Read This Side of Heaven for Free Online

stood rigidly erect. She would not collapse now if it killed her to stay on her feet. “But unnecessary, after all. I find that I no longer require your assistance.”
    The icy hauteur she assumed was balm for her shamed spirit. Pride and temper might have combined to crowd out sound good judgment, but at the moment Caroline meant what she said.
    “If I do not reimburse Tobias for your passage, he will have you taken before the magistrate and sold as a bound servant to recoup the cost.”
    Caroline was proud, but she was not stupid, and his calm pronouncement shocked her.
    “Surely such a thing cannot be legal?”
    “I assure you that it is.”
    “Of course it would be, in this barbarous country! Do you Roundheads practice any other abominations besides slavery?” Bitterness edged her words.
    His eyes narrowed. “A word of advice, my girl. Do not be spewing your Royalist twaddle on this side of the ocean. Our punishments for such loose talk are severe.”
    “Must I live in fear, then, of such as your sour-faced dominie?”
    “Enough! I’ll tolerate no more of your insolence, I warn you. If you are to be a member of my household, then you will comport yourself in a seemly fashion. That means, at the very least, no thievery, no lying, no blasphemous language, and no Royalist harangues.” If she had been in any fit state to notice, she would have perceived the faintest of humorous glints at the back of his eyes. Unfortunately, she wasn’t.
    “It may surprise you to learn that I no longer have the slightest desire to become a member of your household!” Caroline, speaking through her teeth, threw good sense to the winds and was surprised by how wonderful it felt.
    “You prefer to be sold as a bound servant?” He arched his eyebrows at her.
    “I prefer to find some kind of employment. I am no stranger to hard work. I can cook, keep house, and sew. If you will pay Captain Rowse his money, I will repay you out of my earnings as soon as I can. You would be making me a loan only.”
    Matt snorted. “Who around here would employ a rudespoken, outlandishly dressed female of the Royalist persuasion, do you suppose? You would starve before you’d earned so much as a crust.”
    Thwarted, Caroline scowled at him. “You’re uncommonly lacking in courtesy, sir!”
    “Then I’d say we’re a well-matched pair. As you are the sister of my dead wife and the aunt of my boys, I am willing to provide you with a home. You will work to earn your keep, and to repay the monies given to Tobias for your passage. We have some need of a cook-housekeeper ourselves, and that’s the function you will fill. All I ask is that you try not to be more of a bother than you can help. I would not care to suffer through daily repeats of this morning’s idiocy.”
    “Idiocy!” Before Caroline could say more—and there was certainly a great deal more she wished to say—a loud noise arose from the barnyard. Caroline stiffened, but ere she could move Millicent careered around the corner of the barn with the hound from hell in baying pursuit. Spying her mistress, Millicent made a beeline toward her, tearing painfully up Caroline’s gown to perch on her shoulder, fur on end, hissing at the slavering beast that galloped after her.
    “Go away! Shoo!” Caroline cried, one hand steadying her cat as the other extended in a frantic attempt to ward off the oncoming dog.
    “Raleigh, no!” Matt boomed, but it was too late. Raleigh launched himself forward, paws outstretched. The dog crashed into Caroline with the velocity of a runaway wagon, knocking her sprawling to the ground. She cried out; Millicent tumbled, hissed, and lashed out with a razor-tipped paw; Raleigh yelped; Matt yelled. Some few yards away, the thundering herd of remaining Mathiesons burst into view.
    Then, as Caroline once again lay stunned in the dirt, Millicent clawed straight up the side of the barn while Raleigh barked hysterically and the onlookers variouslyshouted, laughed,