Ada was walking the floor, bitter, unkind words pouring out of her mouth, her face flushed with anger. Sloan stood by the fireplace and watched her. How could Slater have loved this woman?
“I will not stand to be treated like this, do you understand? I will not! I will not! How dare you keep that whore here. Are you going to get rid of her?” She paused and looked at him. He said nothing, and she continued to pace back and forth.
“I would have married you and lived in this godforsaken place with you. What do you think of that? You could have had me and my baby. But, no. You had to take up with a bitch, a backwoods split-tail who doesn’t even know the correct way to hold her eating fork.
“Well, Uncle Robert said you would have to give me money. He married again, you know, married a pious, church-loving, boring stick of a woman. Caleb Graham’s widow. I never liked her and she liked me even less.” She whirled around and went to the window. “I just don’t understand why you came to this place, Sloan. Just because you didn’t like your Tory neighbors, you flounced off to this . . . wilderness. Slater would be alive if you had stayed in Virginia. You know that, don’t you?”
Ada turned and waited for Sloan to deny what she had said, but still he said nothing.
“It’s your fault he’s dead. All your fault. And now you want to cast out his wife and her baby. No, that’s wrong. You want to cast aside his wife and take her baby from her. You’re a bastard, Sloan, that’s what you are. A son-of-a-bitch!”
She stopped her pacing and stood in front of him. Her hands were clenched into fists, her eyes wild.
“Well, say something!” she shouted.
He responded quietly. “It wouldn’t be any use saying anything to you, Ada, while you’re like this. I suggest you calm down, and we’ll talk about it later.”
“Later! Later! Later! You never had time for me, did you? But I got to you through Slater. Your precious little brother loved me! Me! You know it, too, Sloan. He worshiped me. Do you know what I told him? I told him the baby was yours. What do you think of that? I told him that you seduced me. That’s what I told him.” She laughed hysterically, her head back, her hands on her hips.
“Guess what he did. He hit me. It was wonderful. It was the first time I ever got any action out of him. He was always so sweet, so gentle. He made me want to puke!”
Sloan wanted to strangle her. He held his hands behind him to keep them from reaching out and fastening around her neck. She was waiting for him to make a move, and he was determined not to let her provoke him into doing something he would regret. He forced himself to smile.
“Slater didn’t believe a word you said. He told me after you left him and the baby. I made him see that it would have been impossible for me to father the child. I wasn’t within a hundred miles of you for a month before and after the child was conceived. And, Ada, Slater believed me.”
He put out his hands then and pushed her away from him. She went to the bunk at the far end of the room and sat down. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she looked as if she were falling asleep.
Sloan realized then that Ada was dangerous. He had to get her out of his house, away from Cherish and the baby. He didn’t know what he could do about Katherine. He would talk to Pierre about that. Pierre could figure out what to do.
Katherine had stayed in the bedroom with Cherish throughout Ada’s outburst. She came silently into the room now and began setting the table for the evening meal.
“How is she?” Sloan asked anxiously.
“Asleep.” Katherine, her face turned from Ada, gave him a reassuring smile.
Going to the bedroom, Sloan added more wood to the fire, then went to look at the sleeping girl. He gently touched the back of his hand to her pale cheek, then left the room quickly. Ada was curled up on the bunk with her face to the wall.
Sloan and Katherine ate the stew, he at the table, Katherine in the chair by the window. Not knowing if Ada was asleep, they didn’t speak. When they finished, Katherine took the bowls to the workbench and Sloan carried the heavy copper teakettle from the fireplace. While he was pouring the water in the dishpan, he leaned close to Katherine.
“Stay in with Cherish tonight. Bar the door.”
She looked at him with large frightened eyes and nodded.
* * *
The night passed slowly. Sloan sat in the fur-lined chair with his legs stretched out, his head resting against the high back. From time to time he got up and put another log on the fire. As far as he could tell, Ada had not moved since she had thrown herself down on the bunk. There was an eerie quietness in the cabin. Although Sloan felt a creeping uneasiness, his eyes burned, and he had to hold them wide at times to keep them open.
