Chapter 27:

Remy came back in the cabin, went to the wall and grabbed another dress, then went back out. Logan ignored him, ignored everything but his own anguish at having to hurt his little girl the way he had.

It was a long time before Remy came back in. By then it was dark and the fire in the cabin had gone out. Remy stoked the fire up to a glow, then sat down in one of the chairs. "Don' you t'ink dat was too harsh, Logan? She out dere cryin' her eyes out."

"I had ta do it, Remy." A slow tear slid down Logan's cheek. "I had ta. Did ya see the way that soldier looked at her? If she ever tries ta come back she'll be captured by them soldiers. If not by them, they'll be the ones who buy her at the auction block. She'll spend her nights pinned under one sweatin', fat, gruntin' man after another, bein' raped in body and soul 'til there's nothing left o' her but a walkin' shell. They'll kill her spirit if they get her. I can't bear that, Remy. I couldn't bear walkin' inta town an' seein' her outside the fort, workin' for them, with the light gone outta her eyes an' despair written all over her face. How long ya think she goin' to live like that? A week, maybe two? An' they won't even give her a decent burial, they're gonna dump her body in the refuse pit outside o' town, so the wild animals can eat her. I'll die if I see that, Remy. I'll go in there and kill them for killin' my little girl, an' they'll kill me." He turned to face the wall. "Go, Remy. Leave tomorrow mornin'. If I see her again I don't think I'm gonna be able ta keep myself from huggin' her tight an' never lettin' her go. Get her outta here before my heart overrides my head an' I take that sale paper back." He pulled the thin blanket over his head and hid his face in the pillow so the other man wouldn't see his pain.

Remy got up and started moving around the cabin, collecting things. Another dress, her shoes, a lot of the cloths women used for their monthlies, and then he paused. He tapped Logan's shoulder gently. "Dere anyt'ing else she should take? Some small souvenir, gift, or somet'ing she love dat maybe make her feel better?"

Logan stared into the darkness. He had bought her a little rag doll to sleep with out in the barn for comfort; she had put it aside with the rest of her little girl things. He had taken it and put it carefully away with the photo of Annie, but maybe she would like that…no. "That other chest against the wall, next to the fireplace. There's a necklace in there, a carved wood wolf head on a string of blue glass beads. I made it for her last year. It's the one thing she loves more'n anythin' else here." Except me, his mind added, but he didn't say it. He heard Remy cross the cabin, and open the chest. He grimly shut his eyes. He wouldn't look. Wouldn't. If he did he'd start crying again. And he'd done enough crying today.

Remy opened the chest. On top of a number of other things that belonged to Jubilee (outgrown clothes, old moccasins, strings of beads and feathers and polished stones from the Indians who had courted her) there was a paper wrapped package. He opened it; in it was the necklace. The blue glass beads were the same color as her eyes, and the wolf's head pendant was exquisitely carved, each detail exact. Somewhere Logan had even found two chips of turquoise to set into the wood for a pair of blue wolf eyes.

Remy carefully added it to the scanty bundle of her things, closed the chest, and looked around the cabin for anything he might have missed. He went to her disarranged bed, tucked against the wall, and twitched the covers in place, wondering if maybe she had a doll or something she slept with, and as he was reaching under the pillow his fingers touched something crinkly. He pulled it out. It was another package.

Remy knew he should stop there, but curiosity drove him to open the package. In it was a meticulously carved figure of a rearing horse, mane and tail flowing. The workmanship was astounding. Remy was about to replace it when he saw the writing on the paper it was wrapped in. "To my darling Jubilee, from your Papa. Happy surprise birthday. I love you. Logan."

It was supposed to be a surprise. Jubilee hadn't seen it yet. Remy vaguely remembered Logan slipping the package under her pillow after she'd gone out to give the animals their morning feed. He wrapped it up with a twinge. Logan had, over the last couple of weeks while Jubilee was recovering, told him he was carving the horse for Jubilee's upcoming eighteenth birthday. That was tomorrow. And she'd never see it. She would be leaving tomorrow.

Remy hesitated, torn between slipping it back under Jubilee's pillow or leaving it with the man who loved her so much he'd tear his heart out to see her free and happy. He shook his head, and slipped it in his own coat pocket. When Jubilee stopped crying and being angry with him, he'd give her this last gift from Logan and explain to her why Logan had done what he did.

Remy knew that was a long way off. He wasn't a fool, and he wasn't completely selfless, either. He loved Jubilee. Wanted to make her a free woman, marry her, and have a couple of kids with her. He wanted that badly enough to go along with Logan's charade now. Once in Canada, living in Charles's mansion with all its luxury comforts, this rustic life would seem far away. As she got used to it, she wouldn't want to go back. And eventually she would understand that Logan had done what he did because he loved her. Then Remy would give her the little horse and explain what Logan had done. She would be grateful to him, and to Remy.

He tied the ends of the blanket around the little bundle and slipped it into his own traveling bag, knowing it would look odd in town if she were seen carrying her own bundle. She wasn't supposed to have anything of her own.

Then he settled down to wait for morning.

Logan was up first. He puttered aimlessly around the cabin, doing all the things he had gotten used to seeing Jubilee doing. She was probably still in the barn. Well, it was for the best; he wasn't sure he could bear seeing her tear-streaked face and sorrowful eyes around the cabin.

He went and cut a hunk of cold beef from the side hanging in the cellar, then dropped it into a pan and fried it. He wrapped the last of the bread Jubilee had made the day before, and put that in a small food pack. "For the trip," he said gruffly. "It's a long way ta Canada."

"I was actually goin' to take de train back east, den take anot'er train as close to de border as possible. Den I'm goin' to buy her a horse an' we'll make de res' of de way on foot."

