Eleanor

Moments later, she came, her back arching. She clamped down on his fingers and her head pressed into his shoulder as she turned her face into his neck.

"There's my good girl," he whispered as wave after wave hit her as he shoved his fingers as deep as he could into her. "That was perfect, Little Rabbit," he whispered, kissing her temple and letting her relax as she finished. She melted down onto his lap, languid and breathing heavily. He took the reins and chuckled. "Rest while you can, Rabbit," he whispered. "We'll be doing that again after midday. I enjoy seeing you so content and relaxed."

She was signing something, pressed all close under his coat and he laughed again. "You know I can't see or understand you."

She jammed her finger into his chest, poking him.

"Me?"

She nodded.

"What about me?"

She wiggled away from him and reached down, running her hand over the hard bulge in his pants.

"It will go away eventually unless you are saying you want to take care of it for me?"

She went still as if she were thinking, then she moved slowly, rubbing her hand over him again, looking up at him.

He smiled down at her. "Turn yourself around, like yesterday. Undo my pants and pull it out. Stroke it until it's full.... Mmmmm yes Rabbit, just like that. Lift your skirts and move closer, let it press against your warm belly. Closer. Hold it around the front, pull it tight against you. Now raise up a bit, just like that, now back down. Just like that, Rabbit. Keep ridin' just like that. Hold tighter, top hand higher. Ohhh, yes love, just like that."

He held her in one arm and tried to keep half an eye on the path ahead, but he was losing focus quickly as she rode him. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing and the creak of the seat as she rode him, grinding her hips against him, pulling him hard against her warm skin. He couldn't help himself, he pulled his arm in again and worked his fingers into her again. "Don't stop!" he breathed quickly. "Ride them, Rabbit. Ride me. Faster... harder. Don't stop! Faster! Be ready, my love!"

To his shock, she pulled away from him hard and slid off of his lap. For a moment he thought she feared him getting his spunk on her, but she kept her hands on him, stroking and he felt the heat of her mouth as she closed it over the top of his cock.

He groaned as he came immediately, unable to hold back at the feel of her lips on him. She tensed and went rigid, but she swallowed all of him as he shot into her mouth again and again.

He was panting as she wriggled and squirmed back up into his lap under his coat. He held her tight when she finally got herself situated. "I enjoyed that, Rabbit, but I was not expecting the bit at the end."

She half shrugged, holding her hands up.

He knew what she was saying. "Yes, it would have been a mess, but I was ready for it to be a mess. I liked your idea better. Much better. It felt wonderful."

She laid her head on his chest and sighed, curling up in his lap. He felt her relax and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. His heart warmed as he held her. He was growing very fond of his little Rabbit.

She woke with a jerk after a few hours and sat up in alarm, undoing his coat to look out. She made rapid motions and from her concerned look, he knew something was wrong.

"Storm?" he asked.

She shook her head and pointed ahead.

"We should be getting close to another town, is that it?"

She held up 4 fingers.

"Four people?"

Exasperated, she leaned out and wrote 'hours' in the snow.

"The town is four hours?"

She nodded.

"So what is wrong?"

'Faster', she wrote.

"I need to move faster? Why?"

She pointed up, then wrote, 'bad'.

"Ok, Rabbit," he said gently, then flipped the reins, picking up the pace. "This is as fast as we can go without bringing harm to the horses. Good enough?"

'close'.

"Alright Rabbit, come back in here and bundle up. It's cold."

She hunkered in, but he could feel her tension. The further they went, the more her tension grew. She was practically vibrating as they neared the town and it was putting him on edge. He was flat irritable.

She sat up and clutched his clothes, shaking him, then seconds later, a harsh wind hit, almost toppling the entire wagon.

"Fuck!" he growled angrily as the horses spooked and whickered.

She did not hesitate, she poked her hands out and took the reins, snapping them. The horse began running as best they could in the wind and driving snow.

"I don't want them to run off the road!" he yelled, trying to pull the reins from her.

She yanked the reins away from his reaching hands and waved him back as she concentrated.

"Rabbit, if you run us off..."

She elbowed him in the ribs. Not hard, enough to say she wanted him to be quiet. He growled angrily, but did not interfere again. If she got them killed he would turn her over his knee though.

It should not have surprised him when he could see the vague outlines of buildings and the dim lights from windows, but it did.

She reigned in in front of the inn as another gust of wind almost overturned the wagon. "Go in!" he yelled. "I will see to the wagon! Have them send the stable boy out!"

