storm had blown away with the dawn, and so had some of her worries. She couldn’t help it; she had to sing, if only under her breath.

Horton File, Realtor, had been the most agreeable of men. But then, who wouldn’t have been, receiving such an excessive amount of money to rent the only vacant house in Riverwalk?

Lilleth felt agreeable as well, even though she had been all but fleeced. She and the children had a place to live. A place that Mr. File had assured her was a lovely, furnished cabin tucked into the woods only steps from town.

The privacy of a cabin hidden among the trees was more than she had hoped for. The rent wouldn’t be a problem for the brief time they would live in Riverwalk. With luck, it would be only a month, maybe less, just until she figured out a way to free Bethany.

With sunshine smiling upon the town, Riverwalk appeared to be a charming place. Like many communities in South Dakota it was growing fast, filling with families and their commerce. Between the Realtor’s office and Clark’s lending library she had passed a dress shop, a barber and a baker.

It was only a couple of hours past sunrise and already the sign on the bakery door read Open for Business.

Clean morning air nipped her cheeks and filled her lungs. Lilly Gordon thoroughly enjoyed the quiet hours just after sunrise.

Lilleth Preston had performed her songs late into the night. Mornings typically found her with her head buried beneath her pillow.

She would miss seeing the sunrise once she returned to her life with Dunbar’s Touring Troupe.

Even more, she suspected she would miss the first fresh pastries of the day. She opened the door to Martha’s Baked Goods and was greeted by the aromas of cinnamon, vanilla and yeast.

She purchased four cinnamon buns drizzled with honey. The children would be thrilled with the treat.

Bethany would have provided her children with a healthy breakfast of eggs and milk.

But Lilleth wasn’t a mother, just an indulgent auntie who had never learned to cook. Life on the road, living from hotel to hotel with a group of traveling performers had never presented her the opportunity to learn.

Well, then, that would be one of her goals this month. By the time they rescued Bethany, the children would be eating meals that she had prepared with her own hands.

Lilleth warmed her fingers about the bag of baked goods and hurried the three doors down to Clark’s place, slipping, sliding and wobbling.

Clark had started a fire while she had been out. Warmth wrapped around her as soon as she stepped inside. Upstairs, she heard Jess’s footsteps and Mary’s good-morning coos.

Clark sat at his desk, head down on folded arms and fast asleep with a pair of glasses clutched in his fist. The poor man must be exhausted. He couldn’t have done more than doze in a chair all night.

“Clark,” she whispered. The familiarity of using his first name felt a little awkward, and a lot nice. “I’ve brought breakfast.”

He didn’t wake up, but his mouth lifted, revealing the barest hint of a dimple at one corner. My goodness, the man was appealing.

There was something about him that didn’t quite make sense. He was a complete bumbler, as likely to trip over his own feet as walk a steady line. Once in a while, though, he wasn’t.

Lilleth bent over to peer more closely at his face. She shouldn’t; he was nearly a stranger. She leaned another inch toward him. Something about him called to her. Why didn’t he seem like a stranger?

She had spent the night in his bed. That must be the reason.

He appeared to be dreaming. She watched his eyes move behind his lids. His lips compressed, then relaxed. Thick dark lashes twitched...they blinked.

Sleep-misted eyes opened wide and blue, then blinked again.

“Good morning, Lilly.”

By heavens, there was a dimple. And could she be any more of a ninny, staring and blinking back?

She straightened and backed up, holding the bag of cinnamon rolls between them. “I’ve brought breakfast.”

“Martha’s?” He rolled one shoulder, then the other, stretched...grinned and sat up. “I’m starved.”

An apology would have been called for, could she have found one appropriate to the situation. But just then Jess came downstairs with Mary in his arms.

“Morning, Ma, Mr. Clarkly. Is that sweets?” His eyes grew wide in anticipation. There were some things that Bethany would have to set straight later on. Her children’s diet being the first. “I’m starved.”

“Sit down there on the rug in front of the fire,” Lilleth told him. Jess did so, placing himself between the hearth and his baby sister. “Careful with the crumbs.”

Lilleth sat on the rug and broke off small pieces of cinnamon bun, feeding them to Mary. Clark, with his glasses perched low on his nose, completed the circle. He sat beside her with his ankles crossed and his knees sticking out. He didn’t seem to notice that his left knee bumped into her right one.

Any other man would get a swift boot in the... But this was Clark, and chances were he was oblivious to where his limbs ended up.

“I have good news,” Lilleth announced, scooting beyond reach of Clark’s knee. “I’ve found us a place to live!”

“Why, that’s... Well, it’s...” For some reason it took an instant for his smile to reach his eyes. “Truly wonderful news. Where?”

“We’ll be neighbors, Clark. I’ve rented the cabin in the woods, just down the path behind the lending library.”

He choked on cinnamon and honey.

“That’s just...” He managed to catch his breath despite the crumbs still lodged in his throat. “I’m pleased as can be.”

But he wasn’t. And that was as clear as could be.

* * *

Trace stood on his back porch watching Lilleth and her brood, valises in hand, walking down the path that led into the woods. Cold sunshine winked on the snow and glinted off his fake glasses. He’d have to keep them on, though, even though the glare was making his eyes sting.

At the tree line, Lilleth turned and waved. The confident smile on her face wouldn’t last long. In another five minutes she would discover that her cozy, furnished cabin was barely fit to live in.