The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,314

lifted his chin and put his hand on his coat, taking comfort in the crackle of paper from the inside pockets.

“I have an appointment with Mrs. Potter, and letters of reference from the President himself.”

“The President of what?” Robert Lee drawled.

Carson Mylam frowned. It wasn’t the first time he’d encountered uneducated beings in this part of the country and feared it wouldn’t be his last.

“Why… of our country, of course,” he said, and added with a smirk. “Surely you’re aware of your nation’s leader.”

“Out here, the name doesn’t come up all that much. I’d say I’m about as aware of him as he is of me,” Robert Lee drawled, then fixed Carson with a pointed stare. “You’re wearing Union blue.”

Carson lifted his chin.

“Surely I am not in the presence of a southern sympathizer?”

“The only thing in sympathy out here is gold.”

Carson fidgeted. The mere mention of the word was why he’d come.

“As I said before, I have an appointment with Mrs. Potter.”

“Get down and give me your gun,” Robert Lee said.

“Now see here! I am an officer in the United States Army and I—”

“I said it once. I won’t say it again,” Robert Lee said, and then added. “And just for your own information, you might want to downplay the war and officer part. Mrs. Potter’s husband was shot dead right in front of her in her own yard a few months back. At the moment, she’s not too fond of men with guns.”

Carson stifled a moan of dismay. Obviously, he hadn’t thought the mission through from her point of view. He dismounted, handed Robert Lee his pistol, and then followed the man toward the house, leading his horse. It was not the arrival that he’d planned.

“So, how long have you worked for Mrs. Potter?” Carson asked.

Robert Lee gave the man a quick glance, but didn’t bother to answer.

Being ignored by a man he viewed as from a lower class, aggravated Carson enough that he spoke out before he thought.

“Marvelous… he’s not only ignorant but hard of hearing. I say, where were you born… in a barn?”

Robert Lee stopped. For a few moments, he just stared at the ground without speaking. For Carson, the silence became uncomfortable, then threatening. When Robert Lee finally looked up, the glitter in his eyes was all the warning Carson knew he was going to get.

“Actually, I was born in Virginia,” Robert Lee said. “When I left it, which was several years ago, my father, Justin Slade, was governor. I learned to read at the age of four from the tutor father hired for me and my four brothers and sisters. I speak Latin and French…” Robert Lee paused briefly, and then added. “…and nobody has been able to out draw me since the day I shot my first man. So, I suggest you get your sorry blue-ass up to the house, state your business, and then get on back to where you came from while the gettin’ is good.”

Carson felt an instant urge to pee. However, stating the need was not something he could say to a man like this. Not only did he feel out of place in this wild, socially inept country, but he was obviously in the presence of a southern sympathizer. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into.

Katie was the first to see the men coming.

“Look, Miz Delilah… Robert Lee’s bringing a visitor.”

Delilah stopped and looked up. She knew Letty was expected a visitor and got up quickly, brushing the dirt from her hands as she waved Katie into the house.

“Go inside and tell Miz Letty that her company is here.”

“No one’s in the house. They’re all out back making soap,” Katie said.

“Oh lord,” Delilah muttered, thinking of what they would all be wearing. Whatever it was, it was bound to be dusty, and smeared with ashes and animal renderings. “It doesn’t matter what they’re doing. Letty still needs to know her company is here. You let her know. The rest of what happens is her affair.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Katie said, and scampered around the back of the house with T-Bone at her heels.

Letty saw Katie and T-Bone running toward her and paused, absently rubbing a hand at her aching back and smiling at the sight.

“Hey there, honey… what’s the rush?” she asked.

Katie pointed toward the front of the house.

“Robert Lee is bringing your company up the road.”

Letty looked down at her hands, then her clothes, and shrugged. In the grand scheme of things, it mattered little.

“Thank you,