Accepting His Love

Accepting His Love: Chapter One

Arkansas City, Kansas

September 11th, 1893

Abigail hopped down from her wagon, smoothed down the fabric of her dark blue gingham skirt and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her yellow cotton blouse. Tugging on the collar of her shirt, she felt fresh air wash over the exposed skin of her neck.

Taking a deep breath through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, she took a look around her.

She figured that she was nearing the Arkansas City starting line, if the hundreds of wagons and horses clustered together ahead gave any indication. Abigail, However, wasn't about to go any further.

There was a swelling multitude up ahead, but while she would have to go into the midst of it sometime later to visit the office overseeing the land run, she'd prefer to rest up until then, behind all the chaos ahead.

Besides, there was less dust and dirt back here anyway.

She walked around to her two mares Buttercup and Tulip. Their noses flared out in rapid succession and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the two gentle beasts. They deserved a break and a nice rub down. Carrying her and her wagon all the way from Jefferson City, Missouri, to Arkansas City, Kansas. Right now, they needed to rest and eat before they dropped out of exhaustion.

After she had fed the horses some oats, she took a closer look at the wide expanse of empty fields just waiting to be settled. It even appeared to blend in with the blue skyline.

Being a young, unmarried African-American woman, Abigail knew that she was taking a pretty huge risk by coming out here by herself, but she was prepared. She'd be fine until she ran out of supplies or for some odious unimaginable reason, she died.

At the sudden thought of death, thoughts and memories of her deceased sister flooded her mind and tears prickled behind Abigail's eyes, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.

Her dear, sweet little sister, Susahnna, had been a blessing to have in her life, even for the short time she was there. She'd been so full of life and her demeanor so very charming and lovely. Many had fallen victim to her youthful vivaciousness and optimistic nature.

She'd always tried to find the good in others, and while this was a good thing, it had led to her demise.

Unfortunately, her sister had sought to find the good in a young white traveler in their town in Missouri. Abigail had warned her sister about the dangers of fraternizing with a white man, but her sister, good naturedly and naïve had assured her sister that they were in love.

Oh how wrong her little sister had been.

Abigail remembered worrying the night that Susahnna had gone out with her 'beau' against Abigail's wishes. Susahnna had promised to be home later that evening and while her sister had gone against Abigail's warnings, she was always one to keep her promises.

Little did Abigail know that that would be the last time she'd get to speak with her sister. That night, Susahnna had been raped and murdered by the same white man she supposedly loved.

Yet, even though that fact was clear as the noses on everyone's faces, the murderer still got off scotch free.

Because he was a white man, the sheriff of their town had not even questioned him. Instead of arresting the one who'd done the wrong, the people in their small Missouri town had turned the entire situation around and threw accusations that Susahnna had been promiscuous.

They said that what happened to her would not have happened if she had not been spreading her legs to every man that showed her some type of attention. While everyone all knew how innocent and virtuous Susahnna had been, they still disrespected her in her death.