Chapter 6

Awinita had no problem locating the horses. They were kept in a group and they surrounded wooden made structures that she suspected were used for hay or some food for the animals.

A few African helpers were bringing in heavy loads of hay. Awinita saw that they were coming from the field just beyond the camp and one of the helpers notices her.

"You the new help?" the African man asked and she nods her head.

"Name?" he asked, again. She took note of his appearance; he had dark eyes like the others, his eyes were black and blood-shot, and she noticed a scar on his neck.

"I'm Awinita," she finally answers.

The man looks into her eyes and says, "Ah, you're a native. My name's Elijah." He points to the bales of hay on the ground. "You know how to feed horses?" he asks and she nods.

"I was raised on a farm, so yes I know a lot about horses," she said and Elijah gives a confused look.

"A farm?" he asks.

"It's a bit of a strange story," she replies and gets to work on the bales of hay. She grabs handful after handful and places them beside each horse. Elijah watches her and fills the wooden buckets with grain. The horses eat them too and he points to the water troth.

"Fill that with water, but not too dirty," he said and Awinita nods. She takes a wooden bucket and looks at the river. She was trying to locate a calmer part, a brook or little stream that wouldn't take her away by the current.

She finds a steep embankment, but the water was calmer there. She walks down and fills the bucket to the brim, but then she notices a problem. The embankment was too high to walk back up with a heavy bucket.

Elijah was out of earshot and she knew it would take time for him to notice. Taking a deep breath, she reaches for the top of the embankment. She manages to grab a handful of dirt and pulls herself up, but suddenly the earth gave way and she fell on her back, dropping the bucket.

Awinita gets up and fills the bucket, again. Climbing out was not going to work, she had to walk along the water without getting swept out by the current. She looks up and down the river and decides to go up.

The water seemed calmer as she went up, but then, she fell into the water. A sink hole had opened underneath her and she was completely soaked, but at least she had the bucket still in her hand.

She found a way out and walks up to the group of horses. "What happened to you?" Elijah asked.

"I slipped," Awinita answered and fills the troth, but she needed to make another trip.

"There's a better spot, but someone needs to watch for the Red Coats. Some may think we're trying to leave," he said and shows her back to the river. He then walks up against the river and brushes up against some reeves and cat tails.

The water was also calmer here and Elijah fills up the bucket and they were about to head back, when suddenly Awinita felt her head jerk back. She cried out in pain and then notices a Red Coat pulling on her hair.

"YOU! Where do you think you're going?!" he shouts in her face.

"Stop!" Elijah demands, but then another Red Coat slams his fists into the dark man's stomach. Elijah slumped down in pain. Awinita felt a surge of rage flow in her and it consumed her whole. She broke free of the soldier's grip on her hair, but she also took hold of his hand and bit down hard.

The soldier cried out, "WENCH!" She ignored him and her teeth dug deeper into his skin, blood sprayed all over her face, but she didn't care.

Suddenly, two of the soldiers grabbed her by her arms, forcing her to let go of the hand she was biting on. One of the Red Coat pulled out a musket and aimed at her head.

Then there was a shot, but the Red Coats scurried back and a familiar voice shouts, "What's going on here?!" Awinita saw Tavington, he had fired his musket to get everyone's attention. The Red Coats straightened out, but Awinita rushes over to Elijah, he was still holding his stomach in pain.

"Colonel, these two were trying to escape," one of the Red Coats said, but Tavington looks at Awinita and Elijah.

"You," he points to Elijah, "Tell me what you were doing."

"Sir, we were getting water for the horses as you ordered, but I was showing the newcomer a spot where it is calm," the dark man replied and he straightens out his shirt. Tavington then looks at Awinita, her face was covered in blood and her clothes were still soaked. He then looks at the soldier that she attacked in self defense.

"You," he points to the Red Coat with the bloody hand, "Go to the medics tent."

The soldier leaves and Tavington looks at the rest of the Red Coats. "I'm only going to say this once, do not overreact when you see a servant leave from the grounds. As these two were only retrieving water for the horses, I am holding all of you accountable for the trauma that has occurred," he said and they nodded.

Tavington then takes Awinita by the arm, pulling her up from the ground. She thought he was going to hurt her and she began to panic. "Calm down," he said and loosens his grip, "Come to my tent. Your face has blood," he adds and his hand falls to his side. She follows him to his tent and he points to a chair.

She notices a bowl with steaming water and she watches as Tavington takes a rag and soaks it in the water. She sits still as he washes the blood off her face, the hot rag felt good against her face.

"You bit that soldier?" he asked and she nods. "I never seen a woman take on a man as strong as Dickinson," he adds and has her open her mouth. He gives her a cup of cold water and she takes to clean her mouth. She spat it outside the tent. He checks her mouth again, looking at her teeth and lets her close it. She felt goose-flesh on her face as Tavington's hand held her chin gently.

"Your teeth are all right," he said and lets her stand from the chair.

"Thank you," she replies and looks into his cold blue eyes. He didn't say a word as she left. Something inside him was urging him to go after her. He felt strange whenever she was nearby, just what was this feeling? He took to think about it, but decided to get back to work.

From the author: Sorry for the delay. Just couldn't think of how these two would start falling for each other. I think it turned out okay. Just eager to get them to fall in love. See you soon!