Larkspur in Eden

[Kathy in FL]

Larkspur in Eden

“...they come to us, these restless dead,
Shrouds woven from the words of men,
With trumpets sounding overhead
(The walls of hope have grown so thin
And all our vaunted innocence
Has withered in this endless frost)
That promise little recompense
For all we risk, for all we've lost...”
¯ Mira Grant, Feed

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”
¯ Aldous Huxley

Chapter One

The venom in the woman's voice was thicker than usual as she hissed, "Listen up Useless, you make trouble at the Buy 'n Sell and you'll wish you'd never fallen outta yer dam to draw yer first breath."

Translation: Either I keep my mouth shut and act as I’m told or I’ll wish I had never been born. The threat carries little weight as I already feel that way on most days, especially now when there is nothing left to hold me to this rotten life that I lead. The angels have carried him off the same as they had come for all of the others, leaving me behind yet again to suffer on, only this time well and truly alone with no purpose.

How my gentle mother and that nightmare in a leather brassiere could be sisters is a mystery I no longer bother to wonder at. I know my grandmother, for all her airs and old ways and insistence on living in the past, had adored my very roughhewn Granpap who was her polar opposite and would never have played him false. Aunt Gisele is simply one of those people born with a twisted heart that will forever value possessions more than people. I was told by Papa during one of his rare, loquacious turns that she hid it well until after her first husband and only two children were killed by a plague and she found out the man's wealth was never hers to claim as it returned to his family at his death without a male heir. Mam and I should have died in that same plague but Papa carted us to the old church altar and prayed over us 'til God showed Mercy and revealed that it wasn't our time to mount the stairway to Above.

That very day Papa – already raised in the church orphanage and grown to willingly serve the Sisters and Brothers that cared for the church and those that attended it – dedicated his life to being a protector, a man who provided security for those that worked in the church to serve the community, to care for the small but treasured library of books used to teach the children of the orphanage and community. The Brothers rechristened Papa, Mam, and I with new names and it is that name that I have always known though Aunt has chosen to twist it since I came to be in her so-called care.

I should have been paying attention instead of getting lost in my memories. My head suddenly rocked back with a roundhouse punch that sent me tip over tail into the still hot cinders of the cook fire. I rolled out of the fire ring and brushed the burning bits off as quickly as I could but I still wound up a bit singed as well as bloodied.

"Why you traitorous little dragtail," she wheezed angrily. "You did that on purpose. I won't get half for you now that you're marked up in the face."

Experience had taught me well to stay silent despite the pain I felt and the illogic of the accusation. She hit me, yet it is somehow my fault, like I had drawn her fist back over her protests and sent it flying with great strength against me by my will alone. Soon enough she'd be on about witchery or some other complaint from her long list of what she held against me or suspected me of.

For once luck, or the devil depending on who should say it, was with me. The man who was my aunt's latest husband stepped into the cook tent, took one look at my face, and then delivered to her what she had just given me. "She don't fotch enough and I'll put yer ter work on yer back in the tavern 'til it be raw ter pay fer yer keep this winter."

His dead eyes looked at me and I tried not to shudder in disgust. He'd tried but the once to take me but once was enough; thankfully he’d been too drunk. The next morning Old Annie taught me my next lesson which was about the yarbs that took away a man's ability to bed a woman in all but his mind, and some yarbs take even that away. Old Annie had been my grandmother's friend and my Mam's wet nurse for a spell of time and at the deaths of my family felt it her duty to teach me more of the yarbing ways though no one knew the true depth and breadth of the knowledge she imparted to me before her own death from snakebite a few months back. I was forced to bury her body along a road that was far from our birthplace. I now secretly carry the book that held my lessons she’d given me as well as some she hadn’t gotten to yet. Knowledge is power and I have sense enough to keep it hidden from prying eyes at all times or risk it being stolen from me as well as the other things taken since I came into Aunt’s so-called guardianship.

Wash had a dead voice to match his gaze. "Use some wet from the barrel to clean the blood from yer face then get in the wagon Useless. Gizzy here and I need ter have a business talk."

If I hadn't known my aunt was strong as a bull – and built like one too – and could give at least as good as she got, I would have been tempted to feel some sympathy for the woman. She'd thought she'd finally found a way to rise up out of the ashes her life continually seemed to sink into when she'd married herself to a tavern keeper. Unfortunately she found out too late that the tavern was little more than a wagon and canopy that followed the salvage routes with the suttlers and traders, and that Wash cared more for the whores he hired to bring in customers than he did a wife even if she did hold enough coin in her own name to have a wagon and household of her own.

I ignored the marks on both of their faces when they climbed into the wagon. Wash asked, "I need ter tie yer ter make yer obey?"

Quietly, suppressing the fear that wanted to eat me alive I told him, "No sir."

He snorted. "Yer best save that fancy speech and respect fer the man what buys yer. Mayhap it’ll work on him to soften yer lot some though given how dim yer be I doubt it.” With that he flicked the reins and we were off.

I continued to look down submissively and hold my tongue though I was all but screaming inside. I would have given a lot to tell them that I wasn’t dim, that I was smart enough to hide that fact from the both of them, to play act for years and let them think the fever that had carried most of my family off had curdled my brain. I held my tongue on the fact that I could have killed them all in their beds a hundred times over and nearly had after my brother had died after being pushed out of the wagon by one of the slop bucket boys. His skull had been cracked open by a shard of granite. Ol’ Annie tried to comfort me by saying he probably hadn’t felt a thing as it had happened so fast. Probably hadn’t even had time to feel any fear. Probably.

Devils. Both of them. I don’t care if I am blood related to her, she laughed and said that it … no, can’t dwell on her words; they hurt too much. My baby brother wasn’t but four; small for his age even amongst the population of destitute road orphans we were often thought to be members of. I’d taken him from my mother’s dead body, cut him out myself the way she told me to do after she had drawn her last breath, raised him as my own using goat’s milk I had to sneak when Aunt had turned his wet nurse out for drawing the attention of the rich old pervert she had been married to at the time. Many times my hands shook over their meals and it was sometimes only Old Annie’s words that stopped me. She made me promise not to do such a thing as murder was a mortal sin I would carry the stain of for the rest of my life. She promised that if I left it in God’s hands that He’d make them pay better and more than I ever could. I want to believe that; believing that is all I have left, but has been so hard to remember too often lately.

I’ve read the Good Book. Sometimes I wonder that if the thought is as good as the deed why I should deny myself the satisfaction of the act of murder if I’m already guilty of it in my dreams. I know that if I don’t get away I will cave to that temptation; it is only a matter of a season or two, maybe not even that, before I’ll turn my hand to it.

As an exercise to while away the moments to our destination I went through my mental herbal. First comes aconite, so poisonous it requires only a small amount to kill a full grown horse; but that is too swift an end for them. Belladonna, also called deadly nightshade, also kills too quickly; you’ll know it is coming within fifteen minutes of ingesting it. Next comes bloodroot that will burn your insides and make you vomit them up but might not kill you if you purge it soon enough. Foxglove is painful and would look like a heart attack but I am pretty sure I want everyone to know that someone had finally had the courage to end their reign of terror; I certainly wanted them to know who had helped them on their way to hell. Next in line is helbore; now there is an herb for painful murder. Taken internally it will torture your body and your mind and then you finally die in torment as your heart gives out. Hemlock, jimsonweed, lobelia, mandrake … so many to choose from.

I shook myself as I realized that I was losing my grip on the here and now. This only proved to me that I had to conquer my fears and accept the last chance I was likely to have to escape. Whatever man that bought me, no matter his looks or his type, regardless whether he spit or smelled or drank or was a drug sucker or anything else, I would serve him if for no other reason than gratitude that the purchase took me away from what would have soon been a hell of my own making, a stain on my soul that would rot me from the inside out.

The wagon jerked to a stop and Wash said needlessly, “We’re here.”

Despite showing no resistance, I was flanked by Wash and my aunt and marched to the center plaza of the Buy ‘n Sell. A high, rough-hewn platform was built to display special things being offered and rose above several holding pins built beneath it. There were a lot of women and girls there ahead of me being separated out into three groups. Since this wasn’t the first Buy n’ Sell I’d been to I’d seen it all before. It held no surprise, only disgust and a certain amount of acceptance.

Young, virginal females were separated out into a special group that got to be inspected by a White Sister – a cross between a high-class whore and a nurse-midwife who dressed herself to mimic something she definitely was not. If the girls passed the physical exam they received a special colored ribbon tied around their neck. There was more than one color ribbon; the girls were graded and classed like animals on display at a fair or like cows sent to market. This auction there weren’t very many in that cage as most families of any means had had no problems arranging marriages for their daughters much earlier in the season.

The next group had in its number women with an exceptional skill or craft such as cooking for the wealthy or weaving strong and durable cloth for a tradesman. There were also women that might not be young and virginal but they were healthy and handsome. There were the women of learning who could read and cipher, fit to teach children or be a wife to a scribe or legal man. Basically the women in that cage had value beyond their physical looks.

The third group was the most numerous. It was comprised of all the rest, those only fit to be wives to poor men who had to take what they could afford to get. There were those females that could be indentured and put in the field or in the taproom or warehouse to work for their keep and eventual freedom. Some of the women were pretty or handsome but they might have a deformity some other place; crippled, a withered hand, bad eyes that left them unfit for work, a hair lip, burn scars, defects from time spent too near the corrupted lands while in the womb, or anything that marred them like the stain of a large birthmark. Others were trouble makers or thieves or whores or any number of things that simply made them less desirable to the majority of buyers. And such as my life had gone that it is the third group I was sent into.

That didn’t go over well with Aunt who had wanted me in the first or second group to make the bigger profit. “All she did was fall out of the wagon,” my aunt snarled. “You’d see us cheated for that?!”

The auction master looked at my aunt and said, “If she was truly worth anything you would have given her time to heal instead of rushing her to sale. And I know you’re business and in seasons past have seen her working the bar so don’t tell me she’s fit to see a White Sister. There must be something wrong with her, it’s plain as the fat bosom you be showing off to try and catch my fancy.” He snorted in disgust at her obvious ploy. “Instead of running yer yap yer better pray I don’t hide her in the pens just to cause yer grief. As it is there be too many womens; the day’s prices er gonna run low.”

“Then give her back. We’ll take her to another sale where they’ll listen to reason.”

The auction master smiled grimly. “Last one o’ the season you buxom behemoth. All those further ahead have already closed up shop for the harvest time too. All the signs are pointing to an early winter.” The smile slid from his face and cankered steel took its place. ‘Sides woman, no take backs onct you let the piece walk into the cue lessen yer want ter join her for breaking contract, and if you don’t know that yer man Wash certainly do.” The cue was merely a polite euphemism for the area where the men could get a better, closer look at the women enclosed within. We had to walk the perimeter of the fence until we were pulled out for either a closer inspection or an outright purchase.

I walked for hours; morning turned to mid-day and mid-day to the supper bell. No food, no water. The longer it took to sell, the worse off you had it in retribution. I didn’t dare take out what I had hidden on my person – some dried berries and herbs and my water skin – or I’d be set upon by the other women. I’d seen it happen several times in the early hours of the sale and finally everyone had learned their lesson and simply kept moving and not thinking about what we lacked.

Men came and went. The smell of them was nauseating. The words they threw were just as bad if not worse. The only thing we didn’t have to suffer was hands as the pen guards would lop off anything that got stuck through the fence, no matter if it was an appendage or not.

If I had had any innocence left it would surely have been washed away by the tide of bawdy onlookers that stood at the fence of the cages and made comments as the females passed by. Slowly the number of women in the cages dropped. The first to empty was of course those the White Sisters had inspected and graded; they were the fewest in number and had the greatest value. Next was the second group though I heard rumblings from those that ran the auction that not nearly as quickly as had been expected; and, for significantly lower pricing than was aimed for. Coins were tight as it had been a bad few years of drought in this area, hindering harvests and draining coffers of wealth and barter.

Slowly I noticed that even the numbers in my group had been whittled down. Not all of them for sure, but there were fewer in the endless circle we walked. But as the day wore on fewer and fewer were tapped to go to a buyer. Part of me was feeling desperate. I prayed and prayed that God would tell me if I was to escape or if I was meant to be a murderess; if I didn’t get picked that was my sign that He had turned His face from me leaving me to sip from the bitter cup. As time wore on and no one even asked to get a better look at me I calmed and set myself to accept my fate; into the wilderness like Cain or the hangman’s noose.

Then the big gong sounded the end of the auction and even over the noise of the crowd I heard my aunt screech in rage. I nodded my head thinking over my herbal inventory. I was tapped with one of the baton’s used to shift the crowd of women this way and that, then directed out of the cage.

“Girl, what’s your name?”

For the first time I looked up and around. My aunt and Wash were nowhere to be seen. In a daze I asked, “Ex … excuse me?”

Three men stood there off to the side though it had grown so dark I couldn’t see their faces very well. What I could see was one nudge one of the others when he said, “See, she is dim. Rethink this madness.”

The man that had been nudged said, “Your name girl, what is it? It is needed for the paper.”

I looked and saw another man with a black vest and badge … a legal man. “I … I’ve been … bought?”

The legal man looked at me and then nodded. “Aye. Ye have. Do ye have reason to object?”

I shook my head. “No sir, I’m … I’m just surprised.” Shocked was more the truth; relieved followed it. “My name is Yulee … Yulee Guardsdaughter.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Two

“Guardsdaughter? Don’t lie to me girl.”

I tried not to bristle at the implied judgment that my family could never be so exalted. “My father was a church guard. The Brothers christened us all with our names.”

“Was?” the hidden man who had addressed me before asked with something like real interest.

“Was. My family … they were carried off by the angels almost five winters ago. We served in a place on the other side of the peaks.”

The legal man asked, “And how did ye wind up here? The church excommunicate ye?”

Carefully as I did not want trouble in case Aunt was lurking I said, “No sir. Family took me in and then migrated to new barter routes.” I nearly choked on the words but got them passed my lips without vomiting.

With that the legal man lost interest, ceased his questions, filled out the sheet of skin and put his seal on it, handed it to the hidden man and then walked away to finish a few more late transactions. I stood there, still reeling from God’s timing.

“Yulee?”

I jerked my head towards the voice. “Sir?”

The third man who had not spoken to that point said, “Well, she’s polite enough.”

Ignoring him the man who had taken my paper said, “Are you so calm because you plan on running away?”

His question caught me off guard. “Run to where? To whom?”

“To freedom.”

I shrugged. “To me, this is freedom.”

After a moment he asked a thoughtful question. “Your former life was so bad?”

Carefully, thinking it might be another one of my Aunt’s games I searched the crowd. Hesitantly I asked, “Have you truly bought me?”

He sounded like a man that wasn’t used to his questions being answered with a question but in this case he seemed to let it go. “Aye. Five silvers.”

I exhaled in relief. “Aunt will be fit to be tied but that’s no longer my problem.” Moving my shoulders a bit to settle my small pack of belongings a bit more easily I asked, “What are my duties?”

The man was a long time answering but the disbelieving snort of one of his companions and the snickering of the other revealed at least part of my job before the man said, “Housekeeper.” His answer only caused his companions to increase their amused reaction.