She half fell off the wagon, then stumbled and staggered to the door as he hurried to lead the wagon to the stable.

When he went in finally, the innkeeper's wife had Ellie at a table with a bowl of hot soup and a piece of paper and pencil. Ellie was scribbling away, but when he came in, she turned to him with relief in her eyes. She made motions with her fingers and he hurried to her.

"Write it out Rabbit," he said quietly.

"I'll get another bowl," the woman said. "Went taking care of your horses?"

"Yes ma'am. Todd here?"

"He went down to help Marjorie and her kids. Her man passed last week and he didn't think she was ready for this storm. He's bringing her and her babes back here. Twins, the babes are, with another two older. Still small..." the woman said, her tone hopeful.

"How far?" Paul asked, pushing the chair he had been about to sit in back into the table.

The woman looked relieved. "Four houses straight down on the left, turn between houses there and hers is the one next to the fourth house. Todd will already be there, he just left moments before you got here."

Paul nodded and left and Ellie looked after him with worry. She turned and wrote more on the paper.

'Cellar'

"Are you sure?"

'Yes. Time closing in. Hurry.'

The woman nodded and hurried upstairs, banging on doors. She returned in moments with two men and sent them downstairs, hauling blankets and bedding. "You too child, let's get you down to the cellar!"

Ellie shook her head and motioned to all of the lamps. The woman quickly put all of them out but one, holding it in her hand. She sat with Ellie and waited. Ellie quickly finished eating, then hefted the pot to take down to the cellar so Paul could eat. She motioned the woman down, but the woman shook her head. "My Todd is out there too. I will wait."

Paul shoved the door open and held it for Todd and the woman behind him. Todd had a toddler in his arms and the woman had a smaller toddler in hers. Paul shoved the door shut with his shoulder, then pulled two bundles out from under his coat, passing the two babies off to Todd's wife.

Went came in the back door, panting as Ellie handed Paul the pot of soup and hurried to the stairs that led down to the cellar.

There was confusion, but no one balked as they followed.

"Merideth, make a place for the babes," Todd said, setting the toddler down and taking one of the babies from his wife. The woman took the other baby as Merideth began making a place for the babies and then the small children. The two men helped as Marjorie tried to calm her screaming babies.

Ellie took one of the toddlers hands and pulled her close, sitting on the floor and pulling the child to her lap. She held the child's hands and rocked her gently, tracing a pattern on her shoulder with her free hand. The child quieted and lay peacefully in her arms. She eased her up and sat her down next to her and pulled the other one close doing the exact same thing. The child quieted as their mother watched in quiet amazement.

Paul watched curiously, but said nothing as he ate.

Almost as soon as the second toddler quieted, the storm seemed to explode around them, the wind wailing and making the wood around them crack and creak. Marjorie quickly sat next to Ellie and offered her one of the twins. Ellie took the baby calmly and rocked it, stroking it's cheek and blowing on his little fingers. His crying ceased immediately and Paul felt the entire room go tense as Ellie passed off the baby and took the other one. When that one went quiet, there was a lot of uncomfortable shifting.

"She some sort of witch?" one of the men from the rooms asked.

"She just has a gentle nature," Meridith said. "She cain't speak, so she learned a better way. Tom, you just sit yourself back over there and take your ease till this storm lets up. Paul, thank you for helping Todd."

"Yes," Marjorie added quickly, looking down at the baby Ellie was still holding in amazement. "Thank you, you and your daughter both. She is... amazing."

"Ellie is my wife. I'm big, not old," Paul laughed. "I don't even have a decade on her. And yes, she is something. Rabbit, how much longer till this is over?"

'Days,' she wrote with her free hand. 'Bad gone morning. Leave 2 days.'

"There you go. We'll be back in our beds in the morning and this will be over in a couple days," Paul said judiciously, going back to his soup.

"She is a witch!" Tom breathed.

"She is," Paul agreed. "And be glad of it. Lest you wanted to spend the night with four squawlin' kids. No offense lady, I like kids well enough. Trapped with scared littles, though, all screaming. That's no fun for anyone. And she has us all down here safe, don't she? Went, double bar those doors. Rabbit, lay that babe in it's basket and come on over here. You need some sleep."

She wrote on her paper and showed it to him. 'No sleep. You sleep.'

"You will sleep too, Rabbit," he said gently. "Not a debate. Went, horses taken care of?"

