“We had better leave the horses here,” Leatrisha told Theodore, as she slid down off of Black Magic’s back.
They continued down a path that woodland animals must be using to get access to the stream, strewn with ferns and bushes, and wild rambling vines. Upon reaching the stream, Leatrisha followed along it for a space, and then she saw the cave partly hidden by brush and vines.
“I didn’t think to bring a candle,” Leatrisha said, “But I want to see how big the place is.”
“Don’t go in dere, Miss Lettie. Nos telling’ whats you gonna find. Could be wild animals fer all we knows.”
“Don’t be such a baby, Theodore. I will just go in a little at a time, and stay close to the wall.”
She pushed through the vines and placed her hand against the damp-feeling rocky wall, and started to inch her way in. Leatrisha was surprised at how far back the cave actually went, but the ceiling seemed to get lower, the farther back she went. Luckily, nothing jumped out at her, but Theodore kept calling to her, to make sure she was all right.
When she emerged, she had a big grin on her face.
“A perfect place to hide the cargo,” she told Theodore, and he wrinkled his forehead, not knowing what she was talking about cargo for.
Three hours later, they descended down the bank to the river, and Leatrisha followed the shore line, heading in the direction of the old ferry landing. Nat was already there, waiting for them when they arrived.
Leatrisha had only seen Nat in the shadows of the night. She could barely see his face at the time, so now as he stood on the old ferry landing, that was starting to fall apart, she assessed him. She knew he was tall, because at first she had thought he was James, and James was tall. But she could tell he was older than James.
He had a certain tilt to his head, and a way of standing that showed he was sure of himself. His dark brown hair, was to his ears, and curled around the nap of his neck, giving him a shaggy appearance. His brows were thick and straight, and the cut of his jaw line was square and solid. He had a strong looking nose, and dark brooding eyes, that looked seriously at her as she approached.
His buckskin britches hugged his strong thighs, and he wore a leather vest over his shirt.
“What did you bring a darkie with you for?” he asked, frowning at her.
“He is my personal slave, and if I did not bring him with me, Rand would never let me leave the plantation. He won’t cause any trouble. I thought you could show him how to shoot as well, just in case. He is going to have to come with us when we go out,” she informed him.
Nat, cast his gaze over Theodore, and then finally shrugged.
“As long as he doesn’t jeopardize the mission,” he murmured. “You ever hold a gun before?” he asked.
“No, as a matter of fact, I haven’t,” she told him.
“This here is a pistol. You can keep it in your pocket, so it is easy to carry around. It’s not very big, so make sure you are close enough to hit something with it, before you start wasting bullets. I put some tins over there on that log, to shoot at. We can start with that.”
Nat showed her how to hold the gun and cautioned her to keep her finger off the trigger, unless she was going to shoot it. Then he gave both Leatrisha and Theodore turns in shooting at the tins. In the beginning she did not hit one of the tins, but Nat seemed to have more patience than she had with herself. Theodore seemed to catch on pretty fast, and he was hitting the tins before Leatrisha ever hit one, but she would not give up, until she had finally mastered it.
“It’s getting late,” Nat said, and that sky doesn’t look so good. We had better head back before the clouds get any heavier.”
“You can come back through the woods with us, and I can show you the cave,” Leatrisha, offered.
“Good idea. Let’s get out of here then.”
Nat mounted his own horse, and admired how Leatrisha effortlessly swung up on Black Magic. Leatrisha led the way, and the other two followed. By the time they reached the woods, it was starting to sprinkle, and by the time they reached the cave, it was pouring down rain in serious sheets, and they all made a dash to the cave.
“We better stay here till it lets up,” Nat suggested. “It can’t last too long.”
“I brought some food, if you are hungry,” Leatrisha informed him.
“Sure, I could use something to eat.”
Leatrisha opened the bag she had brought into the cave with them and handed out the bread and ham, to both the boys and began chewing on her own food.
“I think this place will work fine for the cargo,” Nat said, as his eyes got accustomed to the dim interior.
“At least it is dry,” Leatrisha mentioned.
“We’re never gonna to makes it back afore dark,” Theodore worried. “The master is gonna be sending out a search party.”
“He worries too much,” Leatrisha frowned.
“You can lean on me, if you want,” Nat told Leatrisha as she started to lean back against the wall of the cave.
She turned so she leaned against Nat instead. He felt hard and strong and capable, in spite of the fact that he looked a little wild. Yet she probably looked wild as well, she thought to herself.
“James told me a lot about you,” Nat said in a quiet voice. “He told me how you and he used to ride horses together when you were young, and how you were always challenging him to doing things that might break both of your necks.”
“Did he?” Leatrisha said. “I hope he didn’t tell you about how I jumped the rock wall with Pepper,” she mumbled.
“As a matter of fact he did,” Nat whispered. “You must have loved each other from the beginning.”
“He said he loved me from the beginning,” she told him. “It took me awhile to realize how much I loved him,” she said honestly, “And by that time, it was too late. I was already indentured for six years.”
