Ever Bound by Odessa Gillespie Black Read Free Book Online Page A

wrangling the horses together and getting them back into their stalls, the pig pen was the next most important task.
    We all worked together to catch the pigs.
    From snout to curly tails, they, too, were smeared with the same red substance, but it had started to dry to a thick brown. After a few of the workers assured me they had the pen secured, I started to the chicken house where a few of the women gasped and hurried away from the scene.
    “Master Colby, someone has committed a cruel act. It’s so awful.” One of the workers wives covered her face with shaking hands.
    At the chicken house, the wire around the cage had been clipped and headless chickens lay everywhere. Their heads were scattered around them.
    A woman near the back of the rose maze shrieked.
    In slow saunter, Grace Rollins walked up the path from the pond, carrying a headless chicken by its leg in each hand.
    The men turned their heads.
    Grace was completely naked with blood smeared from her forehead to her toes. As she neared the entrance of the rose maze and rounded the corner, she saw me.
    For fear that she’d hurt a human and not just the animals, I rushed to her.
    She leaned close. “Dear Colby. Fear not. I’m not insane. But the attention I’ll gain while everyone thinks I am will be priceless. Now, stand back and watch.”
    Stone took the place of blood in my veins.
    Grace moved forward toward the house, speaking as if she were a little girl. “Red is my favorite color. Don’t forget to tell Daddy when he leaves. You know how I get when he forgets my favorite color.”
    Mrs. Amber Rollins rushed out of the house with a house maid close on her robe tail. She stood a few inches taller than her daughter, and with striking black hair cascading down her shoulders, she stared down a sharp nose and pursed her red lips.
    As Grace approached her, she dropped one chicken and began stroking the back of the other.
    Mrs. Rollins’s olive face distorted as tears stained her cheeks. She took a deep breath and jerked the chicken out of her daughter’s hand.
    Mr. Rollins followed in a sleepy amble, but when he saw his daughter, he stumbled to her side. With his night shirt, he did his best to cover her blood-covered nakedness.
    Mother of all that was holy.
    Mrs. Rollins looked through the crowd straight at me. At first, I thought she might think I was somehow responsible, but her eyes pleaded with me. She shook her head and pulled her daughter into the house.
    Mr. Rollins turned to the whole crowd behind his plantation. “If a word of this leaves this property, the person who is responsible will be sorry. Mark my words.”
    * * * *
    The next day began the last month of school.
    The breakfast table was quiet. Everyone was so shocked at the previous evening’s events, they were speechless.
    I went to the back doors of the main house for the first time in a while. Before I could reach the door, I found the person I was looking for almost as if she were waiting for me.
    Mrs. Rollins stood at the back patio, staring out over the rose maze and the rest of the grounds. Her perfectly tailored red, gray, and black dress had not a wrinkle in sight. In the daylight, it was apparent that her daughters gained their beauty from her. Her hair was up in a tight do, hiding the fact that it was just as long and beautiful as Annabeth’s. It framed a face most artists would have loved to paint. High cheek bones, amber brown eyes, and red lips. She was stunning.
    I rarely saw her.
    Running the household had to be a demanding job. Keeping up with Grace was probably just as trying.
    Finding her outside was helpful. When she saw me, a weak smile met her tired eyes. “Good morning, Colby.”
    “Everything that happened last night… I’m so sorry. I don’t understand what got into her.” I couldn’t say much more in fear of putting my family at risk, but I needed to find a way to tell Grace’s parents that she wasn’t crazy. That she knew good and well what she was