Beyond the Cotton Fields

Chapter 27

"What is so funny, small one?" Koi asked, coming back towards her in his clothing.

"Nothin'." She smiled up at him. He raised an eyebrow at her which caused her smile to grow. He let the question go and placed his hand on her growing stomach. The minute his hand landed on her stomach, it was kicked.

"Our child is becoming stronger." A smile crept onto his face.

"Sure is." She smiled back, rubbing her stomach. The baby in her stomach began turning and flipping, fully awake now.

In the middle of their family moment, the sound of barking dogs could be heard coming in their direction.

"Hurry inside, Lucy. Now." Koi pushed her lightly in the direction of the cabin. She hurried, to the best of her ability, into the cabin. He climbed up a tree with low sitting branches, to be out of range of the white men and dogs and to be able to make sure Lucy was safe.

Lucy closed and locked the door behind her before climbing up the ladder to the loft. Soon enough, there was a knock on the cabin door and barking dogs could be heard directly on the other side of the cabin walls. Someone was talking outside, but their muffled words couldn't be understood. The knocking soon stopped and Lucy's heart started to beat normally. The moment she thought they were going to go away, there was a loud bang. She stopped breathing, frozen in place on the bed as she heard heavy boot-cladded footsteps stomp around the wooden floor. The dogs sniffed around, growling and barking occassionally when they picked up Blue's scent.

Grunts and mumbles could be heard downstairs as the man or men went though everything downstairs. Lucy looked around and crawled under the small bed she was sitting on. Dogs and heavy footsteps snooping around on the bottom floor could still be heard, along with the sound of a creaking ladder. Lucy was positive she would die at any minute, if not at the hands of the white men, then by her heart ceasing to beat because of anxiety.

She could see the boots of the man as he stood up on the loft floor. She slowly slid her back against the wall, hoping to become a part of it. The boots were moving around and started coming closer to the bed. Lucy silently prayed in her head that God would keep her safe, hoping he would hear her prayer and act, as hot tears poured down her face for the second time that day. Yells, grunts, barks, and the sound of glass breaking could be heard from downstairs.

"What the hell you doin' down there, stupid?!" The owner of the boots yelled. The sounds didn't stop and the boots returned downstairs to see what was going on. She thanked God repeatedly in her head.

"Hey! You damn inj-" The yelling voice was cut off. The noises downstairs continued until they were cut off by Boone's loud yelling.

"What in the hell is this?! Why are y'all in my house?!" He yelled. The boots turned and made their way back down the ladder.

"B-Boone! We were knockin' an' no one answered, so-"

"Get your asses out of my house before I kill you an' feed your hides to my dog!" A gunshot rang through the house and stomping boots could be heard retreating.

"Devil bastards! Breakin' into my damn house an' messin' everything up! I shoulda killed 'em just for the hell of it!" Boone continued yelling as he stomped around.

"Lucy? Where are you, sweetheart? They're gone now." Ms. Cora's voice called from the bottom of the ladder. Lucy crawled from under the bed and made her way down the ladder. Once her feet touched the floor, strong arms engulfed her. She looked up to long black hair in her face.

"Are you okay, my Lucy? Did the white men hurt you?" Koi asked, looking down at her. She shook her head, wiping the remaining tears out of your eyes.

"Koi, I wanna go back ta da tribe witcha. Ya pa may try ta kill me an' our baby, but I know you'll protect us. I don caused Mr. Boone an' Ms. Cora 'nough trouble." She looked up at him.

"Are you sure, small one?"

She nodded her head and he responed with a single head nod.

"We will leave in the morning."