The Scottish Boy

I gave a small curtsy as I entered. Kaeden rushed to pull my seat out for me before sitting back in his seat next to me. I sat at the end on the table across from the head where Master Iverson sat. 

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Miss Tanner." Master Hugh Iverson snorted, beginning to pour food onto his plate. 

"Hugh." Mistress Lucy scoffed, smaking his hand lightly. I sat quietly, placing food onto my plate when someone offered me a plate of beans or meat or whatever else was being served. I ate quietly as well, listening to the conversation of the group.

"I heard there was a problem at the slave quarters this evening. I heard you handled it." Hugh snapped his cold gaze at me. His eyes were dark, evil, sunken. He looked tired and weather beaten. 

"I did. Your man Charles assaulted a young woman in your employ. Tried to beat another for stepping in. Almost beat your man Isaac as well." I responded as coldly as he looked at me. "Charles would've killed the girl if someone hadn't stepped in."

"Wasn't your place, Tanner." Patrick spoke up. His dark brown hair swished in his ponytail as he shook his head, holding back a laugh. 

"Didn't ask for your opinion, did I?" I snapped at him. I'd never liked Patrick. He was cruel, rude, un-gentlemanly, and all around pompous.

"I'd thank you if you worried yourself with the wagons and the wagons only. The business on my land is my business." Iverson snapped.

"Really? Because it seems to me your men can't keep their cocks in their pants or their whips on their belts. You'd be one less slave maybe two if it wasn't for me." Kaeden choked on his food as I yelled at Hugh. I tossed my napkin onto the table before pushing my chair back away from the table. I stormed away, out of the house and towards the stables. The 3rd wagon sat crooked still. I pulled it towards the light of the lanterns that lit the stables. I began examining the axel again, crawling onto the ground to get under the wagon.

"Isn this a sight ta see!" Kaeden's voice echoed as he laughed.

"Kaeden!" I snapped as my head hit the wagon as he'd given me a fright. I crawled out from under the wagon wiping my hands on my skirt. 

"I haven't seen ye in a dress since ye was a wee lass." Kaeden held his stomach as he laughed more. Kaeden was a boy I'd known in France. He was a child I grew up playing with. When I was sold to the boats, his parents tried to buy me. They only had the money to get themselves to the colonies so I was left behind. We reconnected when I came into Murtagh's employ. He came to town to sell meats a lot and we discovered our history. Every now and then, I'd visit the big house on a job or he'd come stay in town to sell the extra meat he'd accumulated. We'd spend whatever time we could together just talking. He was my best friend in a way, whatever way an unmarried woman could be friends with an unmarried man without either's reputation being questioned. 

"Ya know, yer crazy for talking to Iverson so." His scottish accent was thick. He'd been in the colonies for 12 or so years but he sounded like a Scot, through and through.

"He's not my boss." I growled, putting a metal rod into the broken axle. "I'm here to finish fixing this and then I'm gone."

"Faith..." I looked up at him. His hair was thick brown tousles of curls. His eyes, even in the darkness, were a blue like running water and they glowed. I set down my tools.

"What? Don't go telling me how to talk to a man again. I'm not his slave, daughter, or wife. He should care more about the people who make him money than the men that beat them so." I growled, feeling my chest rise and fall quickly. The heat grew in my face and chest. I was angry at how other human beings could be treated. I hated slave trade. I hated people being called slaves. It's different when they have a say in their work. These people had no choice. Being used and abused the way that they were made the fire in my chest bubble out of control. For the most part, I ignored it or tried to help, but it never did any good. This new world was so messed up.

"Faith." He walked closer. He stood at least a foot taller than me. "Stop." Kaeden's hand found my shoulder. 

