Lone Pine Bride (The Brides of Lone Pine #1)(14)

She lifted the cat out and cuddled it. Rex walked across and gave it a stroke. “I’ll get the Reverend to take it,” he said. “The family have gone to the vicarage. Thank you.”

Hannah looked back at Seth who was just straightening. “It would have got out,” she said. “But it’s better that it goes to its family.”

“It is.” Seth stretched before walking on, lowered his arms and frowned. “Sorry.”

“For what?” she asked.

“Putting my arms up. We’ve been working for hours in the heat and I shouldn’t have done that.”

She smiled and reached into her pocket. Taking out a little jar she opened the lid and held it out. “Rub under your arms with that,” she said. “Do you have a handkerchief?”

“Yes.”

He took a clean one from his pocket and she dipped it in the cream. “Rub hard,” she said and reached for a hankie to do the same. She took out another tiny container. “Now rub a bit of that on you. It may smell a bit feminine for a few minutes but the aroma will pass.”

“I’d rather smell feminine than horrible,” he said, thinking of Rachel. He had to be sweet smelling for her and he always was careful about cleanliness, even to showering two or three times a day. But here there was no water, not even a lake. He rubbed on the ointment, took off his shirt and smelt it.

“That’s alright,” he said and she wished she could do the same. But she had been surreptitiously making sure she was clean and her sleeves were fortunately loose. She also did not wear a dress with the fashionable bustle, which she didn’t like, anyway. Now she was glad because she did not need to be hampered in any way.

The gown she had chosen to wear when she arrived was a pretty blue. It wasn’t too pale which she was pleased about now because she had to keep kneeling on the ground and sometimes lying on it. The dress was now grubby, as were Seth’s pants and shirt. But he still looked handsome, she thought, and she hoped her Seth would be fussy about cleanliness. Which he was, of course, because he mentioned that.

They worked all day and when evening came nobody wanted to stop. Pulling people out of debris took a long time and was dangerous as pieces of brick kept falling. If the house was not totally flattened the danger of the walls coming down and roof tiles falling was very real.

Lamps were brought by Reverend Barnsley, hundreds of lamps which he obtained from the residents of Lower Pine, he said. He kept taking people out of the village, some of them injured though many of them miraculously unhurt. How any of those who were buried survived, Hannah was not sure.

“You must be tired,” Seth said when they paused for a few minutes at three in the morning to have a drink and a piece of cheese the Reverend had brought to give everyone. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back with the Reverend? He only has a few people to take in the wagon this time.”

She looked at him with a frown creasing her forehead and her tone was a bit sharp as she replied. “I don’t keep asking you that. A woman is as capable as a man to keep going.”

His reply was apologetic. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you have only just arrived and it seems unfair for you to work so hard.”

“It makes no difference whether I just arrived or not,” she replied. “I’m not leaving until we’re sure everyone is safe. And don’t tell me I’m a wonderful woman,” as he opened his mouth to speak. “We’re all doing what we should be doing, whether we’re male or female.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he said, perfectly aware that he would have said something at least similar.

She raised her eyebrows. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt though I’m not sure you’re being truthful.” She downed the last few drops of her drink and took it over to where there was a box in which the drinks had been brought to them. “Shall we carry on now?”

“Yes, of course.” She was an outspoken woman, Seth thought, but then so was his mother though maybe she was a bit more tactful. Rachel would be tactful, he was sure, and would she be asleep now? She would because she had the sense to go back to Lower Pine when asked, which was more sense than this lady had.

But Hannah was more than kind, was his next thought, because she couldn’t bear to think of anyone being trapped, which Rachel was too. She was just obviously more delicate and he couldn’t wait to meet her.

But there was still a lot more to do and they had to get on with doing it. Hannah made for the next house and called down. The last of five houses and other people were dealing with the rest.

She called loudly but there was no reply, much to Seth’s relief. That meant there was no-one here. But was that the case because the man who lived here was not taken off his list? He lay on the ground near to a tiny opening in a flattened window and shouted loudly.

“Is anyone in there?”

Hannah lay beside him, her head very close to his as she listened carefully. Her hair smelt nice, he thought irrelevantly, and immediately felt guilty. He shouldn’t be thinking that and Rachel would also smell nice. Inside he heard a faint sound.

“It’s a dog whining,” Hannah said. “How many people live in this house?”

Seth looked at his list. “One man. He’s over eighty. He and Esmé have been friends since their husband and wife died and they spoke of marrying. It seems rather old to marry but if it makes them happy it’s a good thing.”