Jewel (19 page)

By then, he’d undone the three small ribbons holding together the front of her plain cotton nightgown and had slipped a hand in to tease a soft-skinned globe. Feeling herself succumbing, she whispered, “Yes, it was your fault. Besides, you never let me keep my clothing on for very long when we’re in bed anyway, so it doesn’t much matter what I’m wearing.”

He leaned down and placed a humid kiss on her lips. “Sometimes a man just likes to take something off. “

She couldn’t offer any riposte because her gown was now riding her waist and she was slowly being penetrated by the part of his anatomy that always filled her so splendidly.

By the time he’d brought her to her final orgasm of the day, she’d promised to wear to bed whatever he desired.

Maddie was late. Jewel, Eli, and G.W. were seated at the table in their small kitchen when she finally strode in. “Sorry I’m late. Had to deal with Widow Moss.”

Jewel looked up from her plate. “What’s happened?”

“Seems her precious Bibi just had pups and they look just like Blue Jr.”

Eli grinned.

“She didn’t think it was funny. Wants me to have Junior put down for assaulting Bibi.”

Jewel shook her head. G.W. asked, “Blue is your dog?”

Maddie took a seat and picked up a plate and began to fill it. “Yes. One of nine at the moment. Best pack of hunting dogs in the county. Do you hunt?”

“I’m afraid not.”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. What you and Eli do is important.”

“You think so?”

Maddie buttered a biscuit. “Of course. These days, you all may be risking David Walker’s fate after he published his
Appeal,
but no one seems to be backing down.”

“You’ve read David Walker’s
Appeal
?” The surprise and delight were all over his muttonchopped face.

She paused in the middle of raising her fork to her mouth and appeared to be thinking. “Start me off, Eli.”

His voice took on serious tones. “
I am fully aware…”

Maddie nodded and picked up the recitation, “
in making this appeal to my afflicted and suffering brethren, that I shall not only be assailed by those whose greatest earthly desires are to keep us in abject ignorance and wretchedness, and who are of the firm conviction that Heaven has designed us and our children to be slaves and beasts of burden for them and their children.”

Jewel took the next lines. “
I say, I do not only expect to be held up to the public as an ignorant, impudent and restless disturber of the public peace, by such avaricious creatures, as well as a mover of insubordination and perhaps put in prison or to death for giving a superficial exposition of our miseries, and exposing tyrants.”

G.W.’s head nodded approvingly. “He spoke for the race as no one ever had before.”

In its time,
Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
was hailed as the most inflammatory series of articles in the nation’s history,
surpassing in brimstone even the great Thomas Paine’s revolutionary tract,
Common Sense
, which rallied the American colonists against the crown.

“And he was killed, just as he predicted he would be,” Eli added.

In 1830, the forty-five year-old free-born Walker was found dead on the doorstep of his Boston clothing shop shortly after the
Appeal
’s third-edition publication. Many believed he was murdered for his impassioned call for slaves to defend themselves and for God to rain down vengeance on the Christian slaveholders of the United States.

G.W. had pride in his face. “I’m amazed that you all have the Preamble committed to memory.”

Eli shrugged. “Only some of it, but it was and still is required reading at the Grove school.”

Maddie explained further: “I wasn’t allowed to attend, but Nate and Eli would come home and teach me everything they’d learned.”

G.W. turned to Eli. “I thought you said school was mandatory here?”

“It is, but Maddie’s father didn’t believe in learning for girls.”

G.W. studied Maddie closely and she responded with the truth. “He beat me anytime he caught me with a book in my hands.”

His eyes widened.

“As much as I loved to read I took a lot of whippings,” she relayed with a bittersweet smile. She then pointed at his plate. “You should eat before your food gets cold.”

He sputtered. “Oh, yes. You’re right.”

But Jewel noted that he stole discreet glances at Maddie for the remainder of the meal.

After dinner, G.W. cited his need to take a walk so as to get a bit of exercise, per his doctor’s advice. “The man’s trying to make me lose weight,” he declared, indicating his stomach’s ample girth. “Says I might live longer.” Turning to Maddie he asked, “May I be so bold as to ask for your company?”

