Southern Discomfort

by Burns, Rachel

  Her eyes would close and her mouth would open. She would only take tiny breaths of air. He loved that these were things that only he would ever know about her. She was entirely his. Even the baby growing inside of her marked her as his.

  No other man had the right to claim her.

  Emily lifted her legs high into the air around him, wanting to open herself even further so he could join her deeper inside of her body.

  Nathaniel thrust harder. His need to reach his climax erased all other thoughts in his mind. He came loudly over her. His body, moving of its own accord, pumping ever bit of his seed into her, even though it wasn't necessary anymore. His seed had already hit its mark.

  He laid down on top of her, thinking that it was obvious that she should be expecting so soon. They were perfect lovers, made for each other.

  The baby was proof that God had wanted them to be together. This could only be divine intervention. God had sent her to him.

  She was his to protect.

  Chapter 12 Never Forget That You Are Mine

  Victor smiled his best smile, as he entered the general store of the one street town, that his Emily had run off to. The fat lady at the counter was quickly taken with him. He told her that he was Emily's older brother and that he wanted to see, with his own eyes, how his baby sister was fairing with her new husband. He charmed information and directions out of the woman.

  Victor left thinking that if all went well he could be sitting with his Emily on the train home to Boston by tomorrow.

  Mrs. Brown watched him leaving, thinking that Emily Tate had come from such a nice and well off family. She had a daughter who would be turning seventeen soon. Maybe they should call on the Tates while Emily's brother was still visiting.

  She sought out her husband and told him her plans. He didn't like the idea of their child moving off to Boston, but he wanted peace and quiet at home. He agreed to drive the women out to the Tates the next day.

  Mr. Brown figured that the man wouldn't fall in love with their daughter anyway. She was pretty enough but she talked even more than her mother did.

  Victor rode on and on, thinking that the directions couldn't be right. Everything looked the same. How could Emily live in this heat and dust. He missed his beautiful Boston, with her changing seasons and green trees.

  How did people find their way around out here? He would have to sleep under the stars again tonight. It was already getting dark.

  Victor feared that the woman had purposely given him the wrong directions. Mr. Stuart had made it sound like Mr. Tate was a powerful man. Were they forewarned that he was near by?

  No, that couldn't be right. If his brothers had married whores than they wouldn't be a powerful family. People like that were white trash. His Emily had traded down. She would be better off with him. She would be a woman of standing. The most important woman in all of Boston. She would only have to bow down to him. He would have great pleasure teaching her what he expected in a wife.

  His horse seemed to be following some sort of path. It led him down a little hill. The horse stopped in front of an earth covered building. Perhaps it was an ice house, he thought.

  He got off of his horse and went to the dwelling. He knocked for good measure, but when no one answered he opened the door and peeked inside. It took his eyes a moment to adjust. There was no window, just darkness. This was a one room house. There was no feasible place to build a fire.

  Victor had to stand a little to the side of where he was looking. Otherwise his own shadow would have blocked his view.

  The 'hut' was dark and dirty but it was better than sleeping outside. He unrolled his pack and make himself a bed. He wished that he wasn't so prideful. Maybe he should have just quietly married the second prettiest girl in town. Could he even forgive Emily for whoring around with some white trash man? She was going to pay dearly for this.

  Victor fell asleep with a smile on his face. He had been picturing her naked on the floor at his feet begging him to stop whipping her. He didn't stop.

  The next morning he woke up early. He needed a bath and a decent meal. He decided that he would check into a hotel in Austin and freshen up before they left. There he could have a talk with Emily. He liked the smell of women's skin burning. The way they cried and hopped around was an enticing sight to behold. He had left his mark on the whore back in Amarillo. Every man after him would know that he had been with her.

  Before they got on the train, he would brand Emily as his, too. She would learn not to disobey him ever again.

  He looked around the hole that he had to sleep in because of her. In one corner he saw old rusty tools and boards. After that quick glance he turned to leave, wanting to sleep in a real bed tonight.

  His horse was waiting for him. He got on and rode off. The horse could be brushed down by whoever he sold him to in Austin. This hadn't been a longterm investment. He had just needed the horse so he wouldn't have to arrive on the coach. No one would reckon with visitors during the week like this.

  Victor knew he was lost but what could he do about it? There was no one to ask directions from and he didn't want it known that he was in the area. It had been a necessity to ask the woman at the store for directions but the information should stop there.

  It was late and he was hungry. He had eaten all of his food for breakfast, thinking that this would soon be over. Now he would have to sleep outside again. Maybe he could find the hut again. It was better than nothing but certainly not a grand hotel as he had hoped for this evening.

  He saw something out of the corner of his eye. It had been like a white dash that had disappeared. His eyes locked on where it had come from. Then he saw it again. It was a white cat pouncing on its prey. Even from this distance he could hear the bell, that the cat had around its neck.

  “Snowball,” he said aloud. The corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

  He had her.

