Paper Woman: A Mystery of the American Revolution Read Online Free PDF Page A

dirt streets with the three Hale brothers.   Now Jonah, tangled in rebel intrigue, never
jested with them anymore.   And Mathias
had his own little game going with the Creek.   "My feet were stepped on too often tonight."
    "Have I ever stepped on your feet?"
    Feeling
obstinate, she looked away.   "I'm
tired."
    He leaned over
and whispered, "You're sulking."
    Her gaze
swiveled back around to challenge his.   "You should have invited your four Creek friends to dance."
    Eyes hardening,
he stared at her several heartbeats before he whispered, "They don't like
European dances."
    After a night
of subterfuge and lies, she'd given up expecting anyone to admit to anything,
let alone trust her with secrets.   She
mused why Mathias, of those at the dance that night with clandestine dealings,
had trusted her.   Clearly his stakes
were on a different plane.   "How
unfortunate."
    The guard in
his expression retreated.   Straightening, he extended his hand.   Up on the platform, the fiddlers meandered into "Give Me Your
Hand," a tune by the Irish harpist Rory Dall O'Cahan.   Sophie took Mathias's hand.
    They danced
without conversation.   Taller than his
uncle by several inches but just as wiry, the blacksmith led her around without
stepping on her feet or colliding with anyone.   When the fiddlers finished, thunder boomed closer.   A cool downdraft fluttered torches and
stirred a murmur through the applause.   Rather than lingering and socializing, people hurried off the grounds,
eager to return home ahead of the storm.
    Sophie spotted
Susana and John herding their six children for the horses and wagons.   "Pardon me, but I must help my
sister.   Good night."   After a curtsy for Mathias, she retrieved
her kerchief and fan and bustled after the Greeleys.
    The major
caught up with her at the family's wagon just after she lifted Susana's little
girl inside to Mary, the St. James's servant.   "A moment, please!"   Lightning illuminated the contrition on his face and the distaste of the
Greeleys.
    Vexation
pressed Sophie's lips together.   "Visit me at home on the morrow.   We're off.   We've no desire to
get drenched tonight."
    "I shall
make sure you're home ahead of the storm."
    Expelling
annoyance, she motioned Susana to go on without her.   Her sister glared from Sophie's earrings to the pendant at her
throat, and acid stung her voice.   "Wearing Mama's garnets.   Such airs you give yourself lately.   Must be the company you keep."   Then she turned her back on Sophie to settle down children scampering
over each other like squirrels hitting upon a cache of acorns.
    Damp wind
smelling of swamp, sand, and Piedmont red clay whipped Sophie's petticoat.   Edward Hunt seized her hand.   When they reached his horse, he vaulted into
the saddle, and he and a private hoisted her up behind him.   A tepid raindrop splashed her cheek as she
wrapped her arms around him.   They
trotted for the road, passing wagons.   When she glanced at the four accompanying soldiers, lightning
illuminated a sheet of rain sweeping over Zeb's barn.   The major spurred the horse into a gallop.
    A quarter-hour
later, ahead of the rain but followed by thunder, they arrived at the St. James
house and print shop.   The town stank of
livestock, rotten fruit, and wood smoke.   From the direction of the Red Rock Tavern, south of Town Square, came
avian screeches and human cheers from a cockfight in progress.   Two soldiers saluted their commander and rode
south on the dusty main street lined by most of Alton's two-dozen wooden
buildings — businesses on the ground floor, residences upstairs.   The other two dismounted with their
commander and Sophie.
    Will's hounds,
Achilles and Perseus, crawled from beneath the porch, shook off, and ambled
over.   She and Edward Hunt petted them
before he escorted her to the porch, where she turned to him.   "Thank you for bringing me home ahead
of the rain."
    "You're
most welcome.   May I come in for