Amelia floated in a haze, a soft cushioned place that gentled her. She tried to push away the intrusion of light, a glare that made her eyes ache. Her mouth felt dry as cotton. She lifted her head and focused on Al at the table reading the Banner and sipping coffee.
“Laudanum is powerful stuff.” He moved to the bed with a glass of water, stroked her tousled hair and then wrapped her in his arms.
She leaned into him, needing his comfort, glad to have him back. “What does the paper say?” She mumbled against his chest.
“Not much this morning. Still no names. People are wading the Promenade to leave town. That means the road in front of Stein House isn’t under water.”
“The tide’s taken back the water like it did before. It sucked bodies out to sea.” Hot tears streaked her cheeks.
“Rest while I go to the bank. Then I’ll see how much lumber they can load on the wagon. I’m sure Caruthers has records of every item we bought for the barn, including the number of nails. Last time, we had a lot of wood from the slave quarters. This time, we’ll start from scratch.”
“I don’t want to go home until I hear from Helga.”
“I’ll deliver the lumber and come right back.” He ran his hand along the braid hanging down her back, savoring the feel of her, grateful the anger had been swept aside.
Al hadn’t been gone long when she heard Carl Schutze asking Karina in German if she could direct him to Frau Waters.”
She hurried to the door. “I’m here Herr Schutze. Please come in.”
“So many of our kinsmen have inquired about your family, Frau Waters. I’ve been watching the wire for any news of Indianola. I’ve not seen more than the Banner is printing, so I’ve not bothered you. I shall keep watching.” He pulled a copy of Deutsche Zeitung from his pocket. I’ve taken the liberty of letting all our kinsmen know to hold you and your family in prayers.”
Amelia clutched the newspaper filled with the soothing words of her own language. “You bring me the comfort of home, Herr Schutze.”
Days dragged into a blur. Amelia took over the care of Albert. His arms holding onto her quieted the hollow place in her body. His chatter distracted her until he asked when he could ride Sunshine. Then her heart ached with the memory of Samuel hugging his pony’s neck while his opa never tired of leading the animal. That precious child couldn’t be gone and yet he could. Children didn’t get saved. They died and sometimes they died horribly.
The Banner editor showed her lists of downtown buildings destroyed in the fire that consumed most of the business district. He sent messages asking Victoria reporters if Stein House on the Promenade had survived. They sent back word: Total devastation. Unable to identify. Indianola wiped from the coast.
Al made several trips to deliver the lumber, took his turn on night patrol, and returned each time with news of the barn quickly taking shape. He helped Amelia search Texas newspapers and even the New York Sun and Chicago Tribune for any twist in the story that might offer a hint of survivors.
August drew to a close. The storm had broken the intense summer heat, but fall seemed a long way off. Amelia met the train each day at noon and waited for the mailbags. The Victoria Advocate wrote that all the piers had been destroyed, which meant that mail would have to be lightered to ships waiting out in the bay. If the town was gone, would ships even bother to come into the port? Still, she waited for the train to bring a letter.
On a mid-September morning, Amelia and Albert were busy stacking and counting cans on the shelves. The bell jangled on the front door, and Amelia looked up to see her sister framed at the entrance. Then Helga limped into the store, her eyes searching––a lost soul.
Amelia bound around display tables and barrels to reach her sister, grabbing the trembling body in her arms. “You’re safe. Dear God, I thought I’d lost you.”
Helga leaned heavy into Amelia’s embrace, sucking in racking sobs, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. She waved toward Eagle who carried Samuel in one arm and reached to hold his wife. “We’re all that’s left.” Her gesture included Ester standing by the door; her face squeezed red with the effort to hold back tears.
Amelia stared at her sister collapsed against Eagle. “Hermie and Lilly Pearl?”
Samuel kept his arm around Eagle’s neck, and in a clear voice he said, “Mama and Papa went up to heaven with Sugar.”
Cora had run upstairs to announce the arrival. They had all started down when Samuel’s voice filled the stillness.
Al reached for Helga and pulled Ester into the circle of his arms. “Let’s get you home. Did anything survive?”
“Naw.” Eagle’s eyes trailing around the store looked hollow as a corpse. “There’s nothing left of Indianola. We stopped in Hallettsville for a bath and clean clothes. We’re wearing all we own. He reached for his wife’s hand. “Toby needs to look at a cut on Helga’s foot. Ester’s been pouring kerosene on it every day.”
