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this chapter is rated PG-13... or R, I'm not sure

Chapter 13: Margaret's Wedding

The bundling bag tradition was something Ruth was familiar with. She didn't tell Jean that her and James had actually gone through it. He had been sewn into a sack and spent the night with her shortly before the war was brought to South Carolina. She didn't know if Jean would have an issue with it. No one told him, she knew. They were most likely afraid that he'd think she had something wrong with her to have an engagement ended so suddenly and shortly before a wedding took place. In all honesty, Jean would not have cared if he had been told this fact. However, her family keeping it from him would only make it worse.

When Margaret and her fiancé partook in the tradition, Ruth sewed the bag. Charlotte trusted no one else to do it but her. She was very good with the needle. Her knots and stitches were very hard to break or snap. Margaret was giggling about it. Her fiancé couldn't even move. He looked up at Ruth and she smirked at him when he tried to move his arms. She shook her head.

"How will I be able to move in the night?" he laughed, "You've got me sewn in here as if I'm a wild bear."

"Why would you need to do any moving unless you're just sleeping? besides, wild bears are not to be trusted, and neither are you in this situation, young man," Ruth joked. She began to remember when James was being sewn into the bag. It was a tradition she felt robbed of with Jean. She thought that perhaps things could have been easier for them in the process if everything were done properly. Ruth thought to herself and knew if that Jean had courted her for a bit then she would have been a bit more receptive to him.

Ruth's trailing thoughts caused her to poke Margaret's fiancé with the needle. He let out a little noise and tried to keep himself from showing that it hurt. Ruth apologized profusely as she tied a tight knot in the last stitch.

….

It was a bit chilly that day in early November when Margaret's wedding was held. It was a large affair to behold. Ben wanted to ensure that his eldest daughter was spoiled on that day.

Ruth was helping Margaret into her wedding dress that morning. She had spent the two weeks after returning from Pembroke sewing it. Her hands were tired from handling the needle but it was quite beautiful. It was a pale rose colored silk dress with white ruffles on the edging of the sleeves and an elegant sack back.

Ruth fastened the last pin into place on Margaret's stomacher and noticed the girl was wringing her hands.

"Can I tell you something?" Margaret asked after a long silence. Ruth nodded her head as she smoothed the wrinkles in the dress.

"I know you're the least judgmental person I could tell," she paused after a moment, "I don't think I'm ready for this."

"Don't tell anyone else," Ruth tried to lighten Margaret's mood, believing it to only be nerves, "They might think I influenced you. His side of the family would have me burnt at the stake."

Margaret let out a little chuckle.

"In all honesty, Margaret," Ruth said as she sat down on the bed, "I don't think you'll have to worry. Marriage will come naturally for the both of you. Jean and I had much more different circumstances in our union."

Margaret still looked worried despite her words. Ruth didn't know what else to say. It wasn't exactly something she could teach others about. She was struggling with her own marriage and was beginning to wonder if she was doomed to never love Jean like a husband. There was a friendship between them. A mutual feeling of knowing they were there for the rest of their lives on earth. There was no leaving one another. It wasn't exactly entrapment they felt but there was tension between them that lingered like a haunting ghost and neither of them could make it leave.

…..

Ruth sat stoically silent at the table as the women explained to Margaret her duties as a wife. However, Ruth sensed something strange. Margaret wasn't acting like a happy blushing bride. Abigail stood off to the side of the room with a concerned look on her face. Ruth knew she was noticing the same thing.

"Keep the home clean," one woman said, "and always make sure he doesn't go hungry."

"and a good wife is silent," another squeaked, "she doesn't question her husband and knows to be quiet until he wants her to speak."

"Never deny him anything," another jabbed as she glanced in Ruth's direction. Ruth just looked down at the table and ignored it.

"And remember, your marriage is sealed without any doubt when there is a child on the way. Don't forget that," she continued, "and do everything you can in order to make sure you're with child very soon. We wouldn't want you to go childless."

"A woman finds her salvation in the baring of children," the woman sitting next to her said, "God's will is for a woman to marry and bare children and if she fails to do so, she is cursed."

