Speak Through the Wind by Allison Pittman Read Free Book Online Page A

Reverend Joseph and the Misses Austine in from the parlor. When they had quieted themselves to nearly silent giggles, Kassandra made one mad swipe to get the comb from Ben’s hair. He quickly hopped to the other side of the table, pulled out a chair, and held it between them like a lion tamer fending off a ferocious beast. And Kassandra truly had the appearance of a beast at that point, her hair long and loose, flying about her head, obstructing her view.
    “Give it back!” she said, her voice full of hushed play.
    “I gave it to you once, lass,” Ben said, his brogue returned in full force. “And if you ask me, you let it slip away far too easy”
    “Give it to me again.” Kassandra used both of her hands to rake her hair off her face, her words as measured as her newly recovered breath. “Give it back, and I’ll never let it out of my sight.”
    The silence was now as thick as the laughter had been as Ben, never letting his gaze falter from her, dislodged the comb, grasped Kassandra’s hand, and placed the comb within it, closing her fingers and holding them tight until Kassandra felt the teeth digging into her flesh.
    “Do you ever ask yourself, Kassie, why you’re here?”
    “Reverend Joseph. He—”
    “Now, we all know about the kind reverend.” Ben relinquished his grip on Kassandra’s hand. “He’s a famous man back at the Points. Snatchin’ children right off the streets, takin’ them away to nice new families.”
    “You make it sound like he is stealing them.” Kassandra looked down at her uncurled fingers, each of which bore a tiny red mark. Not bleeding, but distinct.
    “Do I now? How could it be a crime if there’s women on the streets just lookin’ for someone to take their child? Everybody knows that poor people don’t really love their children, right?”
    “That’s not what—”
    “I mean, you go to the Points and there’s people just waitin’ to give their young ones away Sell ’em if they could. In fact, if it’s a lucky day and the kind reverend has a dollar in his pocket …”
    “I would be dead today if Reverend Joseph hadn’t brought me home,” Kassandra said, no longer feeling at ease in Ben’s company.
    “Maybe you would.” Ben crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back against the kitchen table, studying Kassandra through narrowed eyes. “But how long ago was that?”
    “It seems my whole life.”
    “And all that time he’s keepin’ you for himself. To himself. Tell me, did he ever try to find a family for you?”
    “I was ugly And sick. I didn’t speak English.”
    “And heaven forbid some rich, childless couple take in some-thin’ the likes of that. Just be careful you don’t go thinkin’ the man has so great a heart just because he’s kept your belly full all these years. And if you’re not careful,” he reached for her then, gently grasping her arms just above her elbows and drawing her closer, “he’s goin’ to have your belly full of somethin’ else in some soon time.”
    The implication of Ben’s comment dawned slowly, and would have escaped her completely if not for the accompanying leer. “That is a terrible thing to say.”
    “Now, Kassie dear,” Ben said, gently shaking her, his voice taking on a jovial twinge, “do you mean to tell me the man’s never touched you?”
    “Never,” Kassandra said, steeling herself against his charm.
    “He’s never kissed you?”
    “Of course he has kissed me. He loves me.”
    “Where does he kiss you?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Does he kiss you here?” Ben asked, dropping his grip on one of her arms and bringing his finger to bounce, lightly, on the top of her skull.
    “Sometimes,” she whispered.
    “Like this?” He pulled her forward until her nose was just an inch from his chest, her vision a blur of the coarse wool of his shirt and the smattering of freckles under his collarbone. “Right here?” She felt his lips on the top of her head, moving slightly against her