Toby knelt to examine the swollen foot. After applying iodine and wrapping it in a fresh bandage, he said, “Ester’s taken good care. I recommend continuing what she’s been doing.”
Ester, almost as tall as Toby, nodded her head in obvious relief. Emboldened by her new respect, her shyness dissolved. She strolled about the store. “This is the fanciest place I’ve ever seen. You’ve got poster beds that would touch most ceilings.”
Cora’s breast swelled, and she took the young woman’s hand for a private tour.
A smile flickered at the corners of Helga’s mouth. “The wagon holds our worldly goods––the washing machine and my jars of coins.”
“Really? You still buried your money in the garden?” Amelia laughed, and for an instant, it felt like old times.
Albert and Samuel trailed the adults, listening to the talk about what they needed to take to the little house. Finally, they wandered over to the shelves and began stacking cans.
Al looked at both children––one fair-skinned blond and one milk chocolate. “Maybe Albert can ride home with us. Be company for Samuel while they get settled.”
By the time their wagons pulled away from the store, Ester and Cora had become friends. “Get them to bring you back real soon,” Cora called.
They rode through throngs of Negroes spilling into the street, drawn by a brass band to Mt. Rose Baptist Church where food covered several tables.
“That’s a Republican precinct meeting,” Amelia said. “They’re trying to get out the vote in November.”
“I read about the murder in Chappell Hill during the last election,” Helga said. “Is it close to the Waters farms?”
“You read about it?”
“We’ve been getting the Brenham Banner and Deutsche Zeitung since you moved up here.”
Amelia saw the flash of anger in her sister’s eyes. “You’ve known about all the trouble? About the Klan?”
Helga raised one eyebrow and clasped Amelia’s hand. “At first, I was really angry with you for pretending everything was perfect. The ships would bring a letter from you telling about the new school or a new house and the newspapers on the same ship would have an account of the grand jury meeting or the rape trial. Then Eagle admitted it was a conspiracy between the two of you to get me to move up here. That’s when I got really angry with him. It took me a while to realize that it was like before when you begged me to emigrate. You wanted our family together.”
Amelia reached for Helga’s hand. “I’ve missed you.”
The anger flashed again. “You said that when you begged me to follow you to Texas. Then you tore up here to be with Al. I hope you don’t decide to traipse off again.”
Eagle looked back at Amelia. “The Banner is really pushing for the Democrats.”
She watched her sister grin at her husband and was glad he’d eased the tension. But she wished for Al’s charm at explaining the troubles that gripped the county. “Our Republicans are mostly Negroes and Germans. They’re determined not to lose their political influence.”
Eagle threw back his head and laughed. “I can’t believe I may have to become a Republican.”
The sound of a brass band at the Waters precinct met them long before they reached the farm. They pulled around the bend to a busy scene of people milling along the drive to Mama Zoé’s house that would host the meeting.
Al stood up in his wagon and introduced Amelia’s family. He told how the storm destroyed their home and the port of Indianola. The welcoming applause was long and loud. Several came up to the wagons to shake all their hands, including Samuel’s.
Helga gazed about like a girl in wonderland. “I love these giant trees.” Then she spotted the little house and clasped her hands to her chest. “That’s ours. You described it perfectly.”
Eagle turned, reached to touch her knee. “I’ll build you a better one as soon as I can.”
“No, please don’t. I’ll love not cleaning a monster.” She climbed from the wagon, patted the red cedar shading the front door. “We’ve come to a forest.” She floated through the house, caressed the door facings, and opened the curtains to allow the last of the evening light.
“Look at that stove. It’s perfect.” She turned to her husband who had been watching her every move. “This is our new home.”
Before they finished unloading, families that had gathered for the precinct meeting came with plates of supper for everyone.
“I believe it’s final. I got converted to a Republican,” Eagle said as he sat down at the table to devour his food.
Near the end of September, Al and Eagle returned from a trip to Brenham. As they unloaded the supplies, Al said, “Wally doesn’t look good. He’s losing weight. Something’s wrong with his stomach. We need to get some help in the store.”
“I’ll go.” Ester stopped a barrel of flour in her arms. “I’ve done about all I can around here. Helga can manage this little house without me.”
“You believe you’d like working in the store?” Eagle looked doubtful.