  Victor quietly got down from his horse and moved in the direction that the cat had taken off in. He followed it until he saw a house in the distant. At least it was a real house and not another hut. In fact, it was a house and several other buildings. It was real a farm. His Emily had been a fine lady and now she was a farmwife. He shook his head at her stupidity.

  “Snowball,” he called out softly, holding the bag that had carried his provisions. He rustled it, thinking of the visits that he had paid Emily. He would call on her every few months. They would sit in the parlor and stare at each other. She often had that damn cat in her arms. He would accept whatever drink was offered to him and stare at her, picturing what he all wanted to do with his future wife.

  The cat seemed to recognize him. She trotted over to him with her head held high. He was starting to like the animal. Once she got close to him he picked her up and pet her.

  Emily was sitting in an armchair in the good parlor. She was knitting something for the baby, the tiniest of shoes. Katie had taken to waiting on her. Bessie was ignoring her. Emily could understand why. Here she was barely wed and already expecting a baby, while the other two had been married for so long already, and they didn't have a baby growing inside of them. She felt so sorry for both of them.

  In fact, she hoped that they would be expecting soon, so their children could play together. Growing up with other children was something that Emily felt was important. She had had neighbor children to play with as a child. She didn't want her child to have to go without friends, just because they lived so far out.

  They all held still listening. Each of them had heard something.

  There it was again.

  “That's snowball.” Emily rose to her feet and went to the window. Her eyes searched for the direction where the sound was coming from.

  Then she sighed relieved. She could see her by the swimming hole. “Maybe she fell into the pond?” Emily even grinned at the others. Having a cat was good practice for having a baby. You had to jump up and run off when they pulled something to. Emily got a towel out of the cupboard and w
ent off to save her cat. She would rub her dry and take her inside with her.

  She was half way to the pool when she saw that her cat wasn't wet. Instead she was laying in the grass and crying something terrible. Emily looked around to make sure that there wasn't a snake around.

  Snowball was still screaming, in that terrible way that cats do. “It's alright. Mama is here now.” The closer she got, the worse she felt. A cold shiver was going up and down her spine, like a warning.

  She picked up Snowball, whose leg was broken. Emily had tears in her eyes as she turned around to go back. Maybe Charles could fix it. Hopefully they wouldn't have to take Snowball out of her misery. She was obviously in pain.

  Emily heard a horse riding in hard and fast. First then did she remember that she wasn't allowed outside. But the man charging at her wasn't her mad husband. It was Victor Wellington. He swooped her up in his arm and laid her over the front of the saddle face down.

  The hard saddle was poking into her stomach. She let her cat glide out of her hands and safely to the ground. At least Snowball would have a chance.

  She cried and fussed, trying to turn around but she couldn't. She stopped trying, for fear of falling. Ten minutes later he stopped. He swung himself down from the horse and yanked her down too.

  Emily fell to the ground at his feet. She looked up at him in disbelief. What was he doing here? “I'm already married. You can't have me.”

  Victor grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her to her feet. “That's right, my precious beauty. I can't have you. Not until you are a widow.”

  Realization hit her. He honestly wanted to hurt her Nathaniel, so he could have her.

  “Please, don't hurt my husband. I love him so.”

  “You love him? That only makes this all the more fun. I'll take him away from you and everything else you have. First when you are striped naked and graveling at my feet will you realized that I am the one who has all the power. You have been mine since the day your father sighed that contract and you will continue to be mine until death do us part.”

  He shoved her into the dug out earth home and pushed her into a corner. “You are going to be so sorry about this. Do you have any idea about the shame and costs I have had to go through to get you back. I'm warning you now. If you ever try to get away from me again. I will personally cut off both of your feet.”

  Victor paced up and down in front of the door so she couldn't get out. He was deciding how to continue. He had hoped that her husband would come out and shoot the damn cat so he could shoot him, but instead his little Emily had come out.

  Victor had grabbed her before she could get away again.

  “I can't believe that you would rather live with common whores and their husbands than in my fine house.”

  “They aren't like that. Please, don't call them that. They are God fearing women.”

  Victor had to laugh. “Is that what they told you? Because it isn't true. They are whores, plain and simple.”

  Emily was shocked. That couldn't be true. The Tates were good people and their husbands were so strict. “You're lying. I won't go with you. No matter what lie you tell me.”

  He slapped her hard. “I'm not lying. Never talk back to me again.” He grabbed her by her hair again and pulled her face close to his. “You made a huge mistake. When you try to leave me. You will pay the price for that and then I will break you in to married life. I might even break a couple of your bones, but you will learn your place.” He spoke softly and clearly, but still a shiver went down her spine.

  Victor let go of her, thinking that she was even more beautiful than he remembered. “I will pay your husband a visit. When I come back we will go home.”

  Victor went over to the corner with the tools and wood. He picked everything up and went out, closing the door behind him.

  He left Emily in perfect darkness. She heard him nailing the door shut and putting up boards. He nailed those into place, too.

