A/N: This is my first story in this fandom, and I'm still new to writing anything from this long ago! I hope you enjoy it :)
Winter, 1877
The snow was knee deep and she could scarcely move through it, but she did her best, keeping her hands up to avoid the branches that whipped at her from all sides. She had to keep moving, she had no idea if those men were still after her, or if they'd seen her at all. She'd been hiding in the barn, and they'd been too busy having their fun inside of her house. She could still hear her momma screaming, and she stopped a moment, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. When she looked back over her shoulder, she saw a faint amber glow through the trees. Her family's home continued to burn to the ground, and she lifted up her skirts and ran.
She had no idea how long she'd been running, but eventually the woods gave way to the Tug Fork River. Even in the dark, she figured out where she was and she let out a tiny sigh of relief as she stepped onto the bridge that led away from Kentucky into West Virginia. Off in the distance behind her, she could hear men shouting. She forced herself not to freeze as she darted across the bridge. The wood was covered in slush and she slipped a few times, but she was able to keep her balance long enough to make it to West Virginia soil.
It seemed longer than an hour since she'd escaped the barn and started running. The men who had come to her house had worn tattered Yankee uniforms, and although the war was over, she knew that they had once been soldiers. They had come looking for money, or any valuables that they could steal. Her daddy had tried to ward them off, but they were quicker on the draw and they shot him dead.
She'd seen all of this through a crack in the barn door, where she'd abandoned her game of hide and seek she'd been playing with her brothers and sister in favor of reading up in the hayloft. The men charged into the house, and she'd heard one shot after another as they killed her siblings. Her momma had been last, and she could only imagine what those men had done to her before they killed her, judging by her screams. Not one member of her family gave her up or called out to her before they died, and she took her chance to run while the men were still in the house. She had nothing but the clothes on her back, all of her childhood possessions up in flames when the men lit the fire.
Her cheek stung terribly, and she paused, touching the broken skin lightly. A branch had caught her when she'd entered the woods, leaving a deep vertical gash beneath her eye. Shivering violently, she crouched by the river and rinsed the blood off as best she could. The freezing water was a shock to her system, and she hurried to her feet again to keep moving. She didn't know how much farther she was going to make it, the cold weather and her soaked clothes chilling her to the bone. If she made it to safety, she would probably die of pneumonia. It never got quite as dark during the winter, but she still had a hard time figuring the road out in the snow. She tripped over a rock hidden beneath the white powder, falling to her hands and knees. With a quiet curse, she stumbled to her feet and kept on going. In the distance, she heard horses and men talking. Icy fear washed over her, but she kept going.
"Help me!" She cried out, and she kept shouting until her voice was hoarse. Falling to her knees, she began to cry. Up ahead, she saw the bright light of a lantern, and she scrabbled through the snow. "Help me, please!" The sounds got closer, but she felt herself going lightheaded.
"Who's there? Identify yourself!" A man called back. She heard a horse whinny mere inches away from her, and the lanterns warmth washed over her face.
"Help…" She whispered, trying to pull herself to her feet. But exhaustion overtook her, and she collapsed back into the snow, everything growing dark.
Her eyes blinked open slowly, expecting to see that she was still lying in the middle of the road, half frozen in the snow. But instead she found herself lying in a bed, wearing a night gown that wasn't hers. The room she was in was chilly, but she was covered in a few warm quilts. And she also saw that she wasn't alone; a dark haired woman was on the other side of the room, ringing out a rag from a bowl of water. On the opposite side of the room, a man was sitting in the chair smoking a pipe. He saw that she was awake, and offered her a kind smile.
"Levicy," The woman at the basin turned around to look at her, concern in her dark eyes. She came over and rested the cool cloth on her forehead. "'Bout time you woke up. You gave us all quite a fright."
"How long have I been sleepin'?" she asked, her voice scratchy. The woman, Levicy, sat down on the edge of the bed. Her fingers were gentle as she examined the gash on her cheek, but the girl still flinched.
"Three days. What's your name, girl?" Levicy wondered.
"Lissette Beaumont." She answered. The man got up from his chair and walked over, helping Lissette sit up in the bed. Her head no longer felt fuzzy, and she suspected that the man who was standing over was the one who found her.
"My name is Levicy Hatfield, and this here's my husband—" Lissette cut her off abruptly.
"Devil Anse." She finished for her. She now knew where she was. She was in the home of Devil Anse Hatfield. He didn't appear as terrible as people on the other side of the Tug described him, and she put whatever she'd heard about him right out of her mind.
"Where's your kin, girl?" He asked, and she bit her lower lip.
"They was murdered. Yankee soldiers done it." She whispered, turning her head away as tears filled her eyes.
"The war's over. Ain't any Yankees left around here. You sure that's who you seen?" Levicy asked, but she didn't sound like she was calling Lissette a liar. The girl wiped at her eyes and looked back at them. She knew that they were only trying to find out where she'd come from, and how she'd end up passed out in the middle of the road.
"I seen 'em. They was wearing Yankee uniform trousers, but not the jackets." Lissette explained. Anse nodded his head.
"Prolly leftover fellas who been hidin' out around there. You say they got your whole family?" He asked, rubbing his hand over his beard. She nodded slowly, wondering what they were thinking of doing with her. She expected to be shipped off to the orphanage.
"Let me talk to you outside, Anderson." Levicy said, getting up and walking to the door. After a moment, Anse followed after her, pulling the door closed behind them. Lissette frowned, unsure of what was going on. She could hear their voices getting farther away, and while she knew they were talking about her.