"What then?" I snapped. His hand drifted to my chin and cheek. His hand was warm to me. I pushed my face into it slightly. Over the past few months, Kaeden and I begun to get to know each other again. But I'd never thought of him in anyway other than my friend. My heart raced as he touched me. My feelings confused me. Did I like him? No? Yes? I don't know. All I knew was he was the best friend I had here and he gave me comfort. Made me feel safe. He still didn't speak, only looked at me with a look I'd never seen before.

"Kaeden." I said, pulling my face from his hand.

"Right." He backed away. "Ye should go to bed. It's late." He muttered, brushing a brown curl away from his face. He looked uncomfortable, almost hurt like I'd kicked his shin. A few feet sat between us.

"What'd you come out here for?" I asked, squatting next to the wagon again, pushing and pulling the metal to line it up better.

"I came to check on ye." He walked towards me and stood on the grass across from me, leaving against the stable.

"I'm fine." I groaned, pulling hard onto a piece of metal. It disintegrated into my hand. I let out a slew of curses.

"Yer not." He laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I just do not understand any of this. He buys slaves but doesn't care for their well-being? Doesn't care that his men rape the women? Doesn't care that his men beat the young girls senseless?" I threw one of the metal rods into the wagon. "He such a... a bastard!" I yelled, pushing a piece of red hair from my face. Kaeden had made his way over to me. His hands grasped my arms lightly.

"This isn't just about the slave girl is it?" He sighed, pushing my chin up so his eyes met mine. "What's going on?" I stood there silently, staring at him. 

"I..." I paused, unsure if I could trust him. "I was discovered on the boat as a woman because I defended another." His gaze didn't waver from my face. "A man attempted to rape a female passenger. I attacked him to keep him off of her. He gave me 20 lashes as punishment. When they tore the back of my shirt open, they realized I was a woman." I paused again, looking away from him. "The next week it took to get me to shore, some of the men found the keys to my cell. They..." I stopped. His hands released my arms, pulling me against his chest. His hand rested on the back of my head and the other on my back. I hadn't thought much of my time on the boat. I hadn't wanted to. I hadn't told anyone either. Kaeden released me from his gasp as I wiped a small tear.

"I need to finish this wagon so I can go home." I broke the silence. I could feel his eyes watching me with pity.

"No." He wiped another tear from my face. "It's too late and too dark. Ye need rest. Come, ye can stay at my cabin. Iverson won't want you in the big house." He motioned towards the cabin at the end of the rows of smaller slave houses. I nodded in response. My back ached in exhaustion. Even a warm floor would be better than the stable or the outdoors. I grabbed my pack from where my horses saddle hung. I followed behind him, holding my skirts so I didn't trip over them.

Kaeden entered his home first before allowing me in. His home was bright with light. His large bed was covered in furs. Furs covered parts of the wooden floor as well. His home was cozy but manly, like a woman had never been here. I set my bag on the table before walking towards the fire. I hadn't realized how cold it was outside.

He shuffled behind me, moving things about. When I turned around, Kaeden laid on some furs on the floor at the foot of the bed, almost right behind me.

"No, you will sleep in your bed. I will sleep on the floor by the fire." I scoffed, walking towards him. 

"No, I will not have ye catching a fever by sleeping on the floor."

"Fine, then we both sleep in the bed. It's big enough for both of us."

"I will not dishonor ye like that. Yer virtue and reputation."

"Kaeden Campbell, get in that bed before I kick your ass from here to Scotland. My virtue has been gone for years. My reputation doesn't matter to me." I ordered, removing my skirts and corsets. He did me the courtesy of not watching as I peeled such off. I wrapped myself in one of his blankets and walked to the bed where I sat on the left side. I sat in my shift but covered my body with the blanket. He sat on the right, away from me.

"Are ye sure?" He asked again.

"Yes, go to bed, you annoying Scot." I barked, laying back onto the pillows. I looked at him once more. He laid under the blankets, only in his pants. His chest was chiseled, sprinkled with brown curly hairs. His arms rested under his head. His body was lightly salted with some scars.

The world spun its web of darkness, pulling me into itself. I slept well in the warm bed.