She stood and smiled, “Sure.”

So, off they went, leaving Eli and Jewel behind to clean up.

Jewel handed Eli a washed and rinsed plate to dry. “He’s had his eyes glued to her all evening,”

“His intentions had better be honorable.”

“This coming from the Colored Casanova of Cass County.”

“The
former
, thank you very much, but Maddie’s like the sister Nate and I never had and I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Maddie can take care of herself, but it would be nice for her to have someone special in her life, besides Blue and the other dogs.”

He agreed.

Later that evening, when dusk started to fall, Hicks and Maddie had not returned. A worried Eli stood out in front of his cabin scanning the countryside. “You don’t suppose something has happened?” he asked Jewel, seated on a blanket spread out under a tree.

“They’re probably talking, and have simply lost track of time,” she offered reassuringly. She found
his concern for Maddie touching and yet another indication of his good heart. “They’ll return when they’re done. Come sit with me.” She patted the blanket.

He came over reluctantly, his features showing his mood. “Five more minutes and I’m going to go look for them.”

“No, you are not. Maddie is not a babe in the woods.” To distract him, she asked, “Have you worked on the editorial Hicks wanted?”

“Not yet,” he answered distractedly, eyes still searching.

“Do I need to undo the buttons on my blouse in order to gain your full attention?”

He flashed around. “Would you?”

The heat and mischief in his gaze made her laugh. It also lit her senses like a flame to a wick. She was certain that with just the least bit of encouragement he could have her naked and screaming in the blink of an eye. Lucky for her, she spied their dinner guests returning. “Oh, look, here come Maddie and G.W. now.”

“Damn,” he pouted with mock disappointment. The two were walking slowly, arms intertwined. “Remember you said that.”

“Said what?” she asked innocently.

Eyes filled with humor, he waggled a warning finger. “You are not getting off that easily, Jewel Grayson. I expect to see some buttons being opened later tonight.”

Playing the role of the obedient wife, she grinned and dropped her gaze. “Yes, Eli.”

“That’s better.”

He helped her to her feet and slipped an affectionate arm around her waist as they waited for Maddie and G.W. to rejoin them. They both looked so pleased that Jewel planned to interrogate Maddie first thing.

Maddie and G.W. stayed and enjoyed the Grayson’s hospitality a short while longer, then, driving their separate vehicles, headed off in the same direction.

Eli noted. “I don’t think G.W.’s going back to town, at least not right away.”

“Me either. Hope he likes dogs.”

“Hope they let him in the door.”

For a moment they shared humor-filled looks after which Eli said, “Now. About those buttons.”

Before Jewel could speak a wagon rolled into view. James Wilson sat behind the reins and beside him on the seat was Cecile. “What could they possibly want?” Eli asked crossly.

Jewel wanted to know the same. “Maybe he’s driving her to the train station.”

“We should be that lucky.” Tight-lipped he watched the wagon’s approach. When it got within hailing distance, James Wilson nodded. The smug superiority he sometimes exhibited was in full blaze. “Evening.”

Eli viewed Cecile critically before responding. “Evening. What can I do for you, Wilson?”

“Came to get last week’s wages. You told me to come by. Remember?”

What with all the comings and goings of the
last few days, Eli had forgotten the conversation. “Come on inside so you can sign the receipt.”

Jewel’s eyes hadn’t left Cecile’s the entire time. It was as if the women were sizing each other up.

Eli looked to Jewel and then Cecile. “We’ll be right back.”

Cecile replied, “We’ll be here. Won’t we Jewel?”

Jewel didn’t reply.

After the men departed, Cecile fussed with her hat. The widow’s weeds were gone and replaced with a fashionable green walking ensemble that Jewel remembered seeing in the front window of the new seamstress shop owned by the reclusive Adelaide Kane. The little green hat perched upon her glossy hair matched the dress. “I see you’ve shed the weeds.”

“Yes. I’m sure my husband would prefer I plow ahead with my life. Black makes me feel so bleak. James sprung for this new gown. He’s such a sweet man.”

Jewel didn’t know anyone who’d describe Wilson as sweet but she kept that unspoken. “That’s nice.”

