Authors: Charlotte Swanpol
Chapter 1
“You realize you can’t just leave? Even though he said you could have your freedom, unless you go all the way out west, you’ll always be at risk here.” Tina told her friend. Keefa nodded at her.
“I plan on heading out west. John gave me enough money, and my freedom papers, I won’t even need them once I reach the wild west where it’s already illegal for slavery. I have a plan, I’ll go there and be a teacher. I can read and write and do math, finding a job with a rich family shouldn’t be too hard. I have enough money to survive on for a while. Due to my family’s… services when John’s father died, he freed me and gave me enough money to give me a chance to live and figure out my life.” Keefa reminded Tina. “I’m going to be alright, just have a little faith.”
Tina was John’s half-sister. She was a mixed race, born to a slave from John’s father. John had grown up with them and when his father had died, he’d freed them all. He supported the anti-slavery laws, and wanted to see them work for living wages, and the ones who’d chosen to stay, he paid pretty well. His half sister, he openly acknowledged as family and he’d been in the process of working to put together a dowry for her, so she could find a decent husband.
“Then, I wish you the best of luck, but I still think you’re at huge risk if you travel alone.” Tina told her and hugged Keefa. They were both nineteen, and in this day and age, a young girl traveling alone was at huge risk. A black woman wouldn’t even get the same courtesy or help a white woman would, and if she was traveling, she was at great risk of being robbed, murdered, or worse. Captured, if they took her papers and whisked her away to an isolated area, there would be no one to help her.
“I plan on hiring someone to help me.” Keefa confided in her, “I found a man who was planning on traveling out west to his ranch, he said I could travel with him and he’d keep me safe.”
“And you believe him?” Tina said, her eyes skeptical.
“I think it’s my safest choice,” Keefa admitted. “He didn’t seem like a bad sort, and if he lives out west where slavery is already illegal, my guess is he doesn’t plan on trying to harm me once we arrive.”
“If that’s what you need, or want to believe, then I will cross my fingers for you. Write me when you get there, please? Let me know everything ends up okay.” Tina told her, and gave her one final hug. “What time are you leaving in the morning?”
“I’m meeting him at seven, I am meeting him right after breakfast and then his coach leaves. We are traveling for a few days by coach, then taking a train as far as it will take us, then I guess we’ll go by coach again the last few days. It should take about a month total for our journey.”
“Then I wish you god speed Keefa,” reaching down under her desk, she pulled out a silver knife with a jeweled handle. “I want you to have this. To ward off evil spirits. It belonged to my Mam.”
“Thank you Tina, I promise to keep it close at all times.” Keefa said and clutched it to her breast after taking it from her friend. She knew she’d miss her friend, but was so excited about the potential new life that was in front of her, she couldn’t let it stop her from going. Keefa appreciated Tina’s gift, and knew it might come in handy. She went to bed that night, excited about meeting the man she’d hired in the morning to help her travel out west.
When she woke in the morning, she was running late, she didn’t have a lot of belongings, but John had given her enough money to get her out west, and get her on her feet while she found employment. She didn’t have high hopes of finding a husband, she knew that she’d be an easy target though for the sexual interest of married men. Finding the right employer would be a challenge, but she had faith it would work out.
When she got to the meeting place, she was out of breath, having run the last couple of blocks on foot, the streets had been crowded with carriages, and she realized it was faster to walk. Grabbing her couple of bags, she’d gone on foot. When she spotted the man who’d agreed to travel with her, she went over to him breathlessly.
“I’m sorry I’m late George,” she told him and gave him an apologetic look.
He looked her over and shrugged, “it happens. I assume you’re ready to go now?”
“All ready, I appreciate you helping me get to the west coast safely.” Keefa told him and touched his arm. The way his eyes darkened when she touched him had her jerking her arm back like she’d touched a hot fire. She held her breath for a moment as she looked at him, nervous that she’d upset him.
“Let’s go, okay?” He told her, his voice had dropped an octave and he wouldn’t look at her again.
She wondered if she’d upset him. Not wanting to ask and risk him leaving her behind. Keefa told him okay, and grabbed her bags again and followed him. They’d go by carriage, then train.
The carriage was bumpy, and they were crowded with four other people, all of which kept sending her nasty glances for being in the carriage with them. Keefa tried not to let it affect her, but it still stung. She was a person just like anyone else, being treated as if she wasn’t good enough just because of the color of her skin hurt. It made her miss Tina and John.
