Chapter 26
Logan stood looking out the back door.
Jubilee had gotten up a few days ago, and the splints had come off her ribs. Remy had known what he was doing; there wasn't a sign of a break, and the grotesque swelling in her side had been reduced to a small, barely noticeable bump. Remy assured him that that would eventually go away too. She was coughing a lot, and what she coughed up was the color of dried blood, but Remy had looked at it and said it was her lungs getting rid of the blood trapped in them after the rib had healed. He went on, in detail, about how small pieces of bone could get into the lung from a fracture and cause blood to collect in the lungs. Logan listened with half an ear; he didn't care what happened, he just wanted to stop seeing Jubilee's body bent double in racking coughs, and see her coming back up with blood on her lips and hands. But Remy had been right about that, too, and the coughs, as well as the blood, were tapering off.
He watched as she took slow, careful steps across the yard, carrying the water bucket. While she'd been lying on that bed suffering from fever dreams, she hadn't eaten much, and had gotten noticeably thinner. He winced at the sight of her thin arms and legs; she was going to need to eat a lot to gain back the weight she'd lost. The loss of weight had meant loss of strength, too, and she had to stop and rest on the way from the well to the pastures and the cow pens. She took it slow, careful not to jar her still-sore side or open her scabbed cuts. Remy spoke something to her cheerfully, encouragingly, and she put the bucket down and laughed. He went over to her, slipping an arm around her waist, and she glanced furtively toward the cabin door. Logan hurriedly ducked back into the shadows by the cabin door, and watched as she turned her face upward to kiss Remy. It was a long, slow, passionate kiss, and it drove home to Logan just how much his little girl had grown up. The kiss went on, and on, and then Logan saw Remy begin to caress her chest through her clothes, and he decided he'd better step in before they ripped each others' clothes off. He stepped out of the door and made a show of banging around the empty bucket as he went out. Remy and Jubilee jerked apart, looking a little guilty, and Jubilee picked up the bucket of water and headed for the cow pen.
Logan hid his smile behind his hand and headed for Storm's pasture, whistling. The big stallion came flying up to the fence when he whistled, and Logan patted the soft muzzle. He was feeding carrots from Jubilee's garden to the horse when Remy came up. "He a beautiful horse," he said.
"Yeah, isn't he?' Logan looked at Remy curiously. "How 'bout your horse? He's a pretty good piece, too. You got a farm where you are?"
"Non," Remy threw back his head and laughed. "Non, I live with Monsieur Charles, and he got a mansion just outside of town." He pronounced 'Charles' the way the French did, 'sharl'. "He do have a breedin' farm maybe 'bout an hour's ride away."
"Do me a favor, please? Take her there sometime." Logan's voice was soft. "She loves animals, loves the horses. When she first came here she was terrified of them; some idiot had chained her in a stable with an outlaw, an' the horse kicked her in the head. She got a nasty scar under all that hair." Remy looked shocked at the revelation, and cursed under his breath. "I got her started on an ol' pony named Pretty Girl, sweetest li'l thing ya ever saw. She wasn't any good fer breedin', o' course she was too small; I jus' kept her 'roun' fer company. A mad wolf killed her right before Snow came."
Remy nodded. "Yes, I'll do dat."
Logan grinned, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. "Ya got any woods aroun' where ya live?"
Remy smiled, puzzled. "Oui, why?"
Logan grinned wolfishly, hiding his pain at the thought of her leaving under a veneer of humor. "She used ta bring home all kinds o' insects and animals an' stuff when she first came," he said. "I didn't have a problem…well, not too much, anyway…with the baby birds and bunnies and squirrels and butterflies, but then she come back once with somethin' she wanted ta show me, an' she had a poisonous spider in her hands. She just lucky the damn thing didn't bite her 'fore she got home." Logan shook his head at the memory. "I tol' her never ta do dat again."
Remy grinned delightedly. "Did she?"
Logan snorted. "She took me literally. She didn' bring no spiders home no more, but she did still bring animals. I 'member her bringin' a turtle home, an' she put it on the ground. Snow sat there rollin' the thing aroun' in its shell while she laughed her fool head off."
