‘He weren’t sure if our ma’s place be caught or not.’ She dabbed at her tears with a ragged handkerchief. ‘He be gone to find out what’s what. He’ll come tell me when he can.’
I doubted he would learn anything for quite some time, remembering the chaos after the fire ten years before. Nothing would be known until it was put out and the devastation cooled enough to be surveyed before the clearing could start. I prayed this fire would not prove so destructive. I wrote, ‘Your sister and her husband got her to safety, I’m sure.’ I knew they lived with Bess’s mother since her brother had gone into service but had never met them.
She found a wan smile from somewhere, nodding. ‘Yes. Yes, they would’ve.’
I pulled her close, touched by her trust in my words. Please God, the fire had not started
