Black, White, Other by Joan Steinau Lester

Author:Joan Steinau Lester [Lester,Joan Steinau]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-310-39619-2
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2011-11-22T16:00:00+00:00

Aftershocks

Fall on the plantation came and went, and the cold rains of winter fell. It was all a blur in Sarah’s mind. After an eternity the buds of spring burst out, though she hardly noticed. Miraculously, a full turn of the seasons cycled. How could the world have gone on spinning, with Mama taken away?

Sarah stung with longing and red-hot anger. Why did Mama let this happen? Why hadn’t they all run away together, Mama and Papa and she and Esther and Albert, when they were still together? Mama had always said, “This is your place. This is where you are. Make the best of it here.” Well, she’d been wrong, hadn’t she? And left Sarah to care for her siblings. Albert cried every night in his sleep, and so, she imagined, did she. Esther had stopping speaking altogether; rigid, she moved through the days like a ghost. Sarah’s heart ached as if it carried stones, weighing her body down. Even her arms felt sore.

Some days her anger spit itself out at the foreman and Ol’ Master Armstrong. She glared and threatened them with axes and shovels behind their backs, brave when they couldn’t see her. Day and night she raged, incredulous, at the man who had ruined her world.

Like Mama, she swatted Albert if he didn’t jump to her commands quickly enough, and lashed out at Esther: “Speak!” Fury blanketed her world, until she couldn’t see anything but meanness and badness all around.

Ruth, Old Hannah, even Tom, her mother’s childhood friend—all bore the brunt of her anger. People tried to stay out of her way, as her hot temper seemed to burn even the grass where she walked.

Then, spring flowers poked up. Daffodils opened and closed, white roses and lilacs budded. It was a glorious spring. Ample sunshine, the smell of jasmine and blue skies that could burst open most any heart. Ruth had tried to get Sarah to chase her ever since Sarah’s leg healed, and the change in the air caused her to redouble her efforts. “Come here, slowpoke,” Ruth called out, attempting to get a rise out of her friend as she took off in the mornings. “Catch me if you can.” She tagged Sarah, who stared angrily ahead.

On Sundays Ruth swatted at her friend’s matted hair, giving a tug for good measure. But Sarah waved her away.

Old Hannah, who’d moved into the cabin with Sarah and Esther and Albert, regularly cooked up special broths, tempting Sarah to eat. But she refused all enticements. Sarah had always been thin, but now she heard murmurs of “down to a bone” whenever she passed, often paired with the shaking of heads.

All that tethered her to this world were her brother and sister. Though only thirteen now, Sarah—when she wasn’t cross—cared tenderly for her forlorn baby brother and mute sister, bundling them into bed on the floor at night, looking out for them in the field. What Sarah couldn’t do others did, passing on a piece of maple candy that made its way from the Big House, or offering a rough caress.

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