Lone Pine Bride (The Brides of Lone Pine #1)(19)

“I promise.”

“I hate cooking. We have a cook but that isn’t why I hate it. My mother can cook and wanted to teach me but I always managed to escape when she got the urge to do so. I can cook eggs and make crisp bread in a pan though.”

“I do that,” Seth said.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. The bread gets all crisp and if you put a bit of fat in too it tastes delicious.”

“You can put other things in with the egg,” Hannah said.

“Bits of pork though I cook that first in the oven then cut bits off. Sometimes I add some cheese.”

“Do you have pigs?”

“No but I buy it from a farm nearby. I could do you some when we get to the farm because you must be hungry.”

“Thank you. That sounds nice.”

“What else don’t you like?” Seth asked.

“Sewing. Doing housework. Pretending to be a lady. All ladies are ladies, however little or much they have.”

“They definitely are,” Seth said, thinking of Rachel. She had very little but she was definitely a lady.

“I do hope your house is still standing.”

“Yes, but if it isn’t I’ll build it again.”

“You built it yourself?” Hannah asked with interest.

“Yes.” He hadn’t told Rachel that because he wanted her to think he had the money to get someone else to do it. Why, he wasn’t sure, but then why he had exaggerated a lot of things he also didn’t know. It was nice to be able to tell a woman the truth and not feel he had to try to impress her.

“That’s clever,” she said.

“Not that clever. I bought the land with a barn on it and lived in that for a while. That meant I could do the house slowly.”

“If I’d been here I could have helped you.” Hannah paused. “Well, maybe not. Seth might think it wasn’t ladylike.”

Seth definitely would think that, Seth thought, because he seemed to have definite ideas on what a lady should be. “Your help would have been appreciated,” he said out loud.

Hannah flexed her arm. “I’m quite strong.”

He looked at it with more appreciation than he felt he should. “You are. You were invaluable lifting rubble.”

Her expression saddened. “Twenty seven people died. It’s so sad and it must be worse for you because you know them all.”

“Not all but it is very sad,” Seth said. “Some of them were children.”

“It makes you realise how fragile life is, doesn’t it?”

He hadn’t had time so far to think about that, Seth thought, but she was right. “Yes. I wonder why God made the earth so there would be earthquakes.”

“Earthquakes have a reason,” Hannah said. “The study of them is called seismology but I’m sure you know that.”

“I don’t,” Seth replied.

“I read an article about it. Robert Mallet wrote it and he evidently coined the word seismology. He has done and is still doing studies on earthquakes and has published a few papers. I’d like to read them but I didn’t know how to get hold of them because he’s Irish and the papers would have been published in London.”

“You’re clever,” Seth said.

“Not really. I just like reading. Earthquakes have something to do with disturbances in the crust of the earth. Plates move, I think, so the earth can be more flexible. God created the world so He would have done it that way for a reason. What we need to do if we live where earthquakes occur is build houses which won’t collapse like the ones did today. They seemed to just cave in, that is, apart from the Reverend’s house and the others in Lower Pine. The Reverend’s house, Rex said, is made mostly of wood and you said yours is too. That is much better.”

“Yes.” Seth looked at Hannah thoughtfully. He never knew talking to a woman could be so interesting but then he didn’t really know any women well, except his mother and she was certainly intelligent.

“God expects us to use our brains, I’m sure.”

“I guess. We’re about to pass the farm of someone I know a bit. Would you mind if we stop by to see if they’re alright? Their house is made of wood but I’d like to be sure.”

“We should do that. What are their names?”

“Ronald and Sadie James. They don’t have any children because they married older. They’re a nice couple.”

Hannah reached up to smooth her hair. “I must look a mess.”

“Let your hair down,” Seth said. “And then I’ll pull it back if you want it back, only a bit looser. Or else you could just leave it down.”

She reached back to try to remove the string but it was stuck. Seth moved behind her. “It’s a bit tangled,” he said. “Shall I untie it?”

“Yes, please.”

He pulled it gently but it seemed to be firmly stuck. Some of the hairs came through the piece of string but not all. “I’ll have to get the hair through bit by bit,” he said.

“That’s alright. You don’t have to try to be gentle. I promise not to scream.”

He chuckled, something he could not recall doing for a while and which he had done a few times, despite the sadness and trauma of the day and night. He pulled the hair through a few strands at a time and the last few hairs would not disconnect from the string. Could he cut them with his knife, he asked.