Through the Storm (46 page)

Authors: Beverly Jenkins

Tags: #Romance, #Historical, #Fiction

BOOK: Through the Storm

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Chapter 4 Mrs. Reese and the other laundresses greeted Sable’s return warmly. Everyone was happy to hear Patrick had been reunited with his family, and once Sable finished the story, she dove back into her share of the work. That evening, much to Sable’s surprise, Avery Cole showed up to pay her a visit. With him were his wife Salome and his year-old son Avery the Younger. Salome had tears in her eyes. “I’m so grateful to you, I can’t find the words. If you hadn’t been there to read my words to Avery…” She gave Sable a long hug while Avery, holding the baby, looked on approvingly. Sable had tears in her own eyes too. The woman’s sincerity touched her heart. Avery said, “You know, I’ve been telling folks about you writing that letter for Edward and they all want to know if you’ll do the same for them. There are a lot of people who’d write home if they had somebody to pen the letter. Do you think you could find the time?” Sable thought it over. “I can, but it will have to be after I’m do

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 As she entered the tent, Sable heard, “You’re back awfully late.” The voice belonged to Bridget McKinney. The sight of her sitting up on one of the pallets took Sable by surprise. The tiny stub of a candle burning on a large rock barely illuminated the tent’s interior. “What are you doing here?” “Mrs. Reese found replacements for Sookie and Paige. I asked if I could move in here with you. Dorothy snores like a train. Do you mind?” Sable and Bridget had gotten along fairly well since Sable’s initial arrival, so she replied truthfully, “No, I don’t mind. Paige and Sookie snored something fierce too.” Bridget smiled in the darkness, then asked, “Where do you think those two disappeared to?” Sable shrugged. “So far, the army’s not been able to find out anything. I doubt the theft’s a priority though. It isn’t as if General Sherman can call a halt to the war just to search them out. How well did you know them?” “Not as well as I thought, I guess. I never pegged them as thieves.” “

Chapter 5

Chapter 6 After the yard cleared and Borden stormed away, Sable walked over to the tall, bearded major. “Thank you. I’ve never had a champion before.” “Glad to be of service. Was there a murder?” Put so directly, the question made her wonder for a moment if he’d believed Morse’s claims. “Yes.” “Your father?” She nodded. “Were you involved?” “I was present, but I didn’t cause his death.” “If those two go to my superior officers, I want to be able to argue the truth so I’ll need to hear your side of the story.” “Then ask me to eat dinner with you.” Raimond’s face showed his surprise. “You’re asking to dine with me?” “I thought it might be nice to share your company and to tell you the story too. Is that too forward?” “No, no,” he reassured her. “I find it amazing, is all. I don’t have to beg or slay a dragon in exchange?” “You already have,” she replied softly. “And you were very timely.” “I was already on my way over to see you when I ran into Mrs. Tubman. She was very upset and said yo

Chapter 6

Chapter 7 “How many more?” Raimond asked Andre as he scribbled his signature on yet another camp document. It seemed as if he’d been signing duty rosters, supply requisitions, and field reports all day. “Only five more.” Raimond growled. He detested paperwork. Andre placed another sheaf under Raimond’s pen and waited for him to sign it before giving him another. “I’d’ve thought you’d be in a better mood after your evening with Miss Fontaine.” Raimond did not comment. “You didn’t have a good time?” “Yes, I had a good time.” “Then why the growling?” “Let’s just say I’d hoped for a better time, but my conscience reared its head.” “Your conscience? You have a conscience?” “Evidently I do, and I’m still trying to decide whether I’m proud of it or not.” “Galeno is going to laugh himself sick.” Raimond glared. “He is, you know.” “Don’t talk to me about Galeno. If he hadn’t wished this on me, none of it would be happening.” “Wished what?” “That one day a woman would come along and put me throu

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Chapter 8 Boston, 1865 Sable looked out at the gray March day and yearned for the balmy winters of Georgia. Boston’s frigid temperatures made her wonder if she would ever be warm again. Her employer, Mrs. Jackson, assured her spring would come, but the knee-high snow presently blanketing the street made Sable seriously doubt the claim. She’d been in Massachusetts since late November. The hasty flight she’d taken from Georgia with Bridget and Randolph Baker had culminated here after nearly a month of walking, taking trains, and hitching rides with others fleeing the war. More than once, to her absolute surprise, Baker had donned a Confederate uniform to cross disputed territory, and Bridget and Sable had posed as his slaves. At the time Sable wouldn’t have cared if he’d posed as Mr. Lincoln himself if it helped her escape reenslavement. Raimond LeVeq still weighed heavily on her mind. Every time she thought back, the memory of him lying prone and still on the tent’s dirt floor tore at h

Chapter 8

Chapter 9 By week’s end, Sable had disposed of the last of Verena’s affairs, sold the little house, and decided to accept Juliana’s offer of a place to stay. “This is only temporary,” Sable vowed. Juliana nodded her understanding and led Sable up the wrought-iron staircase to the second floor. “I thought I’d put you in here.” She opened the door and ushered Sable into a large suite. The verandah doors stood open, letting the sun stream in. There was a large canopied bed in the otherwise empty room, but the sense of the previous owner remained strong. “This was Raimond’s room, wasn’t it?” Sable said. Juliana nodded, then stepped in further. “He has his own apartments across town now. I doubt he’ll mind if you stay here.” Sable looked at the woman who wanted to be her mother-in-law and asked, “Juliana LeVeq, what are you about?” Juliana pointed to herself. “Me? Absolutely nothing. I just want you to be comfortable while you’re here.” Sable didn’t believe her for a moment. As Sable walked

