Shattered Lives (Flynn Family Saga Book 1)
Read Shattered Lives (Flynn Family Saga Book 1) Online
Authors: Erica Graham
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
SHATTERED LIVES
by Erica T. Graham
Copyright 2012 Erica
T. Graham
Cover Art by Marta Ruliffson
_______________________
SHATTERED LIVES – Book 1 of the Flynn Family Saga at
Amazon.com
- The Civil War shattered the
lives of thousands of Americans on both sides of the conflict. Robert
Sean Flynn fought in the war while Maggie O'Brien waited for her father to come
home. Both of them thought that life would return to normal when the war
ended.
Both of them were wrong.
_______________________
Look for the next two books in the
Flynn Family Saga
at
Amazon.com
.
DANGEROUS MEN – Book 2 of the Flynn Family Saga
- The
old west was filled with dangerous men: outlaws and gamblers and Indians.
But for Maggie O'Brien Anders, the most dangerous man is Robert Sean Flynn, the
man who holds her heart—and her fate—in his hands.
COURAGE TO LOVE – Book 3 of the Flynn Family Saga
-
Maggie's first child, Sarah, is born dead. Flynn runs from his grief and
his past, abandoning Maggie when she needs him the most. Will they find
the strength to heal from the loss of their child and the courage to love
again?
_______________________
Coming Soon
The Flynn Family Saga continues with
BLESS THE CHILDREN –
Book 4 of the Flynn Family Saga
- Cade was trouble. From the day Maggie
and Flynn adopted him, he was trouble: stealing, fighting, running away. But
when he joins a gang of bank robbers, things go terribly wrong, for Cade and
for the rest of the Flynn family.
_______________________
About the author:
Born and raised in a large, eastern city, Erica T. Graham
hitchhiked alone from Buffalo, New York to Portland, Oregon. Without
knowing it, she retraced the trail most wagon trains took on their way
west. She fell in love with the empty, silent places. She lives in
a cottage nestled in the woods on a mountain in Pennsylvania. Any typos
are the fault of her cat, Pixie, who likes to offer her editorial comments by
walking on the keys.
Connect with Erica T. Graham online at:
www.flynnfamilysaga.com
.
_______________________
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the writers who began to share their
experience with me way back when Prodigy was the primary social network.
They taught me everything I know.
I would like to thank Dr. Sam Castimore for his help with
understanding horses. And yes, giving horses sugar lumps is a bad thing,
but they didn't know that back in the 1800s.
I would like to thank Lawrence Obrist of the Lincoln, Nebraska
Historical Society for his help regarding the development of Nebraska and the
trails the wagon trains took and the Native Americans of the area.
I would like to thank Roxanne Scott of the Milford
Historical Society for her help with the clothing and furnishings of the
period.
The Lakota words used in this series come from the website:
http://members/chello.nl/~f.vandenburk.htm
And last, but not least, I would like to thank my friend Barbara
for proofreading the manuscripts, and her husband, Mike, for supplying me with
cups of tea.
The good information is theirs. The mistakes are mine.
Erica T. Graham
CHAPTER ONE
Black Birches
Plantation
Bellwood
,
Virginia
September 4, 1849
The first time Robert Sean Flynn lost his home, he
was only five years old.
It was a hot, still September night, Robert Sean
Flynn lay on his bed in his father’s mansion, listening. A fitful breeze
rippled the lace curtain that covered the tall window, but even the night air
was tepid and stifling.
“Please, Sean. He’s only five. He’s too young for
that place.” His mother’s voice was soft as she pleaded with his father, but
Rob heard it clearly through the open window. His stomach tightened painfully
at the sound of angry voices.
“’That place’ made a man of me, Sarah.” Sean’s
voice was loud and slightly slurred.
Rob’s gut tightened. “Mama, don’t. Please don’t.”
Sarah laughed, shrill and piercing. “You call
yourself a man? Two children in six years, and one of them not even born yet?”
“No!” Rob got out of bed and ran to his parents’
room.
