Indigo (45 page)

Hester said pointedly, "The mother whose heart he broke."

"Just as she broke his when she left him behind and never returned. He hated her, which is why he harbored no guilt in using her the way he did."

"Where is your family?" Foster asked.

"I had no other family. I was sold as a babe and never knew of any kin."

Hester realized she and Jenine had similar beginnings, and mused over how her own life changed for the better after being found and spirited north. Where would Hester be had there not been a Katherine Wyatt? Would she be duping and kidnapping her neighbors? She doubted it, but knew there was no guarantee. "Where are my papers, Jenine?"

"Shoe has them. He's been wanting to get his hands on you for some time."

"Were you there when they savaged my house?"

"No, I was at home at the time. I heard the damage was rather extensive though," she said with a nasty little smile. Then she added, "Ezra figured you had them in the house somewhere. All you fugitives think alike it seems. The false backs of highboys and wardrobes are a fairly common hiding spot."

Hester was relieved to know no one had betrayed her, but she made a point to inform folks of the need to be more imaginative when hiding their papers once this ordeal ended. And it would end because she knew Galen would find her. She asked Jenine, "Do you have any idea what my husband and his friends have in store for you once they learn of your involvement with Shoe?"

Jenine smiled coolly. "Once Ezra pays me my share, that fancy mulatto of yours will never find me."

Hester replied easily, "For your sake I hope not."

Foster who seemed to have just recomposed himself after hearing Jenine's startling tale, told Jenine softly, "I can't let you do this, Jenine."

"I'm terrified. Now, get over to that stump and sit. We shouldn't have too long to wait."

Although Hester presented a brave front she viewed the impending appearance of Shoe with increasing unease. If, against all odds, he succeeded in taking her south, both she and her unborn child would become slaves, subject to the whims and desires of whomever owned them. Her child could be sold away from her, as it had happened to her and her mother. She shook off the grim scenario because of her faith in her husband.

Foster looked over at Hester and said sadly, "I've been a fool."

Hester shook her head. "No. She played on your most vulnerable possession, your heart."

He echoed himself, "A silly, blind fool." He then asked Hester bluntly, "She didn't find you and Vachon in the school, did she?"

Hester shook her head no.

He turned a cold gaze on Jenine. "Was it the other way around? Was it you in the school that day?"

Jenine said quite simply, "Yes."

He face twisted into a snarl. "With whom?"

"Lem."

"And you called Hester a whore," he responded through gritted teeth. "You let me believe you were too shy to share my bed. Yet you were cuckolding me for all the world to see?!"

He made a mad dash at her and she very calmly shot him. Foster fell to the ground rolling in pain and holding his injured arm.

Hester ran to his side. With her hands bound she could do nothing more than bend over him to see how he fared. He slowly turned over and struggled up to a sitting position so he could brace his back against a tree. He was breathing harshly. Blood flowed from between the fingers clamped to his wounded shoulder. The gunshot was not fatal, but he desperately needed a doctor.

Hester gave Jenine a malevolent look.

Jenine replied, "Why do men believe an armed woman will not shoot?"

Hester snapped, "I think he was motivated by his emotions, Jenine, not logic."

Jenine then spoke to the man she'd called her husband. "Foster, I can hit a fly on a barn at one hundred paces. If I had wanted to kill you I would have. Don't test me again."

Hester felt useless kneeling beside Foster. He was having trouble stuffing his handkerchief into the shoulder of his coat to slow the bleeding. He managed however, and when he finished he leaned back to catch his breath.

Shoe and his men rode into the clearing less than an hour later.

When he saw Hester poised upon the tree stump, his ugly face widened into a smile. He dismounted, but the other six men did not. "You did a good job, Jenine."

Jenine beamed. "Do you have the money?"

"Of course. You and I had an agreement."

Shoe ignored Foster and came over to stand before Hester. "Well, gal. We meet again. You ready to resume your natural place in life?"

"There is nothing natural about slavery, Shoe."

He chuckled. "Still feisty even though the jig is up. I like that."

He reached out to touch Hester's cheek, but she drew away.

Shoe called out, "I don't think she likes me boys."

His men laughed. One of them remarked, "She's going to like you soon enough, Ezra."

Another added, "She's going to like us all soon enough."

The remark brought on more laughter. Hester steeled herself against their feral eyes.

Shoe said, "Yes she will."

He then brought out some documents from his soiled coat. "These are your free papers and this here is a warrant for your arrest. Remember when I said I had someone looking into your past? Well, he's a lawyer friend, and he was able to trace you back to Charleston. He couldn't find the speculator who took you out of Carolina, but he did find everyone else who helped, and you know what, they were all property-thieving abolitionists. None claimed any involvement of course, except one old woman. She remembered you as a gal her husband and daughter took on a train to Philadelphia. She used to be a friend of your kind, but she ain't anymore. Her husband had the bad taste to fall in love with one of you and he left his wife and children. She was real eager to help."

"You've no way to verify if that girl was me or not."

"There is if you've got purple hands."

Hester fought down the bile rising in her throat while Shoe cut the rope tying her hands.

"Take off the gloves."

Hester didn't move.

"Take 'em off, or one of the boys will be happy to do it for you."

Hester slowly peeled off her gloves. When her hands were revealed, Shoe grinned. "Well, well, well. Look at that, boys. Ever seen hands like them?"

"Guess she got to come with us," one said.

"Guess she does," Shoe echoed.

Jenine interrupted. "My payment, Shoe?"

"Ah, yes. Here you are," he said as he handed her some bills.

Jenine stared in surprise. "This is only ten dollars. Where is the rest?"

