Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
The boy’s mother had made them welcome, and they had sat around by the campfire for some time before Lucine bade her farewell.
Their parting gift was a crow with the softest, inky black feathers.
He was beautiful and in a wooden cage, littered with berries.
His small, black eyes never left Lucine and once they were a safe distance away from the camp she stopped and spoke to him.
‘I am going to set you free, bird. If you wish to follow me home then that is wonderful, but if you wish for your freedom that is wonderous too. ’Tis your choice.
All I ask is that you do not fly near to the camp again and get captured.
I would not want to upset the woman, but I see no need to keep you locked in a cage as such. ’
The crow never looked away from Lucine and she smiled at it. ‘Now, what should we call you?’
She looked to John who was smiling at her.
John was too obvious, but Hades was close to his surname and the bird looked as majestic as a Greek god of the underworld.
She had learned about the Greek gods through a book that she had bought from a passenger off one of the boats that had docked near to the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion down by the wharf and thought they were wonderful.
‘I think Hades suits you and it also reminds me of you, John Hadden. When I speak his name, I will think of you and my heart will be happy.’
‘Until he flies away and you never see him again once you set him free.’
Lucine laughed. ‘If he does then so be it. I would not keep him caged this way. He is too beautiful not to be able to soar above the trees – and is that what is going to happen when you bid me farewell and leave this place? Will you be on your way with no further thought about me?’ She lifted the catch and opened the door for the bird who flew out, landing on the branch of a nearby tree.
John pulled Lucine close to him, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, and she could feel the heat through his linen shirt.
The smell of soap, perspiration and the leather from the saddle made her heart beat even faster.
He cupped her chin with his fingers, lifting her face so he was staring directly into her eyes.
‘If I must leave this place, but mark my word, I will be back for you, Lucine English, for you have stolen my heart. I will never rest until I have you in my arms. I am in love with you and I do not jest. I never thought I would love another woman, but you are the light to the darkness inside of my soul and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If I should die before we get to be together then know that I will find a way to watch over you, to be in your life for all of eternity.’
Lucine’s heart was fluttering wildly, as if someone had replaced it with the majestic wings of the crow who was watching their every movement.
She laughed, then his lips were on hers and she tasted the salty sweetness of his breath as she lost herself to his kisses.
Lucine knew they should stop, she was drowning in John Hadden’s arms, but she could not stop this if she wanted to.
Her body was his for the taking, and as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into a thicket of trees, she could think of nothing else but how much she wanted this man to take her and never let her go.