"Yaw Paw, yaw. Hoss ett good, up tight."

"Thanks Went. Get the wagon against the back of the stable?"

"Yaw Paw."

"Thanks, you are a good boy, Went."

Went gave Paul a snaggle toothed smile and beamed at Todd. Todd smiled at him gently. "You are a good boy, Went. After the storm we will take you and get you a lemon drop."

"Lem! Lem! Awww, Paw, lem!"

"Hell, Went, for all your hard work, I'll get you a bag."

"Bag? Bag Paw?"

"Now, Went," Todd said gently. "Not too many, your teeth are already bad from all that candy you love."

Ellie waved a hand and began writing. 'Crush. Sugar. Cookie. More.'

"I don't understand what you mean, Rabbit," Paul said quietly.

"Well isn't she smart!" Merideth said with a bright smile. "You hear that, Went? If I crush up your candy and use it like sugar, I can make you cookies that taste like your lemon drops! And they won't hurt your teeth too much and there will be more of them!"

"Maw? Cokie maw? Wan maw!"

"Yes pumpkin, I know you want more," Merideth laughed. "I will see what I can do with that cookie trick, ok pumpkin?"

"Maw mama?"

"Yes more. Not tonight though, after the storm."

"Maw Paw! Maw! Cokie Paw!"

"I like cookies too, Went, now I am a jealous man! Maybe I will have to have your mom send me off with a few of my own."

"My Paw! My!"

"No, I won't take yours, I like molasses cookies better anyway. Last time she made me the best molasses cookies. She still make those?"

"Yaw Paw! Lasser Cokie! Ohm!"

"I said the same thing. Yum. Just you wait, Little Rabbit, Merideth makes some great molasses cookies!"

'Learn,' she wrote.

"I would love to teach you!" Merideth beamed.

"Come now, Little Rabbit," Paul said, pulling on her arm. "We will get some sleep."

"Robba?" Went asked.

Ellie stood and turned to Went, pointing to herself.

"Robba?" he asked again.

She pointed to herself again.

"Wen," he said, pointing to himself.

She pointed to him and nodded, then held three fingers up and put them over her heart.

"Wen!" he repeated and put three fingers over his heart.

She nodded with a small smile, then went to Paul and curled up against him on the floor. "What is that?" he asked, holding up three fingers.

'W', she drew on his ribs.

"W for Went, over the heart for his big heart? Makes sense. The more I know you the more I like you, Little Rabbit."

She put her hand up over his heart and patted it. He chuckled and held her against him.

She got up twice in the night as the storm raged and the inn shook, both times to help Marjorie with her little ones. The second time she brought back the oldest girl to hold to sleep. Paul didn't complain so long as the child was quiet.

Morning found all of them groggy and grumpy as they sat and waited.

"Can we go up yet?" Todd asked. "I would like to see if my inn is still intact."

'Soon,' she wrote.

"How do you know?" Tom asked.

"Leave her alone," Paul said dangerously.

'Harmless,' she wrote for Paul. To Tom she wrote, 'witch'. Paul laughed abruptly as Tom paled and backed away with a nod.

Went stood up and went up to the door, starting to pull the bars.

"Not yet, Went!" Todd called.

"Boff," Went called, setting the plank to the side and starting to move the other.

"Wentworth!" Todd snapped. "You put that back right now and listen! Or no lemon drop!"

"Lem? Naw lem? Paw bag?"

"Don't ask me, Went, your Pa says no, I can't go against him. Go ahead and lock that back up tight and come back down here so you don't have to worry about it."

Went replaced the plank, but he looked torn. "Mama, boff!"

"I know pumpkin, can you hold it just for a bit longer?"

"Boff mama, boff!"

"It's fine," Tom said. "There's a bucket back over here. No one here cares, do they?"

Went did not wait for a response, hurrying to the bucket. Everyone pretended it wasn't happening as Todd and Merideth blushed.

Ellie got up and pulled out the paper and pencil. 'Hour,' she wrote to Paul. He nodded with his grin.

It was almost an hour exactly when the wind finally died down and the building stopped creaking.

"Todd and I will go up first," Paul announced, standing.

They were gone for less than two minutes. Todd looked upset when he came back down. "Aint a window left in the whole place and the roof is half ripped off the last three rooms. We can fix it, but it will take time. Half the second story is filled with snow, we'll have to get it out before it starts melting and seeping through the floors. Went, you stay down here till we get all the glass up. Marjorie, you and your kids too. Meri, can you come help sweep up? Paul is boarding the windows right now. Eleanor, he said you should stay down here too."

