“Thanks, boys,” he said quietly. “Many thanks.”
Long after the riders had turned hack, the spell of their presence remained.
“Does a man good,” Zeb said finally.
“You’re respected,” Julie replied quietly. “We may not have much, but you’re a respected man.”
“How much farther to the ranch, pa?” Linus asked.
“The next bend and across the valley beyond. You just keep watching for it.” Linus started to hum the tune of “A Home in the Meadow,” and Lilith, caught by the memory of it, began to sing with him, and the others joined in. “Come! Come! Through a wondrous land! For the hopeful heart! For the willing hand!”
Her voice rang loud, as old Zebulon’s had back at the Erie Canal. Zeb chuckled. “You boys will have to sing louder to keep up with your Aunt Lilith.”
“I sang that song a good many years ago when leaving the Erie Canal … or leave on the Erie Canal, I should say. Folks all along the canal joined in.”
“Away, away, come away with me,
Where the grass grows wild,
Where the winds blow free.
Away, away, come away with me,
And I’ll build you a home in the meadow.”
“Giddap, Sam,” Zeb Rawlings said. “We’re goin’ home.”