Border Secured (A Scenario) Section 2 - Part 1

Reverend Julian did not come to the house the following day as he had promised. He called in the afternoon and said he had some urgent business to attend to at the church. I was glad he wasn’t coming by. It was Christmas Eve and there were so many things to be done. Luckily I had already baked the Christmas Plum Puddings from last week and placed them in airtight tins. I ‘watered’ them liberally everyday with a mixture of rum and wine. I held the recipe to my Christmas Plum Pudding close to my heart. It was a secret handed down to me from my Grandmother Charmaine, which she said was handed down to her from her Grandmother. Not even Maud knew the recipe. Every year I would lock

Border Secured (A Scenario) - Part 14

'Leave the child with us', said Florence. We will tell Mass Wharbucks that we found her sleeping under the cotton tree. We will make no mention of you, we will just give him the letters and tell him we found them in the bag she was carrying. He is a smart man, he will put two and two together and figure it out. Ben was in agreement with Florence’s plan. He reminded Charles that Stanley Wharbucks wanted him dead and if he was found on the property that would be the minute he, Charles, would take his last breath. Charles put his face in his hands, he did not want to leave Charmaine behind but deep down in his heart he knew it was best for her. From the letter that Charlotte wrote Charles knew that he could trust Ben. He also knew that he could not run from parish

Border Secured (A Scenario) - Part 13

I awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. My head was throbbing fiercely. I went to the kitchen and thinly sliced a lime, which I took back to my room. I searched my dresser drawers and found one of my father’s handkerchiefs, which I folded in two. I placed the slices of lime on my temples and tied the handkerchief around my head just like my Grandmother used to do. I knew that I would be feeling much better in a couple hours. I glanced at the clock and gasped, it was almost two o’ clock in the afternoon. I went to have a shower, all this time wondering why the place was so quiet. This was short-lived

Border Secured (A Scenario) - Part 12

Not in my house! I repeated. But-but-but Ma’am, stuttered Maud, the baby is coming! I don’t care, I said, through clenched teeth. Not in my house! I was still putting up my Christmas decorations, the tree still had to be decorated, the new drapes that I had ordered were coming in two days, I had also planned to start my baking on the weekend and there was no way in hell that I was going to allow any baby to be born in my house! The woman screamed out in pain and Maud, with tears in her eyes pleaded with me to help her. Take her around the back to the new kennel, I told Maud. ‘In the kennel?’ she asked. Did I stutter Maud? But the dogs! Are you hard of hearing Maud? I said the new kennel, take her to the new kennel! Maud huffily went to help the woman. Maud could be a little stubborn at times, but the new kennel had never been used. The dogs refused to enter it and Maud always said it was because it looked like a prison with the huge grill doors, but as far as I was concerned it was good enough place for the ‘migrant’ to have her baby in. It was clean and airy, the dogs’ beds were huge and, after all, Jesus

Border Secured (A Scenario) - Part 11

The baby hollered nonstop for fifteen minutes. That’s how long it took for its mother to make the feed. When I asked her about breastfeeding the baby, she said the milk in her breast was for the baby that she was expecting. I rolled my eyes heavenward. Dear Jesus, I said in my mind, no wonder these people are always happy because ignorance is certainly bliss! The baby settled down after it was fed and went back to sleep in his mother’s arms. I rejoined Maud and the Reverend in the den. I really wanted to hear more about Charles and Charmaine. Somehow I began to fear the worst.

After overhearing the two gentlemen