River

Gregor’s

I can’t put it off any longer. He has been so fixated on Rosalind that he hasn’t even looked over at me for hours. I might be his Guardian, his constant companion, but this does not mean that I have a monopoly on his attention. I am just as glad, because I have been very reluctant to confess everything I have learned and not shared.

He will not be happy.

They are laughing together, as boisterously as children, and when they get into the kitchen their joy is infectious. Both Moses and Nadine fail to keep their expressions composed, and are soon giggling at the exuberance of their employers. Nadine, married and experienced with the feeling of finally getting some privacy with her husband after having the house full, suspects she knows what has happened. Moses is just pleased to see them happy, even though it brings him a pang to realize that he can not imagine how he could ever be allowed to share such a moment with Dalila.

Once the mirth starts dying down, and Nadine has served breakfast to Gregor and Rosalind in the dining room, he is starting to realize that I have something I am reluctant to tell him.

He sighs, but doesn’t acknowledge me yet. He takes a couple of spoonfuls of porridge, then leans over to kiss Rosalind’s cheek. He strokes his hand along her waist, feeling the swelling there, the growing baby causing her body to expand the further along in her pregnancy she gets. “By the way,” he whispers, “I’m not sure I have been clear enough in how much I adore your wonderful rounding form.”

She sputters out a laugh, and covers her mouth to swallow the bite she hadn’t finished. “I’ve noticed,” she grins at him.

“Good. I want to make sure I’m not keeping that a secret, at least.” He savors her peal of laughter, then goes on. “I have to leave for the dock in a while. I need to gather some things. I’ll be in my study.” He kisses her one more time, then leaves her to finish her breakfast.

She looks at his, barely touched, and nods her head. It just confirms one of the things she has determined about him. He eats, but not much.

He gets into the study, closes the door, sits down in his armchair, and sighs. “Okay, what is it?” He converses with me in silence, as usual.

I hesitate in my wolf form before him, then transition into the man form, an older man, wearing medieval peasant garb. He is surprised. I don’t usually do that without him asking me to. But I think hearing this from the man whose advice he finds easier to take might be better.

He sits up straighter. “Oh. Well, I guess I’d better brace myself. Tell me.”

“It’s Mason.”

“Ugh. What else could possibly have you so scared to talk to me? All right, what has the miscreant been up to now?”

“He has returned to Natchez.” I don’t want to prolong this, so I blurt it out. “He spent the evening interrogating David and Ben about you.”

“What?” He leaps to his feet and begins pacing. He remembers what I told him of how Mason had questioned Rosalind’s friend Genevive. Gregor puts nothing past him. “Are they hurt?”

“David suffered minor injuries from Mason’s knife.”

He clenches his teeth together. “Just tell me the whole thing.”

“It was after you began making love to Rosalind,” I begin, wanting almost childishly to excuse myself for not notifying him earlier. He shrugs and nods, forgiving me for my delay, which is a relief. “Mason entered the Kentucky Tavern where David and Ben were playing cards with Stu.”

He rolls his eyes. “So the gang’s all together, then.”

I nod. “He sat down between David and Ben, intent on creating some mischief, and also seeing whether the pair could be of any use to him. He considered inviting them to join his gang, together with Stu, and come back to the Trace with him.”

He sighs and sits back down in the armchair, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling in exasperation.

“David was dealing the cards, and he quickly realized that Mason had drawn a knife under the table and was pressing it into his groin, very close to the major artery there. And of course close to other important bodily parts.”

Gregor’s face is already looking thunderous, hearing the threat to his employee, and knowing that I have already told him that David was injured before the evening ended. I would sigh if I could, knowing that I have much worse still to share. “Ben rose and prepared to leave, but Mason showed him that he was holding the knife to David, which forced him to sit back down for fear that his friend would be injured if he did not comply. He could not think of any way to overpower or escape from Mason without risking harm to David.”

Gregor leans down, propping his elbows on his knees, and buries his face in his hands.

“Mason asked if they were still working on flatboats, assuming the answer would be yes. But he was surprised when David told him that they were working on the dock expansion for the coming steamboats. Mason asked what are steamboats, not having heard about them before. Then, when David was explaining, he mentioned your name without thinking first, even while Ben was shaking his head to prevent it. David simply didn’t connect how angry Mason would be about you, after the encounter on the Trace. David remembers it, but just didn’t put it all together until it was too late.”

Gregor is sitting up again, staring at me, aghast, while I tell the tale.

