Free Dorothy Garlock - [Wabash River] by Yesteryear

potatoes, which she had washed at the well. They were now boiling on the stove, as were the collards, with a bit of smoked meat for flavor.
    Lord, what would she do if the preacher and a group of men came to get Colin? She firmly intended to hold them off with the gun if necessary. But then what? Would Sikes go to the magistrate and demand that she turn Colin over to him? He wouldn’t back down now and lose face with his flock. That much was certain.
    The thought of selling out to Mr. Birdsall had been in the back of her mind since morning. It would be a miracle if she could collect the money, load her family into the wagon, and get away before Sikes took action. She would gladly leave this place if it would mean she could keep Colin and Jane Ann. The tears that had been close to her eyes since morning were about to appear once again. She tossed her head and willed herself not to think about it any more until she, Trisha, and Colin could sit down and plan what to do.
    John took one look at the table and realized that Addie Hyde was serving him the best she had. After they were seated, Addie again said grace, then passed around a plate of hot cornbread squares. The children, he noticed, were well behaved. Their manners at the table were better than some he had seen in fancy hotel dining rooms and public restaurants.
    “Mr. Tallman, we’re obliged to you for fixing the fence and especially for repairing the chicken house,” Addie said, after the plates were filled and they had begun to eat.
    “I couldn’t have done much without Colin. My back just happens to be stronger than his, or he could have done it without me.”
    “Do you have a little girl?” Jane Ann asked.
    “No, but one of my sisters has two girls and the other has one. One of them is about your age.”
    “What’s her name?”
    “Her name is Tennessee, but she’s called Tenny.”
    “What an unusual name,” Addie said.
    “She was named after Tennessee Hoffman, a little girl who saved my mother’s life. The father of the child, Mr. Hoffman, was a Frenchman with a sense of humor; his wife was a Shawnee. They named their daughters after the states they were born in. Tennessee’s two sisters were named Virginia and Florida.”
    “I believe there’s a story here, Mr. Tallman. We’d be delighted to hear it, wouldn’t we, children? But let’s let Mr. Tallman finish his meal first.”
    Addie dished out the bread pudding and it was eaten quickly. The children loved a story. Sometimes during the long winter evenings Trisha and Addie took turns making up stories to entertain them.
    “Are ya through yet?” Jane Ann asked as soon John had taken his last bite.
    “Yes, but . . .” He looked at Addie.
    “Please. That is, if you don’t mind.”
    “There’s no secret about it. It’s just that I’m not much of a talker.”
    “You seem to be doing just fine.”
    John shrugged and began.
    “My mother and the rest of the family will be forever grateful to the little girl whose name was Tennessee for saving her from being carried off into the wilderness, possibly never to see her family again. It happened a long time ago; before my mother and my father were married. My father, Rain Tallman, was escorting a lady from Quill’s Station on the Wabash to Fort Smith on the Arkansas. My mother had gone along as companion to the lady who was to marry the fort commander.
    “The party had stopped to rest for a day or two at Davidsonville, a small settlement on the Black River. Tennessee’s father had a trading post there. One day my mother and the other lady went down to the river to bathe and wash clothes. While there, they were taken captive by a renegade trapper by the name of Antoine Efant.
    “Tennessee, who was about eleven years old then, saw the women taken and saw Efant and his party ride their horses into the river. She knew they were doing this to make it difficult for my father to track them. Keeping to the woods, she ran alongside the river to see