"Ruin and Redemption"

The Noose

Josiah watched Lizzie with his one good eye, trying his best to remain calm and not worry about what was going to happen to one of his closest friends, a woman he cared a great deal about. He was also worried about his wife Mindy. He knew she was not the target of the men’s anger today. Nevertheless, he hated to be riding away from her when an angry mob was on the loose, even if they had already found their intended victim. What if someone changed their mind and road off to the quarters to take his wife while he was busy protecting Lizzie? The thought made him want to turn around, ride back to the quarters and check, just to make sure Mindy was safe and let her know he was looking out for her. He would hate for anything to happen to her while she was carrying his child.

It was extremely difficult for him to leave behind the woman he had made love to just the other night for Lizzie. Derrick ought to be riding out with him. Should he turn around and go back for Derrick? The two of them together would be more formidable. Josiah could actually see them preventing Lizzie from getting killed. But Michael urged him to stay the course and follow Lizzie and the mob. Joe was extremely nervous. He hoped when the time came there was something he could do that wouldn’t get him killed.

Lizzie managed to turn around and catch his eye once. Seeing the panic in her eyes, he felt ashamed and apologetic that he had considered going back to Mindy---that he felt such a visceral pull towards his wife, although the danger to her was not nearly so great. He hoped Lizzie did not feel his reluctance to be there, trying to discern how to protect her. He could not imagine not being there for Mindy when the baby came. Perhaps his fear for her was also a fear that in protecting Lizzie he might lose his own life. Then, who would support Mindy? His sister, of course, Izzie! The thought of Izzie and her shotgun comforted Josiah and steadied his nerves. Perhaps Izzie would go to Mindy, or come to him and help him get Lizzie out of her predicament. Izzie would know what to do.

 

Keep at it Josiah. Michael urged.

I will. Josiah replied. He was committed now, realizing that with or without him, Mindy would be safe giving birth to the child she had already recognized as their daughter Isobel, after his sister Izzie. If Josiah didn’t make it back, Izzie would be there, protecting Mindy and Isobel and providing fresh meat to supplement the crops.

Lizzie was yelling at the men holding onto her. “My husband is Derrick LaPoint! What are you doing to me? How can I be a n-gg-r bitch? I’m white!”

The men were ignoring her pleas and dragging her along. From time to time, she turned to look at Josiah, and he tried to make sure his head was turned away. What kind of comfort could he give her? Unless someone else managed to show up, he was going to have a very difficult time dissuading this angry mob from doing what it wanted to do.

The men kept pulling Lizzie down the road, and she kept twisting her arms and questioning them.

Josiah was startled when he saw that there was a gallows constructed in the field they were approaching. It featured a step stool and a noose. So this was how they planned to kill her. Josiah was relieved. There would be no long torture for his friend. They would march her up the stairs, kick the top step out, and in a matter of moments she would be dead. Unless he could stop them. Butterflies swirled in his stomach. He had to try something to prevent the inevitable, to delay Lizzie’s death, at the least. He was far outnumbered, but there had to be something he could do, otherwise his cowardice would haunt him, along with the final minutes of Lizzie’s life as she struggled in the noose. All his life, it seemed he had struggled and worked. Lizzie had had such an easy life in comparison, & she had rejected his offer of marriage. And yet he couldn’t help but remember the good things she had done for him, the lunches she and Michael and Derrick had shared with him. He also remembered how Lizzie had taken the time to try to teach him to read sporadically. It hadn’t been a lot, but she had considered him worth teaching. She hadn’t taught him what she had taught Michael, but she had tried. But where was that fancy planter she had married, where was Derrick? Josiah looked around behind him, wondering if it wouldn’t have been better to disregard Michael’s earlier advice and fetch Derrick while they were still close to the house.