“Then you should sleep,” Wolf Dancer said. He reached a hand out for Dorey. “Come. Sit beside the fire with your friends.”
Dorey leaned over and kissed her mother’s brow, then went and sat beside Twila and began chattering about all that each had experienced, while Wolf Dancer remained beside Lavinia until he saw she was asleep.
He could not take his eyes off her.
She was his world now.
Chapter Twenty-one
She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon
My sight.
—William Wordsworth
The next day Lavinia was enjoying the morning meal with everyone she loved, sharing hominy corn cakes and a variety of fish.
It seemed unreal to her that Wolf Dancer should be sitting with her and her friends, talking casually with them, even though he was a powerful Seminole chief.
But he had opened his lodge to her and her friends. He had never behaved as though he were better than anyone else, not even Joshua or Twila, whom most whites would look down on.
Yes, Wolf Dancer was someone very special, kind and caring toward all he knew.
The more Lavinia learned about him, the more she loved him.
She had never thought such a love was possible, or that she would meet such a man as Wolf Dancer.
She felt that he cared deeply for her as well. Sometimes she would catch him looking at her withsuch intensity, and he always treated her with great gentleness.
He was more gentle than her father had been, and he had been everything to Lavinia when she was a child.
Now? If only she knew for certain how Wolf Dancer felt about her! Did he love her too, even though they met so recently? She felt this was a man she would be happy to share her life with forever.
“Joshua, I believe it is time for you to tell Lavinia all that you told me about her husband’s death, how he truly died…by whose hand,” Wolf Dancer said thickly as he gazed at Joshua. “She is strong enough now to hear the truth.”
Lavinia’s hand clutched a wooden cup in her hand, which held a drink called cazina, a bitter-tasting infusion made from a weed that the Wind Clan gathered on the island.
Wolf Dancer had told everyone as he handed them cups of cazina that this was a very healthy brew for all who drank it. Lavinia found that despite its bitterness, she thought it was delicious.
“Joshua, what do you know that you have not told me?” Lavinia asked, setting her half-empty cup aside. “I…I…want to know.”
She gazed at him intently as he lowered his eyes, seemingly avoiding not only her question but also her eyes.
“Joshua, please?” she begged in a tone Joshua knew well, a voice of such sweetness that he could not help responding to it.
He slowly lifted his eyes and returned her steady gaze. “It ain’t a nice thing to tell, nor to hear, Lavinia,” he said, his voice drawn. “But you mus’ know, and it is time for you to be told. I’se the one to tell you, Lavinia, for I witnessed it all firsthand.” “Witnessed what?” Lavinia asked, realizing that the lodge had grown stone quiet, except for the popping and crackling of the fire. Everyone’s eyes were on Joshua.
“I saw Hiram murder your husband,” Joshua finally blurted out. “Lavinia, I seen it with mine own two eyes. Hiram drew back a bowstring with an arrow in it, and then shot Massa Virgil in the chest.” “Lord,” Lavinia gasped, feeling suddenly dizzy. “No. Oh, no. Why…how…? Virgil’s own brother killed him?”
“He sho’ ’nuff did,” Joshua said, wanting to reach out and steady her when he saw how distraught she was.
“Lord, oh, Lord, how could Hiram do that?” Lavinia cried. “My Virgil. My dear, kind Virgil. I knew that Hiram was jealous of everything Virgil had. My husband was more capable and intelligent than Hiram ever could be. But to…to…kill him?”
“He killed him in order to take control of the plantation and the slaves, and…even…you, Lavinia,” Joshua said softly. “Yes’m, he plans to have you all to hisself now that Massa Virgil is gone.”
Lavinia sat quietly for a few minutes, absorbing all that she had been told.
She glanced over at Wolf Dancer, whose eyes were on her, a protective softness in their depths.
She wanted to go into his arms and lose herself in the wonders of his embrace.
