The Revenant by Sonia Gensler Read Free Book Online Page B

I caught glimpses of ragged, darker-skinned men slumped against the walls, their faces drawn with hunger or hopelessness. At the livery stable, negroes sweated over the grooming and harnessing of horses, while their Cherokee boss stood to the side with friends, pausing in his conversation to bark orders.
    On the post office steps sat a woman in a faded calico dress. Blue eyes stared at me from beneath the flopping brim of her bonnet. In her arms she held a fair-haired boy who breathed noisily through his mouth. Both were ragged and scrawny. A stab of pity moved me to fumble in my purse for a coin.
    The woman blushed. “I ain’t taking nothing from an Indian, no matter how fine you and your seminary are.”
    I gasped. “But I’m not—”
    Before I could finish the sentence, the woman stood and carried the boy away. His vacant blue eyes stared at me over her shoulder.
    The postal clerk, a sunburned man with bushy whiskers, looked as though he’d rather be anywhere but behind the counter—the sort of fellow who spent his afternoons fishing and his mornings dreaming of poles and bait. He chewed his mustache in annoyance as I once more fumbled with my purse. Finally, I set the envelope on the counter, smoothing out its wrinkles with both hands.
    “I’d like to mail this.”
    He took my coins and counted them, slow and deliberate, into his register. He then plucked a stamp out of a drawer and licked the small square thoroughly before pressing it upon my envelope. Finally, he inked his postmark stamp.
    “Oh!” I cried, clutching the envelope. “Will that show where the letter is coming from?”
    He narrowed his eyes. “Have you never sent a letter before, miss? Of course it will.”
    “Could you … Would it be possible to leave off the postmark?”
    He sucked at his teeth and stared for a long moment. “No, miss.”
    I thought wildly. “What if … you smudged it a little, just enough so that it wasn’t clear where it came from? I mean, you’d still have stamped it, yes?”
    “Now, why would I do that?”
    I reached into my purse and drew out a few more coins. “For this, perhaps?” I put them under the envelope and slid the small pile toward him.
    He frowned and made a great show of taking offense. Then his eyes narrowed again, and before I knew it, he’d lifted the envelope and swiped the coins into his hand. With a tight smile, he took the rubber stamp and made a very sloppy job of smearing it on the envelope. He raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded.
    And that was that.
Mother ,
I am well. Please use this money toward hiring help. It was earned by honorable means. I will send more when I can .
Do not attempt to find me. If somehow you do, I will leave this place—a place that is safe and proper for young ladies—and you’ll never hear from me again .
    Willie

Chapter 5
    T HAT EVENING AS I PREPARED FOR BED , a rapping on the door startled me. Uncertain whom to expect, I pulled my shawl about my shoulders and smoothed my hair before opening the door.
    Miss Crenshaw stood there, her face grim.
    “Miss?” I murmured, taken aback by her frown. “Would you like to come in?”
    “I need only speak to you for a moment.”
    Suppressing a shiver, I stepped aside for her to enter.
    “Miss McClure,” she said after I’d shut the door, “I have learned something that has gravely disappointed me. I found it necessary to come to you immediately and settle this matter.”
    This is it . My throat constricted. One week and already my freedom has ended .
    “Yes, Miss Crenshaw?”
    “When I asked you to chaperone the students today, I entrusted their safety and reputations to you.”
    The panic I held inside came out in a rush of air. Everything’s all right . It was all I could do to nod in response.
    “And I expected you to stay with them every moment of their time in town.”
    “They were never left alone, miss.”
    “Weren’t they?” Her eyes were steely. “Miss McClure, one of your students—one who