Page from a Tennessee Journal (AmazonEncore Edition)

to lift.
    “My God, Laura, is it the baby?” The sound of Alex’s boots bounded across the room. Her world suddenly turned to a blur of dying fireplaces, dying lamplight, and dying men.
    “No. Gawd. Ughh. Mmm. You can’t be here. You got to leave. Cleveland…”
    “It’s the baby.” Alex’s hands tumbled over themselves in his hurry to untangle the blankets that wrapped her body.
    He bent closer, looked into her face, and frowned. Annalaura took in short, quick breaths. She had to warn him out of the cabin. He stopped fumbling with the covers and moved to retrieve the low-burning lamp.
    “Shit. Where’s the kerosene for this damn thing? It’s dark in here.” He swung the lamp over her face.
    The little flicker of light was weak, but allowed her to catch just a quick glimpse of his face. Another pain moved up, and she held her breath. The lamp thudded to the bedside stand. The old bed dipped down as Alex knelt beside her.
    “You got to breathe, Laura.”
    Her eyes cranked open under Alex’s rough hands as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up in the bed. His hands beat back the offending blankets and suddenly stopped. She watched him bring his hands to his face. Alex played his fingers under the light from the kerosene lamp. Both hands were smeared with her blood.
    The floodwaters signaled their retreat, and Annalaura watched Alex stare at one hand and then the other before he grabbed at the lamp and swung it back to her face. Her neck and shoulders pressed against the bed headboard. She let the air make its way back into her. She had just enough strength to lay an arm against Alex’s chest as he knelt over her.
    “Go. You gotta leave. John…my husband…he back…pistol. Please go.”
    “Your face? What the hell happened to your face?” Alex leaped from the bed.
    Didn’t he hear her? Annalaura bit down on her bloody lip as she tried to make her ribs move to take in more air. She had to get Alex out of the cabin.
    He scrambled around the room, filling the lamp. She heard Alex’s boots stomp back across the floor to her.
    “Now.” She moaned. “You gotta go now.”
    The mattress sagged under Alex’s weight as the bright light from the refilled lamp swung across her face. She closed her eyes all the tighter until the lamp moved away.
    “That bastard hit you, didn’t he?” The sound of Alex’s voice frightened her all the more.
    A cloth dampened in cool water dabbed at her eyes, lips, and all her cut and sore places. She sensed his hot breath of anger fan her face. She couldn’t have Alex mad at John and John mad at Alex. If only God would take these awful pains away so she could sort out this mess.
    The first shock wave of cannon thunder rolled into position in her belly. She heard Alex lift the pitcher on the nightstand and pour fresh water over the cloth.
    “Where’s yo’ aunt? Where’s Rebecca Thornton?” He turned back to her and laid the coolness against her cheek.
    The cloth’s comfort was no match against the cannonballs ripping her insides to shreds. The battle caught her breath and held it as she grabbed for life wherever she could touch. She dug her fingers into her lifeline as the battle raged.
    “Take a breath, Laura. My God, take a breath.”
    Hands grabbed her shoulder and pulled her body out of a deep hole just as the cannons ran out of powder. Her eyes opened as air poured back into her body. She stared directly at Alex. Annalaura remembered that his eyes were a milky blue, but she had never seen such worry in them. He sat next to her on the bed, cradling her head against his chest.
    “Mmm.” Her voice wouldn’t work.
    She pointed to Becky’s food safe. She clutched at Alex’s arm, and her fingernails dug in hard, drawing his blood.
    “Where’s the doctor?” Alex’s arms wrapped tighter around her.
    His mind must be unraveling. He knew as well as she that no colored in Lawnover could afford a doctor. With one hand, he grabbed Becky’s feather pillow and plopped it under her back. He swept the other down to the blood-speckled cover, gave her a puzzled look, and jumped off the bed.
    “I’m goin’ for help.” He started for the door.
    “Nooo.” Her scream rushed out as a new rumbling started in her belly. “No time. Baby comin’.” If she could, she would have swallowed back her words. She couldn’t bring this baby into the world by herself. She needed help, and right now. But if Alex stayed…and John…
    “Oh, my Lord…uhhh…Go. Go,