A Hope Remembered by Stacy Henrie Page A

hand of God.
    She could think of no proper descriptions save one. “It’s stunning.”
    Jack grinned with triumph, as if he were part creator of the grandeur, and waved her forward again. Nora hiked after him toward a sprinkling of sheep. As they drew closer, she spied the lambs among the ewes. The animals began to stir and flee at their approach, but Jack moved swiftly and caught one of the lambs before it could escape. He brought the bleating creature to Nora. “This is one of yours.”
    Nora stroked the soft ears and ran her hand over the lamb’s wooly black fleece. “I never thought I’d be like Mary in the nursery rhyme.”
    Jack didn’t laugh as Colin would have. “You’ve got a good group of lambs this year. The few of your ewes with twins are in our field.”
    “You said the sheep will be sheared next month?” Thankfully she’d remembered something from their conversation yesterday.
    Jack nodded. “End of July.”
    “Do the fleeces bring in a good profit?”
    He set the lamb free, and the creature bounded away to its mother. “We sheep farmers do pretty well. It’s not a rich life, but we make a decent living.” His eyes narrowed as he stared in the direction of Elmthwaite Hall. Nora recalled the opulence of the entryway and grand staircase, to say nothing of the rest of the house she hadn’t seen during her brief time inside. While lovely, she herself was living proof of how little one needed to uproot and make a new life.
    Jack turned back to her, his tone boastful as he added, “I mean to get lots more sheep and have the biggest sheep farm in the Lake District.”
    Nora felt a twinge of regret at hearing his dream. Bess had mentioned Jack’s hope of receiving the sheep farm from Henry. But it hadn’t been Nora’s decision, and she was grateful to her great-uncle for remembering her.
    They started walking again, Jack in front. He led her along a narrow trail running across the mountain ridge, in the direction of Larksbeck. Sheep scattered ahead of them. He continued to share his plans for the future, which included a bigger farm with more cattle and pigs and a larger house.
    Nora tried to focus on the one-sided conversation, but her attention kept straying to the beautiful landscape around her. Could she picture herself living here for the rest of her life? She glanced back over her shoulder for a moment at the Lewis cottage in the distance. She liked the new place, even if there was still work to be done with it, and the few people she’d met in the village yesterday had been more than kind.
    Her greatest concern at present lay in the constant comparisons to her great-uncle’s daughter, Eleanor. Being alone in the world, she wanted to be her own person, not live in someone else’s shadow. I’ve been living with shadows for a year and a half now , Nora thought, folding her arms against the sudden ache in her chest. Had she traded one set for another? Only this time they were the shadows of strangers instead of those she loved dearly.
    She also couldn’t shake the eerie feeling there was more to this business about Eleanor, something she alone had yet to figure out. Perhaps she could get Bess to impart some answers today.
    The practical mentality Nora had cultivated since her parents’ deaths didn’t fail her now, despite her troubled thoughts. While she might have to endure being compared to Eleanor, the result wasn’t entirely bad. Because of it, she’d been accepted into the village, at least by the two shopkeepers she’d met. She’d also received an invitation to join the church choir, which meant she wouldn’t have to give up music altogether, even in the absence of her piano. Then there were the friends she’d made so far—Colin, Bess, Jack.
    God was watching out for her. The realization brought a semblance of peace. It hadn’t been easy selling her childhood home to strangers or leaving her tangible connections to Tom and her parents. But she’d done it. Surely that meant