Antebellum BK 1 (16 page)

“
Didn’t mean it as no compliment. You bein’ beautiful weren’t none of your doin’. God done that. The parts of you that you made ain’t so pretty as the parts He made.”

“
You’re a miserable old coot.” She jabbed him again with her elbow.

“
True enough.”

She pointed ahead. “Do you see that line of poplar trees?”

“
Yup.”

“
That’s the road to my brother’s place. The plantation house – I mean the hacienda – is over there in that big grove of cottonwood trees, near the river. You can see the red tile roof if you look close.”

“
Looks big. Must be quite a place.”

“
I suppose it is. The lawyers said that it was worth over a million dollars, but that I’d be lucky to get half that if I freed the slaves.”

“
Slaves?”

“
The principal crops are cotton and rice. I’m told that neither can be grown profitably without slaves.”

“
But yer gonna free ‘em anyway.”

She nodded.

“
Never took you for an abolitionist, Marina.”

“
That may be because you never took me for a former slave.”

“
What?” He turned to look at her.

“
John Van Buskirk bought me from a sleazy bartender in New Orleans.”

“
Bullshit.”

“
I was a swindler, a card-cheat, a shill and a whore.”

“
I knew some o’ that but I never knew that you was Yank’s slave.”

“
I wasn’t
his
slave. Well – not for very long, anyway. He bought me, set me free, married me and gave me a job as an interpreter, all at the same time. It’s rather a complicated story.”

“
How come I didn’t know it?”

She shrugged. “It was such a long time ago that it seems to have happened in a different world.”

“
So how comes you to run away from him and your kids?”

“
I felt like I’d never been free. I went from being a slave in a bar to being a slave to my husband and children. I wanted my own life.”

“
Guess your own life weren’t so good if you had to come runnin’ back with the law on your heels.”

“
No. It wasn’t so good. When you come right down to brass tacks, the only good thing in my life was John Van Buskirk.”

“
And me.”

She smiled. “And you. Turn here.”

Whipple guided the leads onto the lane and peered at the fields beyond the poplars. “That’s not cotton and it sure ain’t rice.”

“
I didn’t say that cotton and rice were the only crops,” Marina replied. “Those are chili peppers on the right and pinto beans on the left. They also grow squash and melons.”

“
So where do the slaves and farm workers live?”

“
In the village.”

“
That’s peculiar.”

“
Why?”

“
I just never heard of no such of a thing before. In the South the slaves and workers live on the plantation.”

Marina shrugged. “I don’t see the difference. The village is on my brother’s land.”

“
You own a village?”

“
Well – yes. I guess so.”

“
I think you should get another opinion about how much the whole barrel-full is worth. A million don’t sound like near enough.”

She looked at him for several seconds. “Josiah. Did you know that John’s – Yank’s family was old New York money?”

“
Might have heard that. Why?”

“
Because I’m already so rich that this place doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

“
Oh. That must be nice.”

She made a face at him. “How much did you get when you sold that section of land to Thomas?”

“
Don’t rightly recall. The lawyers made the business and put the money in a New York bank for me. Why?”

She chuckled. “Because of your ‘must be nice’ comment.”

“
Oh. You mean I’m prob’ly near rich too?”

“
No ‘prob’ly’ about it.”

“
That’s the thing about money, I reckon. It ain’t really important so long as you got enough. Reckon that between us, we got enough?”

“
I reckon,” she said, imitating his drawl.

“
Do you suppose gettin’ married would make any sense?” he asked.

“
Not much.”

“
Well. Think about it.”

“
Okay, I will.” She pointed. “There’s the house.”

“
Well now. I never knew they could stack adobes that high.”

“
A little pretentious.”

“
Oh, I don’t know. If yer brother had a lot of free mud and free labor he might as well of put it to use.”

Marina cackled. “I don’t know why you continue to surprise me, Josiah, but you do.”

“
Now that’s good, Marina. ‘Cause when a man gets too predictable he might as well be dead.”

September 13, 1850

San Francisco, California

T
he bartender walked to the end of the bar and wiped at an invisible spot with his towel. “The gentleman with his back to us at table six.”

“
Thank you.” Clementine slipped off the barstool and walked toward the table that the bartender had indicated. “Good evening,” she said as she reached the table.

“
Good evening, my dear sister-in-law.” William Van Buskirk turned in his chair to smile up at her.

She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands to stifle a scream.

“
Please have a seat.”

“
This isn’t what it seems, Billy,” she stammered.

“
It never is.” He pointed to the chair across the table. “Sit.”

