Free Carried Forward By Hope by Ginny Dye Page A

with Clifford. There was nothing else she could do. She watched silently as Miles and Moses carried the boxes and luggage down from the house and stacked them in the wagon. She almost cried when May bustled out with a big basket of food for them, because she knew it had been made strictly for Janie.
    Everyone remained silent but grief shone from every pair of eyes.
    When the wagon was full, Carrie turned and grabbed Janie in a tight embrace. “You are my sister,” she whispered fiercely, forcing the words around the tears in her throat. “You promised to write, and you promised to leave if things get really bad.” She swallowed back her tears and gripped her even more tightly. “I love you, Janie. I don’t know what I would have done without you all these years.”
    Janie gripped her back just as tightly. “I love you too, Carrie! You are the sister I always dreamed of. I will write you every week.”
    Clifford stared down at them, his face a tight mask. “It’s time to go, Janie,” he said calmly.
    Carrie forced herself to look up and smile. Increasing his enmity by saying everything that boiled in her would only make things more difficult for Janie. “Goodbye, Clifford. I’m so sorry you feel you have to leave now, but I hope you have a good journey back to North Carolina.” She paused and took a deep breath. “And I hope you find all you’re looking for.”
    She was almost mesmerized by Clifford’s cold eyes when he stared down at her. How had they gone from warm friends to obvious enemies? Her heart tightened at the brief glimpse she was seeing of just how relationships could change over the racial issue. Aunt Abby was right. The war had been won and the slaves were free, but the battle for racial equality had just begun.
    Clifford nodded curtly, but his eyes softened slightly. “Thank you for all your hospitality, Carrie.”
    Carrie fought the urge to laugh hysterically. She had saved Clifford’s life. She had arranged the wedding ceremony between him and Janie. They had lived as family for the last months. How had all that been reduced to hospitality ? She swallowed back her hysteria and smiled softly. “You’re welcome, Clifford. And you’re always welcome here,” she added graciously, determined to not let his anger create any more of a divide between her and Janie. Already, her heart was breaking.
    Carrie battled tears as she watched Janie climb onto the wagon seat beside Clifford, staring down at her with dark sorrow and confusion. Carrie clasped her hands together tightly as she stepped back beside Moses, thankful for the feeling of his strength beside her. “Goodbye,” she said softly, gazing into Janie’s eyes so that her friend would see all the love bubbling from the depths of her heart.
    Janie just stared at her, almost wild-eyed, as Clifford raised his hand and urged the horse forward. In just moments, the wagon had disappeared into the near darkness.
    Only then did Carrie collapse against Moses and let the tears come. Sobs wracked her body as Moses enfolded her and let her cry. “How could she go with him?” she finally cried. “How could she go with him?” she repeated, her voice a hoarse whisper.
    “He’s taken her courage,” Moses replied.
    Carrie pulled back to stare up at him with drenched eyes. “She told me today that she was afraid she was disappearing…” she whispered.
    Moses nodded. “A man like Clifford controls through fear. Janie is afraid of him. Until she can reach down to find her own courage and remember who she is, she won’t be able to stand against him.”
    “And if she does?” Carrie asked, fresh fear springing into her heart. “What will he do then?” Visions of Janie being beaten, or worse, filled her mind. She choked back the groan that wanted to escape.
    “There’s nothing you can do now but pray,” Moses said gently. “Janie is going to have choices and decisions to make.”
    Carrie wanted to scream out against the injustice. Anger rose