Mockingbird's Call by Diane T. Ashley

Author:Diane T. Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-05-01T16:00:00+00:00

Ten

Amelia gathered her medicines together and headed downstairs. Tabitha had told her that another group of slaves had been brought in and were resting in the barn as before, and she knew she would not be able to get a wink of sleep until after she checked on them. She pushed her bedroom door open and crept down the stairs, thankful for the dim glow of a lantern that showed her the way to the kitchen.

All the dishes and leftover food had been stored, and the fire was banked for the evening. She shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders. A squeaky noise behind her made Amelia freeze and hold her breath. After a moment passed without further noise, she eased forward once again.

She opened the back door and slipped through it, picking her way along the path to the barn. She’d been out here several times in the past weeks, even though she had originally hoped her work with runaway slaves would be done after Melek took that first group out of town. But that had only been the beginning for Amelia, the agent Melek now referred to as the Mockingbird.

She stopped outside the door and pursed her lips. Her first attempt at a whistle failed miserably, sounding more like a hissing snake than a bird. Amelia licked her lips and tried again. There! That was more like it. She was quite proud of the liquid sound she produced.

After a moment, the barn door opened, and the old coachman, whose name she had learned was Tom, grinned at her and beckoned her inside. He led the way to the tack room. “We’ve a tired group tonight. They been running for days without much sleepin’.”

Amelia went inside, and her heart melted at the sight that met her eyes. A couple about her own age cowered against the wall. The young man had a protective arm about the girl. He watched Amelia with wary eyes.

“I came out here to help you.” She set her bag of medicines down on the floor and dropped to her knees beside them. “Let me see your feet.”

She unwound several layers of dirty cloth from the young woman’s feet, dismayed to see the cuts and bruises on them. It was a good thing she had found a merchant who sold tincture of iodine. She soaked a clean length of cotton in the solution and gently cleaned the young woman’s feet. Tearing several new lengths from a discarded sheet she had rescued last week before it could be thrown away, she rewrapped the slave’s feet before turning to her companion.

“You have a gentle touch.” The young man’s eyes were not nearly as wary as they had been before.

“I need to do the same for you.”

He nodded and stretched out his feet, and Amelia began the process again. When she finished, she drew out some of her precious willow bark. “If you chew on this while you are walking, it should ease your pain.”

The young woman

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