Hiding Hearts by R.E. Bradshaw

Author:R.E. Bradshaw [Bradshaw, R.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance
ISBN: 9780998954950
Publisher: R.E. Bradshaw Books
Published: 2018-03-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

A Friend is Watching

March 24, 1865

“Shh! Someone is out there,” Lottie whispered to James.

She took a step back into the shadows and stared down the hill, beyond the creek. A series of gusts shook the trees. Lightning flashed behind billowing clouds, revealing a thunderstorm building off to the east. When things quieted down again, Lottie was sure whoever had been there was gone.

“I think we have an unwanted guest living close by. I’m telling you, this swamp is crawling with people I’ve never seen before.”

James puffed on his unlit pipe, for want of real tobacco. “Times are desperate, Lott. We don’t have much, but we have some. That’s more than a lot of people can say.”

Lottie remembered the hopeless faces of the fleeing throngs on every path out of Goldsborough. “Charlie said he saw awful things on the march. He warned not to be too kind to strangers these days.”

“So far, whoever it is hasn’t taken anything that we have missed.”

Lottie corrected him. “The sisters said someone milked the cow before they could get out to the meadow this morning.”

James laughed. “Oh, yes. The great milk theft. Sarah was distraught. She brought ol’ Bess back to the barn for fear she would be stolen.”

“Did you explain that is why we took her out of the barn?” Lottie asked, chuckling quietly.

“Sarah would listen to no argument and vowed to sleep in the meadow if we forced her to.”

“That child has an unusual relationship with our farm animals.”

“She learned it from you, Lott.”

“So, who is milking our cow and wandering around the yard in the night? Do you think it’s Tiller’s men?”

James shifted his weight on his one leg and adjusted his crutch. “No, I don’t think so. I’m leaning toward our milk thieves as the source of the shots that ran Tiller’s crew off last night. I could have sworn I heard two pistol reports nearly simultaneously. There could be more than one person out there.”

“How many of Tiller’s men came last night?”

“I saw three,” James answered. “Could have been more.”

“And the shots scared them off?”

“One of them swore and yelled to the others that the patrol had found them. That’s the first time I’ve ever been glad to see Jack Cole ride out of the shadows.”

“How do you know it wasn’t Jack’s boys that fired the shots?”

“Because that’s what drew the patrol to us. Jack said they heard the shots and came to investigate.” James pointed down the hill and beyond the creek. “They rode off after Tiller’s crew, leaving us to wonder who was hiding in the woods out there.”

Lottie dipped some snuff into her lip and offered her brother a pinch.

“How do you manage to always have snuff, Lott, when no one else does? What’s your secret?”

Lottie grinned. “I plant some tobacco every summer, way out in the swamp on a savannah. I cure it and make my own snuff. I traded some of it to Mr. Wahl for supplies. I have to keep it on the sly so it won’t get confiscated for the army.

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