The Far Side of Lonesome (7 page)

“What’s goin’ on, Maggie?” he asked his
wife, his voice shrill and penetrating.

“Oh Michael, it’s a blessing… This is
my sister, Sarah, the one I thought was dead…she’s come home,”
Maggie cried.

Michael didn’t smile, didn’t move, he
just stood there. His expression was not welcoming, but Sarah still
tried to control herself so she could speak. The pain of losing her
children stifled for the moment as she stared into cold hard
eyes.

“Come away from there Maggie, leave her
be…,” he insisted.

“But Michael, she didn’t know the girls
were gone, she’s bereavin’,” Maggie explained.

“I just came from town, woman. Heard
some disturbin’ news…” he announced loudly, so Sarah could
hear.

“What…?” Maggie asked.

“A black man rode into town yesterday,
bought a dress, the dress she’s a wearin’.” Michael announced,
“Yore sister has been with black men….”

“I don’t believe it… That can’t be. She
was captured by the Indians,” Maggie told him, turning first to her
husband then her sister.

Sarah heard the words and got to her
feet. She turned slowly, wiped her eyes then looked at the big man
by the gate.

“Two black men rode into the Indian
camp and freed me. They was bringing me home. The dress was so I
wouldn’t come home in an Indian dress an upset you.”

“Where are they?” Michael
asked.

“On the edge of town. They have my
son…” Sarah replied.

Maggie whipped about to look at her
sister. “Your son? You had a son… With a black man?”

Her sister's reproach was more than she
expected, but like the Indians she learned to not show her sorrow.
She lifted her chin proudly so her sister could strike her other
cheek, and she knew she would.

Sarah shook her head, “No…with an
Indian…”

“Oh my God…tell me it isn’t so…” Maggie
cried. "It can't be…you wouldn't…no…I don't believe it. Not after
Daniel and the children….Sarah?"

Sarah saw the rejection in her sister’s
eyes and it felt like a knife stabbing her in the ribs. She grabbed
herself, almost bent over with the pain the rejection
caused.

“How do you think I survived with the
Indians? Did you think I was free to say no…?” Sarah's gaze rounded
on them both.

“Well, I…d…”

“She’s a tramp, an Indian lover… She’s
not welcome in my home. And now she’s been with them black bucks,
too,” Michael said, his eyes going up and down her. "She might have
been your sister…but not no more…We don't need your kind
here…"

“No…you’re wrong… I was married to the
chief’s son, for four years. In time, I became pregnant. I had a
son…”

Maggie turned her head away as though
she couldn’t bear to look at her own sister.

Sarah swallowed her sorrow quickly. A
numbness settled over her. “I guess I don’t belong here either, do
I?” Sarah said as the tears ran silently down her
cheeks.

“You should have stayed with them….”
Maggie cried, grabbing a hankie from her pocket. “How could you let
them touch you…?”

“How could I let them…." Sarah
repeated. "Oh God Maggie. Goodbye, Maggie… I love you…even though
you will never understand…” Sarah cried. She glanced at Michael and
lifted her chin.

She opened the gate.

He moved out of the way.

Sarah walked down the hill and into the
forest and disappeared. She gathered the horse she’d left there and
rode off slowly, never looking back. The numbness was going away as
she rode away from her family.

She found Jeb and Hoot on the edge of
the property and slowed. She got down off her horse and ran to her
baby. Taking him into her arms, she held him close.

“Well, I guess I’ll be goin’ now,” she
cried, wiping the tears away.

Jeb watched her, his heart full of hurt
and longing. “Where to, Sarah?”

Sarah turned slowly around and stared
from Hoot to Jeb, then at her child. She squared her shoulders,
lifted her chin, and shot them a slow smile. ”With you and Hoot, of
course…”

For a long minute they stared at her,
then Hoot burst into a huge grin.

When she looked into the deep black
eyes of Jeb, he smiled too. “Where ever thou goest…I will
go…”

And they rode into the sunset—the four
of them—to find a home!