For me I was not surprised. The only thing I yet worried about was if he expected me to serve his friends as well as himself. I didn’t let that show however and when I didn’t react the two other men slowly left off their hilarity. The hidden man said, “We have miles yet to cover before the stars come out. You’ll need to eat as we walk. Are your shoes fit for such travel? Is your water skin full?”

I decided then and there that him I would serve willingly and with as much grace as I could find. The Sisters at the church that gave us lessons said that slavery was wrong but that it existed in the world because humanity was sinful by nature and that in a sense we were all slaves of one sort or another, even those that claimed to be free. The Good Book explained that if there were going to be masters, servants, and slaves that each of us were required to be good ones in whatever capacity we found ourselves; that we had a responsibility to reflect our teachings at all times, not just when we were at the top of the food chain. Papa had told me that the mark of a free man or woman was revealed in how they treated those under their authority.

“My feet are toughened to walking but I have no water.”

We stopped at the pump to fill our skins. I heard familiar voices and instinctively hid behind the man with the hidden face.

“Let’s find her and take her back. We can get more for her putting her ter work as one o’ the girls.”

“Nah, let er go Gizzy. Yer gots yer coins though fewer than you thought, and it’ll buy enough grain to get to the winter camp.”

Still whining she asked, “Who’s gonna cook and clean?”

Philosophically Wash answered, “Shoulda thought o’ that afore yer put her in the pens.”

Aunt screeched, “It was your idea!”

Warningly he responded, “Were not and yer raise yer voice ter me like that again and I’ll backhand you inter next week.”

“Hah! You’ve not got the bollocks to pull it off.”

Their squabbling voices finally faded but I stayed where I was trying to calm my racing heart. One of the men asked jovially, “Friends of yours? Should we call them back so that you can say your goodbyes?” His question only made me want to hide behind the one that held my paper even more.

He said, “Enough Tad.” To me he asked, “You have a coat? We will be camping higher up and it will be cool.”

I reached behind me into my pack and pulled the thin garment that was both my cloak and my bedding by turn. I put it on and tied it in place. He sighed but nodded. From a pocket he pulled a cloth wrapped bundle. “Here. Eat as we walk but do not lag behind. The way is steep.”

I fell in behind the man whose name I still did not know. The bundle held two meat pies, greasy but stuffed with not just cooked, ground meat but with mashed vegetables as well. I took my time despite the hunger gnawing my insides; twisted guts from inhaling the rich food was not something I wanted on a long hike nor would the men appreciate the inevitable delay it would cause.

By the time we reached the place they had chosen to camp someone had gotten there before us, or so I thought. Instead, after a moment of observation, I realized the three men and the new people were part of the same travelling group. There were quiet greetings but it was late and many were already asleep. I was summarily ignored for a while so I stood quietly to the side. Finally the man beckoned me over to a wagon. “Crawl under and make your bed. I will return shortly.”

There was no threat in his voice but there was expectation of obedience in every syllable. I suppose I could have run away but that would be like stealing. The man had paid true coin for me, not just barter goods. In a very real sense he had also rescued me, rescued Aunt and Wash as well though they’d never know it. Before the first snow fell it would have been me or them, there was no doubt in my mind of that. So I owed him something, at least for a while, and if not him I owed God and needed to show proof that my upbringing was better than that of a dweller of the corrupted lands.

I had not meant to fall asleep but the day conspired to sap my strength. The next thing I remember is growing warmer and that startled me enough that I woke. “Easy,” a gruff voice sounded in my ear. “There is no need for silly hysterics. I have last watch and would like to get some rest.”

I wanted to tell him I’d never had hysterics in my life but with his cloak spread over us we both found sleep too quickly for me to even imagine the conversation that would have been.

I woke when he moved and then followed him out from under the wagon. He seemed uncomfortable and at a loss for words when we came out of the woods after seeing to our ablutions. Then he gave a shrug that was almost resentful and without a word turned and disappeared into the darkness.

I stood there, numb, wondering what I should be feeling before deciding it was best not to feel anything at all. I looked around and saw people silent and asleep around the coals of the fire that had been banked to last through the night. The boy that had been set to feed it had fallen over, derelict in his duty but none of the guards seemed to notice. Then off in the brush and trees that surrounded the camp I saw them.

Eyes. At least a dozen, maybe more. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my dry throat. What little spit I had was frozen and I couldn’t have squeaked a warning even had I been the type to make such noise. Slowly I pulled my sling from the pouch on my belt as well as a few pieces of ammunition that, out of habit, I had collected along the hike the evening before.

I looked around wondering where the guards were; where was the man? Was I seeing things? Did these dogs belong to the camp? Why did no one notice them but me?

Then I saw a large black specimen slink closer. And closer still. He was intent on a bundle that lay beside a woman. The bundle mewed just a bit and I could almost see the spittle dripping from the great fangs that gleamed in the moonlight. I almost waited too late.

There was a yelp of great pain right before the jaws could clamp on the baby to carry it away. The woman gave a piercing shriek and then there was snarling and snapping and the camp awoke in chaos. I took a limb from the fire and shook it to make it flame. Just in time too as one of the feral beasties tried to take me down at the back of the knees. I was uncomfortably familiar with such tactics and the mongrel got a singed snout and ear before I could lose a leg.

It was over in minutes. Man in numbers still triumphed over a pack of beasts though some might say there wasn’t that much difference between the two groups. The carcass of the dead dogs were pulled away and summarily skinned though their meat could not be consumed as there was no way to know what they had been dining on before they sought to munch on us. Feeding on something that had been living in a corrupted area was a sentence to a long and agonizing death whether you be human or animal.

There were some injuries amongst the travelers but not many and none were life threatening though they would be painful for a few days and would need to be warded against infection. I saw the camp had a healer so I didn’t say a word. The most painful of all though was the paddling the boy who was supposed to be tending the fire was receiving at the hands of a large man who appeared to be the wagon master. I closed my ears to his howls as he could have cost many their lives.

I saw an old woman struggle to right her cooking pot and bent to help her. She looked at me curiously but offered no words merely pointed and with motions told me where things belonged. That is where the man found me some minutes later.

He told said, “So you’ve found some work. Good. Continue as Miz Lana directs you until I return.”

I nodded and then continued my task. He stared at me a moment longer then went about doing his own straightening though it seemed more about setting people to right than the mess of belongings strewn under everyone’s feet from the melee. The old woman reminded me of my Old Annie. Her sighs said nothing and everything, as if she had seen far too much in this life to put up with the nonsense of the young. “Well girl, since it appears I’m to be your keeper for a bit ye mind telling me your name?”

“Yulee.”

“Never heard such a name before.”

“It was my mother’s name, before she married my papa. The Brothers thought it fitting to christen me thus.”

“A church born are ye?”

“My father was raised in a church orphanage. He protected those that had raised and protected him as a child. Mam and I did our duty as well.”

“Hmmm.” After a moment she asked, “Are ye fit for work or only for churching duties?”

I knew what she meant but took no offense. I realized early on as I traveled with Aunt that our church was different from many others that seemed to only be concerned with study of the Word and singing the old songs. I mean no disrespect, studying the Word is a high calling that we should all aspire to, but we are also called to serve. Our church had not been concerned with the soul alone but with the body that housed it as well. We didn’t live a cloistered life away from the rest of the world; we believed we’re expected to share the knowledge of the difference between good and evil and where both come from. To that end it was too hard for people to hear the Word if their ears were forever filled with the cries of an empty stomach or the pain of an illness. Rather than explain all that I answered simply, “I can work.”

“Hmmm. I supposed we’ll see. Gid and his brothers eat at my fire this trip. Best that he see what the pig in the poke he bought can do sooner as later. Start parching the morning brew. They drink it by the bucketful so you’d best hope it be done well or they’ll be worthless and foul the rest of the day.”

Putting two and two together I realized the man who had bought me was named Gid. The two men that had been with him were likely his brothers and one had been called Tad. I stored the meager information away and then concentrated on the task at hand.

Wash had been another one that demanded a good morning brew though he often wasn’t awake to drink it until the sun was high in the sky; most of Aunt’s men had been the same, especially the ones she married. If it wasn’t to their liking there’d be consequences, usually painful or humiliating. Over the last two years Wash had found plenty to complain about but never my brew or my cooking.

I was frying mush patties when the one called Tad came over. “Oh Lord Miz Lana, you mean you let her touch the food?! I wanna eat, not worry if some dimwit has ruined it or poisoned me.”

He had no idea how true his words could have rung had I been some other type of female but rather than say a word or make a sound I pulled my calm around me like a wall. His words couldn’t touch me. Nor the other one either when he arrived and said much the same thing. I simply continued to cook as they complained and exasperated the old woman.

“Enough.” I knew that voice and had a feeling I would come to know the tone. Gid had arrived.

“Tad, Ern … eat and then load your gear. Or don’t eat and load your gear. Your choice.” I heard the implicit threat as well as the brothers did. They grumbled but allowed Miz Lana to fill their mugs with brew. Since I didn’t hear any strangling or sputtering – or feel the soles of their boots kicking me into the cookfire – I took it that the brew was well enough to suit them. In fact they made no sound at all as they inhaled the fried mush patties almost as quickly as I could move them from the pan to the serving platter. The only sound that escaped them was the occasional hiss as they took one that was still as hot as the skillet that it had just been kissing.

From the corner of my eye I saw that Gid also took his share. I was scrapping the last patty from the pan when he gave a look at Tad and Ern. They grumbled but stopped feeding their faces and turned to set their gear to rights as the sky turned pink above the peaks. Gid divided the remaining patties between Miz Lana and me and said, “We likely won’t stop until we make camp tonight.” With that he turned away. I folded the patties that had been left for me in the piece of cloth that my supper had come in and put them in my cloak pocket; there was still work to do.

Miz Lana nodded in his direction as he walked away. “You see he stopped those other two gluttons from eating all there was. Gid takes care of things so do him right girl. You may not be what was expected but if you can cook it will be more than what he was after before. And being a little dim your feelings won’t get hurt on what you’ll never have.” I filed that cryptic bit away. Had it been under any other circumstances I might have brought myself to ask a question but I still had too little understanding of the man called Gid, the man that had bought me, to risk it. Miz Lana certainly wasn’t volunteering anything more as she was busy putting her hand to cleaning and packing her own gear.

As a matter of habit I scooped some of the red hot coals into a lidded clay pot from my pack which I then wrapped in a couple of protective furs. The pot secured in its normal place I glanced up to catch several women watching me from the corner of their eye and a few openly staring. I ignored them. The Tavern whores used to do the same thing. Usually they were trying to provoke me to some mistake to get me in trouble, or make me feel like I was already making one, though often enough it could also be something more sinister to it. Being on the bottom of the pecking order in such a group was a dangerous place and I quickly learned to tread carefully and make as few ripples as possible.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Three

There was no wood to secure which to me was a sign of a band that only had a short distance to travel or didn’t know the area very well. Miz Lana’s cooking gear was put into a wagon by a young man she said was her nephew. I went to stand by the wagon I had slept beneath.

Tad walked up and sneered, “You expecting to ride like the rest of the bought goods?”

Risking his wrath I said, “I’ll do as the one that bought me bids.”

The one called Ern called over, “Lay off Tad before you put Gid in a mood.”

“He’s always in a mood,” Tad said taking a step closer to me, crowding my personal space. I hadn’t considered this problem and had no desire to get caught between brothers. There had been stories of it in the antique books in the library and they never ended well, especially for the female caught betwixt and between.

I clinched my fists that were hidden in my cloak but was saved from having to do something by Miz Lana who waddled over and poked Tad with her walking stick. “Go.”

“Don’t tell me what to do old woman.”

“You’ll mind me or else you’ll not eat at my cookfire and if it comes to that I’ll make sure no one else will have ya either ya wicked sprat. You’re cementing trouble we don’t need.”

“She’s nothing but a dimwit and so much uglier than Vaniece that she makes me want to puke. I told Gid to pick a different one if he had to have it regular but he was some set on her for some reason. What do we need her for? Just another mouth to feed when there’s little enough to go around as it is.” He would have said more but Gid showed up and with barely any effort threw his brother in the direction of his horse.

“Move.”

“I have a right to have a say in this!”

“And you’ve said it. Now your say is over.”

Almost beseechingly he said, “Gid …”

“I said move. When we get back to the village you can go on about your way. You’ll have your place. I’ll have mine.”

“There’s no need for this. Surely another, less ugly, would …”

“Enough.” His voice was terrible and forbidding and I realized the man who had bought me could possibly be more frightening than any of Aunt’s men had been.

Tad seemed to gather some sense finally and brushed himself off like he was washing his hands of the whole situation. He walked over and gathered the reins of his horse in hand and then mounted, treating us all like we didn’t even exist. Gid turned to me and I swallowed and held onto my composure despite shaking on the inside.

Instead of the bloodletting I had expected he said calmly, “The horses are overworked and should not be asked to pull more than what they are already doing. Can you walk or do I need to take you up behind me?”

Quietly I answered, “I can’t gather wood from horseback.”

After a moment and a searching glance he nodded and then turned to talk with the brother called Ern who was sitting on the wagon seat as driver. Soon enough the call was given and we headed out. I walked beside the wagon but saw little of Gid or Tad during most of the morning and Ern thankfully desired to avoid any conversation with me. After I ate one of the mush patties I began picking up wood and slinging it into a bundle I was building on my back. It was nothing but small wood fit for little more than kindling but it was all there was. Travelers before us had stripped the ground of anything bigger than that and in fact the limbs that remained on the trees were well above the heads of even those riding in the high wagons.

The wood bundle was getting awkward when a horse came near enough to cause me to move tight against the wagon. I felt the bundle being pulled and made to grab it. “Easy. This must be getting heavy. Tie it to the wagon with the straps that hang over the side.”

“Not heavy,” I told him yet complying.

“Then you’re stronger than you look,” Gid said eyeing me as I walked and worked at the same time.

I shrugged since it didn’t really matter if I was or wasn’t, it was a job that had to be done if there was to be a fire to cook over.

To fill the silence since I wouldn’t Gid said, “Ern saw you use a sling against the dogs.”

Ern, from his seat on the wagon said, “I had just spied them from my spot in the trees. I was drawing my bow when I saw ya let go at the one that tried to take that babby.”

Disliking their combined attention I merely said, “There’s wild dogs everywhere. If it isn’t dogs it’s some kind of cat. If not that then bears, or boars, or raiders, or some other beast. Something is always out to eat you when you are on the trail.”

Gid nodded in agreement then asked, “How good is your aim?”

It was not my intention to show off. He asked a question and I was merely going to answer it via demonstration. I pulled out the sling, put a small stone in the cradle thinking to knock down a pine cone but just then movement off the trail caught my eye as a rabbit bounded for cover deeper into the woods. My projectile caught it in the head and the jackthumper tumbled and came to rest all in a heap. I went to walk to get it but a dog zipped out and scooped it up. I thought the meat lost until it trotted back to me and offered it up.

The dog was huge, the top of its head coming to my chest. It could have easily been mistaken for a small pony. Not wanting to do anything to set such a large monster off I froze. Gid told me, “Take it and then tell him good dog.”

