Kary, Elizabeth by Let No Man Divide

Author:Let No Man Divide
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-24T04:32:57+00:00

CHAPTER 13

May 30, 1862—Off Randolf, Tennessee

Silence. Soft, soothing silence, broken only by the rushing sound of the river's passage and the faint wheezy creak of the ropes that shackled the Barbara Dean to the forested bank. There were guards posted on the deck, sitting hidden by the night, their pipes smoldering and their eyes alert for any movement in the trees or on the surface of the river. But to Hayes Banister they were invisible. He was almost too tired to see, too exhausted and disheartened to think of any more than the expanse of bed that awaited him and the delicious oblivion of slumber.

His body ached with weariness, and his mind was numbed with failure, knowing full well what his inability to find Nathan Travis might mean. The web of agents who had helped smuggle runaway slaves north before the war was the basis for Travis's scouting operations, and though Hayes had visited the people they'd known and the places they'd frequented during their years with the Underground Railroad, he had found no sign of the other man. Either Pincheon's information was wrong, or Travis had stumbled into danger. The latter was a grim thought, and Hayes refused to dwell on it. Nathan Travis was a man with an incomparable instinct for survival, and now he had the most important reason in the world for coming home safe: a woman who loved him.

As Hayes approached his own cabin, he turned his thoughts to the woman locked inside. He was glad for the late hour so he need not face her questions and accusations. A confrontation was inevitable between them, but he did not want it tonight, not with his wits dulled by weariness, not while he was distracted by concern for Travis. With stealth tempering his movements, he turned the key in the lock and slipped inside his stateroom. In the faint light that filtered through the transom, he could see that there were subtle changes in the cabin since he had left it five days before: a book lying open on the seat of the chair and more piled up by the bed, a half-finished puzzle laid out on the desk, and a feminine scent in the air. The copper tub sat at one end of the room as if Leigh had recently used it, and the thought of being clean again held a powerful appeal.

With stiff movements Hayes stripped off his sweat-stained clothes and poured water into the basin. Standing naked in the moonlight, he lathered his face and chest, then splashed away the soap, bent to wash his legs and feet, rubbing the wet cloth slowly upward. Water beaded on his shoulders, then trickled down his spine, tracked a pathway along his legs to pool on the floor around him. While he shaved away the five-day growth of whiskers by the light of the summery moon, the breeze from the open window dried, refreshed, and renewed him.

Barefooted, he approached his bed and the woman sleeping there. She was beautiful in the half-light, a woman of strength, character, and will.

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