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Chapter 31, “Fly,” Clarinda Ridge Skili
I awoke to shaking floors from the successive beats of wooden-heeled boots against the hardwood. The vibrations were weighty, not the same as those made by my skinny brothers running through the house with calloused feet. The shakes came from intrusive brutes gathering strength from their unified purpose.
In our room, ten-year-old Susan woke and picked up a crying Flora from her pallet on the floor. She swayed with Flora, listening at the door. I rose and brought both to my bed. We scurried under the covers and curled into one another, while I held onto their shaking shifts. We were too frightened to go outside; we were too frightened to move anything more than our eyes, staring at the lighted gap under the door.
Susan’s body shook when bare feet followed the boots. The first were Mama’s. Another pair followed. My brother Rollin was at her heels.
Susan’s body jolted at another sound I couldn’t know. Then, she covered her face with the quilt and held it against her ears with her hands. She heard what I could not. Mama was screaming.
Susan’s first tear ushered in sobs when stillness and sunlight peered under the crack. ‘Tho I be mute, I knew then that more than the morning sun slid under our bedroom door. The Angel of Death arrived with no warning, like a Passover ghost, and cast us in mourning night with its light.
Papa flew to the Nightland, June 22, 1839. Twenty-five men drug him from his pallet on the floor and tried to kill him, but the gun misfired. So, they unsheathed their knives and drug him outside. Mama and Rollin ran after them, but the warriors, still wielding pistol and rifle, surrounded her and my brother, crossed the barrels, and held them back.
Mama’s hysterical tears did nothing to deter the assassins.
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Thank you very much for hosting Heather Miller today, Helen. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club