Free Force of Knight Magic by Kathi S. Barton

her to go and finish up her schooling. Got to the third grade and all , but nothing would make her go anymore.”
    Theresa stared at her daddy for saying such a thing. It was true , but he shouldn’t have said it to her new b eau .
    Mr. Richardson nodded. “Yes , sir. I don’t mind that she’s dumb. I’ll be needing to take me a wife soon and she is about the prettiest thing in this here county. Miss Theresa will suit me , I think.”
    Long after Mr. Richardson left she still sat on the porch and wondered if he’d insulted her or not. She’d been called stupid before and not just by her daddy , but this time it hurt her in her heart. But he had said she was the prettiest girl in the whole of the county and that sort of made up for it. She went into the house just as the sun was going down.
    The next afternoon she’d waited for Mr. Richardson for nearly three hours before she’d had to go out and feed the chickens. By the time evening had come around and supper was being put on the table she’d figured out he wasn’t coming for her. Her daddy hadn’t said anything to her about him , but he did look at her sort of sadlike several times while they ate. The next morning she knew why.
    It was all over the town that he’d been killed. His horse had thrown him and he’d broken his neck. Another farmer had found him lying in a ditch not a mile from her house. That was the cause of all the rumors starting.
    She’d killed first her momma , they’d said , and now a man who’d bragged he was going to marry her. She’d taken to her room for a week. Not sad that he’d been killed , but happy because he’d told people he’d been going to marry her. Her gr eat- aunt told her it wasn’t fitting for her to be so happy about the one thing the stupid boy would have regretted his entire life.
    Two weeks had gone by and she’d finally left her house. She’d wanted to wear black , but again her gr eat- aunt had put her foot down. Her daddy had said nothing , but had gone on to work in the mines. She’d been around the store three times , she’d remembered. No one would talk to her and she finally had to get back home. It was coming on dusk and she knew she’d be in big trouble if she didn’t make it there before her daddy did.
    She’d seen the woman coming toward her for a few minutes before she’d seen that she was a stranger. The closer she got , the more Theresa hurried along. It wasn’t as if the woman was big or anything , just that Theresa didn’t like the way she kept looking at her. But she was able to pass her without any words being spoken between them and Theresa let go of the breath she’d been holding. She never heard the woman move until she was right behind her.
    Theresa had waked late into the night. She was laying on a hard table and she felt…well , heavy , as she thought about it now. Getting up , she wondered for a minute as to why she was wearing her momma’s good dress until she saw all the tables around her.
    She’d been in the funeral parlor’s back room. Getting up made her dizzy and she couldn’t figure out why she felt so hungry yet the thought of food made her ill. She stumbled to the doorway when she heard music. Following it up the long stairs from the basement , she saw the woman and a man standing next to her daddy. Before she could go to him , the woman was suddenly there.
    “You’ll obey me now. I’m your new master. You’re father thinks you’re dead and that’s the way it should be.” She started to lead her away from her daddy and Theresa tried to fight her off. “No, it will do you no good. I am your master.”
    By this time , they’d made it back to the little room where she’d awakened . She thought for sure that the woman was going to do something to her and she wasn’t having any of that. Grabbing the first thing she could touch, Theresa had turned and stabbed out with the long piece of staff. The thing had gone right though her head and out the back end.