Savage Flames

—Ernest Dowson

Ma’am, wake up,” Twila said, feeling that she had already waited too long to come and tell her mistress the news about Dorey. “It’s Dorey. She ain’t come home and it’s dark outside.”

Those words awakened Lavinia with a start and caused a knot of fear in the pit of her stomach.

She gazed up at Twila, who held a candleholder with a lone candle in it, its flame flickering.

“She’s not home yet?” Lavinia said, her voice full of fear.

Lavinia looked quickly at the windows beside her bed. She had opened the shutters early in the morning and had not closed them, which she didn’t usually do until late evening.

When she saw how dark it was outside, she threw her blanket back, stood up, and scurried around the room, dressing in clothes she had discarded in order to rest more comfortably.

She had discovered of late that pretending to be ill and bed-ridden actually made her feel ill. Gettingno exercise, and not going outside for fresh air, did that to her.

She was used to being out-of-doors for the better part of the day, supervising the staff or working in her garden. When her husband had been alive, he and Dorey joined her in the early evening, first to eat at the dining table and then to sit on the verandah in summer or beside a fire in winter.

Lavinia always loved the stories that her husband made up to tell Dorey when their daughter was smaller. After Dorey outgrew storytelling, they all played board games. Dorey was usually the victor, or thought she was.

Lavinia and Virgil had become practiced at pretending to lose, even though they both had begun to realize that wasn’t a good thing for their daughter.

She needed true competition in order to get along in life with others.

When Virgil had first won a board game against Dorey, the child had been immensely disappointed, but then had begun to enjoy the competition more if she lost now and then.

Genuine competition made her want to play more often in order to show her parents that she could win without their giving the victory to her.

Yes, Dorey had been clever enough to figure out what they were doing long before they realized she was on to them.

“And now she might be lost in the swamps

?” Lavinia said, her voice breaking with emotion as she slid the tail end of her long-sleeved white blouse into her skirt.

Lavinia would no longer hide away in her bedroom. Look where it had gotten her!

Flinging her golden hair over her shoulders, she went to the table beside her bed and pulled out the drawer. She grabbed up her tiny, pearl-handled pistol, loaded it, then thrust it into the pocket of her skirt.

Now she needed her sheathed knife. She had to be protected in as many ways as possible since she would surely have to go into the dangerous waters of the Everglades.

She opened another drawer and removed her knife, securing it at the left side of her skirt.

“Let’s go, Twila,” she said, hurrying to the door. Twila joined her as she left the room and ran to the staircase.

Lavinia was afraid that they might run into Hiram at any moment, but the house was quiet, although well lit by candles in wall sconces and beautiful crystal chandeliers.

“Where’s Hiram?” Lavinia asked as Twila ran down the stairs beside her.

“He ain’t come home yet,” Twila said breathlessly as the foot of the winding staircase was finally reached. “I heard him mention Fort James to his overseer. That might be where he is.”

“Well, it truly doesn’t matter,” Lavinia said, hurrying on to the front door. Just as she grabbed the doorknob, she stopped and gazed intently at Twila. “Why on earth didn’t you come sooner to awaken me? You knew when Dorey was expected home. When that sun started setting, you should have comeand told me she hadn’t returned yet from her canoeing. Lordy be, Twila, she should have been home long ago. She knows the dangers of the Everglades. And so do you.”

“I’se sorry, ma’am,” Twila said, lowering her eyes. “Then why didn’t you come and awaken me sooner?” Lavinia asked, opening the door and peering out into the ghostly night.

“I was afraid to,” Twila said, swallowing hard. “Massa Hiram would say it wasn’t my place to come and tell you anything, and I didn’t want to be whipped by Massa Hiram’s whip. You knows he uses it when he gets de chance.”

Lavinia turned to Twila and placed her hands on the child’s frail shoulders. “Listen to me, Twila,” she said flatly. “Now that my husband is gone, I’m in charge. I…I…just seem to have forgotten that I was. I never should have hidden away in my room like a scared kitten. I shall no longer do that. And just let Hiram try something with you, or me, or Dorey. I’ll shoot him.”

She turned and looked past Twila at the gun case hanging in the hall.