Do you ever sometimes wish that when seeing or doing something not the best or in a situation that you don't want to be in you were dreaming. That was my experience right now. Looking up at the 5 men was the most horrifying experience that I have ever had. I don't even know where to begin on what I was thinking but one thing for sure was that if I was dreaming it would be a perfect time to wake up. Two of the four men jumped at me and yanked on both of my arms pulling me up to a standing position. Pain exploded through both arms as the all held them so tightly I could feel the bruises beginning to form. I looked at the man on the horse and held my breath waiting for something terrible to happen. Hoping though that whatever happened didn't include the whip. The man had dark brown shaggy hair, striking blue eyes, and was wearing what looked to me like a military type uniform. He just stared at me for a moment pretty much like everyone else was. I'm sure it wasn't every day that someone fell out of a tree in front of them.
"Chain her up." The man suddenly said. The burly men dragged me slightly down the hill past all the other prisoners that were also staring at me to the end of the line. They clamped shackles on my legs and arms. The whip sounded and everyone was walking again with me bringing up the rear. Walking in shackles is a lot harder then one could imagine. They were extrememly heavy and your steps were so much small then your usual ones. There was a woman in front of me that kept turning her head to look at me. She was very petite and had very big green eyes. I did the best smile that I could muster up hoping that she was nice and that she could tell me where we were going and why we were chained up. She smiled back and then faced forward again. There were guards walking on either side of us. The main leader on the horse was up front and then there were 4 guards on each side of the line we made. There were at least 20 men and women in front of me. It was completely silent except for the noises from the chains clinging and clanking together and the occasional sound of the whip. I didn't even know that people still used whips in the 1800's. Maybe this was a twilight 1800's version.
My mind was going through all the different scenarios that might happen to me once we get to the destination. Every now and then while we were walking one of the guards would hit someone to get them to walk faster. The sounds that I heard were penetrating my mind and giving me constant chills racing up and down my spine. Finally we stopped for a moment. The guards that were by us walked forward to talk with the other guards. I whispered quietly to the girl in front of me, "Where are they taking us? What's going to happen? Why are we all chained up?" I rushed through all my questions before she had time to answer the first one.
"We are going to Dramden. They are taking us to be slaves for the leaders of the town. We are now all slaves. When we get there we will be branded as slaves forever."
Slaves. Slaves. I couldn't believe it. I was going to be a slave for someone. I had horrible visions of getting beat for not getting something done fast enough or well enough. I hated to be told what to do but in this case I'm sure I didn't know how to do anything. I broke out into a cold sweat not knowing what it was going to be like. Knowing that it was going to be horrific and miserable. I knew that I needed to escape. I needed to be set free. I needed to help everyone get set free. I needed to come up with a plan. This was not the time to be just a girl. This was the time that my life began and where I needed courage and strength. I prayed to God for the strength and courage that I was going to need for the upcoming hours and days.
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