Ruth tried not to laugh at the rubbish some of the women had spoken. Apparently none of them had been educated the way she had been. Her father and mother had taught her about love, marriage, children, and above all, God, and the way they taught her about Him was not close to how others spoke of Him. She knew God didn't see a woman as less for never marrying and having children. She had read stories about women who were saints, women who had ruled a nation, and women who had done more than anything the hens around that table could imagine and that she only wished she could do. However, she was bound to her place on the earth and she knew she could do great things where she was. She was only waiting.

Their words made Margaret go pale in the face. She looked over at Ruth and saw that she shook her head subtly to let her know it was all rubbish. Charlotte even had a look of contempt on her face for the way some of the women spoke.

When they all got up from the table to disperse and finish their chores for the event, Ruth and Abigail were left alone with Margaret, who began to tear up.

"What happened so suddenly to make you so frightened?" Ruth whispered to Margaret as she got up and sat down next to her. Abigail sat down at the table too.

"The night he was in the bundling bag didn't go very well," Margaret admitted, "I don't understand it. Everything was perfect between us whenever we would see one another. He started acting so strangely with me after you all left the room."

Abigail chuckled, "oh."

Ruth tried not to laugh. It wasn't anything Margaret was fearing. The next morning when Ruth had ripped the seams of the bundling bag, she had discovered that he had tried ripping his way through already. He must have given up but he had gotten pretty far.

"Margaret," Ruth whispered, "was he thrashing in the night?"

Margaret nodded, "he was acting as if he was possessed. The way he was looking at me-"

Abigail started laughing.

"He almost got through that bundling bag," Ruth chuckled with Abigail, "I'm glad I decided to sew it as tightly as I did."

Margaret looked confused.

"You have nothing to worry about," Ruth rubbed Margaret's back, "you'll be quite fine, trust me, and don't take the advice of any of those women."

…

After the ceremony, the festivities began with music and a massive meal for everyone. Ruth swore the entire town was there by the looks of it. Even old man Wilkins was there. Charlotte thought it would be very rude and unchristianly to invite the entire town and not his family. Much to Ben's chagrin they extended their invitation to the Wilkins family. Mrs. Wilkins and her daughter were quite pleasant company. James had found himself deciding to sit alone under a tree and watch from afar, knowing how everyone felt towards him.

Ruth was uncomfortable with Old Mr. Wilkins' presence. She tried to distance herself as far from him as possible.

Evening fell quickly. At sunset, candles and a few fires were lit for light when the sun would go completely down but the music and dancing continued. Margaret sat with her husband at a table as the people came to speak to them, passing on "advice" and gifts for the young couple. Ruth looked over to see her cousin Dan with a baby pig in his arms to present as a gift.

The thing was wiggling and squealing in his arms as he tried to hold onto it tightly and hand it to Margaret. She cringed and barely got hold of it before it shook out of her grip. It ran as fast as it could through the crowds of people and headed towards the woods. Margaret and her husband began chasing it with Dan, who pulled Ruth with him.

"Get that pig!" he shouted to everyone. It disappeared into the tree line as a large group chased after it. Margaret decided to stand back, not wanting to get her dress dirty. Ruth, however, had experience in chasing farm animals that had escaped. She hiked her dress up and followed the group into the trees.

She was thankful that the sun hadn't completely set. There was still enough light to see the little pig jumping around. She stopped by a tree to catch her breath and watched as Dan flung himself in the air to pounce on it. He finally caught it but not without getting leaves and some dirt on his clothes. She knew his wife wouldn't be too pleased but knowing Dan, he would continue on dancing and having fun even with a messy shirt.

He let out a triumphant shout and everyone began to head back to the festivities. Just as Ruth turned around, Old Mr. Wilkins stopped her from going further. A few of his men stood by, watching. He put his arm out when she tried to get around him and pinned her against the tree.

"Let your husband know, he still owes me a debt for taking my property," he hissed at her. She desperately looked around to realize everyone but his men were already gone, "I'll warn him one last time before I decide to take something of his."

Ruth glared up at him and he stroked his finger along her cheek.

"You've gotten pleasantly plump since I last saw you," he smirked.

She smacked his hand away from her face but he retaliated in humiliated anger and pushed her against the tree, clasping his hand around her neck. He was a rather large man like his son. He towered over her like a bear and she felt helpless at that moment.

"Maybe I should just call it even now," he laughed.

"He doesn't owe you," Ruth gasped as his hand tightened around her neck, "and I'm not property!"

"I know he helped Ephraim escape," he pounded her head against the hard trunk of the tree, "I put that bullet in his arm and if it had killed him, I would have called it even."

