Sarah's Roses, Book I: Roses of Blue

Chapter VI

A knock sounded on my door, followed by Elsie’s voice calling me to come down for dinner.

“Thank you Elsie, I’m not very hungry,” I replied, “I don’t feel like going down to dinner today.”

On a normal basis, I would have never dared to not go down for dinner. Aunt Helen would never give me any peace later about what a horribly brought up child I was, with no manners at all. Today somehow, the sudden going away of Sammy, with no logical explanation made me less afraid of what my aunt Helen would say. Elsie tried to persuade me, but my mind had been made up and I wasn’t going downstairs. She gave up at last and went to inform my aunt and uncle of my refusal to come and eat. I remained seated on the bed, contemplating how unfair everything in this world was. Someone knocking on the door again broke my chain of thouhts

“You can come in, Elsie,” I called.

The door creaked open and my uncle Andrew entered.

“Not quite Elsie,” he said, “but I hope I can still come in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry uncle, I thought you were Elsie.” I hesitated, then turned my attention back to the paper in my hands. I was rather shy of my uncle; he was so large and so stern. He walked over and sat on the edge of my bed.

“What is the matter, Sarah?” He asked me at length. “Why didn’t you want to come down for dinner? Why are you so downcast?”

I sighed. “Why did he have to go away sir?”

“Sam Climb?”

“Yes. What did he mean when he said that he had been willed to another person? Didn’t my grandfather die a long time ago? I don’t understand. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Let me see if I can explain. Your late grandfather was friends with the present Mr. Thompson. Now it seems at one visit Mr. Thompson’s wife took a fancy to young Sam and thought he would make a good little slave for her. But she didn’t want the boy at the moment, because he was too young. I don’t know what exactly it was that Mr. Thompson did or said, but somehow he weaseled and cajoled your grandfather to put down in his will that when Sam turned twelve years of age, an age that suited Mrs. Thompson, he would be given over to Mrs. Thompson as a parting gift from Mr. Beverly. Sam has turned twelve and I am obligated to give him up.”

“But he was my friend, sir,” I blurted out, “who will I play with now? This isn’t fair. Not fair at all! And what of Em and Ben? How do you suppose they feel having their son taken away from them?”

“I’m sorry Sarah, but what can I do? The law demands that I give up Sam. It’s written black on white in the last will and testament of Mr. Beverly. If I didn’t give him to Mr. Thompson, we would have to go to court and no doubt in the end Sam would have to leave anyway.”

“But why, why must they be treated in this manner? To be bought and sold, to be left in a will like a thing. Don’t you think it wrong, uncle?” I looked earnestly in his eyes, trying to find some meaning to my confusion.

“It’s just the way things are, Sarah,” He simply stated.

“Whatever put it into my grandfather’s head to be persuaded like that? I can’t believe it, I just can’t! I’ve heard the the Climbs have always been part of this household, how could he suddenly give one up like that?”

“Not so surprising, considering your grandfather…” Uncle Andrew abruptly stopped in midsentence. I looked at him expectantly, but he shook his head, showing he wasn’t going to finish his sentence.

Too afraid to push him to continue, I sadly looked at my hands again. His gaze followed mine and rested on the paper in my hands.

“What is it you have there?” He asked.