  Emily had no chance of getting out. She was sitting on the cold dirty floor all alone. Emily laid her head on her knees and cried. She never should have come here. Because of her Nathaniel was going to die. She had been selfish.

  She regretted coming here. Would Victor kill everyone? This was all her fault.

  Bessie and Katie had been at the window, watching Emily. When she turned around to come back, they had gone back to work. When Emily didn't come in they peeked out again.

  “I can't see her, anywhere,” Bessie proclaimed.

  “Maybe she went to the barn. She sure is looking for trouble. Nathaniel was really clear. I should have gone out to get her cat. Bessie, go get her back in the house before Nathaniel comes back.”

  Bessie had a feeling, like a goose walked over her grave. She went out and looked for Emily.

  Emily wasn't in the barn or anywhere where Bessie could see her. She walked to the water hole and then around the house. In the distance she heard the cat crying. Had Snowball gotten away and Emily chased after her?

  Bessie found Snowball in the high grass. She picked up the animal, gently, before she walked back to the house with the animal in her arms.

  She had been gone awhile. Bessie went in through the kitchen door. “I couldn't find Emily, but I have her cat. The cat probably got away from her and she is out looking for it.”

  Bessie looked around when her sister didn't answer. She saw her sitting in Emily's armchair. She wasn't doing anything, just sitting still. That was so unlike Katie.

  “Aren't you feeling well?”

  A strange man stepped out in between them. “If you would please be seated.” Victor reached for the cat and took it away from her. He had wanted to break its neck, but the creature had made his day very successful, so he threw it out of the door. The creature landed on its feet and trotted away on three legs. He was thinking about nine lives, when he turned back to the whores.

  “Tell me, when are you expecting your husbands, ladies?”

  Chapter 13 Something Is Wrong

  Charles was the first to near home. It took him a moment to realize that something was wrong. He stopped his horse and stared at the house.

  Nathaniel stopped next to him. “What's wrong?”

  “There is no smoke coming out of the chimney. Why aren't the women heating up some coffee?”

  They both looked over to Edward who was riding away from them. They watched him dismount and pick up something in the grass.

  “Charles,” Edward called out.

  They rode over to them and saw Emily's cat in his arms.

  Charles looked her over and told them he needed his bag.

  “Can you fix her? Emily really loves Snowball.”

  “Of course. It looks like a clean break. I just have to set it. But that doesn't explain what is going on at the house. Unless Bessie and Katie are out looking for the cat and Emily is laying down.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The stove isn't on. Look, there is no smoke coming out of the chimney. I didn't hear Katie ring the bell either. Something is wrong here.”

  “Charles, I want you to stay here. If you see that we need help, then ride to town as quick as lightning. Nathaniel, I want you to ride around back and sneak up to the house. Make sure you aren't seen.”

  “What are you going to do?” Charles asked.

  “I'm going to go in the front door like I always do. There is a good chance that this is nothing. If that is the case, I'll whistle for you.” Edward laid Snowball in Charles arms and got on his horse.

  Nathaniel got on his and took off too. He made sure that he was riding out of sight of the house.

  Once Nathaniel was in position, Edward slowly rode to the house. He went right to the barn and got off his horse there. He had a bad feeling about this. The hairs on the back of his neck were all standing on end.

  Victor heard the horse and peeked out of the window. Finally things were going to take shape. Victor pulled out his pistol and took aim. He grinned as the man appeared in the barn
door.

  Katie had recognized the horse and knew that it was her husbands. She threw herself at the strange man standing at her parlor window.

  Victor had already been pulling the trigger when the women pushed into him. He saw the man, who he was aiming at fall to the ground. He turned to the woman and slapped her.

  Katie was already screaming because she too had seen her husband fall to the ground.

  Victor pushed her back into her chair. He held his gun to her head. “Quiet, or you are next.” He left the gun pointing at Katie, as he turned to look at Bessie. “Who was that man?”

  Bessie was unsure, but judging by her sister's reaction it could only be Edward. She cleared her throat so she could speak. “It was Edward. Her husband.” She pointed at her sister.

  Katie was screaming all the more because Bessie was talking about her husband in the past tense. He was gone. The man, who had loved her enough to make her an honest woman. She buried her head into the sofa and sobbed.

  “When are the other two coming?”

  Bessie shrugged her shoulders. Nothing was going as planned today.

  “Are you lying to me, whore?” He slapped her, too.

  Bessie covered her face and shook her head. Would this man kill her husband, too? “Who are you?” she dared to ask. “And where is Emily?”

  He slapped her again. “That's none of your business, whore.”

  Nathaniel hurried into the barn when he heard the shot. Edward was laying still on his back. He had one hand on his shoulder. He wasn't moving.

  “Edward,” he called out.

  “He got me in the shoulder. I'm fine, but they think I'm dead. I figured that staying put until Charles has a moment to look at me would be best.” He was pretending to be brave, but the truth was that he was scared.