As Halloween approaches, I am releasing Chapter 2 of my new novel, entitled Sweet Liberty. I don’t know if I’ll have time to upload a new chapter next weekend, because I’m working on another ghostwriting project. I will, however, do my best for the next sample.
In this chapter, Libby Woods meets Nathaniel Payne while on the trail from Charleston, South Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to let him join them on their travels.
Chapter 2
Frustrated, she pounded on the man’s back. Still, he bent over Flossie, put his mouth to her leg then took it away, spitting out blood.
Despite her frenzied attempts to stop him, he repeated the process several times. Taking a quick break, he pointed to the left and explained simply, “Snake.”
Libby stared at the rattler in horror. Her fingers slowly tightened on the material of his shirt. A poisonous snake had bitten Flossie. When she was a child, she herself had been bitten—by a coral snake. Now even the sight of a dead snake terrified her. The vivid memory of the colorful reptile dangling from her arm came back in an instant. Her flesh had been in its deadly, gripping mouth until her father had torn the snake, as well as some skin, from her arm.
As she stared at the rattlesnake, it moved. Renewed terror seared her body, and she screamed. She gripped the man’s shirt even tighter.
“Look at the size of this whopper, Libby!” Will exclaimed as he lifted the serpent until its tail touched the ground. “It hasta be as long as Flossie is tall.”
Glancing up from his work, the man spat out more blood while he glared at Will. Before returning to his task, he ordered, “Drop that thing.”
“Why?” Will protested. “It’s dead. It ain’t gonna hurt me now.”
He spat out more blood. “Because you’re scaring the hell out of this girl.”
“She ain’t no girl. She’s my sister. ‘N’ I only wanted to show her what a monster this critter is.”
Sitting back on his knees, he spat more blood from his mouth, then reached behind him and patted Libby’s hip with a gentle, reassuring caress. But when he spoke to Will, he used a paternal tone. “Look, boy, I don’t give a damned if she’s your sister or a complete stranger. Drop that thing, or I’ll tan your ass something fierce. And I don’t care if you are bigger than I am.”
“Don’t call me boy!” Will complained as he dropped the snake. “I’m seventeen now, and I’m the man in this family.”
“Then act like one. Can you shoot?”
“Tolerable good.”
“Tolerably well,” the man corrected. “Do you think you could shoot a rattler if you saw one?”
“Dunno. I aim for bigger things.”
“Now’s not the time to find out. You take over here. I want to get some water.”
“Why cain’t Libby? She ain’t doin’ nothin’.”
“I don’t want her wandering around by the river,” he explained while Will knelt beside him. “There might be more rattlers around here.”
Libby was starting to relax enough to release her grip when he mentioned the possibility of more rattlesnakes. They were out there, lurking about, ready to attack her if she moved even an inch. Her heart pounded within her chest; her breathing became so labored that her lungs ached. She was going to die! A snake was going to bite her, and she was going to die. No, it couldn’t happen—not yet. She had to get Flossie and Will to civilization first.
Her panic increased. She felt as though she would faint any minute. But she couldn’t do that, either. She had to help this man save Flossie.
But even though she told herself that she had to be strong, her hands tightened their hold on the buckskin shirt the stranger wore.
“What if I swallow blood accidental-like?” Will asked.
“It won’t hurt you, but try to avoid it. Do this a couple times so I can see if you’ve got it right.”
For several minutes, Nate Payne instructed the young man on what to do. The entire time he soothingly caressed Libby’s hip. While he watched the teen, he tried to envision what this girl looked like. She was obviously short, unlike her brother. But she probably had his dark hair and eyes, as well as his olive complexion. He was a handsome young man, and she was probably a pretty girl.
Satisfied that the lad was doing his job properly, Nate started to rise but squatted when Libby didn’t let go. To break her hold, he jerked from her secure clutch and spun toward her. He stared down at her silently. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened in amazement. The lad was right; this was no girl. She was one of the most beautiful young women he’d ever seen! And she looked nothing like her brother. What shocked him most, though, was the terror in her eyes.
Then he noticed that her eyes weren’t on him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the object of her attention and sidestepped once to block her view.
When Libby started to scream, Nate grabbed her shoulders gently, which cut off her squeal. Then her gaze followed his fringed sleeve to shoulder then his mouth. Suddenly, he regretted not having shaved for several weeks. This young woman probably wanted nothing to do with a trapper who sported a beard and mustache.
But he couldn’t think about that now. He needed to calm her down before he could go off and slay the poisonous dragons for her.
