Against Her Will

by Nicole Sturgill

  Tanner let out a long sigh and motioned toward the bed. “Sit down, Temperance. I think we have a few things to talk about. I need to know exactly what my brother has been up to since I’ve been gone.”

  ***

  Temperance felt lighter somehow than she had in as long as she could remember when she left Tanner’s room only a few hours before dawn. They had talked the entire night away. She had let Tanner know about his brother and just how evil the man was deep down. While she hadn’t gone too deep into her own life and abuse, Tanner had seemed to understand and in his eyes she had seen, not sympathy, but understanding.

  Temperance knew he’d been abused himself. She didn’t know the details and Tanner didn’t offer them, but he didn’t need to. Just having someone that understood the pain that she felt in her heart was enough.

  Temperance didn’t know what Tanner was going to do now that he knew just how severe Trevor’s evil nature ran, but she knew that for the first time in over a year she had a reason to have true faith.

  She had to believe that Tanner was a good man who would fix everything. If she let herself believe anything different her mind would simply shut down once again and she’d be lost in that fog that had held her captive for too long. Temperance didn’t want to be lost again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tanner had no idea what exactly he was going to do. In the eyes of the law and the government, he was a dead man until he went before a magistrate and proved that the piece of paper declaring him dead had been a false one. He also knew that Trevor probably had the law enforcement in his back pocket. Trevor had always been good at getting anyone and everyone to see things his way and be on his side.

  Tanner had no weapons other than the knife that he had used to kill the man who had been assaulting Temperance the morning he’d woken up here. That was all Tanner had to defend himself. While his brother was not a fighting man, he wasn’t a brave man, he was a man who had ten men working for him who appeared to be the types of men who were comfortable with killing.

  And Tanner didn’t want to see his brother dead, at least not by his own hand. He knew Trevor deserved to pay for what he’d done. The treatment of the workers here and the way Temperance had suffered at his hands was unacceptable. Tanner wanted his brother locked away for a good long time but he didn’t want to kill the man.

  Tanner thought about Temperance as he stood upon the balcony outside his bedroom and stretched out his body, which was gaining strength by the day thanks to regular meals and the exercise he managed to get while cooped up. That woman was… A mystery. And yet he felt a kindred spirit lived inside of her.

  It was clear she’d suffered greatly in her life. It was clear that the pain she had in her heart was a heavy and deep one. Yet when Tanner looked in her emerald green eyes he saw life still burning deep down in the recesses of her soul--he saw a strength and a hope there that gave him pause and caused him to want to feel those same things.

  How long had it been since Tanner had felt hope?

  He’d been a weak man before the war. He had never had the bravery to stand up to Trevor even though Trevor was the younger of the two of them. Their father had beaten Tanner daily--taught him to keep his head down and do what he was told, and Trevor had kept Tanner in that place even after their old man had died of too much drink.

  When Trevor had insisted that Tanner needed to go fight in the war Tanner had gone. Not because he necessarily believed in the Confederacy’s cause but because Trevor had said to and he hadn’t had the strength or courage to say no.

  The war had been a terrible place. Endless walking, constant hunger, aches, and pains that had no way of being relieved and the stench of death and dying always clogging the nostrils. Prostitutes had followed behind the soldiers offering their services to the lonely men in exchange for whatever meager coin the men could scrape up, Tanner hadn’t ever sampled those women. He’d been tempted until he’d seen the effects they were having on the other men.

  The prostitutes had carried disease and Tanner had been in no hurry to have a needle inserted inside his manhood to clean out the sickness. He’d heard grown men screaming and sobbing as if they were no more than babes. Tanner had simply let himself grow accustomed to celibacy, it had seemed a much better fate.

  Tanner had been injured in battle. It hadn’t been a grave injury, but one just bad enough that he’d been unable to keep up with his regiment. The Union soldiers had caught him, beat him, tortured him, and locked him away in that prison camp.

  Three long years he’d been there. Meals had come every few days usually in the form of rotten meats and moldy breads. Tanner had been chained to another man for a time and that man had been very sick. The man had died not long after they’d been locked together and Tanner had been forced to drag around his rotting carcass for months.

  There’d been daily beatings, torture, and solitary confinement. One of the Union soldiers favorite things to do had been to take him out into the bright sun, chain him to a log, and leave him there for days. Or they would lock him in a tiny stone room only three feet by two feet wide with a ceiling only four feet high. Tanner had hated that room and now he panicked at the smallest sign of being enclosed or imprisoned.

  Tanner decided that he’d had enough of resting this morning. He was going to get out of the house today and explore the plantation. He was going to see for himself just how bad things had gotten in his absence. When he had been in charge of things for a short time he had ensured that everyone here was well taken care of and he had worked right alongside the workers. According to Temperance, Trevor had done away with every single thing that Tanner had put in place.

  Tanner stepped back in his room, pulled on a clean shirt, slid into his boots, and headed out the door to check out the home he had left behind so long ago.

