Henderson House by Caren Simpson McVicker

Author:Caren Simpson McVicker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkshares
Published: 2023-07-13T19:13:27+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Florence

Bessie and Frank return with the flower crates. She’s blushing again. I wonder what they’ve been up to. I don’t like her spending time alone with Fabulous Frank. After his confession in the car today, I bet she’s dying to bare her soul to him. I need to find a way to make sure my sister keeps our secret. She swears she never said a word to my husband, John, but I don’t buy it. If she’s broken our promise once, she could break it again.

“I’ve been trying to piece together the Blackwell family story here,” Frank says, “but I’m not sure I can do it from these four headstones.”

“Allow me to take you on a brief tour. Our ancestors came to Oklahoma on the Cherokee Trail of Tears,” Eddie begins. He tells Frank about the Indian Removal Act, sharing the details of how our grandfather and his family were forced out of North Carolina, while our grandmother’s family was rounded up in Georgia one night when they were at the dinner table. Grandma’s family owned a large farm and lived in a proper house, yet the soldiers didn’t even allow them to bring a change of clothes or a blanket.

For the first time today, I’m glad Johnny isn’t here. I hated listening to my grandparent’s stories about the removal when I was younger. Grandma said we needed to hear and repeat the stories to honor the dead and celebrate the resilient spirit of the Cherokee people, but her stories only made me sad and angry. They still do.

Eddie continues the sorrowful tale of our grandparents’ journey. They met as teenagers during the removal. Their families survived several months in an internment camp in Tennessee, then left in the same detachment of over a thousand Cherokee for the long walk to Indian Territory. The winter of 1838 to 1839 was brutal. When they reached the Ohio River, their detachment had to wait in Kentucky for the ice to melt before the flatboats could carry them across the river. They camped near the ferry crossing for several weeks under harsh winter conditions huddling together in canvas tents. Local farmers wouldn’t allow them to cut wood to make fires and keep warm. Both of Grandma’s younger siblings died—one during the wait for the ice to melt and the other a few days after they crossed into southern Illinois.

Fabulous Frank walks over and places a hand on my grandparents’ headstone. Bet he wasn’t expecting a depressing history lesson today. Bessie sets the bright orange and yellow blanket flowers next to my grandparents’ grave.

Eddie moves on to the grave for the twins, William and Teddy.

“Mama gave birth to the twins just after Rachel turned two,” Bessie says. “They only lived about six weeks. Mama started bringing us here to care for the gravesite and have picnics after they passed. We plant the forget-me-nots on their grave.” She sets their blue flowers down.

“This grave holds our mama, Jennie Blackwell, and our sweet baby sister, Mae,” Eddie says, taking his hat off as he looks down on them.

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