The Fire in Ember - DiAnn Mills [13]
John watched to see how the kid reacted; Bert could have been abused in the past and might need some special care.
“We’ll save Mama the trouble of washin’ our clothes.” Aaron unbuttoned his shirt and began tugging it over his arms. “Come on, Bert. Teasing aside, I’ll teach you how to swim. It’s not hard once you get the hang of it.”
John listened and cringed at Mark’s use of the word “hang.” Not a good choice.
“And I’ll help him get rid of those smelly clothes.” Mark splashed toward him.
“No. Please no.” Bert struggled to get free of Aaron. “John, help me.”
The desperation in the boy’s voice captured John’s attention. “Bert, no one wants to hurt you.”
Mark grabbed Bert’s shirt, and Aaron grabbed the suspenders.
“No, please. Stop. I beg of you. I’m not a boy!” Bert’s last shriek could have been heard on the other side of the Rockies, but the silence it brought left them all speechless. Aaron and Mark immediately released the kid as though they’d touched hot coals.
John moistened his lips. “What did you say?”
“I’m not a boy.” Bert’s voice came like a whisper.
“So you’re a girl?”
She stood up to her full five feet and planted her hands on her hips. Water dripped from every inch of her. “If I’m not a boy then I reckon I’m a girl.”
John started to laugh. And when he did, his brothers took to laughing too. He sat on the soft grass nursing his sides and stomach. “Poor Bert, and here I was worried about you being sick. When were you going to tell us the truth?”
When Bert didn’t respond, John’s mind whipped into a gallop. A girl running alone? A girl who’d deceived him? A girl who refused to give him her last name — or her first name for that matter. “What kind of trouble have you brought to my family?”
“I hope none.” The fear in her eyes stopped him from saying more.
John stood from the creek bank. His troubles over one scrawny boy had just doubled. No, tripled. “I think you need to get to the house.”
Bert waded out of the water. She snatched up the towel and the clean clothes on the bank. Catching her gaze, he saw the pain of something he couldn’t describe in those huge brown eyes. But he wasn’t about to get soft on a girl who’d lied to him and his family.
“I’m sorry.”
John fished for something intelligent to say, but all of his words had drowned in the creek.
“And I didn’t steal Oberlander’s horse.”
Then his anger kicked to the surface. “I’m supposed to believe that when nothing you’ve said has been true?”
She walked straight up to him, barely coming up to his chest. “Suppose not. Do you want me to leave or stay and work off my debt?”
John peered out at his brothers and caught Evan’s eye. His near-man of a brother gave half a nod. “We’ll talk about your future after a family meetin'.”
“I can be gone before you’re finished here.”
John pressed his lips together and lifted her chin with a finger. “Little lady, if you aren’t at the house when I get back, I’m coming after you. And that’s a promise.”
Leah watched Bert stomp toward the house. Curiosity moved her to the front porch with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“You’ve taken your bath already?”
Bert frowned. “Not exactly. I’m wet though.”
Leah eyed the boy up and down. “I can see that. What happened?”
Bert ran his tongue over his lips, then stared at her. “I confessed to something.”
“Then you’d better tell me.” Leah sat down on the porch steps and patted the wooden plank beside her. “Sit down, Bert. We’re going to have a come-to-Jesus meetin'.”
“I don’t understand.” He hadn’t moved a step. But when Leah gestured again for him to sit, he complied.
“Best begin talking because the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be.” Once Bert took his place beside her, she took his hand.
“I’m not a boy.”
Leah had been right. “Is that so?” For a moment, she thought he, or rather she, might cry. “Anything else you want to tell me?”
Bert swallowed.