Chapter 9

Chapter 10 The next morning, Sable awakened still close to Raimond’s side. She looked up to find him watching her. Innocent though she’d been, she knew last night had been extraordinary. She sensed that he too had been touched by their passion. “Well?” she offered. She had no idea how to approach him in the fresh light of a new day. “Well, what?” he responded, all the while wanting to pull her atop him so he could kiss her lips and fill his hands with her sunburst bottom. He resisted the urge, telling himself he had no plan to become entrapped by his thieving wife. “What happens now, is what I’m asking,” she explained quietly. Unable to resist touching her any longer, Raimond ran his finger gently down the curve of her spine. “You’ll return to my mother’s home until this house is ready, and I will go back to my own world.” He cupped her bottom and traced the small raised sunbursts. “How old were you when this was done?” Sable forced herself to move away from his too tempting touch. Sit

Chapter 10

Chapter 11 That evening, Drake and Beau came to dine with Juliana and Sable. Everyone had just sat down at the gleaming table when Raimond walked in. “Good evening.” A surprised Juliana said, “Good evening to you too. Have you come to join us?” “I thought I might.” Sable too was surprised by his unprecedented appearance. He’d never dined with them before. She moved her chair to make room for a place beside her. Juliana fetched him a plate from the new china cabinet. Sable was unsure how to act with him so near. The tender and passionate man in her bedroom seemed to bear little resemblance to the formal, unapproachable man she encountered elsewhere. She decided she would simply follow his lead. Over the course of the meal, they discussed the ongoing restoration of the house and its furnishings, and Juliana’s desire to hire a new staff of servants. “I’ve been doing my own cooking since ’63, and truthfully, I’m tired of it,” she confessed. “Mama, I hear Little Reba’s back in the city,” Dr

Chapter 11

Chapter 12 Riding home in a hack they had hailed outside Archer’s hotel, Sable glanced over at her silent husband and considered the advice Hester had given her. Sable had to admit that seducing him had already crossed her mind once before—but on that particular night, she’d wound up being seduced instead. Not that she had any complaints—he could seduce her any time he desired, a small voice crooned inside. Sable put away her yearnings, chastising herself for being such a wanton, and settled in for the return to Juliana’s. But it appeared they were headed elsewhere. She knew the city well by now, and when the driver did not turn onto the street he should have taken, she asked her husband, “Where are we going?” “I promised you a bath,” he replied in a voice that stroked her senses. “Remember?” Yes, she did, and sudden anticipation dissolved her into a puddle right there on the seat. He slid a finger over the soft rise of her cheek. “Our marriage has gotten off to a good start in some wa

Chapter 12

Chapter 13 Like everyone else, Sable was stunned by Circular 15. Obviously President Johnson had not taken the race’s concerns to heart. Already in New Orleans patrols were beginning to act upon the change in policy, herding freedmen into wagons and taking them from the city. Last week, a woman who’d come to New Orleans searching for her husband, who’d never returned after the war, had finally found him just as he was being carted away along with dozens of other men. She’d run after the wagon screaming for the driver to stop, but he’d never even slowed. Her efforts to find out where her husband and the others were being shipped had been met by a wall of silence from the military and indifference from the city fathers. The Freedmen’s Bureau had eventually intervened and learned he’d been sent to a plantation out past the city where he and the others would be forced to sign work contracts heavily weighted in the planter’s favor. Sable’s main concern was the children living on the streets

Chapter 13

Chapter 14 Louisiana’s long-anticipated Radical Convention convened two days later. Raimond had been chosen as a member of the state’s delegation and was appointed to the committee that would draw up the convention’s closing declaration. Sable and Juliana took the children to hear some of the speakers, but most days they left them in Mrs. Vine’s care and joined the hundreds of other observers in the gallery. Speaker after speaker, representatives from all across the South, stepped up to the podium to demand eloquently that Blacks of all backgrounds be given the rights promised by the Constitution. The name of Lincoln was invoked many times over and the name of his successor damned. President Andrew Johnson had not halted his pardoning of Rebel leaders and supporters. Even those who’d been termed traitors less than six months ago now had only to write to the former slave-holding president to receive absolution. Many Confederate military officers and government officials were now back in

Chapter 14

Chapter 15 They spent the remainder of their holiday in a beautiful hotel suite making love, eating the gastronomical delights prepared by Archer’s chefs, and never straying far from bed. Raimond sensed danger on the horizon and so kept Sable near, as if his arms alone would keep her safe. When the time came to return home, they were both a bit sad, but they’d had a wonderful time, and Fate willing, they would again. They stopped at Juliana’s to pick up Cullen and the girls before heading home. After parking the carriage out front, they started up the walk. Blythe came barreling out of the house like a miniature train and just about knocked Raimond down with her happy greeting. Hazel stood on the porch smiling with Drake at her side. They found Cullen inside, playing backgammon with Henri, while Juliana sat nearby offering encouragement. The rest of the Brats were also in attendance, as was the custom on Sundays after church. After dinner, Raimond took his brothers into the study and t

Chapter 15

Chapter 16 Sable and her children had been in Paradise for over two weeks. Morse forced them to clear land from dawn to dusk. They’d all become slightly thinner due to the lack of quality meals, but Sable’s baby was still kicking and growing so she assumed it was fine. She guessed that Raimond had returned from Mobile by now and was half out of his mind with worry. She hoped he wouldn’t fault his brothers for her disappearance. She could only blame herself for not listening when the Brats expressed their well-founded concerns. Sable’s biggest concern at the moment had to do with the way Morse continued to stare at Hazel. He watched her with the same intensity he’d watched Sable when she’d been Hazel’s age. Hazel ignored him, but Sable did not. Remembering the rumors from back home surrounding the deaths of two of his young female slaves, she made a point of keeping her daughter in sight at all times. Cullen seemed to be of like mind. Sable noticed that whenever Morse approached Hazel a

Chapter 16

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