Read Online The Duchess and the Dragon by Jamie Carie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jamie Carie
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miss.” He pressed his lips together as he watched the soul-drivers dividing the indentured into groups. “I’m not exactly sure how I ended up in this business, you see.” He looked at Serena and gave her a tight smile, then turned brisk. “I have an even better deal for you, Miss Winter. Since you are so in love with the sick ones down there, I’ll sell the lot of them to you for half the price I’m getting from these soul-drivers. You can find them indentures. But
I want them out by noon tomorrow.” Almost to himself he added, “They’ll probably be dead by then anyway.”
With that announcement, he walked away, leaving Serena standing there, her mouth open.
What had she done? She turned, then started when she found Mary Ann and Beatrice behind her. Mary Ann rushed over. “What happened, Rena? Are they going to take the sick, too?”
“No.” She looked at Mary Ann wide-eyed. “I believe I have just bought the sick in the hold . . . or promised that the Friends would.”
“ What? ” Mary Ann gaped at her.
“It will be all right.” Serena assured, not at all sure that was true. She turned to include Beatrice. “We will see if we can find homes for them among the Friends until they are well, then perhaps we can help them find indentures.”
Beatrice, a plump, round-faced woman with a gentle face, didn’t hesitate. “I will take Molly, the pregnant woman, home with me. She can stay until the babe is born and perhaps beyond that. I could use a helper, but I will have to discuss it with Foster.”
Serena nodded. “Thank thee. That should help.” She turned back to Mary Ann. “Father will know what to do with the rest.” She hoped.
It was nearly dark when the girls got back home, rushing to the kitchen where they knew they would find their mother at this hour.
“Mother, thou wilt not believe what Serena has done!”
At her younger daughter’s exclamation, Leah Winter, a pretty woman with light-brown hair and eyes, turned from the stove and looked Serena over with concern. “What has happened?”
Serena shook her head. “We are fine. It is about the indentured, is all.” Serena shot Mary Ann a don’t-say-another-word look.
Their mother nodded, smiling, soft wrinkles crinkling the skin around her eyes. “Good. Please wash up and set the table before I hear it, then. Thy sisters have been very spirited this afternoon, and I am running behind time. Father will be home any second.”
The girls headed for the washbasin, knowing that doing anything else at this hour would be fruitless. Supper was always ready and waiting for their father the minute he walked in the door at six o’clock. It was a ritual not to be toyed with. And besides, they may as well tell the story to both during the meal.
With six daughters—ranging from twenty-one-year-old Serena to Lidy, who had just turned four—their father, Josiah Winter, was rather spoiled. He was waited upon, doted on, and made to feel a king from the moment he walked in till he blew out the last candle and slipped into his cool, crisply ironed sheets. His wife ran her household like a well-commandeered ship where the simple, basic comforts of a clean home, wholesome food, and contented children were the rule, not the exception.
Not that Serena’s father didn’t work hard. As one of the few silversmiths in the area, he was hard-pressed to keep up with the orders from a prospering society. Philadelphia was on the verge of becoming one of the major seaports of the world and its people were becoming rich.
Serena and Mary Ann kept their silence as they took their seats and bowed their heads for thanksgiving. After two bites their mother turned laughing eyes to her husband. “I think the girls are bursting with news. Shall we let them tell it now?”
Mischief sparkled in her mother’s eyes at the faintly alarmed expression on Serena’s father’s face.
“What is it, girls? Did something happen at the ship this afternoon?”
It took them
I want them out by noon tomorrow.” Almost to himself he added, “They’ll probably be dead by then anyway.”
With that announcement, he walked away, leaving Serena standing there, her mouth open.
What had she done? She turned, then started when she found Mary Ann and Beatrice behind her. Mary Ann rushed over. “What happened, Rena? Are they going to take the sick, too?”
“No.” She looked at Mary Ann wide-eyed. “I believe I have just bought the sick in the hold . . . or promised that the Friends would.”
“ What? ” Mary Ann gaped at her.
“It will be all right.” Serena assured, not at all sure that was true. She turned to include Beatrice. “We will see if we can find homes for them among the Friends until they are well, then perhaps we can help them find indentures.”
Beatrice, a plump, round-faced woman with a gentle face, didn’t hesitate. “I will take Molly, the pregnant woman, home with me. She can stay until the babe is born and perhaps beyond that. I could use a helper, but I will have to discuss it with Foster.”
Serena nodded. “Thank thee. That should help.” She turned back to Mary Ann. “Father will know what to do with the rest.” She hoped.
It was nearly dark when the girls got back home, rushing to the kitchen where they knew they would find their mother at this hour.
“Mother, thou wilt not believe what Serena has done!”
At her younger daughter’s exclamation, Leah Winter, a pretty woman with light-brown hair and eyes, turned from the stove and looked Serena over with concern. “What has happened?”
Serena shook her head. “We are fine. It is about the indentured, is all.” Serena shot Mary Ann a don’t-say-another-word look.
Their mother nodded, smiling, soft wrinkles crinkling the skin around her eyes. “Good. Please wash up and set the table before I hear it, then. Thy sisters have been very spirited this afternoon, and I am running behind time. Father will be home any second.”
The girls headed for the washbasin, knowing that doing anything else at this hour would be fruitless. Supper was always ready and waiting for their father the minute he walked in the door at six o’clock. It was a ritual not to be toyed with. And besides, they may as well tell the story to both during the meal.
With six daughters—ranging from twenty-one-year-old Serena to Lidy, who had just turned four—their father, Josiah Winter, was rather spoiled. He was waited upon, doted on, and made to feel a king from the moment he walked in till he blew out the last candle and slipped into his cool, crisply ironed sheets. His wife ran her household like a well-commandeered ship where the simple, basic comforts of a clean home, wholesome food, and contented children were the rule, not the exception.
Not that Serena’s father didn’t work hard. As one of the few silversmiths in the area, he was hard-pressed to keep up with the orders from a prospering society. Philadelphia was on the verge of becoming one of the major seaports of the world and its people were becoming rich.
Serena and Mary Ann kept their silence as they took their seats and bowed their heads for thanksgiving. After two bites their mother turned laughing eyes to her husband. “I think the girls are bursting with news. Shall we let them tell it now?”
Mischief sparkled in her mother’s eyes at the faintly alarmed expression on Serena’s father’s face.
“What is it, girls? Did something happen at the ship this afternoon?”
It took them
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