Cherokee Sister by Debbie Dadey

Author:Debbie Dadey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: StarWalk Kids Media
Published: 2016-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

9

Soldiers

“Thank you,” Elisi said calmly. “But I have no plans to move.”

“You have no choice,” the captain said, his watery blue eyes meeting Elisi’s dark ones.

A young man with a big brown hat spoke to the lanky captain. “Sir, let’s grab the squaw and go,” he said. “We can hit at least two other places before nightfall.”

“All right, Conners. Check the rest of the house,” Captain Reynolds mumbled, and walked out the door.

Myers hollered, “Take what you want and let’s get out of here.” In their eagerness to steal things, the men knocked bolts of material and boxes off the shelves. It sounded as if the entire store were crashing down around us. One wooden box fell right beside me, barely missing my head. I grabbed Leaf’s arm, held on tight, and tried not to scream.

Conners smashed a jar with his rifle butt and scattered candy everywhere. I could smell the sweet taffy, but it turned my stomach. Conners’s boot kicked into a bushel basket, sending beans the size of blueberries rolling all over the floor.

On the other side of the store, men grabbed shirts off the shelves and stuffed them into burlap bags. “Stop that!” Elisi ordered and pulled a sack away. “I am Mrs. Sweetwater and this is my store.”

“You’ve got fine manners for a savage,” one of the men yelled, and grabbed Elisi by the arm. “I’m John Myers. Pleased to make your acquaintance. But this is not your store anymore. Now, move!” He jerked Elisi’s arm and pulled her out the door. Elisi fought with the man but he held her tight.

Conners snickered. “You show her, Myers.”

“Stay here,” Leaf ordered, pushing my hand away. I saw Leaf’s small knife in her hand. She used it for cutting plants. What was she going to do with it? In a split second, Leaf lunged like a wildcat at Myers, who was holding Elisi, and sent him reeling across the front porch.

My heart pounded as I watched. If only I had a knife, maybe I could help Leaf and Elisi. I looked desperately around for something, anything, I could use as a weapon. But everything happened so quickly, there was no time. The other men poured out of the store, trying to grab Leaf. She cut Conners and Myers with her small knife before they pinned her to the ground.

Conners wrapped a dirty kerchief around his bleeding hand. “I’ll teach you a little respect for white people,” he yelled, raising his pistol above his head.

“No!” Elisi screamed, and threw herself in front of Leaf. The falling gun hit Elisi instead of Leaf, and she fell into the dust with a thud. She didn’t move.

I think my heart stopped. Really. For a moment everything went dark and there was only Elisi slumped on the ground. Somehow I started to breathe again.

I left my hiding place and rushed to Elisi. I had to find out if she was all right. She lay still, but her eyes were open. Together Leaf and I cradled her in our arms.

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