"Papa!" came an aggrieved wail, and Logan turned. Jubilee was standing there, wriggling in embarrassment as Remy laughed at her pink face. "Do you have to tell Remy all the stuff I did when I was real little?"
Logan turned to her, hands on his hips. "Since when was fourteen 'real little'? It was only four years ago."
She squirmed again. "But do you have to tell Remy? It's so embarrassing."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "What about the time you sent Snow after that inflated pig's bladder ball around the corner of the barn when you knew what I was doin'? You think that wasn't embarassin', seein' a wolf eye up my privates?" Remy laughed so hard he had to sit down by the fencepost. "Thought that damn wolf was goin' to see if I'd taste good." Normally Logan wouldn't talk about things like this, but hell, Remy was a man, and he figured if Jubilee thought she was old enough to decide she wanted to sleep with a man on her own consent, she should get used to hearing sexual talk.
Remy wiped his eyes. "What else she bring back?"
Logan thought. "A snake, once. Fortunately one o' the harmless striped ones, not somethin' that'd poison her if it bit her. She brought a hawk home with her once, too. Had a broke wing. Damn, that thing had some nasty eatin' habits." Logan could still remember small gobbets of raw meat flying around the cabin. "We finally gave the hawk to Red Doe to take care of until the wing healed."
"Hey!" came an authoritative voice from the front gate. "Anybody home?"
Jubilee went to the gate and opened it. "Master Logan is right this way, sir," she said to the man standing in the lead of the four soldiers. "Please follow me." She waited for the soldier to dismount, then led him quietly to the corral where Remy and Logan were waiting.
Logan looked up as the soldier tipped his hat to them. "Howdy. Whatcha doin' here?" his voice was a bit harsh, but Logan couldn't help it. This soldier could be one of the ones that raped his little girl.
"We wished to ask you some questions, Sir," the soldier said courteously. "A certain wealthy man of the town, Mr. Walbrook, has been missing for the last couple of weeks. His friends thought he might have come out here to discuss with you a certain piece of unfinished business concerning your slave. He was never seen again. Did you see this man?"
"Nope," Logan growled, "Ain't seen hide nor hair of him in the last few weeks." Which was true. It had been three and a half weeks ago when he had last seen Walbrook's body in the clearing up in the hills.
The soldier turned to look at Jubilee. "What about you, girl! You seen the former railroad construction master in the last week or so?"
"No sir," Jubilee said, standing silently, eyes lowered respectfully to the ground. "I haven't seen him."
The soldier grabbed her arm tightly in a grip so hard she winced. "You're telling me the truth, right girl?' he snapped. "He didn't catch you outside your master's property, did he? Did he order you to strip and give him what we told him you been giving us?"
Logan's face drained in shock that the soldier would so blatantly all attention to his use of the girl. Jubilee saw his face, and misunderstood. "No, no, sir, I don't…I don't know what you mean, sir, I haven't been giving you anything…" It was a desperate attempt to hide what had happened.
The soldier was oblivious to her distress. "Don't lie, girl…" He broke off as he saw her frightened glance at Logan. 'Oh, you haven't told your Master what happened, eh?" he turned to Logan. "Your little whore teased us with her body while she was out riding. We're only men, we couldn't resist. Did she tell you?"
Logan's heart contracted when he saw Jubilee's face. He wanted to belt this man across the jaw for calling Jubilee a whore; she'd never teased anyone sexually, he knew that for certain. But this was also the opening he required to wean her of her affection for him, make her want to go and never return. "You did what?" he snapped, walking over to her.
Jubilee's eyes grew wide and frightened. "M-m-master Logan, I…please, I never teased them…t-t-they u-u-used m-m-me…" she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Logan wanted to cry too. She looked so terrified. But he schooled his face, locked the anger on his features like a mask, and steeled himself. What he was about to tell her would rip her heart out, and his, but it was for her own good. He didn't like the way this soldier was looking at her, and he didn't want to think about what might happen if she came back and he saw her with free papers. He'd probably destroy them and enslave her again, this time at the fort under his men. She would survive maybe a week, not much longer, being raped all night and forced to work all day. And some of the soldiers liked whipping their slaves. Logan had seen one whipped bloody simply for spilling a soldier's canteen of water.
