“Nicholas?” The idea was so odd that Birdie had to smile. “There’s not a false bone in his whole body.”

“I don’t know exactly what he suspects,” Ma said. “It may have to do with Nicholas or perhaps with Harper. But it certainly has something to do with the orchard. Jemima tried before to take the orchard away from Callie’s father. To Levi I think that was just as terrible a crime as what happened to his mother and little brother.”

Birdie thought of asking again about Levi’s brother who had died in an accident at the mill, but she decided that it wasn’t the right time.

“He loves the orchard,” Birdie had to agree.

“He has put everything into it,” Ma said. “After his older brother died it was the orchard, the work in the orchard that kept him from losing his mind.”

“But why would Jemima even want it anymore?” Birdie asked. “Half the trees got swept away in the flood. All they’ve got now are the Spitzenbergs and a lot of ‘maybe’ trees.”

“I don’t know that Jemima does want the orchard,” her ma said. “But history has shown us that it’s dangerous to underestimate her.”

“So you think Levi’s right to distrust Nicholas?” She had been wanting to ask this question, but it came up and out of her mouth before she could think of better wording.

“No,” her ma said. “I don’t think there’s any reason to dislike Nicholas or to be suspicious of him. Callie has tried to convince Levi that the boy is no threat, but his distrust hasn’t given way yet.”

“It’s sad,” Birdie said, and got one of her mother’s gentle smiles.

“It is very sad,” Elizabeth agreed. “And for the moment at least there’s nothing you or I can do to help. Levi must work this out for himself.”

That night Elizabeth told Nathaniel about this conversation after the lights had been put out, while they floated in the calm time before sleep. There was a light rain falling and the air was crisp and sweet, but it was also very dark.

She raised a hand and couldn’t see it, even when she touched her nose to her palm. In all her years in the endless forests she had never been comfortable on nights like these. But that was the difference between a grand house with two dozen servants—including one who did nothing but care for candles and oil lamps, as had been the case in her girlhood at Oakmere—and this place. Her place.

“You’re very quiet,” she said after a while.

“I’m thinking it through, Boots. You want me to talk to Levi?”

“No,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Things are complicated enough as it is.”

“Not that you need to go looking for things to worry about,” Nathaniel said. “But I heard Callie and Martha arguing about the boy. Martha was coming out of the trading post and Callie was going in, and they were having one of those arguments where women whisper at each other and you can hear every word ten yards off.”

There was a longer silence, and Elizabeth poked him.

“Boots,” he said, catching her hand. “Hold on, I’m just trying to organize my thoughts. Callie wants to take the boy in, and Martha don’t like the idea. And before you ask, I can’t say what Martha was worried about, because she never came out with it. They caught sight of me and that was the end of the conversation.”

“You just left it like that?”

She could almost hear him smiling. “You wanted me to run after Martha and demand more information?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Yes it is.”

“All right, maybe I do mean something like that. It would have been—”

“Nosy?”

She pinched this time, and hard enough to make him hiss. “Ow. Boots, play fair.”

“Fair play,” Elizabeth echoed, “is very hard when you don’t even know what game it is you’re caught up in.”

The bed creaked as he rolled to look up toward the ceiling. He said, “I wish you could just put down that worry basket you carry around with you, for a while at least. You got Daniel married off—”

“I didn’t have anything to do with that!”

“—and he’s going to let Hannah stick him full of pins to see if that might help him some. Ethan is settled too and it looks like things are coming along right well for him and Callie. Hannah and Curiosity both say Lily is healthy and there’s no sign of trouble—”

“Of course, but—”

“Even Birdie is calmed down for right now, at least. Can’t you do the same? Just put it all aside and enjoy what we’ve got. All the children nearby, everybody healthy, a couple new grandchildren on the way, crops in the ground, and a willing husband in your bed.”

Elizabeth let her breath go in a long sigh. “What was that last part again? I didn’t quite catch it.”

“Come on over here, Boots,” he said, “and I’ll spell it out for you.”

Chapter XLIX

Martha had many things to be thankful for, and one of them was that Daniel didn’t expect her to rise when he did. He left their bed at dawn or even earlier, and went about his business while she slept on. At first it had seemed a kindness, but then she realized she didn’t like waking alone.

This Saturday morning she woke slowly, stretching in the puddle of sunlight that poured over the bed. Her first thought was of Daniel, and where he might be.