Love's Fiery Jewel by Elaine Barbieri

of his
arms to wipe away her tears with the back of her arm in a
decidedly childish gesture, before raising her chin
resolutely and continuing. "But I'll be alright now,
except..." Glancing down again, her eyes came to rest
on the basket of broken eggs.

    Sliding an arm around her shoulders, William
squeezed her arm lightly. "Since it was the fault of our
overseer that the eggs were broken, we'll replace them.
Come on." Urging her toward the kitchen, he walked
with his arm around her, noticing that for all her
bravura, the girl still trembled.
    "You didn't answer my question, Amethyst. How old
are your
    "I'm fourteen years old. How old are you?"
    Suddenly laughing, charmed by her audacious response, William smiled a rich, warm smile into her eyes.
"I'm just twenty-one... quite a few years older than
you.,,
    "But that still doesn't make me a child," Amethyst
said stubbornly, her violet eyes daring him to contradict
her positive statement.
    "I suppose not." William's eyes had gone suddenly
serious just the second before they entered the kitchen to
Delsea's wild exclamations.
    Within a few minutes, whole eggs had been exchanged
for broken ones and Amethyst and William walked side
by side to the main road. At the end of the path, Amethyst
turned soberly to William.
    "Thank you, Mr. Sheridan. I must hurry home now. I
shall be late and mother will be worried."
    "Since I've been calling you Amethyst for the last half
hour with no objections on your part, Amethyst, please
do me the favor of calling me William. We are friends,
aren't we?"
    A small smile lit her face and William was once again struck by the girl's selfless beauty.

    "Yes, I believe we are friends... William. Goodbye
now."
    Suddenly unwilling to let her go so abruptly, William
took Amethyst's arm in a brief, detaining gesture. At her
questioning glance, he dropped it to reach for his horse's
bridle and swinging up quickly into the saddle, extended
his arm toward her.
    "Come on, I'll ride you home."
    "Oh, no! It'll take you out of your way, William."
    "And our overseer has put you behind schedule. Tit
for tat, Amethyst."
    His sudden contagious grin sparked her own spirit of
adventure and handing him her cargo to hold with his
other hand, Amethyst took the arm extended to her and
was pulled firmly up onto the saddle behind him.
    "Hold on to my waist," and as she slid her arms around
him, William shot a small smile over his shoulder,
"That's right, now hold tight. Here we go!"
    With a small jolt they moved from the uneven path
onto the road.
    His shirt smelled lightly of soap and sunshine as she
pressed herself lightly against him. Unable to suppress a
small giggle, Amethyst laughed lightly.
    "Oh, William, this is fun!"

     

1781
    Walking along Harbor Road side by side, the two
women, alike in so many ways, were still in vibrant
contrast with one another. Both small, slight of build and
conservatively dressed, one was excruciatingly thin,
with an air of fragility that manifested itself most
obviously in her precise, calculated movements. Her
skin, though fairly unlined, bore a pallor that belied the
tropical sun and was indicative of many bedridden days.
The straight brown hair, caught into a neat bun at the
back of her neck, was liberally streaked with gray and
lacked luster. Dull blue eyes shadowed by dark circles
mirrored accurately her state of health. Her general
appearance was that of a fading bloom for which time was
very short.
    Contrasting vividly, a younger woman walked beside
her. On closer inspection it became apparent that she was
more girl than woman as evidenced by the youthful
beauty of her face, and her naturally graceful but
uninhibited walk. About her was a vitality that flashed in
the gleam of the dark hair bobbing against her back, the
glow of a golden, lightly tanned complexion that defied
convention, and the sparkle of brilliant violet eyes and a
flashing, dimpled smile that turned heads all