by Stephy Smith
She dropped to her knees and grabbed a handful of weeds. With a strong tug, she yanked them free of the soil. It had been a few days since she tended to the patch of herbs in the small plot. The window above the garden was open, and she listened to the conversation inside. Sarah slung the weeds aside. Not one of her siblings had requested to see their mother's body. It wouldn't take much effort for them to walk to the tiny cabin to see her. One would think that, after not seeing one’s mother for five years, they would at least have the decency to look upon the frail face of the seventy-two-year-old woman who brought them into this world. Sarah had displayed her mother on the kitchen table in Mrs. Burgess's own cabin because that was what her mother wanted.
"Sarah hasn't changed one bit. She is still the most ungrateful person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing!" Liz then let out an eerie cackle.
"As soon as we get our money, we can leave and never see that unappreciative sister of ours again," Will said. "We've done all we could to help her. I don't understand why she didn't just let mother die and be done with it years ago."
Sarah's heart pounded with fury. She couldn't wait for the three to get their money and leave her peaceful home. Sarah remembered that the three siblings had been out doing secret things by the time they were teenagers. They had even refused to go to church with their parents. She wouldn't join their evil-hearted coven of witches, and ever since then they had treated her as if she were a flea on the family dog. It all seemed petty now. At least she was respectful and loved both her mother and father. Carolyn, Liz, and Will never gave a care about anyone but themselves.
She could hear her mother's soothing words in her mind, "Turn the other cheek, Sarah. They will be gone in a few days." But she didn't want to turn the other cheek. She wanted nothing more than to make them leave. Since it was their mother's funeral, she tried to swallow her anger. The next few days were going to be the worst trial she could ever imagine.
The best thing she could do under the circumstances was to avoid them until they left. How could she do that with them under her roof? She sat back on her heels. Clamping onto another handful, she pulled more weeds free of the ground and then tossed them aside. If only her sisters and brother were as easy to get rid of, her life would be so much better.
There would be others around in the morning. With their presence, her siblings would act civil. Once everyone was gone, Sarah would be alone again in her sorrow. The scrapes of furniture moving across the floor pulled her out of her thoughts. She rose and crept to the window.
"This place is awful. Look at all this… primitive furniture. Only Sarah and Mother would live like this." Liz's voice was colder than usual.
"We can fix that," Carolyn said in the same tone as Liz.
"Whatever you're planning, count me in, sisters. Right now I suppose I'll put the team in the barn and bring in our bags, since our ungrateful hostess seems to have forgotten we're guests." Will left the cabin.
Sarah peeked around the corner and steadied her nerves. She walked to the door and entered her house. With her head held high, she headed to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
For a while, she listened to the murmurs and mumbles of her siblings. Carolyn's voice elevated. "Liz, if you would have waited to cast your love spell on Matthew, Will and I could have helped you! None of us wanted to see him marry Sarah."
"You made it worse when you tried to reverse it! He acted happy to marry her. It was disgusting to watch them together. I was almost convinced they were happy together." Liz yelled.
"Both of you did damage. If you would've left well enough alone, he would have stayed away from Sarah. Instead, y'all pushed him further into her grasp. They were happy together." Sarah flinched when she heard a loud thud of something being dropped on the floor as Will spoke.
"We have to get Mother's book of spells. Although, I doubt any of them will serve our purpose." Liz lowered her voice.
"We need to convince Sarah to burn Mother's cabin and the cemetery. Once that is done, our spirit friends will have free reign of this place and we can destroy the book. We need to keep up the ruse of not wanting the land. Then after Sarah is gone, we can hold our meetings out here without being detected." Will said.
"Sarah doesn't need to know we want the land for the coven." Carolyn lowered her voice.
