The Butcher's Daughter

Chapter 6

Before heading off, Annabelle asked Mabel to keep a close watch on her younger sisters. The sounds of war were growing closer with each passing day. During the night, everyone in the Casey residence would listen to far-off gunfire. Many times, it was nothing more than a single shot echoing in the night, but recently, they had grown in volume and frequency. This conversation with Annabelle meant two things to Mabel: one, her father was close by and two, it was becoming increasingly dangerous to pay Thomas Martin a visit at any time- night or day.

She would have gone inside, started her chores and looked after Scarlett and Delilah like she had been instructed to do. Going against Annabelle's orders was not her way- she loved her "cousin" with all her heart. If there was anyone in this lonely, frightening world that she could confide in, it was Annabelle. But the appearance and fragrance of smoke from a distant farm caused her to stray that morning.

The Martins owned more land and therefore, lived in a more isolated area than the Caseys or Whitleys. Mabel had the ability to tell that there were numerous fires on their property the second she reached the river. What started off as a jog turned into a frantic sprint through their cornfield. The extent of the damage came into view and she screamed his name with whatever remaining breath she had. Her strides and cries lessened when she saw his three youngest siblings huddled outside of their burning home.

"What happened?!" Mabel called from across the field. "Where is your father? The rest of your family? Where is-" her loudly beating heart grew into a hollow echo in her ears. Pain, so visceral and unrelenting prevailed as his colorless face and white shirt, stained heavily with blood, materialized before her.

"Thomas!" Mabel raced to hold the only boy she'd ever loved in her arms. His flesh was barely cool to the touch and the blood that was pouring from the open wound in his chest felt warm as it moved into the fibers of her clothes. Still, there was no denying that he was gone.

"The last words that I said to you were a lie," she whispered, holding him closer and warming the side of his face with her own, "to say that I hate you was the worst lie I ever told." Her attention turned to the aching, bewildered faces of his younger sisters and brother. "Who did this?!" She cried. "Who would do something so cruel to your family? Who would be so heartless to cut short the life of such a dear, sweet boy?"

The eldest daughter was the only one to speak. She had seen Mabel before with her brother, but only briefly. "The Redcoats came to take my brother away and Thomas tried to stop them. That's all I know," the tearful girl explained. "Father chased after them and asked us to stay here. Will you stay with us and keep us safe?"

Mabel gave her no answer. Instead, she returned to Thomas. "I lied," she repeated, caressing the soft, dark hairline that contrasted his white forehead. "Everyone I love always leaves me. But you only left because I sent you away. You were loyal and funny and perfect," tears arrived to suffocate the sound of her voice, "and I told you that I hated you and sent you away!" Each hand that framed the edges of the beautiful boy's face, began to gradually form into a fist. But Mabel didn't rise, not yet. Not without declaring her undying love with a final kiss to his brow.

"I cannot stay here," she started to say, but as Mabel took in the faces of his siblings, she could see features that belonged to Thomas- features that she adored, in each and every of them. Not only could she stay there to look after his younger sisters and brother- she should. But she didn't want to, not like this, so Mabel removed her black, tailored riding coat- the one that she would only be parted with if it needed a new button, hem, or to be washed and dried. Before returning Thomas to the dusty ground, she wrapped it around his chest and back, covering every inch of blood.

They sat in a circle, closer to the house, in a strange, sad and silent quartet. In the silence, Mabel's mind raced from one thought to another. She restricted her field of vision, focusing on the meticulously sewn rows of corn. This trick kept her eyes from wandering back to Thomas although occasionally, she would catch sight of him in her periphery. Each time, she would feel her fists begin to clench and she would considering vowing an act of vengeance to remedy the pain that his siblings were experiencing. But the words never found their way to her lips and were lost forever by the time their father and eldest brother emerged from the woods. Mabel was certain that she had nothing to say to them and so, only slightly satisfied that she was able to remain with the children and give them whatever comfort she could, Mabel disappeared without so much as a farewell.