The Long Road Home Romance Collection by Judi Ann Ehresman

Author:Judi Ann Ehresman [Ehresman, Judi Ann; Mitchum, Naomi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63058-949-3
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2011-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Jeremiah could hear the rhythmic wailing in the distant fields. All the Negroes were on their knees praying that God would spare Mr. Wally. There was a hush in the house as the whisper of skirts brushed the floors and people moved in silence to accomplish the tasks that must have attention.

He could hear Mammy’s soft baritone as she rocked one of the smaller Traehdnik children. He could hear the floor creaking as her rocker massaged the wide wooden boards slowly back and forth. He could imagine several of the children gathered at her knee as she comforted them. For the first time he found himself wondering if Mammy had any name other than Mammy. He’d heard she was born on this plantation and had helped raise Mr. Wally himself. She could have left years ago, but this was home for Mammy, and she wouldn’t have even considered leaving “her babies.”

No one was working now on the plantation. All work had ceased the minute Mr. Wally had stood on the wagon, then grabbed his head and fallen off. He lay in a crumpled heap among the broken plants until Jeremiah had picked him up in his own arms and ran all the way back to the plantation house. As he passed the stables, he had yelled for Augustin to ride over to Doc Wyndsor’s and to not come back without the doctor.

As Jeremiah ran into the front garden, he saw Miss Sue Ellen stand up on the front veranda and start toward him. “What is it? What happened, Jeremiah?” Her voice was a soft whisper as she searched Jeremiah’s eyes.

“I don’t know, ma’am. He jes’ grabbed his head and fell off the wagon in a heap. I snatched him off the ground and carried him home. I sent Augustin for the doctor already.”

“Will you carry him up to his bed, Jeremiah?”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s where I’s headed.”

When he laid Mr. Wally on his bed, Jeremiah was relieved to see that the man breathed evenly, even though his eyes were closed and his face was white as ashes. He helped remove his boots and then asked if there was anything more he could do.

“Pray, Jeremiah. Just pray.” Miss Sue Ellen laid a soft white hand on his black arm.

So now Jeremiah sat on the porch praying like he’d never prayed before. “Oh, God Almighty, don’t take this good man now. His family needs him, and we all need him. Please spare this good man, O God of heaven and earth.” He prayed the same prayer over and over in his heart as he held his head in his hands there on the porch with the sun shining as though all was right with the world.

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