Katniss Everdeen never believed that she would hate farming. When her father had still been alive the growing of cotton had provided well. Not just for her parents and little sister but for the dozen or so slaves that had worked the plantation as well. Their holdings had not been as large as some others in the area but they lived well enough that Katniss had been afforded nice dresses, voice lessons, and instruction in reading and writing. A lot of good that had done her. She would have been better off paying more attention to the planting and harvesting that went on in the fields.
When the war broke out her father had enlisted bravely, promising his wife and daughters that he would be home in a month. He was mortally wounded in the battle of Sharpsburg. She did her best not think about him every day. Katniss has learned a lot about not thinking over the years. She had learned not to think of her life before the war. She had learned not to remember her mother and sister. She had mastered not dwelling on the dreams she had once had of loving someone and raising a family.
She had also learned a lot about growing things. Not that she had a particularly keen interest in it but all there was in Georgia these days was land and poverty. If you couldn't get money from the first all you got was the second. It was a cruel irony that so many had died and no one seemed to be in a better condition. A few of the newly freed people had gone north but most of them were still right here share cropping along with her and many aspects of their living conditions remained unchanged.
She stopped walking and took time to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. Her hands nearly shook with anger. Cato Jacobs had cheated them one too many times. As she approached his steps she slowed her pace and her breathing. She needed to be thinking clearly when she confronted him. Peels of his sadistic laughter floated on the wind which made her bristle. He was entertaining, hopefully not a lady friend.
Katniss stood at the door and did her best to summon her courage. She might have lost her nerve if it were not for Cecelia. She had several mouths to feed and could not afford to be denied even a single penny of what was owed to her. She gritted her teeth and began knocking. If she had thought he would be angry she was surprised.
Instead of being cruel or confrontational Cato seemed almost amused as he stepped out on the porch and observed her. "Katnissss" he slurred. "What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She could feel the strength in his hands. "Are you here to earn a few more coins?" She shuddered. How could people think her a prostitute when she worked in the fields 7 days a week? She had done absolutely everything in order to not make her money in that way.
"You cheated us" she got out as she backed away from his touch. His eyes narrowed. "Cheated you?" he questioned. "I just paid you yesterday. How could I have cheated you?" She shook her head at his audacity. "Yes you paid us" she agreed. "You paid us half the going rate." His face became mockingly thoughtful. "Well…" he said slowly. "That's the rate I got when I sold and that was the agreement. I paid you your share." Her knuckles were nearly white from being fisted in rage. "You expect me to believe that you sold your crops at rock bottom prices for no reason. Even you aren't that much of an idiot."
Anger flared in his eyes and he stepped forward to grab her again just as the screen door opened. "Yer posed to be drink'in with me boy" came a voice from the entrance way. "What ya got out there a hooker?" Katniss closed her eyes in embarrassment. Was she never going to live it down? When she opened them again she saw an aging gentleman whom she knew immediately was not from anywhere around here. She had never seen him before in her life. She sniffed. He certainly reeked of booze.
"Naw" Cato laughed it off. "This is one of my little worker bees" he bragged putting an arm around her. "She only sleeps with me when I say so." Despite her better judgement Katniss slapped him across the face. At first she was horrified. She needed this job. Without it she had no place to live. But now that the damage was done she might as well let him have it. "You're a beast" she accused. "A snake and a swindler as bad as any Yankee carpet bagger. You give us the land to work for a fair cut of the proceeds but you're never honest about the selling price. Some of the workers are sick and starving and some of them have families to feed. I want to see your books Mr. Jacobs!"
The older man looked to Cato. "Doesn't seem like ya have her very well in hand" he observed. "I do not belong to Mr. Jacobs" Katniss snapped. "I wouldn't sleep with him or any man in the state if there was a gun pointed to my head. I just want my fair cut and the money that he owes the other share croppers on this plantation." Her spine was straight, her chest puffed out, her chin lifted in resolve. She saw the older man move his hand up to cover a smile as Cato closed the distance she had created and grabbed her arm.
"Listen here you little piece of white trash" he bellowed. "No one insults me on my land, in my own home. I've been more than generous with you and that ragtag hoard lounging about my cabins." Katniss did her best to appear unruffled but loud noises frightened her and the feeling of her flesh being clenched by a man brought back of flood of horrifying memories. She tried to remove it but he held firm and nearly shook her. "Get off my property you whore! You don't work for me anymore."