Keeping his deep voice soft so he didn’t upset her further, he spoke as calmly as he could. “It’s all right now, miss.”
He hadn’t set eyes on a woman in months, and simply touching this one aroused him so much that he wondered if he could bear the ache in his loins. But he had to—for the sake of these travelers. Clearing the unexpected lump in his throat, he said, “I’m going to get some water to clean her wound. I’ll be right back.”
Determined to help, he strode over to the snake, picked it up, and dropped it behind a tree. Then he went to his horse.
Libby watched curiously as he got a canteen then sprinted toward the river. Who was that scroungy-looking man? And what did he want from them? On second thought, she knew exactly what he wanted—their money.
Her gaze went back to his horse. There was a pack mule loaded with furs beside it. Maybe the man didn’t want their money after all. Maybe he only wanted to help them.
A shot rang out, and she jerked her head to look toward the river. Had the stranger killed another rattlesnake or something else? Oh, how she hoped it was a snake! About a minute later there was another shot, then several more spaced at irregular intervals.
When he returned about twenty minutes later, he carried the pails Libby had dropped. Water slopped over the sides as he hurried to Flossie’s side. Kneeling beside Will, he said, “All right, boy. I’ll look at her injury now.” While Will moved out of the way, he turned his attention to Flossie, who was finally conscious. “You’re going to be fine, miss.”
“I feel sick,” Flossie said weakly. “And my leg hurts.”
“I know, but you won’t die. The young man and I got most of the venom from your system. Your job is to lie still and relax. I don’t want you moving any more than necessary.” Glancing over his shoulder, he spoke to the Libby in the same tone. “Do you have a couple of towels and something to bandage the wounds?”
For the first time since she saw the rattlesnake, Libby forced herself to move. She hurried to the wagon and pulled out two towels plus some bandages that her father had insisted be kept on hand at the farm. Returning to the stranger, Libby knelt beside him and silently handed him a towel.
What would they have done if he hadn’t appeared? she wondered as she watched him clean Flossie’s wound. She wouldn’t have known how to treat a snakebite, and Will obviously wouldn’t have, either. If this man hadn’t come to Flossie’s rescue, she would probably be dead by now—or not far from it. Libby was very grateful to him, but …
Instinct told her that he was only there to help them, that he wanted nothing in return. But logic insisted that something more was involved. No man was so giving without wanting something in return. She’d learned that from experience.
Beside her, the man tied off the bandage then handed her what he hadn’t used. Without a word, she rose and put the clean bandages away. When she turned from the wagon, he was standing behind her.
Libby studied him silently. She’d never seen such an attractive man. His features were flawless. His deeply bronzed skin and wavy, sun-streaked sandy blond hair heightened his outdoor appearance. The bright blue eyes set beneath his long, shaggy locks sparkled conspicuously against the tanned face left exposed by his beard.
When she could finally force herself to speak, her words burst forth in a flurry. “Thank you for saving our sister’s life, sir. I wish there were some way we could repay you, but we can’t spare any money.”
“I don’t want payment, miss. I’m just glad I could help.” With a pleasant smile, he paused. She was awfully pretty, and her voice was as soft as velvet. But there was something about it that left him wanting more. Maybe the complete lack of emotion in it. Whatever it was, he wanted to hear it again, and the only way to do that was to keep her talking. “By the way, it’s not wise to mention the amount of money you have to a stranger. Some folks would kill you for even a few cents.”
Libby blushed and bowed her head. “Normally, I wouldn’t have, but I wanted you to know that we can’t afford your services. The best we can do is offer you some of our dinner.”
“Uh, Libby,” Will interrupted, “we cain’t do that, neither. We ain’t got nothin’ to eat. I didn’t have time to shoot nothin’.”
The man bit the inside of his lower lip. He detested improper English and often corrected people’s grammatical errors. This time, though, he felt it best to hold his tongue.
“Nothing?” Libby asked as she turned her gaze to her brother. “You’d better get back out there and find something, Willie. The least we can do is feed this gentleman.”
“There’s no need for that, Willie,” Nate insisted before Will could protest. “The rattler’s more than big enough to feed all of us.”
Libby snapped her head back to the man and stared up at him in astonishment, her mouth gaping. “You want me to cook it? But we’ll all be poisoned.”
He frowned. Her expression was animated, but her voice still bore no emotion. For some reason, that concerned him. To take his mind off it, he smiled again and said, “In the first place, there’s no danger of being poisoned. And in the second place, I’ll do the cooking.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not, Libby?” Will asked.
