Belle sat at the creek just down hill from the cabin she lived in with her little sister Mel. She sat on a large rock near the waters edge while she let the constant stream of water flow across her feet. She wiggled her toes and sat relaxed as she watched the sun come up in the beautiful Virginia sky.
This was her favorite spot to be at since she was a little girl. She leaned back and breathed in the mountain air she had been accustomed to just about all her life.
She had walked down to the creek about 20 minutes ago after having woken up from yet another nightmare. For the last week it was always the same.
Belle and Mel were walking together in a big field with the sun shining. They were laughing and talking until dark clouds descended upon where they were standing. Then abruptly dark figures came out of nowhere and dragged the sisters in opposite directions. They kicked and screamed but to no avail, the figures wouldn't let either of them go. Then one of the figures would grab her by her neck and slowly tighten his grip. She struggled for breath until she awoke sweating and gasping for breath.
"What do these blasted dreams mean?" She mumbled out loud. She shook her head and tried to relax a little more before she would need to start breakfast.
She had her eyes closed when she heard the sound of a wagon near her house. Her eyes flew open. No one ever came by their cabin. And even if they did, no one should be here at this time of morning.
Belle quickly got up from the rock and ran up the bank that led to the creek. That's when she heard it; the screams that she had been hearing in her nightmare.
"Mel! Melanie! What's going on?" She screamed as she rounded the corner. She took in the scene before her: there were three men standing around her sister, one was holding her while the other two were looking in her direction.
Belle's eyes widened at what she saw. "Get away from my sister!" She ran towards the men but was suddenly grabbed from behind. It seemed there was another man she had missed when she looked around.
She kicked, screamed, and tried to free herself to no avail. "Please! Please just let my sister go! Take me instead."
The man who held her spoke up. "No way. We need you both. Now shut up and get in the carriage," he said as he pushed her towards a carriage she hadn't noticed before. He none to gently helped her into the area for people to sit. Another man pushed her sister in after her and then went around to the front of the wagon.
A man dressed much better than the other three was standing outside giving orders to the men. Belle leaned sideways and opened her arms to hug her sister. "Don't worry Mel," she whispered," we'll be okay."
"And how do you know that Belle? We've just been kidnapped from our home we have lived at since we were babes! What do they want with us?" She said in an anxious whisper.
"Just trust me little sister. I'll get to the bottom of this." She shushed her sister as she was about to respond. "I think that man is coming. Quiet."
The man came to the door of the carriage and looked in. "Make haste boys. I want to be in the city by noon," he said as he climbed into the carriage. Someone shut the door behind him and then the carriage started moving.
"Sir, please tell us where you will be taking us." Belle said.
"Somewhere to pay off the debt on your house. You wont be able to live there any longer now that there is no white person to oversee you anyway."
"But that was our house! And there was no debt! Our mother would have told us about a debt!" Belle said exasperated.
The man looked up and into Belle's face with bored look on his face. "I've been instructed to bring you to Odenton, Maryland. Now shut your mouth. I'm tired of arguing with someone who is not my equal," he said while picking up the book that was next to him.
Belle and Mel sat holding hands and watching the scenery, thinking about what their future would bring.
It took about three hours for them to reach Odenton where Belle and Melanie had been told they were going.
They came to a beautiful looking yellow house that bordered on being a mansion. Under the circumstances Belle wasn't too excited to be here but if it were voluntary she probably would have been extremely eager to see the house.
One of the men who were riding in the front of the carriage came around, opened the door, and grabbed Mel's arm to get her down. Belle started scooting over towards the door when the man who had been riding with her pushed her back and climbed out the door.
He looked back at her and smiled. "Not your house sweetheart. Only Ms. Melanie will be living here."
Belle's eyes connected with her sisters and she could see the tears well up in her eyes. Mel started fighting the man who was holding her hard. "Don't let them take me Belle! Belle!"
Belle jumped out the carriage and happened to make her way over to her sister. She hugged her sister tightly as if she never wanted to let her go. Two of the men were on either side of them trying to pull them apart but Belle hung on long enough to whisper in her little sisters ear, "I will find you mon choux! Je'taime petite fille!" The men finally got them apart and started dragging Belle back to the carriage while one of the men along with the well dressed man pushed Mel towards the house.
The sisters never took their eyes off of each other while being pulled and tugged in the directions their captors were ushering them in.
"Je'taime aussi Belle! I know we'll find each other again!" Mel said as tears streamed down her eyes.
"Remember what maman taught us..." was the last thing Belle was able to shout out to her sister before they were finally able to push her into the carriage. She sunk down into the seat and started sobbing.
"How could I lose my own sister?!" She said out loud. She pounded her head with her hands as she thought back to the last time she saw her mother alive.
She remembered how she brushed her moms dull blonde hair out of her pale and once lively face. She kissed her moms forehead and then looked into her watery green eyes.
"Belle, my firstborn... I love you so much. You know that right?" Her mother Solaine said to her.
Belle nodded. "I know maman."
She smiled and looked to the right of her bed where her youngest daughter had her head bent. "Melanie? Mon choux? Come here and sit with your maman," Solaine said.
When she sat down on the bed she looked into her mother's eyes and a tear came down her cheek. "Maman, but what will we do without you? You cant die," she sobbed, "you just cant!"
