Chapter Fourteen
Trevor was feeling more than a little confused as he sat in his office and stared down at his desk. Tanner was alive. How in the hell was Tanner alive?
Tanner had been gone for five years. Trevor had happily sent the man off to war with the hope that he wouldn't return and he had thought for sure that his hopes had become reality. He had gone so far as to have his brother declared dead and have the deed to the plantation put into his own name.
Now that Tanner was back and alive he could take the plantation away from Trevor if he chose to do so. Trevor's only hope was that Tanner would not want to. Trevor had always been good at controlling his brother and getting the man to do what he wanted and this would be no different.
It would be easier to let Tanner die--to finish him off himself--but Trevor knew he wouldn't do that. Not because he loved his brother too much to kill him but because the one person Trevor had loved in his life, their mother, would come back from the dead and be heartbroken. Trevor wouldn't go out of his way to save Tanner, he wouldn't get the man a doctor or care for him himself, but if somehow Temperance was able to nurse the man back to health then Trevor would simply use the powers of persuasion he'd been born with and convince his brother that he didn't want the plantation put back into his name.
It shouldn't be hard. Tanner had never wanted the job of running the plantation to begin with. Trevor smiled and tapped his fingers on the desk. He always loved a chance to prove himself.
***
Temperance would be lying if she said the warm bath didn't feel good to her tired body and she would be lying further if she acted as if the soft gingham dress she pulled on didn't feel good against her skin. She had nicer dresses made of silks and lace but they would not be practical for caring for a sick man or working in the kitchen.
When Temperance entered the kitchen to get Tanner a plate she was bombarded by questions from Wilma and Mary who were preparing Trevor's breakfast.
"Is Tanner awake?"
"Did the Master move you back into the house?"
"Is he going to help us all?"
Temperance held up her hands to stop the flow of questions and both women stomped their feet impatiently. "Speak, child!" Wilma scolded.
"Tanner was awake when I left the room, though I don't see how he can be any help to us all when he is lying half dead and unable to even lift his own head. And yes, the Master moved me back into the house and banned me from having any contact with any of the staff outside the home."
"Oh...." Mary's eyes were sad. "Everyone is going to miss you. You were bright spot for us all out there."
Temperance sighed. "I'll miss everyone as well but one day we will all leave from here. We will find a way to escape this place and we will not be dependant upon anyone else to do it..."
Footsteps silenced Temperance and she busied herself making a plate of biscuits, gravy, bacon and canned apples for Tanner.
One of Trevor's hired guns, Emerson, a man in his upper thirties with a scarred face and a mean disposition stepped into the kitchen. Mary and Wilma instantly became engrossed in their work and Emerson chuckled. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
"We're quite busy preparing breakfast," Temperance warned. "If you'll excuse us..."
"You are a mouthy one, aren't you?" Emerson clicked his tongue, "How would Trevor feel if I told him how you speak to me?"
"How would Trevor feel if I told him you forced me to lay with you? Do you believe his pride and his temper would forgive you if he knew what you had done to me more than once?"
Temperance knew that she had won because Emerson's face paled slightly beneath the scars. "I don't have to lay with a skinny little white girl, anyhow. Not when I have all these little chocolate treats working around here."
Emerson grabbed Wilma's backside and squeezed roughly. Wilma stiffened but gave no other reaction and this seemed to anger Emerson. He grabbed her hair and jerked her head back before sucking roughly on her neck.
Temperance watched on in horror as Emerson ripped Wilma's underclothes from her body and threw her down to her knees. Mary ran out the back door, leaving the kitchen and the home and Temperance knew she was saving herself from the rape that was coming. She didn't blame the girl.
Emerson freed his thick, bulbous cock from his pants and Wilma simply remained on her hands and knees with her eyes locked on the stove. Her face was expressionless and her brown eyes dead.
Emerson shoved himself inside her and began thrusting and grunting. Something inside Temperance snapped. The spirit that Trevor and Yancy had tried so hard to break came raging to life and she knew that she had to stop Emerson.
