Stay With Me by Beverly Long

behind her defiant attitude. The slump of
Fred’s shoulders, however, told her now wasn’t the time or place to
unravel the mystery.
    “How about we go inside,” Sarah said, “and
let your father get into the field?”
    “I want to go fishing,” Thomas declared.
    Visions of yesterday’s near drowning came
back in a hurry. “Maybe later,” Sarah said.
    “Pleeeease,” Thomas drew the word out. Missy
tugged on her skirt, looking confused. Thomas saw it and fell on
the ground, flapping his arms and legs, with one finger stuck down
his throat, in imitation of a hook. Missy smiled, a big wide grin.
She, too, fell to the ground, flopping around like a fish.
    Helen, for once acting like the little girl
she was, laughed and pretended to reel Thomas in by pulling on his
hair. Sarah was wise enough to know when she was beaten. “Fine,
we’ll fish. But I’m not cleaning them.”
    ***
    In the end, none of them cleaned fish. The
four rainbow trout stayed in the bucket, forgotten, when the hot,
tired, and sunburned group returned home and found an empty buggy,
drawn by a single white and gray speckled horse. They walked inside
and saw a young woman sitting at the head of the kitchen table.
    “Hello,” Sarah said, shifting the
still-sleeping Missy in her arms. The woman stared at Sarah and
then at each of the three grubby children.
    Sarah glanced at Helen. The little girl
seemed surprised but not frightened. Thomas just looked curious.
Had Sarah One known this woman? She smiled at the visitor, hoping
to get a clue.
    The woman, her silk dress rustling, stood.
She stared somewhere over Sarah’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to intrude,” she said.
    The woman had absolutely gorgeous hair. Dark
brown with just a hint of auburn, it hung almost to her waist, in
gentle waves. Her peaches and cream complexion made Sarah want to
reach up and cover the freckles on her own nose.
    “You’re not intruding.” Sarah walked over to
the children’s bed and carefully laid Missy on it. She straightened
up, rubbing her back. “We’ve been fishing.”
    “I…I was worried about the children.” The
woman busied herself with brushing invisible lint off her dress.
She picked up her small beaded purse from the table. “I’ve got to
be going.” She took two steps toward the door before stopping. She
finally made eye contact with Sarah, looking quite miserable.
“Would you be so kind,” she asked, her voice unsteady, “as to tell
Fred that Suzanne stopped by.”
    Suzanne. It had to be the mysterious
Miss Suzanne of the pretty dresses. The woman who could make Fred
blush and stammer. Sarah took a chance. “My name is Sarah. I’m in
town for a couple days. Fred needed someone to watch the children
and I needed a couple extra dollars.”
    “You’re staying just a few days?”
    “That’s right,” she answered. “Just until the
next stage passes through.”
    Suzanne looked around the small cabin, her
eyes settling on the empty bed directly across the room from where
Sarah had put Missy. One of Fred’s huge shirts lay on top of the
pillow. “I don’t see your bags.”
    Sarah pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m
not staying here.”
    Suzanne smiled. It was a slightly lopsided
grin that made her look very young. “That’s wonderful,” she said.
With a self-conscious gesture, she pushed her hair behind her
ear.
    Sarah looked at Helen and Thomas who still
hung close to the door. “Why don’t the two of you go outside and
play. I want an opportunity to get to know Suzanne.”
    Thomas nodded and left without a word. Helen
looked from Suzanne to Sarah, frowning at both of them.
    Suzanne smiled at the girl, clearly trying to
win her over. “Helen, it’s nice to see you again.”
    “I don’t know why either of you have to be
here,” Helen said, her hands on her hips. “We were doing fine on
our own.”
    It didn’t take a genius to see that Helen
wanted to be the woman of the house. Sarah turned her back to