I cautiously stuck my hand out and the dog laid the carcass across it and seemed quite pleased as if he wanted to play the game again after I had told him he was a fine specimen. Once I was over my initial fear I realized the look on the dog’s face reminded me of the dogs my father had kept for hunting though none were near so large as the one that now walked beside me.

“Roof seems taken with you.”

“Not me … the game. Papa’s dogs were the same. They lived for hunting. They preferred playing the game with Papa but they would accept me if he were busy. Papa called them beagles.”

“The village Huntsman trades with a man who raises beagles from the next valley over. Noisy dogs. Roof is quiet; a cross between a nagazi and a wolfhound.” When I just looked at him he added, “Those are breeds of dogs. We use them to keep the wolf population down, especially during birthing seasons. Roof was mated and there was a large litter. I will get one of the puppies when we arrive in the village.”

I nodded and Roof consented to my hesitant attention, making it easier for me to scratch an itch he had behind his ear. “Yes,” I admitted as I did Roof’s bidding. “Beagles can be noisy; excitable. They use their voices to call each other and flush their prey. Roof is so big he doesn’t need to be noisy. His size alone probably shocks what he is after into insensibility.”

Then I sealed my lips, realizing that I had inadvertently dropped my camouflage. I thought Gid hadn’t noticed it but then after a moment he reached down and pulled me up behind him sending Roof to look for his attention elsewhere. Gid took the rabbit from me and deposited it in Miz Lana’s wagon then and walked his horse off road. When we reached the brush trail that ran parallel to the road we could still see the wagon train but were far enough away to speak privately.

He asked me harshly, “Is your name really Yulee?”

Knowing it could be nothing but the truth I told him, “Yes sir.”

He snorted. “Save your sirs. I’m immune to feminine wiles.” I shook my head and though he couldn’t see it he must have sensed it because he snorted. “All females have them. They’re packaged that way in the womb.”

I sighed, already disappointed that I hadn’t been out from under Aunt a full turn of the day and I was already in trouble. Quietly I told him, “That’s not the way I was raised. Even had I been so inclined my Mam and the Sisters would have punished me for that type of behavior. There’s too much danger in being misunderstood, too much danger of someone getting hurt.”

He grunted then did some more fishing. “Miz Lana said you were raised by the church.”

“Not by the church; within the church. Papa and Mam still raised me, I wasn’t an acolyte. Our church wasn’t run that way. We were … um … I don’t know what they are like where you are. Our church was a community church. The Word was most important, but so was serving and bearing fruit. We looked after each other and took care of those too young or weak to care for themselves.”

He chuffed a biting chuckle. “One of them communes you hear tell of?”

Calmly I answered him, “No sir. We didn’t live all together on top of one another and share in the ownership of everything. We worked together but we stewarded and were responsible for what God gave us to care for as individuals and families.”

He was silent for a moment. Then with less antagonism asked, “I said enough with the sirs. Answer me this … That woman was truly your aunt?”

I tried not to shudder as I answered, “Truly.”

Unfortunately some of my feelings escaped into my voice. “That was the way of things was it? A bad life?”

After a moment of thinking how to phrase it I wound up simply saying, “Yes.”

He was silent again. He must have decided I wasn’t the threat he had worried I might be. “My name is Gid.”

“So I heard.”

Another silence.

I could hear both frustration and curiosity in his voice when he said, “You are strange for a female. You ask no questions.”

This time the silence was mine before saying, “I’ve learned it is safer to listen. There is an old saying; better to stay silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it true.”

“Heard that one myself.” He gave another sigh before saying, “Fine, then listen. I … I bought you because I need a woman. You’ll hear I nearly had one before you but that she changed her mind. That parts true. You’ll hear it was my brother that she chose over me. That part is true as well. You’ll hear my heart is broken. That part isn’t true. You’ll ignore it hear me?”

His forceful question demanded an answer. “Yes sir.”

“Last time … enough of that sir business; save it for the elders who’ll appreciate it. You’ll call me Gid. Or Gideon; that’s what my stepmother and sisters call me.”

“Yes … Gid.”

“Good enough so here’s more. You’ll hear that because of my so-called broken heart I’m destroying my life and running away. That’s another untruth, or wishful thinking by some. I’m going away but not running away and it isn’t to destroy my life but to make something of it. I have land; it’s mine from my mother’s brother. Father left the block house in the village to my brother as there was too little to piece out to each of us. He is the head of the family and for the last three years has been responsible for caring for all of the family same as Father was before him.”

“Uh … Tad or Ern?”

He snorted, “Neither. Jace. He is the oldest son from my father’s first marriage. Jace then Sabrina, then Heather. Jace’s mother died of childbed fever after birthing Heather. Then Father married my mother. From that marriage there was only me and a sister buried in the village lot after getting born backwards. My parents didn’t get on after that and decided to go their separate ways. But when I was five my mother sent me to live with Father because she said I needed a man’s hand and he was it since she wasn’t in the mood to have another man in her life when Father could do his duty to me for free. Mother died the following spring when she was thrown from her horse. By the time I moved back into Father’s home, he had remarried yet again and there were enough babies in the house that you had to wade through them as the widow Lurna came with several young children from her first marriage. Together Lurna and my father were pretty prolific. Tad was the only son from Lurna’s first marriage and Ern the first son that Lurna bore my father. Don’t even bother trying to remember all of the names of the others because even Lurna forgets who is who on occasion. Most of the time they’ll answer to whatever name you call them so long as you are looking at them when you talk.”

Hesitantly I said, “It sounds like the church orphanage … only … only perhaps noisier.”

“Aye, it’s that and then some. By rights there’s too many for the block house to hold. There’s kids everywhere including in hammocks slung between the rafters of the attic like wreaths of garlic and onions and just as noisome. Jace is like father; he loves the controlled chaos and does his best to make them even noisier and louder when he is in the mood for a good time. He’s a gun smith by trade, same as father was, and most of the young boys are apprenticed to him though the blacksmith who has nothing but daughters has taken on a few since he and Father were cousins. Lurna is a spinner and most of the girls are apprenticed in textiles save for the oldest ones who are married with homes of their own.”

“And you?”

He snorted. “Neither trade interests me beyond the necessary. I take after my mother’s family and like farming and hunting and wild places. The village is getting too crowded and the block house doubly so. It is time that some spread out before we starve ourselves out or bring in some plague that runs through it like wildfire. But too few are willing to live outside the wall.”

Curious despite myself I asked, “Your village has a wall then?”

“Aye. Built during the Great War but it has been added to since then. It gives them a false sense of security.”

I nodded. “Our community had a wall as well, but it didn’t stop the raiders from sending over plague ridden corpses when they found that a siege would not work fast enough to suit them.”

He reached back and startled me when I felt him touch me. “Is that how it happened? How you wound up with that woman?”

I sighed. “Yes. Father was a guard. He tried to explain to the Elders what could happen. He’d heard stories of that particular group of raiders. But sometimes the horrors are just more than people want to believe. And by the time they understand they must believe or perish, it is too late.”

He was silent for a moment. “I have obligations at the block house that will take a day or three then we’ll head out. The land lies a half-day’s ride from the village. You’ll hear … stories. You … you may not …” He stopped and sighed, once again in irritation. “Lurna, Jace … all of them … they’ll try and turn it into high drama and you’ll be the center of it. They’ll set on you and … and try and draw you in. I don’t want to see my family hurt.”

After a moment I said, “You’ll need to tell me what your wishes are.”

“My wishes?” he barked. “I wish none of this need be, but it is. I wish the pages in my life would have turned as I planned them to. I can live with the way things are so long as I don’t have to listen to it day in and day out. Their managing grows wearisome, their pity … unacceptable.” He gave a discontented growl that told me more than words could, whether he meant to or not. He shook himself then said, “Ignore them if you can but I doubt a dead man could. But I warn you, do not hurt them. They don’t deserve any pain from this. Vaniece made her choice and I’m not so broken or vengeful that I want it to split the family. Not to mention it is going to be hard enough for them to accept an outsider like you especially with the stories Tad is probably going to tattle. You’re too different from what they know, what they had planned for me.”

I blinked and realized I was making a mistake opening up to this man as much as I had. I’d shared more words with him than I had with anyone since Old Annie had died. I wanted to snap then why chose me if he had known it would displease his family but instead closed myself back off and calmly spoke, “It will be as you say.”

“It had better.”

I expected for him to take me back to the road but he did not. I tried to ignore the unease between us. I realized I preferred Aunt’s open hostility to the strangeness of a man who did not relish his seeming dislike of me. He broke my reverie by saying, “Your shoes are serviceable for now but you’ll need winter boots.”

I swallowed, uncomfortable with him noticing something so personal. “I … I have fur lining for them for when the cold starts blowing.”

He grunted. Then, “You’ll need warmer garments.”

“I layer what I have and trade off from inside to outside until it is warm enough for a wash day.”

He said impatiently, “Lurna will see you dressed properly. I won’t be shamed but I won’t be delayed either. You don’t need a whole wardrobe like a debutante.”

Feeling the pinch of my pride, something that I hadn’t let happen for a long time, I told him, “I need no one to make my clothes for me. This cloth may be rough and thin but the stitches are strong and sure. My mam was a seamstress and taught me the skills of cutting and sewing.”

He nodded in relief. “At least that is something.” There was a pause like he was ticking off items in his head. “Cloth it is then. I’m due that much from the coffers at least. But we take no more food than what I was able to trade for at the Buy n’ Sell. There is none for wasting so don’t think there will be banquets as you are used to.”

Again I felt the pinch of pride, so strange after being absent for so long. If he only knew. I drew my mind back to practical matters. “This place you say we go. What is it like? Forest, prairie, rocky moraine?”

“Forest except for the fields, though there are areas of rocks where they tumbled down from the mountains during the Great War. For two years I’ve fought to keep the sprouts from encroaching and reopen fields that have lain fallow for nearly a generation. Why? Ye’ve got a preference?”

I ignored his question as his tone said he could have cared less even had I preferred one over the other. My lot in life was chosen. I had agreed to be a good slave and servant. But something had awakened in me. I may hide myself from others, from his family, but if he knew I was not dim then maybe it was time for him to find out just how not dim I was. “I’ll have to see the lay of the land and see how the season goes once you take me there but if there is a wild edible to forage I’ll find it and put it on your table. I kept the caravan from starving from point to point even when on first glance there was nothing to be had but lichen and limewater and yet did it so that no one ever realized how I pieced out the meager scraps in the food baskets or what I did it with. I can keep illness at bay but not if death is determined to have the patient … but that angel will have to fight to win for I’ve seen him too often to fear him any longer. If you’ve animals I can care for them as well as I do a person. I can help prepare your meat and season it so that it will last longer and not spoil to make you and yours ill. I’ll mend your clothes, scrape your furs and hides, clean your hearth, cook your food. And I’ll do it without yapping you deaf with complaints.”

I snapped my teeth together. It had been too long since I’d allowed anger to ride me this way. I calmed myself with a deep breath and then thinking of a distraction said quietly, “We’ll be coming to a large flat area of tall grass. This time of year it is all brown and grows right up to the road bed.”

He let my previous comments pass without a slap and agreed, “Aye, we passed through it coming while it was still green.”

“But do you know it? Do you know the dangers it holds this time of year?”

“I’ve heard stories. What stories have you heard?”

“Not stories,” I told him. “Actual experience. There are great cats that hunt in the tall grass. They are called lions. A huntsman from a village on the outskirt of the grassland saw the carcass of the animal we killed and told us that before the Great War there were men that paid large sums of money to hunt for sport what were then called exotic animals. Other men, seeking to earn coin from such wasteful insanity imported dangerous animals to places they had no business being and called them hunting preserves. When the Great War came the fences fell and those animals escaped and became truly wild, migrating to the lands that suited them best. With no natural predators and too few men to hunt them, such animals grew in number; sometimes they are so numerous they over hunt the local prey and turn to men to hunt as man once hunted them.”

“You claim to have seen these monsters?”

I sighed then tapped his shoulder. He looked to see me lift the hem of the leather skirt I wore to protect the cloth one beneath it and then the slip that lay between those coverings and my skin. There on my thigh lay four parallel scars where I had barely escaped death before the bouncer for Wash’s tavern had speared the animal through its chest and pinned it down until it finished its death throes.

Tad’s sneering voice came from behind us. “Shoulda figured she was trying to bed ya. Taking a little longer to entice ya than it normally does Gid, must be her pretty face. What decent female lifts her skirts in full view of a wagon train? This should show you …”

I jerked the leather down to cover myself but suddenly slid from the back of the horse then had to scramble out of the way of the hooves when Gid and Tad ripped at each other from the saddle. Disgusted with the both of them I turned my back and started picking up wood and making my way back to the wagon train.
 

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Four

“I told you girl, to treat him well. All I see is more trouble.”

I looked up to see Miz Lana in her wagon. I shrugged. “I have done what I could to not cause him trouble.” Looking back over my shoulder I shook my head, “But it appears that boys will be boys until they decide to be men.”

Miz Lana cackled. “That way is it? What was the cause of it if I might be so bold?”

“I was telling him of the cats of the grassland ahead of us on this road. He thought I told a story. I was showing him proof I was not.”

“And this proof included flashing your silkies?”

I felt myself redden. “I have a scar high on my leg from a cat claw.”

“What?!” she asked in alarm. “Is this true?”

Sighing I asked, “I’ll show you but not where the whole wagon train can see.”

A burly man I had identified as the wagon master said, “And my wife as well to bear out this so-called proof you have.”

I climb in the wagon with Miz Lana while a rawboned woman of indeterminate age road along beside. I felt like a dancehall whore, flashing my bare skin, trying to let no man see my wares. The wagon master’s wife looked and then asked, “How long ago?”

“Summer before this one past. The young lioness went after me more for jollies than hunger as there was a fresh bison kill not too much further down the road.”

The woman looked over at her husband and nodded. I covered myself as he rode close. “What can you tell us of these monsters?”

I shook my head. “Not monsters, they’re big cats. Bigger than the tree cats that live in certain parts of the forest in these parts.” I proceeded to tell them what I had told to Gid. I noticed both Gid and Tad had ridden up and paced the wagon I sat in. The wagon master asked, “What else can you tell us?”

“You do not want to go through the grasslands in the early morning or evening as that is when they hunt most often. It is safest to travel through in large groups as quickly as possible during the hottest part of the day. They are sleepy and indolent during the noonday sun since they are up most of the night tracking prey. If they attack as a group you’ll not get out without some losses. Keep children and small animals in the wagons. Avoid fresh kills because even if it wasn’t done by a lion they’ll try and steal it from the predator that did if it is in their territory or if they are hungry. Do not wander into the tall grass. Avoid any watering holes that other game is using as they may have it staked out. If you have a lame animal, muzzle it or it will broadcast its distress and draw the predators for what they think is an easy kill.”

The men around nodded but one said, “Cross that grassland in a fast day? We’ll lose at least a wagon if not a beast or two in that airless heat. And for what? A child’s nightmare tale?”