But she knew that this was not the time, not when she had just learned the true fate of her husband. It wouldn’t be proper to receive solace from Wolf Dancer when she had just learned the awful fate of the man who had so recently been her husband.
Wolf Dancer saw how she gazed into his eyes. He could tell that she needed him, yet he knew she must struggle through these horrible moments on her own. She had to prove to herself that she was strong enough to withstand this pain.
Lavinia swallowed hard, wiped tears from her eyes, then reached for Dorey’s hand.
Dorey had sat quietly as she listened to Joshua’s revelation; she hadn’t seemed all that shocked at the news of how her father had died. Now Lavinia realized that her daughter must have been told the truth.
“Dorey, are you alright?” Lavinia asked. She was amazed that Dorey was showing such strength of character. In the past few days her daughter’s whole world had changed, had been turned upside down.
“Mama, are you?” Dorey asked, searching her mother’s eyes. “You just learned the full horror of what happened to Papa. Are …you…alright?”
“Dorey, I am learning day by day how things in one’s life change, and so quickly that one cannot be prepared for it,” Lavinia said. She affectionately squeezed Dorey’s hand.
“Some of the things I’ve learned are so horrible I’ve felt that I can’t go on,” Lavinia said. “But there are other times, when I’ve discovered there are more wonderful things than bad ones in my life, and wonderful people whom you suddenly meet and love.”
She glanced quickly at Wolf Dancer. She blushed and lowered her eyes when she found him gazing at her.
He knew to whom she was referring when she spoke of discovering new love. He knew now without a doubt that she loved him.
But Lavinia was struggling with the guilt she felt for thinking about new love at this time, when only moments ago she had learned the details of her husband’s death. She slowly turned her face so that when she raised her chin and looked straight ahead, she wouldn’t be looking directly at this man who had stolen her heart.
“Joshua, did Hiram see you?” she asked softly. “Is that why he shot you with an arrow as well?”
“Dat’s de reason, a’right,” Joshua said dryly. “I came upon de killin’ and tried to get away before Hiram knew I had been witness to his crime. But he done seen me. I didn’t get turned quick enough to run away before de evil man saw me and shot dat poisoned arrow into my shoulder. I…fell…into de Bone River and done floated away, hanging on to life as hard as I could. Hiram thought he had done shot me dead, for there was a lot of blood from de wound. He saw de river turning red with my blood.
I’ll nevah in my life forget dat lunatic laugh he laughed as I floated down de river.”
“How horrible,” Lavinia said, shuddering as she imagined the events Joshua was describing. Then she looked at him again. “Joshua, what happened after that? You are here now and well. How is that possible?”
“You knows already that Wolf Dancer saved me,” Joshua said, giving Wolf Dancer a grateful smile.
“Yes, I know that, but how…where…did he find you?” Lavinia asked.
“I found a canoe floatin’ in the river, empty,” Joshua said. “I managed to climb into it. I laid myself down on de bottom, with dat arrow still stickin’ outta me. I falls asleep. Den when I wakes up I finds Wolf Dancer there. He had put me in his canoe and was already on his way to his village with me. He took me to the shaman’s home, same as you. It is because of Wolf Dancer and de shaman dat I am here today, able to tell you everythin’.”
“And we have since become fast friends,” Wolf Dancer said, drawing all eyes to him.
“Lavinia, Joshua and I have been making plans about how to make Hiram pay for what he did, but we wanted to first get you and Joshua’s family away from the plantation, as well as any slaves who were not too afraid to leave.”
“But things happened to change your plans, didn’t they?” Lavinia murmured. “You didn’t have to go for me, Dorey, or Twila. It seems we found our way to you, each in a different fashion.”
Wolf Dancer smiled at Lavinia. “One by one you were brought into my life,” he said thickly. “And now all of you, except for Joshua’s wife, are safe here in my village.”
Tears came to Lavinia’s eyes. “Poor Lorna,” she murmured. “Hiram has much to answer for.”