Ruth dug her nails into his wrist but he didn't budge.

….

Jean realized everyone was back from the chase. He looked about the crowd and didn't see her. The pig was tied to the banister of the porch with a rope and Dan was sitting comfortablely on the steps. Everyone seemed rested. He looked over at the tree where James Wilkins had been sitting that night and realized he was gone too.

Ben saw that his friend looked a bit out of place.

"What's gotten into you?" Ben asked.

"Where is Ruth?" Jean spoke up.

…..

The men were laughing as Mr. Wilkins shoved her into the tree again and started lifting her dress. He suddenly stopped when he heard his son's voice.

"Father?" James was standing behind him with a confused look on his face. His father began to chuckle.

"Would you like to have the honor?" he joked, "take what should have been yours in the first place."

Ruth was gasping for air and prying at his hand. He dropped her suddenly as he grabbed his son and shoved him at Ruth. She stood up and tried to run but one of the men caught her and shoved her into the ground.

"Go ahead, son!" James' father shouted again, "That damn Frenchman owes me a debt and I'm going to make sure it's even."

James got down on the ground. Ruth looked him in the eyes. At that moment, he began to remember that night in Pembroke. The way all the men looked at him when he defied Colonel Tavington. How he caved and threw the first torch to try and earn honor for his family. There was no honor in his actions and what he had done in the past never elevated his family.

Ruth wasn't screaming, he noticed. She was glaring up at him, trying to tell him something. James shoved the man who was holding her down away. They all started laughing. He shook his head and helped Ruth onto her feet.

"No," James finally spoke up as he shoved Ruth behind himself and pushed her into a tree to act as a barrier between her and the men.

"You're worthless!" his father shouted.

"And you're drunk!" James shouted at him.

"Coward!"

"I am not a coward!" James defending himself, "you're a coward for trying to do such a thing!"

"I'm getting payment for a debt!" his father laughed. None of his men were laughing at that moment.

Ruth was feeling a bit suffocated and extremely frightened. She wondered how a single man was going to be a wall between her and ten others. She suddenly heard shouts coming from the edge of the forest and managed to look out at the scene unfolding in front of her from between the crack of James' arm. All the men began to run away. James' father glared at his son before running with the others.

James turned around and looked down at Ruth. He could barely see her in the darkness but he could hear her rapid breathing.

"You're not a coward," she managed to speak up to him between her coughing for air. He looked back to see the torches and knew that it wouldn't very good for him to be standing there. He rushed off in a different direction than the other men and Ruth leaned against the tree, sinking to the ground. She began to realize how severe Mr. Wilkins' threats truly were. She started to fear not only for her own life but for her husband's as well. When he had had her pinned against the tree, she did not find herself fearing rape. She found herself looking death in the eyes. She thought to herself that she would have been lucky if he only followed through with his one threat. There was murder in his eyes, she saw it clearer than ever in the light of the setting sun. He didn't value her life. He valued no person's life unless they were a man who shared his shade of skin. She coughed and the light from Jean's torch fell on her. He rushed to her and looked at her neck, which was red and beginning to swell up. She could barely talk and Jean handed his torch to Dan, who took it quickly. She felt herself being lifted up off the ground and carried away. She heard Jean's heart beating faster than hers and it was the last thing she heard before everything went black.

…..

Margaret gasped when she saw Jean, her husband, her father, and Dan running up the house with a limp and battered Ruth. She didn't expect it. She thought that Ruth had just gotten lost in the woods. They ran up into the house as quickly as they could. Margaret followed in a rush.

She watched in horror as Ruth's limp body was laid on the bed and Jean put his ear against her chest. She could see such fear in his eyes at that moment, she could only imagine what he was thinking.

The memory of the burning ship and the screams were returning to Jean in that moment. Ruth's heartbeat was so weak, he could barely hear it but she was breathing and that put his mind at ease for a moment.

"What happened?" Margaret ran up to the bed and put her fingers on the red marks that were welted into her neck. Abigail gently pushed her aside and looked at them closely.

"Someone choked her," Abigail hissed, "and whoever it was had some very large hands."

Ben and Jean looked at each other knowing who it was. They ran downstairs where everyone was crowded around the house in silence. They looked over the people in the crowd and just as they suspected, the Wilkins men were nowhere to be seen…