His voice seemed to carry some weight and I knew as quickly as they had started to listen they would close their ears. I’d watched it happen season after season in the wagon trains. But this wagon master surprised me. “You’ll all do as I bid or you can get left behind. I saw some tracks last time we were through, though they were a couple of days old and barely legible. I’d never seen the like but it fits with the stories. I won’t put the women and children to danger just because a few of yers gots too much lead in the arse to get a move on.” He looked around and then said, “We break early tonight. Use the time wisely. From that point we should hit the grassland mid-morning and with due haste be able to make camp half way to the river crossing.”

Tad gave me a dirty look which I ignored. I also ignored him when he muttered to no one in particular, “I can’t believe they’re listening to a dimwit.”

I exited Miz Lana’s wagon on the side opposite from him and Gid and put my back into gathering more wood. Soon enough there would be none to gather. The grasslands were only the beginning. After that came the treeless land around the big river and then the rocky fields that was all that was left of a city that stretched for miles in all directions. Where they turned off from there I did not know.


I was able to collect two more bundles of wood and a piece of a third before we broke for the night. Gid had said nothing more to me though Tad had had fun enough making comments, especially when I stopped to take some wood from a wagon broken down along the road. “You don’t even have enough sense to respect the dead. Stealing from them when you could see three crosses lined up at that camp.”

I told him, “I’ve set my feet to serve the living, not worship the dead. To me it looked like whoever survived to bury those beneath the crosses was leaving it all so that some other soul didn’t have to follow in their footsteps. What more generous act could that be?”

I heard Miz Lana cackle and then say, “Come girl. Help me lay this fire so we can put some food in their bellies. Maybe that will settle his lordship’s mood to one less irritating to the rest of us.”

All her words did was make Tad angrier. I set myself for a slap or at least a push but he jerked away and stormed off. Turning I saw Gid watching me but since he said nothing neither did I.

I didn’t just help Miz Lana set the fire, I did most of the prep and cooking as well while she watched and mended some piece of cloth. That was fine. It was a test and I knew it but it saved me from having to make conversation which I was grateful for. The rabbit I had caught was the only meat in the soup so I diced it fine and seared it before adding the other ingredients. The soup alone would not carry the men far so I added dumplings. It thickened the soup into a stew and made it go further besides.

Like the night before the men ate first, but unlike then Gid wasn’t in time to stop Tad from taking a last bowl that left barely a serving in the bottom of the soup pot. After the others had left I scraped it out and gave it to Miz Lana, a woman of girth. “Split it with me child,” she offered kindly.

I shook my head. “Regardless of what Gid may think there were no banquets in my past. I’m used to running long miles on thin rations and it does me no harm. Besides, I still have two mush patties from breakfast I have not eaten.”

“Land sakes girl …”

I took the pot off to clean it rather than listen to her protestations. When that was finished I came back with it full of water to finish the rest of the crockery. Miz Lana watched me from her rocker and then said, “You’ve a cool nature. Most young women would have thrown a fit by now; at the very least had an attitude or felt sorry for themselves.”

I shrugged. “Waste of energy. What good would it do except create more problems? Better for me to accept the way things are and do my best to make my way. Fighting only brings beatings and beatings do nothing but make the next several days harder than they could have been.”

“Had me a father and a husband that used to beat me regular. ‘Twas almost a sport for them. When they both finally died I got me a husband that were just the opposite, too soft. Never understood him nor him me. He set me aside as I made him feel too bad though my past wasn’t his doing. Finally wound up with a man that didn’t need to hit but didn’t need to prove he didn’t by being weak. Took me near about a lifetime to find him and when he died there for a long time I wished they’d planted me with him.” When I didn’t respond she asked, “What was your Pa like?”

“A good man as men go. He was raised by the church but never felt the calling to be a Brother himself, nor a traveling preacher though he had the talent for sharing the Good Book so that even the lowliest layman could understand and appreciate what it contained. Fighting wasn’t his first choice but he could and he was the best in our community at the bow and the sling; that’s who taught me despite some of the Sisters thinking it wasn’t a girl’s place to be skilled in such things.”

“A progressive was he?”

“No. He was just my Papa. He said it was his duty to make sure that I could take care of myself so that I could do whatever task God gave me in this life.”

“And your mother?”

“Soft. Gentle. But strong in her own way. She had beautiful hands that played scissors and needle like a traveling bard plays his strings during story time. His pledge to God was Papa’s first calling, but Mam was his second. He kept her safe, worked to see her happy. When they were together there was barely any need for a lamp their joy in each other was so bright and shiny.”

Ern who had come to get warm by the fire said, “Sounds like a faradiddle.”

I nodded. “Better if it had been. When Papa died too much of Mam went with him. She didn’t outlive him by even a day.”

I’d had enough of questions and of memories. I stood and packed the last items away in Miz Lana’s wagon and then took the rags off as if I was going to rinse them out by the stream some bit away from camp. In reality I simply wanted to be away from them. At least Aunt had meant to hurt me with her words when she bothered addressing me at all. It was cruel, but easy to put down to her sour nature. These people wielded weapons that they didn’t even realize they held and I was dying the death of a thousand cuts from their words.
 

 

[nancy98]

Thanks Kathy.

 

[Fedupgranny]

Kathy...thank you for the new story. You are an awesome story teller!

 

[artjs]

Thanks for the new story Kathy...........enjoyed reading it

 

[CGTech]

Awesome!

 

[Deena in GA]

How wonderful to find a new story from you, Kathy! Thank you so much!!! I look forward to seeing more...

 

[Sammy55]

It's so great to find a new story from you, Kathy!! You have a wonderful start and I'm loving it already! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

MOAR, please!

 

[Lone_Hawk]

Kathy,

You are a Bard, like my mother, thank you for the new story.

 

[Tckaija]

Lady Kathy, again thank you for inviting us into another of your worlds!

I feel this will be another one which we all will be anxiously awaiting updates on!

 

[sssarawolf]

Wonderful as usual girl.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Five

“Tad drive you out here?”

I jumped then mentally sighed as Gid stepped off the path and joined me on the rock I sat on. “No.”

When I didn’t say more he snapped, “No? That’s all you can say?”

He was looking for a fight it seemed. “I answered your question. If you want something other than the truth you need to warn me before I give it to you.”

He snorted. “So his calling you a dimwit and a whore don’t bother you.”

I shrugged. “What good would it do if it did? Reacting would only encourage him to say more of the same. Would that not do the exact opposite of what you would have of me? You told me that your family will not like me. Tad is only the first to make that truth plain. Why fight the inevitable?” After a moment I said, “Besides, what I like and do not like matters not. It will not change things. You paid five silvers for me and are owed their fair worth in return for the investment.”

“Aye,” he rasped. “That I did.”

I sensed more than saw him before he pulled me to my feet. I felt his hand as it traveled to my waste and then make its way to a place few men had touched me and none with anything other than violence in their minds. Gid’s hand was different, it didn’t pinch and pull, but I still couldn’t stop my heart from beating fearfully since in the end the goal was just the same.

Then he cursed as we both heard Ern stumbling through the brush calling, “Gid?! Tad has gone and gotten in a fight with that bruiser Cummins and isn’t fit to stand guard. The wagon master is angry and says we’ll have to split his watch and he was pulling a double tonight.”

I was roughly dragged back to the wagon and ordered, “Stay!”

I crawled under the wagon then tried not to listen as Gid nearly did as much damage to Tad as the man called Cummins had. Had he only been fooling before about his injuries, there was no way for him to be when Gid got through.

I woke in the night when Gid crawled under the wagon with me but he merely shared his cloak and his warmth. I did wake in the morning to feel his hands roaming but not for long as the camp came awake. In my ear his breathed, “This may be all I get for a while but it is something I intend to enjoy as chance permits.”

It is both a promise and a threat though I’m not sure he realizes it; he’s a man after all and knows me not. During my morning prayers I asked the Lord to give me the strength and endurance to live with the cup He has set before me. In the end I still shuddered in revulsion, not sure which was better … to be a murderess or a whore. I thought perhaps if I were to tell him … but he’d bought me, those five silvers and that legal paper gave him the right. I resigned myself to my fate yet again. I pulled my clothing until it was modest and then left the cover of the wagon and started my day.

I was making oat cakes this time. “You’re awful quiet this morning girl, even for what I’ve seen of you thus far.”

I looked at Miz Lana and nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

“Any particular reason?”

“No ma’am, not particular ones.”

“Hmmm.”

I stayed on the far side of the fire away from the three men who all three looked ready to chew off heads if one wrong sound was made. They were only slightly better after several mugs of strong brew and after biting into an oat cake to find I’d hidden honey-sweetened dried fruit within.

Tad finally found it in him to complain when he bit down on one and winced. “You did this on purpose wench. You know my mouth is in no shape to chew something like these rocks.”

I said nothing, just kept frying. I had my back to him, not expecting what came next. “Why you little … Teach you to play deaf and ignore me.”

He was off balance so the fist only grazed the side of my head but it made me jump and I tumbled sending the frying pan skidding into my leg and some grease towards my hand. Pulling my hand back away from that danger only made my fall clumsier and my hand went down on the stones surrounding the fire causing a breathless scream to rise in my throat. When I finally stopped moving I had my back to the wagon wheel fighting nausea and wondering which hurt worse, my palm or my shin since I hadn’t put the leather apron over my underskirt yet.

“Oh Lord,” Miz Lana gasped as she and several other women rushed to my side to see how bad it was.

Still ready to puke, more from reaction than from the pain since I had a tea in my pack I knew I could take for it, I tried to stand up but was pushed back down. “Are ya mad gilly?” one woman asked. “I’ve run against a cookfire ring a time or three in my years and it hurts.”

“Yes ma’am,” I gasped, nearly laughing to keep from crying. “It does. But we have the grasslands today and I don’t know about the rest of you but I want to get through it without turning into animal feed. Once was enough for me.” I managed to crawl away and stand. “There’s no time for this. We need to pack up and leave.” I turned leaving them gaping at my back and limped to the wagon looking for my pack then almost whimpered when I saw it was still underneath.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt someone lift me and set me on the wagon gate but it turned out to be Gid. “Let me see.”

“There’s no sense in it.” Then hesitantly I said, “But … but it would be kind if you would hand me my pack.”

As he reached under the wagon I tried to look to see where Tad was. Gid stood up and caught me searching. “He’s back of the train. He won’t bother you again.” He face was like a thunder cloud.

I whispered, “I’m not trying to interfere with your family Gid.”

“Had nothing to do with that. Tad wanted Vaniece too. He’s mad at me because I’m not pining for her like a knot head the way he is. He had no right to take his heartbreak out on you.”

I shrugged then winced. “I’m the handiest target that he thinks he can use and get rid of rather than live with. When you get rid of me in disgust he’ll believe himself justified.”

“That makes no good sense. I paid five silvers for you. I’m not just going to throw that away.”

Cynically I gave a very unladylike snort. “Grief and anger very seldom have anything to do with sense, good or otherwise. And it hits everyone different. My Mam, a woman I thought to be one of the strongest people I knew, held my Papa as he died and then lay down right beside him and gave up and joined him before the sun had risen on the next day. She left me … left me to … to take my infant brother from her still warm body … left me with no qualms, just assuming that God would see to me and Jubal, like it wasn’t her care any longer.” I winced at sharing, winced as if God Himself had forced the words from my mouth no matter how tightly I had shut my teeth over them. “It takes everyone different Gid. That’s all there is to it.”

I reached in and pulled the precious glass bottle with its waxed seal and a package of black poplar fluff from the place I kept them. Not knowing what to say he instead asked me what I was doing. “Balsam Fir sap. It’s the best I have right now for these burns. I need to spread this fluff and then coat it with the sap. It will act as a second skin and keep the burn from getting infected until I can get someplace and tend it better. There’s no time for fussing as everyone seems wont to do.”

“You really do fear the grasslands.”

I told him, “Fear them? No. Respect what they contain? Yes. When my time comes to be carried off by the angels I don’t want my marker to read it was from some beasties’ tooth or claw.”

He snorted at my words. “No, nor I. Do you need anything else?”

I handed him a carafe. “Would it be possible to have some of the hot water from someone’s fire?”

A woman with a nosey air but apparently a good heart saw what else I held. “Willow bark tea. I was just coming to offer to make ye soom. Here Gid, give me that and you run and do man’s wark. This be woman’s wark so scat.”

The carafe of tea was made and carefully wedged where the lid wouldn’t pop off by the time the wagon master called the sign to move out. I spent the first hour on the road sipping the bitter brew and praying I wouldn’t further embarrass myself by puking down the side of the wagon.

We were three-quarters through the grasslands and making good time when the animals started to get nervous. Another half league and we smelled it … a fresh kill. There is no mistaking the odor of viscera marinating in the hot, noonday sun.

I had my sling out and loaded despite the pain in my hand. A horse tried to break from its rider’s control and plunge into the grass. I stood up in the wagon. Not a breath of air was to be felt yet the grass rippled in places on either side of the road. I straddle the grain bags and noted the ripples trying to move to the head of the train. “Ern, do you see them?”

He stood and then sat, white in the face. “Something is trying to cut us off.”

“If they get ahead they’ll attack from both sides.” Then it hit me. “Where are the dogs?!”

“They’re tied in the wagons. Or chained in Roof’s case.”

I started praying. “God please, please, please … they may be your creatures but so are we. Feed them some other way, let us pass safely through. Give us Your hedge of protection.” Over and over just like Papa had taught me when my fear escaped my managing. Sometimes He answered the way I wanted. Usually He just gave me the strength to endure whatever lesson He had in mind for me. But this time He must have felt my lesson could wait.

We were forced to jerk to a stop as the lead wagon halted unexpectedly. Then we started again and after another hour the entire wagon train was out of the grasslands. Another hour and we were circling to make camp for the night. The wagon master came over and looked at me before grousing, “Yer didn’t say they’s had all that hair around their faces.”

Surprised I asked, “What?”

“There was a big ‘un what had hair all around its face.”

Thinking quickly I said, “That … that was a male. The hair … the fur … it is called a mane. I never saw a male, only the female we killed.”

“Well upfront we saw that there male and day-um the thing was easy three times the size of ol’ Roof, mebbe more. One swat from it could have taken down any horse in the train; even the big mules.”

I swallowed. “The big males don’t usually hunt. They have a … a harem … they call it a pride. There’s generally one big adult male per pride that is the leader and the lionesses do the hunting and bring down the kills for the male.”

The wagon master’s wife snorted being a more steady type than her husband and said, “Figgers. Male that big thinks he’s too good to move his arse to hunt.”

I bit my lip but felt I had to say, “Actually it’s because he knows the females are better at it than he is.”

That sent the woman off into a peel of laughter. She slapped her husband on the back and then gave him a smooch on the cheek. He gave her a look but said, “Oh go on with ye already woman.”

Suddenly the tension was broken and everyone went about their business. It had been a long and stressful day but there was still work to be done before darkness fell.
 

