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Authors: Lauraine Snelling
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enough acorns to raise an entire herd of swine.”
How his heart would break if he could see us now . Jesselynn wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her sleeve. It’s just too much—Father dying and now my having to leave. What will Zachary think when he returns? How can I do this God, you are asking too much .
She blew her nose and pressed the bridge between thumb and forefinger, anything to stop the tears. If her people—she refused to call them slaves any longer—if her people knew how she felt, they would not be able to go on.
Except perhaps Meshach. Since she’d given him his papers, he had become different. Always straight and broad shouldered, he no longer looked down at the ground when talking to anyone. He held his head high and looked a person in the eye. His speech too had changed some, but God help them if he called her “missy.”
She flicked the reins for her team to pick up their feet. The mare on the right still hadn’t quite gotten the idea of teamwork in wagon pulling, but at least she was willing. Ahab had not taken kindly to the harness, so Meshach was riding him. The mule didn’t seem to care who pulled with him.
Why hadn’t she thought to break them to harness earlier? She shook her head. Why so many things? Like her father had said, “If only you’d obeyed me two years ago …” The memory reopened the lacerations on her heart. Could one die of a broken heart?
“Riders up ahead,” Daniel, who’d been riding point, whispered out of the darkness.
Jesselynn immediately pulled off the road under the bordering tree, the wagon wheels crushing brush as they hid. Thank God there was no stone wall or fencing here. She leaped from the wagon and ran to her horses’ heads, clamping a hand over each muzzle so they wouldn’t nicker.
Her heart made so much noise, she had a hard time listening for the riders. Grateful for the darkness, since the moon had yet to rise, she strained to hear, knowing Meshach and Daniel were near and doing the same thing. Benjamin would be ahead somewhere. Thank God she’d thought to give Thaddy a few drops of laudanum so he would sleep through anything. What if he cried out? Only soldiers or scum would likely be on the road at this hour. Once they were farther from home, they could disappear in among all the normal traffic. After all, what was one more wagon loaded with despair?
The clop of hooves, the jingle of spurs and bits, sounded like five or six horses. While one man said something, blood thundering in her ears kept her from picking out his words. The smell of tobacco smoke overlaid the fragrance of crushed leaves and bark. Her eyes ached and watered from trying to peer through the darkness. One of her horses stamped a foot.
Now she knew what a deer felt like when it suspected danger. Her mind wept Oh, God, help us. Please help us! over and over till she thought she would scream. They waited what seemed like half the night from the time they could hear even the faintest sound of the riders.
“Go now,” Meshach said right next to her. She hadn’t heard him moving at all. Her heart leaped back up in her throat, and she clamped a hand to her chest.
“Oh.” Leaning her forehead against the warm neck of the mare, she waited for her heartbeat to settle back down and her knees to regain their strength before she climbed back up in the wagon. Right at the moment, she wasn’t sure she could make it.
“Marse Jesse, you all right?”
“Yes, thank you.” At least I soon will be . She patted the mare’s neck and, in spite of nearly tripping over broken brush, got herself back up on the wagon seat.
“Oh, Mi-Marse Jesse, I skeered so bad I ’most wet my drawers.” Ophelia’s whisper made Jesselynn smile, then start to chuckle.
“Me too, Ophelia, me too.”
A giggle from behind added to her chuckle, and by the time they had the wagon back up on the road and running straight again, all of them, except for the sleeping child, were choking, trying
How his heart would break if he could see us now . Jesselynn wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her sleeve. It’s just too much—Father dying and now my having to leave. What will Zachary think when he returns? How can I do this God, you are asking too much .
She blew her nose and pressed the bridge between thumb and forefinger, anything to stop the tears. If her people—she refused to call them slaves any longer—if her people knew how she felt, they would not be able to go on.
Except perhaps Meshach. Since she’d given him his papers, he had become different. Always straight and broad shouldered, he no longer looked down at the ground when talking to anyone. He held his head high and looked a person in the eye. His speech too had changed some, but God help them if he called her “missy.”
She flicked the reins for her team to pick up their feet. The mare on the right still hadn’t quite gotten the idea of teamwork in wagon pulling, but at least she was willing. Ahab had not taken kindly to the harness, so Meshach was riding him. The mule didn’t seem to care who pulled with him.
Why hadn’t she thought to break them to harness earlier? She shook her head. Why so many things? Like her father had said, “If only you’d obeyed me two years ago …” The memory reopened the lacerations on her heart. Could one die of a broken heart?
“Riders up ahead,” Daniel, who’d been riding point, whispered out of the darkness.
Jesselynn immediately pulled off the road under the bordering tree, the wagon wheels crushing brush as they hid. Thank God there was no stone wall or fencing here. She leaped from the wagon and ran to her horses’ heads, clamping a hand over each muzzle so they wouldn’t nicker.
Her heart made so much noise, she had a hard time listening for the riders. Grateful for the darkness, since the moon had yet to rise, she strained to hear, knowing Meshach and Daniel were near and doing the same thing. Benjamin would be ahead somewhere. Thank God she’d thought to give Thaddy a few drops of laudanum so he would sleep through anything. What if he cried out? Only soldiers or scum would likely be on the road at this hour. Once they were farther from home, they could disappear in among all the normal traffic. After all, what was one more wagon loaded with despair?
The clop of hooves, the jingle of spurs and bits, sounded like five or six horses. While one man said something, blood thundering in her ears kept her from picking out his words. The smell of tobacco smoke overlaid the fragrance of crushed leaves and bark. Her eyes ached and watered from trying to peer through the darkness. One of her horses stamped a foot.
Now she knew what a deer felt like when it suspected danger. Her mind wept Oh, God, help us. Please help us! over and over till she thought she would scream. They waited what seemed like half the night from the time they could hear even the faintest sound of the riders.
“Go now,” Meshach said right next to her. She hadn’t heard him moving at all. Her heart leaped back up in her throat, and she clamped a hand to her chest.
“Oh.” Leaning her forehead against the warm neck of the mare, she waited for her heartbeat to settle back down and her knees to regain their strength before she climbed back up in the wagon. Right at the moment, she wasn’t sure she could make it.
“Marse Jesse, you all right?”
“Yes, thank you.” At least I soon will be . She patted the mare’s neck and, in spite of nearly tripping over broken brush, got herself back up on the wagon seat.
“Oh, Mi-Marse Jesse, I skeered so bad I ’most wet my drawers.” Ophelia’s whisper made Jesselynn smile, then start to chuckle.
“Me too, Ophelia, me too.”
A giggle from behind added to her chuckle, and by the time they had the wagon back up on the road and running straight again, all of them, except for the sleeping child, were choking, trying
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