by Ginny Dye
Roy gasped as he tried to breathe, but the wild look in his eyes gradually faded. He stared out from the opening, his mind searching for an answer. Finally he nodded. “We can go back the way we come and then cut over a few streets. We might have a chance if we come up from behind the fort. It will take us longer—”
“Let’s go,” Moses snapped, not letting him finish his sentence. He edged out from between the building and waited for Roy to join him.
Roy broke into a run. Moses kept up with him easily, his eyes scanning the alley for any sign of movement. In less than two hundred yards, they ducked back into another opening, moving east away from the river. For a moment they left the horrifying noises of the riot behind them.
Remaining silent, Roy worked his way east. They stopped at the edge of every building, watching to be sure it was safe to advance before sprinting forward. Roy raised his hand in a signal to stop when they reached a narrow alley cluttered with garbage from the shanties crowded onto the lots. “We turn south here,” he whispered. “We’ll come up behind the fort. If we’re lucky, there will be someone manning the gate at the rear.”
“And if not?” Moses asked quietly.
“Then we climb the wall,” Roy said grimly, his eyes once more focused and determined. “Whatever it takes, we’ll get in the fort.”
Moses nodded, took a deep breath, and prepared to sprint forward. A sudden sound froze him in his tracks. The sound of a door crashing open was unmistakable. “Wait!” he hissed.
Roy went rigid, his eyes darting everywhere to determine where the sound had come from.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Matthew was in the midst of the mob when violence exploded again. His eyes widened when he caught sight of several uniformed men from the Third darting between buildings.
“They’re trying to get back to the fort!” Robert yelled.
Matthew nodded grimly. “I can’t imagine why they are out at all! I can only hope Moses had enough sense to stay there this morning.” Something was churning in his gut that warned him Moses might not have made that choice, but he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. When Robert remained silent, Matthew knew he was already thinking the same thing.
“Where are they going?” Robert muttered.
Matthew looked in the direction Robert was gazing. He frowned as he saw four policemen separate from the mob and head east.
“Go after them,” Peter urged. “Crandall and I will stay with the main mob. If we’re going to report what is really happening, then we need to see everything we can.
Matthew nodded. None of them retained any hope they could stop the violence, or even help the victims. All they could do was make sure the country knew the truth about what had happened when it was finally over. He clasped Peter and Crandall’s hands tightly. “Be careful,” he urged, before he and Robert broke away to follow the policemen.
They remained far enough back to not alert the police of their presence but made sure they didn’t lose sight of them. Matthew peered around a corner and held up his hand in command. “They’re surrounding a shanty,” he informed Robert quietly.
They both watched as the policemen approached the primitive home. Sparse clumps of grass sprang up from the tiny dirt yard. A few tomato plants struggled to survive against the rickety fence.
“Get out here, Dickerson!” a slightly built policeman with dark hair yelled. “It’s time to pay up for being a Yankee soldier.” His voice dripped with anticipation and hatred.
“You can’t hide from us,” another taunted, his full face red from exertion. His stomach bulged against his uniform as he settled himself in a threatening stance. “We know you’re in there!”
“I hope he got out of there last night,” Matthew growled. He tensed with disbelief when he saw the door open slowly. Surely whoever they were after wasn’t going to walk right out to them. He opened his mouth to yell a warning, but Robert’s sharp squeeze on his arm reminded him it would be futile.
“Why looky there!” another policeman sneered, his strong Irish accent supporting his bright red hair. “We got us a nigger smart enough to know he can’t be getting away.”
Dickerson, a tall, lean man with glistening dark skin stepped out of the door, but as soon as his feet hit solid ground he darted to the left and began to run toward an opening between shanties a few yards away.
“Run!” Matthew breathed, biting back a groan when the policemen raised their guns and fired, the explosions shattering the early morning. Dickerson had run barely ten feet before he fell, clutching his abdomen as his eyes rolled in agony.
“That will show you not to leave your old mistress and master,” the slight policeman snapped. He stepped up to Dickerson, kicked him to make sure he couldn’t get up, and then rifled through his pockets. “I got twenty-five dollars!” he called jubilantly, hoisting a fistful of money into the air before he raised his gun again. “We need to finish this nigger off!”
“Don’t waste another bullet on him,” the burly policeman answered, lifting a hand to push the pistol down. “We got him in the stomach. He ain’t gonna live long.” His lips curled as his eyes shone with glee. “Let’s go find us another one. I heard about another veteran just around the block,” he said contemptuously. “They think they can hide in their homes, but we’re about to teach all of them that we’re going to get them one way or another.”
Matthew exchanged a silent look with Robert. Never had he felt such shame to be an American, or to be a white man.
“They’re going to try to slaughter all of them,” Robert stated in a broken voice, his eyes blazing with fury. “I can’t believe there are no troops coming out to stop this mayhem.”
Matthew pushed aside his shame and disgust, moving out into the street to follow the quartet. “Come on,” he said heavily. “We’ve got to follow them.”
“I don’t know that I can just keep following them while they slaughter defenseless people,” Robert answered slowly. “Do you really think we’re going to do any good?”