They can never convince me to burn Mother's cabin or the cemetery. If they want to keep up their ruse, I'll play along. But they will never get the land for their wicked coven. Sarah sat on the edge of the bed. Liz put a love spell on my husband. She should've known you cannot make someone love you against their will. They must have read Mother's book, without reading the warning. Then Carolyn tried to reverse it? Liz was in love with Matthew, and he is long gone from her evil grasp. He never cared for her anyway.
Sarah covered her mouth with her pillow to muffle her giggles. The thought of Liz thinking Matthew would ever care an iota about her was absurd. Now they wanted the land to conduct their gruesome rituals. Never. They hadn't said a word before about wanting the land. Not to her, anyway. What had the dark coven they joined been up to? Why would they want this place when they littered the streets of Fort Leavenworth with their own kind? She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
****
Day Two
The grayness of the morning matched Sarah's mood. She swallowed the sobs threatening to escape. In a few hours, her mother would rest beside her father on the hill. Sarah would miss her, but she knew it had been her mother's time to go.
She dipped her cloth in the water basin on the chest of drawers. The cold water bit into her skin as she wiped the grime from her face, neck, and arms. Then she pulled a black dress and veil from her armoire and slipped into it. Sarah twisted her hair into a bun on top of her head. The creaks of a wagon stopped in front of her house. Hurriedly, she went to the front door and stepped out on the porch.
Six men dressed in black suits followed her and entered the empty, quiet, dead cabin. Her mother's body lay on the kitchen table for viewing. The dwelling was cold and dark in the one room log cabin of Mrs. Burgess where she was in state. The men moved the coffin to the wagon waiting outside to make the short trip up the hill.
Townspeople had parked their wagons and tied their horses at the bottom of the hill. They milled around and shook hands with one another as they waited for the family. Jessie, Cord, and Travis pulled their wagon to a stop near the barn.
Sarah ran to them and pulled them into her as she sobbed into each one of their chest. She shuddered at the sound of her brother as his hateful words echoed for all to hear. "Let's get the old hag in the ground so we can get back to Fort Leavenworth. I'd hate to be stuck here due to the weather."
Jessie took a step toward Will, but Sarah placed her hand on his chest. "Leave it be. They'll be gone soon," she whispered to her sons. One last glance at her mother's cabin, and she nodded that she was ready for the walk to the cemetery.
It would be the first time in five years she had been alone. There would be no more "when did, who was" or the call of "help me" echoing through the shuttered windows of the tiny home.
Sarah could feel the needle pricks on her legs as the cold air swirled, trapped inside her long dress. Tears froze on her cheeks and made her jaws unmovable. She dabbed at her eyes with the white handkerchief she held in her hand. Her lips quivered as she repressed the need to scream out her pain and anguish.
The drizzling rain stabbed the faces of family and friends in the funeral procession, as they slowly walked behind the death wagon to the small family cemetery on the hill. Sarah and her sisters' veils were covered in tiny slivers of ice. She shivered as she thought of how little her siblings thought of their mother.
Carolyn, Liz, and Will stood outside the cemetery fence. Sarah asked them to join her at their mother's grave side, but they had refused. Their disrespect drew the attention of all in attendance.
Overbearing numbness wrapped around Sarah as the men lowered the plain pine box conta
ining her mother into the cold, dark ground. She remembered this process well when her father, her husband, and other relatives had died. The words spoken over the grave sunk into the hollow hole as the coffin descended. She knew she would give way to the heartache after the other mourners left.
The service was brief due to the blustery weather. The townspeople shared their grief. One by one, neighbors trickled down the hill to wagons and scattered in all directions for their own homes. Higher up on the hill stood the lone Indian who came to pay his respects to her and her family.
The breath caught in her lungs as she gazed upon the magnificence of Shining Moon's solid form. His long, black braids peppered with gray now hung in front of his shoulders as he watched from afar. For a short time he held his arms straight out from his sides. A feather clutched in one hand and a tied parcel of herbs in the other. His face turned up to the sky.
