Solomon. Marilyn Bishop Shaw
though, if you’ll allow it.” He paused, silently admitting that, despite his intentions to accept the Freemans as equals, he had never done such before. “While we’re still getting acquainted, let’s just drop all this Mister, if you don’t mind. Just sounds way too high and mighty for . . . for friends.”
There was silence as three mouths dropped open. Never had a white man suggested that they call him anything but mister or master. Lela stammered as graciously as she could, “Mister, I mean, Pete, if that’s how you want it, that’s how it’ll be. Don’t know as I like Solomon calling a grown man so familiar, though.”
“I can understand that, Lela. Would you settle for Mister Pete?”
Solomon’s eyes gleamed in admiration for Pete Harker, and Lela nodded her consent.
Moses broke the silence of newness. “Family, it’ll soon be dark and we got lots to do.” He turned and grinned. “And, Pete, if you gonna be part of this family, guess you can start by helpin’ me unload this wagon!”
In no time at all, Lela had the supper fire going, and the load was stowed properly. Sunny and Sudie were unharnessed, watered, and hobbled to graze in a grassy spot nearby.
Supper that night was cornpone and fresh rabbit with peaches for dessert. Lela and Solomon enjoyed listening to Moses tell Pete of his plans for the place and Pete offering suggestions along. Easier companions would have been hard to find. More unlikely companions would have been even harder to find.
For the next two days, the four worked tirelessly to give the house a front wall. The wide door opening would let in light and ventilation in fair weather, and could still be closed for protection in foul weather. Even with the door open, the house was shadowy, so Lela got her window. Really, it was just a good-sized hole in the wall, but it let light in and let Lela see the world outside. She looked out the window down toward the spring and just sighed. Moses stepped close behind her and gave her shoulders a little squeeze. She knew her man. He was telling her this extra effort was for her. He was telling her that he loved her. She could see him becoming more his own man day by day, and he knew it, too.
Moses knew the discarded harness leather wouldn’t make long-lasting hinges for the door. He just hoped they would last until someone went to town to buy real hinges. Just as he and Pete began attaching the door to its frame, it started to drizzle. Within the hour, drizzle turned to a downpour. All four people ran inside and listened to the rain beat down on the palmetto roof, each praying that it was laced tightly enough. They managed to cover the window with oilcloth. It was a mite cozy with one whole corner taken by their new store of supplies, but not unpleasant. They took advantage of the time to better sort and arrange their new stock of provisions, protecting it with the rest of the oilcloth. They also rested and ate cold supper, the now extinguished cookfire remaining outside of the house. They bundled into their bedrolls and enjoyed rainy slumber. Pete considered what his rigid father would have said about his friends. The moment that question entered his mind, he knew that he didn’t care about his father’s opinion. His eyes closed and he slept more deeply than he had in over a year.
It was still raining the next morning while Moses and Pete worked on the window shutters. They didn’t have enough leather for the hinges, so the shutters slid on the inside wall to meet and cover the window. A little lard rubbed in the tracks made them slide better, but having the window was worth the little muscle it took to cover it up. Finally, the wind just blew the rain in by the bucket, so the window was closed. The single oil lamp did little more than keep them from stepping on each other.
Only Lela and Solomon could stand near the back of the room, and with Solomon’s head touching the roof now, he wouldn’t be able to stand straight for long. Moses and Pete could barely stand straight at the front wall, so there wasn’t much moving about. Each of the little group found things to do inside, but they all got stir crazy, too. Lela drilled Solomon (and Moses) on sums and Pete talked of history in faraway places with grand kings and queens.
Throughout the morning, one of the two men would crack the front door or push back the shutters only to discover that the rain was still sheeting down. They noticed a little dampness above their heads, and hoped the palmetto roof would hold. They also noticed the dirt floor getting soggy along the outside walls. Just before noon, the winds picked up still more. Lela and Solomon huddled in the back corner near the stack of supplies as the roof right over their heads flopped up and down with the wind. “Moses!” shouted Lela as she and Solomon reached for a cross piece to hold the corner down.
Moses turned to see them, already soaked, struggling against the wind. “Pete,” Moses yelled as he moved toward Lela and Solomon, “rope in the barn!” Pete dashed out as quickly as he could. Meanwhile Moses crouched to reach the back of the house and took hold of the cross piece.
By the time a drenched Pete returned with the rope, Lela had inspected enough to know that they had lost substantial stores, but there wasn’t time to worry with that yet. Moses and Pete threaded the rope around and through several cross pieces and tied the ends to a heavy trunk handle. All four people were on their knees panting for breath and shaking like wet dogs. Solomon broke the silence. “Reckon it’ll hold, Papa?”
Moses deferred the question. “What you think, Pete? We jess gonna blow away?”
“Nobody but the Lord himself knows that, Moses, but I surely hope this roof stays on,” Pete answered prayerfully. They tried, in the light of the lantern, to adjust the cornmeal and flour away from more possible damage and made their ways back to the front of the house. Pete peeked out a slit in the window and shook his head, “I don’t know, Moses. I just don’t know. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. I’ve heard of hurricanes, but sure haven’t been in one.”
“You ain’t thinkin’ this is one of them heercanes, are you?” Lightning punctuated Moses’ question. They all shuddered, even the house. “That hit close. I hate to guess what Sunny and Sudie be thinking.”
The thunder rolled from a great distance, like a stampeding herd rumbling closer and closer to the Freeman’s home. With it came increased winds and even more rain. Suddenly, the wind died down and the house stopped shaking. They just looked at one another until Solomon couldn’t keep quiet. “Is it over, Papa? Can I go check on Sunny and Sudie now? They must be terrible scairt.”
“I don’t know, son. It seems still as anything now.” He moved toward the door and slowly opened it to reveal a moderate wind wafting across the soggy, limb-strewn homestead.
Pete joined him and stepped outside, looking up. “This is the darnedest thing I ever saw. The sky is almost clear. Y’all come on out and look at this.”
He was joined by three sets of eyes as big as saucers, slowly moving into the yard. “Solomon,” Moses said, “come on with me to check the damage in the field.” Before his father finished speaking, Solomon charged toward the mule pen. “Solomon Freeman, get back here!” Moses shouted.
Solomon skidded to a temporary stop and pleaded, “But, Papa, the mules. I’ve got to check on the mules.”
With one big stride, Moses reached Solomon and took his arms, nearly lifting him from the ground. The boy was perfectly still. “Boy, when I tell you to do a thing, you do it. Them mules know their own keep.”
He relaxed his grip slightly, and the boy wrenched free and shouted over his shoulder, “I’m sorry, Papa. I got to check Sudie and Sunny.” His final shout was a whisper by the time it reached Moses’ ears. “I’ll come find you in the field.”
“Moses,” Pete’s calming hand scarcely touched his shoulder, “we’re all too tired and too worried. The boy will be right on. He’s just trying to do his part. Go ahead, and we’ll both be along in a few minutes.” Moses allowed Pete’s interference, but he wasn’t sure he liked it.
Solomon reached the mule lot to discover that a falling limb had caught Sudie’s halter, not hurting her, but pinning her head down almost to the ground. There was no way to know how long she had struggled against it. Pete was relieved that Diamond was jittery