Grace and the Guiltless

Chapter 18

“I’d better not ride him,” she said, her face tight with concern. “He looks lame.”

“Get Cheveyo to look at him,” Joe said, touching her shoulder reassuringly. “He’ll be all right. He just needs a few more days’ rest.”

Tears burned behind Grace’s eyes. She didn’t have a few days. She had been waiting and waiting to get on the trail, and now she had probably set herself back several more days.

Joe waited until she had Bullet’s reins, then he said, “I’m going to ride back to camp now to help.” He lowered his voice. “That young boy I was speaking to lost both his parents. He’s on his own now, and he’ll need help with the burial.”

They exchanged looks. Another orphan.

Joe took a deep breath. “But I told the children to walk back with you. They’ll listen.”

Many of the children were the same ones who touched her skin and hair the first time she walked through the village. Some of them still followed her or watched her from a distance every day, but now they hung back.

“Can you tell them not to be afraid?” Grace asked.

Joe murmured a few words, and the oldest boy shepherded all of the children into a close group. Then he took his place at the end of the line.

With a quick wave, Joe rode off, but Grace was troubled to see that he was still cradling his left arm close to his chest. She would have to check his arm when she got back.

Grace led the children back toward the camp. When she emerged from the woods with the youngsters following single file behind her, sudden shrieks broke out. As the people saw her coming toward them from the trees, she was shocked that instead of running toward their children, mothers ran the opposite way.

Grace whirled around.

Had soldiers followed them?

“Grace, wait there!” Joe shouted to her. In a loud voice, so everyone in the camp could hear him, he spoke rapidly in Ndeh and pointed at her. Grace stood next to Bullet, confused. What was he saying?

Sequoyah rushed toward her and hugged her. “You did a brave thing. You saved all the children.”

Within moments, mothers surrounded her, hugging their children and patting Grace’s arm. Still very puzzled, she waited for Joe to reach her.

“What happened? Why were they so afraid?”

Joe grinned. “You are the hero of the day. I told them how you rescued the children.”

“And conveniently left out your part?”

He shrugged. “I told them you saved me too. Which you did.”

Why was he being so generous?  “We need to tell them the truth.”

“Some other time,” Joe said. “They needed this joy amidst all the sadness.”

Grace nodded, but she was still curious. “I don’t understand why everyone ran the other way when I got here.”

Joe looked around him at the women hugging their children. “It’s a Ndeh superstition. They thought their children were dead and that you were leading their ghosts back to haunt them.”

“Really?”

“They have a real fear of ghosts.” He smiled wryly at her for a moment, but then his face fell. “Now that you’re back and the children are safe, they can start the funeral procession. It’s getting close to sunset, so we have to hurry.”