Christine Dorsey by The Rebel's Kiss

Author:The Rebel's Kiss
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The dream made Samantha’s blood run cold. Even in sleep she had a vague awareness she hadn’t relived this particular horror in a long time. It used to be so common to imagine the shots, to wake up trembling. But that was years ago. That was when...

Samantha’s eyes flew open and her breath caught tightly in her chest. This was no dream. The gunshots shattering the night quiet were real.

Samantha tore through her bedroom door. She screamed and her heart pounded loudly in her ears when she slammed against something hard and human.

“Sam! It’s me, Will.”

“Oh, Will.” Samantha gave him a quick hug before a fresh volley of shots made her shove him toward the floor.

“What’s going on? Who’s out there?”

“I don’t know.” For one terrifying moment memories of another night washed over her. She’d awakened then to gunshots and screams. The smell of something burning. The recollection seared through her body. It was strong. It was paralyzing. And it took Will clutching at her foot to break the spell.

Sucking in her breath, Samantha hunched over and rushed toward the far wall. The room was black as pitch but she found the rough, gravelly surface of the hearth and followed it up with her palms. She was standing when her fingers closed around the musket stock.

“What are you doing, Sam?”

“Hush. Just stay down.” Crouching down, Samantha made her way to the front window. The night was cloudy with only a pale filtering of moonlight to see by. Horses. She could make out horses and riders prancing about in her yard.

The gunshots stopped.

The yelling began.

Whoever was outside was calling her names, names so vile Samantha had to fight the urge to drop the musket and cover her ears.

They didn’t like her telegraphing for federal troops. That much was obvious. Samantha tried to separate herself from what they were saying and concentrate on the voices. Did she recognize any of them? Was it Landis Moore? Bundy Atwood? She couldn’t tell for sure.

Part of her problem was that the voices kept blurring and fading, merging with the taunts and bellows from long ago.

“Come out, you yellow-bellied coward,” they’d called to her father. “Come out and see what we do to the likes of you. Nigger lover! Nigger lover,” they’d yelled while she cowered beneath her quilt.

Shots rang-out again and Samantha pulled herself back to the present. This was no time for reliving the past. She could hear Will’s heavy breathing as he scooted over to her. She could just make out his form in the shadows.

“I think that’s Jake,” he said, leaning closer to whisper his words. “Listen. They’re the ones being shot at now.”

Samantha tried but she couldn’t tell the difference, except that now the men in the yard did seem upset. She even heard one yelp in pain before someone yelled for them to head out.

Samantha slumped against the wall, listening to the fading hoofbeats as the men rode away. Will struck a match, the sulphur exploding with a hiss.

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