Riverbreeze: Part 3 by Ellen E. Johnson Read Free Book Online

give them a drink. Hopefully, Robert will never see.”
    “Hopefully.” Evelyn repeated.
    As it was, Robert never did see the bowl being used by the dogs and the bowl made it through the afternoon with nary a scratch or chip.
    Nibbling on an apple slice of her own, Elizabeth finally asked Evelyn about inviting Helen Boyle to join them. Evelyn was reluctant at first, but after watching Helen for a minute or two all by herself and being reminded that they were brought up to be generous and kind people, she finally agreed.
    It turned out that Helen was a very interesting person with a tragic story that was all too familiar these days. She joined Elizabeth and Evelyn on their quilt, still wrapped in her own quilt, grateful for the company, and soon she was sitting in a circle with Abigail, Emily, Alison, Nicole and the twins.
    “I do so appreciate your inviting me to join you.” Helen said, dabbing her face with a soggy handkerchief. Four of the women offered her theirs. She accepted Abigail’s who happened to be sitting the closest. “Thank you ever so much. You are all so kind.” More tears spilled down her blotchy face.
    Abigail leaned over to give her a hug. And why not ? Elizabeth thought. The young woman was beautiful and of course Abigail would be attracted to her. Oh, I am so bad !
    “You’re new to the colony, aren’t you?” Abigail asked her. When Helen nodded her head, Abigail continued, “How long have you been here? I haven’t seen you in church yet.”
    Abigail would know that , Elizabeth thought.
    “My husband and I have only arrived three days ago. We bought the Newton farm on Kamiges Creek—“
    “Oh, my husband was interested in that place,” Elizabeth interrupted, “but he didn’t buy it.” She ended weakly when Helen glared at her for interrupting.
    “And this is the first social event we’ve been to.”
    “Welcome, Helen.” Nicole said kindly. “I understand you’ve had a bit of a rough time since arriving here, and ‘twill take some time for you to adapt, but I’m sure you’ll do fine. We’ve all dealt with difficult situations…” She smiled warmly, chuckled a little even, as she looked at all the women, including all of them, “but we all survived, haven’t we, ladies?”
    There was a chorus of nods and yeses. Elizabeth murmured her own yes while studying Nicole. How had she known that Helen had had a rough time since arriving? Unless, Robert Boyle had told Roger all about their situation when he had gone to record the transfer of deed with Roger. That must be how she knew.
    “Do you ever miss your homes in England?” Helen asked.
    “Of course we do.” Alison answered. “But most of us have lost our homes for one reason or another.”
    “Yes, I’ve heard that about most people here.” Helen wiped another tear at the corner of her eye. “That’s what happened to me.”
    “Tell us about it.” Abigail gently encouraged her. “’Tis best to talk about it, I believe.”
    “Oh yes.” Emily agreed. “Do tell us what happened. Was your home raided by the Roundheads?”
    Elizabeth thought that Emily put on a good show of sympathy, but in truth, she thought Emily was just plain curious. Elizabeth knew that Emily hadn’t lost her home in England. She had just been poor, horribly poor and without any prospects for marriage, when the opportunity came to board a ship bound for Virginia with the purpose of providing wives for the numerous single men, she jumped at the chance. And she had done very well for herself. She and Charles were quite prosperous.
    Another volley of shots delayed Helen’s story for a moment, but when all was fairly quiet again, she began.
    “Yes, they came early one morning in May without any warning although we knew it was a possibility. My father is a…” She stopped short to correct herself. “was a royalist and he had warned my mother and me. We lived in a small town outside of Bristol, you see, Clevedon, and there had been a lot of