"There is no rest."

"You promised me enough to buy my way west. You gave me your word."

"I don't give my word to someone like you. What do you think I am, an abolitionist? Lem was my kin, that's the only reason you get anything."

"Damn you, you promised!"

Hester enjoyed a moment of satisfaction seeing Jenine's angry face.

Shoe pushed Hester in the direction of one of the riderless horses being trailed behind the main pack. "Mount up!"

Jenine snarled, "You're not going to get away with this."

The mounted Shoe looked down upon the irate Jenine and said, "If I were you, I'd take that money and buy a ticket for a place far away. Once word gets out how you helped me, your life won't be worth beans.

"Head out!"

The pack rode away, leaving behind the injured Foster and a very angry Jenine.

It took the kidnappers the balance of the day to make Monroe. They'd been pushing the horses hard, and so stopped to rest a bit along the banks of the Raisin River. One of the men went off into the trees to relieve himself. He was gone for so long Shoe sent one of the others in after him. When he also failed to return, Shoe grabbed up his rifle with one hand, Hester's arm with the other, and peered around. He ordered two more men to go into the brush and look for their companions but when they returned they could only shrug in confusion. The men had vanished and could not be found. The silence was ominous; there was no wind, and no birdsongs. The air held an eerie quality that made the hair stand up on the back of the neck.

"What the hell happened to them?" Shoe barked.

"Don't know, Ezra. Maybe we should leave this place."

Shoe didn't look nearly as confident as he had previously. Before he could give any orders though, Galen, mounted on his stallion, appeared on the banks above, flanked by six black-dressed riders whose faces were covered by black hoods. At the beautiful sight, Hester's legs weakened with relief.

"Hello boys," Galen said. "Nice day for a ride."

Shoe's eyes widened in shock and fear. Because he was down two men, he was outnumbered four to six. He tried bravado first. "I got a legitimate warrant for her, Vachon. You're interfering in government business."

Galen smiled the smile of an assassin. "And you are interfering in my life. That is my wife, you know." Galen looked down at Hester and inclined his head slightly. "Don't worry,
petite.
We'll be on the way soon."

He turned his eyes back on the kidnappers. He stuck out his hand and one of the riders at his side placed a small weighted velvet pouch into his palm. "Have you boys been paid?"

Shoe's men glanced at each other quizzically.

Galen explained, "I'm asking because I don't believe any of you want to be a part of this any longer. Fifty dollars in gold to each man who'll ride away."

Hester saw Shoe's face widen. "Don't listen to him, he ain't got that much coin."

"No?"

Galen turned the pouch upside down and a shower of gold coins rained down on the ground. "My offer won't hold for long."

The men seemed to hesitate a moment. They looked at each other, then at the gold lying on the ground, and then to Shoe.

Galen asked, "What's Shoe paying you, two, three dollars a piece? That will buy you a few drinks, a few cheap whores, but you boys are smarter than that. Think how much whiskey and women you could get if you had fifty dollars gold in your pocket."

Shoe snapped, "Don't listen to him!"

Hester could almost see the rusty wheels turning in their heads as they pondered Galen's words.

Finally, one of Shoe's men said, "Hell, y'all know we ain't never going to see that much gold at one time hauling ass, so I'm taking it."

The other mumbled agreement. They started up the bank.

"Stop dammit!" Shoe screamed, but they paid him no mind. They scrambled over the gold like dogs over a fugitive. Some came out of the fray with more than their share, but all were far richer when it ended than they had been when it began.

Shoe was furious, threatening to kill them all, but they were armed also, and outnumbered him. They pocketed their bounty and mounted up.

Up on the bank, Galen smiled down benevolently. "There's only one condition."

Shoe's men looked his way.

"Never, ever show your faces in this state again. If you do you will be shot on sight."

The men's eyes widened.

"Agreed?" Galen asked.

They nodded quickly.

"Have a good trip home, boys."

In departure, the men gave the red-faced Shoe a chorus of "See you Ezra," and galloped on down the riverbank. None looked back.

Galen smiled. "Well now. I guess they weren't as bent on slave catching as you thought, eh, Ezra? Release my wife," he demanded coldly.

Shoe quickly put his gun to Hester's head. "The gal is leaving with me."

Hester heard Raymond laugh from behind his hood. "We should shoot him simply for being stupid."

"Yes we should," Galen said but there was no smile on his face. "Release her Shoe. I've grown weary of this now."

"No! I—"

The first shot hit his shoulder, the second hit the kneecap. The force spun him away from Hester. He lay on the ground screaming from the pain.

Hester did not hesitate. She ran up the bank to her husband and was snatched up into his arms. He pulled her close and held tight. "Oh God,
petite.
I was so worried."

Hester was crying and kissing him. She was overcome by her joy, and thanked heaven her prayers had been answered. "I knew you would come for me. I knew."

"I was scared to death."

The sound of Raymond clearing his throat interrupted the tearful reunion. "If you two don't mind, we still have some offal to dispose of."

Galen grinned. Now that he had his Indigo back in his arms, he didn't care what happened to Shoe. "Do whatever you like with him. La Indigo and I are heading home."

Raymond asked. "May I kill him?"

"No,
mon frere.
I'm certain you can come up with something far more creative than that."

So Galen and Hester left Raymond and his brothers to ponder their capacity for creativity.

“So, what did you decide to do with our friend, Ezra?" Galen and Hester asked Raymond at the breakfast table the next morning. Hester's return last night had filled the household with joy. Raymond and his brothers celebrated into the wee hours of the morning, long after she and Galen had gone to bed.