“If you pay your indenture off, you can get out from under it,” Nat told her. “James says your father has money, why don’t you write him and ask him to pay your indenture?”
“Because he doesn’t know I am indentured. He thinks I am engaged to marry Rand.”
“Are you?” Nat asked.
“No, but it was the only way, my father ever would have permitted me to leave. Other wise he was going to marry me off to some blue blood in England.”
“So I guess you are stuck for six years?”
“It appears that way. I really don’t mind it, though. I like the plantation, and the slaves are all my friends. Rand treats his slaves well.”
“Does he treat you well also?” Nat wanted to know.
“We don’t always see eye to eye, he has only punished me a couple of times, but it was because I was doing something stupid.”
“James told me,” Nat said quietly.
“Just how much has James told you?” Leatrisha wanted to know.
“There were lots of nights where there was nothing much to do but talk as we helped the cargo to the stations. All James ever talked about was you. It is almost like I know you as well as James did,” he whispered. “Anyway, I feel like I know you,” he added quickly.
“Then, maybe you should tell me about yourself,” Leatrisha suggested, “so I will know as much about you as well.”
“Not much to tell. My father ran a riverboat, hauling cargo down the Missouri river. I’m what is known as a river rat. Raised on the river. That is how I got involved in this. I help find people on the river who will transport the underground cargo to the next station. I pretty much worked the river rout, until my mother moved into Huntsville, when my father died. She had people there, so I came along to help. That’s where I met James. Huntsville isn’t that far from the river, and I help transport real cargo back and forth from the river to Huntsville shops.”
“I think the rain has let up,” Leatrisha pointed out. “We had better get headed back.”
The three, climbed up on their soaking horses, and headed on through the woods.
�
��I really admire you, Lettie, you know,” Nat said. “I’ve never seen a girl with the kind of spunk you seem to have.”
“It gets me into trouble a lot,” Leatrisha laughed. “I think I am going to be in trouble when I get back today, as well.”
“What will he do to you?” Nat asked.
“Oh probably stare daggers at me, tell me how unmanageable I am, and threaten to take away my horse or something. He one time tried to get rid of my slave here, when he was angry at me. But strangely, he always manages to come around and calm down.”
“Don’t forget about next week,” Nat said, as they neared the edge of the woods.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Leatrisha smiled, as she watched him ride on, and then Theodore and herself galloped the rest of the way to the plantation, just as the sun was going down.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rand came from the stables, to greet Leatrisha, as she and Theodore rode up to a soggy stop.
“Look at you!” Rand scolded, as Leatrisha slid down from Black Magic, and Theodore took the two horses into the stable. “You are soaked to the skin, splattered with mud, and are going to catch your death! I expected you home hours ago, when it started raining. Do you have no sense to come in from the rain?” he bellowed.
“We found a cave and stayed there until the worst of it was over with. I am not totally incapable of taking care of myself,” she snapped.
She was cold and wet, and her shirt was plastered against her skin. She hadn’t noticed how it revealed her breasts through the material, the rain turning it shier, once it was saturated. When she saw Rand staring at her, she looked down. Heavens, Nat must have seen the same view, she suddenly realized and her face colored.
Rand noticed the color creeping up her face.
“It embarrasses you, knowing I can see your breasts, when you know I have seen you entirely nude before?” Rand asked, feeling puzzled at her sudden realization of how exposed she appeared.
Leatrisha pulled the shirt away from her skin. “I was thinking that Theodore may have been made to feel uncomfortable,” she improvised.
Rand laughed. “Nudity to black people, mean nothing. Have you ever seen how the wild tribes dress in their native dwelling?”
“I don’t believe Theodore was raised in that native dwelling,” she flipped at him.
“It’s starting to pour again. You want to make a dash for it, or remain here in the stable until it lets up?” he asked.
“I can’t get any wetter than I am now,” Leatrisha laughed, and ran out into the yard. Then she stopped and twirled, her arms thrown out, her head thrown back, letting the rain wash the mud from her face, laughing as she danced. Her hair that had come lose from the ribbon that held it back, clung to her face and neck.
Rand stood and watched her in her abandon, and felt that yearning growing within him. She was starting to get her old spirit back, and that was the way he liked her. Apparently her ride was one more aspect that was starting to heal her heart, and make her forget about her loss of James. It was just too soon for him to hope that she may start to turn to him eventually, for that comfort she had found with James.
He thought about how she had accused him of not letting her be abandoned with her love making like James had. But James was young and stupid. He did not realize the risk of making love to a woman, that could easily conceive, if they continued such practice. Had that happened, he would have had to let Leatrisha marry the boy before she finished her indenture, and that would have complicated things for him. Not only the embarrassment of the woman he was supposed to marry, being with someone else, but the fact that he would finally have to give her up to someone else.
Rand finally came and grabbed Leatrisha up in his arms.
“You are determined to get a chill,” he told her, as she kicked and giggled for him to put her down. “Never,” he laughed in return, as he turned his head and kissed her damp lips.
