Lou sat back against her pillows, leaning until she felt the hard wood of the headboard pressing into her back. She took a few seconds to let Kid’s words sink in. “It seems like you all had a nice friendship, Kid.”

Kid remained silent, still lost in his memories. “It started out great,” he said. “As we got older things began to change. Looking back on it now, I would have to say that as we grew, so did Doritha’s ability to play with us, to pit Garth and I against each other.”

“Then why did you stay friends for all that time? Why didn’t you tell her to be fair?”

Kid chuckled knowingly. “Back then, you didn’t tell Doritha anything. She did as she pleased. I thought about asking her to stop making Garth and I fight for her attention all the time, but in the long run, it was easier to leave well enough alone. I needed them, faults and all, more than I needed everything to be fair.”

“Was it getting worse at home?” she asked gently.

“That would be putting it politely.” Kid wasn’t sure there was a good way to tell Lou about the increased beatings he took as he got older. “Jed was gone for longer periods of time now. He kept going farther and farther away. He said it was to find work, but I think it was an excuse for him to stay clear of us. I was still getting beat on, but it was less for trying to protect my mother than for not getting chores done or stuff around the farm. My father still wanted me to go to school, but he also wanted me to try and replant the land.”

“By yourself?” Lou was outraged. “How old were you then?”

“It was about the time I turned twelve. Jed still sent some money to us every once in a while, but it wasn’t enough and my mother tried to take in some sewing, but she had been sickly ever since she lost the baby, so he decided we would farm again. Or more truthfully, I would farm again. Nothing grew, but a few cabbages and the like. I tried, I really did, but every time he walked out to look at the progress and saw no tobacco crop to sell he would beat the tar out of me. Out in the middle of the field, with no one around to stop him, he could take all his frustrations out on me. I thought he was gonna kill me each time, Lou. I swear I think he wanted to, but something made him stop just short of it.”

“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” She turned to stroke his face and watched for the tears that wouldn’t come. Had it been possible without hurting his battered body, Lou would have pulled him to her breast and rocked him like she did the children when they were troubled. “Nobody should’ve had to go through that. No man could have taken what you did and turned out better.” Lou meant it. It made it clearer why Kid hated to see any violence and why he was always so willing to step in and stop it.

“The worst part was I really started to believe it was my fault so I didn’t fight back. I didn’t try to make him stop.”

“Kid, that wasn’t your job to make him stop. He was your father. He never should have been doing it in the first place. How long did this go on?”

“It never really stopped, but that same summer after one brutal beating he finally gave up on me ever getting something to grow.” Kid’s attempt at humor fell flat, mostly because it wasn’t a joke. “That beating was the worst up to that point and when he was done I really thought I was dead. Then, he left me there in the summer sun to rot. He’d never done that before. He usually dragged me home for my ma to clean me up, but not this time. In the field, that’s where Doritha found me.”

She watched from the safety of the shadows as Kid’s father beat him mercilessly. She wanted to make him stop, to charge through the field on her horse and chase him away, but she feared not only what he would do to her if she tried, but also what he would do to Kid if she failed.

When it was all over, Doritha waited until she was positive that Kid’s father was far enough away before slinking from her hiding place. She rode straight to Kid, jumped off her horse and sunk to her knees beside his bloody face. Using the sleeve of her dress she tried to stop the blood pouring from his nose, but there was so much and she didn’t know what to do.

Though the touch was tender it still sent a sharp pain shooting through his body so strong that it was enough to bring him out of unconsciousness. Recognizing Doritha by the halo of golden hair that framed her face, he cringed and tried to turn away. He didn’t want her to see him like this; he didn’t want her to know what really happened to him when he was at home.

”Stop movin’, Kid. You’re hurt!” Doritha was afraid he was going to make himself worse off by squirming.

“Leave me be, Doritha! It ain’t safe for you here. You gotta go home now!” He knew he couldn’t count on what his father would do if he found her there tending to him.

“I will not leave you here! You’ll surely die if I do.”

“It might be better for me if I did,” he said quietly. The embarrassment of her seeing him like this was almost as bad as the beating.

“Don’t say that, Kid! Don’t ever say you’re gonna die.” Doritha was both scared and angry. “You can’t die and leave me here. What would I do without you?” Panic crept into her voice making it a higher pitch than usual.

“You’d have Garth to take care of you. He’s better for you than I am anyway.”

“Kid, stop talking your nonsense. Just because you and Garth are different, it doesn’t mean that one of you is better than the other.”

“I’ll bet you never had to stop his bloody nose with your sleeve,” he pointed out. “You’d best be going, I’ll be okay.”

Doritha smiled sweetly at him as he tried to pull himself upright. “You never were a good liar, Kid. You’re far from bein’ all right. Do you think you can get up on Apple if I helped?”

Kid looked wearily at the tall horse. “I’m not sure, ‘sides where will we go? You can’t take me to my house!” he exclaimed. Terror had his heart rising into his throat.

