Perry stepped forward, leaving only the fire between her and Abram.
"I guess I'd know that old hat anywhere. How are you, miss?" Abram froze with his mouth open as Perry raised her eyes to his. For the first time she saw shock in the black man's face.
She shook her head slowly, too tired and hurt to speak. Silently she watched his gaze take in her black eye, her swollen lip, the dried blood caking across her forehead and at the corner of her mouth, barely hidden by the remaining traces of black coal dust. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see pity in his face.
"Miss Perry?" he finally whispered, as if he doubted his eyes.
"Help me, Abram," she pleaded as her huge brown eyes filled with tears and her legs gave way beneath her.
Abram caught her before she hit the ground and lowered her gently to a blanket beside the fire. "I don't know what kind of trouble you're in, Miss Perry, but I'd put my life between you and future harm."
Perry collapsed beside the fire. Her legs hurt from walking miles, and her feet, though bloody, were numb. She stared at the torn stockings and for one foolish moment cried for their loss. She'd reached the point now where her body seemed foreign to her and even her pain was dulled.
Abram handed her a steaming cup of coffee and gently wrapped a blanket over her shoulders. A memory returned to her of being wrapped in another blanket months ago when she had slept outside a burned-out hull of a farmhouse as her brother worked on Hunter. Perry knew without asking who had covered her that night. "Thank you," she whispered for the two times Abram had cared.
After half of her cup was empty, Perry tried to speak clearly through her swollen lips. "Abram, I've nowhere else to turn." A tear rolled down Perry's cheek, cleaning a line of the coal dust from her face.
Abram listened silently as Perry told him of Wade and her grandfather. She paused frequently, trying to pull her swollen lip into place. As she told of the previous evening's events the last bit of energy passed from her body.
"Can you help me get away, Abram?" she pleaded.
Crossing his arms in tightly held anger, Abram hissed, "Wade will pay for what he's done to you. When I think of how grand you looked the last time I saw you…He'll pay dearly long before his soul rots in hell, but first we've got to get you to safety."
Perry swallowed the last of her coffee. "He must not know you've helped me. I don't want to risk your life-or Hunter's."
"I have no fear of Wade Williams, and I assure you Hunter feels the same. He has crossed his cousin many times before and will again, but today might not be the best day to stand and fight." He glanced at the farmhouse, as if there were another consideration at play that she knew nothing about. "We'll get you safely away today, but then where will you go, Miss Perry?" Abram asked.
"I could go back to Philadelphia. Molly will take me in," Perry whispered. "I'll find a place to go, somehow."
Abram smiled as the idea struck him. "I'll get you out of sight for now. You need a few hours of sleep. Then you're going up in the balloon with us. We're heading north, toward home. Wade can search the countryside, if he has a mind to, but we'll be drifting over it."
Perry tried to smile but her lip hurt too much to move. This was more wonderful than she had hoped.
"Now, Miss Perry"-Abram paced as he thought aloud-"Hunter would be angry if he knew what Wade did to you. Best we wait till we're in the air before we tell him. If Hunter knew Wade beat you like that, he'd start a fight between them that might end in one of them dying." He stopped and looked at her, debating how much to say. "There are some very important reasons why Hunter must get out of here without any trouble today.''
She was too tired to understand the riddle he gave.
Resuming his pacing, he went on. "If it were a fair fight, I wouldn't worry, but I've never known Wade to play fair. He'd like nothing better than to see Hunter dead- and nowhere for all the Kirkland money to go than to the next of kin. Since Hunter's an only child, guess who that'd be."
Perry's eyes filled with fear. "Abram, how can I fly off in that little basket without Hunter knowing about it?"
"I know just where to put you." He laughed. "You can sleep till we're high up among the clouds."
She followed him to the basket. Ropes lay everywhere, as did supplies. Abram lifted her into the four-foot-high basket. Even though he was gentle, every muscle in Perry's body screamed in pain until he stood her on her feet inside the basket. She was surprised at the room inside, having thought the space would be very small and cramped. About a foot below the upper rail the basket bulged slightly, then returned to the rail measurements at the bottom. This bulge made a handy storage area. Abram pulled a blanket and rope from a nearby pile of supplies. He tied the rope to the railing, then tied two corners of the blanket to the other end of his rope. Moving about five feet to the other corner, he repeated the procedure, making a blanket hammock. He adjusted the ropes until the hammock swung into the basket.
Perry smiled at his ingenuity as she crawled into the hammock. The swinging bed was just long enough for her body. Her cocoon moved into the enlargement of the basket's side and out of the way.
"You stay quiet and hidden," Abram whispered. "I'll move supplies in front of you. But you shouldn't be too crowded. When we're well away, I'll pull you out."
"Thank you, Abram," Perry answered as her eyelids closed in exhaustion.
She was only vaguely aware of Abram moving large boxes in front of her, burying her snugly in the bulging basket. She felt warm and safe wrapped in the wool blanket. Sadness brushed her last thought as she realized she'd be seeing Hunter again in a few hours. Once more he'd see her as only a boy.
Chapter 16
Sweat covered Perry like a thin coat of oil. Sweltering in the darkness, she could feel death swallowing her as she fought to wake up, closing in around her, pulling her closer and closer into its victory dance, gulping her whole into its endless, damp blackness.
A sudden jar of the basket rocked Perry from her nightmare. She tried to clear her mind, but death kept pushing her into a tomb, suffocating her as she fought to awaken. The Grim Reaper was a huge shadowy figure with a hooded cap hiding his face. He pushed her into the grave, as dirt covered her face and blocked her breath. She could hear him laughing…
Another jolt brought her into reality. She must have slept a long time, for judging by the movement and noise about her, men were readying the balloon for flight. She twisted slowly in her cramped nest. Each movement renewed the pain in her bruised body. The memory of Wade's beating flashed white fire in her brain, like a nightmare that had somehow crossed into reality. Each aching part of her body reminded her of Wade's anger. He would kill her if he found her. She must keep very quiet.
Slowly she wiggled beneath the blanket until she was facing the basket wall. Abram had closed her solidly in with boxes and ropes but she could remain in darkness no longer. Not only did she hate the blackness, but the heat was suffocating.
Pulling her knife from her pocket, she cut a slit in the blanket at eye level. The opening revealed only slats of light drifting through the spaces in the weave of the basket. She could see blurred glimpses of several men running around her. From their actions the balloon must be filled and already dancing like a large pear above her. She listened silently from her concealment. An hour passed before she heard horses traveling fast toward her and guessed from the shouts that Hunter was approaching.
"Abram, is she ready to travel?" Hunter shouted as he jumped from his mount and walked toward the basket. "Lord, Abram, do you think we can get off the ground with this load?"
Perry couldn't hear Abram's response, but she could hear the laughter in Hunter's voice. He was standing only a few feet from where she lay hidden. Straining to see through the slits in the basket, she was amazed at how he'd changed over the past few months. He seemed so tall. His return to health, along with a few added pounds, made him look younger than when she had last seen him. He looked even more handsome than he had in her dreams. A gust of wind played with his wavy blond hair, and she smiled, remembering how a curl had once wrapped itself around her finger.