Clementine hesitated for a long moment and then sat down. “What do you want, Billy?”

“
Only what I paid for.”

“
I wish that was true, but straight sex was never your style.”

“
We once made beautiful music together, Clem.”

“
Until you started beating me.”

“
Beating you? Really? Me? I don’t remember that.”

“
I still have the scars on my butt to prove it.”

“
Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, I do fondly remember your firm little derrière. Shame on me if I’ve disfigured such perfection. You might be interested to learn that I no longer employ whips. I’ve found that paddles produce nearly the same results without damaging the flesh.”

“
I don’t have much money of my own, Billy – and Jack has me on an allowance. But…”

He stopped her with a raised hand. “Keep your money, Clementine. I have a sufficient amount of my own.”

“
Then what do you want from me?” she asked too loudly.

“
Speak softly,” William warned. “When one has secrets, such as you and I have, inviting attention is a serious mistake.”

She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. But I know that you want something...”

“
Of course I do.”

She opened her eyes, looked at him, and waited.

“
I want to know the latest news of my family,” he said after a long silence, “and I want you to tell it to me.”

“
Really? Just family news?” She smiled and pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Okay. Let me see. Hmm. Well, I guess you heard that…”

“
In my room,” he interrupted. “Nude.”

“
What?” Her eyes went wide.

“
I find that now, in addition to hearing the news; I have a need to see those scars that you mentioned.”

“
What?”

“
Pay attention.”

“
I am. What is it that you want?”

“
I want you to take this key, go up to my room, remove your clothing and wait for me.” He pushed the key across the table toward her. “When I join you, I shall want you to tell me all the family news.”

Clementine looked at the key as if it might bite her. “Let me guess. You plan on tying me to the bed and torturing me while I tell you the family news.”

“
Tempting, but you are, after all is said and done, my brother’s lawfully wedded wife. Tying you to my bed and torturing you would be a violation of brotherly trust.”

“
But me bein’ naked in your room isn’t a violation of that trust?”

“
If you voluntarily appear naked in my room, I don’t see how trust would be at issue.”

Clementine snatched up the key and stood up. “Let’s get this over with.”

“
A wise decision,” William said. “Oh, by the way. I’ve a seat at a poker game that will be starting soon, so you may have to wait for me.”

“
The longer the wait the better.”

“
Is that so? I thought that I had remembered you having some irrational fear of being alone at night.”

“
You’re a sick bastard, Billy.”

He pointed his finger at her. “Just be sure you’re in that room and naked when I arrive.”

“
I heard you before.”

“
Then heed my words. If you leave the room or get dressed before I arrive, Jack will get a full report of your activities including names, dates and signed affidavits from some of your clients.”

She turned on her heel, walked out of the lounge and into the lobby.

William waited until Clementine was out of sight, then he picked up the small bag that was under his table and took it to the front desk. “Williams is the name. I’ll be checking out immediately.”

“
Yes, Mr. Williams,” the clerk said. “Was everything satisfactory?”

“
Quite satisfactory.”

“
Your key, please?”

“
Oh, yes. The key. Now
that’s
a slight problem. You see there’s a very beautiful young lady in my room who currently has possession of the key. Regrettably, she has developed an emotional attachment to me and it has become necessary for me to slip away. Asking her for the key would tip my hand, so to speak.”

“
Hmm. Well, yes sir…”

“
How would it be if I paid for the key?”

The clerk shook his head. “If I reported a key missing the entire lock mechanism would need to be changed. Hotel policy, you see.”

“
Yes. I do see. Then how would it be if I paid rent on the room for another night?”

“
I don’t think that will be of any use if…”

“
If she hasn’t vacated before midnight you can evict her.” He began counting out twenty dollar gold pieces. “I should think that might be rather a pleasant task.”

The clerk was shaking his head. “The hotel’s liability…”

“
Did I mention that she is quite rarely beautiful?” William caught the clerk’s wrist and before the alarmed man could pull free, William had pressed several gold coins into his palm. “Should the happy task of evicting our young lady fall upon you…” He looked furtively around the lobby, then lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “She sleeps in the nude and likes it rough. Very rough. She’ll tell you that she must wait for me, but if you offer yourself as my substitute, you won’t be disappointed. Don’t take no for an answer. It’s only a game she likes to play.”

“
I’m sure that we can accommodate you, sir.”

“
I was hoping you would say that.”

September 15, 1850

San Francisco, California

J
ack came into the living room of the hotel suite and tossed his hat on the couch. “Clem? Are you home?”

“
If you can call a hotel room home,” she said from the doorway of the bedroom.