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Six

It felt like I had barely lain down when I realized Gid was wrapping us both in his cloak. “Ease that hand and leg where I won’t bump it. Now rest your head here.” I sighed trying to accept the inevitable when I felt him untying the string that held the neck of my blouse closed. He rested his hand inside and that seemed to be all he wanted because as soon as he did it he was asleep. It was not at all what I was expecting and it took me a few minutes to wonder at the strangeness before I followed him back into slumber.

I shivered in the morning when he withdrew his warmth. He mistook it for something it was not however and pulled me tight against him before whispering in my ear, “Aye. I want more as well. We’ll have it soon enough, have patience.” I was very glad he crawled out and then walked away or he would have seen how mortified I was by his words. Was it so easy to mistake me for a loose woman?

The wagon master came through at that moment reminding everyone, “Fill up all yer water containers here. There’s no more safe drink for man nor beast for two days’ ride. We cross the river this morning and will camp in the old-city tonight. Hopefully the next day we will camp at the gateway to the valley and be in our real beds that night.”

Travel across the river was by ferry though in places you could cross by horse and wagon because of the drought. The wagon master preferred the ferries because bandits hung out around the easy crossing spots; the ferry companies provided security on their boat ramps on either side of the river. And this company was a good one; there were no accidents, none lost overboard, and no wet belongings.

Once on the other side of the river the road broke off in three different directions. I had travelled all three but the one that the train took for their direction was my least favorite. A little after mid-day we came to the outskirts of an old-city. All you could see at that point was foundation marks in the dry vegetation where what used to pass for buildings had once stood. Another league on and bits and pieces of the buildings themselves rose from the ground though it was in a haphazard pattern and none higher than a man’s knee.

I was walking and trying not to wince every time my slip brushed the burn on my shin when a misting rain began to fall. Gid rode up beside me. “Get in the wagon.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to disobey.”

“But you plan to.”

“Only because I’ll just have to get out again unless I want to be tossed out upon my head. The wagon is not packed for a passenger to ride and from here on the road is in terrible shape. This rain will only make it worse.”

He reached down, being careful of my burned hand, and pulled me up in front of him. He arranged his cloak so that the worst of the wet rolled off both of us. His closeness in public made me nervous and I tried to get him to see reason. “Your horse is tired. Let me walk.”

His hand put pressure upon my waist as if to say stop my wiggling though I could barely bring myself to move I was so frozen and stiff in discomfort. “We’ll both walk in a bit. Right now I want to know how you know this road.”

I shrugged. “After the raid that killed most in our community, the Brothers and Sisters that were left paid the man my aunt called husband at the time to use his wagons to carry those of us who had survived to a nearby refuge, a small offshoot of our community the raiders had missed. That husband died along the trail after drinking bad water. Once at the refuge Aunt took up with another who was a well-known traveling bard. They used me to get them in places … the Brothers found it convenient and safe to send messages around in my care since I knew the codes from helping Papa. Then the bard decided he’d rather have me than my aunt but I wouldn’t give up my brother and my aunt … she got rid of him instead. It was a dangerous time because the Bard was well-liked and Aunt decided she wanted a change of scenery. By then I’d figured out my life would never return to what it once was and had learned to accept that. We were far along the trail and Aunt … and well there were other men, some she called husband and some she didn’t, and then she met Wash.”

“The one you call the tavern keeper.”

“Yes. Only it wasn’t the kind of tavern that my aunt had assumed from his stories. His is a mobile tavern that follows the barter roads between the Buy n’ Sells. I have not stayed in one place longer than a week since my parents died and there are only so many roads fit for a wagon group of any size out this way so I’m familiar with the routes and condition of the roads at the different seasons.”

He was quiet for a moment as the rain decided to pelt down a bit harder and grow colder. “You’ve mentioned this brother before. The one … the one you … cut … from your mother.” Startled I turned and glanced at him full in the face and he caught my eyes. “Aye, I remember your words though you’ve kept them to yourself since.”

It took me a moment to break eye contact and turn around. “His name was Jubal.”

“Was?”

“Was.”

“He was some younger than you.”

“Yes.”

Gid sighed. “Do not make me pull the story out of you in bits and pieces.”

I shuddered and it must have surprised him as much as it surprised me. “You ask so many questions,” I whispered pulling my cloak forward to hide my face.”

“Never have had to before. Most females volunteer more information than a man can digest. You … I’d starve on what little you let slip here and there.”

Trying to make him give up whatever his game was I told him baldly, “Jubal is dead.”

“From illness?”

I sighed and shook my head.

Slowly and carefully he asked, “Your … you aunt or that man Wash?”

Despite my best effort I wiggled a littIe but all he did was say, “It’s all right Yulee. Just say it.”

“He … he was small for his age … and … and different. He wasn’t ready to be born but it was either take him or he’d die the same as Mam. And living as we did … I couldn’t do for him like was needed. He would have always been different, but it wouldn’t have been so hard on him had I been able to tend to his needs better. I carried him in a sling until he was three, he couldn’t seem to figure out how to walk before that. He finally learned to walk and he was so proud. I was proud of him too as most everyone had thought he never would. But the other children … slum kids that run around with the traveling companies … they saw his weakness and never failed to pick on him. Once he started walking Aunt wouldn’t let me keep him with me all the time any longer; she said he had to work for his feed the same as the rest of us. There was a woman … Old Annie …”

“I remember you mentioning her in passing.”

“The three of us tried to be a real family but Old Annie was … old, growing frail though she was strong in spirit and feisty like Miz Lana. Still, she had no business being on the barter road any more than Jubal did. Aunt would give them work she knew that they couldn’t finish. The rule was if you didn’t finish your work you didn’t eat so I would do my work and then try and do theirs as well. Most of the time it worked out and those times it didn’t … well, we survived the best we could. Despite it all it felt like God was looking after us. Life was bearable. When I didn’t think I could go any more energy would come to me from some place, or the train would have to stop, or Aunt would get distracted by some new scheme and forget about tormenting us for a while. Then came that night.”

Thunder rumbled and a piece of old ruin tumbled in the distance giving off a weird echo. “Finish your story Yulee.”

I sighed. “There isn’t much left to tell. It was raining that night as well only harder and colder. Aunt had grown tired of all the squalling being done by the children and had confined them to one wagon. That only made it worse. They began to pick on each other, then … then they all sort of ganged up on Jubal. No one would say which did the pushing but I knew from the look on his face it was one of the slop bucket boys.” My head hung so low I could see nothing but the edge of my own cloak. “He fell from the wagon and his head struck a sharp rock and the angels carried him away from me.”

My hands were clinched so tight it didn’t register until I felt the blisters popping from the burn. I gasped and held it tightly to me. Before he could ask I told him, “Old Annie tried to keep us going but when she died earlier this year …” I snorted. “Tad is correct, you got a bad bargain for your coin.”

Carefully he asked, “You think you’re cursed?”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe in curses … at least not the kind you mean. It just seems that … that God must think I am too hard headed to learn His lessons any other way and because of it those around me suffer.”

I tried to slide off the horse but he tightened his arm and thighs around me. “Do you know why I picked you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you know why I picked you?” he said more slowly.

“Because you need a woman.”

“I could have had any woman in the cages and many out of that place if that was all there was to it. Besides, I had more than five silvers in my purse. Why do you think I picked you?”

After a moment I answered, “I … I have no idea.”

“Because I watched you from the moment you walked in the cue. I saw that fat buffalo you’ve said is your aunt; she was bickering with the auctioneer. I heard her say you fell out of a wagon. I knew it was a lie as soon as it crossed her lips and it made me want to see what was under the bruises to make her so mad, still do for that matter. But there was trading to be done and I was sure that you would be gone by the time I got back and had time to look. But every time I passed by you were still there. And you were different. You didn’t cry or curse, didn’t moan or complain, didn’t act frightened at all, and didn’t try and advertise your wares like a whore. As a matter of fact you didn’t make any noise at all. I thought at first perhaps you were deaf or mute or both. Tad and Ern were positive you were simple, dim. I wasn’t sure.”

He pulled me deeper into his cloak when the rain started blowing a bit. “Tad kept pointing out other women for me to look at and sure they would have served but for some reason I kept coming back to the silent girl who just walked the line. Every time an auctioneer would step in to tap someone I was sure it was going to be you, but it never was. Eventually seeing under the bruises didn’t matter. Tad and Ern both … they kept at me, trying to persuade me to some other girl, woman but then there’d be you. I had made up my mind to have you, then they began to complain of their stomachs being empty and we went off to eat just so I could shut them up. You see how they are when they are hungry, like rabid wolverines. They were driving me mad. When I hesitated they said if it was meant to be you’d still be there when I got back. It was almost too late when I realized they had lied and told me the auction was ending an hour later than it was. I rushed back thinking that you’d be gone to someone else but there you were, still just walking. But they were shutting things down. I decided to see if they’d be willing to make one more sell. Surprisingly I didn’t have to ask, they were willing to take half your price if I’d take you off their hands.”

Quietly I said, “You could have been out ten silvers for me?! That would have bought you a better woman from one of the other cages.”

“That’s what Ern said but I didn’t want any of those. For some reason it had to be you.”

I shook my head. “That makes no sense.”

He shrugged. “It didn’t to me then. Still doesn’t. Especially when I didn’t know if you could even speak. I was grateful when you opened your mouth and your words weren’t garbled and saw you had all of your teeth.”

Flummoxed how to respond I stuttered, “I … I suppose that is something.”

“Yeah. And your morning brew is as good as Lurna’s if not better but we won’t be telling her that. She’s overly proud of her brew Lurna is. Father used to say her brew is why he married her.”

There wasn’t anything to say to that at all so I didn’t, simply filed the information for later.

“And you can cook. I don’t care what Tad said, those oat cakes weren’t rocks. I’ve never had them with fruit in the center.”

“The Sisters made them like that for the hunters to take when they’d be away for the day.”

“Well they’re good. And that rabbit you fixed went further than I thought it would. Means you know how to make much with little.”

I shrugged. “Waste not want not.”

“I’ve got a maiden aunt that says that a lot. Her name is Verna, she’s my stepmother’s twin. She lives at the block house too since Lurna’s parents died.” A moment passed and then he said, “I … I’ve got a favor to ask.”

I thought that a strange thing for a master to say to a slave.

“Tad … Tad is a pain. He needs to be beat senseless. I nearly did this morning after he … but he isn’t normally like he’s been. And … Lurna is partial to him. So was Father. As the oldest son from Lurna’s prior marriage he could have made their marriage hard. He could have made my life hard when I came and tried to find a place in the house. But he didn’t do either thing. We were like brothers from the very beginning. He’s more like Father than I ever was even though they don’t share a drop of blood.”

“He changed? Over this Vaniece you’ve mentioned?”

I felt him nod. “Only no one knew what it was at first. He wanted Jace and I to be happy whoever wound up with Vaniece … he’s a good man.”

Thoughtfully I said, “I still don’t understand what you want.”

“It’s Lurna. And Aunt Verna. And all of the girls in the house for that matter, but Verna especially. See she was an enforcer of the court when she was younger and still has some pull and no mercy. She was the one that lashed men when they were found guilty of crimes against women. None in the house are man-haters. None of them wish men harm … but there … there are certain unforgivables in their eyes.”

Then I understood. “I wouldn’t have ever used this morning against him.”

“P’raps not. I’m seeing that … that you see things differently. But …”

“But?”

“I’m asking you not to mention it and if … if it comes up to …”

I sighed. “I won’t lie.” I felt him stiffen. “But that doesn’t mean I have to answer anyone’s questions either. Tad and Ern want to believe me to be dim, let them go on thinking it. Let everyone think it.”

Troubled he said, “That’s not what I want. It’s cruel.”

Shrugging I told him, “You said yourself they aren’t likely to care for me at all. You said that you would only be staying just long enough to finish your business. Who needs to know that I am anything other than what they want to believe I am?”

Cynically he asked, “That’s not lying?”

I shook my head. “No, that’s letting people think what they want to think.
‘
“And you’re fine with that?”

I sighed. “Gid, I’ve lived that way for a while now. If … if you … if you … maybe …”

“What?”

Quietly I said, “It would be … nice … to have one person think I’m something other than turned in the head. If you’ll … if you’ll be that one person then what others think doesn’t matter.”

A huge clap of lightening parted the sky and then parted what passed for a scrubby tree less than a quarter league from where we road. The sound was deafening and the light blinding if you had been looking in that direction. Every horse in the train came unglued and it took all the riders’ and drivers’ skill to calm their mounts.
 

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Seven

When the mounts and teams were finally calmed I tried to let go where I had been holding onto Gid to keep from being thrown off while he took his horse, a fiery mustang he called Rook, in hand. “You can stay that way,” he said when I tried to untangle myself.

“You can’t want me in your space like this.”

“Can too, but I suppose that’ll have to wait.” His suddenly stiffened and then muttered a curse. “What is he on about?”

I turned to see that the wagon train was going off the road and disappearing into a structure that looked like it was made of stone. “He’s taking us into shelter. That is what remains of something called a parking garage. There used to be conveyances called cars …”

“Aye, I attended school. I know the history … or at least some.”

I nodded, sorry that perhaps I had sounded arrogant or insolent. When I didn’t add any to what I had been saying he asked, “What of this … this parking garage.”

“It is made of something called concrete. It is like a very strong plaster or adobe that turns to stone and won’t melt in the rain.”

“Aye, I’ve heard of it. They make a type of it in our village. Because of tight space we’ve had to grow up rather than out.”

I nodded. “Our community used to make clay blocks and fire them in a kiln and called them bricks. Or they would pick up rubble from the nearest old-cityscape and mortar the bits together with clay. In other places they only have wood or woven grasses to use.”

“What of this place? You’ve been here before?”

“A lot of travelers use this spot to get out of bad weather. I’ve been here several times. Just don’t let the children go into the levels beneath the ground, you can get lost down there and there are … are artifacts that can cut and cause an infection. There’s also mold spores that cause lung sickness. Most leave the tunnel covers in place but there are some too curious for good sense that disappear down there every season. In the far corners and old stairwells below there are also bones of men and women long dead littering the floor.”

“How do you know this?”

“Once, as punishment, Aunt put me down there and had them pile rocks so that I couldn’t push the panel away to escape.” Gid uttered a particularly nasty curse that had heat rising to my ears, something that hadn’t happened for a while because Wash’s curses were very … creative … and I thought no one would ever best him in that department.

We rode into the area and dismounted. Tad came over and took the reins from Gid. “I’ll rub him down.” Despite his words to me it was obvious that Gid was still angry at Tad and I felt pulled to do something.

I kept my head bowed but said quietly so none but we three could hear I said, “What’s done is done but it need go no further.”

I thought my words had fallen flat but I jumped when Gid put his finger under my chin to lift it and turn it to see Tad. He looked at me confused. “I … I shouldn’t have hit you.”

“Your heart has been troubled. I don’t wish to add to that load.”

More confusion but he did say, “It won’t happen again.”

I nodded and then followed Gid until he located Miz Lana who was in a foul mood. “Bah! Not a dry stick of wood to be found and nothing to make fire with that isn’t twice as wet as that. My tinder box tipped when the horses went crazy and got soaked.”