"How long ya gonna be on the road?" Logan frowned.

Remy shrugged. "Don' know. Train alone's goin' be 'bout two weeks; the trip on horse goin' to be anot'er two."

Logan growled, "You take it easy, don't push her, make sure she stops fer water, and ta eat. She never eats enough. Take it easy, too, she still recoverin' from the whippin' she got a few weeks back. An' take care o' her! Don't let nobody hurt her!"

"I won', Logan, I love her too," Remy said softly. Then, even more softly. "T'ank you."

"I ain't doin' it fer ya, I'm doin' it fer her," Logan growled, dropping the food pack next to the bundle with her things in it. "What about…" his voice sounded raspy, and he cleared his throat. "What 'bout takin' her horse, Thunder? Or her wolf, Snow? She loves 'em."

Remy shook his head slowly, regretfully. "I can' take dem. I'm sorry, Logan. Even if dey could get used to travelin' on de train, dey'd be hopelessly out o' place in Charles's mansion."

Logan looked anguished. "Thunder won't let nobody else ride him. Her damn wolf, there's times when I think he's gonna try and eat me. He don't like nobody but her."

"Keep de wolf in de barn when we leave, mon ami," Remy said, picking up the two packs. "Can't have him following us." He took one last look around the cabin that Jubilee called home, and then went outside. Logan heard the barn doors creak open, and opened the door one last time, just to see her.

She was a mess; hair tousled, eyes red-rimmed with crying, and when she saw him she broke away from Remy and ran to him, throwing her arms around him before he could push her away. "Papa, please,"; she sobbed out brokenly. "Please, Papa, it didn't happen like that, please, take me back, I love you, Papa, I can't live without you…"

Logan grabbed her arms and gave her a shove back in Remy's direction. "You belong to him now," he said, his voice harsh. "Get out of here." She looked as if she was going to throw herself at him, and he stepped back quickly and closed the door. She hurled herself at it, screaming his name in a tone of frantic anguish and despair he'd never heard from her before, and rattled the doorknob just as he locked it.

Finding it locked, she pounded her fists against it. "Papa, please!" She shrieked. "Papa!" There was a soft sliding sound, and a gentle thump. "Papa, please, I love you, please don't do this!" She was sitting in front of the door, sobbing, and his heart felt like it was breaking too. He stood there, fists clenched, fighting his urge to run to the door and pull her into his arms. She had to get away. Living here with him would kill her.

Jubilee leaned her head against Remy as he came to pick her up. "Why is he so mad at me?" she whimpered. "Remy, please, you talked to him last night, why is he so mad?"

Remy whispered soothing words to her in French, ignoring her question. Finally he pulled her to her feet. "Come on. We have to go. Up on my horse, now."

"I can ride Thunder," she said, sniffling.

Remy shook his head. "Cherie, where we goin', you can' take him," he said. "I want to take you up nort' an' free you so nobody can make you leave your home again, an' it goin' to be faster if we go by train. Rogue, he used to train traveling, but your horse never seen one before, an' I don' t'ink it goin' to be such a good idea." He took a deep breath. This was the hardest part. "Snow can't come eit'er."

"I…I can't take…" She squared her shoulders, trying not to cry again, and went to the fence, whistling for Thunder. Her throat was choked with her sobs, and she couldn't get a sound out. Thunder came running anyway, sliding to a stop in front of the gate as he waited for her to go and get his tack. "No," she whimpered a little, as she patted the large velvety nose. The horse sniffed at the salty tear tracks on her face, wondering why she was crying. "I have to go, Thunder. I'm sorry. Logan will take good care of you." Her voice broke as she spoke Logan's name, and more tears flooded her cheeks.

She turned away from the fence and found Snow right behind her. She went to one knee. "Please, Snow," she whispered. "Please, I can't take you with me. I raised you from a pup, Snow, and you've been a good friend and the only one who loves me, except Thunder and…and…Logan…" She faltered. "You have to stay here. Love Papa, Snow, like you love me. Maybe someday he'll realize that it wasn't my fault, and maybe he'll realize how…much…I love…him…" Crying gentle, hot tears of sorrow because she knew she'd never see him again, she led him into the barn and tied him to the ring in the wall. Her hands brushed the ring, gently, and the second piece of rope that hung from it from the time she'd tied herself to that wall to keep Papa from getting into trouble for not following the slave laws. She left the barn, and Snow, sensing that something was wrong, started to howl mournfully. She faltered for a moment, then walked resolutely to the gate, opened it, and let Remy step through, then she closed it carefully, as she'd been told to do by the man still inside the cabin. "I love you, Papa," she said through her tears, then turned and started walking after Remy, who was riding Rogue.

Logan waited for an hour, then opened the door. The yard was empty; she was gone. Snow was howling mournfully in the shed, and Logan heard the ring clashing against the wall as the wolf yanked on the rope. It was nailed fast to the wall, though; it wouldn't come off. Thunder was pacing restlessly around his pasture, looking down the road Remy and Jubilee had gone down, as if waiting for her to come back. Logan looked sadly at the horse. "She won't be coming back," he said gently as he walked over to the pasture fence. "I'm sorry, Thunder. She won't be coming back." He didn't know what else to say as the horse turned his head and looked accusingly at Logan. He retraced his steps to the cabin, closed the door, and sat heavily on his bed. He reached into the box under his bed, took out the little rag doll Jubilee used to sleep with, and lay down on her bed, holding the doll and smelling her hair on the straw pillow.

"Please God, keep my little girl safe, and let her be happy," he prayed fervently, before tears overtook him and he cried himself into an exhausted sleep after the restless night and bad dreams of the night before.