"Don't tell me that," he said. "I just saw ya kissing my guest back there. Ya are a little whore, ain't ya? Hot fer a man between yer legs. An' here I thought ya was a decent girl." He frowned at her, and she cowered away from him. "And then ya didn't tell me. What, did ya think I wouldn't find out? Ya think I wouldn't punish ya?"
"Slut like that needs a good whippin'," the soldier snickered. "Here. Use mine." He held out his whip to Logan.
Logan looked at Jubilee, cowering in the dust, crying in terror. "Nah," he said in disgust. "She ain't worth it. Get in the barn, you'll stay there the rest of the day, no meals."
The soldier grabbed the loose neckline of her dress. "If you won't whip her I will…" and he froze when he saw the still-healing whip welts on her bare shoulder. "So, slave, your master's gone and whipped you for something else, has he?" he snickered. "Didn't think he had it in him. Mighty vicious welts there, Mister Logan. What'd she do?"
Logan groped for the first thing he could think of. "Used her teeth when we was in bed."
The man sucked in a breath. "Yep, that'll hurt. Looks like ya paid her back, eh?" and he hooked his whip back on his belt, to Logan's immense relief. "Well, I guess we'll be on our way, looking for the wayward Railroad master. Fine day to you." He jammed his hat back on his head and went to the gate, closing it behind him. Neither Remy nor Logan moved till they were gone.
Jubilee sat up, wiping her tears. "Papa, please. I swear I didn't tease them, I swear! They told me to get down off the horse, and they used me, and I couldn't disobey…"
"If ya really were blameless, then why the hell didn't ya tell me?" Logan snapped. "The only reason ya didn' tell me was 'cause ya liked it, didn't ya, ya liked havin' all them men between yer legs. How could ya do this ta me?" he screamed at her, allowing tears to spring to his eyes. Jubilee stared at him in shock. "I thought ya loved me. Well, if ya loved me, an' ya truly thought ya was my girl, ya wouldn't a' behaved like ya did. I tell ya what, I don't want no whore aroun' here. I can't keep ya if I can't trust ya. Maybe I'll take ya inta town an' sell ya ta Miss Gina. Ya like that? Huh?"
Jubilee was crying now, harder than he'd ever seen her cry. He swallowed hard, forcing the lump in his throat back as his own eyes burned with unshed tears. What the hell are ya doin'? his mind screamed at him. Yer tearin' the poor girl's heart out, and yer own, come on, tell her yer sorry…but he couldn't, he had to make her not want to come back, and if she thought he hated her she'd stay where she was safe… "I loved ya," he said, his voice breaking. "I trusted ya. And ya go an' break my trust." He snapped out, "Ah, hell. I don't wanna see ya ever again. Remy!" he called. "Ya wanna do me a favor? take this little...whore…" Oh, God, but it hurt to say that, hurt so much, "…an' sell her at the damn slave market, or whatever ya wanna do. I don't want her here no more. Take her with ya when ya leave!"
Jubilee shrieked and flung herself on the ground at his feet, grabbing his hand imploringly. "Papa, please, please, I didn't mean it, please, Papa, I love you, it wasn't like that at all! PAPA, PLEASE!" she screamed as he, unable to listen to her pleas any longer, started toward the cabin wordlessly. She ran after him, grabbing his hand and crouching at his feet. "Papa, please, I love you, please don't send me away, Papa, please, whip me, do anything to me, but please don't send me away! Papa, you promised you wouldn't sell me, please, Papa! Papa!" She ripped at her dress, exposing the still-healing red welts all over her body, and flung herself at his feet, naked. "Papa, please, whip me, cut off a limb, punish me like what the law says, but please, Papa, I love you, I can't live without you, please don't send me away! PAPA!" and the sound of her despairing scream cut off as he closed the cabin door behind him. He leaned against the door for long moments, shoulders shaking with his own grief and a fist pressed tightly to his lips to stifle his sobs, until he heard Remy speak a soothing word to her, pick her up from the ground, and lead her off into the barn. When he heard the barn door close, he flung himself down on his bed and cried as his heart broke. He'd never, ever be able to erase the memory of her anguished cry.
He just hoped someday she would forgive him.
