The boy stood there staring at the grave for a long while as Lee put his shovel up and mounted once more. His saddle creaked and the boy looked up at him again.
“Well, I reckon you better come with me, then, boy.”
“Come with you?” the boy looked surprised, shocked even.
“Lest you want to starve and die out here by yourself.” Lee leaned forward in the saddle and held out his arm for the boy to climb up.
“You gonna kill me?” the boy looked at him with a mixture of shock and fright.
“Now why would I want to kill you?” Lee smiled sadly. “Just waste of a good bullet.”
“Don’t know…but ‘spect you will.” The kid dried his eyes and stood squaring himself off against Lee.
“Well, you ‘spected wrong. Now, come on, boy, let’s get out of this weather,” Lee directed. “We’ll make camp down in the valley and head out for a town in the morning. It’s rainin’ too hard to make much time in this weather.”
He held out his hand once more to the kid. The kid stared at it for a moment, then grabbed it and lifted himself behind him on the horse. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Folks called me Samuel, friends call me Sam. Sam Tanner,” he mumbled.
“Well, Sam Tanner, pleased to meet ya,” Lee said and was about to move away when he heard a noise coming from the bushes. He whirled his horse about. There in the bushes were two eyes staring out at him.
“Who’s in there? Come out now. Don’t have time for this,” Lee fussed gruffly.
The bushes made a swishing sound and out came a Negro girl. She couldn’t have been over fourteen or fifteen. She was barefoot, and her dress looked a size or two too big for her as it drooped in places where the rain had plastered it against her bronze skin. In fact, her whole body was silhouetted in the rain. His practiced male glance did a long slow slide up and down her, assessing.
The fragile pain mirrored in her gaze as their eyes met for the first time, sent a spear straight for Lee’s heart. Lee stared so long she blushed and moved out of the brush.
Lee couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Who are you?”
He didn’t mean to snap at her nor stare so long, but the shocking awareness awkwardly passing between them had him off guard.
It was that excuse for a dress she was wearing for one thing. Her dress plastered against her in the rain, making Lee gasp as he quickly noticed how she was just bursting into womanhood; her body mirrored a silent perfection. Her hips rounded just a tad, her young breasts peeked hard against the dress, but her expression held him spellbound for a moment; provocative, the toss of her head, the turn of her nose, and the peak of a smile on her beautiful full lips tempted Lee to react like a man.
Never had anyone so young turned his head.
“I’m Sam’s sister,” she explained hotly, hostility rising in her answer.
Lee grumbled under his breath. Just what he needed. Not only a little snot nosed kid, but a girl…now what was he supposed to do?
“Hattie,” Sam cried, seeing her clearly now as he peaked around Lee. Without thought he jumped down and rushed to her side, hugging her. The girl curled her arms around Sam tightly.
“I thought you was dead.” He hugged her closely.
“I almost was…but I escaped them on the trail. They got Mama,” she whispered as she put her arm protectively around her brother and studied Lee.
“How about Doris and Mabelle?” Sam cried, looking into her face.
“They are…they’re dead.” She glanced down at her brother, a hint of sadness crossing her young features. “After what them men did to them, I knew I had to get out of there, so while they were payin’ me no mind, I run off.”
Sam hung his head and squeezed her hand. “Is Mama…still alive?”
“So far.” She stood lifeless staring at the man as Lee continued to watch her every move. “I think they are takin’ her with them. I think they want her to cook for them.”
“Then maybe they won’t kill her.” Sam smiled. “Ma’s a good cook.”
“That’s a big maybe, Sam…” Hattie whispered.
“You think we could find her?” Sam asked, squeezing her hand.