“I’m the head of this family, and what I say, goes!”
Sean’s hands were curled into fists.
“Papa, don’t.” Rob stepped between Sarah and Sean.
Sean’s hand cracked across his face. “How dare you!”
Rob fell, and he felt blood begin to drip slowly
down his cheek where his father’s ring had cut him.
“Sean, stop! He’s just a boy!” Sarah stepped
between Sean and her son.
Sean’s right hand curled into a fist, and he struck
Sarah in the stomach.
Sarah doubled over in pain. Slowly, she stood up
straight. “Sean, the baby.”
The blood left Sean’s face. His hand trembled as he
touched her cheek. “Sarah, I’m sorry.”
“So am I. I—“ Her face went white. Blood dripped
onto the floor and stained her satin shoes. She crumpled into a heap.
Rob ran to his mother, but Sean pushed him away
again.
Sean cradled his wife’s body in his arms. “Sarah, I’m
sorry. It’s the drink. I’ll stop. I promise. Don’t die. Just don’t die!”
Sarah touched his face tenderly. “I know, Sean. I
know.”
A half a dozen servants appeared in the hall outside
Rob’s room. Maude ran into the room, and knelt beside Sarah. Her dark skin
was a sharp contrast to his mother’s milk-white complexion. But even at five,
Rob knew it was Maude who ran the house. The other slaves jumped when she said
“frog.”
Maude unfastened the top button of Sarah’s gown. “Hector,
send for the doctor.”
Hector, standing in the doorway, nodded and
disappeared.
Maude took the coverlet from the bed and spread over
Sarah. Then, she finished undressing her. Hector returned. “He’s on his way,
Maudie.”
“Good.” Maude stood. She walked over to Rob and
smoothed his hair back from his tear-stained face. She scooped him up into her
soft strong arms. “You come with me, Mister Rob. We’ll get you settled right
away.” She carried Rob back to his room. She sat him down on a chair that was
so tall his legs dangled. She disappeared for a few minutes, and then she
returned with a basin of hot water. She cleaned the cut on his cheek.
Rob’s breath hissed in pain.
Maude squeezed his thin shoulder. “I’m sorry,
child, but if I don’t clean this here cut, it’ll fester like it did the last
time.”
Rob nodded.
Maude brought in a clean nightshirt and a candle.
She tucked Rob into bed and smoothed back a lock of his flaming red hair. “Now,
you close your eyes, and I’ll tell you a story. It’s about another boy who
lost his family.”
Rob nodded and closed his eyes.
“Once upon a time, there was a prince.” Maude’s
deep contralto soothed Rob. He closed his eyes and saw a white castle,
gleaming in the sunlight, with banners flying from the towers. “His uncle
wanted the throne for himself, so he paid a woodsman to kill the boy. But the
woodsman couldn’t bring himself to do it. So he took him home to his wife.
They had no children of their own, which made them very sad.”
Rob opened his eyes. He stared up into Maude’s
round face. He reached up and touched her cheek. “Like you and Hector.”
Tears shone in Maude’s eyes. “Yes, Mister Rob.
Just like Hector and me.”
Rob’s lips trembled. “Is my Mama going to die?”
Maude shook her head. “No sir. I won’t allow that.”
Rob nodded solemnly. “But what happened to her,
Maude?”
“She lost her baby, Mister Rob.”
“Because Papa hit her?”
Maude nodded. “Yes, Mister Rob.”
Rob was silent a while, taking it in. “Maude, you’re
a grownup, right?”
“Yes, Mister Rob.”
“So how come I can call you Maude and you have to
call me Mister Rob?”
Maude smiled sadly. “Because I’m a slave. Do you
know what a slave is?”
Rob shook his head.
Maude looked away. “You’re father owns us, Hector
and me. And all the colored help. He inherited us from
his
Papa.”
“Like this house and all the furniture?”
Maude looked back. She nodded.
“Oh.” Rob thought about it. “Can somebody inherit
me
?”