“Because …”
“Because,” the man interrupted with a playful grin directed at the woman before him, “we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Nathaniel Payne, but most folks call me Nate.”
“How do you do, Mr. Payne,” Libby said.
“Like I said, miss, most folks call me Nate. And I’m certainly not Mr. Payne to anybody. So either you call me Nate, or you call me Payne—because I don’t answer to mister.”
“I’m Will Nichols,” he said enthusiastically, “and these are my sisters, Liberty and Flossie Woods. But don’t call me Willie like they do. They still think I’m a little boy, but I ain’t. I’m a man now, and I aim to be treated like one. So you call me Will or else.”
Liberty, Nate thought. What an unusual name. He liked it—a lot. Of course, as pretty as she was, he would like her name even if it was Fred. To still his thoughts, he directed his next question to Will. “Or else what?”
“Or else I’ll whup ya,” Will declared. “I’m considerable bigger than you are, and I could do it.”
“Willie,” Libby said with only a mild hint of warning in her soft voice.
“It’s all right, Miss Liberty,” Nate said, grinning down at her unfalteringly. She had the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. But he had to keep his mind on their conversation and stop dreaming of what it might be like to sweep her into his arms and …
With a sharp shake of his head, Nate banished the thought from his head then explained, “If Willie wants to fight me, I have no objections. He should be forewarned, though, that bigger is not necessarily stronger.”
Shrugging out of his buckskin shirt, Nate tossed it aside. Libby’s eyes widened again, and she gasped softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her studying his body. He was a very strong man, and she obviously appreciated his physique. He tensed for battle, forcing the muscles in his arms, chest, and back protruded even more. Only a smattering of hair on his chest obstructed her view.
Proud of the effect his body had on this demure young woman, he tossed his head to clear hair from his eyes, then he directed his gaze to her brother. “Are you ready, Willie?”
Will’s eyes widened in amazement, and he backed up two steps. “You really aim to fight me?”
Standing erect, Nate unclenched his fists and let his arms drop to his sides. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“I don’t wanna fight. I just don’t wancha callin’ me Willie. That’s all.”
“I’m sorry. I misunderstood. I’ll make a deal with you. If you at least try to use good grammar in my presence, I’ll try to remember to call you Will. I know from your sister’s speech that you have an education, and it doesn’t make you any less of a man to use it. Do we have a deal?”
Will nodded. “Sure. As long as I don’t hafta—have to fight with you.”
“That’s better. Let’s get dinner started. We’ll make it so your sisters won’t even know what they’re eating.”
Libby agreed with a silent nod. Her reaction to seeing Nate’s half-naked body surprised her, and she was afraid that talking might show him her interest. For the first time in her life, the sight of a bare-chested man commanded her undivided attention, and she was bewitched by his powerful masculinity.
As he slipped his shirt back over his head, disappointment flooded through her. Forcing her mind back to the present, she spoke in a calm, casual voice. She could only hope that it hid her internal stirrings from her siblings—and especially from Nate. “I’m sorry that we don’t have some decent food for you.”
“That’s all right,” Nate said cheerfully. “I’m used to eating whatever I can catch. This isn’t my first snake dinner, and it probably won’t be my last. The first time it’s kind of hard to swallow because you know what it is, but if you’re hungry enough, you’ll try anything. It tastes a lot like chicken, so if you close your eyes while you’re eating it, you should do fine.”
Libby grimaced at the thought. “If you don’t mind, I feel a little sick to my stomach. I think I’ll lie down in the wagon for a while.”
“Good idea. I’ll tell you when it’s time to eat.”
After Nate cooked the reptile over the fire Will built, Will called for Libby to join them. Unable to bear the thought of consuming a snake, she claimed that she had no appetite and politely refused. As she watched from the wagon, she wondered how the other three could possibly eat it.
With Nate offering to stay until morning to see that Flossie was all right, all four settled down for the night. When he thought everyone was asleep, he checked on her again. She was a bit more feverish than earlier, so he covered her with his spare blanket. Still unable to sleep, he checked the three horses and his pack mule to reassure himself that they were secured well enough to nearby trees. Then he glanced at the wagon in which Libby lay.
Ever since he’d first felt her hands on his shirt, he’d felt drawn to her. He’d wanted to hold her and comfort her and make all of her fears go away. But she was so aloof that he didn’t know how to approach her. Instead, he’d watched her stubbornly sit in the wagon and longed to sit with her. He’d opted for a few fleeting glances in her direction. Now, as he gazed longingly down at her, he noticed she wasn’t fully covered against the chilly night air. He pulled the blanket to her neck.