Matthew shook his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “but we have to try. I’ve been predicting it was going to take a disaster to make people in the North realize the truth of what is happening in the South…” His voice trailed away as a sudden hopelessness flooded him. Would it really make any difference at all?
Robert grabbed his shoulder. “Lead on,” he said stoutly. “You’re right. All we can do is try.”
Matthew flashed him a look of gratitude and turned right to follow the policemen. Two hundred yards later he stopped to peer around a building.
“Get out here, Cannon!”
“They’re after another one,” Robert said angrily. “I hope this one has the sense to stay inside.”
“It won’t matter,” Matthew sighed. He stiffened when the red-haired policeman, evidently too impatient to wait, strode forward and kicked the door in. It gave way easily before his heavy boots.
“Mama! Daddy! They’s come after us!”
“There’s a girl in there,” Matthew groaned, just as he saw a medium built man with light caramel skin appear at the door, obviously trying to block the soldiers from his family.
The stoic look on Cannon’s face said he knew what was coming.
“There’s a woman in there,” the slight policeman said, gloating anticipation in his voice as he rubbed his hands together. “I been right lonely for a while. I don’t mind the little ones either. A lot of the boys had their fun last night. I figure it’s my turn now.”
Cannon’s lips curled back in a growl before he launched himself at the policeman, pulling out the knife he had hidden behind his back. The other men lifted their pistols but it was too late. The policeman, a look of utter surprise on his face, slumped to the ground. Shots rang out a second later. Cannon collapsed, shooting a look of apology toward the house before his eyes closed.
The remaining policeman, the only one who had remained silent so far looked down at the stabbed policeman with disdain. “We ain’t d
own here to rape nigger woman,” he spat. “I’m here to kill them and just move on. Sean was a fool!” He stepped toward the house, raising his pistol.
“We can’t just leave him,” the burly policeman protested.
“Sean isn’t dead,” the other policeman snapped. “He’s just bleeding good. We’ll come back for him, but I’ll not be letting him stop me from what I came to do.”
Matthew and Robert exchanged another look. Neither one of them could sit idly by while these man shot a woman and her child. Both of them, without saying a word, began to edge forward.
Moses had crept forward as soon as he heard the door crash in. He was willing to watch silently as they called for Cannon because he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop anything. But it was when he heard the child cry out that his blood froze. “Felicia!”
He felt Roy’s eyes on him. “Felicia?”
“The little girl,” Moses snapped, his brain spinning as he tried to decide how to save her. “I made friends with her when I was at her school a few days ago.” Keeping one eye on the house, he reached slowly for his weapon. He knew he was outnumbered, but he would not just quietly watch something happen to the little girl he had already grown to love. He could still see her eyes shining with bright courage that morning when she had come to school as usual because of the things he had said.
“We can’t stop it!” Roy whispered urgently.
Moses turned to him. “I know,” he admitted hoarsely, “but Felicia is going to know someone tried to save her. You’ve got to make it back to the fort, Roy. I want you to let Rose know I tried to come home to her.”
Roy stared at him wildly and then slowly reached for his pistol. “Tell her yourself,” he replied evenly. “What’s the plan?”
“We’ll have to kill them,” Moses said, realizing exactly what kind of consequences could come down on them if they were caught. He knew they would have to move quickly.
Suddenly, before he could even take a step, a woman came racing from the house, throwing herself down on the ground beside her husband. “Billy!” she sobbed.
Moses watched in stunned silence as the burly policeman, without a word, lifted his pistol and fired into the woman’s head.
“Mama!” Felicia appeared at the door, her eyes wild with grief and anger. “You shot my mama!” she screamed, her lithe body taut with fury. “How come you shot my mama and daddy?”
Moses growled and began to move forward.
Roy grabbed his arm. “Wait!” he whispered. “Moses, look! Ain’t them the men who were with you in the fort?”
Moses shook his head to clear his eyes. Matthew and Robert were moving forward, their hands gripping thick pieces of wood.
“Hey!” Robert yelled. “What’s going on? Did we miss all the action?” His voice was thick with frustration. “I see you got us some more niggers!”
The policemen, surprised by anyone else’s presence, all turned away from Felicia.
Felicia’s eyes suddenly met Moses’s across the narrow alley. He was still crouched, ready to spring. When her mouth flew open, he raised his finger to his lips and shook his head firmly. “Be quiet,” he mouthed. He wanted to tell her to run, but he knew she had little chance of outrunning their pistols.
Felicia remained still, her eyes locked on him with desperate hope.
“Who are you?” one of the policemen asked suspiciously.
Robert and Matthew continued to advance. “We missed all the fun yesterday,” Matthew said gruffly. “I’m not letting all this happen without killing me a nigger.”
The policemen relaxed. “There are plenty more waiting for us,” they assured him, looking at each other as they laughed.
Matthew took advantage of them looking away. Moving in unison, he and Robert sprang forward, swinging their wood with deadly accuracy, cocking their arms back to swing again before the policemen’s faces even seemed to register that they were under attack.
