Midnight

by Beverly Jenkins

  She nodded. “And I am so sorry about Primus. I got word to him as quickly as I could. Please don’t be angry. I know you’ve been looking for her, but I truly don’t know who betrayed him.”

  She watched him assess her for a silent few moments but couldn’t discern his mood.

  “You play the crone well, Mrs. Grey.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, still unsure.

  He held her eyes. “In truth, part of me does want to be angry because you knew I’d been searching high and low, but the smuggler in me is very impressed, Faith. It takes balls to do what you’ve been doing.”

  “Balls?”

  He chuckled. “I’ll explain later.” He held out his arms, “Come here, my lady.”

  Faith went to him and let him hold her close. His arms tightened, and when he placed a reverent kiss on her brow, she basked in all that he was, and what he meant to her. She was glad she’d finally told him the truth.

  “No more secrets between us,” he whispered.

  She looked up through her tears and whispered in reply, “No more secrets.

  He pulled her back against his heart and she never wanted him to let her go.

  “Are you sore from last night?” he asked, looking down into her face.

  “A bit.”

  “We’ll let you recover today so it won’t get worse.”

  The disappointment she showed in her face evoked his smile. “Liked your first night as a wife, did you?”

  “Yes.”

  “So did I. You were the most passionate and beautiful bride any man could ask for.”

  Faith felt her feelings for him swell her heart. She wondered if what she was feeling was love. What she did know was that she wanted to wake up with him every morning for the rest of her life. She was enjoying what they were trying to build together and she wanted it to endure. “Thanks for a wonderful wedding night, Nick.”

  “You’re welcome.

  In the days that followed, when they weren’t making love, Faith settled into managing her beautiful new home and Nick drilled with his fellows and went to secret meetings with the Sons. Now that the calendar had turned to mid April, the citizens of Boston were certain it wouldn’t be long before Gage sent his troops out to crush the rebellion once and for all, so everyone waited and prepared. One of the directives from the colonial leaders was to keep a sharp eye on the road, especially after sunset, because the soldiers were more likely to move under the cover of darkness.

  That night, Faith joined Nicholas on the porch where he was keeping watch. “Here’s your coffee,” she said, handing him the cup. “I still don’t understand how you drink this foul brew.”

  “You are such a Tory,” he teased.

  She tossed back, “I’m a rebel Tory, Mr. Smuggler.”

  The weapons brought in by LeVeq and his crewmen were now in the hands of Prince Hall and Colonel Middleton’s regiment, the Bucks of America. The debate as to whether men of color would be allowed to fight continued to swirl, but Nick and the others planned to add their numbers whether they were given approval or not.

  “It’s a nice night,” she said, hooking her arm into his and looking up at the stars twinkling in the cloudless black sky. There was a chill in the air but she had on a cloak.

  “That it is.” He looked up at the sky and asked, “Do you know the names of the stars?”

  “Just the dippers.”

  “The Iroquois call the big one Nya-gwaheh.”

  “Which means?”

  “The Great Bear.”

  She listened as he told her the legend. It began with four hunters who were also brothers tracking a large bear that was terrorizing the Iroquois villages. One of the brothers was lazy and always wanting to stop and eat, and his antics during the story made her smile. In the end, the lazy brother finally killed the bear, but when it slowly came back to life the four braves realized that they’d tracked the bear so far that they and their dog were up in the sky. Nick finished the tale by saying, “The square bowl of the Big Dipper is the Great Bear. The brothers and the dog are the handle.”

  Faith found the story fascinating.

  He added, “During autumn when the Big Dipper turns upside down, it means the lazy hunter has killed the bear, but in the spring when it’s upright, the bear rises and the hunt begins all over again.”

  Faith smiled. “I like that. I’ll see the dipper in a whole new way now.”

  “Good.”

  He leaned over and kissed her passionately, whispering, “Do you know what the Iroquois call a husband and wife who make love outside in weather like this?”

