Flight of Fancy: Cora's Daughters Read Online Free PDF Page B

pooling blood and stripped down naked. Walking to a table in the room, she picked up the whip laying there, looking it over. They’d planned to use it on her – had she let them live to do so.
    Nodding, she murmured, “Gone need this – this a good whip.” She stood a moment trying it out. After rolling it up, and with dagger still in hand, she started out with enough weapons to protect herself.
     

She made her way deep in the night to the cabin of one of the older slaves, naked and covered in blood.
    The old man shook his head speechless. He wouldn't let her in, too much blood. Instead, he gave her an old sack to cover herself. Because he also hunted for the mayor, he passed her a bow and arrows saying, “Lawd pa’tect you chile – na’gone. Don’come back, neva come back heah.”
    Her memory cleared to a foggy passing recollection and her eyes refocused once more on the big man. He was enjoying his bath – he had no shame, showing his didly-doo to the world.
    She remembered her older sister Nashi, saying in her horrified sing-song way , “Lawd’a’mercy wit’ they didly-doo – ever’one of’em wanna didly-you.” Thinking about it, Asiza snarled from her perch, “Nasty beas’ – Lawd I know you make’em – but I’on like no mans – 'specially no white'uns. They evil… all’of’em.”
    She’d seen enough.
    She sat back and let the branch move to its original place, concealing her as she sat, combing through her hair - braiding it while still wet to keep control of it.
    Moments later, with her things about her, she leaned forward once more, gazing through the branches at him. “Fool done made a fire, gone get hisself robbed or kilt,” she thought out loud. He wasn’t going anywhere and he sure wasn’t interested in her – he’d dried himself and was dressed. She watched him take two dead rabbits off his horse’s saddle, stripping the hides from them and prepping them for the fire.
    “Bes’ scat.” Asiza murmured to herself, dismissing him from her mind. She searched the ground to be sure the coast was clear, keeping her descent gentle, her feet touched the ground. With her things hanging from her body, she set off at a trot to put distance between them. Her goal, to obtain a horse. Setting her pace at a steady trot – she moved with smooth agility through the forest, following the stream. As she ran, various choices of getting a horse went through her mind.
    She could steal one, but that would put more folks on her trail, so that was out of the question. She could go to an Indian village for one, but she would run the risk of some brave wanting to keep her or trade her back to her master for a reward.
     

She could find and follow a wild herd for one, but to do that, she’d need to be on a horse, moving at their speed. Then, she would have to break it.
    That was totally out of the question.
    If she found a lone rider, she could kill him and take his horse, no one would then know it was stolen.
    As much as she disliked these men, she couldn’t bring herself to kill an innocent one - that was not the kind of spirit that moved her. Otherwise, she could have killed the big man at the lake and taken his horse.
    That thought, brought that particular man back to her mind, he was strange.
    He’d given her not a second thought – how unlikely that was – she had been expecting him to attack her, try to rape her. She believed that it was what most of them did – surely they were all that way – except for black men.
    Yet, the big man had merely spoken to her and then, ignored her. He was a mystery – he was different. She was a negro, he was white, why didn’t he ask her why she was running about all by herself? Why didn’t he ask her name? It just didn’t make sense but she’d spent enough time trying to understand it. Once more, dismissing him from her mind, Asiza maintained her pace through the forest. She knew to stay parallel to the gurgling brook – her speed one of purpose