Ellie scowled at the man, then pushed past him angrily as she marched up the stairs.

"Rabbit," Paul began when he saw her, but she ignored him as she went and held up the board he was hammering into place. He sighed. "Watch your step," he snapped.

In half an hour, the windows were covered, the glass swept up and Merideth was starting the oven in the back. In another hour, people were showing up, wanting room and board until they could get their own houses fixed.

Paul pulled Ellie aside as she stood in the kitchen helping Meri make food. "We should go, Rabbit."

'Help.'

"I am on a timeline, Rabbit. We need to hurry and get back before we can't get back. Winter is hitting early, we need to hurry."

'More storm'.

"Bad as last night?"

'Hard not bad.'

"Then we will go. Come on Rabbit, I know you want to help and I love that about you, but we have to get going."

There were a lot of shocked noises and everyone asked them to stay, but Paul was firm.

He did stop in and speak to the man who ran the general store and arranged it so that once he had cleaned up, Went would get all the lemondrops he wanted.

Ellie immediately climbed into his coat and curled up, falling asleep. He smiled grimly as he kept the horses at a brisk pace until dark.

It took two long, tense days of driving snow before they finally got it behind them. They arrived in a town in the late afternoon and Paul stopped, tired and grumpy. He needed a bath and a good night's sleep. Ellie was just as grumpy, and sore.

Ellie sighed when they went in and the man cheerfully said hello to Paul and Paul introduced her again. She didn't even want to eat, she just wanted to go and soak in a hot tub.

She went up the stairs behind him and he was quiet as he tossed his things down and pulled off his coat. He was grumbling irritably as he poured water from the pitcher into the basin. "I have a tub coming, and hot water," he said to Ellie, trying not to sound as angry as he was. "You are smaller, wash up first, but don't dawdle."

He saw her making movements with her hands, but he turned his back on her, not wanting to know what she was complaining about. He pulled his sweater off and turned to toss it with his coat and his elbow hit something, then there was a thump. He turned and she was sprawled on the floor, her hand on her face. She turned and looked up at him incredulously, her lip busted open and bleeding profusely.

He sighed. "I didn't mean to do that," he said impatiently, upset at her accusing look. "I didn't know you were there. Stand up here, let me help you clean that up."

She scooted away from him and stood up with the help of the bed, still glaring. She grabbed a cloth from the side table and pressed it to her lip and spun as the door opened. The stable hand was toting the wooden tub in. He glanced at Ellie, then looked at Paul wide eyed and hurried out.

Paul sighed again, even more irritable now. Great. They would all think he beat his wife.

"Come here now, Rabbit," he chided, trying to be gentle. He knew he just sounded as stressed as he was. "Let me help you clean it up, I want a look at it. You might need sewed up."

She backed away and shooed him back angrily.

"Rabbit," he said dangerously, scowling down at her as he backed her into a corner. "Lower that cloth or I will do it for you. I didn't mean it and you know it, but if you want me to lay hand to you I will warm your bottom again."

She glared, her nostrils flaring as she puffed up. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her against him, bringing her close enough to look at her mouth as the door opened again.

It was the innkeeper's wife and his daughter, carrying in pitchers of hot water behind the stable boy with a basin of water. He dumped it, then the two women dumped in their pitchers of boiling water, heating the cold water to warm.

"There we are now," the wife said wide eyed, but trying to be brave. "Anne and I can help the girl get all scrubbed up and clean and warm before dinner. If you will just step out sir?"

Paul growled angrily. "She is my wife, she can wash herself. Go and tell no one else to bother us again. I will come down when I am ready."

"Oh... as you say sir. Umm... if you like, I can wash her dress, I know how to get blood out? And call the doctor here to see to stitching her up?"

"I said go!" Paul said through his teeth.

The woman shut the door and fled. Paul turned back to Ellie, his anger rising.

She took a swing at him with her free hand as soon as he turned, so fast he almost didn't dodge it in time. With a roar of rage, he grabbed her and picked her up, then shoved her down to the bed. Holding her arms to her sides, he looked down at her. Her lip definitely needed stitches, but just now he didn't care.

"I have told you before that you will NOT try to hit me!"

She turned her head and lifted her mouth to him as if showing him her bleeding lip.