“Let go of me!” She struggled, but he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her against him. His fingers spread over her belly, kneading her in an intimate way.
“Perhaps I will change my mind and take you with me,” he whispered in her ear. His hot breath sent chills of panic coursing through her. “I will need comfort on the long journey to Mexico.”
Before she could scream for help, a fierce snarl brought both of their heads around. Ebenezer leaped into the air, teeth bared. The dog’s jaw clamped down on Alexander’s arm, and he cried out. Natalie broke free of his grasp and stumbled away. While Alexander pummeled the dog with his other hand, she searched the porch for something, anything, to use as a weapon.
“Hold it right there, mister!”
Carolina appeared in the open doorway. She held a rifle pointed at Alexander.
“Ebenezer, come,” Natalie said. The dog released Alexander’s arm and came to her, panting but wagging his tail. Blood smeared the fur on his face, but she didn’t know if it was his own or Alexander’s. She knelt and hugged the dear animal.
“What you want me to do with this varmint, Miz Natalie? Put a hole through him?” Carolina’s unwavering eyes were perfectly serious.
“No.” Natalie stood and looked at Alexander, bleeding and fearful as he stared at Carolina. With only women on the plantation, Natalie couldn’t risk someone getting injured if they tried to detain the thief until Corporal Banks or Moses returned. Besides, as Alexander himself said, Union soldiers weren’t far. Surely they would find him. “Leave, Alexander. Go. And don’t ever come back.”
Tucking his injured arm against his ribs, he gave her one last scornful look and descended the steps. Ebenezer let out a deep growl, and the man hastened his pace. He mounted his horse and raced out of the yard without a backward glance.
As soon as he rode out of sight, Natalie released a sob of relief.
“Good riddance,” Carolina said, lowering the weapon.
Natalie met her gaze. “You were so brave.”
Carolina shrugged. “Ain’t hard to be brave when someone you care ’bout in danger.”
Tears sprang to Natalie’s eyes, and before she realized what she was doing, she rushed over and put her arms around Carolina in a fierce hug. “You saved my life.” She pulled away to find a startled Carolina. “You and Ebenezer.”
“I guess I’m mighty glad I come on out here to see why that dog carryin’ on like he was.” She grinned. “Don’t know that I ever been hugged by a white woman.”
Natalie sobered. “Alexander said he shot Colonel Maish last night.”
Carolina frowned. “Best I tell Harriet so’s she can get bandages ready and hot water on.”
The servant headed in the direction of the kitchen. Natalie sat on the step and motioned Ebenezer over. With her arm around the dog’s neck, she closed her eyes.
“He can’t be dead, Ebenezer,” she whispered into his fur, the ache in her heart growing. “He can’t be dead.”
A ray of sunshine poked through the branches overhead and hit Levi squarely in the face.
He opened one eye and squinted at the brightness. Judging by the position of the sun, it was midmorning. He must have dozed off again. He whispered his thanks to God that he was still alive.
What should he do now? One thing was certain. He had to get off this ground and back to camp somehow. Yet the thought of moving, let alone walking, caused a wave of nausea to roll through him. With the amount of blood he’d lost, he wondered if he’d be able to find his way back. His predicament bordered on impossible.
Another of Ma’s favorite verses floated through his mind. With God all things are possible. All things. Even rescue from a bullet-shot shoulder and a murdering cattle thief.
Breathing another prayer, he closed his eyes again, unable to fight the heavy drowsiness that hung over him. Waiting seemed the best—and only—course of action for him to take just now.
“Colonel Maish? You out here, suh?”
Levi woke with a start. The sun was higher in the sky.
“Colonel Maish?”
Was that Moses?
“Over here.” His raspy voice didn’t carry far. “Over here,” he tried again, louder. He lifted his good arm into the air.
A rustling sound came closer. Moses’ dark face appeared over the top of the log a moment later.
“Colonel! We’s been lookin’ for you.”
Levi chuckled then grimaced at the pain it created. “I’ve been right here, waiting for you to find me.”
“You hurt bad?”
“Gunshot. In the shoulder.” He rubbed a spot on the back of his head that felt as big as a boulder. “Guess I hit my head on my way to the ground, too.”
“We get you outta here right quick.” Moses stood, turned, and called out, “He over here! He over here! Bring that wagon up, Wash!”
Activity sprang up around Levi. Soldiers and field hands all took a peek over the log while the wagon was brought in. Corporal Banks arrived and barked orders like a general.
He peered over the log. “It sure is good to see you, sir.” Emotion hung heavy on each word.
“It’s good to be seen,” Levi said.
When they lifted him, the pain that rolled through his body sent sparks flying behind his eyes. Groaning as they put him in the back of the wagon, he tried to hang on to consciousness. He needed to tell them about Lopez.
“We take you to Rose Hill, Colonel,” Moses’ voice told him. “It be the closest.”
He couldn’t answer as blackness edged out the light.
“When is the co’nel gonna wake up, Mama?”
Natalie sat on the porch swing with Samuel on her lap, enjoying the rain-soaked breeze following a brief shower that had rolled through earlier. Supper dishes were clean and put away, and their beds were calling to them after such an eventful day.
“I don’t know.” She tightened her arms around him. “We have to keep praying for him. The army doctor said the bump on his head is making him sleepy,
