The joy of Loretta's homecoming was overshadowed by Henry's rage. Friends with a murderin' savage, was she? A Comanche slut, that's what, kissin' on him in broad daylight, comin' home to shame them all with her Injun horse and heathen necklace. His land looked like a bloomin' pincushion with all them heathen lances pokin' up. He was gonna get shut of 'em, just like he had those horses. Half of 'em stole from white folks! Some trade that was! Loretta listened to his tirade in stony silence.
When he wound down she said, "Are you quite finished?"
"No, I ain't!" He leveled a finger at her. "Just you understand this, young lady. If that bastard planted his seed in that belly of yours, it'll be hell to pay. The second you throw an Injun brat, I'll bash its head on a rock!"
Loretta flinched. "And we call animals?"
Henry backhanded her, catching her on the cheek with stunning force. Loretta reeled and grabbed the table to keep from falling. Rachel screamed and threw herself between them. Amy's muffled sobs could be heard coming up through the floor.
"For the love of God, Henry, please…" Rachel wrung her hands in her apron. "Get a hold on your temper."
Henry swept Rachel aside. Leveling a finger at Loretta again, he snarled, "Don't you sass me, girl, or I'll tan your hide till next Sunday. You'll show respect, by gawd."
Loretta pressed her fingers to her jaw, staring at him. Respect? Suddenly it struck her as hysterically funny. She had been captured by savages and dragged halfway across Texas. Never once, not even when he had just cause, had Hunter hit her with enough force to hurt her, and never in the face. She'd had to come home to receive that kind of abuse. She sank onto the planked bench and started to laugh, a high-pitched, half-mad laughter. Aunt Rachel crossed herself, and that only made her laugh harder.
Henry stormed outside to get "those dad-blamed Indian lances" pulled up before a passing neighbor spied them and started calling them Injun lovers. Loretta laughed harder yet. Maybe she gone mad. Stark, raving mad.
When he wound down she said, "Are you quite finished?"
"No, I ain't!" He leveled a finger at her. "Just you understand this, young lady. If that bastard planted his seed in that belly of yours, it'll be hell to pay. The second you throw an Injun brat, I'll bash its head on a rock!"
Loretta flinched. "And we call animals?"
Henry backhanded her, catching her on the cheek with stunning force. Loretta reeled and grabbed the table to keep from falling. Rachel screamed and threw herself between them. Amy's muffled sobs could be heard coming up through the floor.
"For the love of God, Henry, please…" Rachel wrung her hands in her apron. "Get a hold on your temper."
Henry swept Rachel aside. Leveling a finger at Loretta again, he snarled, "Don't you sass me, girl, or I'll tan your hide till next Sunday. You'll show respect, by gawd."
Loretta pressed her fingers to her jaw, staring at him. Respect? Suddenly it struck her as hysterically funny. She had been captured by savages and dragged halfway across Texas. Never once, not even when he had just cause, had Hunter hit her with enough force to hurt her, and never in the face. She'd had to come home to receive that kind of abuse. She sank onto the planked bench and started to laugh, a high-pitched, half-mad laughter. Aunt Rachel crossed herself, and that only made her laugh harder.
Henry stormed outside to get "those dad-blamed Indian lances" pulled up before a passing neighbor spied them and started calling them Injun lovers. Loretta laughed harder yet. Maybe she gone mad. Stark, raving mad.
( Catherine Anderson )
[ Comanche Moon ]
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