Nineteen

Nineteen

I had fallen asleep shortly after that, so the next thing I knew I was alone on the cot, the soft light of a very early morning falling in on me. My mood automatically became considerably bleaker when I realized he was gone, but I knew that it would be the last time for a long, long time that I would wake up without him.

Without Isaiah around, though, I was not willing to get up yet. So I closed my eyes and fell immediately back to sleep.

It was well past noon by the time I woke up again, but I still did not feel like leaving the attic.

I put off going downstairs by thinking about how to tell Isaiah about Jordan. He wouldn’t turn away now, after everything. He loved me more than that, even if he didn’t love Jordan yet.

But what if he didn’t? What if I had to choose, to leave her behind or be left behind?

I thought about it for a moment, and then laughed at myself. This was so unlike me. I was being so ridiculously overdramatic, I almost felt guilty. Every time Isaiah left I would forget who he was. I would imagine that he was not the wonderful person that he was, that he was the kind of man who would leave me here alone as punishment for keeping his daughter from him.

I had to stop being such a pessimist. I had finally gotten what I had wanted for four years, the knowledge that I really could leave with Isaiah, and all I could focus on was the negative. This was quite possibly the last day I would ever have to spend in the company of Roy McCalvin, and I was sitting in the attic convincing myself that Isaiah was just as much of a cur as my husband. I had to brighten up.

This was the most optimistic outlook I had had for a very long time, and I decided not to waste it.

I hadn’t seen Jordan since I got to my parent’s house. She had no idea her young life was about to change. I would have to see her today. I would have to tell her about Isaiah.

When I lowered myself into my room, Hannah was not there, which was both relieving and unfortunate. I would have to tell her we were leaving too, but that was something that would be best to put off.

I decided to pack, but then realized I had no idea where to begin. I didn’t exactly have any clothes for trekking hundreds of miles north.

Thinking about the trip made me anxious. It was such a huge undertaking, I had never really thought about it.

But now I realized it would be almost impossible. Isaiah and I would travel with a child for a year or more, hiding in basements and secret places during the day, and running through the forest at night.

How had Isaiah survived the first trip north? How strong must he have been? Could I be that strong?

I threw my suitcase aside, annoyed that I had killed my optimism so quickly. I decided to go see Jordan first.

It was eerily quiet downstairs. Neither Roy, nor Ethan, nor my father were anywhere in sight. That worried me a little. Where the three of them were united there could only be trouble. Mama was in the parlor, however.

I poked my head in curiously. “Mama?” She did not look at me. “Where is everyone?”

“Where were you?” She responded flatly.

I inhaled sharply. I had not expected her to realize my absence in the morning. “Why? What time is it?” I said innocently enough.

She gestured to the clock in the corner. It was three thirty. I had no idea that I had slept so late.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” I said after a moment. “I did not realize the lateness of the hour…” I scanned my mind for an excuse. “…R-Roy kept me up,” I said, knowing it sounded like a lie.

I knew it would please her to think Roy and I were doing the kinds of things that would keep me up into the night. It was no secret that she was on Roy’s side as far as the possible McCalvin son debate.

“Ah,” she said. “Well it’s good to know you’re making yourself available to him.” I felt myself turn red with embarrassment and anger and tried to protest but she shot me a look. “It’s certainly been long enough.”

I opened my mouth to disagree but thought better of it and tried again. “Where is Roy?” I asked.

Mama paused for a moment. “The men had some… business to attend to,” she said, sipping her tea and avoiding eye contact. I furrowed my brow, confused by her words and tone, but she said nothing else, and I did not feel like I could drag it out of her. So I swallowed my concern and turned away.

I stepped outside and walked briskly towards the slaves’ cabins, trying to think about my daughter and not my mother’s odd behavior. I knew Jordan would be incredibly excited to meet her father. She wouldn’t understand how hard the journey would be.

When I entered their cabin, Hannah was not there, but Jordan was sitting on the bed alone. That was strange. Hannah rarely left Jordan by herself.