The look on Kid’s face reminded her of the look a rabbit got when it knew it was caught. “What about Garth’s? Mrs. Maxwell could fix you up real good.”

“No!” Kid knew that if they went to Garth’s that Mrs. Maxwell would surely call for the Marshal. “You can’t tell Garth or no one else. Doritha, this has to be our secret,” he begged.

“Kid, I can’t take care of you by myself. You need a real doctor.”

“I can’t see a doc.” Kid knew any trained doctor would see the years of abuse and he feared what would happen to him and his mother if they came for his father. “I’ve always been fine before.”

She knew there were some other kids who got hit once in a while for punishment, usually having to pick out their own switch was the worst of it, but she had never known someone’s father to hit them as if it were a sport. “We’ll go to my house then.”

“Doritha…”

“Hush now, Kid. It’ll be fine. I’ll hide you in the stable.” She knew her parents would never notice, they didn’t even see her when she was right under their noses. “Maybe I can tell Agatha?” she asked as she helped Kid to stand.

“Please don’t.” Kid knew how Doritha’s sister felt about him and he didn’t want her to run to her parents. “Just you. I’ll tell you what you need to do.”

She’d never be sure how Kid got on her horse, but sitting behind him and riding as a man would, she held him upright for the long ride to her parent’s plantation. Sneaking into the stable through the back she thought they were in the clear until Robert, the slave who was the stable master, found them.

“What you doin’ Miss Doritha? You know your daddy don’t want you and Mr. Kid playin’ in the stables.”

“We’re taking care of Apple, Robert. It’s okay to leave us. You can get back to work now.” She felt badly about dismissing him so quickly. He was one of the few people who actually paid attention to her at the plantation.

Robert sensed her deception. Although he knew his place as a slave, having been with the Simmons family for over 20 years, he also knew when the little girl was up to no good. “I’d like to do that Miss Doritha, but I can’t leave you two here.” Looking onto the dark recesses of the stall he called out to Kid. “Mr. Kid, why don’t you come into the light? It’s time you be goin’ on home.”

Kid wanted to tell the slave to mind his own business, but knew he didn’t have it in him to treat Robert like that. The man had never done anything other than treat him with kindness and it often struck Kid as ironic that the man always treated him with such respect when he had even less to his name. Moving forward gingerly, he stepped into the hallway.

The faded light of the stable was not favorable to Kid’s injuries and Robert was truly shocked at the sight. “Good Lord, Mr. Kid! Did you take a fall? We need to get you to Master Simmons so he can take a look at’cha.”

Kid and Doritha stole quick glances at each other before she spoke for him. “You can’t get Papa, Robert! He’ll send Kid away. You can help him instead or maybe Ruth,” suggested the distraught girl referring to his wife who was once her wet nurse.

“Master Simmons sure ain’t gonna like this, Miss Doritha. No he won’t, not at all. My Ruth ain’t no doc and that boy needs fixin’.” Eyeing the Kid more closely, he could see the two black eyes beginning to form from his broken nose and noticed the fingerprint-like bruises on his neck. Suspecting this was a matter between the boy and his family he knew he didn’t want to get involved.

Kid could see the look of apprehension on Robert’s face and started to hobble away from the stall.

“Kid! You can’t leave,” Doritha called out as she started after him. Turning to the only man who could help them now, she begged as she never had before. “Please, Robert. Please, see if Ruth can help him. His Pa will do it again if he goes home now and surely he’ll kill him this time.”

Seeing his mistress so concerned for another, must have pulled the right heartstring. Quickly, Robert ushered Kid & Doritha towards the small room that he, Ruth and their two boys were allowed to call home. It was only one room, but it was more than many of the other slaves had. Rushing off to find Ruth in the main house, he left Doritha to watch over Kid.

He couldn’t meet his friend’s eyes and kept his voice to a whisper to keep her from hearing the emotion in it. “I’ll never forget this, Doritha. I’m gonna owe you my life.”

“Now don’t go sayin’ such silly things, Kid. How many times have you pulled me from the creek, or gotten me out of the high trees. Let’s just call us even.”

Kid nodded his agreement to appease her, but knew that because of this day he would be connected to her forever. “We can call it even,” he repeated.

For the next two days Ruth and Robert tended to Kid when they could get away from their regular work and Doritha did it when they couldn’t. She spent all of her free time with him and sadly, the only one who questioned her absence was Agatha. Easily explained away with a long description of her “sick” horse, Doritha knew Agatha would never dare to enter the stables to check on her. Agatha preferred the coolness of the veranda or the parlor so she always looked fresh when Captain Martin Beauchamp came courting her.

The night before Kid was to return home he found sleep would not come. Fearful of the nightmares and conscious of the sleeping family around him, he slipped from the stable and skirting the edges of the out buildings he headed for the creek that bordered the Simmons’ property. He wasn’t there long before Doritha joined him.

Startled by her sudden appearance he hissed, “What are you doin’ here!” Looking sideways he noticed she was in only her nightclothes. “If anyone catches you out here dressed like that they’ll skin both of us alive!”

