Utterly shocked, the women gasped, almost in unison.
“You see,” Speckled Fawn hurried on to say, “I’m not normally a drinker, but I need to find a way to help me forget what I witnessed. The blood . . . the screams.”
The women turned pale and looked questioningly at each other.
“Truly, I don’t know how else to erase the awful memories of my child and husband being slaughtered,” Speckled Fawn said, wiping false tears. “Please understand I have been raised by the Bible’s teachings and taught that alcohol is a sin. But at times like this—”
“We understand,” Hannah said, interrupting Speckled Fawn. “Judith, if you feel that alcohol will help you sleep tonight, you shall have your whiskey. I can see how it might help.” She smiled sheepishly. “I must admit that I sneak a tiny sip of whiskey from time to time, to help ease my qualms about some of the ungodly things my husband has been forced to do by his career. I shall bring you my own personal silver flask for you to sip from, but I would like the flask back in the morning.”
Speckled Fawn was finding it amusing to see how shocked the two other women were by what Hannah had admitted about her drinking.
They continued to stare at her, their eyes wide, their faces now flushed rather than pale, at the knowledge that a woman of such high standing as Hannah Cline would drink such a foul thing as whiskey.
“I do thank you again for your kindness to me,” Speckled Fawn said, then hung her head. “I would like to be alone now. I . . . I . . . would like to bathe, change my clothes, then rest.”
She looked hurriedly up at Hannah. “Please bring the whiskey soon, for I am tormented by hideous visions, images that will haunt me for the rest of my life,” she said, swallowing hard. “At least for tonight the whiskey can help erase such thoughts. Please bring it soon, Hannah. Please?”
“Wait and bathe after I get the whiskey, for I shall run and fetch it right now,” Hannah said, turning and walking briskly to the door. She stopped and turned and looked at the women. “I believe I can trust you to keep my little secret to yourselves?”
The women nodded, assuring their silence.
“Thank you,” Hannah murmured. “Now I think this woman needs her privacy, don’t you?”
The women nodded and brushed past her; then Hannah gave Speckled Fawn another smile over her shoulder and left as well.
Speckled Fawn laughed to herself, then knelt on the bed so she could gaze through the window at the cabin that she knew was occupied by Shirleen’s husband. Its whereabouts had been explained carefully to her by the warrior who had followed Earl and his daughter earlier.
It was growing dark outside now, and she could see lamplight at the other cabin window.
She flinched when she saw a man silhouetted by the light. She knew it was Earl.
Then she felt her heart fill with love when she saw a child, and knew that she was looking at Shirleen’s daughter.
“I
will come for you soon, my darling,” Speckled Fawn whispered, then felt the color drain from her face as she heard someone move up behind her in the cabin.
She turned, pale, and found herself gazing directly into Hannah Cline’s eyes.
“What were you saying?” Hannah asked, holding a silver flask hidden beneath the end of her lacy shawl. “I am half deaf. Did you hear me come into the cabin? Were you saying something to me?”
A rush of relief flooded Speckled Fawn’s senses. The words she had spoken to herself out loud had not been understood.
“I was saying a prayer,” Speckled Fawn said, leaving the bed and standing beside Hannah. “I saw the first star of the evening shining brightly overhead. You know, the one that comes before total darkness falls.”
“Yes, I know,” Hannah said, slowly slipping the flask from beneath her shawl. “Here. Take it. But do not let any of the soldiers see it. My husband has no idea that I drink. A friend of mine steals the liquor from her husband’s liquor cabinet and shares it with me.”
Hannah giggled. “I have no idea how she explains the loss of the whiskey to her husband,” she said. “Perhaps he accepts her pastime of drinking. Mine never would. He is too proud a man. He would never tolerate my doing something that he himself detests.”
“I shall be very careful,” Speckled Fawn said, taking the flask from Hannah. “I would never tell anyone who gave this to me. I just hope those two women who came with you will truly keep your secret.”
“I am the wife of a powerful colonel. If those women know what’s best for them and their husbands, they will keep their mouths shut,” Hannah said tightly.
Then she quickly added. “Just don’t you get caught.”
“You can trust me,” Speckled Fawn said. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“I shall leave you now,” Hannah said. “Food will be brought soon.”