When they got to the train, she’d had her own ticket, but they’d refused to give her a sleeping quarters since she wasn’t traveling with someone who was white. She was shocked, they hadn’t told her that when she’d bought her ticket. George took pity on her and leaned over, whispering in her ear.
“You can share my quarters, there’s two bunks in there. I had a friend who was going to share it with me, but he can sleep on the floor. No harm done. It’s just for sleep.” George told her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
Keefa looked at him and felt grateful and sighed in relief. “Thank you George, I mean I guess it’s not like I really need to worry about my reputation, I’m not some high class woman looking for a husband, but I cannot believe they’d refuse to give me a place to sleep.”
“This is why you hired me to escort you, isn’t it? To make sure you got there with out the journey being too problematic?” He raised a brow at her, reminding her of why she had asked for his help.
“You’re absolutely right. And, thank you again.” Keefa hugged him before she thought to stop herself. He stiffened, but then his arms came around her and he gave her a quick hug back before stepping back away from her and climbing aboard the train to get settled.
Keefa followed him, but part of her wondered why he was so uncomfortable with her.
Chapter 2
Keefa was hiding out in the train car, she had been treated so poorly by the staff on the train and the other guests, she was scared to leave the small room now.
George had been bringing her food and other snacks when he’d go to the dining car, he brought her fresh water, when they stopped in a small town a few days after they started his journey, he came in and was looking excited.
“I need to go for a run, but I’ll be back before the train leaves. I just need to stretch my legs. When I get back, my friend John Justin will be joining us for the rest of the journey. So, our quarters are about to get more cramped. I don’t have time to take you off to stretch your legs this stop, but next stop, I’ll get you off the train so you can do a little sight seeing if you want,” George told her, and then gave her a pat on the shoulder when she nodded at him.
A few hours later, George returned with a tall handsome stranger. She assumed this was John. The man gave her a flirty smile and she felt her cheeks warm. There was something primal about the two men she was sharing a room with, they both were intimidating men, that had a feral look in their eyes. She felt like there was something about them, something she should know, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
All the while they had a predatory vibe, she felt safe with them both. John had brought a deck of cards and was teaching her to play poker. She was fascinated by the concept, and George managed to snag a bottle of whiskey and brought it back that night.
“Drink?” He asked her as he took a swig from the bottle. He handed it to John, who took a couple of drinks and then handed it to Keefa, offering her a drink. She took it and smelled it, the tingle of the liquor tickled her nose and made her eyes water. Braving it, she took a huge gulp, and choked.
Both John and George started to laugh as she put her hand over her mouth and coughed.
“Easy there girly, you’re not supposed to chug it,” John said laughing and took the bottle back, taking another small swig before handing it back to George.
The liquid had reached her stomach and had burned the entire way down. She felt her belly grow warm as it settled, and she stared at it, unsure if she wanted to try it again. When they handed the bottle back to her, she stared at it for a moment before decided she’d take a smaller drink this time.
It made her eyes water, and burned her throat going down, but knowing what to expect at least kept her from coughing up a lung this time. She felt a little woozy, never having had alcohol before, it was an interesting feeling and she started giggling for no reason.
“How about we ante up the stakes?” John suggested, shuffling the cards. Keefa had won the last three hands of poker, and he was frowning now. “I’ll bet you my shoes I win this hand.”
“I want in, deal me in,” George said and scooted closer to the box they were using as a table. He was nearly in Keefa’s lap, as the bottom bunk didn’t have much room. She’d been sleeping in the bunk that John was now sitting on, and she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to sleep now that John had claimed it.
“I’ll bet you the right to sleep in the bed,” Keefa decided to make it worth her while if they were making bets on who’d win.
“Interesting choice,” John said and then grinned at her. “Deal.”
He dealt the cards to her and George and they were silent over the next few minutes as they played their hands quietly, trying to guess what the other people had in their hands. Keefa didn’t have a good hand, she had two aces, and nothing else of value. She threw the three cards away, and asked for three, and wasn’t sure if she should fold or not. She had a pair of sixes now too, and a pair of aces. Nothing special, not likely to win unless neither of them had two pairs.
She was concentrating so hard on her cards because her head was spinning slightly from the alcohol she almost didn’t notice the men staring at her.
“You folding, or you showing your hand?” George asked her.
“Two pair, ace high,” she said and put the cards on the table.
John stared at her and muttered “damn,” as he threw his cards on the table. “Guess I’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight.”
“Oh, you could always see if you could convince Keefa to share her bunk with you, John,” George joked.
Keefa’s eyes widened, and then she realized that her silver knife was under the pillow and she should probably put it in her belongings so no one got hurt.
