Lone Pine Bride (The Brides of Lone Pine #1)(8)

Linda Barnsley would look after them, Seth knew, and the noise of the earthquake had stopped, also the humping from the movement. What was horrifying was the rubble from the row of collapsed houses which went from one end of the village to the other.

By now the prospective bridegrooms and other men had arrived from Lower Pine in a few carts and were involved in the search for trapped people. The ladies were with his wife, the Reverend said, but the lady with Seth refused to go with him when he suggested it. Every available person was needed, she said, and how many people were there here? “About a hundred,” Seth replied. “There are round three hundred in Lone Pine.”

“That is a lot. We need to write down all their names so we can check if they have all been accounted for. Do you have a paper and pencil?”

He would write down a lot of things so he did and what she said was sensible. He had to stop being touchy when so much was at stake. “Yes,” he replied, taking it out.

“Good. Maybe you could write down all those who are already accounted for.” She moved towards the first house and called loudly. Quite musically, he noticed, despite the intensity of her tone, and she really was beautiful. Not half as dainty as Rachel but definitely outstanding. Her face was oval. She had a classic beauty which he had rarely seen. Her hair cascaded round her face where it had come loose.

She pushed it back before calling out again. “Is anybody down there?”

There was a faint moan from below and Seth pushed the pencil and paper into his pocket before he began to scrabble pieces of brick away. Mrs. Lillian Scrivener, he knew, and where was Bert? Probably out in the fields where he had a plot of land which he farmed. Not large but it covered their needs.

“I’m here,” Seth called out. “Is anyone else in the house? Where are the children?”

“They’re with me but Luke has knocked his head and isn’t responding when I speak to him. We’re trapped in a sort of space caused by the wall falling round us. There’s hardly any light and it’s terrifying.”

“Keep talking to him,” the lady said. “And try to stay next to something solid so the debris doesn’t collapse on top of you all. We’ll get to you as soon as we can.”

“We’re under a beam,” Lillian said. “It seems to be jammed solidly above us but I’m not at all sure that it is solid. I’m frightened to try to move anything in case it all collapses. It would probably be too heavy, anyway.”

“We need to move things a little bit at a time,” the lady said to Seth. “She’s right. If we go too fast it could collapse.”

“We’ll do that,” he replied. “Though I really think you should go with Reverend Barnsley. This is man’s work.”

“This is a human being’s work,” she replied. “Are you one of the husbands to be?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm.” He couldn’t quite define the sound but it had a wealth of meaning, all of which he rather felt was not particularly flattering. Rachel would be more polite than that and was she alright? He started to slowly lift the pieces of debris and the lady kept calling down to the woman below.

It took an hour to move what was above the little family and by this time Robert her husband had arrived and was helping them. Slowly, the lady told him, or he would do more harm than good. If they worked carefully they should be able to free them without any injury to them. He slowed down but the sweat poured from him while he worked, more, Seth felt, from worry than exertion. When they finally managed to make a hole big and deep enough for the little family to crawl out he was virtually crying.

He rubbed his eyes impatiently. The lady put her hand on his arm for a brief second. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “She’s a fortunate woman.”

“I’m the one who’s fortunate,” he said.

“How is Luke?” the lady asked.

“He’s talking now,” Luke’s mother replied.

“Good.” She looked at Seth. “Where can they go? They can’t stay out here.”

Seth looked down the road to where Reverend Barnsley was directing people into his wagon then at Robert. “The Reverend’s house is still standing so you could all go with him. Take them there and settle them and then could you come back and help us with the search? Would you mind, Lillian? We need all the men we can get to help rescue people.”

“I’ll take them,” Lillian said to Robert. “Send everyone to the Reverend’s house.” She looked around. “Nearly all the houses are flattened.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Robert asked.

“I’ll be fine.” She looked at the lady who was beginning to walk towards the next house. “You could come with us.”

“No. I’ll help with finding people. We need everyone we can get but you receiving them will be good.”

“Are you one of the new brides?”

“Yes.”

The lady walked away and Lillian turned with the children. Luke appeared to be alright, Seth was relieved to see, and how was his bride to be doing? At least she had the sense to let the men get on with the work. The little family went into the Reverend’s wagon and he pulled off. As he started out of the village the stagecoach drove in.

“I can take people back to Lower Pine,” the driver said, getting out.