Across the River - an 1800s Black / Native American Novella

Chapter 6

Naomi pulled Johnny behind her, shielding him with her body. She wrapped her coat tightly around young Polly, hiding her from view. Then she glanced nervously at Bill. Surely he would at least think about backing down with these kinds of odds?

One look in his small, pig-like eyes and she knew her answer.

Never.

The largest of the three brothers, Jim, stepped forward. He was a mirror image of the other two – dark skin, dense curls, and a face which spoke to a parentage of negro, Lumbee Indian, and Portuguese. His hands clenched into fists. "You done went too far, Bill. Our brother's in bad shape. Seems as if you drove something into his brain."

Bill's smile was wide. "Serves the bastard right. You know what he called Sally? Called her a whore, he did. He had it coming to him."

Jim's brother, Sam, stepped up alongside his kin. "That's 'cause Sally is a whore. I was with her, myself, last night."

Bill's growl shook through Naomi's soul, and she froze in place, unable to think. Maybe if she just remained still – stock still – he would forget she existed. Forget she, and her two innocent children, had ever entered his life. And then they could be safe.

Bill's voice grated through the crisp air. "I was with Sally last night," he snarled. "You're a liar."

Sam's eyes shone with satisfaction, and he gave a gap-toothed grin. "That's 'cause you done came after me. You were getting her sloppy seconds. And when you were pumping yourself into that whore, you were pumping into –"

Bill's primal scream of rage echoed off the distant mountains, and Naomi dropped to her knees, drawing Johnny in hard against her. The world would end. It would rise in fire, and ash, and Bill the Devil would preside over its destruction, his eyes flashing lightning.

Then Bill dove into the fray.

Naomi held Johnny's head against her coat, shielding him from the scene. Her own eyes were clenched tight. But she could hear the sounds. The sickening crunches. The ground-shaking thuds. The sharp groans of a man injured. The brutal snap of a bone. The rattling ...

Hours passed in a raging inferno.

Slowly ... staggering ... silence descended.

She carefully, slowly, opened her eyes.

Sam was sprawled on the ground, his face coated with blood, his eyes glazed. One of his legs was bent at an unnatural angle. The third brother, Todd, was crouched over him, trying to shake him into coherency. Jim was looking down at Bill's prone body, a sturdy branch in one hand. By the looks of Bill's body, the stick had landed quite a number of times already. He was covered with welts. Half of him was blood-stained, and the other half would be purple by morning.

Naomi shuddered. If she'd thought his temper was bad normally, the coming weeks would be Hell incarnate. A very real fear entered her that she and her children might not survive.

Then Jim turned slowly to look at her, the stick still in his hand. His gaze slid down her form, following her curves, then back up again. A hot leer lit his face.

The bottom dropped out of Naomi's world.

She drew to her feet and took a shaking step backward, pulling her children with her. "Please, we'll just go. We'll just go and we didn't see nothing. Nothing at all. Please let us go."

Jim's breath was coming in long draws, and his eyes were pinned on her. "Bill always kept you for himself, he did. Kept that luscious form of yours locked away. But Bill's not able to stop us now. And it would serve him right if we were to take our spoils from our fight."

Todd stood, his eyes shining with desire. "Yeah, our spoils," he agreed. "Take her back to the house. Show her what real lovin' is like."

Naomi's voice was tight. "Please! The children! You can't –"

Jim raised his stick. "I can do what the hell I please. Don't you be ordering me around!"

Johnny's voice rose at her side. "Mama?"

Jim stepped forward. "You shut that kid up, or I swear –"

Naomi spun, grabbing up Johnny's hand. "Run!" She sprinted hard back the way they'd come, toward the village.

Thundering came from behind them, and Naomi swept up her son, her legs pounding faster than she ever knew they could. If only they could make it to the clearing. If only someone could hear –

A hand grabbed the back of her trailing coat, and she screamed, tumbling. Johnny and Polly rolled into the soft snow, and Polly began hollering at the top of her lungs.

Naomi flung herself forward, but Jim was hauling her back by her coat, and she couldn't untangle herself.

Her voice burst out in garbled panic. "Take Polly! Run! Run!"

Johnny hesitated a moment, torn, and then he grabbed up his younger sister, turned, and fled into the darkness.

Todd came up, huffing, staring into the shadows. "Want I should go after them?"

"Nah, they're like homing pigeons. They'll just run on back to their aunt's," stated Jim, drawing Naomi up.

She backed away from him – and slammed into the sturdy form of Todd behind her.

Jim chuckled, reached forward, and ran his hand possessively down her breast.

She shuddered.

Her voice choked out of her. "Please, just let me go. I promise I won't say a word. I won't make one sound about what happened here."

He squeezed her breast, his eyes darkening with desire. "Oh, you'll make a sound, all right. Bet ya don't with Bill. We'll get you goin' again. We'll just see what that Devil has to say about that."

His hand moved to latch solidly around her wrist, and the other still held the thick branch. She knew that one swing of that would knock her out flat.

But her children were out there, alone, fleeing into the dark, snowy night.

She waited ... waited ... and then spun, twisting, wrenching her arm clear of his grasp. She turned to flee –

Wham.