Chasing the Sun (54 page)

The South she loved was no more. She realized that the day Pru had been attacked by white men in broad daylight just because of her dark skin, while she had been vilified for having such a close relationship with a woman of color. If she hadn’t begun carrying her late husband’s old pistol everywhere she went, there was no telling what might have happened.

She wasn’t running away. She just had no reason to stay.

As they neared their room at the end of the landing, the door swung open and the freckled boy darted out. “All set up, ma’ams. You need anything, just yell over the banister.” Then he was off down the hall.

“Set up” meant tattered linens were stacked on the unmade beds in each of the two bedrooms opening off the sitting area, and a pitcher of cold water sat on the bureau. Edwina peered down into its murky depths. “Is this the water we’re not supposed to drink?”

“I’ll stick with brandy,” Lucinda muttered, carrying her valise into the bedroom on the left.

Maddie stopped beside the pitcher, took a look, and shuddered. “It looks used. How vexing.”

“I wonder what’s wrong with it?” This whole water thing confused Edwina. “With a stream running right through the middle of town and all those waterfalls streaming down the slopes, how could the water be so bad?”

“Probably the mine,” Pru said as she hung her coat on a hook beside the door. “They often use harsh chemicals to leach gold or silver from the raw ore. If it seeps back into the ground, it can taint the entire water table.”

Edwina turned to stare at her. “How do you know these things?”

“I read.”

“About mining practices?” Edwina shouldn’t have been surprised. Her sister took in information like a starving person gobbled up food. But mining practices? “Why would you read about mining practices?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” As she spoke, Pru set herself to rights, straightening her sleeves, brushing her skirts, running a hand over her tightly pinned hair. “I’m only guessing, of course. But since the mine is upriver from the town, and I did see some sluices running down from one of those waterfalls to what I assumed was the concentrator, I can only deduce the water is being used to leach out unwanted chemicals.” She paused in thought, one long, graceful finger gently tapping her full lower lip. “Or it could be for a water cannon, I suppose. I’ll have to check.”

“Oh, please do!”
Good God.
Shaking her head, Edwina walked into the bedroom she was to share with Pru.

An hour later, their valises unpacked, their beds made, and the four women as refreshed as could be and sharing one pitcher of cold water between them, Lucinda came into the sitting room with her valise in her hand and Maddie on her heels. “We’re famished,” she announced. “Shall we brave the cooking in this wretched place and go down to the dining room?”

“Dare we?” Edwina asked.

Pru straightened her collar and checked her buttons. “I’m willing.”

“Excellent.” Swinging open the door, Lucinda motioned the other ladies into the hallway, stepped out after them, and locked the door. “And while we eat,” she said, following them down the stairs, “Edwina can tell us all about her new husband, and Maddie can tell us about her errant husband, and Pru can tell us what she hopes to do with all that astounding book learning.”

And perhaps while we’re at it,
Edwina added silently,
you’ll tell us what you have in that valise you guard like stolen treasure.

Berkley Sensation titles by Kaki Warner

PIECES OF SKY
OPEN COUNTRY
CHASING THE SUN