bored after days of confining travel. Neither the flatboat nor the river fascinated them anymore.
She felt uneasy when a man calling himself Colonel Sullivan had hailed them from the shore. Her father agreed to give him a ride downriver so that he could meet up with some companions. After watching the man closely, Olivia thought him too shifty. There was nothing he had actually done to alarm her; it was just a feeling that she had. He made her skin crawl.
She took her father aside and tried to persuade him not to allow Sullivan aboard, but Payson Bond would not consider leaving a man stranded; he told Olivia so before assuring her that she need not worry. He sent her to mind the boys and keep them from upsetting her stepmother, Susanna.
While she spoke, Noah kept moving, stoked the fire, made a pot of coffee. She waited while he filled two cups and brought her one.
“You father saw nothing wrong with the man?” He stood over her until she took the first sip and then sat down on a stool near the table.
Olivia wiped away a tear as she shook her head. “My father prides himself on trying to live the golden rule. He welcomed the ‘colonel’ aboard, even though he was shabbily dressed and crude-talking. Sullivan went back among the boxes and crates and made himself comfortable and we pulled back out into the river.”
“I know what happened next,” Noah said. “He started shouting that the flatboat was leaking and you had to pull into shore.”
She was shocked. “How did you know?”
“It’s an old trick,” he told her, ignoring his coffee. “A man will beg passage and while aboard, drill a hole in the bottom of the flatboat. He times it so that the pilot will have to pull into shore at a place where the rest of the thieves are waiting.”
“We were so naive,” she whispered. “Does it happen often?”
“More than most folks know,” he assured her. “River pirates prey on the settlers. There are caves and hideouts up and down the rivers.”
Olivia wanted this over with, so she began again. “As soon as we landed, four more of the bandits stepped out of the woods and hailed Colonel Sullivan. He drew a gun and demanded we all disembark.” She tried to swallow the taste of fear as she relived the memory aloud for the first time.
“My father was able to get to his rifle, but when he tried to hold them all off, the colonel said that he’d never succeed. He told my father that if he handed me over to them, that he would let the rest of the family go.”
“Your half-brothers, their mother, your father,” Noah clarified.
She nodded. “Yes. Susanna was carrying another child. She was upset, begging my father to listen to them, to give me up. I am certain they would have killed us all. I was surprised when they kept their word and didn’t kill the rest of my family anyway.” She fell silent, remembering the river, the terrible grief brought on by the separation, the fact that Susanna could not meet her eyes just before the men dragged her away.
Noah’s hand tightened on the coffee cup. “You father did not fight?”
“No. He isn’t a fighting man.”
“The pirates took you to New Orleans.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
“They did not touch me. A virgin was worth more.” She answered the question hanging between them. “They sold me to a gambler who owns a whorehouse. A man named Darcy Lankanal. He locked me in his suite, kept me for his own personal use for a year.”
Noah was watching her so intently that she could not bear to meet his gaze. Her shame was heavy as she looked down at her hands folded in her lap.
“Finally, I found a way to escape and ran.”
“And met up with Stanley Marlborough.”
She was surprised he had remembered the name. “Yes.”
She thought she heard him say, “No wonder.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“No wonder you were so frightened of me.”
Olivia nodded. “I have not met any honorable men of late.”
He walked
She felt uneasy when a man calling himself Colonel Sullivan had hailed them from the shore. Her father agreed to give him a ride downriver so that he could meet up with some companions. After watching the man closely, Olivia thought him too shifty. There was nothing he had actually done to alarm her; it was just a feeling that she had. He made her skin crawl.
She took her father aside and tried to persuade him not to allow Sullivan aboard, but Payson Bond would not consider leaving a man stranded; he told Olivia so before assuring her that she need not worry. He sent her to mind the boys and keep them from upsetting her stepmother, Susanna.
While she spoke, Noah kept moving, stoked the fire, made a pot of coffee. She waited while he filled two cups and brought her one.
“You father saw nothing wrong with the man?” He stood over her until she took the first sip and then sat down on a stool near the table.
Olivia wiped away a tear as she shook her head. “My father prides himself on trying to live the golden rule. He welcomed the ‘colonel’ aboard, even though he was shabbily dressed and crude-talking. Sullivan went back among the boxes and crates and made himself comfortable and we pulled back out into the river.”
“I know what happened next,” Noah said. “He started shouting that the flatboat was leaking and you had to pull into shore.”
She was shocked. “How did you know?”
“It’s an old trick,” he told her, ignoring his coffee. “A man will beg passage and while aboard, drill a hole in the bottom of the flatboat. He times it so that the pilot will have to pull into shore at a place where the rest of the thieves are waiting.”
“We were so naive,” she whispered. “Does it happen often?”
“More than most folks know,” he assured her. “River pirates prey on the settlers. There are caves and hideouts up and down the rivers.”
Olivia wanted this over with, so she began again. “As soon as we landed, four more of the bandits stepped out of the woods and hailed Colonel Sullivan. He drew a gun and demanded we all disembark.” She tried to swallow the taste of fear as she relived the memory aloud for the first time.
“My father was able to get to his rifle, but when he tried to hold them all off, the colonel said that he’d never succeed. He told my father that if he handed me over to them, that he would let the rest of the family go.”
“Your half-brothers, their mother, your father,” Noah clarified.
She nodded. “Yes. Susanna was carrying another child. She was upset, begging my father to listen to them, to give me up. I am certain they would have killed us all. I was surprised when they kept their word and didn’t kill the rest of my family anyway.” She fell silent, remembering the river, the terrible grief brought on by the separation, the fact that Susanna could not meet her eyes just before the men dragged her away.
Noah’s hand tightened on the coffee cup. “You father did not fight?”
“No. He isn’t a fighting man.”
“The pirates took you to New Orleans.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
“They did not touch me. A virgin was worth more.” She answered the question hanging between them. “They sold me to a gambler who owns a whorehouse. A man named Darcy Lankanal. He locked me in his suite, kept me for his own personal use for a year.”
Noah was watching her so intently that she could not bear to meet his gaze. Her shame was heavy as she looked down at her hands folded in her lap.
“Finally, I found a way to escape and ran.”
“And met up with Stanley Marlborough.”
She was surprised he had remembered the name. “Yes.”
She thought she heard him say, “No wonder.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“No wonder you were so frightened of me.”
Olivia nodded. “I have not met any honorable men of late.”
He walked
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