limited to what she can do and unsightly to give as a wife even to one of my slaves.”
“You could always make her a breeder when she comes of age,” Hellen spoke, then turned, and positioned herself so that Cara stood in front of her.
“Breeder?” Bork questioned and then he asked, “She is the fair AabiLynn's daughter, is she not?”
“Yes,” Thatchman replied. “She is my beloved's child.”
Hellen glared at her husband at the mention of the wife before her and then she squeezed Cara's shoulders, taking out her jealousy of a dead woman on the child.
Bork peered at the girl, not as she was, but as she would be. In the Northern Grass Plains Tribe's tradition, male owners slept with their breeders to create slaves with no inherent rights. Bork had wanted Thatchman's wife AabiLynn when she first appeared in their territory, but she married Thatchman instead. It created much strife between the two men till AabiLynn died.
“AabiLynn's child,” Bork muttered to himself and then he thought maybe Cara might turn out to be as beautiful as her mother. “Are you sure you want to give up AabiLynn's child? She is your daughter.”
Thatchman glanced at his wife and then he answered, “I am sure.”
Bork turned to one of his riders and told him, “Grab the child, and let us take her back to the plains.”
The rider nodded, then he went over, and scooped up the child as she attempted to flee from him, limping as fast as her little legs would allow her. She kicked and beat at him with her arms and legs, then she turned to her father and Hellen and screamed for them.
“Hellen! Hellen, help me!” Cara cried out. “Help me, Hellen! Hellen!” She managed to free herself of the rider, drop down to the ground, and ran to her shouting, “Hellen! Hellen!”
Cara fell down as she over stepped her stride, but quickly got back up and continued for the woman as she cried, “Hellen! Hellen!”
The woman turned from her and headed for the hut, allowing the child's pleads to fall on indifferent ears.
Cara cried all the more, “Hellen! Don't go, Hellen!” She fell again and this time Cara didn't get up as she shrieked, “Mamma! Mamma!”
Hellen paused in her tracks as the maternal words left the child's lips and rattled her very core. Never once had Cara called her mother. Hellen had never taught her that name, but insisted that Cara call her Hellen. It allowed her to place some distance between herself and the other woman's child. Thatchman's sons were old enough that they easily called her Hellen. Cara must have picked up the word from the near-by farmer's children as she watched them play. Hellen started to turn toward the child, but then she realized Thatchman had already given her to Bork. Whatever feelings might have been sparked by the child's utterance was now too late. There was nothing she could do about the debt or the payment; it had been completed. She place a hand to her belly. She might just be too emotional because of her own coming baby. Hellen continued walking to the hut as a tear streaked down her cheek. She wiped it away as she wiped the memory and the name of the child from her mind. Hellen placed a hand to her belly again. She would soon have a baby of her own to replace any emptiness caused by the forgotten one's departure.
When Hellen ignored her pleads, Cara turned to Thatchman and called out to him, “Daddy! Daddy!”
“Quiet, child!” Thatchman scolded her. “You are no longer mine.” He turned from her and walked away as he mumbled, “You were never mine.”
As both of her parents abandoned her to her fate, Cara lifted her tiny hands and wept into them. The rider easily picked up the child and carried her to his horse, then he, Bork, and the other riders headed back toward the plains. Cara cried herself asleep and slept the whole way back to Bork's abode.