  She grinned, “No, what?”

  “Cold.”

  She laughed.

  “Come on let’s go inside.”

  They went in and he made love to her on the pelts by the bedroom fire until they were both nice and warm.

  The next morning while they were having breakfast, Arte came over bearing news from the Sons. “The leaders want everyone to report to Concord to help with the final preparations.”

  “When?”

  “As soon as you can. I’m leaving this afternoon. Can you join us?”

  “Yes. How long will we be needed?”

  “As long as necessary, I was told.” He then gave Nick directions to the Concord farm being used as the headquarters and added, “Bring any hand tools that you have. We’ll be pounding out bayonets and the like.”

  Nick nodded approvingly. “I’ll ride over this afternoon as well. Thank you.”

  Arte offered up his good-byes and hurried back to his home.

  Nick spent the rest of the morning packing the clothing he thought he’d need and added some of the hand tools in the shed. As the time neared for him to go, they shared a quick lunch and Faith made sandwiches for him to carry along.

  He had everything he planned to take with him in the parlor when they heard a knock at the door.

  “Who could that be?” Faith wondered aloud.

  Nicholas had no idea, but he left her and went to see. To his surprise, it was Stuart Kingston. The two men eyed each other silently until Kingston said finally, “I’m here to speak with my daughter.”

  The last thing Nick wanted was a serpent in the Eden he and Faith had made. “I’ll see what she says.”

  From the hostility Nick saw on Kingston’s face, it was clear the man didn’t like being kept waiting, but Nick ignored it. Leaving him standing on the porch, Nick walked back into the parlor. “It’s your father,” he announced. “He says he’d like to see you.”

  “Whatever for?”

  Nick shrugged and asked, “Should I invite him in?”

  Faith didn’t want to talk to him because she sensed no good would come out of it, but she said resignedly, “Let’s see what he’s after.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “No, but have him come in anyway. Maybe afterwards he will get on with his life and we can get on with ours.”

  “All right.”

  When the two men returned, she slowly got to her feet. “Good afternoon, Father.”

  He offered her a terse nod of greeting, but as his eyes strayed around the room and he took in the large portrait of Adeline hanging above the fireplace, he stilled. As Faith watched him she saw myriad emotions cross his face: surprise, sadness, anger, and then resolve. His accusatory eyes swung to Nicholas for a moment and held, before he turned his back on the portrait and trained his attention Faith’s way. “I’m here to take you home.”

  She sighed audibly before asking, “Why?”

  “Because this is not your home.”

  “Yes, it is. Nicholas and I are married.”

  His eyes widened and he stared between the two of them before shouting at Faith, “How could you! Have you no shame!”

  “You asked me to leave, remember.”

  “How dare you!” he shouted. “How dare you sully my blood with the blood of this”—he swung his eyes to Nicholas—“this bastard!”

  “Father!”

>   “Don’t Father me, you ungrateful chit! Have you no idea of the perfidy that runs through the Grey line! How traitorous and vile they are! His father stole Adeline from me! Impregnated with his foul sperm and that,” he snarled, pointing with fury at Nicholas, “is the result!”

  Faith was trying to hold on to her temper, but she was shaking with angry emotion. “You should leave, Father,” she declared through gritted teeth.

  “Not until you renounce this disastrous union and come home where you belong!”

  “Leave us! Now!”

  He slapped her.

  The painful blow exploded in her cheek and rocked her off her feet. She covered her throbbing cheek.

  Nick roared and threw a punch that exploded into Kingston’s face. When the man staggered and went down, Nicholas followed him, landing blow after blow.

  Alarmed, Faith screamed, “Nicholas! Stop!”

  But Nicholas was in a blood rage. It was his intention to beat Kingston to death for his violent act, and he probably would have had not Faith’s cries finally pierced the furious fog encasing him. Only then did he feel her frantic tugs on his arm, trying to pull him away.