“Cora’s a nice ol’ lady. I didn’t see much of Mister Wally.”
“We can take her into town? Let her give it a try?” Al glanced at Helga for approval.
“This is your home.” Helga looked up at the towering girl. “We’re your family.”
Ester’s lips puckered. “You took me in after that first storm killed Martin. When we were swimming with Samuel between us, I promised God if he’d let me live, I’d take care of you forever.” Ester’s big shoulders heaved. “But I need work. There’s not enough to do around here.”
“You go.” Helga threw her arms around the young woman. “We’ll come see you. And you’ll be here for holidays.”
The men took Ester into town and returned home laughing. Al said, “I figured with Toby opening his new office, Ester could stay upstairs. Cora would have none of it. She took Ester home with her.”
Helga paced the kitchen. “Did she seem content to be there?”
Eagle leaned on his wife’s shoulder. “Remember how Ester insisted on doing your shopping? She loved keeping you informed about all the Indianola gossip? Well, she and Cora were already busy talking.”
“Just the same, I’ll miss her.”
Eagle smoothed a strand of hair off his wife’s cheek. “Truth is, I don’t mind moving our growing grandson into Ester’s room.”
Helga looked at Amelia and showed a tiny grin of agreement.
Eagle started taking his turn on night patrol. As election day neared, Carl Schutze who had lost his position as district attorney in the last election was making a serious bid against Judge Kirk. Schutze came often to the precinct meetings to answer questions and plead for their vote. “Rest assured that Judge Lafayette Kirk and his minions will do all they can to beat me.”
On election day, guards patrolled the road, checked strangers for weapons, and maintained order. At dusk, Schutze carried all but two votes. The Republican candidate for tax assessor held an overwhelming lead. When Al climbed into the wagon for the trip to the courthouse with the precinct’s ballot boxes, Amelia reached for his hand and pulled it to her lips. She watched the wagon move around the bend and out of sight, then squeezed her eyes shut to tamp down the gripping fear. Why didn’t she tell him that she loved him?
She had finished dressing for bed when a rider galloped at full speed down the road. He had leaped from his horse and was still holding the animal’s rein when she reached the front door. She did not recognize the young, frightened Negro. He stuttered trying to form his words.
Eagle hurried across the road buttoning his trousers over his longjohns.
“They’s a killing at the Flewellens’ precinct. Right at dark. Three men in masks busted in with guns. Some of them niggers fired a full charge of number four shot. Hit his eye and took off part of his head under that mask. It was Dewees Bolton what got kilt.”
“Who is this Bolton?” Eagle eased the man onto one of the rocking chairs on the front porch. Amelia brought him a cup of water.
“His pappy’s on the ballot. Don’t know what drove him to our place.”
“Would you like me to ride into Brenham with you to report it?” Eagle was already putting on the shirt that Helga had brought to him.
“I be obliged. Nigger out loose on a night like this ain’t safe from nothing.”
While they talked, three of the night patrol gathered to listen. “You go with the man. We’ll watch the womenfolk.” Mundy spoke for the group.
Helga reached for her sister’s hand. “Samuel’s asleep. Come stay with me.”
The sisters lay side-by-side in the little house watching the clouds––lit by the moon––drift past the window like wisps of gauze.
Amelia spoke in the dark. “Are you sorry you moved into this mess?”
“I’m sorry to come like this––losing Hermie and Lillie Pearl. Ester found them. They died in each other’s arms.”
Amelia pulled her sister onto her shoulder, offering her a place to wash the pain with tears. Helga had not talked about the storm or losing Hermie and Lillie Pearl. Just as she had always done when pain seemed like more than anyone could bear, she had worked. She had scoured every dust particle from the house and enlarged the garden for planting winter greens.
“Samuel survived because Hermie asked me to watch him. His mama had a terrible fear of the water. Hermie took her to another room to calm her down, to keep her from scaring Samuel.” Helga choked and sobbed like a child.
Amelia stroked her hair. If I hadn’t begged her to come to Texas, Anna wouldn’t have had yellow fever and died just past her third birthday. Paul would never have started drinking at such an early age.
“Gretchen’s my last child. And New York’s so far away.”
“She can come faster and a lot safer on the train.”
“Ohhh, that’s so true. I’ll write tomorrow.” Helga’s voice drifted. She slipped into a deep sleep that Amelia prayed would restore her spirit.