I eased my pack off my shoulders and pulled out the fur wrapped bundle I had left over from the night before. I reached into the pack again and pulled out a bag of downy cattail fluff. Turning to Gid I said, “I was saving this to piece out flour with but if the wood in under the wagon canvas is dry, we’ll at least be able to start a small fire then heat a skillet. If we share the fire and share what dry wood we have between us, there should be enough though eating will have to be done in shifts.”

It wasn’t easy. Only one could cook over the fire at a time so instead of a full course meal all the women threw in together and fried up batch after batch of a type of hash. The wagon master’s wife brought over the largest skillet I had ever seen and that is the cook surface we used. We cooked on one half and served from the other.

Eventually all were served and even Tad and Ern seemed content with their portion. Gid had saved me some from his bowl and tried to feed me but I shook my head, too nauseous to eat. The heat from the fire had caused new blisters to rise on my burns and all I wanted was to find a place and curl up with my misery.

I heard Miz Lana tell Gid, “Get her to wherever you be sleeping. Try and get another cup of willow bark tea down her though not too much as she hasn’t eaten. She also needs to drink as much of a skin of water as she can to put the water back that the burn has taken away. Then let her sleep. It’s the only cure for what ails her.”


The rain continued off and on through the night but not so hard that it blew in and wet our refuge. The ground was cold and hard and I slept fitfully. I woke in the wee hours to the feel of my skirt bunched up and hands where they’d never been before, but they weren’t moving. A snore in my ear told me they wouldn’t be moving any time soon either. I was too tired and sore to try and escape, all I could do was fall back into the half sleep something had roused me from.

The next time I woke it was to feel someone gently righting my skirt and I jumped. “Shhh. I’m covering your temptations.” His breath on my neck caused a sensation that didn’t leave me entirely comfortable.

I didn’t know what to say. He had rights. I accepted that. But I was confused nonetheless. “Let me up and I’ll fix …”

“Shh. There’s not enough wood left,” he whispered in my ear. “People will have to make due with water, but not too much. It will be well past noon before we reach clean water that won’t sicken anyone. Is you water skin filled?”

“Tad took it and filled it last night when he watered the horses.”

I felt things I shouldn’t as Gid continued to arrange and then rearrange my clothing. “What are you doing?” I whispered frantically after one particular move.

“Torturing myself,” he muttered hoarsely.

Soon enough he left off with the torturing and crawled out telling me to fix things right as he had doubtless all but buttoned and tied it all inside out. I was nearly tempted to crawl to the below ground when I realized he was right.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Eight

“There it is,” Gid told me.

We were looking down into a long, narrow valley. Within the valley were three distinct living districts. The closest was the town of Yellow Rock that took its name from a large outcropping answering that description that lay roughly center of the town green. It was a place that had long ago outgrown the protections erected during the Great War.

The second district was smaller than Yellow Rock but not by much and in fact looked much newer, being laid out in an obvious grid pattern. It was called Shale. It was only about ten years old and came to be because Yellow Rock had outgrown the natural bowl that it sat in. The elders of both towns expected that one day Shale and Yellow Rock would actually merge into one large town though that was likely a generation or two into the future.

The third was Gid’s home village, called Riverside. It predated the Great War by a number of years and was originally something called a “bedroom community”. Riverside was small but made up for that by being completely surrounded by a high, thick wall of many different materials; what usually being dependent on what era during which it was added.

“It looks like an ant mound from here,” Gid said.

“Yeah, it does!” agreed both Tad and Ern smiling. I glanced at Gid and realized he hadn’t necessarily meant it as a compliment.

There was a wide road that connected the three districts. Gid explained, “We’ve got the furthest to go but the least people traveling there. The wagon master, Miz Lana and most of the train go to Yellow Rock. Best say your goodbyes now.”

“They’ve already been said,” I told him. “Miz Lana explained some of this as we packed up this morning.”

“Good enough.” Looking concerned he said, “The road in is steep. You’ll need to walk but stay out of the way of the wagons in case one breaks away. It’s happened before. And when the horses smell home they’ll be more eager and pull harder no matter how we try to hold them back.”

I shrugged. “Horses are horses. I’ll move to the back of the train with the others to keep out of the way.” Reluctantly he nodded and went to go help Ern and Tad with the team and wagon.

In my opinion it had been a bad idea to push the schedule. The lack of breakfast and the long day had everyone fatigued. Yes, their homes were within sight but to me there was no reason to take the risk. By the time the wagons all got to the bottom of that piece of the road most everyone appeared to agree. Several wagons had nearly overturned and more than one person was thrown off his or her horse. One man in particular took a bad spill.

I had hands on his arm and was slowly rotated it when Gid road up and snapped, “What are you doing?”

There was a distinct pop and the man sagged in relief. “Thank ee.”

I answered quietly, “You’re welcome.”

“Sorry fer the trouble.”

“This isn’t trouble,” I told him. To relieve his apparent embarrassment I said, “Yours isn’t the first shoulder I’ve put back where it belongs. The last time I did it the man was sick all over me from my front to my feet and he was twice your size which made for a lot of puke. Now that was trouble.”

“Wallllll I reckon so,” he said, his pride obviously less pinched than it had been at finding out a bigger man than he had had worse trouble.

I stood up and brushed my hands and skirt off and then turned to Gid to find the man thanking him as well before limping over to remount his horse with the help of friends. He wouldn’t be doing anything but a walk but at least he had the sense to know he had to get back on the horse.

I picked up my pack but was simply too tired to put it all the way on so I slung it over one shoulder. Gid walked his horse beside me then asked, “What happened? I turned around to find you and word reached me you had stopped at the bottom of the trail.”

“A wagon tried to take one of the turns too quickly. It caused that man’s horse to skitter into the loose rock on the edge of the trail. The beast was too upset to get its full balance with rider attached so it dumped him and ran ahead. We put the man on a stretcher and as you saw, I put his shoulder back in place once we got to the bottom.”

He looked at me. “A healer is usually called for such a thing.”

I shrugged and limped along. “The first time I put a shoulder back in place was my Papa’s who’d been knocked from his horse by a type forest cat we called a panther that was after the church’s goat herd. Papa killed the cat but had been too injured to make it back. I found him when I went out to take him his lunch. He told me what needed doing. When Old Annie heard she thought I might have the makings are a yarb woman and Papa wasn’t against me learning so long as I kept up with my chores and other studies as well. The Sisters liked the idea of having another helper for the traveler’s hospital so wrapped some of my other schooling into service there.”

After a moment he teased, “So you’re finally giving the full story without me having to pull it out of you like its buried treasure.”

I didn’t know what to make of his sudden change in mood so I answered honestly, “It wastes less time than upsetting you because you have to ask more than one question to get the answer you seek.”

He chuckled and then got down off his horse startling me yet again. I simply looked at him waiting on an explanation should he decide to give one. “Tad and Ern are going ahead with the wagon. It isn’t going to hurt a thing to rest my horse and walk with you a while. And it is getting late and while the Avenue is usually safe there are still animals about … and sometimes beggars or the like.”

Slowly the trail emptied as we passed the turn off to Shale. When there were no others about Gid started talking again. “Hiram already rode out from the village to meet us. He’s one of the younger boys; I think he is twelve or something close. His twin is named Hank. Ignore them if they try and prank you, not even Lurna can tell them apart all the time.”

“Twins … like your step mother and sister.”

“Aye. There’s three sets between my father and Lurna. She had a set of twin girls with Tad’s father but one died of the spots when it was a babe.”

“Oh … oh … well …”

He snickered. “Yeah, you’re not the first person to have that reaction.”

Cautiously I asked, “How many of you are there?”

“Don’t know exactly. I stopped counting after a while. All I know is that I’d go to work for my uncle during the summer and come back and there was at least one more in the house.”

I looked at him but couldn’t tell for sure if he was exaggerating or not. Then he sighed and said, “Lurna will try and get us to sleep in the house but I always feel … strangled. It got to be so bad that until I was old enough to go on my own to tend to the place my uncle left me I’d crawl out on the roof and sleep there in all but the worst weather. Even the barn is crowded but at least not with people. You mind if we kip under the wagon as we have been doing?”

“It will be as you say.”

He turned and looked at me hard. “You don’t need to say things like that.”

I wasn’t sure what I had said wrong and he must have seen it on my face. More gently he said, “I bought you but I don’t mean to own you.”

That only confused me more. He sighed and stopped us right in the middle of the road. “I know your life hasn’t been easy. It hasn’t led you to have many … many expectations. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t intend on treating you like that … like that fat cow you called your aunt did.” He put his hands, one of them still holding the horse’s reins, on my shoulders. “I mean for us to get on. Make something between us. I mean for you to learn that even if my mood gets nasty, I won’t turn my hand against you.”

Trying to understand I reminded him, “You said you needed a woman.”

He nodded. “Aye, I did. I do. And I mean you to be that woman. I don’t mean you to have to worry that that means that I’ll beat on you to get my way. I know how to ask. I know how to accept no when you need to say it.”

I finally understood what he meant when he pulled me close. “Oh,” was the only breathless sound I could make.

“Aye. So now do you understand?”

I swallowed hard and nodded but couldn’t bring myself to look any higher than his throat. He solved that by tilting my chin. “Yulee, I don’t intend on being like those other men that have been at you. Give me time to show you. OK?”

Before I could answer there was the sound of horses coming down the trail and a feminine voice calling out. “Did she go lame Gideon?”

A vision on a white horse rode up looking much like the golden haired princesses that appeared in the pages of the fairytales that once resided in the church’s library. I didn’t need to guess.

“Hi! I’m Vaniece. You must be … U … U … uh …”

Gid looked like he’d been struck dumb. Pulling my cloak around me I curtsied politely the way I’d been trained. “Yulee Mistress Vaniece, my name is Yulee.”

 

[nancy98]

Wow! Thanks Kathy.

 

[CGTech]

Outstanding. More please? With sugar on top?

 

[juco]

I'm glad that you have not put this one on your blog Kathy, 'cause I would have devoured it already just like the rest and wouldn't have the pleasure of reading it now.

Thanks for saving it as a side dish!

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Nine

The vision giggled. “Oh … oh you … you don’t need to do that. Perhaps to Mother Lurna.” The words said I didn’t but the look in her eye told me that it would be better if I continued to.

As I was standing up I had to shift to the side quickly when I large mule reached out and almost had the edge of the hood on my cloak. “Watch that blasted animal!” Gid snapped.

“He’s only funning,” the boy riding him snickered.

“I’m not,” Gid barked. “Do it again and I’ll geld him and you both brat. Find your manners or get gone.”

The boy looked like he’d been slapped. I wasn’t sure what to do so I put my hand on Gid’s arm. “There was no harm done. It’s not the first time …”

Before I could finish Gid said, “Well it’ll be the last. You’re limping from the burn and though you haven’t said it you’re favoring your hand … probably mangled the covering on it again fixing that guy’s shoulder.”

Before another moment passed I found myself on Gid’s horse with him behind me. A chill wind blew and he pulled me beneath his cloak. He looked at Vaniece and asked, “Did you at least tell Jace you were riding out?”

“Oh I didn’t want to bother him, he’s in his workshop.”

Gid snorted. “Jace is always in his workshop. You should have either told him or not come out. Certainly not only with one escort.”

She seemed to take great pleasure in Gid’s company and told him wistfully, “Oh Gideon, you always did worry so.”

He muttered darkly, “Wouldn’t have to worry if you would use more sense.”

From the look on Vaniece’s face that wasn’t exactly the response she had expected. The boy just goggled until Gid asked, “What are you looking at sprat.”

“Uh … she’s quiet.”

“Maybe you lot can borrow some from her and save my ears from ringing.”

The boy continued to stare at me like I was a bug he’d caught and asked, “Don’t she talk?”

I felt Gid’s chest bounce but no one else would have known he was laughing. “Say something so the boy knows you can talk.”

I turned to look at the boy and said, “What would you like me to say?”

When he heard my voice he said, “How come you talk like a rich man’s fancy piece? Ern said Gid bought you from the slave cages.”

Gid snapped, “Hank!”

“Ain’t Hank,” the boy said with a smirk

“Whoever you are you little limb of Satan watch your mouth!” Gid growled no longer laughing.

Both Vaniece and the boy eyed him warily. “It’s the truth,” I said calmly. Turning to the boy I said, “Gid rescued me. From a … a terrible fate. I owe him my life.”

The boy asked, “Oooooo. What was the terrible fate?”

“Something a nice young man doesn’t need to know about until he’s older unless he wishes to have his mother get wind of it.”

His eyes got real big. “Oh.”

There was only a short silence, just enough time for Gid to begin to relax when Vaniece asked, “Is your name really Yulee?”

I answered quietly, “Yes.”

“I’ve never heard the name before.”

“Mmm.”

She asked, “But where are you from?”

“The other side of the peaks.”

Amazed she said, “No. Really?”

“Really.”

Another question. “But where on the other side of the peaks?”

Another partial answer. “Near a great river.”

“I didn’t know there were rivers on the other side of the peaks.”

“Mmm.”

Then the boy broke in and said importantly, “I heard there were lots of things on the other side of the peaks that are different from here. I even heard there was a great river called the Mississippi.”

I responded, “Yes.”

That startled the boy. “You’re from the Mississippi?!”

“Near it,” I told him.

“How near?”

“Closer than I was to the peaks.”

They both started talking at me at the same time and I was rescued from answering either of them when a voice called out sharply, “Vaniece! You went outside the wall.”

A man a few years older than Gid rode up on an Appaloosa horse. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

“I’m not alone.”

“With only a boy for company you might as well be.” The man turned to Gid and scowled. Then blinked as if seeing me for the first time. “Oh. Er … you must be …”

The boy piped up, “Her name is U-Lee. It sounds funny doesn’t it? Never heard it before. And she don’t hardly talk and when she does she don’t say much. I think Ern is right, she ain’t all there.”

I almost fell from the saddle when with a snarl Gid reached out to snag the scamp but the boy and his pony skipped out of the way then went off saying, “Best get back to Ma and tell her what I’ve learned. She wanted to know but Ern and Tad ain’t been still long enough for her to ask all her questions.”

Gid groaned. “We are definitely sleeping in the barn.”

The man Jace turned his horse to ride between Vaniece and Gid’s mount. He smiled and said to me, “You’ll feel like you’ve ridden into a carnival until you get to know us.”

Ged muttered, “By then she won’t think it she’ll know it.”

Reproachfully Vaniece said, “Really Gideon. You’ve turned so hard and sour. You just need a week or two back home and then everything will be back as it should.”

“Ain’t staying a week or two,” he groused. “I plan to stay at most a day or two.”

Jace and Vaniece both started making noise at that. Jace said, “Lurna will insist on it Gid.”

“She can insist all she wants but we ain’t staying to please her. I need to get to the cabin and make it fit for winter.”

Vaniece retorted in a tone that said she was used to getting her way and didn’t like to be thwarted, “But surely … um … Yulee here would like us to get to know her.”

“There is not that much to know,” I said favoring Gid’s plan more now that I’d had a small taste of what I had merely thought he was exaggerating about.

We entered the gate of the village and it closed behind us as we were the last ones in. For it to be so late there were a great many people about and lots of noise. Where only Gid could hear I asked, “Is it always like the first market of the season?”

