They set off at a run. Fredrickson and McKintrick with Gray. Ket and Verity right behind them.
They could hear her screaming, crying, before they got close, and the sound of it made Keturah want to scream too. If he had dared to harm Selah, her precious, perfect Selah . . . well, she would kill the man herself. The girl’s cry was muffled. Men laughed. Then she cried out again.
Finally, they were there.
Shubert had Selah pressed up against the back wall of the stables, her skirts lifted to her thighs. His meaty hand was across her mouth, and he swore as she bit down, then took a half step away from her. He looked down at his hand as if he could not quite believe she had done it. He raised a hand to strike her.
But Gray caught it. He yanked on his wrist, turning the drunken overseer around, and struck him hard in the belly. As the man bent over, Gray swiftly lifted his knee into the man’s nose.
Ket hoped he had broken it.
Shubert stumbled away and held a hand to his belly, scowling. “She’s all right,” he slurred. “We were only having a word with the girl. Settin’ her straight.”
Selah rushed into Ket’s arms, weeping.
“Reminding her that she needn’t spend so much time with the Negroes,” put in his companion, Lawrence. “What her proper place is. And if she’s needin’ a man’s attention, she need only come to us.”
“You,” said McKintrick, grabbing hold of the man’s shirt in a fist, “will regret that.” He then punched the man’s cheek, sending him sprawling. He spun around and, with Gray at his side, closed in on Shubert again.
They all stilled when they heard a distinct click—the hammer of a pistol being cocked. Slowly, all turned to Shubert’s other man, who had the pistol trained on Gray.
Keturah gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth. No, please, no . . .
A slow smile spread across Shubert’s face. “I told you,” he said, stepping forward to tap Gray on the chest. “I told you we would not tolerate you leading the island’s slaves into rebellion. It seems you did not take that warning to heart, so we decided to take a different course of action.”
“And you shall pay dearly for that,” Gray bit out.
“Yes, you shall,” Verity said, rushing forward and lifting her dagger beneath Shubert’s chin. “Tell your man to set aside his weapon.”
Feeling the blade at his throat, Shubert’s eyes narrowed and he slowly raised his hands. “You wouldn’t have the courage to cut me, girl,” he sneered.
“Oh no?” she said. “I had the courage to follow my sister halfway around the world. What would make you doubt I could kill the would-be rapist of another?”
She pressed upward, and Ket saw a line of red form under the folds of the man’s neck, then begin dripping downward. No matter how horrid the man was, she did not want to see Verity kill him! “Verity . . .” she began.
“Let me see this through, Ket,” she said over her shoulder. Again she pressed the knife upward.
“Set it aside,” Shubert choked out to his companion with the pistol, waving over his shoulder.
Reluctantly, the man did as his boss directed, even as others gathered behind them. Ket glanced around. There were more than fifty about them now.
But it was a staid aristocratic voice that brought order.
“You there!” Lord Reynolds barked out. “What has transpired here?”
“Your man Shubert,” Keturah said, “has been found manhandling my sister.”
Lord Reynolds blinked rapidly. “The one with the knife at his throat?”
“No. Selah, here. We all saw him. He must be held accountable.”
Lord Reynolds hesitated. Keturah well knew that he was loath to give up his overseer, one who had served him for years. And in that moment she felt a measure of justice too. Would he have half the challenge she’d had in finding a replacement? Surely he was one of the planters who had gathered together with others to try to stop her.
She turned toward him and took a step. “Shall I call for the constable? For this man,” she gestured back to Shubert, “beat my overseer so badly he only narrowly retained his eye. And now my sister . . . mistreated so. We shall see justice done here, Lord Reynolds.”
He blanched a bit at that. “Eh? What’s this?”
“You heard me plain enough, Lord Reynolds. He beat my man and manhandled my sister. There shall be immediate reparations or I shall seek justice elsewhere. Shall I summon the constable from Charlestown? Make a report among the British soldiers?”
“No, no, woman. I shall take care of this. No need to make it a larger ordeal than it already is.” He looked back to Shubert. “Go home. Pack your things. You as well, Lawrence and Francis. I want you off Red Rock land this very night.”
Verity lowered her knife and moved away as Shubert blustered and glowered at them all. He took a few steps back, spit and swore. Finally, he turned toward Keturah with a long, cold gaze. Gray moved slightly in front of her, on guard. “You think this is over, woman?” Shubert spat. “No, it has only just begun. You shall pay for this, and pay for it dearly.”