Scars

Prologue Part 2

Mary's eyes fluttered opened to the sound of Aunt Rosie humming a hymn. She was laying in her bed and Aunt Rosie was at the dresser with a cloth and some medicine. She turned and saw that Mary was awake. Mary thought about pretending she was still asleep, just in case she was going to get into trouble.

"Alright, Mary," Aunt Rosie said, " this is probably going to hurt but we need to get the briars out of your feet and legs from where you fell."

Mary nodded her head as Aunt Rosie began to work on her legs. "Ouch!" Mary said, biting her lip to keep from crying.

"Think about something else. Something fun. I'll be through in just a little bit," Aunt Rosie explained. "Now why in the world would you jump out of the barn like that?"

"Well," Mary gulped, scared to continue. "Charlie said boys were better than girls and dared me to jump." Aunt Rosie looked at Mary slightly disappointed. Mary didn't like that look. It hurt her heart.

"Well, if boys are better than girls, then why didn't Charlie jump?"

"He said I had to go first to prove I was just as good. He jumped after me."

Aunt Rosie shook her head, "No, he didn't jump. I guess girls are better than boys."  A little smile crossed Mary's face. "Maybe we are." The smile quickly fell. "You aren't going to send us back, because we disobeyed are you? I don't want to go back." Aunt Rosie brushed Mary's hair out of her face. "No, I think these bruises and scratches will be punishment enough and Charlie had to go behind the barn with Uncle Herman." Oh no, Mary thought. That means Charlie got a whipping.

 A knock on the door made both Mary and turn to see a very sad Charlie standing in the doorway. You could still see the dirt smeared across his face, where he had been wiping the tears away. Charlie cleared his throat and asked, "May I come in, Aunt Rosie?"

"Yes, Charlie. You may."

Charlie walked over to the side of Mary's bed. His eyes widen and filled with tears again when he looked down at her legs.

Charlie reached over and took Mary's hand. "I'm really sorry, Mary. I shouldn't have made you jump. I didn't think you would really do it."

Mary sighed and looked at Charlie. "I guess girls are better than boys then, huh?" She smiled at Charlie.

"Maybe so, Mary." He laughed.

"Alright, Charlie. You've apologized. Now it's time for you to get ready for bed. We need to let Mary rest for a few days so we can all go to the revival Friday."

"Yes ma'am," both children said. Mary and Charlie hugged and he skipped out of the room. Mary tried to go to sleep but it was hard to do with her legs hurting so badly.

After a few days of bed rest, Mary was finally allowed to leave her room for the revival services that night. It looked like the whole town had come out. Mary was so excited. She loved to hear the singing and after the service, she might get to play with the neighbor children for a while.

"Now, children I want you to stay with me, no running off. There are a lot of people here. I don't want you to get lost." Both children nodded and held Aunt Rosie's hands. Aunt Rosie found an empty row of seats and quickly ushered the children into it.

A man dressed in a nice dark suit approached the front of the stage. He raised both hands to get the audience's attention. The noise died down and the man began praying for the evening's service. A movement caught Mary's attention. She noticed that Mr. Springer, the pharmacist had a large picnic basket with him. The basket shook again. Mary reached up and tugged on Mr. Springer's sleeve.