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“Mama, I am no longer a child,” Dorey said. She gently took her mother’s hands from her face. “I am going on nine, you know.”
“And that is so old,” Lavinia replied, laughing softly. “But back to what we were discussing: my marriage to your father. I respected him and he was good to me, as I was to him. I still find his death devastating. But I just felt that you needed to know about my reason for marrying your father. Our marriage had worked for both of us until he died. We were content together, and a precious, sweet daughter was born of our comfortable marriage.”
“Oh, Mama, I miss Papa so much,” Dorey said, suddenly flinging herself into her mother’s arms andhugging her fiercely. She sobbed. “Why, oh, why did he have to die?”
“I’m beginning to think we will never know,” Lavinia said, smoothing her fingers through Dorey’s soft, golden hair.
Dorey leaned away from Lavinia and gazed into her eyes. “Thank you for telling me about your feelings for Papa and why you married,” she murmured. “I hope one day to find a man…a true love for myself.”
“Darling, you will,” Lavinia said. “In time, you will. You are too young now, though, to think about it. But you aren’t too young to understand what I’ve told you about marriage and love.”
Dorey suddenly left the bed. She turned and gazed into Lavinia’s eyes. “Mama, I would love to do something today that you might not approve of,” she said, her eyes no longer filled with tears, but instead with a quiet excitement.
“And that is?” Lavinia said, moving off the bed, too.
She went to the window and gazed at the old oak tree again, trying to fight back her curiosity about the handsome Indian.
“I want to go canoeing,” Dorey blurted out, bringing Lavinia’s eyes quickly to her again. “I haven’t gone since before Papa’s …death. I…I…need this, Mama. Canoeing gives me such peace. And I miss my time alone in the canoe, exploring.”
Lavinia tried not to show her uneasiness about her daughter leaving the plantation grounds.
But she understood Dorey’s restlessness.
Lavinia had been the same sort of child; she could never stay in one place for long.
She had always loved exploring.
She…still…did!
And surely always would.
She didn’t want the loss of her husband to take away her love of adventure.
“Alright, go and do your exploring,” Lavinia agreed. “But do not venture farther than where I have instructed you is safe. Stay within shouting distance of the slaves in case you get into trouble. They will alert either me or Hiram if necessary.”
“Oh, thank you, Mama,” Dorey cried, again hugging her.
Then she stepped away from Lavinia and asked, “Do you think Twila can go with me this time? I believe Uncle Hiram has gone to Fort James. Usually when he goes to play poker with his friends at the fort, he is gone for some time. He will never know that I have taken Twila canoeing with me.”
“Dorey, don’t you know…your Uncle Hiram seems to have eyes in the back of his head. Truly, you’d best not invite Twila to go with you,” she said regretfully. “It could cause trouble should Hiram ever find out. It is not wise to tempt fate. It is good that we have Twila staying in the house where we can keep an eye on her. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Can she at least go with me to the river and see me off in the canoe?” Dorey asked, begging with her eyes.
“I see nothing wrong with her doing that,” Lavinia said. “Go. Scat. Have fun.”
“I shall,” Dorey said, hurrying to the closed door. She turned and smiled at Lavinia. “Oh, Mama, I shall! Thank you.”
Lavinia nodded and watched her daughter leave the room, then went to the window again and peered out at the old oak tree.
She knew it was strange that she wasn’t concerned about Dorey going canoeing today. Somehow she sensed that the Indian was close and would keep her safe.
It seemed that the handsome Indian came often now, as though he were keeping an eye on the plantation, making sure Lavinia was safe. He seemed to have appointed himself her protector, even though they had never actually met or spoken.
She just saw him in the tree, watching.
Sometimes she still saw the panther, too, but not as much as she had at first.
Lavinia’s eyes were drawn elsewhere as she watched Dorey and Twila running toward the river, hand in hand, giggling.