Here black eyes lit up when she saw me. “Momma!” she cried as I scooped her up. “Where’ve you been, Momma? It’s awful lonely without you.”

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been down to see her. I felt just terrible. “I’m sorry baby,” I said, hugging her tightly. “It’s my fault. But things are going to change now.”

 “Auntie Hannah’s real mad at you, Momma,” she cut me off. She always liked to tell me what I missed when I was not around. “Uncle Eli’s been talkin’ sweet to her and trying to make her stop yellin’ and he’s saying she should calm down because it’s not as bad as she thinks,” she said, repeating Eli. Jordan had no idea what they were talking about, and it did not concern her at all.

Jordan continued without a pause. “Then today Mister Roy was out by the cabins and there was a big commotion and Uncle Eli ran off to get someone.”

I froze, wondering what could have possibly happened.

Jordan stopped my worrying before I could think it through anymore. “Why’s everyone so mad, Momma. What’s got everyone bickering like that?”

I set her down on the bed and looked her in the eye. “Listen, honey, remember when I was telling you about your father…?”

I did not get any farther than that, though. Hannah burst through the door.

She whirled over to me in a rush of anxiety. Her face held some kind of wild emotion. I automatically flinched away from her, thinking it was rage, anger with me for leaving with Isaiah. But I looked at her and a split second later I realized what it was.

Absolute fear.

“Adeline!” she cried. “Adeline, they… they…” before she could say anything, her eyes fell on Jordan. “Come outside,” she breathed.,

I glanced over my shoulder at a very worried looking Jordan before following Hannah out the door. “What is it?” I asked urgently as soon as we were outside. “What happened?”

“Your brother…” she began, sounding winded and panicked. “He knew Isaiah was here. He told Roy but… but they don’t know where you hide him. They knew they wouldn’t be able to catch him.” I had a horrible sinking feeling.

“But they know who else you care about. So they came this morning, after I’d gotten Jordan out of sight. They tried to take Eli, and he got away but… but they got Ruben!” She was almost unable to get the next words out. “They’re holding them in the woods. They think you and Isaiah will try to save him!”

“Oh my God!” I cried. The idea of Ruben, kind, brotherly Ruben, trapped with Roy, paying for my faults, was absolutely horrifying. “W-what are we going to do?”

“I tried to stop Eli,” she said, “but he took the horse and went for Isaiah. He hasn’t been back.”

I shook my head. “We can’t wait anymore. We have to help him.” I started off before she could say anything.

“What?” she cried as she sprinted after me.

“We can’t just leave him!” I yelled back over my shoulder. “We have to do something, come on!”

“Adeline, there’s nothing we can do,” she said, catching up to me and cutting me off. “Really, how can we stop them, just the two of us? This will just make things worse. They won’t hurt Ruben, not before Isaiah comes.”

I knew she had a point, but I was not about to leave my friend out there alone. If something happened to him, it would be on my hands.

“I’m going out there,” I told Hannah, shaking her off and turning into the forest. “With or without you.”

I started to run again. Hannah protested but ran after me. It occurred to me after a few minutes that I had no idea where I was going. I kept going, not wanting to admit this to Hannah.

I could hardly see what was in front of me through the brush. After a long time of running, I tripped and Hannah collided with me. We fell and I hit something hard in front of me. Arms caught me. I shrieked with shock, and something else in front of me shrieked back.

“Jesus! What the hell?” I looked down to see both Hannah and Eli on the ground. Isaiah was holding me. We had hit them running the opposite way.

“Isaiah!” I cried, incredibly happy to see them both unharmed.

“Addy!” He pulled me closer.

Eli helped Hannah to her feet, embracing her. “Thank God you’re all right!” she said, hugging them both, her voice more relieved than even mine.

Eli kissed her, still looking around, wild-eyed. “What are you doing? I told you not to come out here.”

“He’s right,” Isaiah said, “it’s too dangerous out here. Eli and I can go after Ruben.”

I shook my head. “I’m not letting you go alone. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to one of you. It… it would be my fault.”