“Hey John, could you reach under the pillow there, I have a knife, I want to put it in my purse, I realize it’s silly now to be sleeping with a knife under my pillow.” Keefa grinned at him, and took another swig of the whiskey bottle as John reached under the pillow.
Yelping, he pulled his hand and the knife out, and it dropped to the floor, his hand was smoking and his skin was peeling off his fingers and palm where he’d touched her silver knife.
“Are you okay?” She asked him, blinking in shock. Scooping the knife up, she put it in her purse and put her purse in her bigger luggage bag and then shoved it under the bunk to make more space.
“Where did you get that knife from?” John asked as he cradled his hand to his chest.
“My friend Tina gave it to me. It was to ward off evil, and protect me from harm. It’s just a silly superstitious….” Trailing off, Keefa stared at John closer and put her hand out, expecting him to let her see his hand. “Let me take a look at it.”
“It’s fine,” John said gruffly as George just stared at the two of them.
“You’re not fine, did you cut yourself?” Keefa asked, confused. She couldn’t quite understand or process what just happened to John’s hand, she didn’t see any blood. Reaching out, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand out before he could stop her to look at it. Seeing what looked like burn marks, she stood up and jumped back. “What are you?”
“Keefa, calm down, don’t make a scene on a train, okay?” George told her, and covered her mouth with his hand before she could scream in panic. “I’ll explain, but just take a deep breath and don’t panic.”
Feeling her back pressed against George, she felt safe for a moment, long enough that she leaned back into him and didn’t even hold it against him that his hand was over her mouth. She tried to breath and then finally nodded against his hand, indicating she was calm.
“I couldn’t touch that knife either, with out a similar reaction,” George told her, confiding in her, whispering in her ear, he pulled his hand off her mouth and trusted her not to scream. “We aren’t monsters Keefa, but we are shifters. I’m a wolf shifter, John’s a bear shifter. I’ll answer whatever questions you have, we won’t hurt you Keefa, but silver burns our skin. We will heal and it won’t kill us, it just really, really hurts. It’s an allergic reaction.”
“Shifters?” Keefa stared up at him, and blinked in shock, not fully understanding.
“Yes, that’s why I had to go for a run. I needed to shift with the moon and run so I wouldn’t bite anyone.” George gave her a half grin, hoping she’d understand what he was conveying.
“If you think you’re judged, imagine what we go through as only being half-human. They call us monsters, witches, devils, try to burn us at the stake. We aren’t evil.” John told her and reached out to take Keefa’s hand. “We are just people, like you, except we have the ability to shift into an animal when we want, or the instinct calls to us.”
“Sort of like Tina’s mother was a witch,” Keefa muttered. She’d been around enough voodoo and witchcraft to believe in the supernatural, that’s how Tina had come across a silver knife. Her mother must have known about shifters, but Tina was in the dark on all this stuff. She’d never possessed the spirit, as her mother used to say.
When John pulled Keefa’s hand up to his mouth, she followed the motions with her eyes. She held her breath, something about the way George and John looked, acted, clicked in her brain as the reality of them being shifters sunk in. She didn’t know if she was in awe, or complete shock and afraid.
“Here, drink this, we can talk,” George told her, shoving the bottle of whiskey into her other hand and encouraged her to take a drink. “We have a long journey ahead of us, and I don’t want you afraid. You paid us to get you there safely, and I have every intention of honoring my part of the bargain.”
Keefa took a drink, but watching John’s mouth press against her skin had her shivering in ways she hadn’t anticipated. For a single moment, she realized the way he was looking at her, wasn’t the kind of polite look a man gives a woman. He had lascivious thoughts going on, and they were directed at her. She felt her cheeks heat, and took another drink of the whiskey, she had no idea how to cope with flirting like this, and in such small quarters…
“John, seducing the poor girl really isn’t going to do her any favors,” raising a brow, George looked at John with a serious expression.
“You were thinking it before I did. Don’t try to pretend you have more honorable intentions towards her than I do,” laughing, John smiled at Keefa, almost a leer, but a predatory look that had her stepping back into George’s chest. She felt trapped between the two men, and part of it was arousing. Shaking her head, she put her hands up in defeat.
“I can accept the two of you are shifters, but whatever is going on between you two, or me, or whatever else, it cannot happen on this train. Let’s get to our destination and we can… talk. I want to know more about being shifters. I want to learn. So teach me.”
John and George exchanged looks, and then nodded at her. It would be a long train ride. They had time.