Katniss stumbled backward and tripped on some discarded liquor bottles and went down hard. The force of all of her body weight hit her forearms as she moved to break her fall and the resulting collision jarred her to the core. The old man moved to help her up but as she turned back she saw that Cato had returned to the house and was emerging again with his shotgun.
She doubted that he would actually shoot her. Cato was ruthless and exploitative but he wasn't crazy. Still, he was drunk and she was not willing to bet her life on his mental stability. Before further words could be exchanged she hoisted herself up on her elbows, managed to get her feet under her and ran. The wind was starting to pick up and her breath burned in her lungs as she pumped her legs again and again. She didn't want to stop until she was sure he could not catch up with her. If he did she was sure he might do far worse than just kill her.
She had seen the way he looked at her sometimes. His gaze often lingered on her bottom when she was in the fields or on her breasts when she was forced to interact with him to take her payments or discuss the impending yields. She knew what he wanted to do to her, the disgusting things men thought about. It made bile rise up in her throat. No man would ever touch her again.
Her leg caught on a branch and she stumbled twice before catching her skirt in a thicket and falling to her hands and knees in the mud. Don't cry! She instructed herself. Crying had never done her any good and she didn't want to waste a single moment of her life on it ever again. It was hard though. She had lost everything today. All of her possessions were back in her little corner of Cecelia's cabin and she dare not tread on Cato's land again. She hadn't owned much but now she had nothing and she had lost the picture of her father too. Where would she go? What would she do for food?
The questions weighed heavy on her mind as she climbed the nearest tree and settled in for the night. The light was fading fast and she knew better than to sleep on the ground. She was unarmed and had to fear from attack from both man and beast. She wasn't sure what she would do in the morning. Probably travel farther north, find another job working land that didn't belong to her and never truly reaping any benefits from it. She would go further if she could. She would run away from this horrible little corner of the universe where everyone knew her and what had happened to her and where all of her haunting memories were. But travel required means and that was something she was sorely lacking.
Her thoughts began to wander to the past as she stared out at the sun, dipping ever lower on the horizon. She thought of fun summers swimming with her father at the lake. She recalled her mother's proud expression as she performed her solo at the church picnic. She remember the sweet scent of her baby sister Prim when they were young girls and she would crawl into bed with Katniss at night. She missed them so much and they were all gone. She would never have a family again.
She would have been content to stay lost in a haze of happier times for the rest of the evening but just then she heard the sound of hooves hitting soft soil. A man's voice accompanied the sound of the approaching horse. "Now where the hell did that little gal git to?" she heard him say. She took a deep breath, recognizing that it was not Cato but she didn't relax her guard. He was coming from the direction of his land and may have been sent to bring her back.
She arched her neck to see him as he came in to view. The older man from the house. Cato's guest had followed her tracks. If she would have truly believed that someone would be pursuing her so soon she would have taken steps to conceal herself better and it wasn't long before she was spotted. "There ya are sweetheart" he said motioning towards her. She could hear the thick southern accent. He may have been traveling recently but the south was his home.
There was no sense pretending that she had a chance to escape. He would run her down in a few moments on a horse. "I'm not going back" she called to him and to her surprise he dismounted and removed his hat. It was a gentlemanly gesture and one she had not been afforded in years. She might have been charmed if he did not walk straight to his saddle bag and remove a flask of whiskey. He lifted it to his mouth twice before wiping his beard covered face and addressing her again.
"I didn't think ya would" he answered. "My nephew Cato is set to his bottle now so we won't be see'in him til tomorrow afternoon I reckon. Should be plenty a time fer ya to make yourself scarce." She nodded despite the fact that she didn't trust him. He was a relative of Cato so there wasn't much chance that he was a man of honor and he had no reason to take her side. "He's my sister's boy" he said in way of explanation. "My sister has always been good fer noth'in and Cato takes after her."
She was surprised by the description but still no more inclined to come down and make conversation. He had heard Cato call her a whore. Perhaps he had come out here to get a little action from a younger woman himself. She shuddered at the thought. "The thing is" he said, finally getting to point. "I'm headed west when I shove off from here tomorrow and I have a proposition fer ya." Her stomach lurched and she could feel herself turning green. "A business proposition" he clarified although it was no clearer to her.
