-The Holy Bible, Proverbs 5:5 CHAPTER THIRTEEN For the sake of Alexander, they pretended, sharing a civilized meal picnic-style on a braided oval rug. While Alexander ate and chattered away about his puppy, Charlotte choked down a few mouthfuls of the ham and biscuit Ben had offered. Fear had obliterated her appetite from the first moment she had seen the Yankee captain in the barn. Ben chewed and swallowed his food mechanically. Occasionally, he responded to the boy with a word or a smile that failed to warm the graveness in his face. Mostly, he watched Charlotte with a gaze that made her feel as if someone had hollowed out her chest with a dull spoon. The longer he stared, the harder she found it to disguise her fear. A long half hour later, cool breezes stole through the broken panes of window glass and carried the rhythmic sounds of rain into the house. Along the edge of the yellow circle of lantern light, Alexander slept with one hand on his wheeled horse, the other on the snoring mastiff.
