Isaiah Freeman

Things have been awfully strange around here, ever since the last pick-up order... awfully strange. I heard Ms. Carlyle and Scáth talking about the girl, not good talk either. Not like they'd ever be talking good about her, but something darker than usual is going on and being plotted, I can feel it. That poor girl. Ever since she was born I knew she was special. Looks like her mama that much is obvious, but she has her strength and will-power too. Yet, she also has Éadrom's eyes and the immense amount of goodwill and tolerance he possessed; that seemingly endless pool of kindness that dwelled within. Without the combination of the two, her strength and his tolerance, I don't think she would have lasted this long.

Kelly raised her up right. So sweet with her, but taught her strictly right from wrong. How she loved her daughter, I believe it was like having her mother and father back in some small way. Looked just like herself and her mother but her father's eyes would stare back at her. That girl was the only comfort Kelly ever had after the tragedy. I tried, I was there for her as much as I could be, but it wasn't the same. I knew that and didn't take it personally. I helped her with what I could, but she didn't need much, she didn't need anybody. I was happy simply to be around and watch the two together, almost felt like a family again. That was until Scáth overheard Kelly coaching the toddler to call me 'Grandad Isaiah'. He told me I wasn't allowed in the house after that. Told me to stick to the barn. Cafe wasn't around yet. Shortly after, though, Kelly decided she wanted to build something we could both work on and in, so as to be around each other. Thus the Four-leaf Clover was born. We were happy like that for some years there-after. I got to be around Kelly and the little one, and Scáth never bothered to bother us. That was, of course, until the Volstead Act was passed in 1918.

Once alcohol became illegal, people started pumping it out of their own homes. Great idea Scáth though. He told Kelly he was turning the farm into a whiskey production site. She flat out told him no. How they argued. They both declared the farm was theirs, yet knew it was legally left to them both. It didn't take long for him to figure out how to get his way though. I found her. I found her body blown to bits. What small portion of my heart was left was blown away too.

She was in the basement storeroom of the cafe with a shotgun next to her, and a hole in her gut which practically ripped her body in two. Pieces of Kelly were on the floor, walls and ceiling; on the table a simple note scribbled on newspaper and drenched in blood. The note was simple enough, with only one word written on it: sorry. I got sick twice in the corner, on what looked like someone else's pile, and then a third time upstairs. A suicide my left foot! Scáth didn't seem surprised at all, but strangely enough he did look upset. His eyes were red as if he'd been crying; I quickly shook away such an impossible thought. Scáth cry? Never. He had no soul, no heart capable of feeling emotion. He had me bury her next to her parents behind the house as he stood on the porch watching. When I finished he said:

'Stay away from the girl. You won't be spending any time with her like you and Kelly used to, y'hear? I mean it.'

And I knew he did. Shortly after that he brought that dreadful Ms. Carlyle to take Kelly's place. I kept my word though, I listened and I did indeed stay away from her. I regret that. I regret it everyday. I was and am too old to stand up to that evil man; and while this place seems to be plagued now, it's the only home I have. I have neither the years left nor the ability to find new employment or place to live if he ever made me leave for good. For all these reasons, I stayed away from the girl. I let her alone in that house, with that man. Consumed by nothing but her loneliness, her duties and his insatiable desires.

I'm resolved to make up for all these years I turned a cheek, to make up for her poor mother's death and the unspeakable life she's endured this far. So when I overheard the two wicked creatures conspiring, I knew it was my chance to set things right. I'm not exactly sure what was being exchanged between them, but when he came to me and said she'd runaway I was instantly suspicious and scared for her. My first thought was he'd finally killed her, but when he asked me to search the fields for her and to ask the neighbors as well, I realized he hadn't. He wouldn't bother having a big search and bring the neighbors into it if she was dead; he has no one to pretend for. Sadly he knew neither Ms. Carlyle or myself would turn him if he had, so I knew she must have honestly left.