“This?” he snorted. “This is calm. The village celebrates at the least little excuse and a couple of wagons full of trade goods is a better excuse than most. Just wait until Lurna finds out I’ll have none of her plans. Then we’ll be pecked to death by all her relations coming to tell us we’re breaking her heart and worrying her into an early grave.”

I gave a delicate shudder without meaning to and I felt his chest bounce in a silent chuckle. No one else seemed to realize we were carrying on a conversation with each other rather than paying attention to them. In fact they just continued to talk at us and amazingly enough not expect any answers as they seemed to be making their own up with the little bit they had heard before we arrived.

Finally we got to a large block structure and dismounted. My feet had not been on the ground two seconds when the doors flew open and out poured a veritable sea of children of all ages most of them so identical looking that it was no wonder their mother could not remember their names or tell them apart.

I slid behind Gid and let him run interference. “Back you sprats! Yulee needs to see Aunt Verna. Move I say! You, out of the way before you get stepped on. And you, stop climbing my leg, I’m too tired for a piggy ride.” He finally lost patience and cursed. “Tad! Ern! Where’s the wagon?!”

Tad and Ern came out cautiously took one look at Gid’s exasperated face and nearly fell down laughing. I sighed and shook my head. I asked quietly, “Tad, please help. All three of you have worked hard all day and had next to nothing to eat. I don’t know why but Gid wishes me to see your Aunt Verna. The sooner it’s done the sooner you three can rest as you deserve.”

I don’t know if Tad was trying to make amends or if he was as tired as I sensed that Gid was but at my request he elbowed Ern and they scooped kids up and off the walk way and tossed them into the arms of older kids, even throwing a couple at Vaniece and Jace. They flanked us and got us in the house and into an antechamber where the din was a distant rumble.

“Thank you.”

Tad and Ern look at each other then flushed and said, “Uh … you’re welcome.” Tad told Gid, “Ma is out inspecting the wagon. She probably thought you’d go there first to escape.”

“And I will, just as soon as Aunt Verna …”

The door opened and a dark haired, dark eyed woman entered wearing a dark blouse and a matching split skirt, the kind used for riding though she appeared to be using them for everyday clothes as well. “Gideon,” she said and even her voice was dark. At her appearance Tad and Ern left the room quickly.

From a pocket on his pants Gid pulled something out and I realized it was the skin the legal man had given him at my purchase. He held it out to the dark woman and said, “I want to make sure this was done right.”

The woman arched an eyebrow but took the skin and looked it over thoroughly. “It is a simple document but a solid sales contract. Did you get a receipt for your money?”

“Aye.” He gave her another slip, this time one of rough paper.

She nodded. “All is in order.”

Gid relaxed. He turned to me and said, “See. She can’t take you back.” I blinked and then realized he was referring to Aunt Giselle. It had never been my worry but I thanked him just the same.

Gid’s smile melted when his aunt said forbiddingly, “Her face is bruised.”

Realizing she was looking at him suspiciously Gid started to bow up. I stepped between the two and said, “I was bruised when he bought me.”

She grabbed my hand as quick as a snake but I didn’t jump as I was used to the same treatment from my aunt. She turned my hand this way and that. “And the burn?”

“Skillets get hot.”

She stared at me hard and though she was good, Aunt Giselle had been better at intimidating people. I returned her hard stare with a calm one and eventually she released me. Turning to Gid she said, “Lurna is expecting you.” To me she said, “You I wish to speak with.”

Gid said rudely, “Well too bad. I’m not throwing her to the pack of wolves this family can turn into. She stays with me.”

His Aunt Verna merely raised one brow and gave him a curious look as he guided me from the room and back into the bedlam of children and animals that seemed to roam the corridors of the house in equal numbers. The noise was disconcerting to me but it irritated Gid and he all but dragged me through the crowd, ignoring all of the questions being pelted at him, and then pulled me outside into a courtyard and towards another structure that I learned was Jace’s smithy on one end and on the other end the barn.

A large number of people tried to follow us out but a woman’s voice snapped, “Go inside children. I wish to speak to Gideon. Alone.”

Several of the children went, “Oooooooo, he’s in trouble now.”

What must have been an unusual silence for that house fell in the dooryard in front of the barn. Pulling no punches Lurna opened with a hard salvo, “Gideon, how could you?! Y0u bought a … a … female from the slave pens?”

“Lurna …” Gid started warningly.

“And the things I’ve already heard … and no, not from your brothers; from others that returned with you. What was wrong with finding a nice girl from a good family around here?!”

“Lurna …”

“Where did your father and I go wrong?! I know your heart was broken but you can see that Vaniece and Jace are good together.”

“Lurna! Enough!!”

The snap in his voice was as hard as a whip. I’d heard the tone before but I was pretty sure that Lurna had never heard it from Gid, at least not if the look on her face was anything approaching the truth. “Yulee is mine. I will not give her up. Not for you. Not for anyone. Accept that or not, it is up to you.”

Lurna was completely outraged and I was sure that the situation would soon devolve into something too many would regret. Into that breach I said, “He rescued me.”

“I …” she blinked. “He what?”

“He rescued me.”

Gid started to shake his head. “Yulee …”

I turned to him. “You rescued me and you know it. God sent you to rescue me. Why else would you have picked me? You said yourself that you could have had any of the women there, even some outside the cages, but … but you picked me when you had absolutely no reason to.”

Gid sighed, his anger gone or at least gone for now. “Yulee … I told you …”

“I know. But you said yourself you didn’t know why it was me. What other reason could there be but that God sent you?”

He opened his mouth to answer then closed it. “You’ll just believe what you want to believe. And it is too late and we are both too tired to argue about it.” He looked at Lurna and said, “We are sleeping in the barn. We’ll talk in the morning about splitting what is in the wagon. Some of it is Tad’s and Ern has some coming to him as well. I’ve got papers that show what I bought out of my own pocket. The remainder is for you and Jace to decide about.”

“But Gideon …”

“No. I’m not getting into another discussion or argument tonight. Tell that lot to leave us be unless they want to be thrown down the well.”

With that he reached over into the wagon and pulled out a pack, one I had never seen before, and then guided me over to the bay farthest from the house and away from the noise that still seemed to threaten to unhinge the doors and shutters, or at the very least shake the chimney and make it more lopsided than it already was.

 

[goinpostal]

Thank you for another wonderful tale Kathy.
Matt

 

[Dosadi]

Thank You Kathy

This is one of the better ones, and all of yours are great.

Looking forward to MOAR LOL

D.

 

[sssarawolf]

Man really leaves you wanting more doesn't it? lol Thanks Kathy.

 

[AlaskaSue]

Oh my goodness Kathy! This is splendid!! Thank you, thank you!!! I'm a lucky girl to get to read you!

 

[seraphima]

This is a GREAT story! The character development in particular is very interesting, and the way you reveal the state of the world around them. Thank you!

 

[Mysty]

Love new stories! We always get a bunch at once thanks so much!!

 

[stjwelding]

Kathy, great story thanks for posting it for us to read. You never cease to amaze me, your story's all have a way of making one think they are there and part of the story. I hope that life becomes more manageable and allows you some time to relax and enjoy a little.
Wayne

 

[kua]

Oh nuts, now I have to get busy again. Thanks for a wonderful story. Really a different one from your usual, but very intriguing. Thanks again for sharing this with us.

Hope your life simplifies soon so you can have some rest.

 

[nancy98]

Fantastic!

Thanks Kathy

 

[kaijafon]

again

 

[DIMDAL]

Yep what Kaij said.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Ten

He closed the bay door behind us and then threw his pack on the hay that lay several feet thick upon the floor. He snorted in irritation. “Look at this.” Not the easiest thing to do considering how dark it was. “Jace needs to take the boys in hand again. They seem to think smithing is the only thing they have to do around here. At least we’ll have a soft bed for a change.” He looked at me and pointed vaguely in the direction of the pack. “There’s a blanket in there. Lay it out and I’ll be back after I make sure they haven’t left the horses standing around in their sweat. There’s a packet of pemmican as well if you want something to eat besides those berries you gathered us during the day.”

I did as he bid me but decided the effort of eating wasn’t worth worrying mice would join us in our slumber, then stopped to clean the burn on my hand. I had my skirt lifted and was cleaning the burn on my shin when Gid returned. He took one look and said, “Now that’s something nice to find.”

I froze, unsure of what to do. He must have sensed my unease because he moved slowly. He pulled his shirt tail out of his pants and then pulled it over his head revealing a bare chest. I turned my eyes away when he caught me looking. He took his boots off, set them where he could find them in the dark if needed and then crawled up beside me on the blanket running his hand along my bare calf. “I’m not those other men Yulee.”

I began to wonder if I should say something. I even started to and then he surprised me by kissing me and his actions said the time for talking had passed.


A while later I sat with my cloak wrapped around me. It felt strange and scratchy against my bare skin. Gid was sitting also, his back to me. “You should have said something.”

“Why?”

“Because. I … I coulda … I woulda been more … less …” He sighed. “You should have said something. Why didn’t you?”

“I …” I owed him the truth even if it hurt him though I didn’t want to make him feel worse than he already seemed to. But if I lied and he caught me at it later … no, better to tell the truth now and deal with the hurt now.

“Well? I’m waiting.”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t … I wasn’t sure if it mattered.”

He turned to look at me in surprise. “Wasn’t sure that it mattered? You let me think that … that you’d been bedded before. What if I had really hurt you?”

“You didn’t.”

“I did … a bit.”

“The Sisters said that was natural.”

He snorted. “It don’t need to scare you to death. I didn’t realize … you were so still … I thought …” In frustration he demanded, “Didn’t you trust me enough to tell me to stop or at least slow down?”

Quietly I answered, “It has been a while since I had someone to trust … and never a … a … um … never a lover.”

He switched his body around and then I turned since he wasn’t wearing a cloak, or much of anything at all. He barely noticed since he seemed intent on growling, “Well you do now. The shame of it is that it’s too late for me to make this better. We both need to sleep because if I know Lurna she’ll already have the day planned down to the minute and it will be designed to irritate me on purpose. And between her pulling us to and fro I need to see that you’re properly kitted and get to the market and pick up the last few items so that we can get out of here.”

With no warning he wrenched my cloak away and slid my blouse back over my head. “What?” I got no further because I had to stop talking in order to spit out a wad of cloth that turned out to be my slip that had somehow gotten tied up inside the blouse. I tried to push his hands away. “I can dress myself.”

“I undressed you so it’s my privilege to put your clothes back on.” Then he sighed. “Though perhaps on second thought you better do it after all because I’d just as soon you leave them off. I’ve been dreaming of sleeping with you like this and before much longer it will be too cold and I’ll have missed the chance.”

I swallowed and we both heard my throat click. He pushed a lock of hair out of my face before saying, “Unless I’ve … I’ve turned you off … er … being with me?”

I sighed. “You ask so many questions.”

“Well this one needs an answer.”

I sighed and tried to hide what wasn’t properly covered. “I … I never thought much about this part of it. I knew it would happen to me sooner or later. The way things were it was bound to. There have been those that have tried already.” He growled at that but all I could do was shrug. “I knew what you wanted me for when you bought me. I … I didn’t run away then.” More quietly I told him, “And I’ll not run away now.”

He didn’t let my modesty keep him from coming behind me and putting his arms around me. “That’s not precisely what I asked.” He sighed and then said, “Isn’t there anything you want from me? Anything at all?”

I bit my lip. I knew what I wanted to ask but I worried and then the words left me as if they’d been pushed. “Don’t … please don’t … don’t share me.”

His arms went hard about me and I almost couldn’t breathe. “What?!”

“I know you have the right. Even your aunt said the paper was good where you bought me. But please … don’t share me.” I couldn’t stop the shudder that racked me.

“Shhhh. Easy Yulee. I won’t share you. I give you my word.”

Surprised I turned to him and said, “Your … your word? You truly promise?”

“I truly promise. Put that fear away.”

For some reason I believed him and at least one knot untied itself. I tried to catch myself when I felt us tipping over but he was having none of it. “Come. We need to sleep.”

“But … my … um … my clothes.”

“Hush. I’ll dress you in the morning. For now I’m determined to have some sweet dreams even if they’re short ones.”
 

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Eleven

Gid had his head in his hands growling. “I’m going to skin the lot of you and string your carcasses in the trees!” he yelled.

“But where’s your clothes Gid? And why’d you roar at us and throw your boots? We just came to say good morning.”

“Yeah Gid. How come?”

“Isn’t the hay scratchy without your pants on? That’s no way to play in it; it’ll cut yer bum ter ribbons.”

“Don’t be stupid, they weren’t playing … they were cuddling like Jace and Vaniece do when they think no one’s looking but we see ‘em all the time. They’re as bad as the house cats.”

“I’m not stupid. You’re stupid.”

“No you are.”

“Not me … you!”

“C’mon Gid. Hurry up. Show us what’s in the wagon.”

“No. Tell us a story!”

“A story! A story!”

“Did you bring us anything?”

“Yeah!! Did you?!”

Gid had finally had enough. “Argh! SCRAM! And shut the blasted … Grrrrrrr!”

It was like being attacked by a herd of wild jackthumpers; a rude beginning to an already overcast day. I knew that if I had charge of the cook fire the first thing I would have done was start a large pot of morning brew and start pouring it down people’s throats. Gid looked at me and sighed, “Armor yourself up. They’ll do everything in their power to bedevil you if they think you’re weak and even if they learn you’re not.”

Swallowing away the worry his words brought I asked, “What do you wish of me today?”

“I wish we could have just one day to lie abed in privacy before getting back on the road but considering there’s no bed to lie about in, and the terrors are already up and moving, that’s not going to happen,” he answered as he refused to turn his head while I dressed and in fact made it a harder task by “helping.”

“Very well, since you cannot have that what else do you desire?”

He grinned when I finally managed to get everything where it belonged and my bodice tied despite his so-called help rather than because of it and said, “One of these days I’ll manage to fluster you.”

“Hmm,” I responded noncommittally, refusing to admit that he already did.

“First we’ll need to wade in and try and get a bite of the morning meal before the locusts inhale it all. From there it will be to the wagon and then to add it to the inventory of the goods I’ve already set aside. It needs be done quickly as possible as I need to head to the market. Are you game?” I nodded and we stepped out into the courtyard.

It was hard to get anywhere near the kitchen there were so many bodies milling about. Jace and Tad were deep in conversation. A disgruntled Ern came by grimacing while looking down into the mug he carried.

Gid asked him, "What's up?"

"Ma is in a mood and has abandoned her post. I'd duck out if I was you. Seems you're ta blame. Unfortunately Vaniece tried ta help by putting her hand to making the brew this morning." Ern shuddered dramatically.

It was getting rowdier with discontent by the moment. I wondered if this was a test like Miz Lana had tried but then decided it didn't matter. Gid, Ern, and Tad had not eaten much the day before and they all looked weary eyed and hollow cheeked beneath their bristle. They needed sustenance. They needed brew. And not necessarily in that order. But the only way to get it for them was to feed all of the children who were acting as wild as young mustangs. I girded my loins and waded in.

