The Bastard Son (Winds of Change Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

right, Warren. I will send a note to Israel, but it will take time. What am I supposed to do with her until then?”
    “Keep her here, I suppose. The Kilmers were good Christian people. They never turned away anyone who needed help. Troy was a good friend,” Warren said solemnly. “I will help in any way I can, but with my family, it would be suicide if I helped outright. I will see that your note is delivered in haste.”
    Sumner said nothing for a moment. The life he had known was a distant memory. In his youth, he had worked hard to be a gentleman such as his father. He had been born the bastard son of English nobility, governor of Antigua, Governor John Rolf Blankenship. His mother had been a half-breed, fitting into neither world, Cherokee nor white. His father set her up on this farm almost thirty years ago. This was where he had been born, but in honesty, he remembered nothing about the place, having moved into Elm Bluff as a child.
    How he loved Elm Bluff, one of the three plantations his father owned outside of Charles Town. Sumner had overseen the lands for his father. When he was thirteen, his father moved his other family into Elm Bluff, his wife and other children. It had been a strange arrangement, but Sumner bonded with his new family.
    But now, as the girl lying in the bedroom, he walked alone. Not as she, without anyone. In truth, much of it was of his choosing. Had he not a young son, Caleb? Sadness washed over him when he thought of his boy. He would be over three now.
    He hadn’t seen Caleb for such a long time. He held no doubt the young lad wouldn’t know who he was, but Sumner had seen to his care, leaving him with his wife’s family in Charles Town. He also arranged if the boy was in any danger, he would be sent to his sister in England.
    Since the British occupation, Elm Bluff had been occupied by Red Coats. Rumor had it that Cornwallis had even taken up residence there for a while, but Sumner didn’t worry about his plantations. If they weren’t in his hands at the moment, his sister held control…in essence, they were his.
    Warren was right. Even though Sumner stood loyally behind the Patriot cause, he did have more connections with the British, more influence, than most.
    “We have more to discuss than this,” Sumner said standing. “Come. Let’s walk.”
    The oppressive heat lent to walking along the fence line under the shade of the live oaks.
    “I was given orders to rest and recover, but there is no rest for any at the moment. Gates blundered the whole battle at Camden, lost many a good man without reason. Furthermore, reports have come in that the British are making their way through our state, concentrating on those who have given aid to our men.
    “I intend to head over to see if I can help Shelby recruit men to our cause along the border.”
    Warren sighed. “It is not a job I would envy. Most of them want only to protect what is theirs. Life in the frontier is hard enough without launching a war against the British.”
    “There has to be those willing to fight. Shelby and McDowell have done many hit and run raids on Loyalist outposts along the border.”
    “Sumner, you know as well as I,” Warren warned, “that the overmountain men don’t like to be told what to do. It’s hard to lead men when there are no followers.”
    “Colonel Marion wants me to scout the area for signs of British activity,” Sumner said. “I can do so from here, except what am I to do with the distraction that now lives under my roof? I don’t like it, Warren.”
    “If you are worried so much about her welfare, take her with you when you scout.”
    “The girl?” Sumner asked in a clipped tone. “Are you mad?”
    “Could she not serve as a cover for you as you move about? At least until arrangements can be made. Let me point out that although she is a woman, she has survived for months without detection.”
    “It wouldn’t be safe to go where I go. She may be brave, but she is a