Chapter 52

It was about four o'clock when the small group pulled into Dearing. After a city the size of Washington, Dearing felt like a trading post. Tom looked around and decided that they needed to check out a few things. He rode up to Peter and motioned for him to stop at the hotel. Peter nodded that he understood and Tom rode on ahead.

At the hotel Tom tied his horse to the rail and silently entered to arrange for a late lunch. He asked the clerk if he could handle eleven for a late lunch. The clerk looked him over before he nodded and motioned to the dining room. Tom looked and nodded his head.

Tom went back outside where Peter was just stopping the carriage. Tom helped each of the women down. Tom motioned to have Peter park the carriage. After that Peter walked over to the group, Tom motioned to Robert. They moved off to talk and Tom told him what he wanted. They nodded and took off to cover the town. Tom went back and joined John and the women. Tom told them that the dining room could handle them for a late lunch. The women smiled at the good news and started up the steps.

When they were half way to the dining room the clerk bellowed, "Hey you can't come in here! We don't serve the likes of you!" Tom and John had their guns in their hands before he even finished yelling, but it was Janet that handled things, "Why Mister Carson, I'm surprised and ashamed of you." The clerk's eyes got big and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before any sound came out. "Miss Janet! I didn't know that they were with you. I'm sure that we can make an exception in your case. Please, go right on in."

Tom and John were slow to put away their guns, and the clerk noticed. He couldn't know how close he came to dying, but he got the idea that when those men were around, the Chinese women would be welcome.

After ordering their lunch, Tom ordered two box lunches. They took their time to eat and Tom noticed that they attracted some attention, but he really didn't care. He had been living too civilized lately and he was ready for a little deadly trouble. He could tell that John felt the same way, especially where his women were concerned and Tom agreed with him.

They didn't have any more trouble before they left town. The girls all seemed quiet, except for Janet who was too excited to notice. Tom gave Robert and Peter their lunches and took the piece of paper that Peter handed him. As he rode he looked over the paper and shook his head.

About thirty minutes later they were pulling into Magnolia House. Tom had to admit that it looked nice. When the carriage pulled up to the house Janet was out of the carriage before it even came to a stop. Tom smiled at her antics, but could understand her feelings as he had them a few times himself. A look at John showed the same smile that he was wearing, when they noticed they grinned. Once the carriage came to a stop Peter and Robert jumped down and helped the women out. Then they moved to the back and started to untie the baggage. John and Tom helped them and had the baggage sitting on the ground in no time.

Janet was a yelling when she entered the house, "Nana! Nana, where are you?" Janet heard a racket from the kitchen and the sound of running feet. A large black woman rounded the corner and slid to a stop. She had tears running down her face as she launched herself at Janet, wrapping her in her strong black arms. "Lordy girl, what're you doing getting here at this time of day? We didn't hear a thing about you coming home, and this is way too early for you to be coming in here yelling for your Nana."

Janet cried in her arms, "I'm sorry Nana. I should have sent you a telegram that I was coming, but I didn't think of it. I just wanted to get back home." Nana smiled at her as she patted her back. "Well, you just rest easy now, and Nana will take good care of you. I know that you have all kinds of trouble with your daddy getting himself killed and leaving a bunch of debts. We will get everything all worked out."

Janet sniveled a few times before she got herself under control. "All of that trouble is over Nana. Daddy's debts are paid and I got married." Janet looked at Nana and smiled. When Nana looked at her she knew that Janet was happy about her marriage and that pleased her. She knew that Janet would have sold herself to the devil to keep them all safe.

Janet stood up and wiped her tears away before she said, "Come on Nana, I want you to meet Tom, my husband and master." Nana gasped as she looked at Janet. Janet smiled sweetly at her, "Yes Nana, I said my master. I never knew what it meant to be a woman, until daddy died. Then I found out that I couldn't own land, I could be lied to, cheated and robbed and the law wouldn't do a thing about it, all because I am a woman. But if I have a husband then the law protects me. I am just as much a slave as you are, and you know what Nana? I love it. I have never felt freer then I do now."

Nana smiled at her. "Well child, it sounds like you learned a lot about life in a real short time. Most women learn that lesson a lot sooner, but we all learn it. I am glad that you found yourself a man that makes you happy. That's all that any of us can ever hope for." Janet and Nana were arm in arm as they walked out onto the porch.

Tom told the warriors to spread out and start checking things out, and to watch for trouble. They were all on their guard as they moved around checking out the plantation. Nana looked out at the men and gasped. "Oh my Lord girl, what have you gone and got yourself into now?"

Janet looked confused as she looked at Nana, "What do you mean Nana? That's Tom, my husband and those are his men." As she pointed out the specific people Nana couldn't take her eyes off of the warriors. "Girl them ain't men, those are mountain lions in men's bodies." Janet giggled before she said, "Well Nana I can't say about the others, but I can tell you that Tom is all man, and Lord am I glad about that." Nana looked at her sharply before she playfully swatted her on the ass. Janet yelped in surprise and then giggled.

Nana could see the hunters in the men. These men were more than other men, even the men that most called dangerous were just kittens compared to what she saw. But the one that scared her most was the man that glowed. He was so bright that she wanted to cover her eyes. She hoped that Janet knew what she was doing, because she wanted her baby to be safe.

Tom noticed Janet and made his way toward the porch. When he got to the two women he smiled and Nana shivered. This close the glow was almost blinding to her, and that frightened her more than ever. She wondered if she was looking at the devil himself.

