The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 (27 page)

She opened it against the wind, almost stumbling, not wanting him to pound and awaken the baby. As she faced him, her eyes were cold. “How dare you come here?” she lashed out. “How dare you come on my land? If Jacob were not out hunting with my father’s gun, I’d put you in your grave this minute, you marauding murderer.”

“Now, Kitty.” He grinned, hazel eyes warm and friendly. “I come in peace. At least let me enter and say what I’ve come to say, or do you prefer that the shack get cold with all this wind blowing in?”

“I don’t want you in here,” she hissed, hands on her hips, feet apart, eyes glistening with hate. “It’s your fault that I live here in this shack. It’s your fault I have no livestock, no chickens, no food. The death of a dear friend of mine is on your soul, too. Gideon’s mother. Have you heard by now, or do you even care?”

“Kitty, if I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here,” he spoke softly, his gaze imploring her to hear him out. “May I come inside, please? I have no intention of harming you. I swear before God.”

“I doubt that God puts any more credence in you than I do, but you may come in.” She stepped back and reluctantly motioned him inside. “Just make your visit brief, please. I have no need of visitors, particularly one whom I despise. Now, what is it you want?”

He stood there, staring at her, then reached out and touched her long, golden hair as though wonderstruck. “You are still as beautiful as ever, Kitty. And your eyes. God, they are the color of the wild iris that bloom by the river in the spring. I have never seen a woman as lovely as you.”

She jerked her head away from his touch, bristling with anger. “Don’t you touch me. Now what do you want, Jerome Danton? Get to the point.”

Without being asked, he sat down in one of the two chairs before the fireplace. Looking toward the wooden cradle, he murmured, “I heard you had a son. May I see him? I know he must be as handsome as his mother is beautiful.”

“No, you may not see him. He is asleep.” Kitty sighed impatiently. “Now will you tell me what you want? The last time you came, it was to murder and destroy, but the sun is shining, so I doubt you’ve come here to do me any harm. I hear your kind rides at night, using the dark as a cloak to hide your cowardice.”

His eyes flashed as he snapped, “Yes, we do ride at night, Kitty. Someone has to protect the South from the uppity niggers and the vulturous carpetbaggers. They’re out to pick us clean. Thank God I am financially secure, and they can’t touch me, but I will certainly do what I can to help others. Including you.”

“Me?” she laughed bitterly. “What have I got that anyone could want? You see around you what I have in the way of worldly belongings.”

“You have your land.” His voice was low, ominous. “And it’s some of the finest land in Wayne County. I offered to buy it from you months ago, remember? And you refused to sell.”

“And I refuse to sell now.”

“But you may have no choice. What about your taxes?”

She blinked, bewildered. “I paid my taxes, with the money the government owed my father. No one can take my land.”

“You paid your taxes through 1864, my sweet. It is now 1866. Your taxes are due for 1865. How do you propose to pay them, if this is all you have?” He swept his arm in the air dramatically. “Now will you face reality and sell your land to me before it’s taken for taxes?”

“No,” she said quietly but firmly. “I’ll find a way. I’ve always managed before, and I’ll manage again. Now, if that’s why you have come, you may leave.”

He shook his head wearily, stared into the fireplace pensively for a few moments, then lifted his gaze to look at her with misery. “Kitty, I’m truly sorry about what happened that night. You must believe me. I tried to warn you about Gideon coming here, but you wouldn’t listen. That nigger was giving everyone fits, stealing and destroying. He had the whole countryside in an uproar. We had to take matters into our own hands.”

“You took the law into your hands and killed him.”

“He tried to run.”

“You meant to hang him.”

“Isn’t that what they usually do with thieves?”

“Yes, after a fair trial by law, not by a bunch of hooded night riders.”

“We had to do something fast, to set an example for these other niggers who have gotten out of line. Don’t you see?”

She shook her head. “You murdered that boy. And what about the others who rode with him? Jacob has never heard a word from his son, Luther. Did you round them all up and shoot them, too?”