This was his second night without sleep.
Along toward morning, he dozed. He didn’t know if he had slept a minute or an hour when, suddenly, he came instantly awake. Ada was standing in front of him. Her hair was hanging around her shoulders, her face looked as young and innocent as it had years ago when they were children in Virginia.
“Mornin’.” He forced himself to speak calmly. He stretched his arms and yawned, never taking his eyes off the woman.
“Mornin’. Did you sleep there all night?”
“I guess I did.” He put a log on the fire and stoked the coals until the wood caught. “Are you hungry? I’ll have tea ready in a little while.” He filled the copper teakettle from the water bucket.
Ada sat down in the chair he had vacated, her eyes closed, her hands folded, her feet crossed.
When the tea was steeping in the pitcher, Sloan went to the bedroom door and knocked gently.
“Katherine,” he called softly. He heard the bar lift from the door, then it was opened. Katherine was fully dressed. He glanced at the bunk where Cherish lay. “How is she?”
“She slept all night.”
“She was worn out. Come have some breakfast.”
Katherine followed him into the other room.
More than an hour later, it was full daylight, and Ada had not moved from the chair. Katherine picked up her sewing and moved near the window. After tending both fires, Sloan put on his coat. Ada opened her eyes and watched him.
“Ada,” he said, “I’m going to get Slater’s cabin ready and tomorrow you are going there. You will be brought food and wood for the fire. As soon as I can arrange it, you will be escorted down the river to New Orleans, or upriver to Virginia, whichever you choose. I’ll see that you have money to live on, an allowance paid to you quarterly.”
She looked at him with a fixed stare. He couldn’t tell by her expression if she approved or disapproved of his plan for her. She said nothing, only stared at him through half-closed eyes.
“I’ll be back soon, Katherine. I need to see about the babe.”
Katherine looked fearfully past him to where Ada sat, then raised pleading eyes to his.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said reassuringly.
CHAPTER
* 25 *
When the door closed behind Sloan, Katherine waited, tense and afraid, for Ada’s temper to erupt, but she sat quietly for a long while. Suddenly her foot began tapping the floor. It rapped faster and faster, harder and harder, until at last she jumped to her feet and started pacing about the room.
“Did you hear what he said? Did you?” she demanded in a voice that shook with rage. “Did you hear him tell me he was moving me to Slater’s cabin?” Katherine didn’t answer and Ada whirled to come toward her. “Pay attention to what I’m saying or I’ll . . . slap you. Did you hear him say that?” Katherine nodded. “He’s going to move me out of here because of that . . . that backwoods slut!”
Katherine was terrified. She wished fervently that Sloan had not left her alone with this woman. He didn’t know how violent she could be when she was in a temper. If not for the defenseless girl sleeping in the other room, she would have run out of the cabin. But she didn’t dare leave Cherish at the mercy of t
his madwoman. Clasping her hands together, Katherine waited to see in which direction Ada’s temper would turn.
“I asked you a question, Kat. Did you hear me?”
“Yes, Mistress Carroll.”
“You would like to see me put out of here—out in the cold, wouldn’t you? You hate me! Yes, you do. Don’t deny it. You hate me, I know you do. Don’t you, Kat? Because of me you can’t get under the sheets and diddle with that Frenchman. That’s what you want, isn’t it.”
“No . . . ma’am.”
“Don’t you lie to me, you . . . bitch!” Ada came toward her, her hands knotted into fists, her arms swinging back and forth, her body swaying from side to side. “You hate me! Say it or I’ll slap you till your eyes rattle!”
“No, Mistress Carroll. I don’t hate you,” Katherine said as calmly as her trembling lips would allow.
“No, Mistress Carroll,” Ada mimicked. “I owe you something, Kat. You disobeyed me. I owe you something for serving that . . . that . . . slut in there!”
“Mister Carroll ordered me—”
“You don’t belong to Mister Carroll. You belong to me. You know that, don’t you? You are mine! Mine!” The shrill voice beat against Katherine’s eardrums.