When I finally reached the kitchen I found Vaniece having what Mam would have called the vapors, an old term for a feminine version of a tantrum due to seeming to feel the need of some extra attention. I ignored her tears as they flooded the table and turned to a girl near my age that stood looking calmer than most of the others. "What was on the menu?"

"Hash," she answered pointing to a pile of potatoes, onions, and peppers.

After a moment of thought I asked, "Which of the boys can be trusted with the big knives?"

"I wouldn't trust none of them as far as I could throw them but I suppose if you want the ones that won't start a sword fight with the big pig stickers that'd be Shem, Hank and Hiram."

"Get them please," I requested as I set about doing what I could to rescue the brew by thinning it with a bit of water so that it wasn’t as thick as brick mud and then adding a little sweetening and cream from the churn that sat waiting to be taken care of.

When the named boys climbed over their siblings to reach the kitchen they said, "Lolly said ya wanted us to do some skinnin'."

"Not skinning, chopping."

The shook their heads and started to back out. "Cooking be wimmens work."

"Then I guess you do not wish to eat."

That stopped them. "Huh?"

"Until all of those potatoes are chopped I cannot start cooking. I was told you three were mature enough for the big knives but ..."

One of the twins said, "Ah, so that be your game. Ye think ye can jest boss us cause Gid be bedding ya."

"I do not wish to… er … boss you. I am trying to serve your family. However, I cannot chop all of this and get it cooked up by myself unless you are willing to wait until after the noonday meal to eat it. By then you will be working at what chores Jace sets for you and he might not be in the finest of moods himself all for the lack of me finding someone strong enough and mature enough to mind the large chopping knives."

The three put their heads together then the one who had spoken before sighed dramatically and said, "Well since it is fer Jace and since the others er just as liable to chop their fingers as the potatoes I reckon we can do it jest this once."

While the boys chopped the potatoes in a way that revealed that regardless of their drama play they’d done it more than a few times before, I started a fire under the large sheet of metal that reminded me of the cook top the Sisters used at the orphanage. While the metal surface heated I chopped the peppers and onions. Soon enough the hash was frying in piles big enough to feed a militia unit and Ern had come by once again and pronounced the brew drinkable. "Not as good as ye did it on Miz Lana's fire but passable." I nodded and then he added, "Gid says he'll be in directly to make sure the savages don't add you on the menu."

Vaniece had finally left off her tears and she and a couple of other older girls were making what I knew were called tortillas. They are a staple bread in this area and Old Annie and I had learned to make them shortly after Aunt married Wash and brought us this side of the peaks. What did surprise me was that instead of using dishes the girls came and scooped some of the hash into each tortilla and then handed them out, oldest first and downwards.

First Jace then Tad then Gid then Ern but after that I lost track. After the men and older boys had been served a tray was carried out by Vaniece which I suspected was for the women. When she didn't return I heard one of the older girls mutter, "Typical" before she began handing out food to the older girls and the younger children who were practically going mad at that point.

After everyone had been served I was cleaning the sheet of metal when I saw two boys running off around the house giggling and I realized that they had taken the last bit of hash that I had set aside for my own breakfast. I didn't make the scene that those standing around seemed to be eager to see. It wasn't the first meal that I had been denied and though I was hungry I knew it wouldn't kill me.

A moment later Gid found me cleaning my hands and said, “I should have thought. Did you hurt it again?” I blinked at him and he explained, “Your hand, did you knock it about and hurt it again.”

I shook my head but he turned my hand and looked it over despite my answer. “And did you eat?”

“Hmm.”

Glancing around suspiciously and catching guilty looks on a few faces Gid shook his head. “We’ll get you something at the market.”

I pulled my hand away, uncomfortable with the public touching and told him, “There’s no need.”

He snapped, “There’s need if I say there is. That fat ol’ hag may have worked you to death on starvation rations but I’ll not have it any longer. Understand?”

I just blinked at him. “Did … did you not get any brew this morning?”

I heard several young girls giggle from the bushes which caused Gid to turn around and growl at them sending them screaming into the house. Gid snorted but his temper had been diverted. “As a matter of fact I barely got the dregs of the pot once Tad and Jace heard from Ern that you’d fixed it up and made it drinkable.” He looked around and said, “Leave the rest of this to the girls; Lurna does. There’s some kind of schedule about that tells them whose turn it is. Come with me to the wagon, I’ve got something to show you.”

I followed him dutifully, two steps behind but he insisted on pulling me up beside him and then kept his arm there causing a few to snicker and whisper behind their hand as we passed by. Then I heard a bell being rung off in the village and the children of all ages scrambled and seemed to run about manically and then completely disappear.

I looked around at the suddenly empty courtyard and Gid smiled cynically at the expression that must have been on my face. “The bell calls them to school and work. Lurna’s eldest brother oversees the village’s educational system and can be a hard taskmaster. If you aren’t on time he gives you tallies and so many tallies equal a strap across the backside … in public … and it doesn’t matter whether you’re girl-flavored or boy-flavored. Not even these sprats are so stubborn that it takes more than one strapping to get the point across. At least it’ll afford us a moment of peace.”

Without warning he pulled me behind an overgrown bush and kissed me and put his hands in places he seemed fond of putting them when I least expected it. He pulled back and smiled, “Now that makes up for missing my mug of brew this morn.”

All I could do was look at his throat and lick my lips. “Ah Yulee … don’t do too much of that or I’ll be yanking you behind every bush and finding every corner to pull you around between here and the market.” I didn’t say a word but whatever he saw on my face made him chuckle and snag another kiss.

He let me walk the rest of the way to the wagon without his hands upon me but I swear I could feel his eyes looking and touching me in places that were just as disconcerting had he been using his hands. We finally reached our destination.

“It looks some emptier doesn’t it?” he asked while looking at the wagon.

I nodded.

“That’ll be remedied before the day is out but first come here.” I walked to the back of the wagon and he climbed in and then he helped me up being careful not to tug on my hand that was burned but healing. “Look here. I’d forgotten about it until Jace mentioned it this morning.”

What he asked me to look at was a painted, wooden chest of some size. He opened the lid and the smell of cedar drifted out. “It was my mother’s. It has been sitting up in the eaves of the attic since she died. Ern and Tad and even Jace helped me to bring it down. I suppose Father tucked it there to keep it safe and out of the way. He had a letter inside that said I was to take it should I ever set up my own house.”

I kneeled down and touched the fabric on top but then quickly pulled my hand away. Gid asked, “What’s wrong?”

Quietly I told him, “My hands aren’t fit to touch such nice things.”

He squatted beside me and said, “Aw, that’s just sheets for bedding. Below that there’s two feather pillows though the ticking needs mending and below that some other household goods. Means we won’t have to spend near what I expected at the market.”

Suddenly I realized that I’d moved around so much I’d forgotten how much it took to live in just one spot. “What all do you need for your house?”

He shook his head. “More a cabin than a house and it isn’t mine.”

I looked at him in confusion. He rested his forehead on mine and said, “I needed a woman to make it a home so that makes it ours, not mine.”

His words surprised me so much I lost my balance and fell from my haunches to my rump. “Oh.”

He ran his hand down my arm. “You’ll see Yulee. It won’t be like it was before. We’ll both get out from under what’s been riding us so hard. We’ll work of course, but we’ll be able to breathe while we’re doing it.” My face felt strange. I put my hand up to try and work out what was different and realized my lips were trying to remember how to smile.
 

 

[cheyennep]

Kathy, I love all your stories, but I do believe this is shaping up to be one of my favorites!

Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us.

Shona

 

[cheyennep]

Kathy, I love all your stories, but I do believe this is shaping up to be one of my favorites!

Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us.

Shona

 

[sssarawolf]

Well you know I had to check in here this morning lol, thank you.

 

[Mysty]

Oh wow, that was so nice

 

[mudlogger]

Excellent!

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter Twelve

For the third time I was nearly bowled off of my feet by someone running through the narrow streets that made up the village market place. While I ate the fruit pasty that Gid had purchased I looked yet again at my surroundings. The buildings on either side of the street were so close together they seemed to lean towards each other and keep all but the highest sun from reaching the area below. Wooden areas attached to the buildings that I knew were called balconies created even more shade. Laundry strung between the second and third stories flapped in the breeze like flags or banners.

I knew about markets. If you added up all the hours I’d been forced to follow Aunt around the stalls of the various Buy n’ Sells, trade posts, rendezvous, and tables set up in the lee of a village palisade it could have been measured in years. Her men always brought money or influence in of some type but Aunt always had a scheme or game going herself. She said she did it to stay sharp to make sure no one could ever steal her blind like the family of her first husband had. Aunt knew the value of her silver and copper and ran a hard bargain. And she expected those that worked for her to know how to as well in case she sent you on an errand or sent you to scope out a market or particular vendor.

It took me very little time to pick out the cheats who put an unnecessary finger on the scale or those that were careless and spilled what by rights should have gone into the bag. I also saw some that thought too much of their goods and a few that thought too little of them. When Gid would go to stop at a booth that raised my suspicions I would try and direct him to a different one that had the same or better goods for a better price. He caught on but when I tried to direct him away from a booth that held strings of beads he wouldn’t budge.

When he was through haggling he placed a thong of polished beads made of green jasper around my neck. “There. They match your eyes.”

I didn’t know what to say. I’d never had anything like it and certainly was unused to receiving such things. I was almost afraid to touch them. “Gid … you … you …”

He smiled and told me, “Just say thank you.”

I swallowed and shyly said, “Thank you.”

That was the only bit of wasted coin that he spent that day. That and the bit he insisted on spending on a shared noon day meal of meat threaded and cooked on thin sticks of apple wood, a packet of roasted roots, and a piece of fried dough drizzled with honey. I was unused to eating so much, especially food so rich, but he laughed it away when I told him I would become fat and indolent if he did not stop trying to stuff me full. “You can stand a bit of added weight. It surprises me every time I pick you up. I have to watch my strength or I’ll wind up tossing you over the wagon instead of in it.”

When he came to the end of his list and was satisfied with his purchases as well as the arrangement to have delivered what we couldn’t carry ourselves he turned us back towards the corral where his horse waited. “If you don’t mind walking we’ll load Rook with the packages.”

I nodded.

“You sure you’re not tired?”

“I’m fine. Aunt walked further and faster plenty of times at the big Buy n’ Sells and I had to keep up and carry her purchases.”

He snorted. “I don’t want it to be the way it was for you.”

I put my hand on his arm and said, “It’s not.”

He gave me a slow grin then we headed away from the market that was almost as noisy as the block house had been. As we walked he talked. “I have most of the needed tools stored at the cabin. They were Uncle Fid’s and are still in good shape. I’ve used them plenty over the years. I’ve got the seeds for the spring crops and garden as well. I was there right before we headed out on the barter road; the structure is sound but it could use a little cleaning.”

Something in his voice had me glancing at him. Catching me staring he said, “Ok, a lot of cleaning.” I just kept looking. “Alright … it hasn’t had a woman living there regularly since my grandmother’s oldest aunt and her husband farmed the land back in the Dark Days and even then Uncle Fid said that it’s normal look was messy from what he could remember. I got rid of all the hay ticks and rotted furniture that was falling apart and burned them. I had to throw all of the rugs on the same pile. The only thing covering most of the windows are the shutters. Glass for the panes will have to wait until I’m sure I can bring in enough with crops. But the furniture that is left is sturdy. There’s some things in the attic you might like … some are strange looking and probably old enough to be salvage pieces from right after the Great War, or maybe even before. And there’s books, nearly a whole wall in one of the bedrooms.”

I tripped over my own feet in surprise. He chuckled. “Ha, thought that would get your attention. And during the winter when the snow flies there’ll even be time to read them.”

“Truly?” I asked, stunned at the very idea.

“Truly,” he answered, seeming quite pleased with himself.

I nodded, afraid to put effort into believing that I’d really be seeing that many books in one place again. Surely he had to be exaggerating.

“The one good thing my uncle did was to bring in large clay pots with sound lids. We can store our pantry goods down in them and not have to worry about mice spoiling them. I’m owed two milch cows from the village herd and we’ll be taking one with us. Tad will keep an eye on the other and then bring it and a bull up next summer when I have a pasture fixed. It makes no sense for me to take any other horse but Rook here who is used to his freedom as well and would be miserable closed up in the village. I’ve a team of ox that will pull the wagon and be more fit to pull a plow than anything else would be.”

I nodded.

“What are you thinking?”

“That you bought enough food to feed three large raider groups the whole year ‘round.”

He said, “We aren’t coming back to the village any time soon Yulee. We need to be prepared for the weather to fail us or for the crops to fail.”

I nodded. “I understand that, but do you plan on me helping at all?” I hadn’t meant to sound complaining but then it came out. “You buy all of this … with real coin no less. Just like you bought me. If you don’t need me to help get food, is … is a bed warmer the only thing you need me for?”

I could have slapped myself when the words escaped my mouth. I waited for … well, not the hit as Gid said he would never do that but I was sure a good tongue lashing was in store. Instead Gid put his arm around me and asked, “So you want to help? With the cabin and food and such?”

I felt ashamed for losing control. I’d promised myself that I’d behave better and give Gid my complete obedience for rescuing me from my other fate. And instead here he was putting up with nothing but noise from me.

“Hey, you’re really upset.”

“I … I’m sorry Gid. My mouth got away from me. Don’t … don’t … sell me away.”

He stopped so quickly that Rook ran into us both and snorted his displeasure. Gid jerked me around and said, “Now let’s get one thing straight. You’re mine. I ain’t sharing you with anyone and I ain’t letting anyone take you away. Got it?” All I could do was look at him in shock. “I said got it?” When all I did was continue to stare at him he shook his head and swear. “Come here.” He practically dragged me into an alley. He swung me around to face him and said, “It’s not my way to be rough with females but if that aunt of yours was here right now, big buffalo that she is, I’d still put her to the lash. Now listen up.” He put his hands on either side of my face but it was gentle. “You’re mine. It ain’t the silvers that says so. It ain’t that skin that says so. It’s me … I say so. And that ain’t gonna change. I know it hasn’t been hardly any time since I took you out of that cage. I know it ain’t even been a day since … well since I had you for the first time. But time don’t seem to mean nothing for some reason. I know you’ve had it bad, but I’ll fix that. You … you just need to not be so afraid. Oh I know most folks wouldn’t guess you are but I’ve held you in the dark and felt you shiver when you don’t think I notice. I’ve felt your heart hammer when something happens you can’t control. It never shows in your face or voice or manner but I’ve still felt it coursing through you.” He pulled me into an embrace. “It’ll be ok Yulee. We’ll work on it. By the time spring comes all the fear and such will be a distant memory.”

No one had ever talked to me this way. Everyone had always expected me to be strong, to show no fear, to show no worry. There shouldn’t have been any if I was truly relying on God. I’d prayed time and again for help in being strong enough but it always felt like I was falling short. And then came Gid. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it. My brain felt like it had been caught in a wild torrent. But I knew he was waiting for something. I didn’t have any words to give him. But what I did do was slowly ease my arms around his lean waist and embrace him back.

Quietly he repeated, “You’ll see Yulee. You’ll see.”