Mercy

The rain was so thick that Mercy kept inhaling water as she gasped for breath. She’d never run this long or this hard in her life. She wondered if they’d noticed she was gone yet. Would they come after her in this rain? They would be on horses. How quickly would they catch up to her? The world was growing darker and darker grey all around her. She couldn’t run through these trees at night. She stopped and dropped to her knees for a moment getting mud stains all over her brand new dress that she’d been excited to receive that morning.

That morning seemed like a distant nightmare. She had woken early like she did every morning, before the sun. She’d prepared the morning porridge. When she opened the door, going to fetch water, there was a brown paper parcel waiting on the doorstep. It was tied up with a red string. Mercy quickly tore it open. Inside was a beautiful starched white dress. It was the dress that all the inside girls wore. Mercy’s heart skipped. They inside girls always looked so clean and beautiful. Their lives were mysterious, so different than working out in the fields. Mercy had always secretly envied them. Now it seemed like she would finally be one of them. She closed the door, washed in the metal basin in the corner of the room and hurried to put the dress on. Papa would be so surprised when she woke him. The white dress felt stiff and strange against her skin. She had never worn anything so nice.

“Papa,” Mercy had whispered. The sun was coming up and papa was snoring softly on his cot in the corner of the single room they shared. Mercy touched his shoulder tenderly and gave it a little shake. He had a harder time waking up since the accident in the field. Mercy had to help him change the bandages on his leg every few days, which made her feel sick but she tried not to show it. She tried to be brave like him. He always stayed so calm, even when things were bad.

Finally, he stirred and opened his eyes. At first, he smiled at her. That beautiful white smile made Mercy feel so safe, but the smile quickly faded as he took in what she was wearing. He sat up quickly.

“It was just dropped off at the door Papa,” Said Mercy, a little hesitant because of the look spreading across Papa’s face. “I’m going to be an inside girl. Isn’t that good?”

Papa just stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Of course I’ll come back and sleep here. I’m sure they will let me come and help you with your leg.”

Papa grabbed his homemade crutch that was leaned up against the wall and pulled himself to his feet. He hobbled over to they’re one small window and looked nervously up towards the big house. Then he sat himself down at the little wooden table he’d made last spring and put his head in his hands.

Mercy felt tears welling up. This was not the reaction she’d expected. Papa sat in silence for a long time. It wasn’t until there was a knock at the door half an hour later that he looked up. He hobbled to the door. Mercy sat silently on her cot. She knew something was wrong but she didn’t understand what it was. Mrs. Johnson the housekeeper stood outside the door when Papa opened it.

“She ain’t going.” Said Papa before Mrs. Johnson had a chance to say anything.

Mrs. Johnson sighed. She was lighter skinned than most of the other slaves, and wore much nicer clothes. Mercy had heard some people in the fields talking bad about her, but Papa said she was just doing what she had to like everyone.

“Jerimiah,” She said in a hushed tone, “You know you have no choice. You must let her go.”

“You tell them, I’ll go back to the field. I’ll go today.” Said Papa, a panic in his voice Mercy had never heard.

Mrs. Johnson looked over Papa’s shoulder at Mercy who looked back fearfully.

“Come on girl, it’s time to go. Don’t be frightened.” She said,

“Stay there Mercy,” Said Papa forcefully.

Mercy stayed put.

Mrs. Johnson and Papa argued for several more minutes. It got louder and louder. Papa’s grabbed either side of the doorframe, blocking Mrs. Johnson’s way to Mercy. He kept insisting that he could go back to work, that Mrs. Johnson needed to tell Master Geoffrey that he was ready, and Mrs. Johnson telling him it wouldn’t make a difference and that she’d be responsible if Mercy didn’t come right away.

“What’s going on here Mrs. Johnson?” Said another voice that Mercy instantly recognized.

Both Papa and Mrs. Johnson froze and fell silent.

“Sir,” said Mrs. Johnson, her head and eyes dropped to the ground.

“Master Geoffrey Sir,” Said Papa, his head held high, his gaze direct, “I’m ready to go back to work. There’s no need for Mercy to go to the big house. She’s 12, she needs to be with me. She-”

BANG.

Papa fell backwards. Mercy didn’t make a sound, although every inch of her body felt as though it were screaming. She looked down at Papa. His eyes were open wide, looking blankly at the ceiling. A hole in his forehead was gushing blood.

Master Geoffrey tucked the gun back into his overly tight waistcoat.

“Doctor said he was gonna lose the leg anyways.” Was all he said. Then walked away.