“Willie?” she asked without opening her eyes.
“No, Miss Liberty. It’s Nate.”
While Nate crossed his arms and rested them on the side of the wagon, Libby sat up. “Is Flossie all right?”
“She’s running a fever,” he replied with a smile, “but I think she’ll be fine if you stay here for a couple of days.”
“What if there are more rattlesnakes? I think I’d go insane if someone got bitten again. I’m terrified of them.”
“I noticed, but I doubt anybody else will be bitten.”
“How can you be so sure?” She examined him silently for a moment then said, “I thank the Lord that you happened by to save her.”
Nate grimaced. There was no doubt in his mind. Now was time to admit the truth. “Actually, I didn’t merely happen by. I spotted your trail yesterday and decided to say hello. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any human company.”
“What do you do that keeps you away from people?”
“I hunt and trap along the rivers in North and South Carolina. Unfortunately, trapping hasn’t been very good this year.”
“Then you travel all the time?”
“Most of the time, anyway.” When her stomach growled, he grinned. “Sounds like somebody’s hungry now.”
Libby grimaced. “I don’t suppose you have any dinner left.”
Nate’s grin widened, and he offered her a conspiratorial wink. “As a matter of fact, I do, but I have a better idea. I’ll be right back.”
While Libby watched curiously, Nate wandered to his saddlebags and dug into one of them. Pulling something out, he returned to the wagon and hoisted himself up to sit on the end.
“Come sit here, Miss Liberty,” he said. “You’ll enjoy this a lot more than what the rest of us ate tonight.”
Reluctant to be so close to him, Libby remained where she was. She liked this man too much, and she was afraid that he might touch her if she got too close to him. In an attempt to disguise her discomfort, she said, “I wish you would call me Libby. I prefer it.”
“I like Liberty, because it’s so unusual,” he returned. “How did you come by it?”
“I was born on July sixth,” she explained, “and my father was a true Patriot.”
“Obviously.” Grinning widely, he patted the end of the wagon. “Now come over here and get the tasty morsels I have for you.”
Although hesitant, Libby maneuvered around the family belongings and joined him. Dangling her feet off the end, she accepted the two pieces of meat he held out toward her. “What is this?”
“Jerked venison. I always keep some on hand in case I can’t bag any game.”
“Nathaniel Payne, you’re my hero.”
Nate stared at her as she bit down on the meat and worked a hard piece off of the strip. She chewed earnestly while he studied her. It made her a bit nervous, but she thought it was probably inadvisable to say anything. To avoid his steady gaze, she looked into the nearby fire, ate the jerky in her mouth, then bit off another piece with less difficulty.
Libby took another small bite and returned her gaze to Nate, asking, “Would you really have fought my brother earlier?”
Nate shrugged his broad shoulders. “He didn’t give me much choice. If he’d insisted, yes, I would have fought him.”
“But why when he’s so much bigger than you?”
“To teach him a lesson. He may be bigger, but he lacks my power and experience. He’s an awfully scrawny lad even if he is a good three inches taller than I am. I’ve also been around about twenty years longer than he, and I’ve been lugging around heavy traps and carcasses for quite a few years. Naturally, I’ve become a good deal stronger than I was when I was his age.”
“Isn’t it a bit arrogant of you to think you could have beaten him? After all, you have no idea how strong he is.”
“Strength isn’t everything, Miss Libby. There’s also endurance, agility, and experience. Besides, I don’t consider it arrogance—confidence, maybe, but not arrogance.”
“I may not agree with your tactics, but I have to admit that you controlled Willie beautifully.”
“The lad’s right about one thing. You should call him Will. He’s no longer a little boy; he’s a man now. Granted, he’s a little rough, but he’s still a man. He’ll smooth out along the way.”
Libby examined Nate in concern. Now that there was no father in Will’s life, how could he possibly smooth out? She didn’t have the expertise it took to raise a teenage male to adulthood. A teenage girl was a different matter, because it hadn’t been that long ago that she herself had been that age.
After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Do you honestly think so, Nate? I worry that I won’t be able to direct his approaching maturity. It’s difficult to suddenly become a mother and father to a teenage boy. I’m not nearly as worried about raising Flossie as I am Willie. At least, I understand her feelings and problems. How can I possibly guide Will as a father would when I don’t understand men myself?”
“You can’t.”
