A Secret Refuge [02] Sisters of the Confederacy Read Online Free

They each picked up a sack and started for the cave. At the same time Meshach swung Sammy down from his shoulder and under his arm like a tied-off sack of grain. Meshach’s hair grazed the roof within the cave, but he had to duck to enter. With the horses roped off at the back where the ceiling was higher and the fire kept burning near the front, they were safe from wild animals as well as the elements. Curious humans were another matter; thus, they took great care not to make visible trails to the cave and the surrounding area.
    “Oh, Meshach, Ophelia, I got so excited about the apples I almost forgot to tell you. We have a letter from Lucinda and one from Louisa, which I forgot to read to Aunt Agatha. For shame.”
    “Glory be to God. Dey’s safe.” Meshach spoke as reverently as if they were in front of the altar in church.
    Ophelia clasped her hands to her chest and rocked back and forth. “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.” She opened her eyes again and shook her head. “You read to us right now?”
    “You don’t want to wait for the others?”
    “Kin read it again. Dat man lied to us.”
    “If you mean Dunlivey, not quite.” Even the mention of his name made her stomach churn. Cavendar Dunlivey had been pure evil wearing men’s britches. At least she hoped and prayed he was gone. When they left him gutshot in the clearing, she’d promised to send a doctor back, and Meshach had done so, but there had been no word of his demise. But no one lived being gutshot.
    Without a miracle.
    The vivid memory brought burning anger. She hoped he’d died a very slow and extremely painful death. A quick death was far too merciful for the likes of him. Her mother would say she had to forgive Dunlivey in spite of the atrocities he had committed. But she wasn’t ready to grant forgiveness to a man who could do such awful things. Would she ever?
    As she read the letters in the light of the fire, she kept one ear tuned for the jabbering of one little boy and the teasing of the two young black men who cared for the “young marse.”
    “Praise de Lawd, Marse Zachary still alive and gettin’ well. And Missy Carrie Mae done got married.” Tears coursing down her cheeks, Ophelia used Meshach’s broad chest for a towel.
    Tell me these people don’t care for us as much as we care for them. They are not my slaves, but my family . Jesselynn wiped the tears from her own eyes and sniffed. She still had a brother—not a whole one, but a live one nevertheless. Restoring Twin Oaks would be up to him. Saving the Thoroughbreds was even more important to her now. They had to have something left to start over with.
    Hearing the fluted call of a mockingbird, Meshach loosened his hold on Ophelia and stepped to the mouth of the cave to answer. Within moments Thaddeus tore into the cave, a string of two small fish hanging from one hand. “I catch fish. See, Jesse, my fish.”
    Jesselynn held them up and glanced over to see a look of delight on Benjamin’s face.
    “He done caught dem hisself.” He laid a hand on Thaddeus’s curly head. “He be good fisherman.”
    “Those are some fish.” She reached over, grabbed Thaddeus around his middle, and pulled him right into her arms so she could hug and kiss him. He made a face and wriggled to escape.
    “Show ‘Phelia.”
    “Good fish. Good boy.” Ophelia admired his two fish and glanced up to see the string that Daniel held. “Oh, hallelujah days! We have fish and fried potatoes for supper.”
    “And cooked cabbage with onion and a bit of dried venison.” Jesselynn wrapped her arms around her middle. “My belly is dancing up and down.”
    “Read to dem.” Meshach had to shout to be heard above the chatter.
    “We got two letters today, finally one from Lucinda and one from Louisa. Which do you want first?”
    “Lucinda,” the two said in unison.
    Jesselynn read the letter again amid tears and cries of “praise de Lawd” and “thank you, Jesus” as if no one had heard it