  ***

  Temperance was saved by a headache the next morning. Trevor awoke and instead of shoving himself inside her and beating her into submission, as was customary each morning, he had groaned and griped about the pain in his head and simply stumbled out of the room. He hadn’t even bothered to close or lock the door behind him.

  Temperance stood from the bed and closed the door. She picked out a simple gingham dress and after dressing, she walked to the door and bit her lip. Did she dare to leave the room today? Technically, Trevor had not told her she couldn’t leave it today as he did most days and he had left the door wide open when he’d gone from the room…

  Cautiously, she leaned her head out the door and scanned the hallway. No guards were posted. It seemed that Trevor’s drinking the night before had led to a complete lapse in the normally tight watch he kept over her.

  Temperance decided to take advantage of it. Sure, she may end up punished for her actions, but it seemed that Trevor beat her no matter how she spent her days so she might as well earn the abuse.

  Temperance went down the hall and made her way down the grand staircase. She slipped unnoticed into the kitchen and Wilma and Mary stopped what they were doing to run to her and hug her in turn.

  Temperance felt her heart lighten. Yes, life had dealt her a hard hand, but it had given her good things as well and these women were some of them.

  “Child, ya look terrible!” Wilma exclaimed, covering her heart with her hand. Tears filled her brown eyes. “Ya shouldn’t have done what ya done to Emerson. Ya should have let him do what he wanted to do to me and ya should have just walked away, child. I don’t like seeing ya endure this kind of punishment.”

  “None of us deserve the punishment we are forced to endure here,” Temperance assured her. “We have to stand together against it when we can.”

  “Why are ya here?” Mary questioned. “Does Trevor know ya left the room?”

  “No.” Temperance grabbed a biscuit from the counter and dipped it into the freshly churned butter. “But he left the door open and did not tell me I couldn’t come out.”

  “Ya had better not let him catch ya…”

  Tempera
nce shrugged. “He could not possibly punish me any more severely than he already does,” she countered, her finger gently brushing across the dark bruise on her neck.

  “He could kill you,” Mary noted.

  Temperance let out a sigh and her gaze locked on the wall. “That would probably be a mercy.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Temperance lay there in the darkness, her body aching from the agony of the rape that Trevor had just thrust upon her. He was now snoring beside her, perfectly content with his face smashed against the pillow.

  Temperance heard her heart cry out for freedom. This man was going to kill her if this continued much longer. He was growing more violent and careless in his attacks. It seemed that his lust was becoming fueled by rage more and more each night and Temperance knew her life was hanging in the fragile balance of his temper.

  Just tonight, she had blacked out completely when he’d been choking her and she had actually believed she was dying, only to wake up several moments later, with him still grunting and sweating on top of her.

  Temperance felt her mind trying to shut down as she lay there in the darkness, but instead of giving in to it the way she had always done before she forced her mind to stay alert and thought of Tanner.

  She had seen him outside the window today once she’d returned to her room. He had been out with the workers, talking and working alongside them. Temperance wondered what they talked about. Was he asking them about their living conditions and treatment? Was he making plans to help them?

  Suddenly, Temperance had to know. And the night was the only time she could speak with him without worrying that Trevor, or one of his thugs, would catch her.

  Sliding from the bed, Temperance winced when Trevor shifted upon the mattress and then she found herself letting out a silent sigh of relief when he grunted and continued his snoring.

  She pulled on her floor length sleeping gown, wincing at the pain in her bruised and battered muscles. Temperance opened the bedroom door as quietly as she could and then padded silently down the hallway in her bare feet. She reached Tanner’s room and felt an increase in her pulse… It was both thrilling and strange.

  Tanner did something to her and it was something she wasn’t at all sure about. She didn’t trust him completely, her life had taught her that trusting men tended to end badly, but yet he was strong and a kindred spirit in pain. She as intrigued by him and hoped to know him better as time went on. She had a feeling they would be good friends.

  Before Temperance could knock, the door opened and Tanner quickly pulled her in before closing the door behind her.

  Temperance stared at him in shock as he ran his hand through his dark blond hair and paced back and forth across the room. “He has to be stopped,” Tanner stated. “The things he’s done to those people out there, the things he’s done to you, he can’t be allowed to continue that.”

  “You talked to everyone?” Temperance asked quietly as she took a seat in a small arm chair.

  Tanner nodded, his stormy blue gray eyes meeting her gaze. “Yes. Temperance, I’m sorry for what he’s done to you. I’m sorry for what he’s put you through and what you’ve endured and witnessed here. I’m going to set things right.”

  Temperance shifted in her seat and turned away from his gaze which was causing a strange flutter in her chest. “How do you plan to do that?”

  “I’m going to get the law, not the sheriff from the next town, but the US Marshal. I’m going to send a wire to them and let them know that Trevor needs to be arrested and locked away for the things he’s done, they may even decide to hang him once they hear all the details.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” Temperance frowned and picked at her nightdress. “He is your brother.”

  “You’re right,” Tanner sighed and Temperance heard the mattress creak as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “But that bond died a long time ago. I don’t want to kill the man myself, but I’d be more than happy to let the law take him and see him pay for his crimes.”

