Storm Clouds Rolling In Read Free Page B

laughed as the cool, soft air enveloped her. She leaned forward and spoke softly into Granite’s ear. He immediately burst into a smooth, ground-eating canter. She needed her place today. Even if it meant being late for dinner and incurring her mother’s disapproval, she needed her place. No one else knew about it. It was Carrie and Granite’s secret. Not even Rose knew where she went when her heart was burdened and she needed to figure out life.
    As she rode, she gazed out over the twenty-five hundred acres that comprised Cromwell Plantation. She loved the land passionately. Carrie knew all its moods—all of its secrets and hidden places. When she was just eleven, in spite of her mother’s protests, her father had set her free. She could still remember the conversation.
    “ Daddy, I want to ride alone.” Even then, Carrie was determined when going after something she wanted.
    “Alone?” Her father’s expression was one of amused patience.
    “Yes, alone! I don’t want Miles to ride with me. I don’t need him. I want to explore on my own. I want to find secret places. I can ride as good as him any day,” she boasted.
    Her mother, seated at the other end of the table , watched the interchange with a horrified expression. It deepened as silence stretched in the room. “Thomas! You aren’t considering giving in to this latest crazy request are you? I simply won’t hear of it. My daughter running around the countryside on her own? Preposterous,” she snorted.
    Carrie remained silent. She knew from long experience that saying anything would not further her cause. Pitting her mother and father against each other only thwarted her plans. She was hopeful however. Her father’s extended silence meant he was thinking about it.
    Her mother jumped in again. “Thomas, please tell me you’re not considering this. Carrie is getting to the age where she should be spending more time around the house. It’s bad enough that she spends hours on that crazy horse with Miles. Carrie is getting older. She needs to learn how to run the plantation. She needs to spend more time on her studies, more time practicing the piano. Heaven only knows how much practice she needs with her sewing.”
    It was all Carrie could do to control her groan. She forced herself to remain quiet with her eyes glued to her father. He turned to look at her. His eyes challenged and gave her confidence at the same time. She knew her father believed in her. She returned his gaze with a confident one of her own.
    Thomas Cromwell looked down the table at her mother. “Her studies are fine, Abigail, and there is still plenty of time for her to learn to run the plantation. She’s young, and she needs her freedom. All of our people adore her. They’ll look out for her.”
    Carrie could have shouted with joy. Somehow she maintained her composure. The only evidence of her excitement was the slight excited wiggle of her body in the velvet chair.
    Her father turned to look at her sternly. “You and I will talk later about where you are allowed to go. If you do anything foolish, it will be the only time. With freedom goes responsibility. You can’t have one without the other.”
    Carrie pulled herself back to the present. That had been seven years ago. Since then she had covered every square inch of the plantation. She knew it better than her father himself. Would her intimate knowledge of the land come in handy someday? Carrie pulled up, surprised by the thought that had just crossed her mind. Where had that come from? She shook her head. Sometimes her vivid imagination made her laugh even at herself.
    She took a few minutes to look around her now. To her, Cromwell Plantation was the most beautiful place on earth. The gentle rolling fields, the embracing woods, the undulating pastures that were home to their horses. She had stopped her mad dash in the middle of one of Father’s tobacco fields. The tiny sprigs of plants had just begun to force their way through