Sarah knew he was praying for her mother's spirit the way he did at Mrs. Burgess's passing. Her heart beat wildly. He had pulled Sarah against him and let her cry when her mother died. Shining Moon had taught her many things, but more importantly, he had brought happiness to her mother in her final days. He had helped them both prepare for that dreaded day when they would say their final good-bye to one another.
Despite the cold, she warmed inside, just knowing he was near. Sarah wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his strong arms, pulled against his massive chest, and to feel the heat coursing through her veins at his nearness. She closed her eyes and lingered on the memory of the way spices and animal skin radiated from his being.
He was a shaman for his people. For several years, he had administered to her mother. His presence had always been welcome at both of the cabins.
Sarah stilled her desire to run to him and throw herself into his arms. She gazed at him for a few minutes, knowing he wouldn't leave his post until she was in her home. Shining Moon would come to her when he felt it was safe, without causing a scandal.
She was pleased at the number of townspeople who had attended the event. They made their way toward their wagons after kind words of reminiscing about Mrs. Burgess and what an impact she had made on their lives. Sarah's heart shrank. It was one more affirmation that her mother wouldn't be coming down from the cemetery with her. Even though her sons hadn't left her side, she knew they needed to get back to their own lives on their own farms. She let out deep sigh.
Alone with her sons, she made her way down the hill to her own cabin. Her chest cinched. Sarah didn't want her sons to go. She glanced at her cabin as the mumbled voices of her brother and sisters emanated from inside. A shudder ran down her spine.
Bidding her sons farewell, she took a deep breath before she entered. The long room, containing the kitchen on one end and the sitting room on the other, was modestly furnished. A table separated the two areas. At the backside of the room, two bedrooms hid behind the long wall. The window over-looking her greenhouse garden was near the fireplace at the end of the long room.
Sarah sat on the edge of the bed in her three-room log cabin and listened to Liz's gripes coming from the long room. Liz always complained about her life. With the courage Shining Moon gave her by being at her mother's funeral, she resisted the urge to respond to Liz's rambling.
****
Shining Moon watched the slender woman dressed in black slug along behind the death wagon. Her face was covered with a thin cloth of some sort. Partially hidden behind a lone tree, he shivered in the cold as the rest of the congregation of town's people, church friends, and neighbors followed the woman to the tiny cemetery. In his fifty-four years, he had never witnessed a white man's funeral. It was a strange thing to him.
Funerals for his people consisted of wailing and slashing of skin. Sweet Sarah had told him it wasn't their custom to do those things. He watched with fascination as the silent procession trudged up the hill.
Three others, two women and a man, walked too close to Sweet Sarah. From this distance, he couldn't tell much about them. Their dark murky auras sent a disheartening shudder down his spine. Whoever they were, he was sure they were not good. His chants of protection for Sarah and her sons escaped as a low murmur.
Sarah's three sons followed behind her. Their heads hung low, each one's hat gathered the flakes of sleet. Jessie, Cord, and Travis jumped forward to catch their mother when she stumbled. The strangers, who he suspected were her siblings, walked beside her and covered their mouths, but their hands failed to conceal the laughter in their demeanor.
It was important that Sarah and her family have peace. The twisting, burning fire consumed him like a prairie in blaze. There had to be a way for him to relieve the Eastin family of the three evil spirits so Sarah and her sons could mourn.
Shining Moon couldn't risk being noticed by the citizens of Eagle Glenn. It would bring more misery down on the family. Sarah didn't need any more added stress following Mrs. Burgess's passing. So, in the drizzling sleet, he stood back and watched from afar.
