Chapter 2

The next morning we left fer her betrothed's house after a meager breakfast. We got there jus' after noon, an' the people inside were jus' finishin' up. I knocked on the door an' a young man came ta the door. Cindy said, "Good morrow, Justin. Please tell Ephrem that I am here, an' I need ta speak ta him immediately."

I wuz surprised when the Justin left us standing at the door; that jus' wuzn't polite, at all. It wuz nearly 10 minutes before an older man came ta the door—he looked ta be 35-40 years old. The man stared at me very disapprovingly fer a few moments an' then said ta Cindy, "What brings ya here, woman? I had not summoned ya."

Cindy replied, "A most tragic incident occurred at my home, yesterday, Ephrem. We were subjected ta an Injun attack, an' I wuz the only one of my family ta survive."

Ephrem sneered, "An' I 'spose they raped ya in the process. Ya're dirty, now. I never want ta see ya again. Go away."

I could almost hear my jaw hit the floor at that stupid remark. This wuz the second greatest 'sprise that I have ever received, the Injun attack being the first. I found myself reacting in anger, "Listen ta me, ya pompous ass. This girl is in trouble an' needs yer he'p. If nothin' else, it's yer Christian duty ta take her in long enough fer her ta recover from her ordeal."

"Get away from my door, ya bumpkin! It is within my rights ta annul the betrothal at any time afore the wedding for jus' cause. An' bein' raped by Injuns is jus' cause. She is now defiled an' no longer suitable ta be my wife!"

I reached fer my sword, but Cindy grabbed my arm. "No, Johnny, he's not worth dirtying your honorable sword. Ephrem, I spit on ya, an' thank the lord that I found out how mean spirited ya were afore I had the misfortune ta marry ya." With that, she spit in his face an' stomped away from his door.

Ephrem wiped his face with a handkerchief an' stared at me. I snorted an' turned away, but I wuz alert fer any treachery that the fool might have at hand. He neither said nor did anythin' further as we walked out of his sight. However, as soon as we were safely out of sight and hearing of the house, Cindy collapsed against me an' began ta cry.

"Oh, Johnny, what shall I do? I cannot go back ta my old house, an' I have no one ta turn ta. Ya have been the only one ta show me any kindness since that terrible ordeal. Please tell me what ta do."

Cindy continued ta cry an' I wrapped my arms around her ta try ta give her some sort of a sense of safety. I didn't know what else ta do, so I jus' let her cry. I 'spect that it wuz the first time she had released her emotions since the raid. She needed ta get it out of her system, so I jus' held her an' let her continue ta pour out rivers of tears. I don't know how long she cried, but I picked her up an' carried her ta a place nearby where I could sit with her in my lap. My ass an' legs went ta sleep afore she stopped cryin', but I tried not ta disturb her. Eventually, she stopped cryin' an' actually kissed me on the cheek. "Thank ya, Johnny. I really needed that. Ya have been so good ta me, an' I do appreciate it."

I asked, "Do ya have anyplace ya kin go? A woman, alone, kin hardly wander around the backwoods of Alabama. Tell me where, an' I'll take ya there."

"Johnny, that's so sweet of ya. Give me a minute ta cotch my breath an' maybe I kin think of sumpthin' ... I've got it. My ma has a cousin living up north toward Tennessee. I'll bet that she would take me in. It's an awful long way, but I don't know of anyplace else. It must be near 150 miles; oh, I can't ask ya ta go that far!"

"Shore, ya kin. I ain't got nothin' else ta do what would keep me here. Somebody else kin have the old place ifen he wants it. I shore can't stand ta go back there. I know I kin do it, but kin ya stand 15-20 days of steady walkin'? Our mule wuz killed by the Injuns, so old Andrew can't he'p us."

"Johnny, we had a mule. If she wasn't killed by the raiders, she could pull our wagon that far. Let's go look."

We made our way ta Cindy's house, an' I looked in the barn. By damn, there wuz a live mule in there. She wasn't happy, either. She had water, but she had run out of feed. The first thing I did wus ta shout fer Cindy ta join me, an' the second thing I did wuz ta feed the mule. I left Cindy ta hitch up the wagon while I went inside ta fetch some provisions an' some blankets an' stuff. I picked up every blanket I could find an' took them ta the wagon. I went back an' got some pots an' pans an' all the food I could find.

I arranged the stuff in the wagon bed an' found a canvass cover ta put over the wagon bed ta keep the rain out. There ain't no way ya kin live in south Alabama an' escape rain fer several weeks. I also put some feed fer the mule in the wagon an' got us a water barrel. It took us about two hours ta git ready, but finally we were ready ta leave.

The mule wuz named Martha, an' she wuz a willin' animal. She started right out with the wagon in tow, an' never give me a mite of sass. I figured that we could make about 15 miles a day with the mule, but we'd have ta stick ta the roads. That could get complicated, since there were not that many roads in Alabama in 1813.

I knew that there wuz a road not far ta the west, since that's were I had killed the Redsticks t'other day. Lucky fer us, land wuz pretty flat and the woods were thin around here, so we were able ta drive ta the road without working Martha very hard. We turned north an' were on our way.

We only made about five miles that day cuz we got such a late start. I pulled us ta the side of the road and took care of Martha an' such while Cindy fixed us some supper. Damn, it wuz nice ta have a woman ta cook fer ya. She fixed cornbread and collards, along with a nice piece of venison steak. She even fixed coffee fer supper. Ifen that's what it wuz like ta have a wife, I wuz all fer it, the sooner the better.

I started fixin' a bed fer Cindy in the wagon an' she didn't say anythin', but when I started fixin' a bed fer me on the ground, she raised cain. "Johnny Quartermaine, what do ya think ya're doin. We're both goin' ta sleep in the wagon. We'll have our clothes on, so there no reason fer us not ta share the more comfortable bed. Now, don't ya be silly an' give me any trouble on this. I have made up my mind, an' that's the way it's gonna be!"

Now I knew the other side of being married. Not even my ma had ever taken such a strong position with me since I wuz very young. I guess women are jus' born with it, cuz I can't see how they could ever have time ta learn it. Y'all know I give in without no argument, cuz I knew that I had already lost it.

Cindy fixed breakfast before we left the next morning an' she also fixed food fer us ta eat at noon, so we wouldn't have ta tarry so long fer lunch. I reminded her that we had ta give Martha some time ta rest during the day. She jus' said OK an' didn't argue with me, so I knew that I had already lost another one. Oh, well, as long as she's the cook, I won't argue too long with her.

We had made about eight miles, an' I figured that it wuz time ta stop fer lunch. Martha had already had one short rest during the morning, so she wuz goin' fine, but I didn't want her tired in case we needed her best effort. We stopped an' walked around a bit. Cindy had stepped into the bushes ta relieve herself, an' I wuz lookin' fer a place ta do the same. Suddenly there wuz a scream from Cindy, and I pulled my sword an' ran ta where she wuz. She wuz cowerin' away from a White man in the most ragged clothes I had ever seen. He wuz on his knees and holdin' his clasped hands in front of him in a gesture of supplication.