Ada wheeled about and went into the bedroom, the heels of her shoes tapping on the bare wood floor.
Sweat broke out all over Katherine’s body and her heart pounded in fright. She fought to keep her fear from forcing her to flee the house. Oh, God! Don’t let her beat me again! I won’t take it . . . I can’t take it! I’ll fight her even it if means I’ll never be free of her. If it means I’ll never be with Pierre. Oh Pierre! What am I going to do?
Cherish!
Katherine jumped up and went to the bedroom door. Ada had opened her trunk and was tossing things out onto the floor. She found what she was searching for and turned with a small rawhide riding whip in her hand.
At that moment, Cherish awoke and sat up in bed. Ada’s eyes went to her, then back to Katherine. She began to smile and slap the whip against her thigh.
“Ada!” Katherine said loudly. “About what you asked me—”
Ada’s attention went immediately to the bound girl and she started toward her. “What did you call me? Kat, I don’t know what’s the matter with you. That Frenchman put you up to this, didn’t he?”
Katherine stepped away from the doorway. As soon as Ada entered the room the frightened girl called out to Cherish.
“Shut and bar the door!”
Ada’s eyes were on Katherine, who had darted around to the other side of the table.
“I never gave you permission to call me by my first name. Only my friends, my dearest friends, have that honor. You’re nothing, Kat. You’re lower than the slaves on Uncle Robert’s plantation. I’ll have to teach you your place.”
Katherine was trembling so hard she could barely stand. The bedroom door remained open. Why hadn’t she run in there and barred the door? She had thought only to draw Ada away from Cherish. Now Ada was between her and the door.
The sound of the outside door of the cabin opening set a flood of relief through Katherine. She spun about, expecting to see Sloan. The Indian girl, Minnie Dove, stepped quietly into the room and closed the door behind her. She moved to the center of the room and stopped, sensing the tension.
Ada stood near the bedroom door, the riding whip still in her hand. Her attention turned immediately to the Indian girl, who hesitated, uncertain about trying to pass the woman who blocked her way to the room where Light Eyes’ woman lay.
Seeing the pretty young girl in the soft buckskin dress, Ada suddenly transferred all her hatred to Minnie Dove.
“How dare you come into this house uninvited!” she hissed venomously.
Minnie Dove raised her head proudly. “I was asked to come here by Morning Sun, the woman of Light Eyes.”
“Have you decided to share him between you? A dirty half-breed Indian and a backwoods slut.” Ada’s voice rose, echoing through the room, through the cabin.
“I have come to see Morning Sun,” Minnie Dove said firmly.
“Get . . . out!”
“Morning Sun asked me to come.”
“Get out! Get out!” Ada was shaking uncontrollably now. Her lips were drawn back over her teeth and she looked like what she was: a woman possessed.
“I will not leave because you tell me to go. I will leave only if Light Eyes or Morning Sun tells me.” The Indian girl’s beautiful face showed not a trace of fear as she looked straight into Ada’s wild-eyed stare.
“You . . . dirty . . . dog-eating . . . slut! You . . . stinking whore!” Ada screamed her insults and advanced on the girl. Minnie Dove moved back toward the fireplace. Her action was not one of retreat, but a reaffirmation of her intention to stay.
Ada’s face was a mask of fury. Saliva ran from the corner of her twitching lips. The hand holding the riding whip drew it back over her shoulder.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Shocked out of her fear and into action, Katherine moved quickly to Ada and took her by the shoulders, shaking her. “Please . . . stop!”
Strengthened by her anger, Ada swept Katherine from her, flinging her aside so that she crashed against the wall. The half-crazed woman advanced on Minnie Dove, screeching a shrill stream of obscenities.
“Indian dog . . . dirty whore! He won’t think you pretty when I finish with you—”
The whip rose and fell across Minnie Dove’s face. Katherine heard the plop as she tried to get to her feet. The blow was repeated. She heard the whistle of the whip as it lashed through the air, the sickening plop as it landed on the girl’s soft flesh.
