Forever by Your Side (Willamette Brides #3) - Tracie Peterson Page 0,97
have to eat. You’ll make yourself sick, and what good will that do?”
“She’s right,” Faith declared, coming into the room. “Neither of you will be of any use to Connie, Isaac, or Tom if you are malnourished and dehydrated. As a physician, I’m ordering you both to the dinner table.” She smiled. “Please.”
Adam nodded. “We’re coming.” He stood and reached for Mercy’s hand. “Come on, we have to try. We won’t be any help if we’re both sick in bed.”
Mercy let Adam lead her into the dining room. He pulled out a chair for her, and she sat. She knew her nieces were right but wasn’t sure how she could eat when all she really wanted to do was cry.
Bedelia Clifton sat at Mercy’s left, and to Mercy’s surprise, the spinster reached over and took her hand. “Sister and I have been in prayer for you all morning. I know you must be afraid.”
Mercy nodded. “I am.”
“God laid a message on my heart for you, so I will share the verse I felt He wanted me to share.” She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. “It’s Isaiah forty-one, verse ten.”
The words were penned in the most beautiful script. Mercy read them to herself and then noticed everyone was watching, as if waiting for her to share.
She cleared the emotion from her throat. “‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’”
“Amen,” Adam said. “Those are the exact words we needed to hear, Miss Clifton.” He looked around the table. “We’re so grateful for all of you and your prayers.”
“I believe we should offer up a special one,” Seth declared. “When we pray together, it seems to add strength, and I, for one, have benefited from those prayers. Adam, if you would permit me, I’d like us to offer up our prayers for you and your family—here and now.”
“Of course,” Adam replied, looking to Mercy.
She nodded and glanced around the table at the family and new friends who so willingly offered to support them in this way. “Thank you.”
Chapter 23
You can’t kill him, Clint.” Connie stared down Clint and the gun as if she were defending her own brother. “Sam is a good man, and he just lost his wife and son.”
Clint snorted. “Good. Then he can join them, and we’ll be rid of yet another Indian.”
“You must have some compassion left in you, Clint. You can’t go on like this. The army already knows what you’ve done, and the government is taking charge. You need to cooperate so they’ll have mercy on you.”
“They’re not going to have mercy on me, Connie. I’ve killed men and arranged for the murder of others. I killed your cousin’s first husband when he threatened to stop helping me and ordered her second husband beaten. Did you know that? I planned for Seth Carpenter to be killed at the hospital once he started to recover, but your two cousins moved him home so they could take care of him, putting a stop to my plans. So you see, there is no reason for me to cooperate, only to be hanged.”
“But perhaps if you put a stop to all of this, I can tell the court you showed compassion, and maybe they won’t hang you.”
“I’ve committed treason. They aren’t going to care that I held back from killing one Indian. You should have never come back here, Connie.”
“I had to.” She looked at Clint. His eyes were wild with hate. “I had to help Tom. I love him. That’s what people do when they love someone.”
He laughed. “You love anyone you think might show you the slightest bit of attention. Even when you first arrived here, I could see that you were questioning your feelings for me. That’s why I played on them. It was just a game, but an amusing one. I actually did think about the benefits I might get, but then I remembered that Indian blood of yours. I couldn’t see myself married to a squaw.” He paused and looked as though he’d just gotten the most brilliant idea. “Say, maybe Sam could marry you! Because after Tom finds out that you’re part Indian, he’s not going to want you any more than I do. No decent white man will ever want you.”
Sam suddenly shoved Connie aside. The next thing she knew, the