She spun in the opposite direction. “Where are Elsie and Freeda?” Even as she asked, she must have spotted them just inside the stable door, where the girl played with a few stray pieces of hay. “Freeda! You had best hurry home.”
The woman looked up from her granddaughter with surprise, her gaze tracking to the black horizon. “Gracious, when did those move in? I had best indeed. I’ll just run Elsie into the house to Cora—”
“I’ll take her.” Her hands trembled as she stretched them toward the girl. “You go. You know how nervous my mother gets in storms, and she’ll be watching for you.”
Freeda leaned over to kiss Elsie’s cheek, and Marietta’s too while she was at it. “Thank you, dear.” She rushed back into the open, her gaze snapping to Slade’s. As she went by, she murmured, “Julie isn’t the only one who gets anxious. You keep Mari distracted, hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He watched her bustle away for another moment and then turned his attention back to Marietta. Afraid of storms? Part of him wanted to smile. He wouldn’t have expected so mundane a fear from her. But then, the thunder that ripped through the heavens didn’t sound terribly mundane.
She jumped, held Elsie close, and hurried for the house. Slade followed, but not fast enough. The first fat drops of rain hissed down around him. He hoped the torrent he could see in the distance would hold off long enough for Freeda to get home.
Inside, Marietta tossed her bonnet aside and then rubbed a hand over the girl’s back, probably for her own comfort. Elsie looked as happy as could be. “I imagine Cora is helping Tandy at this time of day. I’ll just…oh.” She turned into the hall toward the kitchen but came to an abrupt halt. “Mother Hughes, excuse me.”
Slade stepped near enough to be able to see Mrs. Hughes’s face. In his two and a half months here, he had never once seen Elsie inside the house, and he wasn’t sure if that was by Cora and Walker’s choice or a command of the mistress.
Given the blank look upon the older woman’s face, the decision belonged to the Paynes. She gave a vague smile. “I was just giving instructions on dessert. Who is this, Mari?”
Marietta cleared her throat. “Cora and Walker’s daughter. I thought it prudent to send Freeda home ahead of the storm, so I was bringing her in to her mother.”
Though Elsie had buried her face in Marietta’s shoulder, Mrs. Hughes couldn’t possibly miss the fair locks only a shade off from her own. That no doubt explained the surprise that flashed through her eyes in time to the lightning out the window. “Oh.” Her hand fluttered up to her lace collar. “I didn’t…why, I suppose I forgot that Walker is a mulatto. A quadroon, even, isn’t he?” She reached out as if to touch the golden locks but then pulled back and shook her head. “I always find it so disconcerting when they look like us.”
Slade’s breath fisted, grateful neither Walker nor Cora were here to hear the horror in her tone.
Marietta edged up her chin, though he didn’t miss her shiver at the next mighty heave of thunder. She said nothing at all, though he imagined some choice explanations ran through her mind.
Mrs. Hughes stepped by them. “Well, I was just on my way to lie down. I always enjoy listening to the rain.”
“Certainly. Rest well, Mother Hughes.” Marietta shifted her hold on Elsie and continued to the kitchen.
Slade grinned when the girl peeked at him and made the sign for his name. He returned the greeting with the sign for hers. He was far behind the others in terms of understanding, but a few of the oft-used signs he had picked up this past week. When he wasn’t staring in amazement at how Marietta never once faltered as she taught them.
She faltered now, though, when the kitchen windows shook in their frames as they entered. His instinct was to slip an arm around her waist, but he didn’t dare. Tandy, loyal to Mrs. Hughes, certainly couldn’t be counted on to not mention it, and he had the impression Cora wasn’t all that pleased at his and Marietta’s familiarity either, despite Walker’s new amusement with it. All he felt safe doing was to briefly touch the small of her back.
Cora stood before a stack of vegetables and within seconds had taken Elsie from Marietta’s arms. Rain hammered against the glass, and no one tried to speak above it except to explain Freeda’s departure. Within a minute, Marietta left the room.
Slade paused in the doorway and looked from Cora to Tandy to the small, high panes of glass over the work area. “Stay away from the windows.”