[an:e1c740943d] I try my hand at fiction frequntly, but I think this is the only story I've ever completed. Sad, ain't it. Anyhoo, it's a few years old, and I'm anxious to hear what you think of it. I had visualized the clock and rocking chair scene first for some reason, and a story flowed out. Probably at the time I was reading a lot of Laura Ingalls.
Thanks for reading.[/an:e1c740943d]
The Railroaders’ Attack
It had been an uneventful day on the Green’s homestead. Carrie Green and her mother had done the usual Monday washing and her father had started breaking the sod for his new cornfield. Carrie’s little brother, Bobby, had been found playing in dirt right before lunch. There was no forceful way to prevent him from going outside because the latch on the Green’s shanty door had broken.
They had just finished supper that evening when Mr. Derek came riding up in a hurry. He was a bachelor that had come from Florida in the summer. Mr. Derek was the nearest neighbor, just within yelling distance of Carrie’s home. Pa went out to meet him. “Hello, neighbor! How have you been?” he greeted the visitor.
“ Hello y’ all ”, Mr. Derek said. “Sorry to drop in like this, but I had to come tell you the Philips family is awful sick. It’s some sort of fever. The only person in that house who don’t have it is their young girl, Gracie. Those folks could really use a woman to doctor ‘em right now. And with all that stock Jack Philips owns he needs a man to tend to the cattle tonight”. Mr. Derek stopped talking and looked anxiously at Mr. and Mrs. Green. Then he continued. “ Do ya think you two could help them out? I don’t know nothing about cattle”.
Pa and Ma looked at Carrie. She knew they were thinking about the railroad camp on the other side of the valley. Some of the men who worked on the railroad were fierce, dangerous men. A group of them had been ridding around the valley at night, stealing horses, shooting men and jumping claims. And even though neighbors tried to keep the stories silent, word had reached the Green’s homestead that Opal Brown, 17-years-old, very beautiful and the pride of her family had been so brutally treated by two of the men from the camp that she had died the next day. The homesteaders lived in constant fear of the railroaders. Mr. and Mrs. Green wanted to help the Philips family, but had their children’s safety to consider.
Carrie’s father finally spoke. “ Carrie, you know the dangers that might face you and Bobby” he said. “ But we must help the Philips family. God will protect you”.
Carrie nodded and tried to keep the scared looked off her face. But she still thought of the stories and the broken latch.
Then Ma spoke. “Carrie you must wash the supper dishes and put Bobby to bed. Be good children”.
With those words Carrie’s parents walked out the door, saddled her pa’s riding horse and rode off with Mr. Derek.
Carrie and Bobby stood in the doorway and watched them go. Bobby clung to Carrie’s knees. When their parents were out of sight Carrie turned to her brother. She tried to make her voice sound as brave and cheery as possible.
“Now Bobby go play with your blocks until bedtime. I have to wash the supper dishes”.
“Yes, Carrie” her little brother replied.
When the dishes had been washed and the food put away Carrie helped Bobby get ready for bed. Neither of the children knew when their parents would be back. When Bobby said his prayers, Carrie sat with him. The little youngster got down on his knees next to his trundle bed and folded his hands. Bobby prayed-
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take. And please bless Ma and Pa and Carrie, and make me a good boy. Amen”.
“Very good,” said Carrie. “Get into bed now and go to sleep”.
“Carrie, I’m scared. Why did Pa and Ma leave us?” asked Bobby.
“Remember your friend, Gracie? Well, Pa and Ma had to go help her parents” Carrie told him.
“Oh I remember Gracie”.
“Go to sleep now”.
“Alright” said Bobby. “Goodnight”.
“Goodnight Bob”, whispered Carrie.
Carrie slipped out of the bedroom into the living area and sat down in her Ma’s rocking chair next to the window. Ma hadn’t said anything about Carrie waiting up, but she knew Ma wouldn’t expect her to sleep at a time like this. The door stood open a crack because the broken latch couldn’t keep it shut. That scared Carrie. She couldn’t tell if there was any danger in the blackness beyond their threshold. Carrie thought of all the horrible stories of the railroaders. She wished she knew were her Pa’s rifle was. It wasn’t hanging over the doorway like usual, but she hadn’t seen him take it with him.
Carrie became more and more scared with each passing minute. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there. It felt like years. Then Carrie started to pray.
“ Dear Heavenly Father, I’m so scared. Please provide me with courage and peace. Please protect Bobby and me tonight. Thank you. Amen.
Oddly, Carrie started to feel more relaxed right away. She started rocking in the chair. It started a rhythm that matched that of the pendulum in the clock on the shelf. Tick-tock; back-forth; tick-tock; back-forth. The clock was the only fancy thing in the house. The Green family had brought it with them when they left Boston to go west.
Carrie kept rocking. Then she heard it!
It was the sound of an approaching horse! When Carrie looked out the window, she couldn’t see any sign of movement. “That’s odd,” she thought. “ Ma and Pa wouldn’t be coming up toward the back of the house”. Carrie realized it didn’t sound like her father’s horse. And the back of their cabin pointed toward the railroad camp!
She peeked out the crack of the door. Just then the horse rounded the corner of the house. It was carrying two men! “Oh my God, no!” something inside Carrie screamed. She looked toward the bedroom door and could hear her little brother softly snoring. Carrie didn’t know how to protect Bobby. Then she spied her Pa’s walking stick by the door. As though guided by some huge, unseen hand, Carrie grabbed the stout cane and ran to the darkest corner of the room.
Just as she reached the corner, the door of the shanty slowly swung open. A big man stood in the doorway, his shadow falling across the floor of the room. The other man stood behind him. Moonlight flooded in the room behind the strange man, but thankfully for Carrie, the light didn’t illuminate her hiding place.
The men walked into the room and looked around. “Do ya think anyone is here Joe?” asked one of the men.
“Don’t know, Pete”. The man called Joe sounded drunk to Carrie. The other guy, Pete started walking toward the bedroom door. His back was toward Carrie. She had to protect Bobby! As though pushed by that unseen hand again she ran up behind him and struck the man across the back of the head with all her might with the cane she was holding. Pete fell to the floor. The man called Joe saw his buddy fall and yelled-“Hey, what! Who’s there?” Then he saw Carrie.
“Well, well what do we have here?” snarled the man. He bounded across the room and grabbed Carrie by the arm.
“Let go of me!” said Carrie in a fierce, cold voice that was not her own.
“Aw, come on, sweetie. Couldn’t you give a poor, cold man a meal?” He pushed his face down toward Carrie’s and smiled a horrible smile.
“I said let go of me,” she screamed.
All of a sudden a shot rang out in the room! Carrie watched in shock as the man’s face went blank, his grip on her slackened, and he fell at her feet, dead!
Carrie looked toward the doorway and saw her pa standing there. He had his rifle on the other man that Carrie had struck. The intruder was starting to gain consciousness. “Pa!” Carrie shrieked. Before she knew what was happening, she fell to the floor in a faint.
When Carrie woke up, she was in her own bed with her parents on either side of her bed. Ma gave her a drink of good, hot tea. Carrie could see the worried look in her eyes. “I’m alright Ma.”
“Oh, Carrie. I love you” her mother replied.
Carrie turned to her father. “Thank you, so much Pa. I love you.”
“You’re welcome Carrie. But it was God who really protected you. Now go to sleep”.
“Pa is right”, thought Carrie. “Thank you so much, God”. Then she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
The End