Maude chuckled. “No, Mister Rob.”
Rob frowned. “Why not?”
Maude hesitated. “Because that’s just the way
things are, Mister Rob. Your Papa ain’t never gonna stop drinking, and Hector
and me, well, we ain't never gonna be free like you.”
Rob thought about that a long time. “Maude?”
“Yes, Mister Rob?”
“I don’t feel very free. Tomorrow, I’m going to
that school, and I don’t want to go.”
Maude touched his cheek. “When you’re a man grown,
you’ll be free to choose where you go and what you do. But for now, you have
to do what your Papa wants.”
“And you and Hector won’t ever be free to do what
you want, no matter how old you get?”
Maude shook her head.
Rob considered that a while. “When I inherit you,
you can do whatever you want.”
Maude made a choking sound. “Get some sleep, Mister
Rob.”
Rob nodded. He rolled over and went to sleep and
dreamed of castles and princesses and dragons.
In the morning, Maude packed his belongings, and
Hector drove him away from the huge white pillars of his father’s plantation.
By nightfall, they reached Lewisburg Academy. A tall man with long gray hair
met the carriage. He gazed at Rob as if he were a bug. “So you’re Sean’s
son. My name is Colonel Breckenridge, and I can see that you need toughening
up, boy. Get your things.”
Rob turned to Hector. “Hector.”
Colonel Breckenridge shook his head. “Here at
Lewisburg, you carry your own bags and make your own bed, Flynn. Now get out
of the carriage and follow me.” He turned and started for the gray stone steps
of the school.
Hector hesitated. Then, he hugged Flynn tightly. “You
be a good boy, Mister Rob. You make Maudie and me proud of you.”
Rob nodded solemnly. He drew a deep breath and
tried to pick up his heavy valise. For a moment, Hector reached toward the
bag. Then, he let his large, brown hand fall to his side. “We’ll be praying
for you, Mister Rob, me and Maudie.”
Rob nodded again. For a moment, he stood, frozen in
place. Colonel Breckenridge had stopped at the top step. He turned and looked
back at Rob with contempt.
Slowly, Rob lifted his chin. He drew himself to his
full height and struggled up the steep stone steps carrying his valise alone.
That night, he slept on a hard cot. The sheets were
coarse, and the springs creaked. He missed Maude. He missed his mother. He
realized that he didn’t even know if she was still alive.
Rob started to cry.
“Flynn! Stop that blubbering!”
Cadet Wall stood over him. Wall was a tall, heavily
built boy, five years older than Rob.
Rob tried, but his tears kept leaking between his
eyelids.
“We’ll give you something to cry about, Flynn.”
A dozen hands grabbed him and dragged him from his
bed. Wall and five other cadets began to beat Rob with their fists. Wall even
kicked him with his booted foot.
Anger filled Rob, hot and white and clean. He
stopped crying, stopped trying to protect himself. Slowly, he got to his
feet. He struck Wall in the belly, the same way his father struck his mother.
Wall doubled over in pain.
The other boys reacted swiftly. They beat Rob until
he lost consciousness.
Rob came to in the infirmary. Colonel Breckenridge
stood over him. “There may be hope for you yet, Cadet Flynn.”
Rob’s chest ached, and his mouth hurt. He met the
Colonel’s gaze levelly. “The other boys? Will they be expelled?”
Breckenridge looked puzzled. “Expelled? What for?”
Rob blinked. “They beat me up, sir.”
Breckenridge nodded. “And saved me the trouble of
having to cane you myself. We don’t tolerate crybabies here at Lewisburg,
Cadet Flynn.”
Fear tore a huge hole in the pit of Rob’s stomach,
but he was a fast learner, and he kept it from showing on his face. “Yes sir.
Will that be all, sir?”
“No. When I said there was hope for you, I meant
it. You stood up to boys twice your age. That’s something we can’t teach
here.”
“What is, sir?”
“Courage.” Breckenridge cleared his throat. “Now
get some sleep. Reveille comes early.” He stood up and left Rob alone.