  “Nicholas! For me! Please! Please!”

  His anger still ruling, he saw her tears and the terror in her eyes.

  “Please,” she whispered, sobbing. “If you kill him you will hang!”

  She was right, of course, but his anger was white hot. Breathing harshly, his fists still balled, he backed off and looked malevolently down at the bloodied face of the man at his feet.

  “You’re still a bastard!” Kingston spat out as he wiped at the blood pouring from his nose and mouth. “And I hope Primus is rotting in hell! I’m proud to be the cause of his arrest and death. He deserved no better after what he did to me!”

  Nicholas stared and roared, “You were the one!”

  Kingston stumbled to his feet. “Yes! He called himself a friend. Said he’d look after Adeline until I returned from England, but by the time I did, they’d married and she was carrying you!”

  Something inside Nicholas shattered. He grabbed Kingston by his collar and seethed, “Only my feelings for Faith are keeping me from killing you. Get out of my house! Never come back! Never!” He dragged Kingston to the door and threw him out.

  When he returned Faith was dragging her palms over her wet eyes.

  “Let me see your face.”

  She showed him her cheek throbbing from her father’s blow. He touched it gently. “I want to kill him for putting his hands on you and then kill him again for my father!”

  She had never seen him so angry. “I know. I’m so sorry. I never thought he could do something so vile. He boasted that Gage had Primus in his sights, but I didn’t know it was because he’d betrayed him.”

  “God, I want to kill him!” he growled again and pulled her roughly into his arms.

  She could feel his heart pounding.

  “If he even looks at you after this, I’ll hang.”

  She squeezed him tight. “He isn’t worth your life, too.”

  “I don’t know what to do with this anger, Faith. He’s your father.”

  “I know.”

  Nick knew if he didn’t do something with his murderous feelings he might wind up lashing out at Faith and he didn’t want that. “I need to work this through, so it’s good I’m going to Concord. I don’t wish any of this to boil over onto you. I’m not accustomed to letting a man live after all he’s done and I’m trying very hard not to go after him and slit his throat.”

  She stared up at him.

  “I’m sorry but it’s true. I’ve lived life by a very harsh code, and a man like him doesn’t deserve to see another sunrise.”

  Their eyes held.

  He told her softly, “It’s who I’ve been. Who I am. Remember the conversation we had about why I don’t pray?”

  She did.

  “This is one of the reasons why.”

  She didn’t know what to say.

  “If I don’t wish for our adventure to end with me on the end of a rope and your father in his grave, pounding out bayonets will help.”

  “You will come back to me.”

  “Always.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Then go and help the rebels and slay your demons. I’ll be here when you return.”

  He nodded.

  Nick looked at this woman he’d made his wife and who held his heart. “I love you.”

  “And I you.”

  “If the war does begin, I may not be able to get back and tell you good-bye until it’s done.”

  She nodded stoically. “I understand.”

  The last thing Nick wanted to do was to leave her, but he’d already given Arte his word and knew that his help was needed in Concord. If the war started he and the others had no alternative but to fight. However, the thought of being away from her for who knew how long made his heart ache.

  Nick looked down and drank in her lovely presence so he’d have the memory to call upon in the days ahead. “If the fighting does break out before I return, go to Bekkah’s, and the two of you hide in her woodlot if the soldiers march through. I wouldn’t put it past them to ransack and plunder on their way and you shouldn’t be in the house if that’s what they do. Keep yourself as safe as you can.”

  “I will. Godspeed,” she whispered, before adding pointedly, “and do not get yourself killed.”

  He smiled. “I won’t. I promise.”

  They shared one last fervent embrace before she walked with him out to the porch. A few seconds later, she watched him ride away. He’d promised he would return and she would have to be content with that, but her heart ached as she went back inside and closed the door.

