Morning Star Read Free Page A

blackboard began to clear. She started to write them down in her notebook, trying not to pay attention to the whispering behind her, but her hand clenched as she heard the distinct words.
    â€œWhat is it with the teeny weenie braids?”
    â€œHer hair is so fuzzy.”
    â€œKind of weird.”
    â€œTotally.”

Chapter 5
    Flower
    THE RIVER was not as close as Eldon had thought. They scrambled and scraped their way toward it, but it remained elusive in the distance. Flower’s father urged them forward, his breathing labored. “Hurry! Hurry!”
    â€œI’m trying to, Pa.”
    â€œTry harder!”
    â€œI’m hurrying as fast as I can.”
    â€œDon’t talk back to me, child! We need to move!” He grabbed Flower by the arm. Her feet stumbled over one another, and the skin on her arm burned under his grip.
    â€œShe’s trying. Why are you being so harsh?” asked Cleo.
    â€œThe two of you should be listening to me…I’m doing my best to lead you…and getting nothing but sass.”
    â€œWe’re doing our best to follow. We’re tired. Let’s rest for a bit.”
    â€œThere’s no time, I tell you!” Eldon gave his wife a tug. Startled, she fell in a heap, and the baby began to cry.
    â€œWe’re your kin, not your slaves. Remember that!” Cleo’s eyes blazed up at her husband, then she turned to shush and comfort Gabriel.
    Eldon knelt beside his wife. He tried to take her in his arms, but she pushed him away and turned her face to the whimpering baby.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “But time is running out…we have to meet a man—I’m not sure where—to take us across the river.”
    â€œWill he wait for us?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    Flower’s parents looked steadily at each other, then Eldon helped his wife to her feet. The family started to walk again. Flower had never seen her father act like that. It frightened her to see him frightened. She knew what fear looked like. She had seen and heard things, back where they’d come from. Sometimes there were cries in the night in the shared bunkhouse. She remembered her mother bathing the bleeding backs of two men who had been beaten after they tried to run away. She knew if the family got caught they could face the same punishment. She wondered if there might be a way for them to slip back to the plantation before their absence had been noticed, and before the master knew what they had done. But her father continued to lead them in another direction.
    As the sun came up, she heard the swish of moving water, smelled the dampness of approaching wetland. The ground became muddy, the gumbo sucking at her shoes. Flower unknowingly approached a nest and jumped with alarm as the startled bird shot up into the sky.
    â€œTime for us to make our own nest.” Eldon led them to a tangled grove on higher ground, wearily arranged extra branches for cover. The family settled in.
    It was late afternoon when Flower awoke. Without disturbing her parents, she slipped out of their hiding place. Within a few minutes she spotted a felled tree, mossy with age. Flower lifted her skirt and perched on it. A small squirrel scurried through the fallen leaves and sat for a moment with his paws up against his face, filling his cheeks with food. Flower held her hand out to him, but he disappeared under a bush.
    She wondered how close they were to the river. Perhaps the man was there. It would be wonderful if Flower saw him—she could return to her father and tell him that help was waiting. How relieved he would be! She stood and rearranged her clothing and began to walk.
    Her feet were noiseless on the carpeted ground. The forest floor was soft and pliable, the trees far apart, beams of light angling between them. She promised herself she wouldn’t go far. Her parents might reach for her in their sleep. They would come awake fearful of where she