Chapter 1
Angelina County, Texas February 1886
D
eborah, wake up! Deborah, hurry!”
At the sound of her mother’s frantic voice, Deborah
instantly awoke, bolting up from her bed as if the quilt itself were on
fire. Her mother crossed the room—a lamp in one hand, Deborah’s robe in the other.“Sissy needs you.”“Sissy? But why? What’s wrong?” Deborah pulled on the old dressing gown and tightened the sash.
A moment of silence hung heavily between the two women.
“She’s . . . been attacked.”Deborah met her mother’s worried expression, illuminated by the lamp she held. The single light gave Euphanel’s face an eerie,
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unnatural glow. “Attacked? By animals?” Deborah felt her heart
pick up its pace; dread pulsated through her veins. “What time is it? When did this happen?”
“Two, or thereabouts. Just come with me and you’ll see for
yourself. She’s been wounded, and since you’ve been studying with Dr. Clayton, I thought you could help.”
Deborah nodded and followed her mother. Downstairs she
could hear Sissy wailing and the voices of Lizzie and G.W. trying to calm her. What in the world had happened? Deborah saw her brother’s form heading out the back door just as she arrived in the kitchen.Sissy sat on a ladder-backed kitchen chair. Her normally rich
brown skin was now a sickly sort of gray, and blood streaked her skin
and clothes. Deborah rushed to her side and assessed her wounds. The worst was a deep gash on the side of her head.“What happened, Sissy?”
The woman rocked back and forth while Deborah carefully examined her. She noted a swollen eye, cut lip, and numerous scratches. But it was the nasty head wound that held Deborah’s
attention.
Her sister-in-law brought a basin of warm water and several
towels. “Best as we’ve been able to understand, some men came
to the house threatening David and George. I sent G.W. for the doctor. They’re going to stop by the Jackson cabin first and then
come here,” Lizzie said.“They said . . . blacks had to be taught their place . . . that they
was . . . the White Hand of God,” Sissy choked out the words. “Said
they . . . was sent to do . . . God’s will.”
“The White Hand of God?” Deborah asked, looking to her
mother.“G.W. said it’s a group of white men who go about with their
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