Moses heard the thwack of wood against the men’s heads, watching as the four of them seemed to collapse simultaneously. Only then did he break from hiding and dash across the opening.
“Mr. Samuels!” Felicia cried, tears coming for the first time.
Matthew and Robert spun around, shocked looks on their faces. “Moses?” Their eyes moved past him. “Roy?”
Moses knelt down as Felicia flew into his arms, wrapping her up tightly. He gazed up at Robert and Matthew. “Thank you,” he said quietly. He peered down the road. “We can all exchange stories later. I suggest we get out of here.”
“I think you’re right,” Matthew agreed, his grieved eyes locked on Felicia.
“She’s coming with us,” Moses said. He held Felicia back for just a moment and looked down into her face, aching at the pain he saw etched there. “Can you climb on to my back and hold on real good, honey?” he asked softly.
Felicia nodded bravely but then her face crumpled into a new spate of tears when she looked back at her mama and daddy. “We’re leaving them?” Her voice was barely audible.
Moses hugged her again, fighting to bring his emotions under control. “They’re gone, sweetheart.” His mind wouldn’t form any more words.
“Dead?” Felicia whispered.
Moses bit back an angry curse as he held her away from him and looked into her eyes. “Yes. I’m so sorry,” he said gently. “I’ll come back and get them later, but first I have to get you to the fort where you are safe.”
Felicia gazed up at him. Slowly she nodded. “Okay, Mr. Samuels. I’ll get on your back, and I’ll hang on real good.” In a cracked voice, she added, “I played this game with my daddy, too.”
“And can you be real quiet, Felicia?” Matthew asked tenderly. “We don’t want anyone to know where we are.”
Felicia nodded somberly, courage and fear flickering in her eyes.
Moses, still kneeling, waited for her to clamber onto his back. Then he stood, turning to Matthew and Robert, his thoughts spinning with gratitude for what they had done. “Roy knows a way to come up around the back of the fort.”
The sound of voices in the distance made them all turn and run.
It took them almost an hour of ducking into darkened alleys and dodging between groups of rioters, but they finally made it back to the fort. Every time they had to stop, Moses pulled Felicia down from his back and held her close. In spite of the heat, she had not stopped trembling since she had climbed on his back but neither did she make a sound.
“She’s going into shock,” Robert whispered.
Moses nodded. He recognized the signs, but all he could concentrate on right now was getting her to safety. The only way he could do that was to make sure all of them stayed alive as well. When the back gate to the fort finally appeared in front of them, he sprinted the last hundred yards, grunting with relief when the gate opened without his even having to raise a hand.
“Glad you made it back,” Hopkins said, pulling the gate closed firmly when all of them were inside.
“The rest of the Third that went with us?” Roy asked. “Did they make it back?”
Hopkins shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s complete pandemonium in here. We’ve got all the soldiers and hundreds of black residents who have come here for protection.”
Moses looked at him sharply.
“They’re getting what they came for,” Hopkins assured him. “We don’t have orders to go out into the streets, but any of the residents that make it here are safe.”
Moses nodded and then pulled Felicia off his back and into his arms. “No one can hurt you now,” he said gently.
Felicia stared at him, her dark eyes haunted and dull. “My mama and daddy really be dead?” she whispered.
Moses wished he could do more to erase the fear and pain from her face, but he knew they had been engraved there by one horror after another. Losing her parents was just one more thing. “Yes, Felicia.” He stroked her hair and simply gazed into her eyes.
She held his eyes, the fear finally beginning to fa
de as grief filled its place. “Mama!” she cried, tears flooding her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.
Moses cradled her sobbing form close to his heart and gently rocked her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, knowing there was nothing else to say.
“Where are the men?” Roy asked after a long silence.
Moses listened carefully as Felicia clung to him.
“Captain Smyth got them all into the barracks,” Hopkins replied.
“That’s good,” Roy replied after a brief hesitation.
Moses knew what that admission cost him. It was the acknowledgement that the violence was completely out of control. The soldiers couldn’t save their families. Any person with black skin who was found on the street would be gunned down. Blacks in their homes were being violated, beaten, and robbed. The only safe place was the fort. He prayed that would continue. He couldn’t imagine the white mob turning on the fort, but he had already seen things happen that he could never have imagined. Anything was possible.
Matthew stepped up to him. “We’re going back out,” he said with quiet resolution in his eyes.
“Why?” Moses asked. He wanted to insist they stay in the fort, but one look into Matthew’s eyes said it would be a futile attempt.
“We have to,” Matthew replied. “We came down here to make sure the country knows the truth of what is going on. We can’t tell it if we’re in the fort.”
“What if the men you clubbed see you?” Roy pressed.
Matthew’s eyes darkened as he exchanged a long look with Robert.
“Then we’ll finish the job,” Robert said crisply. “Those men are nothing but cowards and murderers. I don’t think they’ll be waking up for a while, and I doubt they’ll feel much like doing anything, but we’ll deal with it if the time comes.” He managed a grin. “With any luck they won’t remember what we look like.”
“I’m pretty sure we scrambled their brains,” Matthew said lightly.
