The Cottoncrest Curse: A Novel

Chapter 36

131 Chapter 36 Marcus raised his arm toward the northern horizon, in the direction of Cottoncrest. Jake, the bearskin over his shoulders, looked up and saw what Marcus was pointing at. It was worse than either of them had feared, and it had come faster than they thought. Jake and Marcus were standing on the porch of Cooper and Rossy’s cabin, and they could see horsemen, ten or more, riding their way at a fast gallop. They were riding along a high ridge next to the Mississippi River. The fast-moving images below the darkening sky were silhouetted against a reddish glow. The horsemen were rounding a large bend in the river to the north of Little Jerusalem. Behind them there was a curtain of spiraling flames and smoke rising from the burning cane fields. The vast Cottoncrest cane fields came within a mile of Little Jerusalem . The riders would be here, at this rate, in less than fifteen minutes . “Got no time to lose, Mr. Jake,” Marcus said, a trace of panic in his deep voice. “ROSSY,” he yelled, “COOPER. GET OUT NOW. GET ALL THE OTHERS. THE KNIGHTS ARE COMING!!” Rossy emerged from the cabin, still in the process of wrapping her daughter in a blanket. The temperature was falling. It was going to be a cold night. She started toward the woods. The inhabitants of Little Jerusalem, hearing Marcus’s frantic voice, ran out of their homes and, holding children by the hand, followed Rossy. They moved quickly and quietly through the muddy yards seeking the safety of the woods. Marcus looked around, doing a quick head count. Two were missing. Marcus ran toward Nimrod’s cabin and pounded on the door. “ESAU. NIMROD. YOU’VE GOT TO LEAVE RIGHT AWAY!” Nimrod came to the door and started toward the woods, but his pace was halting. Esau tried to hurry Nimrod, but the old man was stiff 132 and in pain, and try as he might, he could not walk as quickly as Esau wanted. Cooper, halfway to the woods, looked over his shoulder and, spotting Esau’s efforts, urged Rossy, who was clinging to their child, to go on ahead. “It’s hurryin’ time, Nimrod,” Cooper said, running back to the old man and his son. “We can’t leave you behind. You’re gonna travel in style, like some fancy person. I heard that in the olden days, them Egyptian pharaohs what enslaved the Israelites had people carry them everyplace they went. Four men or more would haul them in some type of contraption, walkin’ all the way, so that ol’ Pharaoh’s feet never touched the soil. Well, consider yourself tonight an Egyptian pharaoh, ’cept without the contraption.” With that Cooper, his big muscles flexing, picked up the old man as easily as a baby and, cradling him in his arms, started at a slow, loping pace to catch up with Rossy, who already had disappeared into the woods. “What about y’all?” Esau asked Marcus and Jake. “We’re going to stand and fight,” Jake said, pulling out the ten-inch Freimer blade. “I’m not afraid. I’ve run enough in my life. Halfway across Russia. Halfway across a continent. I don’t want to run anymore .” “Mr. Jake . . . ,” Marcus said, clearing his throat. “That’s all right, Marcus. You go. You save yourself.” “You don’t understand, Mr. Jake. They got them long rifles. They’ll shoot you down from a hundred yards off, and you won’t do no one no good. Not yourself and not the ones in Little Jerusalem and the ones you want to see. We got to do something else. We’re gonna start up the road to the north, you and me.” Turning to Esau, Marcus explained, “If the Knights get here and find everyone gone, they’ll head for the woods, and none of you will be safe, for they’ll catch you before you reach the safety of the marsh, but if they see us first, then . . .” Marcus didn’t have to say anything else. Jake understood what Marcus was doing. The riders, if they caught anyone from Little Jerusalem, might whip them or kill them. The only way to save Little Jerusalem was to have the riders follow him and Marcus, and to do that, they’d have to head directly toward the horsemen. 133 Esau nodded. He...