“His days are now numbered on this earth,” Wolf Dancer replied, reaching over and taking one of Lavinia’s hands. “We will make him pay for the crimes committed against your families.”
“But how?” Lavinia asked, looking quickly up at Wolf Dancer, savoring the touch of his hand. “Hiram has a powerful friend in Colonel Cox. If anything happened to Hiram, surely the colonel would retaliate.”
“I wonder if Colonel Cox is really all that friendly with Hiram,” Wolf Dancer said. “I doubt Hiram has any true friends.”
“You are probably right,” Lavinia said, nodding. “I imagine the only reason the colonel puts up with Hiram’s nonsense is because Hiram goes and plays poker with him. From what I have heard, except for a few times, the colonel always cleans him out. That is surely the only reason he allows Hiram anywhere near him…to get his money.”
“I know you are anxious to see that man get his comeuppance, and I am willing to see that it is done, but, Lavinia, you must grow stronger before we take action. You do wish to go with us, do you not?” Wolf Dancer asked.
“Yes, I want to be there,” Lavinia said firmly. “I only wish I had stepped in earlier and stopped hiscruelty, but I truly didn’t realize that he was such an evil man. And…he was my husband’s brother. Virgil tried to make up for all of the wrongs Hiram did to others. But now that his brother is no longer there to stop him, Hiram is showing his true colors.”
Lavinia got up and went to Joshua, who was now standing, preparing to leave the house with Twila. She flung herself into his massive arms and clung to him. “I am so sorry about Lorna and what Hiram did to you,” she sobbed. “I wish I had known the true evil of that man. He would never have been around long enough to kill my husband…and…your beloved wife. I would have sent him away no matter how much my husband argued against my doing it. You see, the main part of our wealth came from my side of the family, not his, but I never spoke of that to my husband. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable over it. I didn’t want to take his pride away.”
“You’se done right by him, Lavinia,” Joshua reassured her as he stroked her hair with his long, callused fingers. “You’se done right by him.”
Wolf Dancer watched the emotional scene, and saw how deeply Lavinia was being comforted by Joshua. Wolf Dancer ached to have her in his own arms.
He longed to be her protector…the one who made sure no sadness touched her life.
He wanted more than those things.
He wanted her as his wife! He wanted to have children with her.
Chapter Twenty-two
Man is in love and loves what vanishes,
What more is there to say?
—William Butler Yeats
Hiram groaned as he awakened with a fierce headache. He hated even opening his eye, but he knew he had stayed in the house long enough, drinking away his disappointment and anger that Lavinia had disappeared from the plantation.
He didn’t for one minute think she had been forced to leave. He knew how much she despised him.
He was certain that she had taken advantage of his being gone for so long playing poker at the fort. Yet her disappearance was odd, for she had left without even taking any of her clothes. Perhaps she had planned this with someone, a man he had never known about, for she hadn’t ridden off on any of their horses, and the buggy was still in the stable.
He hadn’t checked the canoes, for he doubted she would have chosen that mode of transportation. The Bone River would only take her into the Everglades.
Yep, he thought bitterly to himself, surely even when Virgil was alive, Lavinia had had a man waiting to make her his.
She had probably met him on one of her shopping expeditions in the various small towns surrounding their plantation. She had no doubt just been waiting for the right opportunity to make her escape as soon as Hiram left.
“I stayed away too long,” he growled as he tossed the blanket off himself.
But he’d had no idea what she was planning!
She was a tricky one.
He wondered if Virgil had had even an inkling of what a two-timing wench he’d married.
Grumbling, he left the bed and went to a window to throw open the shutters. His bedroom reeked of unpleasant odors. As usual, there was the sweat that always covered him. Combined with it was the vile stench of alcohol spilling from his mouth with each breath he took. And though he had not smoked a cigar after coming home, his clothes still smelled terribly of smoke.
Hiram leaned out the window just enough to take a deep breath of fresh air.
But he got more than that. He realized that it was eerily quiet outside the mansion.