She would not feel ill will against them if they sent her away; she was a stranger in their home and they owed her nothing. They had saved her life, and that was enough. While she didn't really care for the idea of spending the next five years living in a children's home, she still understood. Her parents had taught her to be grateful to others, and this time would be no different.
The door slowly opened, and Lissette looked up, expecting to see Levicy or Anse stepping back in. But it was a boy. He looked to be around her age, with blond hair and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He offered her a friendly smile as he stepped into the room, and Lissette couldn't help but return it.
"You're alive." He said, his voice teasing. The corner of his mouth tilted up in a smirk, and she found herself laughing.
"It appears so," She pulled herself up more as he walked into the room, his hands shoved in the pockets of his trousers. "I'm Lissette. What's your name?"
"William. Pa and Uncle Jim pulled you outta the snow, if they hadn't been out there you would been froze to death." He said. Lissette nodded her head.
"You tell your daddy thank you for me, William." She said, pulling the covers to her chin. He gave her a curious look.
"You'll be able to thank him yourself." He said, as the door opened more. Anse walked in, Levicy trailing behind him. She had a light smile on her face.
"I admit, I was fixin' to ship you off to the orphanage but my wife here's got a big heart and she convinced me. We got enough food for one more mouth to feed. We'll be takin' you on as our ward, unless you object." Anse said with a raised brow. Lissette's mouth fell open in surprise.
"Your ward? You'll be keepin' me?" She asked. Levicy nodded her head, her smile widening.
"We'll raise you up, put a roof over your head and clothes on your back. And when the time comes, a proper husband. Can't just toss you out in the snow, girl. It don't seem right." She said. Lissette looked over at William, who winked before walking out of the room.
"Thank you kindly, I'm very happy to be stayin' here." She whispered.
Lissette soon found herself falling into a normal routine, living with the Hatfields. She helped with the chores, kept an eye on the little ones when Levicy needed it. None of the other children had any quarrels about her being there. There was William, along with his older brother Johnse, their younger brothers Robert E and Elliot, and their sisters Nancy and Mary. It still boggled her with six children, Levicy and Anse still took her in. But she dare not question it, not when she had a warm bed at night and food in her belly.
The winter was harder on some, but they made it through. By mid March, Lissette had been there almost five months. She didn't call Anse and Levicy Ma or Pa, rather Aunt and Uncle. They referred to her as their ward, but while she was not of the Hatfield blood they treated her as such. She hadn't been expecting a gift come Christmas, but they'd given her a beautiful cedar Hope Chest. Anse had made it himself, proclaiming that each of the girls would receive on when they turned thirteen, and she deserved it.
But she mourned her family greatly, crying herself to sleep most nights. She missed her momma's cooking, and her daddy's singing. She missed Nathaniel and Charlie's wrestling matches over who got to put the star on the tree at Christmas. And she missed little Sarah snuggling up to her at night, demanding to be told a story before bed. There were no graves to rest flowers upon, nowhere for Lissette to visit them. She didn't even have the only photo of her family that had been taken a few weeks after Sarah had been born.
And then there was the scar on her face, right beneath her eye from that tree branch. What man was going to want a scarred up woman? Levicy told her time and again to put that thought out of her mind, that it was barely noticeable. But Lissette noticed it, when she did her hair in Nancy's looking glass every morning. When springtime came and she went into town, she couldn't help but think about what people were going to say about her, the Hatfield ward.
There was one habit that Lissette had carried over from her own home hiding in the barn to read. The Hatfields had a room above their barn, for storing hay, much like she'd had at her home. It was nice to be able to sit in the quiet room, bundled in her coat and a quilt, and read. She was well educated, thanks to her momma, and Ellison Hatfield had gifted her with a stack of books for Christmas. She sat with her back against the wall, her knees pulled up as she read the first page of a book called Robinson Crusoe.
Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Lissette paused in her reading. The door opened, the hinges squeaking as William poked his head in. He was carrying a lantern, and he hung it on the opposite side of the room that Lissette had hung hers. The room brightened more, and Lissette frowned.
"Is your momma lookin' for me? I told her I was gonna come read for a spell." She said, starting to close her book. He shook his head, dropping down into the hay beside her.
"I was just comin' up here to see what you were getting' up to. It's quiet out here." He noticed, looking around the room. Lissette smiled.
"I don't mind the noise none, but the quiet is nice. Your momma and daddy let me come out here and read." She admitted, showing him the book.
"Whatcha readin'?" He asked, genuinely curious. She didn't show him the cover of the book, and she'd never asked any of the Hatfield children if they could read. She thought that it would be impolite to do so. Instead she opened to the first page again, and turned her head to look at William.
"One of the books your Uncle Ellison gave me for Christmas. It's called Robinson Crusoe," She bit her bottom lip. "I could read a bit to you, if you'd like." He smirked at her.
"If that's your polite way of askin' if I can read, the answer's yet," Lissette flushed, embarrassed, and William chuckled. "That don't mean I wouldn't like you to read."
She cleared her throat and began reading, struck with the memories of reading to her brothers and sister. It still stung her heart a little, but she tried her best to keep the hurt out of her voice. It must not have worked too well, because William scooted closer and draped his arm around her shoulder. Lissette stiffened for a moment, before relaxing into William's embrace. It was a friendly gesture on his part, but it meant more to her than he could guess.
An hour later, when Johnse came looking for William to help him with the horses, he found Lissette and William asleep, sitting side by side in the hay, the book laying open on William's chest and Lissette's head on his shoulder. He didn't bother to wake them, and neither of them woke up when he left the barn.