Jerome sighed, knowing it was going to be quite difficult to make her see things his way. “No, we did not round them up and shoot them. They hightailed it out of the county, we heard, the very next day. Having their leader killed scared the hide off of them, and they took off. Last we heard, they were robbing and plundering in South Carolina. Fine. Let South Carolina worry about them. We still got our problems here.”

“Jacob brings me tales he hears from other Negroes. I hear you still handle your problems the same way, riding in the night, with robes. Tell me. Why do you burn crosses?”

“Because it frightens people. Niggers are superstitious fools. We ride in, burn a cross, give them a warning, and most of the time it works. They don’t give us any more trouble. We had a nigger in town just last week, and he made a sassy remark to Mrs. Stoner. We rode out to his house that night and drug him outside and laid him beneath that burning cross and gave him ten lashes with a whip, and we won’t ever have to worry about him again. He was on the way to being a real troublemaker, and now he’s as polite and humble as can be. The way he ought to be.”

Kitty gave an unladylike snort. “Is that the way I’m supposed to be, now that you’ve burned me out? Polite and humble?”

“Kitty, my men did that. They wanted to rape you, remember? And I stopped that, but I didn’t have anything to do with them burning you out. They did that as an example to other white people who might hold sympathy for the nigger and give the renegades shelter. I’m sorry it happened.”

“So am I.”

They stared at each other silently for a few seconds, and then Kitty said, “Well, if that is all you have to say, I would prefer that you leave.”

“We call ourselves the Ku Klux Klan.” He ignored her remark. “There are groups by the same name spreading all over the South to protect our people. No one knows the identity of the members. If they do, they know better than to expose them.”

She got up and walked over to the log bin, picked up a piece of wood and tossed it onto the fire. New sparks went dancing up the chimney as the fresh wood crackled beneath the flames. “If you are trying to frighten me, you are wasting your time. I have not told anyone that I know who the ringleader was that night. I want no trouble with the townspeople. I want only to be left alone. When Captain Coltrane comes back, he’ll settle the score with all of you. I won’t have to. But I wish I hadn’t missed that night. Quite frankly, Mr. Jerome Danton”—she turned to glare at him, fists clenched—“I wish I had killed you.”

“You almost did.” He grinned wryly. He lifted his right leg. “I had just leaped to my horse when you fired. The ball caught me in the bone of my ankle. Had I still been standing on the ground, you would have hit me in the back and probably killed me. As it is, I have a permanent limp. The surgeon said he could not remove the ball. It’s in the bone, so I’m partially crippled.”

Her expression did not change. “I am sorry you made it to your horse.”

Pursing his lips, he folded his hands in his lap and stared into the fire thoughtfully for a moment, then said, “I heard you were living with Corey McRae as his mistress. What happened that you have resorted to this poverty?”

“I was never Corey’s mistress,” she shouted. “He took me into his home that night you and your friends burned me out. I was in labor, and he found me not too far from this very shack. My baby was born in his house, and I stayed there for two weeks, then left to come here. I was never his mistress. Who would dare to spread such a lie?”

“Nancy Stoner,” he laughed shortly. “She said you pushed your way into his life, same as the way you did Nathan Collins’s. She’s something, that Nancy.”

“She’s a vicious, lying schemer.”

“Oh, she has her good points. She works for me now, in my dry goods store. True, she has a nagging tongue, and I tire of listening to her, but there are times when she can be, ah, most enjoyable.”

“I can well imagine, but I prefer not to hear about those times, if you please.”

“Of course. Gentlemen do not discuss their personal lives, do they? Forgive me. Now, I came here to apologize to you, Kitty, and offer you help.”

“I don’t need your help. I’ll manage fine, thank you.”

“Can you pay your taxes?”

“Don’t worry about my taxes,” she screeched, forgetting once again to keep her voice quiet so as not to wake little John. “My life is no concern of yours.”

Slowly he got to his feet and moved to where she stood. Before she realized it, he had pulled her into his arms and was kissing her soundly. Releasing her, he laughed down and murmured, “I want your life to be of much concern to me, Kitty. I’ve always found you desirable. I would like permission to court you.”

