Against Her Will

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"Tempy, we're hungry!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Well I'm baking the cake just as quickly as I can," Temperance assured the impatient girl. She glanced at the table and saw Charlotte poised with a spoon above the bowl of butter cream icing Temperance had spent a half of an hour making. "Don't you dare, Char," she warned.

The girl gave a guilty grin, dropped the spoon and ran out of the cabin with a laugh.

"Do you think mama will like the cake we baked her?" Jessica inquired, tapping her toes impatiently as she stared at the cook stove.

"Well it is her birthday," Temperance replied with a grin. She tweaked the girl's nose, "Everyone must have a cake on their birthday. Now why don't you go on out and help mama hang her laundry? She shouldn't have to work so hard today."

Temperance woke from her dreams of the past and glanced around the empty cabin. A quick check of the clock told her it was seven in the morning. Sunlight was shining in through the window and Temperance moved her face into the glow--allowing it to warm her.

She'd been alone here for a week. She should have gone to town by now but she simply couldn't bring herself to leave.... This was home and all her memories were here. She could remember reading to Jessica and Charlotte late at night in their loft bed. She could remember singing songs with mama in front of the fire. She could remember mama teaching her how to knit and sew as they talked about life long after the younger girls had gone to bed.

Tears slipped down Temperance's cheeks. She wanted her family back.

Temperance rose from the couch and swiped the backs of her hands across her cheeks to dry them. Her dream of cakes had made her hungry and so she decided to bake one--everyone must have a cake on their birthday.

Today Temperance turned sixteen. Normally her birthday would have meant a new dress hand sewn by mama, cards made by Jessica and Charlotte and a cake with her name written across it. Her family would have sung to her and pampered her all day.... But not this year.

She went into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards gathering all she needed for a cake. She was just tying on her apron when she heard a noise outside... it had sounded like hoof beats.

A visitor?

Temperance rushed to the window and glanced outside. There was a man. He hopped off the horse and held the reins loosely in his hands. "Hello the house!" he called out.

Temperance glanced at the door and realized she hadn't locked it. The man would probably let himself in if she didn't do it for him. It wasn't unusual for someone passing through to end up here--her mama had always been quick to help strangers. She would say that at some point in our lives we all need help and we need to aide one another.

At least this way Temperance may have someone to share her birthday cake with. She went to the door and opened it, "Hello, sir."

The man's gaze fell on her hard. His eyes swept her up and down. Temperance shifted uneasily. He was an ugly man and very dirty. His cold smile revealed rotten teeth beneath a scraggly brown mustache and his pockmarked face was covered in a patchy beard. He had eyes so dark they were nearly black as they scanned her. He was heavy around the middle beneath his sweat stained and wrinkled clothing.

"Well hello there, miss. Are your parents home?"

Despite his looks, his voice sounded nice and polite enough. Temperance had always been taught not to judge a book by its cover and so she offered a friendly smile as she shook her head. "A sickness took my family, sir. You may not want to come in here--it may still linger."