Freedom Train

April 21, 1963

April 22, 1963

Annabeth had never truly known hard work, until she had to work day and night to keep a farm and a house running. For all those years, she could admit, she had taken her parents for granted. Now that her Daddy was gone, and her Mama had become just another chore, Annabeth and Ronny found themselves busy from sun up until sun down, and it was truly exhausting.

She sat beside her brother and mother at the breakfast table, the remnants of a helping of eggs and toast in front of the them. While two of the plates were almost empty, one plate sat barely touched.

"Come now, Mama. You have to eat," Annabeth urged, her voice gentle.

"I'm just not hungry, dear," Sarah replied as she pushed the plate into the center of the table.

Ronny reached forward and pushed the plate toward their mother again.

"You have to try, Mama," he insisted. "Just a few more bites and we'll leave you be."

Annabeth sighed and stood, grabbing her and Ron's plate and bringing them to the sink. She began to run some water, but Ronny's voice called out.

"You cooked, A.B," he said. "You go on and head outside. I'll clean up the kitchen and get Mama settled."

Annabeth turned off the water with a brief nod and smile of appreciation to her brother. As grueling as it was, she would much rather spend her time with the animals in the barn than with her mother who had reverted to childlike behavior with the death of her husband.

A few minutes later, after her boots were securely fastened to her feet, Annabeth headed back toward the barn to feed and water their livestock. She thought on the mid-afternoon sale she would have with a neighboring farmer, two heads of cattle and a barrel of oat. They needed the business, the money, and Annabeth knew she would pay special attention to the cows who were up for sale- making sure they looked their best to assure the transaction went smoothly.

She was two steps from the barn door when she noticed something was amiss. The side door, which was always securely closed, was cracked open. There was no telling what could be lurking inside, so she grabbed the propped-up shovel from the front of the barn and tip toed her way into the structure.

There didn't seem to be any disarray from inside- The animals remained untouched and there was no noticeable disruption from where she stood. But she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that when she had gone to bed the night before- that door had been closed.

"Hello?" she called out cautiously, the shovel held before her in protection. "Is there anyone there?"

Annabeth heard a shuffling from near the piles of perfectly stacked hay. She stepped forward, her eyes on the pile- her mouth dropping into a surprised 'O' with the emergence of her trespasser.

***

For the second night in a row, Sandy Merriman hadn't been able to get any sort of real sleep. She had found herself wandering around the hotel perimeter- urging herself to tire- to no real avail. It was a little after three in the morning when she had finally found her way to her bed. Unfortunately, Bobby's incessant snoring deterred her from any sort of slumber until he crawled out of bed at 6 am and disappeared outside of the hotel room door.

It was mid-morning when a knock shook the hotel room. Sandy snapped her eyes open- annoyed. She had been sleeping for barely two and a half hours, and now someone wanted to wake her from that blissful little blip of comfort. She pulled a pillow over her head and cursed into the fluff.

She would not get up. Not a chance in hell. Whoever it was would just have to come back later.

The knock echoed again, and Sandy pulled the pillow from her face. Her eyes darted toward the door. Pissed off would be an understatement to how she felt in the moment, but she threw her legs over the side of the bed anyhow. In five quick steps, she threw open the door.