Effie crawled back into the sagging bed and tried to steady her breathing. The drifting away squeaks of the buggy whined in her ears. Rev. Jackdaw knew how much being alone in the wild scared her, but he didn’t care. His rejection was no different than Jury’s. She didn’t love him, though he’d rescued her and married her. She owed him for that, but he also had a duty to keep her safe. How could he do that from miles away? Pa had been only half a mile away when Injuns massacred his family.
She grabbed the black cloth. Only large enough to swathe a baby’s coffin, it covered just her head and shoulders. Beneath it, she bit her lip. Not even her body could keep a man, though she always submitted to Rev. Jackdaw. Having him work on top of her was worse than hoeing beans in August heat, but she
