Kelly's Search for Family by Bertha Schwartz

Author:Bertha Schwartz [Schwartz, Bertha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Middle Grade Fiction
Publisher: Ambassador International
Published: 2018-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Blackburn Brothers

“GRANNY!” CRIED KELLY. “ANOTHER ONE is coming! Another black sloop!”

Granny hurried to the window, then sank to the floor. “Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Save us!” Her face was filled with terror.

“Granny,” Kelly sank to the floor beside her and put her arms around her. “Granny!” But like yesterday, Granny seemed to be in another time and place. “Granny!” Kelly shook her. “We’re safe!” she said, hoping it was still true. “Listen, Granny! Remember that blockade? They can’t get through. We’re safe.”

Granny blinked several times. “Oh, Kelly!” Granny quickly rose to her feet. “We need to do something.” She was wringing her hands and pacing in the small space.

Kelly pulled her to the cot. “We need to think. Do you think they can get through the barricade we made yesterday?”

Granny thought awhile. “I don’t know. They are very determined and mean. They think yo’ papa and the ring are up here.” She brightened. “Maybe if we gave them the ring, they would leave us alone.”

Kelly shook her head. “How can we give them the ring without endangering ourselves?”

“Could we throw it to them?” asked Granny, hopefully. “That ring is not worth our life.”

“It’s not,” agreed Kelly, “and I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to them if I thought it would help us. But we don’t know that it will.”

Kelly crossed back to the window and lifted the field glass. The sloop had just docked. “How many Blackburn brothers are there, Granny?”

“Four”

Two came last night and now two more, Kelly thought. She knew they could eventually break the door down and move the crates. “Oh, Sweet Jesus,” she whispered. “Show us what to do. Protect us.”

“Granny,” Kelly said. “I think I am going down partways to see if I can hear anything.”

“No, Kelly.” Granny’s dark face was still lined with fear, but not terror. “Those crates and that locked door is our last fortress. We will hear them in plenty of time. Let’s not expose ourselves.”

Kelly nodded, seeing the wisdom. She struggled to keep her own fear at bay. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.” The verses from Proverbs came to her mind. She said them out loud. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not onto thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path.”

Granny smiled. “Proverbs 3:5-6. And since there is nothin’ we can do at the moment besides trust, I think I shall make some tea.” Granny proceeded to light the two-burner stove.

“Good idea,” Kelly said and stooped to pick up Tulip, who was curling around her legs. “And how are Mrs. Tulip and the kittens?” Kelly asked the cat. Tulip purred loudly. “Yes, I imagine you are hungry.” Kelly set Tulip down to open the crate with food. She pulled out the tin of biscuits and crumbled one in Tulip’s bowl. She added the rest of the milk.

Kelly also got the honey and butter. That, together with biscuits and tea, would make a fine breakfast.

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