Wild, Beautiful, and Free(57)

“He brought me as far as Barbourville. Paid an old farmer to get me as far as Cincinnati. I walked the rest of the way.”

“Oh, Dorinda.”

“It’s all right. Lawd help me, I could have flapped my arms and flown here. That’s how happy I am that you’re alive.”

I stood up and walked around the table three times. I couldn’t sit anymore. The prospect of seeing home again was so big, so glorious. “Is Mr. Louden waiting for you?”

“Yes. He’s staying at that farmer’s house. If I’m not back by the first of June, we agreed he’d go on back without me.”

Templeton chafed at this. “Why you got to go back at all? We live a good life here. You’d be free.”

Dorinda sucked her teeth and said nothing. She looked at me. She looked at me because she knew I knew her answer.

“I can be ready in the morning, Dorinda. I’ll go back with you.”

“Believe me, I’d like nothing better. But Miss Calista told me to tell you it ain’t safe for you to come home yet. Madame could cause trouble, and on account of you running away from where they sent you, they might come get you. That man she sent you off with even come sniffing round to see if we’d had sight of you.”

“Amesbury,” I whispered.

“Yeah, that’s the name. Anyway, she figures things might change ’cause of the fighting. She wants you home, but when it’s safe.”

I dropped my head and palmed the locket in my hand. “Not yet?” I asked. I sat next to her again and pulled from my pocket the stone she’d given me. Her hand flew to her mouth.

“No, chérie. Not yet.” She touched the stone and nodded and smiled. “But soon. Soon!”

I sighed. “All right. But I will take you back to Mr. Louden.”

“You?”

“Yes. You can’t go alone, and none of the men can be spared.”

“What if someone stops us?”

“If necessary, I’ll be white. In fact I will dress carefully and speak as though you are my servant. Can you do that?”

“Miss Bébinn,” said Templeton, “I can’t let you do this. She’s my aunt, my blood.”

“You have a family and work here that must be done,” I said. “Don’t worry.” I looked at Dorinda and kissed her forehead. “She is my family too.

“Dorinda,” I told her, “get some rest. We’ll leave in the morning. I don’t know how long the trip will take. We can’t risk you missing Mr. Louden.”

“Thank you. I know it’ll be all right. Got this far. Going back will be nothing. I’ll have you with me.”

“Templeton, find us a small cart, anything a horse can pull. I’ll bring food for us when I come back in the morning.”

“You’ll tell Mr. Colchester? He won’t like it.”

“Yes, I will do it now.”

But I didn’t want to leave. I fell to my knees at Dorinda’s lap and took her hands. I held them to my face, wet them with my tears.

“It’s gonna be all right, honey,” she said. “You go on. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Mr. Colchester was in his study with Mr. Parma and Mr. Morgan. I knocked at the door and entered. They seemed to be studying a large map spread out on his desk. Mr. Colchester looked up, and I noted his surprise.

“May I have a word with you, sir?”

He nodded and escorted me to the library, where he closed the door, took a seat, and waited. “Yes, Miss Bébinn?”

“Mr. Colchester, I want a leave of absence for two or three weeks.”

“Now? When we’re on the brink of a war? What to do—where to go?”

“To escort a lady friend back to her chaperone, who will see her the rest of the way home. She came all this way to see me.”

He stood, alarmed. I wished he had stayed in the chair. It was easier to speak to him when he was at my eye level. He paced the room. “What lady? Where does she live?”

“She is Templeton’s aunt, but she’s a slave in the home where I was a child. At Catalpa Valley Plantation.”

“Louisiana? You can’t make it that far, two women alone. You can’t be serious!”

“She was sent with a man who brought her as far as the river. I intend to help her cross again and meet him in Kentucky.”

He frowned. “Why would her owner allow this? And why, if she’s Templeton’s aunt, doesn’t she stay here and remain free?”

I swallowed. “Her owner is my half sister. She is Calista Bébinn.”

“You’ve always said you had no relations.”

I lowered my eyes to the floor. “Sir, I didn’t mean to lie to you. Calista’s mother sold me into slavery, and she is still the mistress of Catalpa Valley. She was jealous and angry that Papa left land to me. Calista didn’t know where I was. I was as good as dead to them and they to me.”

“This is madness. I won’t let you anywhere near such a place or such a person.”

“Yes, sir, but I am not going back. My sister has sent word that it is not safe. But I do intend to help Dorinda, who came all this way to bring word of my family.”

He went to the window and stood looking out, silent.