Sophie

Sophie's mouth was dry and her was heart racing as she searched her mind for how to answer his question. She had enjoyed how comfortable they had been working together and wondered why he decided to make conversation now.

"Oh you, know," she said trying to sound casual but the tightness of her voice was clearly evident. "Just women stuff. I was curious how she likes it here and if she had any advice I might glean from her."

"You're not going to answer my question directly are you?" he said it with a smile. He wasn't usually so expressive when he spoke and it surprised her.

"No," she laughed breezily. "No, I am not. What were you talking to the brother?" she said purposely changing the subject. "You three looked very chummy over there. It couldn't be iron hinges that made them carry on like that," she wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially.

Thomas laughed and shook his head.

"You're not going to answer my question are you?" she asked.

���No ma'am," he said. He had a lovely smile she thought. She wished he would smile more often.

Sophie, pulled a blade of grass out of the ground and twirled it between her fingers. She rested her head on the post and closed her eyes soaking in the sun. She took a deep breath soaking in the fresh smell of the grass and crops nearby. This was the most comfortable and at ease she had felt since she arrived in Jamestown.

"I like it out here," she said, her eyes still closed.

Thomas grunted in agreement. He snuck several looks at her as she sat there. Her eyes were mostly shut but she could see him sneak peaks at her. She had to stop herself from smiling like a silly school girl. Truthfully she hadn't considered Thomas as an option until Elizabeth said it. She realized how foolish that was of her now. It was hard to consider anyone as a potential match for herself other than Jeremiah but Frida was right. She was going to have to do something. She couldn't live with them forever. She didn���t know how to cook or do anything to provide for herself. It was very unsettling to realize how completely helpless she was and dependent on this town of virtual strangers to help her. She sighed hopelessly and looked down at her filthy dress. She was smudged and blackened from handling the iron. She was starting to look like Thomas. She chuckled at the realization. It didn't bother her except she didn't even know how to launder her clothing. She was going to have to ask someone before these stains set in. She sighed hard again, pushing all the air out of her chest. She thought about Jeremiah, what should I do? She wondered, hoping the voice would give her some direction. She waited but there was nothing, no voice, just silence.

She moved with Thomas down to the next gate and then the next doing just as they had before. She was getting quite good at helping him actually, at least she thought so but she didn't have anything to compare it to. She had never done work like this before. If she was honest with herself, she had never done any work at all. Thomas even let her clamp some of the hinges on, although he had to re-tighten most of them because they slipped off. It was hard for her small hands to grasp the handles of the clamps and squeeze them together. The final gate on the brother's property was located close to the river. She had never seen the river before, she only knew of its existence because of Jeremiah's map.

She sat by the post as Thomas tightened everything down and watched the water mesmerized by its movement.

"Is the water safe?" she asked, causing Thomas to look up.

"Safe? What do you mean? All water is dangerous. You can drown in anything so I would never call any water safe."

"I mean, if I were to put my toes in it would some wild beast come out of it and eat me?"

He chuckled. "No, no wild beasts. You should always have to be watchful for the Indians, they use the water. But even then, all the Indians I have met have been amiable and never caused me any problems."

That made her question the likelihood of Jeremiah being killed by an Indian again but she didn't want to bring that up right now. She continued staring at the water.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked after several moments. "Go to it. Go soak your toes in the water if you would like to."

"Would that be okay? It's not inappropriate or anything is it?" she shaded her face from the sun with her hand as she looked at him.

He scoffed, "Sometimes I forget where you came from. No, it's completely fine. There is no old bitty standing around judging you and looking down her nose at what you do. Now off with you," he ordered nodding his head in the direction of the water.

She smiled at him but he was busy working and didn't appear to see it. She hopped up and walked over to the river watching it a little more closely. She had never seen one quite so big in England. Now that she was standing on the edge it was loud and a breeze from the river whipped her hair. The breeze felt good in comparison to the stifling heat. She sat on a nearby log to take off her shoes and roll down her stockings. The dirt felt gritty under her bare toes and she stepped on a particularly sharp rock. "Ouch," she yelped. She looked back to see if Thomas had heard her. He had. He stopped working and was looking at her. She waved at him, "I'm fine!" she called back. He went back to working on the gate.

She felt like a little girl as she hiked up her skirts and walked in the sand. She dipped one toe in and shuttered. It was cold, really cold , but she did it again, placing her whole foot in this time and then the other. She kicked the water lightly and giggled with delight as it splashed in front of her. She suddenly had the desire to dive headfirst into the cool water. It was wretchedly hot outside and it would feel so good. She settled for kicking the water again, this time a little more aggressively, slashing herself in the face. She squealed with delight. She couldn't remember the last time she played like this, did she even do this as a child she wondered? Maybe, her family had a small pond just outside their manor, she remembered playing with her dad when she was really little and how her mother scolded the both of them for getting so wet.

The water felt delicious on her skin. She waded a little deeper pulling her skirt up higher and allowing her skirts to float behind her and bottoms of them to be wet. She waded until the water touched her knees smiling with delight the entire time.

"Well, Frida is going to wring my neck when I bring you back in the state that you are in."

She turned around to see Thomas had finished the last gate and was sitting on the same long she had, stripping off his boots.