A difficult man

A difficult man Part 1

A difficult man

Chapter 1

Rock Creek 1868

It was a hot afternoon in June and Jane (so she had decided to be called as soon as she landed in America, fleeing Italy) was returning home with her wagon after having picked up her weekly work in the city. As soon as she arrived in Rock Creek she had seen an ad for a clothing store looking for a girl for embroidery and Jane had jumped at the opportunity. She had learned to embroider and knit very well from her maternal grandmother and loved to do it, so when she saw that ad she didn't let it slip away. She had only been in town for two weeks and still didn't know anyone but Mr. Thompkins from the store, the Stevenson family who lived not far from her, and Reverend Hills. She was a bit dejected for this but was confident that things would change over time.

She was immersed in her thoughts when, suddenly, she heard screams, blows and moans coming from some bushes. She stopped abruptly, got out of the wagon and hid behind one of the bushes to see what was happening.

The scene that presented itself took her breath away: men were beating and insulting a boy who no longer had the strength to react. The blows were so violent that she felt as if she were receiving them. She knew she could not intervene and hoped they would not kill him and stop as soon as possible. Instinctively she began to pray for that long dark-haired boy who now seemed unconscious and perhaps that was his luck because in a few minutes the man who looked like the boss, an ugly ginger-haired guy with a beard and mustache of the same color said: "Well, I think we finally got rid of this dirty half-breed, it won't bother us anymore" and burst into a big laugh that made her shiver.

The men let go of the boy who was in a pool of blood and mud and set off at a gallop.

Jane remained hidden for a few more minutes, to make sure that those ugly thugs were really gone and then came out of her hiding place running towards the boy who was lying on the ground.

She lifted him gently, looked into his face, tried to shake him and asked him: "Hey, can you hear me? I want to help you, I don't want to hurt you, but I need you to be awake ".

The boy seemed not to hear her and she put her ear close to his chest to hear if he was still alive and luckily she heard some beats, even if they were light. She tried to shake him again and he barely opened his eyes making a grimace of pain. Jane smiled and said: "Try to make an effort and stand up, I'm taking you on my chariot. Can you hear me?".

He seemed to be staring into space but gave a slight nod. Jane put her arm around his waist and put his around her shoulders but she noticed that his right arm was dangling strangely, maybe it was broken, so she tried to go over to the other side and repeated the same gesture. With difficulty she managed to drag him onto her chariot and slowly laid him down, causing his grunts of pain.

"I'll cover you with this blanket in case we run into those ugly thugs, which I sincerely hope we don't. I'll take you to my house and then I'll try to get the doctor to come, I don't trust him to take you to the city since they headed right in that direction, okay? ".

But the boy had already fainted and she prayed that he was still alive. She tried to avoid the holes as much as possible and soon arrived home. She removed the blanket and made sure he was still breathing and was relieved when she heard his breath. The problem now was dragging him up the entrance steps and especially the stairs leading upstairs to where the bedrooms were. She would put him in the guest room next to hers.

She did not know who that boy was, she had only heard that he was a half-breed and did not know if he was a criminal or a good person, but instinct told her that she had to help him. Certainly those men had not made a good impression on her so she assumed that this boy was their victim and not the other way around, or at least she hoped not to be mistaken, it would not have been pleasant to host a criminal in the house.