With each step she took, he convinced himself not to run to her. He knew the meaning of love and of loss. Sarah and her sons seemed all alone in the crowd. The two women and the man walked as if the old woman meant nothing to them. They held their heads high while everyone else's forms were slumped. Pointing at others and then laughing behind their hands pricked his nerves. Shining Moon wanted to spit upon their shoes. Why would they waste their time coming here, adding stress upon his Sweet Sarah, if they had no care for her mother? Even Mrs. Burgess called her other children ungrateful vultures and mangy rascals. She knew there was evil in their hearts and had said so. When Sarah would leave the tiny cabin, the old woman would tell him to watch over her daughter. She made him promise to protect Sarah from the wickedness in the hearts of others. The day before he had seen the carriage arrive. His heart wrenched when the three walked past Sarah as if she hadn't even been standing there to greet them. He looked forward to the day the carriage left her place, and then he could go to her.
For the time being, he could rely on her sons to be there for her if they could. The local town's people would also watch out for her if she needed them. Bile rose in his throat. To be a shaman and not be able to help the people you care about was a horrible feeling. He tried to shake it off as he watched the crowd disperse and move on with their lives. As for Sarah, she was strong and the most beautiful creature upon the earth. The Great Spirits would be with her to guide her through her terrible loss.
Cord glanced to the hill where Shining Moon stood, and with a knowing nod, he turned and walked down the hill. The last two years Shining Moon had helped Sarah take care of her mother. There were many times when Cord would come to him for information about Mrs. Burgess or Sarah. They had been friends for a long time.
Since the day young Cord, ten years old at the time, found Shining Moon paying homage to his dead wife and infant son, who had been dead for many moons. They had died of the white man's disease brought to the area along the Santa Fe Trail before Fort Larned was built. He was kneeling at the burial site when the child showed up. The boy raised his hand and placed a handful of corn by his wife's grave. Then he fished around in his pocket. He pulled out a tiny wooden wagon and placed it next to Shining Moon's son's grave. When Cord turned around, tears ran down his face, and he walked to Shining Moon and lowered himself to the ground.
Cord wailed and moaned as if it were his own family lost. For several days, the young boy brought corn and milk for the mother and child to make their journey to the spirit world. Shining Moon didn't think Cord knew the significance of his actions, but it didn't matter. For Shining Moon would never forget
After three days of the interaction, little Cord introduced himself and took Shining Moon by the hand. He led him to the iron fence where his mother leaned over a grave and placed wildflowers on it. The woman raised and gazed at Shining Moon. Her eyes were void of fear, but held love and understanding. He wondered if his young friend had told the mysterious white woman about him. What had she thought of
the friendship? Sarah and Cord invited him to come meet the family and have supper with them.
Shining Moon's heart leapt with joy that afternoon. Being the shaman of his village didn't allow much room to be himself. Ever since that day, he had kept an eye on the family. The son of the sandy blonde woman with one long braid down to her waist showed a kindness that Shining Moon thought whites were incapable of possessing. He thought a gift from the medicine man in the sky brought strong magic into his soul. Sarah's pure innocence and love burned within her golden green eyes and brought extra healing powers into his life. His breath caught as he recalled that day. An unexpected bond between them had formed. He let out his breath when the creaks and chains of a wagon rattled from Sarah's farm and brought him back to his present state of mind.
He turned and walked to his horse. At the bend in the road, just beyond the group of trees, he would meet up with Cord and his brothers. Once mounted on the horse's back, he turned it toward the bend in the path. Tugging his buffalo robe tighter around his neck, he glanced up at the approaching wagon.
At an early age, a white man had taught Shining Moon to speak English. The chief of the tribe thought it was a good idea to know the white man's tongue. Along with his shamanistic studies, he worked hard at perfecting the language.
"Hello friends." He narrowed his eyes against the stings of the sleet. "How's your mother?"
"As well as she can be considering…" Jessie glanced back toward the farm.
"Keep an eye out for her, will ya? Carolyn, Liz, and Will have already started in on her." Travis thumbed over his shoulder.
"When they leave, high-tail it down there. She's gonna need someone she respects." Cord said.
"Are they the ones who walked beside her?" Shining Moon wasn't sure if he wanted confirmation to the question. He tightened his fist in the horse's mane.