“But I have to. There’s no one else. Our parents were killed recently.”
Nate shook his head. “I’m sorry, Miss Libby, but you can’t guide him. You’re little more than a child yourself. Besides, women don’t understand men any better than men understand women.”
Pulling her legs up beside her and straightening her skirt and petticoats around them, Libby turned to face him. “I’m far from my childhood. My stepmother told me that I should have married years ago, but Papa always told me to wait until I’m convinced that I’ve found the right man. It made sense, so I stayed an old maid.”
“You’re hardly an old maid. You can’t be more than seventeen or eighteen. Maybe nineteen, but no more than that.”
“You’re very kind, but I turned twenty-three this year.”
He studied her features in the flickering firelight. Her green eyes sparkled; her small nose was set over a pair of pouty lips. Her figure was so delicate in all areas that she reminded him of his mother’s favorite china figurine. He knew from the moment he was first able to study her features that he was attracted to her. Oh, how he wished he could embrace her and devour those full lips with a kiss that would melt her into a more intimate embrace. Obviously, he’d been away from civilization far too long if all he could think of was bedding the first pretty lady he saw.
He’d also seen her overt admiration of his body in her beautiful green eyes when he’d slid back into his shirt after his near-fight with Will. That meant she might be receptive to a little kiss. Her not being married at twenty-three didn’t mean that something was wrong with her. In fact, given her appearance and demeanor, everything was right!
“You’re the most attractive old maid I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m not exactly young, either— thirty-two.”
Her soft, patient voice filled the air and made him long to hold her tightly. But her words came far from indicating that she was interested in intimacy. “If you travel all the time, where do you call home?”
“In the winter I stay at my cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the spring, summer and fall, I work—trapping for furs mostly, but I do some hunting, too. I do my trapping from my cabin in the winter.”
“Were you born in the cabin?”
Nate chuckled. “My home is no more than a two-room log cabin that I built myself. I certainly wasn’t born there.”
“I didn’t think so. You’re too well educated. What made you decide to trap for your vocation? It must be a world apart from wherever you were born.”
“My father owns a business in Philadelphia, and he had his own plans for my life. But I love being outside. I plan to settle down on a farm—when it’s time to settle down, that is.”
“I imagine your father was very angry about that.”
“You have no idea how furious he was—still is, as far as I know. I write Mother regularly so she knows I’m fine, but Father has no interest in my life now. Mother’s a very understanding woman. I’m sure she’s still pleading for him to understand why I had to leave.”
“Don’t you ever go back to see them?”
“I can’t!” His vehement exclamation obviously stunned her, because she stared at him in astonishment. As soon as he saw her startled expression, he calmed. “Father and I had an argument before I left. He told me never to show my face in Philadelphia until I decided that he was right. Since I have no intention of agreeing, I’m forced to stay away. I haven’t seen or heard from my parents since I was twenty.”
“You sound almost indifferent. Don’t you miss them?”
“I did in the beginning, but twelve years is a long time. No, I don’t miss them anymore.”
In the dim firelight, Libby gazed at him unfalteringly. Judging from her sympathetic expression, she could tell that, although he spoke the words, he didn’t feel them.
She reached over and laid her hand gently on his as she said, “I’m sorry I brought up unhappy memories, Nate. I hadn’t intended to.”
Smiling, he laid his free hand over hers. Her mere touch made him recall the long months away from civilization and the arms of a woman. The women he bedded were all prostitutes, because he refused to sleep with young women of breeding. They were to be respected. But prostitutes were different. That’s what they did for a living.
Now this young woman reminded him what it was like to have the companionship of a refined lady. To his amazement, the physical excitement was overshadowed by a strong emotional fulfillment. Oh, how he wanted to hold Libby in his arms! And he knew just how to do it. “You’re cold.”
“A little,” she admitted softly.
“I’ll keep you warm.” Glancing around, Nate saw a large trunk about three feet behind him. He scooted back until he could lean against it then bent his left leg in front of him to prevent too intimate of contact. With his right foot firmly planted on the wagon floor, he leaned forward and tenderly grasped her wrist. “Come here.”
Libby studied him with wariness in her eyes. In her normal quiet tone, she said, “I believe a blanket would be much more appropriate.”
Nate flashed her a wide grin as he tugged gently on her arm. “A blanket wouldn’t be nearly as much fun—for either of us.” When she silently resisted, his frown returned. Somehow he had to convince her that he would never treat her with anything but respect. But how, when he himself wasn’t sure he could live by his self-imposed rule?