Free Patricia Rice by Wayward Angel

tune for a while. It's a damned sight easier to carry tobacco down the river with a pass." He gave Joe a knowing look. "That is, until Joe gets his road built."
    The other men frowned at this cynical betrayal of their southern sympathies. Then Joe pressed his fingertips together and slowly nodded. "That might work. Damned if that just mightn't work. Most of the State Guards have gone over to the rebs, so we ain't got any real protection around here. That hell-fired McCoy got himself appointed provost marshal with the Home Guards and is boot-lickin' the Yankees into a nice gravy train. I think I could get my pappy to see him kicked out on some charge or another." He grinned happily. "Ain't anyone around here gonna be sorry to see a shit-kicker replaced by one of us. That could make it a damn sight easier acquiring the land for rails."
    Charlie grinned as he followed Joe's train of thought. "I hadn't thought to go that far, but wouldn't that be a swat in the face for them feds!" He frowned as he thought it through. "I'll have to get rid of most of the troops McCoy put together. They're nothing but a band of nigger-lovers."
    Joe shrugged. "I'll help you. I owe that bastard one anyway." He glowered at Charlie. "And I owe that damned brother of yours one for helping him. If he hadn't brought that passel of lawyers down here, I could have had McCoy's land for next to nothing."
    Charlie waved away the thought. "Wouldn't of done you any good the way things stand now. You just said yourself, the slave market is gonna be worthless. What would you do with a breeding operation now? Pace did you a favor. Besides, the McCoy place isn't in the same direction as the railroad."
    The bourbon bottle sitting between them was already half empty and the night was still young. When Josie entered, her full skirts concealing the first stages of pregnancy, she frowned at the smell of smoke and whiskey polluting her parlor, but she donned a polite demeanor as she spoke.
    "I'll be going upstairs now, gentlemen. Is there anything else I can get for you?"
    The men made a polite attempt at rising from their seats as she entered, but they settled down quickly. Charles waved his cigar in her direction. "Go on up, honey, get your rest. We've got a lot to discuss tonight."
    She nodded and swept from the room, her long skirts swishing as she climbed the stairs. Dark shadows circled her eyes in her pale, unsmiling face, but she managed a look of polite interest as Dora stepped out of the invalid's room when she reached the upper hall.
    "How is Mother Nicholls tonight?" Josie asked, continuing the masquerade of concerned daughter-in-law and loving wife.
    Dora made a wry moue and clasped her hands in front of her. "Restless."
    For a moment, something flickered behind Josie's blank eyes, and she touched Dora's clasped fingers. "I am grateful that you stay with her. Have you heard from David?"
    Unhappiness pulled at Dora's lips. "He is well. I think he is not happy working inside all day, but the income is regular and he will save money faster."
    "Perhaps he is better off out of the farming business. It is so risky these days. You really should sell that property and go with him, Dora."
    Dora's shoulders stiffened. "It is all I have of my parents. I cannot. There was enough from the hogs and sheep to pay expenses. Next year will be better."
    If the hounds didn't destroy any more of the sheep and if someone finally quit cutting the fence and letting the hogs into the woods. If locusts didn't destroy the corn and lightning didn't set the tobacco on fire. Or if someone didn't set fire to the tobacco when lightning didn't cooperate. They had a terrible lot of fires in this small area. It would seem the safest thing to grow around here was water.
    She didn't let her bitterness and suspicion show. Josie had too many problems of her own. Dora found a happy thought. "How is the babe today? Still raising a ruckus?"
    A smile touched Josie's lips as she covered her stomach. "He