Rising Dark (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

which had
deep, red lacerations. So deep, in fact, that ribbons of flesh had
been stripped from her back, leaving open wounds from which blood
flowed freely, spilling down her back and legs to form a crimson
pool on the ground. Even as I focused on the ripped, bloodied
flesh, the whip came down on her back again, on flesh that was
already gaping open, and I felt my stomach turn at the perceived
pain. But from the victim there was only a low moan.
    “ Stop,” I heard myself
mumble.
    The whip came down again.
    “ Stop!”
    The man, a ruddy-skinned white male I
hadn’t seen until then, had not heard me enter. He whirled around
in surprise, his hand halting in mid-air as he looked past me to
the door. I tore my gaze away from the slave girl and looked toward
the door in time to see Alden Foster direct a short nod to the man.
Alden’s expression was grim, but when he turned to me, he had a
hard tight smile on his lips as he took me by the arm.
    “ Reverend, why don’t we
step outside?”
    With one last glance at the gruesome
sight of the young woman, I let him lead me outside.
    “ Why was she being
beaten?” I was able to say as he led me away from the
barn.
    Although out in the fresh air, I felt
no better, and the awful smell of rotting meat hung in my nostrils,
making me feel queasy. Despite the heat, which was like rolling
waves of hot air, I felt cold and clammy, especially since I had
seen the face of the girl being beaten. It was Minny, the one who
told us to leave before sundown.
    “ Discipline,” he answered.
“I am sorry your wife had to witness it. It is a very unpleasant
thing for a lady to see.”
    “ But she is only a child,”
I said. “What could a child possibly have done to warrant such
punishment?”
    “ Niggers don’t feel what
we feel—”
    He was interrupted by that sound
again, the sound of what I had thought was leather against leather,
but now knew was a whip lashing torn, bloodied flesh.
    I turned toward the barn, but Alden
spoke before I did.
    “ Don’t worry, Reverend. I
will let him know she has had enough punishment for
today.”
    “ I want your assurance
that nothing like that will ever be done to her again.”
    “ Of course,” he replied in
the same oily tone. “You go on back to the house now,
Reverend.”
    I watched him walk away and only moved
to go back to the mansion when he looked back at me. In the foyer
of the mansion, I watched from the window as two male Negroes
carried the girl, now wrapped in a blanket, out of the barn. They
were followed by Alden and the man I had seen carry out the
whipping. Alden’s face was dark with anger as he addressed the two
Negroes who were carrying the girl. He turned toward the mansion,
and when he saw me standing at the window, he murmured something to
the other white male before he directed another tight smile in my
direction.
    “ She be in your room and
awake now, suh.”
    I tore my gaze away from the window to
see the male slave who had half-carried Julia into the house
earlier on. After what I had witnessed, I found it hard to look at
him and instead mumbled a thank you before I went
upstairs.
    Julia was pacing back and forth when I
entered the room. Phillis was still with her, watching Julia with
intense pity in her gaze, something quite surprising considering
the life she must have led as a slave. She quickly hid it, assuming
the blank mask all the slaves seemed to wear around us. She got to
her feet.
    “ I’s gonna leave you now,”
she said and moved toward the door.
    “ Thank you for staying
with me,” Julia gushed.
    Phillis managed a small smile but
averted her gaze. Then she glanced up at Julia as if she meant to
speak, but then slid past her and to the door where I stood. She
nodded when I thanked her and left the room.
    “ Are you feeling better
now, my dear?” I asked once I closed the door behind me.
    “ Me? There is nothing
wrong with me, Avery. But that poor child.”
    “ It...it has stopped now.
I saw them