Rob wanted to cry. He wanted it more than he had
ever wanted anything. But he remembered the beating, and he gritted his teeth
against the ache in his throat. Eventually, he slept. He dreamed of a large
white house. It stood on a hill overlooking a green valley. At the foot of
the hill, a crystal clear stream chuckled as it slid over dark brown rocks. He
sat on the porch and watched as children played in front of the house. Their
laughter was the only sound that broke the silence of the warm summer day.
Someone took his hand. Her hand was strong and brown from the sun, and when
she touched him, he knew he was safe and loved.
Rob woke with a gasp. He lay on the hard, narrow
cot, and hope warmed him, like the summer sun in his dream.
He rolled over and went back to sleep.
* * *
The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months.
Rob went home for Christmas, but his father spent the entire time in his study,
drunk.
And his mother spent the week in her room, crying.
Maude and Hector prepared a feast for Rob, but he
had little appetite, and he went back to Lewisburg the day after New Year's.
As the months turned into years, Rob grew accustomed
to his new life. There were rules, written and unwritten, and as long as he
obeyed them, the older boys left him alone.
Rob became a very good guesser. He learned to read
body language, to fade into a role, to become whatever Breckenridge or the other
boys wanted him to be.
With one exception.
Sergeant Cobb was their drill instructor. A veteran
of the Mexican-American War, he had a practical approach to warfare.
And to life.
“You’re small, Flynn. Even for your age. But you’re
smart. Use that brain of yours to outwit those bullies. You know, the library
isn’t off limits during free time.”
Rob nodded slowly. As soon as he had earned an hour
off, he ran to the library and began to study. Sometimes, he had to read the
books on strategy and tactics with an open dictionary, but he learned quickly.
Then, one cold March night, Hector came for him.
Rob’s heart froze. “My mother—?“
“She’s all right. But your Papa done lost ever’thing
in a card game. Your Mama needs you, Mister Rob.”
Rob nodded. He turned on his heel and walked up the
stairs to the dormitory. He packed his few belongings quickly and efficiently.
Colonel Breckenridge was waiting for him at the foot
of the stairs. He cleared his throat and held out his hand. “We’ll miss you
around here, Flynn. You worked hard, and you would have made a good officer
one day.”
Rob swallowed hard. He’d had no idea that
Breckenridge thought well of him. He took the older man’s hand and shook it. “Thank
you, sir. I’ll try to make you proud.”
Breckenridge nodded stiffly.
Rob carried his gear down the stairs and vaulted
into the carriage unassisted.
Hector climbed more slowly into the box and shook
the reins. The carriage jerked forward.
Rob rode with his eyes forward. He did not look
back, not even once.
* * *
When they reached Black Birches, the household was
in an uproar. Maude’s was the only calm voice, quietly issuing orders to the
other slaves. Rob’s father sat in his study, staring at the fire with a brandy
snifter in his hand. He glanced at Rob and looked away.
Rob’s mouth twisted with disgust. He ran up the
stairs to his mother’s room.
Sarah lay face down on the bed, weeping. Teresa,
her maid, tried ineffectually to console her.
“Mother?”
Sarah sat up and turned. “Oh, Rob!” She got up and
ran to him. She held him closely. “We have to leave!”
“I know,” he said quietly. “Hector told me.” His
voice was calm, but inside he felt as if a thousand bees were stinging him, and
instead of venom, each bee injected him with fear.
Sarah held him away from her. “You’re all grown up.”
Rob smiled faintly. “Not quite. I’m only ten.”
Sarah shook her head. “You look older.” She drew a
deep breath. “Colonel Breckenridge sent home glowing reports. You learned
faster than any cadet he ever had.”
“I’m glad I made you proud. Now, what is happening
here?”
Sarah scowled prettily. “Your father lost
everything in a card game, Rob. The house, the livestock, even the slaves.”
For a moment, tears burned Rob’s eyes, but he held
them back out of long habit. He nodded. “Where will we go?”