She was stunned. He kissed her again, and this time when he released her, she raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her wrist and held it tightly. “Don’t. As lovely as I find you, my dear, I won’t stand for a woman slapping me. I would hate to bruise that flawless skin of yours. Now, I know this has come as a surprise, but I am quite sincere. I should like to court you and, after a proper time has passed, I will expect you to marry me. We’ll build a fine, fancy house right here on your land, if you so wish. I have plenty of money, as much, I would say, as Corey McRae. You and your baby will never want for anything, and while I fully intend to breed you often with children of my own, I will do my best to accept your son as mine. I think I have made you a generous offer.”

He limped over to the burlap bag, and Kitty watched, as if in a trance, as he reached into the bag and started pulling out various foods. A smoked ham, several dozen eggs, some potatoes and dried beans. There was even a new woolen shawl for her and a heavy blanket for John. “This is only the beginning, my dear. I’ll return in a few days, after you’ve had time to think over my generous offer, and I will bring more. Is there anything you particularly need? What about material for dresses? I just received a good shipment from the North.”

“No.” She shook her head from side to side. “Nothing. I…I don’t want these things. Take them and go, please.” She pressed her hands against her temples.

“I’ll go for now, sweet, and give you time to get used to the idea of my courting you. Life will be good to you again, you may be sure. If you should need me for anything before I return, just send Jacob for me and I’ll be back as quickly as possible.”

He opened the door and a blast of cold air filled the shack. The fire flickered dangerously low against the onslaught. “One more thing,” he said against the roar of the wind. “Be glad I hold no hard feelings because you left me crippled, woman. But I’ll make you pay for it when I have you in my bed.” With a good-natured laugh, he closed the door tightly behind him.

Kitty stood for long moments, staring at the closed door, her mind whirling. Then she sat again before the fire. She was rocking the baby when Jacob’s familiar call sounded against the wind. He came in swinging a dead turkey by its feet, crying jubilantly, “We gonna have meat on the table tonight, missy. It took me most of the day to track this old bird down, but I done it. I—” His voice trailed off as he saw her expression. Ordinarily she would have shared his joy. Now it was as though she had not even heard him.

His eyes went to the burlap bag, still lying on the floor, its contents scattered where Jerome Danton had tossed them. “What’s this, missy? Was Mistah McRae here? He been botherin’ you again? Lord, if he’d just leave you alone.” He shook his head wearily.

“It wasn’t Corey McRae, Jacob. It was Jerome Danton.”

“Danton?” The old Negro’s eyes bugged out. “What’d he come here for? How’d he muster up the nerve to come here?” His old body was trembling with anger as he came to the fireplace and bent to stare down into her face. “Missy? What’d he say to make you look like that?”

“He told me that the taxes are due now on my land,” she answered in a dull voice, her eyes staring straight into the flames. “He told me how desperate I am, and how he wants to court me and eventually marry me. Why do they torment me this way, Jacob? Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

He sat down cross-legged, propping his elbow on the threadbare knees of his overalls, his hands framing his black face. “Miss Kitty, these men what got money, men like Mistah McRae and Mistah Danton, they wants a wife to be mistress of all they got. You’s a beautiful woman. I bet you’s the most beautiful woman in these parts. I hear the menfolks talking, missy, saying how pretty you are, so don’t you look at me like that and shake yo’ head like you thinks I’m talkin’ foolish. I knows what I’m talkin’ about. And fo’ all of Mistah Danton’s and Mistah McRae’s money, they’d be mighty proud to have a fine-lookin’ woman like you fo’ their wife. That’s why they keep coming around. But don’t you let them worry you none. The captain, he gonna come back. Just you wait and see.”

Kitty forced a smile. “I have to start thinking of a life without Travis, Jacob. I must stop living in a dream world. There’s not just me to think about now. There’s little John. He has only me to look after him, and I have to consider his welfare first.”