Read Online Mississippi Raider by J.T. Edson - Free Book Online

had caused the death of her
parents.
    Alarmed by the reports he was given about
the disturbance, Colonel Dennis T. Thatcher had come from his home
as fast as his horse could carry him. He had been accompanied by
his male dinner guests, including Doctor Calvin Soames and a couple
of politicians involved in the ever-worsening dispute that was
growing over whether Louisiana should join the other Southern
states in announcing secession from the Union. Vincent Boyd would
have been attending, but he had had the fox hunt planned before
learning it was to take place and suspected there might be no more
for some time, since all the younger men were to enroll in the Army
of the Confederate States as soon as word came that hostilities
were commenced.
    Being in favor of secession and
knowing how useful they would be in that capacity, also how such a
pleasurable experience was certain to be curtailed once they
entered the service, the Colonel had agreed that the outing must
take place as arranged and excused his old friend from the need to
attend on that account. He and the men accompanying him were
distressed to discover that they had arrived too late to supply
the intended
succor. However, the doctor had examined Mattie Jonias and stated
his approval of the way in which Phillipe Front de Boeuf had dealt
with the treatment of her wound and announced, to Belle’s relief,
that she was already on the road to recovery.
    For her part, relieved by the
good news about the elderly Negress who was now the closest person
to her in the world, the girl had been taken to the Thatcher
family ’s
mansion and instructed by its owner and his wife, Margaret, to
consider it her home for as long as she wished to remain. Although
grateful for the kindness and hospitality she received, she had not
allowed herself to be swayed from her determination to seek revenge
against the two men she held most responsible for everything that
happened to Baton Roy ale Manor, and especially the murder of her
parents. What was more, every member of the foxhunting expedition
in which she and her father had engaged offered his services in any
way they might be needed. They had stated that they would be
willing to forgo joining the regiments to which they were already
assigned until having helped her achieve her vengeance regardless
of whether or not they were given official sanction to do so, but
she had refused to let them chance ruining their careers by taking
such a course in her behalf.
    Supplied with names of the other
participants—and in some cases the most likely places to look—by
the three captives taken during the fighting at the mansion—without
inquiring too closely into how the information was obtained even
though it was all too apparent that this had not been supplied on a
voluntary basis—the sheriff of Baton Rouge Parish was doing
everything he could to bring the rest of the mob to justice.
Several were caught and stood trial for their participation, while
others were killed resisting arrest. However, the two who mattered
most to Belle had succeeded in making good their escape. What was
more, by having fled to the North according to all he learned, they
were considered by the peace officer as being beyond his or any
other Southern jurisdiction.
    Consumed by her bitter hatred
of the pair she had seen kill her mother and father though she was,
but refusing to let it cloud her judgment to a point where she
could not think properly about the enormity of the task she was
setting herself, the girl had had most useful allies in her quest.
Under the orders of Mattie and Tobias Jonias, both of whom wielded
considerable power over them—the former having acquired a
reputation for being a “conjure woman” of considerable potency—the
colored people from the plantation and surrounding area had given
assistance that provided information she could not have obtained
through any other source. It was from them that Belle learned the
only names by which she would ever