"Come on down here" he said motioning to his side. "I ain't go'in to hurt ya. I just want to talk to ya. Think I have an answer to the predicament you've gotten yerself into and I'm gettin a cramp in my neck trying to look at ya way up there." She was still unsure but he seemed fairly unsteady on his feet. Surely he was in no shape to accost her. He was also heading west and had a horse to travel. Maybe she could convince him to let her come along. There was plenty of land out west and she should be able to find a job as a share cropper or even as a cook or a cowgirl. She had no experience herding cattle but she was a skilled horsewomen and she had learned farming fairly easily.
Carefully, she backed down the branches of the tree until she was able to lower herself to the ground. She was face to face with him now and he reached out and offered his hand to shake but she kept her distance. "Suite yerself" he said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "You said you had a proposition for me" she snapped, annoyed with him for finding her so entertaining. "You know of someone who is looking for help?"
"Yep" he said sitting down on a stump to smoke his pipe. "As a matter a fact I do. One of my business associates and a personal friend at that." Katniss found herself eager to learn more. The man had said that he was headed west. If she could find transit out there she would be able to start over. She might be able to find work and live out her life as a nice honest and respectable housekeeper or a nanny. She had loved her little sister Prim dearly and had cared for her often. She would love to take charge of some little ones and teach them to read.
"His name is Peeta" the man continued. "Peeta Mellark. But before I go introducin my friends to ya I had best tell ya who I am." He started coughing and Katniss watched as he lifted his handkerchief to his mouth. She didn't miss the blot of blood that gathered there. He was sick, maybe dying even. She recognized the signs of tuberculosis. After a minute the coughing passed and he took another pull from what she assumed was his whiskey. "Haymitch" he offered. "The name is Haymitch." He settled down more comfortably and enjoyed a few puffs of his pipe. That seemed to be the only information he was going to offer her.
"I'm Katniss" she said, realizing that she hadn't returned the introduction. "Katniss Everdeen. I used to work for Cato but I guess I'm free to take on another job now." Haymitch smiled. "I know" he said. "That's why I thought of Peeta. I'm go'in back his way and I know he will skin me if I don't bring someone back with me. He's got a place out in Kansas and he's smart as a whip but not too much time do'in actual farm work. He's figur'in it out and all but it's a pretty big stretch to be worked on his own. It's lonely too and a man needs company at times."
Katniss was so excited about the prospect of taking a position as far away as Kansas that she didn't take time to fully process his last words. "Yes" she agreed happily. "There is no way he should be doing it alone. I've never farmed as far west as that but I've several years of experience and I am a good horsewoman. I'm healthy and strong and I will work as hard as any man. Do you think he would be agreeable to taking a female on as a sharecropper?"
Haymitch began to laugh which threw Katniss off a little. He had brought the job up to her himself. Why bother if her gender was to be such an issue? "He's ain't looking for a hired hand girl" Haymitch chuckled. "What Peeta needs is a wife." She froze. All she could think of was sweaty hands pulling at her clothes. She remembered the suffocating feeling of a man's mouth sealed over hers. "No" she said, her voice sounding desperate. "Now come on" Haymitch insisted "be reasonable sweetheart." He reached for her arm and she backed away towards the tree. She knew her eyes showed fear.
His expression softened. "Listen girl. In case ya ain't noticed, ya are in a lot a trouble here." Katniss shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll find another position. It won't kill me to sleep in the woods for a few days." He returned his pipe to his bag. "I don't reckon ya fully understand yer situation" Haymitch warned. "Ya didn't just up and quit, ya insulted my nephew and he ain't likely to forget it. You ain't work'in anywhere round these parts no more. You ain't got no food and nowhere to go. I ain't sure what happened to ya but I can see that someth'in did and it's likely go'in to again if I leave ya out here on yer own. Yer pretty under all that grime and men ain't just go'in to ignore that."
Katniss let her gaze fall to the ground. He wasn't threatening her. He was just trying to speak sense. "Now listen here" Haymitch continued. "In a minute or so I'm ride'in back to Cato's. I don't sleep on the ground no more less I have to. I'll give ya the night to think it over. In the morn'in I'll stop back this way. If ya want to come with me and marry Peeta then I'll provide for yer travel. If ya don't then I'll leave ya be."