  As she walked into the parlor, she looked up at Adeline’s portrait and wondered if Adeline knew how her marriage to Primus had resonated through time. It was like a tragedy written by the Bard. Faith just wished she and Nicholas hadn’t been written into the epilogue.

  Chapter 21

  The next morning Faith awakened to a silent house. There were no sounds of Nicholas outside chopping wood and the fire in her grate had died and gone cold. The room was freezing, so she got up and made her fire, then crawled back beneath the bedding to wait for the temperature to rise enough to cut the chill. With him away for who knew how long, she supposed she was on her own. It was not daunting but she already missed him very much. Having had him by her side since the day of the wedding, it was odd to have him gone. She needed to find something to occupy her until the sharp edges of his absence dulled a bit, so she decided to make it bread-baking day with the hopes that the task would keep her hands and troubled mind busy enough to prevent her from drowning in her woe.

  As Faith set the first few loaves on the fire, Charity and the baby stopped on their way to Boston, and Faith was glad to see her friend. Charity set the basket holding the sleeping Peter down on the table. She took one look at Faith’s swollen cheek and asked softly with concern, “What’s happened?”

  Faith told her about her father’s visit and that he’d confessed to betraying Primus. When Faith finished, Charity shook her head sympathetically. “I can’t believe your father would do something so awful. Did he and Nicholas fight?”

  “Oh yes. I don’t think he’ll be visiting us ever again.”

  “Then that’s good. Where’s Nick now?”

  “In Concord with the minutemen preparing for war. I’m not sure when he’ll return.”

  Charity sighed. “I know the British have to be chased out, but you and Nick are newly married. This has to be difficult.”

  “It is.”

  “You both seemed so happy.”

  “And we were until the past rose up and sent us both to hell. I don’t blame him for being angry at my father. Had someone I loved been betrayed that way, it would take me who knows how long to rid myself of the fury. However, I miss him, terribly. He’s in my heart now, Charity, and there’s no taking him out. I also told him about my being Lady Midnight.�
�

  Charity’s mouth dropped. “And how did he react?”

  “Said I had balls.”

  Charity’s hand flew to her mouth and she laughed. “The man loves you. He’ll return, you’ll work out what to do about your father and make me an aunt before the year is out.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I know I am. The way he watches you makes me envious. I wish Ingram would look at me as if he wanted to eat me up.” She paused, looked into Faith’s eyes, and said with genuine feeling, “You’re very lucky, Faith. Always remember that.”

  Faith knew she would value their friendship for the rest of her life. “I will, but I wish this war would go ahead and begin so that everyone can get on with their lives. Being on pins and needles is very wearing.”

  “Gage has been marching all four thousand of the troops day and night according to Mother. She thinks he’ll send them out in the next day or so.”

  “Everyone keeps saying that but nothing happens. It’s maddening. What of Ingram? Is he still supporting the King?”

  Charity sighed. “Yes. In fact, he and some of the other Tories have signed up as auxiliary reserves. They won’t be issued uniforms, but will help with the driving of munitions and supply wagons. He gets angry with me when I take the rebel side. He says that as his wife I should let him do my thinking. I scoffed at that, of course. He knew I had my own opinions when he married me. It’s far too late for either of us to pretend otherwise.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “His single-mindedness is worrisome because he knows nothing about war or weapons. He’s a farmer. That innocence could get him killed, and, Faith, I would not survive if something happened to him.”

  “Seems like we both have woes.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “As do most of the women around here with men in the fight. Nicholas says if the shooting starts before he returns, I should go to Bekkah’s and hide with her in her woodlot. It’s far enough away from the road for us to not be seen. You should think about joining us if Ingram leaves to help the British and you and Peter are alone.”

  “He keeps assuring me that the babe and I will come to no harm because we are a Tory household, but I’m not so certain. If there is shooting, I’ll join you over at Bekkah’s as soon as I am able. If the soldiers are using the road, I doubt I’ll be able to make it to Boston and my parents.”