menswear.
"I know she's there, Arnold," Gabe said, calmly adjusting what Arnold had done on the necktie. "You have to get used to her," he teased. "You'll find critters like her all over
the house this time of year. Well, step out into the open, miss. Do you have something important to tell me?"
"Yes."
"I'm waiting."
It was about the lotion Granville had brought home from Mexico. He was wearing it. I was disappointed in him. He never used such rot.
"You smell like a pimp," I told him. "You go downstairs smelling like that and Pa will put you with the hogs."
He stopped fixing his cravat. He adjusted the suspenders on his shoulders. He looked like I'd thrown yesterday's hog slop in his face. "Where'd you learn that word?"
I shrugged. "I know just about as much as Sis Goose does about things."
"Do you now?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well then, you better know enough to run for your life right now, little girl. Because if I catch you, I'll take you right to Granville and you can tell him your opinion about the lotion he brought home. And we'll let him decide what to do with you. You know Granville's not very patient with little girls who bad-mouth their elders. Did you know that?"
My stomach was starting to churn. I shook my head no.
"Now, go on. Get the hell out of here."
He must have drank too much last night, I decided, or he'd never speak to me like that. That in itself was worse than anything Granville could do to me. I left.
***
T WENTY MINUTES later we were all seated around Mama's Christmas breakfast table, eating the specialties I and Sis Goose and Mama and the servants had prepared all week. Everything between Gabe and me had been forgotten, or so it seemed. Mr. Smith was still in Pa's study with him.
Pa had sent out word for us to go ahead and eat.
The boys were solemn on this visit, because the end of the war was in sight. And the South was bound to lose. Granville had brought the big-city newspapers, like gold to us, and they all said Atlanta, Georgia, had fallen in the autumn.
Ma comforted the boys. She said they'd fought the good fight and that was all that mattered. After all, the Yankees weren't here yet. We might still get a spring crop planted before they came and freed all the slaves.
I finished my breakfast and went to stand by Gabe, hoping to be forgiven and not sent away. These were serious matters they were discussing, and I needed comfort.
He took me on his lap as he told of rumors that certain groups of men were talking of running off in vigilante actions, to the west. Outriders, thieves, if necessary.
Mama said she didn't want to hear any talk about running off and joining a passel of rebels hiding in the hinterlands and holding out against the Yankees. That we had to get on with our lives, and if either Granville or Gabe did such a thing, she'd gather a group of ranch hands and come find them and whip them good.
Both my brothers smiled for the first time that morning.
"We have to figure out how we're going to run this place without slave labor," she said. "Some planters are talking about hiring Scottish laborers."
I loved listening to discussions like this, to the words that flew back and forth like doves between my family. I loved listening and learning. I leaned my head back on Gabe's chest, heard his heart, then heard something else.
"
Psst,
Luli, come here. Now."
The door to Pa's study was open just wide enough so Sis Goose and I could peek in without being seen.
"He's so tall," Sis Goose whispered of the man inside there with my pa.
"Yes. And handsome. Almost as handsome as Gabe."
"Why is he wearing a uniform?" she asked me.
"It's the uniform of a ship's captain," I told her. It was a wild guess, but the uniform was blue and I was sure he wasn't a Yankee.
"Luli, get away from that door." Gabe's voice floated down the hall from the dining room.
We didn't move right away. We continued peeking.
"Luli, you want me to come over there?"
If he did, what would he do? Pull me away and
"I know she's there, Arnold," Gabe said, calmly adjusting what Arnold had done on the necktie. "You have to get used to her," he teased. "You'll find critters like her all over
the house this time of year. Well, step out into the open, miss. Do you have something important to tell me?"
"Yes."
"I'm waiting."
It was about the lotion Granville had brought home from Mexico. He was wearing it. I was disappointed in him. He never used such rot.
"You smell like a pimp," I told him. "You go downstairs smelling like that and Pa will put you with the hogs."
He stopped fixing his cravat. He adjusted the suspenders on his shoulders. He looked like I'd thrown yesterday's hog slop in his face. "Where'd you learn that word?"
I shrugged. "I know just about as much as Sis Goose does about things."
"Do you now?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well then, you better know enough to run for your life right now, little girl. Because if I catch you, I'll take you right to Granville and you can tell him your opinion about the lotion he brought home. And we'll let him decide what to do with you. You know Granville's not very patient with little girls who bad-mouth their elders. Did you know that?"
My stomach was starting to churn. I shook my head no.
"Now, go on. Get the hell out of here."
He must have drank too much last night, I decided, or he'd never speak to me like that. That in itself was worse than anything Granville could do to me. I left.
***
T WENTY MINUTES later we were all seated around Mama's Christmas breakfast table, eating the specialties I and Sis Goose and Mama and the servants had prepared all week. Everything between Gabe and me had been forgotten, or so it seemed. Mr. Smith was still in Pa's study with him.
Pa had sent out word for us to go ahead and eat.
The boys were solemn on this visit, because the end of the war was in sight. And the South was bound to lose. Granville had brought the big-city newspapers, like gold to us, and they all said Atlanta, Georgia, had fallen in the autumn.
Ma comforted the boys. She said they'd fought the good fight and that was all that mattered. After all, the Yankees weren't here yet. We might still get a spring crop planted before they came and freed all the slaves.
I finished my breakfast and went to stand by Gabe, hoping to be forgiven and not sent away. These were serious matters they were discussing, and I needed comfort.
He took me on his lap as he told of rumors that certain groups of men were talking of running off in vigilante actions, to the west. Outriders, thieves, if necessary.
Mama said she didn't want to hear any talk about running off and joining a passel of rebels hiding in the hinterlands and holding out against the Yankees. That we had to get on with our lives, and if either Granville or Gabe did such a thing, she'd gather a group of ranch hands and come find them and whip them good.
Both my brothers smiled for the first time that morning.
"We have to figure out how we're going to run this place without slave labor," she said. "Some planters are talking about hiring Scottish laborers."
I loved listening to discussions like this, to the words that flew back and forth like doves between my family. I loved listening and learning. I leaned my head back on Gabe's chest, heard his heart, then heard something else.
"
Psst,
Luli, come here. Now."
The door to Pa's study was open just wide enough so Sis Goose and I could peek in without being seen.
"He's so tall," Sis Goose whispered of the man inside there with my pa.
"Yes. And handsome. Almost as handsome as Gabe."
"Why is he wearing a uniform?" she asked me.
"It's the uniform of a ship's captain," I told her. It was a wild guess, but the uniform was blue and I was sure he wasn't a Yankee.
"Luli, get away from that door." Gabe's voice floated down the hall from the dining room.
We didn't move right away. We continued peeking.
"Luli, you want me to come over there?"
If he did, what would he do? Pull me away and
Similar Books
