Daughter of Twin Oaks Read Online Free PDF Page B

and Carrie Mae to Richmond to be with their aunt Sylvania—to keep them safe from marauding soldiers.
    She carried Thaddeus down the back stairs and left him playing on the kitchen floor with Lucinda’s two grandchildren. She’d rather stay and play with them and the kittens than go back to being the hostess. She stepped through the front door as the three enlisted men returned from the stables.
    “Nothing there, sir.” One saluted as he spoke. “Except for the two mules like she said and a milk cow.”
    “Please don’t take the cow. My little brother needs the milk.” She tried to keep a note of panic from her voice.
    “We aren’t in the habit of leaving women and children destitute.” The captain rose to his feet. He set his glass back on the tray Lucinda held and nodded his thanks. “Sergeant,” he said, giving a silent order.
    “Mount up!” The command cut through the air, all official once more.
    Captain Dorsey set his blue felt hat back on his head and touched two fingers to the brim. “Ma’am, sorry to inconvenience you regarding the horses. But just in case you happen to find any running loose, we will be on the watch.”
    Was that a twinkle she caught in his eye or a trick of the light? Jesselynn didn’t take time to ponder the thought. “I’m sure you will be, and if there were any horses running loose, why, Captain, what a surprise that would be to all of us.” As if we’d let our horses run loose!
    The men mounted, and the captain tipped his hat again. “Good evening, Miss Highwood, and I am indeed sorry about the death of your father. From everything I hear of him, he was a fine man.”
    Jesselynn swallowed hard. The tears she’d kept reined in all day now threatened to break loose. “Yes, sir, he was.” She watched the straight-shouldered, blue-clad backs as they trotted their horses down the long drive. Speaking of fine men, she had a feeling she’d just met one. If only he’d worn gray instead of blue.
    She shook her head and turned back to the house. As soon as they’d had supper, she needed to finish the letter to Uncle Hiram and begin the thank-you notes to those who’d left gifts today. How soon could she possibly leave? Who would she take? Who would stay? And who would protect those who remained behind?
    She’d just sat down to the table when one of the young hands skidded through the door.
    “Rider comin’, Missy.”
    “Friend or …”
    “Sojer, I thinks.”
    Jesselynn dropped her napkin on the table. “Blue or gray?”
    “Too dark.” But the boy shook his head. “Bad ’un, I specs.”
    “Benny, what do you mean?”
    Quiet as a shadow, Meshach took his place behind her as soon as she stepped on the porch.
    The horse’s front feet nearly clattered on the first step as the rider yanked his mount to a stop.
    “So, they didn’t find ’em, did they?”
    The sneering voice of their ex-overseer sent shivers chasing up her spine.
    “I was watchin’.”
    “Find what?” The thought of Second Lieutenant Cavendar Dunlivey of the Confederate army keeping a watch on Twin Oaks made her want to take out a gun herself.

Chapter Three
    “My father told you never to set foot on this place again.”
    Dunlivey shook his head, his smile sinister in its beauty. “Yer father ain’t here no more, Missy, and I come to get what is rightfully mine.”
    If only he was as handsome inside as out . The thought made her choke. All she could see now was evil. Jesselynn kept her hands away from protecting her middle with a burst of anger that she refused to let show. That was what he wanted, to see her cringe. She clamped her teeth together to keep the words she wanted to scream at him inside until she could speak civilly. Dunlivey had abused the slaves, stolen from her father, and then asked for her hand in marriage, claiming it was his right, since he had done so much to keep the plantation running. He knew every inch of the land.
    She raised her chin, tightening her backbone at the