Temperance grabbed the cast iron skillet from the wall and swung with all her might. It came down hard upon the back of Emerson's head and the man stiffened before falling upon Wilma with a grunt.
Temperance shoved the man off the other woman and helped Wilma to her feet, "What have ya done?!" Wilma cried. "Master is going to kill ya, child! Ya should have known better than to do somethin' like that!"
"I don't know..." Temperance stared down at Emerson and prayed she'd killed him. "I couldn't let him do that to you! It's not right that these men here think they can do that to us whenever they please!"
"But they can, child...." Wilma insisted.
Temperance shook her head, "No, they can't. Trevor cannot do it to me and these thugs cannot do it to you. It's time we stop allowing it."
Emerson groaned and sat up slowly. He rubbed at his head and his enraged gaze fell upon Temperance, "I'll kill you, you no good little bitch!"
"Run Temperance!" Wilma exclaimed and Temperance didn't have to be told twice.
She grabbed Tanner's plate in her hand and dashed away. She could hear Emerson stumbling along behind her but she was much quicker than him in his addled state.
Temperance honestly had no idea why she ran into Tanner's room. She had no idea what possessed her to enter that room in hopes of escape but that's where she found herself. She put his breakfast tray on the chair beside the door and slammed the door behind her. Before she could engage the lock, the door was thrown open and an enraged Emerson stood there glaring down at her.
Temperance swallowed hard and glanced at the bed. Tanner's eyes were closed--she would get no help from him. Not that she had learned to count on men to be much help in any situation.
"I'm going to have some fun with you, bitch. If you think Trevor will take your side over mine then you're wrong. He doesn't give a shit about you..."
Temperance knew he was wrong--Trevor would see he was punished for touching her because it went against his rules but he would also see that she was punished for her outburst and behavior.... She knew she would be punished now no matter what she did so she figured she may as well make it worth it.
Temperance dove for the tray and grabbed the knife from it. She turned quickly and the blade sank into Emerson's side as he moved to grab her.
The man let out a roar of pain and yanked the knife away before tossing it to the rug. Temperance cursed her luck. Of course she would have hit him in place that wouldn't kill him. It seemed that God was never on her side.
Temperance tried to run but Emerson grabbed her hair and yanked her back. She let out a cry and swatted behind her desperately, feeling her nails rake across his face.
Emerson roared with rage and threw her to the floor as he came down on top of her. Temperance tried to fight him as he reached up her skirt and she felt her foot connect with flesh but it wasn't enough.
His hand brushed against her womanhood through her underclothes and Temperance's body tensed as her struggles increased. "I'm going to enjoy this.." Emerson hissed.
Temperance felt her underclothes be torn away and her skirts raised. She felt the blunt, rounded head of Emerson's cock against her backside and then suddenly there was a movement to their left and Emerson stiffened behind her.
His breathing became garbled and it sounded as if he were choking on liquid. Temperance turned her head to see Tanner standing weak legged beside the bed with a bloody knife in his hand. She scurried away from Emerson and threw herself against the wall as she took in the sight of him clawing at Tanner with his throat wide open and blood pouring down his chest. Emerson seemed desperate to reach the other man but Tanner seemed unafraid. He kicked out his foot, catching Emerson in the forehead and knocking him to his back on the floor.
Tanner collapsed onto the bed and dropped the knife to the floor as he sat there staring at Emerson's dead body. Temperance couldn't take her eyes off of Tanner. Shock coursed through her veins just the same as blood.
"You... you saved me.." she whispered.
Tanner's blue/gray eyes met hers and something passed between them. Temperance didn't know what it was but there was a familiarity in the dull light behind his gaze that she had recognized so many times in the mirror.
"You appeared to be in need of some assistance, ma'am."
Temperance opened her mouth to speak but was silenced when boot steps pounded to the door and Trevor's angry voice filled the air, "What the hell is going on here?!"