“Addy, it wouldn’t be your…”

“Please,” Hannah surprised me taking my side. “Don’t fight them alone.”

Isaiah and Eli looked at each other uncertainly. “All right,” Eli said uneasily. “Come on.”

The four of us started to run again. “Do you know where we’re going?” Hannah asked, keeping step with me behind Eli.

“There’s a clearing not far from here,” Isaiah called over his shoulder. “If they took him anywhere, they took him there.”

We ran for what felt like forever, until we reached our destination. The four of us came to an abrupt halt just outside the clearing, looking in.

He was there, though Roy, thank God, was not. Ruben was tied to a tree on the farthest end from us, but looked otherwise not seriously harmed. Isaiah took a long look around before coming out from his hiding place, the three of us following behind him.

“Ruben,” he hissed from across the way. Ruben glanced up, looking terrified.

“Isaiah! Eli!” he cried. “They’ll be back soon. You can’t let them find you, Isaiah. You’re the one they want. They might let me go if they can’t get you.”

“I’m not risking that, brother,” Isaiah said. He took out a knife and cut the ties. Ruben fell to the ground. We looked on with concern when he did not get up.

“Did they hurt you?” Eli asked. Ruben nodded, and I could see now that his leg was badly broken.

“Come on,” I said, taking a step forward. “We have to get him out of here.” Isaiah and Eli nodded, each taking him under an arm. We hardly made it across the clearing however, when footsteps approached just outside.

Isaiah’s head snapped up. “Addy, Hannah, get out of here.” We both froze. “Go, hide!” Unable to think about what I was doing, I dragged Hannah back into the brush.

We had barely made it out of sight when they emerged from the trees: Roy, Ethan, and my father. They stopped short when they saw the boys standing there. They all looked at each other, stunned, then Roy and Eli each pulled a gun. Roy had a rifle, Eli a pistol. Hannah yelped and I clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Let us go,” Eli said, the first to make demands, “and I won’t shoot.”

Roy took a step back, and I knew he was afraid. It was easy to forget how terrifying our boys could be when they wanted to be. They started backing up, still supporting Ruben. After a good, long look at each other, Roy lowered his weapon and Eli, Isaiah, and Ruben started hobbling away.

Hannah and I were the only ones who saw Roy pick the rifle up again. He pointed it at Isaiah’s back.

“No!” I cried before I knew what I was doing.

Roy looked at me just as he shot, throwing him off target. The bullet flew and Ruben fell out from under their arms. Before either of them could turn, he shot again.

 

Reviews

[Short.Nerd]

No!:O Poor Ruben.

[Banished]

NO.
>=[

^ THE ANGRY FACE MEANS THAT I AM MAD AT YOU.

[C. Porter]

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KILL RUBEN!! NOT ALLOWED! I HAD COMPLICATED PREDICTIONS INVOLVING HIM!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU?!?!?!?! I LOVED HIM!! HE WAS MY FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE CAN'T DIE!!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hannah]

NOOOOO!!! no no no no no no no no no no no no ! not ruben! i forgot that he died haha :(

[Taylor H]

your a very good writer. keep up with this story. its very good

[Lorraine]

Just as I thought, history's repeating itself again. Aw, why did they got Ruben. I like him, how could they? Now I'm starting to pity Hannah, although not as much as I pity Isaiah and Adeline. Geez, they should just go away. I think their problems will never cease until they get as far away as they could. This is a very tragic chapter. I just hope Ruben's still alive with a twist of fate. Nice plot. It keeps on getting interesting every time.

Keep Writing. ^___^

[Alexia Gray]

Another really good chapter, well done! There's something missing though but I'm not quite sure what...
Anyways I liked how history kind of repeated itself and the line:
"They're going to finish what they should have ended four years ago."
Keep up the good work! :)

[Aekmy]

No!!!! No, no, no, no! Why? He can't die! This was so good. You have got to update again. Wow, this almost made me cry. Poor Hanna and Jordan.