Minnie Dove was stunned with surprise and pain when the first blow fell. The second blow, following so closely behind the first, caught her cheek and neck. She turned—to protect her face and to find something with which to defend herself. Her outstretched hand closed about the handle of a two-edged skinning knife as the whip fell across her back.
Infuriated that she should be treated like a dog by this white woman, she spun about. Ada raised her arm again, her eyes glazed with hatred and madness. As the whip began to fall toward her, Minnie Dove darted in and plunged the knife into Ada’s chest.
The blond woman hung there for a second, her surprised eyes looking directly into the dark furious eyes of the Indian girl, then she slowly sank to the floor.
Katherine gazed at the scene with horrified fascination, the world tilting crazily. A scream from behind her brought her back to sanity. Cherish swayed in the bedroom doorway, her eyes blind with horror, her knees buckling as she started to fall in a faint. Katherine caught her and they both eased to the floor just as the cabin door was flung open.
Sloan stood there, grim-faced and stunned, staring at the tableau in front of him. It seemed minutes, but could have only been seconds, that he stood frozen before John Spotted Elk and Juicy appeared behind him. Quick strides took Sloan across the room to where Katherine sat holding Cherish.
“She’s all right,” Katherine told him.
He breathed then and went to kneel beside Ada, who lay on her back, the handle of the knife protruding from her chest. Her eyes were open and staring and her hand still clutched the whip. A pool of blood was forming on the floor around her. With a tug Sloan removed the knife and tossed it aside. He got to his feet slowly, his bewildered mind trying to understand what had taken place in the short time he had been away.
Juicy went to Cherish and lifted her in his arms. Katherine, wild-eyed and sobbing, stood by, holding the unconscious girl’s hand.
“Come, gal. Come now,” Juicy coaxed. “Come help ol’ Juicy with this little purty.” He carried Cherish into the bedroom and Katherine followed, keeping her face turned away from the body on the floor.
Minnie Dove had not moved from where she had been standing when Ada attacked her. She stood stoically, holding her head high, ignoring the pain from the angry welts that crisscrossed her face. Blood trickled from her chin and strands of her hair
stuck to the cuts on her neck. John Spotted Elk stood beside her. Together they faced Sloan.
“I killed the woman, Light Eyes,” Minnie Dove said calmly. “I am not a dog to be whipped. I am not a slut, a whore. I came to see Morning Sun. This one—” she nodded toward the body on the floor— “gave me insult, told me to go . . . beat me. I will not be whipped by a white woman. I am Minnie Dove, daughter of Chief Running Elk, sister of a proud warrior. I will not be shamed for my Indian blood. I am Shawnee.”
John Spotted Elk stood proudly beside his sister. Sloan looked from one to the other as he spread his hands in a gesture of regret.
“I am more sorry than I can ever say, Minnie Dove, for the insult you suffered in my lodge. I should never have left the cabin. I know now that the woman was mad.” He looked sadly at the man who had been his friend for many years. “I hope this will not affect our friendship, John.”
“The deed is done, Light Eyes. My sister is a true daughter of Chief Running Elk. She can walk with pride. We value your friendship and that of Morning Sun. We will not speak of this again.” John turned and ushered his sister out the door. Together they walked toward the Shawnee lodge.
Sloan stood with his head bowed, leaning against the warm stones of the fireplace. The possible consequences of what had happened had just penetrated his numbed mind. Ada’s uncle was bound to make an inquiry about her sooner or later. It would be best to send a dispatch to him as soon as possible. What could he say without bringing the awful truth out in the open? Finally he decided he would simply write, Your niece sickened and died. It was true to a certain extent. Ada’s mind had sickened, and she had died because of it.
Juicy wrapped the body in a sheet. He hadn’t liked the woman, but now he felt a certain pity for her.
“I’ll take ’er to Slater’s cabin,” he said. “But first I’ll take the gal to Pierre. She’s real tore up, an’ Pierre’ll take keer of ’er. You’d best go see ’bout the little purty. She’s come outta it an’ is cryin’ some.”
Love and Cherish Page 23
