The Blacksmith's Daughter: A Mystery of the American Revolution Read Online Free PDF

on the morrow for an assignment in
South Carolina."
    The diplomatic mask on Sheffield's
face said that he disliked Major Hunt's lieutenant every bit as much as
Stoddard did.   Betsy's foreboding
escalated.   If she wanted to keep David's
visit secret, she saw no way she could discuss her misgivings, even with her
husband.
    The captain broadened his
smile.   "And since you're traveling
in the same direction, it's sensible for him to head your escort.   I assure you he's quite capable of handling
any problems that might arise on the road.   In fact, I have him out investigating livestock theft this afternoon
because I know he'll get to the bottom of it, if anyone can."   He turned to Clark.   "Shall I send him over to the house
tonight to meet you?"
    Clark shook his head.   "I'll likely run into him in the Red
Rock this evening."
    "Very well.   I shall have your escort at the house on the
morrow at seven to return you to Augusta."
    "Thank you, sir.   But we didn't catch his name."
    "Oh, of course.   Fairfax is the name.   Dunstan Fairfax."
    Chapter Four
    BETSY PLOPPED HER tote on the
counter beside Arriaga's package and surveyed the shop.   Upstairs, her aunt hollered, "I'll be
right down!"   Betsy sneezed,
dismayed at clutter neither Sophie nor Will would have permitted in the print
shop.   Susana may have kept the
newspaper going, but in what state was the ledger?
    The back door whammed open, and a
flame-haired girl trudged in.   She
bobbed a curtsy at Betsy, the sullen tug to her mouth vanishing.   "I'll tell Mrs. Greeley you're here,
Miss —?"
    "I'm Betsy Sheridan, Sophie
Barton's daughter."
    Her scrutiny of Betsy
deepened.   "Ain't I met you
before?"
    And so it started, recognition of
Betsy's features.   "I don't think
so.   I've not been to Alton in a number
of years."
    Susana hollered again: "Mary,
get up here this instant!"   The
servant hurried upstairs.
    Betsy picked her way around a shop
smelling of dust and mildew.   Within a
minute, Susana clomped downstairs, a harried twenty-nine-year-old mother of
six, dark-haired and gray-eyed like her two older siblings.   Delight softened her scowl, and she blazed a
trail through stacks of newspaper for an embrace.   "Betsy, what a pleasure to have you here!   You've been away much too long.   Let me have a look at you.   My goodness, not showing at all.   How far along are you?"
    "Just over four months."
    "How do you stay so tiny?   Just like your mama, heaven help
her."   Susana sighed, pulled a
handkerchief from her pocket, and dabbed her eyes.   "Your poor mama and uncle, captured by those Indians.   I'm so worried, I can scarcely eat or
sleep."   She blew her nose and
crammed the handkerchief back in her pocket.   "I hope this nightmare ends soon and everyone comes home.   I've kept the press going, but I'm not the
business manager your mama is."
    Betsy leaned forward for a closer
look at Susana's earlobes.   "Aren't
those my mother's garnet earrings?"
    Susana snaked lampblack-and-varnish
stained fingers to her ears and flushed.   "Oh, my.   I was dusting her
room this morning and tried them on.   I
was just fancying that I was somewhere else, somewhere exciting .   No harm done, eh?"   She tittered, removed the earrings, stuck
them in her pocket, and craned her neck about the shop.   "Where's Clark?"
    "Visiting the tanner on
business.   He'll come for supper."
    "Good."   Susana seized her hand and towed her toward
the pressroom.   "I've had such
trouble with the newspaper."
    Composing sticks full of type and
galleys full of composing sticks cluttered the workbenches in the pressroom,
dominated by Will's big, hand-pulled press.   Betsy smelled lampblack and varnish, ink for the type.   She stepped around a bucket of filthy rags
and pushed drawers of type into their cabinets so she could squeeze past.
    "Your mama arranged so much
copy on just one page and squeezed in advertisements, too.   I'm not that talented.   Do you