Tom noticed her reaction, but he didn't care. It didn't matter what she thought that she knew, only he knew what was inside of him, and he wasn't worried about that. Tom motioned to the bags, "We need a few rooms. The girls will show you where the bags go." Tom turned and looked at Janet. There was no kindness in that look and it worried her. "Janet, we need to talk. Why don't you show me where the drawing room is, and we can talk in there." Janet nodded her head and led the way to the parlor. Even though she knew what he meant, she had never called it anything else and she wasn't going to start now, "Here is the parlor." She closed the door after he entered.

They weren't in the parlor for more and half a minute before Nana heard her scream. She ran to the parlor as fast as her feet could carry her and when she got there she saw the young man sitting calmly looking at a small amount of liquor in the bottom of a glass while Janet was furiously stomping back and forth with a crumpled piece of paper in her hand. Nana didn't know what was going on, and wished she had never entered this room.

Janet turned to Nana, "Where is Randolph and Victoria?" Nana seemed confused at the sudden change of conversation and it took her a minute for her to change gears. "Miss Victoria is visiting with Miss Charlotte again, and Master Randolph is out with that snake Mr. Fenning." Janet looked confused for a minute then turned and walked over to Tom. "You handle it, I don't care how. You are the master of Magnolia House and this is your problem. If you want them dead then kill them, or whatever else you want to do, I just don't care anymore." She turned and stomped past Nana and didn't even look back.

Tom saw a worried Nana as she watched her go. "Nana, please come in and close the door." Nana turned and looked like a cornered animal. She quickly nodded her head and quietly closed the door. She stayed leaning against it, hoping to make a quick getaway, if the chance came up. Tom smiled and shook his head, "Come over here and sit down Nana. I promise you that I won't bite. I might growl a little sometimes, but I never bite."

Nana didn't feel very comforted but she knew that this man was the master of the house. That meant that he could have her whipped, beaten or killed. She didn't want to offend him, but he scared her to death.

Tom knew the effect he had on Nana, he wasn't sure why, but it was obvious. "Tell me Nana, what do you see when you look at me?" Nana shivered and moaned but she managed to control herself. "I see a witch-man. You is in league with the devil, or maybe you done sold your soul to the devil. I just knows that you is evil."

Tom noticed that her speech changed when she got scared. He smiled at her and thought for a minute. "You know how some people say they come from the old country, and they have different customs and beliefs?" Tom watched as she nodded her head. She watched him closely, probably to make sure that he didn't sprout horns.

Tom nodded his head, "Well it is something like that for me and my men. We come from a different place with different beliefs. We don't consider ourselves true white men, because we believe differently than all of the white men that we have met. My people consider me sacred, because I walk among, and talk to the spirits." Tom watched her closely as she thought about what he said.

She frowned before she said, "How do I know that it ain't evil spirits that you talk to. You could still be evil." Tom nodded his head. He put the glass on the table and sat up straight. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Since his spirit walk he noticed that if he concentrated very hard he could shift a little into the spirit world. Not enough to walk among them, but at least enough to see and speak to them. When he opened his eyes the room was full of spirits, most of them were black but there were a few white ones scattered around. "Do any of you know this woman?"

Nana watched as his glow got even brighter and then he looked like he was seeing things that weren't there. Then he started talking to people that she couldn't see. It was almost enough to drive her from the room, regardless of the punishment. But, she held on in the hope that he had told her the truth, and that he wasn't evil. She watched as he seemed to be listening to the spirits.

Tom listened to an old black woman. When she finished Tom laughed and sat back. He turned to look at Nana again, "Well Nana, it seems that there were a few spirits around here that knew you. An old moss-woman name Hattie said that if I ever had anything that I needed to teach you I should first hit you upside your head, because you are as dumb as a post." Tom grinned at the shock on Nana's face.

Nana didn't know what to say, and then she smiled. "Mammie Hattie was my teacher. She always said that I was as dumb as a post and slapped me upside my head to get my attention before she taught me anything. I have never told anybody about that, and I have to believe that you aren't evil, because Hattie would have gone to heaven. If you can still talk to her, tell her that I miss her and hope that she found heaven." Tom smiled and looked away and seemed to be listening again. This time Nana wished she could see what he saw.

Tom nodded once and turned back to Nana, "She said that she missed seeing little Nimie grow into a woman, and she wants you to know that heaven is what you expect it to be; good or bad." Tom watched Nana start to cry, "Only mammie Hattie ever called me Nimie. Thank you Master Tom, you have given me a great gift." Tom smiled at her. He saw that she no longer feared him and was almost comfortable with him now.

Tom took a deep breath before he went on. "Nana, now that we have that out of the way, we need to deal with some more bad things." He watched as she slowly shook her head, "You mean what Miss Janet said before she left the room?" Tom nodded his head.

Tom looked at Nana and spoke softly, "Senator Thurston was killed during a card game. I suspect that he was murdered for Magnolia House. He left a debt of almost a thousand dollars. Janet tried to raise the money, but the banks were of no use, and the men that she considered honorable only offered her money to do things that she couldn't bring herself to do. One man agreed to pay off the debt and marry her and become the master of Magnolia House. But, he wanted to test his wife before he committed the money. She didn't feel like she had much choice and thought he was an honorable man. Once he got what he could, he said the she was unsatisfactory and that the deal was off."