Mrs. Johnson stood still for a moment, then hurried inside, stepping over Papa’s body, and grabbed Mercy’s hand and pulled her outside and up to the big house. Mercy’s legs felt like they were made of stone. She could barely breathe. But she kept silent. She clenched her teeth together so hard she thought they might break.

Mrs. Johnson didn’t look at her. She couldn’t.

She put her Mercy in a small room and told her she’d come back to get her in an hour to give her tasks for the day. By the afternoon Mercy was cleaning the fireplaces in every room. She wanted to run back to Papa. Wanted to shake him until he woke up and smiled at her. But she knew he would be there anymore. She’d seen what happens when slaves die. They are put into the ground within an hour.

She felt like she might choke on the sob trying to get out of her throat. But she couldn’t let it out. Not now. She was kneeling in front of a fireplace, in a beautiful library room. She’d always wanted to see inside the big house, but now that she was there, she didn’t care.

The door creaked open and footsteps entered the room. Mercy stood up quickly, giving a little curtsy before she even saw who it was.

“There you are..” Said a man’s voice. It was Master Henry. Master Geoffrey’s oldest son. He used to be handsome, but was starting to get wide in the middle like his father. “What’s your name?” he asked, walking towards her slowly.

“Mercy, Sir,” Said Mercy with her head down like Mrs. Johnson.

“Mercy,” He said quietly, “I saw you the other day. Told Mrs. Johnson to have you brought inside. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be out working in the field all day.”

Mercy’s heart started to race. He was very close to her. She wasn’t sure what to say. She stammered, but no words came out. Suddenly he grabbed her and held her tight, then he whispered in her ear what he planned to do to her that night when everyone else was asleep. Finally, Mercy cried. She couldn’t help it. But it only made him laugh.

That afternoon she was sent with one of the other girls, Pauline, to pick up fabric from Nana Brown. The sky was turning dark and Pauline wanted to hurry. She said they’d get in trouble if their dresses got wet in the rain. They picked up the fabric and started the walk back to the big house, but halfway back Mercy told Pauline she’d forgotten something. She said she’d run back and catch up before Pauline made it back. Pauline looked disapproving but said nothing. Mercy turned and ran, but she didn’t run back to Nana Browns. Once she was out of Pauline’s sight she ran right into the woods.

Mercy knew which way was north. Papa would sometimes whisper about running. Now he never could. She knew she had very little chance of making it alive, but she’d rather be dead than stay. She ran as long and as hard as she could.

Now as she knelt in the mud, trying to catch a breath, she wondered if she might die before they ever caught her, just from spending a night in this rain. She wanted to just lay down and let the water wash her away. Then a fork of lightning shot across the sky and for a moment the world was illuminated.

It only took that split second for Mercy to see through the trees in front of her. There was a dilapidated barn a few hundred feet away. She pushed herself up and ran. The barn door had a lock on it, but it had long since rotted off its hinges. There was a gap large enough for Mercy to easily slip inside. It was nearly pitch black inside, but she slowly felt her way around only tripping twice, and eventually, her fingers found the rungs of a ladder leading up to a hayloft. She climbed very slowly, uncertain if it would hold her weight, but it did.

The hayloft was dry and there was still hay left. As Mercy was about to bury herself in the hay, another flash of lightning lit up the loft and she jumped. She was not alone up there. A large white owl was sitting right inside the open loft window. Probably hiding from the rain like her. Even after the lightning was gone, Mercy could make out the creature's shiny eyes fixed on her. She crawled as far from the animal as she could, then burrowed into the hay. Sleep took her before she had a chance to fight it off with thoughts of the day.

When she woke up it was light. She couldn’t believe it. She was always up before the sun. She started to get herself up when she stopped. She heard voices. Two men.

“It’s impossible to track anything in the rain.” Said one voice, it was very close by.

“Not if you know how it thinks.” Said another voice, they were right outside the barn.

Mercy looked around for a better place to hide. She was surprised to see the barn owl still sitting there. He looked perfectly calm. Mercy wished she was an owl. The men were prying the barn door off. Mercy tried to cover herself with hay as quietly as she could, but her movement made a board creak slightly.

“Shhh!” Said one of the men. “I heard something in the loft.”

Mercy squeezed her eyes shut tight. This was it. She could hear the man’s feet on the ladder. Then there was a strange screech and the sound of wings. And the man let out a curse.

“Just a stupid owl.” He said, and climbed back down the ladder.

Mercy lay motionless. She didn’t move until she hadn’t heard a sound for several hours. Then she climbed back down the ladder, crept cautiously out of the barn, and kept running.