“Mason was furious to hear your name, and his hand flicked with the knife, embedding the sharp tip into David’s flesh, near the artery but not actually puncturing it. He began bleeding, and when Ben saw that he begged Mason to stop and promised to tell him anything he wanted to know.”

Gregor closes his eyes, grieved for his friends. He considers both David and Ben his friends now. He knows how reticent Ben is to speak, and sympathizes with the fear that must have motivated his offer to do so.

“While Mason continued threatening with the knife, actually stabbing David twice more before the conversation was over to motivate Ben, he learned what he wanted to know. Ben told him information about where you live with Rosalind, and the servants you have hired.”

“Oh my god,” he whispers, then looks up at me. He realizes there is more. “It’s even worse, isn’t it?”

I nod at him, filling the eyes of my man form with sadness. He waits, unhappily. “It was when Ben mentioned that there is a reward for the capture of Mason and his gang that Mason began forming his plan.”

He looks at me, keenly. He knows that once he learns Mason’s plan, he can begin formulating his own.

“Mason told David and Ben that because they had teamed up with him once on the Trace, they would be considered members of his gang as well, and therefore the reward would also be for their own capture. They were shocked, not having considered this before, but Mason convinced them that they are also at risk of capture. He assured them that if they do not comply with his demands, he will have Stu turn them in to the authorities, and that they would end up hanging for their crimes.”

He scoffs. “I would never let that happen. I would just explain what really occurred.”

“Yes, but Mason’s threats sounded real to David and Ben, and they do not understand your interest or your abilities. They are convinced that they must follow Mason’s instructions.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “All right. What is their assignment?”

“To watch you and Rosalind for a few days, and to report your activities back to Mason.”

His eyes widen. He expected it to be some sort of crime, but his mind hadn’t quite gotten to this. Reconnaissance of Gregor and his wife can only mean one thing.

“Yes. He intends to get the information he needs to be able to come across Rosalind unprotected, and steal her away. He intends to - “

“Stop!” He gasps. He takes a breath to steady himself. “Don’t tell me anything else about his intentions. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. I can imagine well enough for myself.” He waits a moment, his mind spinning, trying to force himself to be calm. The threat to Rosalind created a panic in him that he does not often feel.

“You can do this, Gregor, beloved,” I reassure him. “Once you have all the facts, you will formulate a plan, and will finally defeat him. You have all the advantages here. You know everything he is planning, you know what everybody else is doing, you can anticipate his every move. You are both playing a game, but he does not realize that you are entirely in control of the board and pieces. If you remain calm, he does not stand a chance.”

He knows all of this, has been in similar situations in the past, and he knows I am right. He is finding it hard to control his emotions, though, after everything that has happened in the last few tumultuous days.

“Just breathe, darling, take your time.”

He nods, closes his eyes, and forces his breathing to slow. It works, and in a few minutes he feels steadier.

“All right,” he says. “Tell me where they are now.”

“David and Ben are at the boarding house, getting ready to go to their work at the construction project. David is uncomfortable, still bleeding a bit from his wounds, but does not know what else he can do other than simply go to work. Ben is extremely conflicted about the instructions he has received from Mason, and does not want to spy on you for him. Ben feels loyal to you, and it makes him feel terrible to consider betraying you in this way. But he cannot think of a way out of it. He is not only afraid of being apprehended as a member of Mason’s gang, but he is terrified that Samuel will learn about Ben’s involvement in his attempted robbery. His feelings for Samuel have grown very strong, and he cannot bear the idea of his secret being revealed and this causing Samuel to reject him.”

“So Ben will do what Mason says, but only reluctantly. What about David?”

“He also intends to comply, but has no motivation other than self-preservation. After having experienced the end of Mason’s knife all evening, he takes his threats seriously.”

He is silent for a moment, considering. “All right. Where is Mason?”

“He moved a short distance away from Natchez-Under-the-hill, to wait until David and Ben have begun their surveillance. He has tasked Stu to track their movements, and Mason will probably also move into town if he can do it without being seen, to watch them while they watch you. He wants to see if they will really comply with his demands. And of course he wants to make sure that any information they provide is accurate.”

“Where is he hiding?”

“Ironically, he found the little den in the grove of trees that Ben has created for his interludes with Samuel. He was pleased to see that Ben has equipped the grove with some bedding and other accouterments, and has been enjoying these without having any idea of the connection to Ben.”

“Ew!” He finds this both humorous and offensive. “Poor Ben! Remind me when this is all over to find a way to replace the bedding, now that Mason is defiling it with his use of it.”

“Of course, my dear.”

“Okay, I have to think.”

I remain silent for a few minutes, while he plans.