Read Online Promise Bridge by Eileen Clymer Schwab - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Eileen Clymer Schwab
Tags: Fiction, Historical
Ads: Link
protests could be voiced. “One person is easier to hide than nine. Therefore, once you go, she will be out of danger.”
“Please don’t leave me with her, Marcus,” Livie wailed. Marcus brooded with careful consideration, and I suspected he saw sense in my idea.
“Sounds right smart to me,” Raizy chimed in from behind. “At least the chile has a chance if her legs is given time to grow strong enough to carry her feet north. You said you would turn south again to bring mo’ to freedom once the path is put to memory in yo’ head.”
Livie shook her head and braced for what she read in her brother’s distraught eyes. He looked at me with an intensity that hummed throughout my body. He turned the palm of one of his hands up in front of me. “Do you swear at the feet of sweet Jesus that you will look after her?”
“Of course,” I said, hoping to mask the surprise that stiffened me from head to toe. I had never encountered a slave, fugitive or otherwise, who dared to speak so boldly, much less demand something of me. He seemed to want me to touch his upright hand, but I could never. . . .
“Promise me,” he said louder as he grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it tight in his upright palm. As we touched, his raw emotion pierced through his powerful hand into mine and penetrated my defenses.
“Do you promise to see to it that Livetta is safe and has what she needs until I come back to fetch her?”
My breast heaved with an explosion of fear. My hand trembled in his, and try as I might, I could not calm the panic brought on by this breach of conduct. Yet my impulse was not to pull away. “Yes,” I finally breathed as my throat unclenched.
He reached out with his free hand, this time more gently, and took my other hand and raised it to match the hands we still clasped. We tightened our grip by allowing our fingers to entwine. I could barely breathe as the presence of the others seemed to fall away around me. Marcus’s eyes were now soft and reverent.
“This is a promise bridge,” he said, squeezing my hands tightly to emphasize the connection. “And it bridges a promise from your heart to mine. It can’t never be broken, because it is inside you now. It stays there forever and passes on to all that comes from you, and is carried by your spirit when it rises to heaven. The promise is a part of you now, understand?”
His words held on to my heart as firmly as his hands folded with mine. The emotion created by the bridge between us overwhelmed me. No man had ever been so forthright in my presence, not even Colt, who hid his occasional flirtation behind a playful tickle or peck on the cheek. Far from childhood at nearly twenty years old, I was still handled like a delicate rose by all who engaged me. My head dizzied in a bewildering swirl of conflict and commitment as I allowed this man to hold me in his grasp for an inappropriate period of time. This black man. A slave. It was an astounding transgression that I could not right with sense or reason. Yet it also released something untapped within that filled me with intrigue and amazement. Bolstered by an awakening I could not yet fully understand, I held my fear at bay and returned the clasp of his hand as intently as it was given, and whispered, “Yes, I promise, Marcus. I promise with heart and soul.”
Chapter 7
W ith a nod of approval, Marcus let go of my hands and reached for Livie, who was sniffling softly against the sleeve of her dress. I remained propped on my knees, unaware of my limp hands dangling in the air until I looked up into Colt’s perplexed face. He stared at me, thinking thoughts that were impossible to read. My head lowered along with my hands; I did not want to be judged in his eyes.
“I hear dogs yelpin’,” Lillabelle said, dragging a bucket through the cave entrance.
Her mother ran to her and pulled her to her feet. “What you doin’ out there, chile? You gonna be seen!”
“I went fetchin’ water from the
“Please don’t leave me with her, Marcus,” Livie wailed. Marcus brooded with careful consideration, and I suspected he saw sense in my idea.
“Sounds right smart to me,” Raizy chimed in from behind. “At least the chile has a chance if her legs is given time to grow strong enough to carry her feet north. You said you would turn south again to bring mo’ to freedom once the path is put to memory in yo’ head.”
Livie shook her head and braced for what she read in her brother’s distraught eyes. He looked at me with an intensity that hummed throughout my body. He turned the palm of one of his hands up in front of me. “Do you swear at the feet of sweet Jesus that you will look after her?”
“Of course,” I said, hoping to mask the surprise that stiffened me from head to toe. I had never encountered a slave, fugitive or otherwise, who dared to speak so boldly, much less demand something of me. He seemed to want me to touch his upright hand, but I could never. . . .
“Promise me,” he said louder as he grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it tight in his upright palm. As we touched, his raw emotion pierced through his powerful hand into mine and penetrated my defenses.
“Do you promise to see to it that Livetta is safe and has what she needs until I come back to fetch her?”
My breast heaved with an explosion of fear. My hand trembled in his, and try as I might, I could not calm the panic brought on by this breach of conduct. Yet my impulse was not to pull away. “Yes,” I finally breathed as my throat unclenched.
He reached out with his free hand, this time more gently, and took my other hand and raised it to match the hands we still clasped. We tightened our grip by allowing our fingers to entwine. I could barely breathe as the presence of the others seemed to fall away around me. Marcus’s eyes were now soft and reverent.
“This is a promise bridge,” he said, squeezing my hands tightly to emphasize the connection. “And it bridges a promise from your heart to mine. It can’t never be broken, because it is inside you now. It stays there forever and passes on to all that comes from you, and is carried by your spirit when it rises to heaven. The promise is a part of you now, understand?”
His words held on to my heart as firmly as his hands folded with mine. The emotion created by the bridge between us overwhelmed me. No man had ever been so forthright in my presence, not even Colt, who hid his occasional flirtation behind a playful tickle or peck on the cheek. Far from childhood at nearly twenty years old, I was still handled like a delicate rose by all who engaged me. My head dizzied in a bewildering swirl of conflict and commitment as I allowed this man to hold me in his grasp for an inappropriate period of time. This black man. A slave. It was an astounding transgression that I could not right with sense or reason. Yet it also released something untapped within that filled me with intrigue and amazement. Bolstered by an awakening I could not yet fully understand, I held my fear at bay and returned the clasp of his hand as intently as it was given, and whispered, “Yes, I promise, Marcus. I promise with heart and soul.”
Chapter 7
W ith a nod of approval, Marcus let go of my hands and reached for Livie, who was sniffling softly against the sleeve of her dress. I remained propped on my knees, unaware of my limp hands dangling in the air until I looked up into Colt’s perplexed face. He stared at me, thinking thoughts that were impossible to read. My head lowered along with my hands; I did not want to be judged in his eyes.
“I hear dogs yelpin’,” Lillabelle said, dragging a bucket through the cave entrance.
Her mother ran to her and pulled her to her feet. “What you doin’ out there, chile? You gonna be seen!”
“I went fetchin’ water from the
Similar Books
