Paper Woman: A Mystery of the American Revolution (51 page)

Oh, faugh.
 
Her uncle's "enemies" were all
cuckolded courtiers of wealthy widows.
 
She sweetened her smile.
 
"Not to worry."

The paling sky
outlined perplexity in her uncle's posture.
 
As much as he enjoyed women, he'd never figured out what to do with
those who were headstrong.
 
"I
cannot command you to anything, can I?"

"Good luck
in Williamsburg, Uncle David."
 
She
blew a kiss.

He shook his
head, reined his horse around, and trotted it from the yard with a final wave.
 
Betsy watched until the gloom of dawn
swallowed him before retrieving the lantern, eggs, and box.
 
Then she ambled back to the house escorted
by the aria of a mockingbird.

So.
 
Her kinfolk had evaded the Crown's
"justice" upon the gallows and torture at the hands of Indians and
were
en route
to sanctuaries in other colonies.
 
And for the first time in her life, she had
a father: a blacksmith, a "very good man."
 
At the back step, she paused to address the sky, her shoulders
back, her face aglow.
 
"Mathias
Hale," she whispered, "expect me soon."

End of Chapter One

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The Blacksmith's
Daughter
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About Suzanne Adair

Award-winning
novelist Suzanne Adair is a Florida native who lives in a two hundred-year-old
city at the edge of the North Carolina Piedmont, named for an English explorer
who was beheaded. Her suspense and thrillers transport readers to the Southern
theater of the Revolutionary War, where she brings historic towns, battles, and
people to life. She fuels her creativity with Revolutionary War reenacting and
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