Eli lit George's pipe and set up the backgammon board.
"How long would you say, we've been knowing each other, George?" Eli said as they both set out their pieces.
George clicked his tongue, "Maybe 'bout uh seven years..."
"And in that time, given the risks I've had no choice but to take, -given the war and the cargo we transport... Have you ever known me to do anything unthinking or unnecessary, when it comes to the safety of me and mine?"
"Well..Now, that ya' ask it... No."
"That being the case, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep to your own counsel with regard to my ward. I've seen her through a lot, as she has my sister and I." he leaned forward to take up the dice and better meet George's eyes.
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that she is safe. If that means she's here for a full year, under my watch, simply because my gut says she needs that extra time? Then that's how it's gonna be... Your opinions on the place of the races are of no concern to me in this. But they do weaken my estimation of you as a man, given what we've both observed over the years."
"Eli I merely offered because I am your friend.-"
"-Then as my friend you'll respect my response to it. And you'll stop implying any ill towards Mercy, however slyly put, especially in her company. I won't hear another word on it as I'm done with it. Hear?"
George merely nodded. "I meant no disrespect. My apologies."
<<----------------------------------------------*~*------------------------------------------------->>
Joanne returned to the kitchen with a bald and gutted fresh bird awash in a brine water, as Mercy had taught her.
She poured off most off the brine and the coated the bird in lard, mixed with herbs. She put the seasoned grouse inside the dutch oven, add the drained pre cooked vegetables she had on the stove and set it to hook and cook above the large open fireplace inside a dutch oven.
That done, she sat at the table with Joanne.
"What you think they're in there talking about?"
YOU ARE READING
MERCY'S HART
Historical FictionMercy was an injured traumatized enslaved girl on the run, who had already had a life full of trial when she met Eli Hart on what was to be her last stop on the Underground Railroad. When things take a turn after the Civil War, she is forced to fle...