Usually there was a lot of activity as slaves came and went from the fields. And the women, even though they hated being enslaved, sang while working in the tobacco fields, especially now at harvesttime.
He heard no songs. He heard no laughter of the slave children. He…heard…nothing.
Only silence!
His heart began to race as he leaned farther out and looked in all directions. He saw only a few slaves working the fields. He saw no children running and playing.
Smoke was spiraling from only a few of the slaves’ cabins. He should see it coming from all of them. Each morning the slaves built their cook fires in the cabin stoves and started cooking their beans slowly over the flames before they left for work; beans were the only staple he handed out to them. They were lucky if they got any meat to add to the beans, for he thought that an unnecessary extravagance.
“They don’t deserve anything extra,” he grumbled to himself. And especially not today when they were lazing around inside their homes, probably thinking that he was still gone.
“I’ll show ’em a thing or two. I’ll teach ’em how wrong it is not to do their duties even in my absence,” he growled to himself.
He stepped away from the window, gazed down at his wrinkled shirt and breeches, and saw that he had not removed his shoes before falling into bed in his drunken stupor.
And even though he reeked of sweat and tobacco, and had not shaved for two days, nor bathed, Hiram left his room.
Still unsteady from having drunk too much these past days, he stumbled down the massive staircase. As he took each step, hanging on to the banister to keep from falling, he still heard no sounds, not even in the house, where servants should be busy doing their chores.
Nor did he smell the food that should be cooking in the kitchen.
As he continued down the stairs, he grew angrier and angrier, for still there was no one in sight, nor did he hear anything. It was as though the house were empty of servants, but how could that be?
They knew better than to desert him, for he would search them out and kill them if they did! Yet…yet…he believed that was exactly what had happened.
Had Lavinia given them permission to leave? Had she freed the slaves before she left?
Finally at the foot of the stairs, he frowned as he looked frantically around, still hoping he was wrong about having been deserted by the people he depended on for his way of life.
When he still didn’t see or hear anyone, he stamped through the house, searching and growing angrier by the minute. He stopped suddenly when he heard soft crying.
He followed the sound and pulled open the door that led into the kitchen pantr
y. He found the servants who usually worked in the house huddled there, crying. It took only a moment to realize that Twila was not among them.
The servants shrank away from him, their dark eyes wide as he yanked his belt from the waist of his breeches.
“You tell me what’s going on,” he shouted, holding the belt between his hands and snapping it threateningly as he looked from one to the other. “Why aren’t you working? Where is everyone who should be out in the fields? I saw only a few. And where is Twila?”
“Massa Hiram, please don’t hurt us,” one of the younger servants said, trembling. “Please don’t make us tell you what you will hate to hear.”
“What will I hate to hear?” Hiram shouted, suddenly lashing the belt across the belly of the woman who had been brave enough to speak to him. “You’d better tell me the rest of it, or I’ll do even worse to you.”
The young woman cried hard as she clutched her belly. She was too distraught to respond to Hiram. She was afraid she’d say the wrong thing and be hit again.
“I’ll tell you,” one of the older women said as she stepped in front of the crying slave. “Just don’ whip this gal again.”
“Well, then, say it,” Hiram shouted. “And you’d better be quick about it, do you hear?”
“Yes, suh, I’se understand,” she said, still standing tall and straight as she gazed directly into his one eye. “Many of your slaves are gone, but there are enough left to tend the fields. Massa Hiram, they are afraid of what you might do to us because the others have left. And Massa Hiram, we have no idea where Twila has gone. She’s just gone.”
Hiram was shocked at the thought of so many of his slaves running away. Surely they were long goneby now. They’d had plenty of time to get away as he lay in his bed in a drunken stupor.
“Your overseer also left,” the woman quickly added. “Those who are workin’ the fields are doin’ it out of loyalty to you, Massa Hiram. And they are doin’ fine without the whip of the overseer.”
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