“I was going to see you at the stable when I saw you sneak out. So, I followed you here.” Seeing the lack of wisdom in her plan, she hung her head and let her blonde hair fall like a curtain of gold in front of her face as she dropped to the ground beside him. “I just wanted to spend some more time with you,” she whispered.

As his first true friend, she would always be special to him, but now she was saying things no one else in his life was willing to say and the feelings she stirred up in him were unexplainable. His heart beginning to flutter, his breathing changed when she looked up at him with eyes that he finally noticed were bluer than the sky, and he thought he might melt in them. He’d heard the other boys at school talking about girls and how they wanted to court them, but he’d never thought of Doritha like that. Could it be possible that one sentence could turn his mind so quickly?

Inching closer so she could rest her head on his shoulder, Doritha looked up at him through her lashes and smiled softly. She had long ago developed a crush on the Kid and thought he’d never return her feelings, but tonight he seemed different. She felt a tingle course through her body as his shoulder tensed and his pulse quickened where she rested her hand on his. Allowing her hand to linger, she wondered what it would be like if he was her real beau.

With barely the slightest turn of his head he was able to inhale the Jasmine scent she always carried. It was very lady-like and seemed perfect for her. “Why do you bother with me, Doritha?” It was a questioned that had been eating at him since their first day of school together.

“What ever do you mean, Kid? You’re my friend, I like you, and it doesn’t matter what my family thinks.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Doritha. I’ll always be the poor dirt farmer who’s not good enough for you.”

“Don’t say that! You can be anything you want to be. We’ll make them see that.”

He absently played with the ends of her hair that rested in his lap. “For as long as anyone can remember, being poor farmers is all my family’s known, but I want to be better than that.”

“When you get older, you can work for my papa.”

“That’s a kind offer, but you see, I want to see what else is out there. I want to have adventures, meet new people.”

Doritha could hear the excitement in his voice and without looking up she knew, that for the first time in days, there was a fire in his eyes. His desire to set out scared her. “You mean you want to leave Virginia?” Her voice quivered with the tears that threatened to spill.

“I don’t want to leave Virginia, but I feel like I have to. It’ll be hard. I love the land here, except my little patch of dirt of course, but I really want to go west. The stories they tell us at school and the ones in those books, make it seem so grand.”

“But what’s out there that you can’t get here at home? Here with me?”

He knew he was hurting her feelings by talking like he was, but he also knew he would one day have to get out of the place he had called home for the last twelve years. The memories of the rolling hills, the sweet spring grass, the crisp autumn leaves would stay with him always, but the unknown called to him more and more each day. He spent the summer night filling her ears with his plans and dreams.

She listened to his impassioned words with only half a heart. With every sentence, he moved a mile further away from Virginia, and her. When he finally stopped for a breath, she dared to ask him to make a promise. “Can I ask you something, Kid? It’s a favor really.”

Her voice startled him. Although they were still seated closer than two weeds in a garden, he had simply forgotten she was there. His mind had wandered so far it was like he was already gone. “Of course you can, Doritha. I owe it to you for taking care of me these past few days.”

Not bothering to reply, she sucked in a breath and blurted it out. “Will you take me with you? When you leave to go west, I mean. Can I go with you? Please, Kid. Don’t leave me here.”

He could hear the pleading in her voice and hesitated before answering. He knew she depended on him - mostly because her own family neglected her, but although he liked the idea of having her with him, he wasn’t sure if going west with him would be the best idea for her. “Are you sure you’d want to do that? It’s not an easy life out there. There’s no big cities, no fine livin’, none of what you’re used to.”

Doritha jerked her head up and tried to read his face in the dim moonlight. “Are you sayin’ you don’t want me to go with you, Kid? Is that what it is?”

“That’s not what I’m sayin’ at all!” He couldn’t understand how she always managed to twist his words around. “I just don’t know if you’d be happy there and once I leave, I ain’t ever comin’ back here. I mean that, Doritha. Goin’ west is gonna be my new life.”

“Kid, as long as I’m with you, I’d be happy anywhere.” She knew she would walk across the ocean and back if he asked her. “I just want us to be together. You’re the only one who cares for me and I don’t want you to leave without me. Do you promise? Will you take me with you when it’s time to go?”

Looking down into her pretty blue eyes, shining with tears, he made his promise. He knew the day he would leave was still far off and he figured she would change her mind many times before it was actually time to go, but he was warming to the idea of having her along. Would it be so bad to have someone who cared for you to share the new experiences with, he wondered?

As he watched her, Doritha leaned closer and started moving her mouth towards his. Kid felt his breath catch and eventually he was sure he’d stopped breathing altogether. It was obvious that Doritha wanted to seal their deal with more than a handshake, but Kid wasn’t sure he knew what to do. He hesitated, even backed his head away from hers, but eventually her closeness and his own curiosity got the better of him and he let her touch her lips to his. It was tentative and it was sweet, like a first kiss should be and Kid knew it would never be the same for them again.



Chapter Fifteen