Read One Wore Blue for Free Online Page A

the hall being thrown open and footsteps moving about.
    “Hide!” Kiernan whispered to Lacey.
    “Where?” Lacey demanded.
    There was nowhere to hide. It was a pleasant, comfortable room, warmed by Lacey’s special touches, but it was small and sparsely furnished. There was the bed, a wardrobe, the two padded rockers, and a nightstand.
    “Slip under the bed!” Kiernan suggested, then realized that Lacey could not slip her round form into any such space.
    “You
hide, Kiernan Mackay,” Lacey told her. Her command was heroic, for Kiernan could see the frantic race of Lacey’s pulse above the ruffles at her throat.
    “I’d never leave you alone—” Kiernan began, but the question suddenly became moot as the door to the room burst open.
    Two men stood before them, and both were armed. One aimed a Colt at Lacey’s heart, and the taller of the two, a bearded black man, held a rifle pointed straight at Kiernan.
    Her own heart leaped with fear, and she forced herself to stand tall and indignant.
    “Who in God’s name are you, and how dare you burst into a private residence to threaten vulnerable women!” she cried out with vehemence that surprised her. Her hands were clammy. She’d never been more frightened in her life.
    “We’re soldiers for freedom, miss,” the shorter, white man told her. “And you’re Kiernan Mackay, the daughter of John Mackay, slaveholder.”
    “I am Kiernan Mackay,” she acknowledged coldly. “And you—”
    “We’re the revolution. It’s starting here, tonight. The country will rise here, this very night.”
    She swallowed hard, realizing that he was talking about a slave revolution.
    Such things had happened in the Caribbean and South America, she knew. Slaves had risen against their masters and mistresses, and the carnage had been horrible. People had been butchered in their beds—little children, anyone.
    But she couldn’t believe that that could happen here. Certainly not in Lacey’s home—when Thomas had always made it clear that he would never own another human being.
    “You have no right to come here!” she said. “Revolution, indeed! You’d hurt anyone in your reckless endeavors.”
    “We don’t mean no harm to Mrs. Donahue,” the man said, frightening Kiernan further. He knew them both! Heknew that it was Lacey’s house, and he had known that Kiernan would be in it. Whatever was going on had been well organized. “But Miss Mackay, you’re to come with us.”
    “No,” she said flatly.
    Lacey wedged her plump body between Kiernan and the men in the doorway. “You’ll not touch this girl, you ruffians! I don’t know what you think you’re going to do with a young woman—”
    “Nothing evil, ma’am,” the tall black man assured her. “We’ve come under the guidance of John Brown, and John Brown comes under the guidance of the Lord. But the war has begun, and Miss Mackay is to come with us—a hostage for John Brown.”
    John Brown
. Her blood simmered hotly, then chilled to ice. John Brown had ruthlessly butchered men. He was a fanatic, and he did believe that he killed men in the name of God. She badly wanted to disdain these men, but she was very frightened. Surely John Brown didn’t wage war upon women and children!
    “We don’t want to hurt you,” the short white man told Kiernan. “If you’ll come along quietly …”
    She didn’t want them to hurt her either. But if she went with them, what then?
    She shook her head slowly. “No, I can’t come with you. I’m not dressed.”
    “That’s right!” Lacey said. “You can’t take a young woman out on the streets like this!” Lacey played for time because Kiernan was playing for time. But what good was time going to do them? If they meant to harm her, Kiernan wasn’t going to allow them to do so without a fight. She still held the parasol. She wrapped her hands tightly around it. But what good was a parasol against guns?
    “Miss Mackay, you’re to come now. If you resist us any