I start in the sugar fields and make my way to the neighbors house. On the long walk back, my thoughts are consumed by her grandfather, her grandmother and her mother. What had this farm become? I'm disgusted with the change, and moreso with myself for allowing the alteration. As I approach the property line between the two farms, I hear something. Is that a bird? No, somebody is singing. I listen for a few moments and smile. I smile at the fact that I've found her and she's safe, but my next realization causes my stomach to turn. If I've found her, then the step to follow according to Scáth would be to return her. I won't do it. This time, I'll put her well-being before my own. I should have been doing that all along. My feet follow the sound; the closer I get, the more I recognize the song her mother used to sing.

Her eyes they shown like diamonds

You'd think she was queen of the land

with her hair thrown over her shoulder,

tied up with a black velvet band

'Hearing you sing that makes me the happiest I've been in years, probably since she passed.'

'Oh!' she gasps, 'Isaiah you frightened me! I thought you were my uncle.'

I sat beside her and continued, 'You are so much like her, it breaks my heart that you never got to really know her. She was strong and hard-headed, but the sweetest girl I ever met. Tough exterior, tough as they come, but inside your mother had a heart as soft as a new pup's fur.' I grin at the memory of her.

'I miss her,' she says simply; seems more to herself than to me. Her luminous green eyes start to gloss over and she begins to weep. I take her in my arms and hold her. Such a sincere cry coming out of this orphan as her shoulders gently rise up and down, following the sobs. Such a deep and honest yearning for a mother taken too soon. My old and broken heart seems to swell and all the emotion that has evaded my life for the past 7 years since Kelly, and possibly the past 20 since Éadrom and Fionnuala, comes out all at once and releases itself through my eyes. We sit there together and weep for all the family we both deserve but no longer have.

After we finish, after our tears dry and the sun has inched itself lower and lower in the sky, I decide to break the silence.

'You have to get out of here.'

'Well gee, what do you think I'm doing Isaiah?'

'I don't know child, what are you doing? Seems to me you're camping more than you are escaping.'

She blushes. 'Oh I suppose you don't know all the rest. Bill Bailey is taking me with him after the next pick-up. We've been having a secret affair and now he's finally going to help me out of here.'

'I see,' is all I say, can say at first. Then, 'are you sure this affair is so secret?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well I heard them two talking in the cafe about you the other day, couldn't tell what about, but they've definitely been acting odd since the last order from him.'

She looks down. 'Oh they have? I noticed too. I was hoping it was just my guilty conscious though.'

I look her deep in the eyes, 'You have absolutely nothing to be guilty about child, y'hear? Nothing. Now tell me, whats the exact plan of action?'

'Well we usually meet before the pick-up in the old shack. This time though, he's going to come meet me at the shack after, and walk me out to the car on the main road. I left a couple of days early so my uncle wouldn't think to associate us.'

'Well I hate to break it to you but I think he has associated you two. I suppose there's not much we can do to change the plan now, so how about this: your uncle's temper is not something he's well able to control. If he sees Mr. Bailey at the pick-up and sincerely does know... I don't think he'd be able to act calmly at all. If something goes awry, then I will come out here and let you know to stay away and give Mr. Bailey the message. As of now your uncle doesn't know where you are and we need to keep it that way. Even if something happens between them, you'll be safe out here.'

I watch her think for a moment.

'I suppose I have no other choice. I'm a sitting duck out here.'

'Alright my dear, I promise I'll help you and make up for all those years I didn't.'

'Don't worry about the past Isaiah, honestly what were you to do? Take on big bad Scáth all by yourself?'

'Yes child, that's precisely what I should have done. Now, do you have enough out here until tomorrow? Food, blankets, books? Should I come out and stay the night with you?'

'Thanks Isaiah and no I'll be fine. Besides if he sees you come out here, we're both dead ducks.' She smiles at me and I see Kelly. I give her a hug and linger a moment, then stand up to go.

'Sleep tight, child, don't let the bed bugs bite.' I can still hear her child-like laugh behind me as my feet head toward the farm.