Katniss thought it over and nodded. He was kind to give her those options. "Just keep a few things in mind" Haymitch advised. "Peeta is a good man, as good as they come so if ya agree to come'in you gots to be honest and marry'im since he's the one that'll be pay'in fer ya to come along." He mounted his horse but returned to lock gazes with her. "He'd be gentle girl, not hurt ya never. It's a better deal than ya could ever hope to git from folks round here. Legal marriage to an honest man. You'd have yer own land and a chance fer some kin again."
Without even realizing it Katniss brought her hand to her belly. Kin. She would have a house and children of her own. It sounded good but painfully impossible. A million questions flooded her mind but the horse was starting to get restless and she knew she only had time for one. "This man you know" she said. "This Peeta. Why does he have to send for a woman to be his wife that he doesn't even know? What's wrong with him that he can't rightfully court someone?" Haymitch adjusted his hat. "He's busy with the place. That and there ain't many white women out in Kansas." With that meager explanation he nudged his mount forward and left Katniss to sort the day's events on her own.
She climbed back in her tree. She didn't need to worry about falling because she didn't sleep. Haymitch's offer was appealing. A warm place to sleep with food to eat and a husband willing to work to make a living. At his side she would, in theory, be able to enjoy the fruits of her labor rather than constantly turning them over to the landlord. But if he was cruel or unfair she wouldn't be able to just move on. He would own her. She would be his. She dry heaved a few times. Haymitch had described him as a good man but she wasn't convinced there was such a thing left. The war had blown all of the honorable men to bits and had irrecoverably changed even those who had survived.
Her hand found her middle again. A baby. If she had a husband then there would be a baby. An image tried to surface in her mind but she quickly pushed it back. She would not fall apart tonight. She needed to stay focused and make the right decision. But was there really even a choice? She was penniless and she had no idea how far Cato's reach went. She couldn't go back to Cecelia. She would never put her and her children in that much danger. She would have to go with Haymitch.
In most ways she knew she would make a good wife. As she had argued just a few hours ago she was sturdy and industrious. She knew how to plant and to harvest. She could make cheese and butter. If she thought real hard she could even remember how to sew and make candles. She could read and was better than average with numbers. She could also play the piano and she had a beautiful singing voice although she doubted there would be much use for it where she was going.
She just wished he wouldn't be expecting the bedroom part. She wasn't a stranger to marital relations although she had never been married. She believed that Haymitch understood that and it didn't seem to bother him but she could not help but wonder if her prospective husband would feel the same way. Perhaps it would not matter. Maybe he wouldn't even want to do it that often. Haymitch was getting on in years and it was highly possible that if Peeta was his friend that he was as well. If he was aging he likely wouldn't have the same appetite for it as a young man. She could only hope.
She expected Haymitch the next morning but as the sun continued to rise and eventually to hang high in the sky she began to worry that he had forgotten her or changed his mind. She was small after all and feisty and sometimes too outspoken. Her features were plain. Her hair dark brown and her eyes grey, nearly silver. She was dirty from living in cabins with dirt floors and her hands were rough with work. Maybe he had spoken with Cato regarding her past and discovered that she was a fallen woman. That she was broken and used, certainly no one's bride.
Just when she was about to despair and give up on him completely she heard the sound of horses. She hid in the brush. It either wasn't Haymitch or he hadn't come alone. But as he came into view she could see that the horse tethered to his was empty. He had anticipated that she would accept and already made preparations for her. She tried not to look pleased when she went out to greet him.
She came forward to touch the horse's mane and he nuzzled against her hand. "What's his name?" she asked with a smile. It had been a long time since she had smiled. "Her name" Haymitch corrected good naturedly. "Don't know" he admitted. "Guess that's up to ya. You'll be need'in one so I took some time this morn'in to git a good'in." She smiled at him again. "Thank you" she said softly. "Peeta will pay me for her" he explained.
"I'm going to go with you" she said unnecessarily as she swung up in the saddle. "I know" he said simply. She could feel his eyes on her and after a few minutes she couldn't ignore it any longer. "What?" she asked in exasperation. "Noth'in" Haymitch said. "It's just that ya've spent time in a saddle and quite a bit of it." She nodded. He laughed. "That's amusing to you?" she questioned. "Yep" he said slapping his knee. "Damn amusing. Peeta is going to have a hell of a time with ya. A hell of a time try'in to figure ya out. Well, actually just a hell of a time period."