all.”
“No, thank you, Nackie. And tell mama we’ll be up shortly to visit with her. Maybe she’d like to walk outside a bit.”
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up on gettin’ her outta that room, but you can ask her, suh, you surely can. And maybe her purty new daughter can get her movin’ where we menfolks can’t.”
Filling his plate, Rafe dug in and ate half of his food before he continued their conversation. The warm flapjacks seemed to melt in his mouth, the honey filled his senses with a sweetness he hadn’t tasted in a month or more, and being able to have more than two eggs encouraged him to eat five. Livvie laughed as he kept eating.
“You are a bit skinny,” she said, teasing. “Maybe you could just eat the honey with a spoon.”
“Don’t laugh, I just might!” he answered, biting into another egg, savoring the rich flavor of the yolk.
“I only got to stay in til the end of October. Odds are, we’ll sit up there in Virginia and darn our socks and play a lot of cards in front of the campfire.”
Livvie pushed her plate away, her flapjacks half eaten. “Well, October’s not so long, is it? And after that, we can announce our marriage, and I’ll move here with you, and we’ll start our lives.” She reached out and took his hand. “I don’t want to talk about anything other than the next three days right now, though. I don’t want to be sad.”
“Nor I,” Rafe said, and leaned over to kiss her. “If you’re done, we should visit Mama, see if we can get her out of that room. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you, and to see me married off.”
“I haven’t seen her in a long time, not since she took sick,” she said uneasily as she stood and folded her napkin, setting it down beside her plate. “Is she much changed?”
“Not to look at, no. But she’s… well, she’s not really there. I don’t have the words to describe it, really. She just couldn’t handle my daddy bein’ so sick, and then gone. She lost more and more of herself with every passin’ month. Me and Nackie, we did all we could, but she insisted I keep going to school, and Nackie was doin’ more and more around here with every slave she sold… I didn’t know she was gettin’ loans through your daddy to keep us goin’ or I woulda stopped her. By the time I knew, the debts had been called and the judge had declared us bankrupt.” He shrugged. “Course, I wouldn’t have gone off to Charleston to sell the timber if your daddy hadn’t a’stole the land, and I wouldn’t have rescued you and your sister, and we wouldn’t’ve fell in love. So I guess, round about, your daddy did me a favor.”
Chapter Seventeen
M ARIAH COLTON HAD AT LEAST attempted a smile, and she weakly held her hand out to take Livvie’s. But she hadn’t uttered a word, nor had she acquiesced to walk, so Rafe took her breakfast tray, and they left her to her dark musings.
After depositing the tray in the kitchen, Rafe took his wife’s hand and led her out the front door. “I want to show you something,” he said.
They walked through the stumps of the former forest, heading towards the river. The cleared land seemed desolate and sad, small saplings that had been snapped when the great trees were felled were sticking up, but their leaves were brown and dead. A few patches of wildflowers were growing, oblivious to the thin top layer of soil, and birds were flitting here and there, pecking for bugs. Pine needles carpeted the ground, mixed with wood chips and saw dust. In the distance, the sun glinted off the water, and they could see Wadmalaw rising green beyond.
Rafe had never brought Livvie to the river. It had always been his special place, shared only with his father. Before he took ill, his daddy had brought him down in the early mornings, or in the evenings before dark, and they’d fished. The drum and redfish had been welcome on their table, but more than that, Rafe cherished the times that he had his daddy to himself.
“No, thank you, Nackie. And tell mama we’ll be up shortly to visit with her. Maybe she’d like to walk outside a bit.”
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up on gettin’ her outta that room, but you can ask her, suh, you surely can. And maybe her purty new daughter can get her movin’ where we menfolks can’t.”
Filling his plate, Rafe dug in and ate half of his food before he continued their conversation. The warm flapjacks seemed to melt in his mouth, the honey filled his senses with a sweetness he hadn’t tasted in a month or more, and being able to have more than two eggs encouraged him to eat five. Livvie laughed as he kept eating.
“You are a bit skinny,” she said, teasing. “Maybe you could just eat the honey with a spoon.”
“Don’t laugh, I just might!” he answered, biting into another egg, savoring the rich flavor of the yolk.
“I only got to stay in til the end of October. Odds are, we’ll sit up there in Virginia and darn our socks and play a lot of cards in front of the campfire.”
Livvie pushed her plate away, her flapjacks half eaten. “Well, October’s not so long, is it? And after that, we can announce our marriage, and I’ll move here with you, and we’ll start our lives.” She reached out and took his hand. “I don’t want to talk about anything other than the next three days right now, though. I don’t want to be sad.”
“Nor I,” Rafe said, and leaned over to kiss her. “If you’re done, we should visit Mama, see if we can get her out of that room. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you, and to see me married off.”
“I haven’t seen her in a long time, not since she took sick,” she said uneasily as she stood and folded her napkin, setting it down beside her plate. “Is she much changed?”
“Not to look at, no. But she’s… well, she’s not really there. I don’t have the words to describe it, really. She just couldn’t handle my daddy bein’ so sick, and then gone. She lost more and more of herself with every passin’ month. Me and Nackie, we did all we could, but she insisted I keep going to school, and Nackie was doin’ more and more around here with every slave she sold… I didn’t know she was gettin’ loans through your daddy to keep us goin’ or I woulda stopped her. By the time I knew, the debts had been called and the judge had declared us bankrupt.” He shrugged. “Course, I wouldn’t have gone off to Charleston to sell the timber if your daddy hadn’t a’stole the land, and I wouldn’t have rescued you and your sister, and we wouldn’t’ve fell in love. So I guess, round about, your daddy did me a favor.”
Chapter Seventeen
M ARIAH COLTON HAD AT LEAST attempted a smile, and she weakly held her hand out to take Livvie’s. But she hadn’t uttered a word, nor had she acquiesced to walk, so Rafe took her breakfast tray, and they left her to her dark musings.
After depositing the tray in the kitchen, Rafe took his wife’s hand and led her out the front door. “I want to show you something,” he said.
They walked through the stumps of the former forest, heading towards the river. The cleared land seemed desolate and sad, small saplings that had been snapped when the great trees were felled were sticking up, but their leaves were brown and dead. A few patches of wildflowers were growing, oblivious to the thin top layer of soil, and birds were flitting here and there, pecking for bugs. Pine needles carpeted the ground, mixed with wood chips and saw dust. In the distance, the sun glinted off the water, and they could see Wadmalaw rising green beyond.
Rafe had never brought Livvie to the river. It had always been his special place, shared only with his father. Before he took ill, his daddy had brought him down in the early mornings, or in the evenings before dark, and they’d fished. The drum and redfish had been welcome on their table, but more than that, Rafe cherished the times that he had his daddy to himself.
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