Riverrun by Felicia Andrews Read Free Book Online Page A

arouse them into repetition, she kept her tongue, nodding only when she was given a few pieces of stale bread and additional water, all fed to her by hand since Cal apparently was under orders not to loosen her bonds. Josh, she imagined, still recalled those blows she had sent to his midsection; she vowed silently that he would have a lot more to remember before this was over—if, that is, she did not kill him too quickly.
    “We thought you was a man, y’know,” Cal said after she had finished the meager meal. “You sure fought like one, I don’t mind tellin’ you.”
    Cass, however, would only glare at him, and he shrugged as if her reaction did not concern him.
    “Suit yourself. But you did a mighty fine job on us, just, the same. That, uh, man back yonder that was with you, he your poppa?”
    The shot … the fall … the orange and crimson and bright blue flames curling down to lick at his clothes and his flesh. She swallowed hard and nodded. Cal nodded in return.
    “He never shoulda stood by that window like that. We never woulda seen him otherwise. You too, y’know.
    “You mighta got clean away and we woulda thought you was all burned up.” He shook his head. “Clean away. ’Course, Josh woulda been awful mad.”
    “I don’t think I really give a damn,” she said, quietly, since her throat was still raw from screaming, and from the smoke of the fire.
    The carriage struck a deep rut in the road then, and she was bounced hard on the floorboards. Cal saw her wince painfully, leaned down, and grabbed at her shoulders. She tensed, readying herself for another assault on what was left of her dignity, but he merely lifted her effortlessly until her back was against the opposite door. It was better, though not much, but at least when he pulled the curtains aside she could see the outlines of the trees as they whipped past, and the moon that washed them in silver. The world is still out there, then, she rejoiced to herself; and as long as the world is there, I can still have some hope. Some, she decided, was better than none.
    “We was with Ewell, y’know,” Cal said, throwing his legs up onto the seat and resting his back in the corner. “You ever heard of Pegleg Ewell? Damn, but we got whupped! Never saw anything like it in my life, so help me.” He patted the wall by his shoulder. “Josh’s idea this was. Get us the hell out of the North and back home agin. Carolina. You ever been to Carolina? Used to be it was a nice place for folks what got land and nigras and a yen to work. All torn up now, though.” He shook his head mournfully and scratched idly at his chest. His Confederate jacket was torn jaggedly in several places, and was covered with blades of grass, dead leaves, the blotches of insects he had squashed with his hands. “All torn up, yep. Well, I’ll tell you, ma’am, I’m done with fightin’. Lee’s a great man, lady, no mistake about it, the greatest in the whole damned world. But he sure can’t beat an army what fights like that one. Damn!” He sniffed, wiped a sleeve under his nose and dug a finger into his ear. A moment later he leaned over with the canteen. “Here,” he said kindly, “but make it last, huh? Can’t always stop when we wanta. Never know when them Yanks are gonna show up. Like spooks they are sometimes, y’know?”
    Cass took a long, slow drink, savoring it, feeling her lips moisten and loosen at last. This Cal was a strange man, she thought as she watched him wriggling around for a more comfortable position. He rapes me one minute, treats me like someone’s whore, and the next he’s talking as though we were cousins sitting on the back porch and waiting for supper.
    “Why?” she finally said, shifting to ease the cramps in her arms still bent behind her.
    “You’re a lady, ma’am. Hate to see a lady thirst. The, uh, thing we done back there, you mean? We was crazy, y’know. Scared. If some Yank trooper saw us where we was, he’d kill us before we