  A long silence followed Tanner’s admission before he finally spoke again. “How did your family die, Temperance?”

  Temperance was surprised by the question. “Why do you care?”

  “Just wondering that’s all,” Tanner replied as he scratched at his knee.

  “My father and brothers were killed by men like you,” Temperance snapped. The temper surprised her. She had thought that she had numbed herself to the pain and the anger surrounding her family’s passing.

  “What does that mean?” Tanner’s voice wasn’t the least bit irritated or annoyed, instead he simply sounded curious.

  Temperance looked at his face and saw him watching her with a gentle gaze. Gentleness was something that she hadn’t seen in the eyes of a white man in a long time. She had gotten used to the colored men and women being the only gentle souls around her. Temperance wanted to believe that it was a true emotion shining from his eyes and falling up on her yet found herself frightened to fully trust him just the same.

  “They were killed by Confederate soldiers. Men like you,” she clarified. “My father and brothers were fighting for the Union.”

  Tanner nodded, his eyes dropped to his hands which were folded between his legs. “And the rest of them?”

  “A soldier came to let us know what happened to the men and he brought a sickness with him. It killed my mother and sisters and the man who brought it. I buried them all and it was only shortly after then that Yancy found me.”

  “Yancy?” Tanner asked, his gaze meeting hers once again.

  Temperance realized it was the first she was saying his name to the man, “Yes.” She shivered, “He was the man who kidnapped me from my home. He took me away and kept me a while before Trevor bought me and forced me to marry him.”

  “I’m going to right what wrongs I can, Temperance,” Tanner vowed and there was a conviction in his voice and in his gaze that gave Temperance reason to believe him.

  “I’ve heard many things from many people, Tanner. I tend to believe actions instead of words these days.”

  Tanner nodded. “I understand.”

  He stood up and headed toward the door. “Where are you going?” Temperance questioned, not wanting to have their time together interrupted so quickly. She was not sure what she felt for Tanner at this point but she did know that she enjoyed being near him--which was saying something considering her recent history with men.

  “I’m gonna saddle a horse while everyone’s asleep and ride on to town. I should be able to be back before sunrise or just after. I’m gonna send a wire to the marshal and let him know that I’m back, I’m alive, and he needs to get out here and deal with a few things.”

  “Thank you, Tanner,” Temperance whispered as she stood.

  He walked toward her and Temperance was torn between two desires. The desire to back away and defend herself, which was understandable, and the desire to throw herself into his arms and let him hold her tight, which shocked her completely.

  She chose to simply ignore them both and stand completely still.

  Tanner reached out a hand and laid it tenderly upon her cheek. “Temperance, there is too much pain in this world and knowing that my family helped to cause yours just doesn’t sit right with me. Now, I can’t make up for what he did to you and I can’t change the past, but I can make sure that he pays for what he’s done and that’s what I intend to do.”

  Temperance found herself unable to speak as she watched Tanner walk out of the room and slip down the hallway without a sound.

  For the first time in a very long time, Temperance found herself thanking God instead of cursing him. Then she rushed back to Trevor’s bed to ensure he wouldn’t wake up to find her gone.

  Chapter Twenty

  Temperance chewed her lip as she sat in the bedroom the next morning and could do nothing, but wonder if Tanner had made it safely to town and back the night before.

  Had he been able to send the wire?

  Had th
e U.S. Marshal received it yet?

  Was help coming?

  These were just a few of the questions buzzing around in her brain and she was growing increasingly frustrated by the fact that she had no way of answering them!

  Temperance stared at the clock on the wall. It was nearing ten in the morning. Trevor had left that morning, once again sparing her from a rough round of forced rutting, though this morning he had remembered to close the door behind him.

  Temperance knew that in the hall there was probably a guard stationed to ensure she did not leave the confines of her four-walled prison. She threw herself down upon the bed and stared up at the wall. Her mind wandered and she hadn’t even realized she’d drifted off to sleep until a knock at the door had her jerking awake.

  Rushing over, Temperance realized the door was unlocked and she felt foolish for remaining cooped in for so long. Wilma frowned when she saw her. “You look worse today than yesterday…”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” Temperance lied. She knew she looked a mess. Her face was a mass of bruises and welts as was her neck. Her left eye was swollen and her arms were covered in handprints. Temperance hid the rest of the damage beneath her gingham dress. The bite marks, some of them through the skin, marred her back and breasts and the bruises along her ribs caused her the most pain… other than the ache in her raw and bleeding womanhood.

  Temperance realized that Wilma was carrying a tray of food and she immediately glanced at the clock to realize it was noon. She had slept a long while.

  “I brought your food, child, and a note from the master. I don’t know what it says, but hopefully it’s not too bad. He’s going to be gone for four days on business and he took four of his men with him. That just leaves six ‘round here. We might actually get a bit of peace.”

  With a hopeful smile and a bid farewell, Wilma handed Temperance the tray of food and walked away. Temperance looked up and down the hall and realized there was no guard. She walked back into the room, not bothering to close the door, and sat upon the bed.