“Unlike some, he refuses to hold my past against me.”

“That’s very Christian of him.”

“Are you and Eli enjoying your marriage?”

“We are.”

“I hear it was forced.”

“You heard wrong.”

She smiled falsely. “It took me a moment to place
you when we first met, but you’re the youngest Crowley child, aren’t you? The one who got lost playing Hide and Go Seek in the middle of the night.”

“Yes.”

“I remembered because Eli had to leave my bed to help with the search.”

Jewel felt ice crawl over her heart.

“He was as disappointed as I. Tell me, does he still enjoy making love under the moon?”

The ice cracked and so did she. “Excuse me. I have chores. I’m sure they’ll be right out.” She hurried away.

A pleased Cecile called, “Hope to see you again, soon.”

But Jewel couldn’t hear over the sounds of her breaking heart.

Once she was in back of the cabin and out of view, she dashed away the angry hurt tears in her eyes and plopped down on one of the aged stumps left behind when the land was cleared decades ago. She told herself she had two choices, she could either ignore Cecile’s painful digs or succumb and be miserable, but she was already miserable.
Does he still enjoy making love under the moon?
The smug question echoed again and again. The answer was yes, and Jewel had had no idea that the night she’d thought so special was just another one of the weapons in his Casanova repertoire. In light of all they’d shared, she felt like an absolute fool. Factoring in the admission that she was in love with him qualified her fool
enough to be a clown in a traveling circus. Her heart hadn’t ached this way since her mother’s death.

“Jewel?”

She glanced up at him through the lowering darkness.

“Sweetheart, are you crying?”

She got to her feet and quickly dashed away the telling moisture. “No. Something in the air has been making my eyes itch.”

Eli didn’t believe that for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Not feeling well. I think I’ll sleep on the sofa in case I’m contagious.”

“The sofa?”

“Yep.” After one more swipe at her eyes, she smiled falsely. “Wouldn’t want you to be sick, too.”

He placed a tender hand on her arm. Upon feeling her tense up sharply in response, his heart pounded with alarm. “Did Cecile say something to you?” It was the only explanation he could fathom that would make her distance herself this way.

“As a matter of fact, she did. She wanted to know if you still enjoyed making love under the moon.”

His eyes closed in pain.

Jewel knew if she stood there for one more second, she’d start to bawl, so she whispered, “Good night, Eli. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He watched her go, then dropped down onto
the stump she’d vacated and put his head in his hands.

Cecile almost felt sorry for the little Crowley woman. Seeing the way her spirit had crumpled in response to the question about the moon had been touching, but it proved she was no match for Cecile or a threat to her plan of repositioning Eli into her life. Removing the green dress she’d sweet-talked Wilson into buying for her, she hung it up in the wardrobe in her rented room, then slipped into a robe. According to Wilson, Eli had come into a large sum of money. Word had it that his bank accounts were bulging.

Cecile sat down at the mirrored vanity table and took in her reflection as she creamed away her face paint. That Eli was now a wealthy man only increased her desire to reclaim him. She was in her mid-thirties, her beauty was beginning to fade like an aging rose. Soon it would be unable to get her what she wanted, so it was imperative that she find someone to ensure her future. Now. Someone who could take her to Mexico or maybe even Brazil until the heat cooled and the Pinkertons stopped looking. He wouldn’t have to know the truth unless it became absolutely necessary, and if it did she planned to have him so enamored by that time he wouldn’t care.

She’d wait to approach him for now, though, because she wanted her presence to grow on him, linger over him, force him to remember how it had been; how they’d felt in each other’s
arms; how nothing had been too carnal for them to try. He’d been a creative and inventive lover back then, displaying a level of expertise often lacking in men twice his age. She could only imagine how talented he must be now. With that in mind, she wanted him to relive the moments in her bed—the slide of their damp bodies; the orgasms they’d shared—and when she sensed he was haunted enough, only then would she cast her line. He had to be anxious, randy, in order to be susceptible to her charms. The lure in her had to be so strong that he’d turn his back on the Crowley woman, the same way he’d turned his back on Nathaniel.