Chapter 6: Rand Says Goodbye

Suddenly she was looking up into Papa’s drawn face surrounded by the slowly fading stars.

“Papa don’t let him take me,” Netty whimpered, the tears coming hot and fast. She felt small and scared, overwhelmed beyond her ability to find reason. She was sobbing into his chest before he could even respond.

“Netty, you have to go with him,” Papa said quietly. His large hands pet her hair comfortingly. Very quietly, in a voice so low that only Netty could here, he said, “If you don’t go with him Mr. Stent is going to report us all for incest at the next town. They will hang us all, Netty. You, me, and Rand. Your Mama and the girls would be left alone and tainted by what we’ve done. We can’t do that to them. ”

This news was so overpoweringly shocking she stopped crying. “But… but we never-”

“I know,” he whispered. “But what we did do is just as bad in the eyes of the law. I don’t want you to go Netty, I truly don’t, but I do believe Mr. Stent means well. I don’t doubt that he only threatened because he could find no other earthly persuasion to bring me to my senses. He is a well-off man with an established home for you to join, and he will be a good husband.”

Papa’s resolve calmed her. She set herself not to cause any more fuss. If marrying Mr. Stent would keep the most important people to her from a noose then she would do it. And besides, hadn’t she wanted to be married? Sure, she’d thought a younger man would be her eventual match, but there was no reason she couldn’t marry an older one. She consoled herself that his age would remind her of Papa.

When Mama joyfully announced to everyone over breakfast that Netty and Mr. Stent were going to be married when they reached town Rand had choked on his food, dropped his plate, and stormed off. The younger girls were too excited by the thoughts of a wedding to realize it meant Netty wasn’t going to be going with them, and she didn’t want to ruin their good cheer with that revelation. At least her baby sisters were excited for her. Mama was only happy to be rid of her.

The whole day sitting next to Rand in the wagon was spent in crushing silence. Neither knew what to say to the other. It wasn’t like anything they said would change what was going to happen. Papa had followed Rand after breakfast and explained the threat of being reported for their crimes, and now it seemed Rand’s way of coping was to simply have a clean break of interacting with her at all.

In the oppressive silence she wondered what he was thinking. Did he regret not spending last night with her now that it was the last opportunity he would have had? Was he just upset to be back to going to sleep with full balls and waking up to sticky sheets? Would he miss her?

Before noon their little party made it safely into town. The town itself wasn’t much. The tallest building turned out to be the main store. To its left was the jail and courthouse; to it’s right a tailors. Lined up across was a shop selling farming tools and seeds, a tiny school house, a small saloon, and what could have been a post office. Further down they found the boarding house where they rented rooms for the night.

“Here’s the key to your room, Miss Netty,” Mr. Stent said politely, holding out the large key with a little 5 engraved on it. “I got you a private room; you can think of it as an olive branch of good faith between us. I imagine you could use a bit of alone time with all the changes coming.”

“Thank you,” Netty said quietly, taking the key almost shyly.

He was right, she did want to be alone. She appreciated his gesture, liked that he had thought of what could be best for her before she was legally his burden to care for.

Before she could see the room someone was yelling that lunch was ready, and she was shepherded along with everyone else into the dinning room. She hadn’t realized how sick she was of the taste of campfire smoke until she tasted baked chicken and white-flour biscuits again. For a while she was able to enjoy the food and conversation around her without thinking about her impending marriage. Seated on a bench between Mama on one side and a stranger on the other Netty didn’t have to worry about talking to anyone.

When dinner was done she went to her own room. It was small but remarkably nice compared to the many nights spent in the back of a wagon. A tub had been brought in during dinner, with hot water and store-bought soap, and she was more than happy to get in. It was the first warm bath since leaving home. The flowery soap helped to rid her of the dust and grime from days and days of travel. She brushed out every knot in her hair and washed it. By the time she dried off she felt better than she had since they left home.

Netty had barely gotten herself buttoned into a fresh dress when Mama and Papa arrived.

“We got you a new dress for tomorrow,” Mama said as they came into the room, a large flat box in her hands. “The tailor’s had one that will suit you well enough.”

Netty pulled the lid off and looked in. Nestled in tissue paper was a pale cream colored dress, the fabric patterned in a sprinkle of tiny flowers.

“I didn’t think white was fitting under the circumstances, but no one should bat and eye at cream,” Mama prattled on. “Mr. Stent said he’ll be ready for you at 9 in the morning so I’ll be here bright and early to get you ready.”

“Thank you,” Netty managed through a pinched throat.

Mama hardly noticed she’d even spoken, and Netty stopped paying attention to her jabbering.

Papa’s eyes looked on the dress forlornly. She wanted so badly for Mama to leave them alone together to talk. She was scared, and as much as she wanted comfort for that fear she also wanted to ease Papa’s worry. He hadn’t spoken to her or looked at her since that morning, and he still hadn’t by the time they left her room.

Netty sat on the bed next to her new dress and stared out the window. It was unimaginable what she was about to do, but she saw no other option. Papa wanted her to marry Mr. Stent, and for all their sake she had to.

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Soft knocking roused her from dozing. A heartbeat passed before she realized where she was, then the knocking came again. Moonlight lit the room well enough to guide her to the door.

“Rand, what are you-” she managed to whisper as he pushed his way in. He was on her before the door clicked quietly shut behind him.

He dragged her to the floor, sitting on her legs and pinning her hands with his knees to hold her in place as he looked down at her. The way he studied her brought the forgotten little flame back alight below her nightdress. She glanced down to see his pants were tented, the fabric straining to hold back what clearly wanted out.

One hand reached up and cupped her face.

“No, Rand, stop!” Netty begged as quietly as she could. “If anyone catches us they’ll hang us!”

Rand’s hand slipped to the back of her head and gently grabbed hold of a fistful of hair. He leaned his long frame over her so that his face loomed close to hers. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t yell for help without serious consequences for them both.

“Rand, you need to-” but she didn’t finish the sentence. Rand’s mouth pressed firmly to hers. He’d never kissed her before. She’d never been kissed before. The sensation was alien and comforting and robbed her of any will to protest further.

Without speaking he moved, nudging her knees apart so that he lay between her legs, his fingers shoving the hem of her nightgown out of the way. He grasped her inner thighs to spread her legs as far as they would go, seeing for the first time what he’d been rubbing against all those months. He inspected the holes without touching, then moved on to what had started the whole affair. Her clit stood out from it’s hood as if trying to reach him on its own. It pulsed in time with her heartbeat, and when he blew on it it bobbed. Just as suddenly as when he kissed her he closed his lips around the begging little thing.

If not for his hands restraining them to the floor Netty wouldn’t have been able to keep her hips from bucking up, grinding against his mouth. Aside from the few times Papa had manipulated it with his fingers nothing had ever gripped her clit. Rand’s tongue swirled around it in a dizzying cacophony of sensation. It took everything she had to not make any noise, but she felt sure that Rand was doing his best to force sound out of her. He suckled hard and fast with his mouth, pulling at her nipples in rhythm. When he pinched with his fingers his teeth nipped at her. When he lapped long strokes with his tongue he would stroke his palms over her chest. With no warning he took firm hold of every stiff little bit of flesh at once and pulled so hard the orgasm surged out in a spray.

Netty was gasping when his lips crushed against her mouth. His tongue filled hers, the taste and smell of herself overwhelming. And then he was gone. He left her shaking on the floor in a puddle having never said one word to her.

Netty cleaned herself up and got back in bed. She thought of the way Rand had cuddled the warmth back into her body when she came back freezing cold and wondered if, perhaps, he would miss more than her carnal comforts.