He was surprised when Leatrisha returned the kiss. He thought her feelings for James went deep, and she would never submit to anyone as long as she carried a torch for him.
“Lettie,” he sighed. “It makes me happy to see you in such good spirits.”
“I feel wonderful, Rand. Suddenly life seems to have meaning again,” she admitted.
She knew it was because now she had a purpose in life. Even the danger of what she was going to do intrigued her and made her feel alive. She understood why James had been involved. She and James were so much alike. That is why they had gotten along so well all their lives growing up. He didn’t care if she was wild and unpredictable.
But the way Rand was holding her out in the rain, laughing with her, made her see another side to Rand. He allowed her to dress in boys clothes and ride out into the woods on her own with Theodore. Even though he worried about her safety, he was starting to relent a little more each time she wanted to be herself. But she knew he would never approve of what she was about to do, where James did.
She also realized how much she loved being on the plantation with the freedom to do as she pleased. She didn’t have to act the lady all the time except on certain occasions when Rand requested her to play the part of his future bride.
James was lost to her, but a new life was opening up to her. She just couldn’t let Rand suspect anything, and the better they got along with each other, the easier it would be to carry out her plans.
As Rand’s lips moved against hers, it made her heart jump, and she remembered the night they had kissed each other, while he held her in his arms. She had felt safe and protected, the same way she felt now, with Rand’s arms around her. She just wondered why he was kissing her that way. Was it because Mazy didn’t excite him the way she used to, and he was thinking of new entertainment, since Leatrisha was no longer a virgin?
Slowly, she clamored down from Rand’s restricting arms. She had discovered what it was like to have a man make love to her, who really loved her. She did not want the pretend game of love with Rand. Pretending she was going to marry him was bad enough. Besides, she remembered the pistol in her pocket, and did not want Rand to discover it.
“I need to go take a hot bath,” she mumbled, and then scampered across the hall and up the stairs to her room.
Rand let her go. He wanted to hold her and carry her to her room, perhaps helping her with her wet clothes, but he knew those days were gone forever. The kiss was just a moment of weakness on her part, wanting James back in her arms again, he decided.
When Leatrisha was safely in her room, she pushed the pistol under the cotton filled mattress, grabbed her wrapper, and headed for the tub room.
*************************
“Why do you keep putting it off?” Rand asked, Leatrisha, lowing his gaze at her, across the breakfast table, as he wrinkled his brow. “Every time I suggest we have the engagement celebration, you keep telling me later. Are you going to wait out the whole year before doing what the public expects? You have already been here for five months, and I have not entertained since you arrived.”
“Not this week end,” Leatrisha said stubbornly. “It is too soon after James death. I would have a hard time pretending to be in love with you,” she insisted.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem kissing me back the other day,” he pointed out.
“It was in a moment of abandon,” she excused herself. “I was happy you had not scolded me for being out all day in the rain. You’re only concern was my health. It made me appreciate your treatment of me. Why should I refuse you a friendly kiss? But that is different than spending the whole night convincing everyone I can’t wait to marry you. If anyone ended up spending the night, I would have to carry it further, and I just don’t feel up to it, right now. Maybe in two weeks time I will be feeling better about doing it.”
“It doesn’t seem to stop you from riding out and exploring the countryside every day,” Rand complained.
“When I do that, I am alone. I don’t have to pretend for anyone. If you don’t marry me in a
year, what other kind of pretending will I have to start doing?” she grumbled.
“I will figure out something,” he promised.
“My life feels like one huge play I am taking part in, and I keep forgetting my lines.” Leatrisha pushed herself back from the table. “Are you going to be sending the bales of cotton down to the river today? I thought it would be nice to go along.”
“Someone from Huntsville is coming to take them for me. If he doesn’t mind you riding along, I suppose you can tag along with him. Have Mama Liz make up something for lunch that you can take with you. There probably won’t be room for Theodore on the wagon seat, though.”
“He will just have to get along without me for the day,” Leatrisha laughed. “She was in the mood for a long wagon ride. She decided she would even wear a dress, so who ever drove the wagon would not be distracted by her boy’s britches.
“I think I hear the wagon now,” Rand said, standing up from the table himself. “Go have Mama Liz make the lunch, while I supervise the loading of the wagon. Are you going to change into britches?”
“And shock the poor driver? I will try and act almost like a lady,” she laughed, as she headed towards the kitchen.
Leatrisha, came out to the cotton barn, where the slaves were loading the wagon with square bales of cotton, carrying the basket with the food in it.
“There she is now,” Rand was saying. “I hope you do not mind taking my intended with you. She is so fascinated with everything concerning the running of the plantation. I told her she could accompany you down to the river to deliver the cotton to the barge.”
The man turned and looked at her, giving her a crooked grin, and Leatrisha took in her breath, and then smiled broadly back at him.
“Nat, this is Leatrisha. We call her Lettie. Lettie, Nat will take good care of you.”
“I am sure he will,” she smiled, as Rand helped her up into the wagon.
“Enjoy yourself,” he smiled, kissing her hand.
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