Buckeye Dreams by Jennifer A. Davids Page A

treated such a sweet-natured girl, there was no way he would let her return to them.
    Katherine frowned and looked at Mary. “But what about the church and everyone in town?”
    “God can soften even the hardest heart.” His aunt smiled. “We’ll pray for them. Right now if you like.”
    At Katherine’s nod, they joined hands and Daniel led them in prayer, asking the Lord to bind up the wounds of war and heal people’s hearts.
    “Thank you, Daniel,” Mary said. “It’s time we started supper.” Grasping her crutch, she rose and made her way toward the kitchen.
    Katherine rose to follow her, but Daniel stood and laid a gentle hand on her arm. “How did you get that scar?”
    She reached up and laid her fingers against her scar before she answered. “I was trying to protect Chloe from my father’s whip. He struck me, and his signet ring caught the edge of my jaw.”
    “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry Reverend Warren’s visit wasn’t more encouraging.”
    Katherine bit her lip. “I wasn’t entirely surprised. People have been through a lot over the past four years.” A shy look passed over her face. “Thank you for praying with me.”
    “We can pray every evening if you’d like,” he offered.
    She smiled gently. “I’d like that.”
    Feeling a little foolish, he watched as she went into the kitchen. In his mind, he had hoped the peace that had begun at Appomattox would quickly spread to every heart in the Union. But the wounds of war ran deeper than he had imagined. He hadn’t realized how being away for four years had made him so out of touch with those back home.
    Bits of Mary and Katherine’s conversation floated in from the kitchen.
    Real peace needs to begin somewhere
. As far as Katherine was concerned, he resolved to be an example to those around him and go out of his way to make sure she always felt welcome in his home.

    A few days later, Katherine and Daniel were going about planting the kitchen garden next to the house. Over the past couple of days, Daniel had been plowing the fields set aside for corn and oats, but as he had told Katherine and Mary at dinner last night, the newly turned earth needed to dry out before he harrowed. “If nothing else, the kitchen garden can get planted,” he’d said, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
    Planting was going to be a problem. Katherine and Mary were more than willing to help, but with Mary’s foot still on the mend and Katherine so inexperienced, he would be lucky to get everything done on time. He would have hired some farmhands, but with so many young men still in the army, help was in short supply. And those few who were available had already been hired out until the fall.
    A good many of them had been snatched up by Elijah Carr.
He’s still hoping to get the farm one way or another
, Daniel thought as he fetched the gardening tools from the shed connected to the summer kitchen.
    His face must have betrayed the anger he felt, because Katherine stared at him as they met on the way to the garden. Her kaleidoscope eyes were large with surprise. “Is everything all right?” she asked tentatively.
    “I’m sorry. I was thinking about Elijah Carr.”
    Her dainty face grew thoughtful. “I’ve often wondered about him.” They walked through the garden gate and began a row of carrots. “Has he always been …?”
    “Angry, greedy, and hateful?”
    “Well … yes.”
    Daniel straightened from covering up the seeds she was dropping and leaned against the hoe. “Elijah Carr’s brother and his family moved to the Kansas Territory just when everything was beginning to heat up. He was antislavery and got into a fight with some proslavery men. He was shot to death, and his wife and son were left homeless when the men burned their house down.”
    “What happened to them?”
    “Don’t know. Carr doesn’t talk about them, and no one’s ever asked.”
    A wave of compassion washed over Katherine’s face. “That poor, poor man,” she