Brave Enemies Read Online Free

yelled and jumped back.
    â€œJosie!” Mama said, and I saw the terror on her face.
    â€œThe devil has got her in his power,” Mr. Griffin said. He told Mama I must be punished, if I was to be saved from the gallows and hellfire. He said my soul was in danger unless I learned to behave and was punished for my pride and wicked temper. Mama only nodded her head. All she had seen was me kicking Mr. Griffin.
    â€œAre you sorry?” Mama said. “Tell Mr. Griffin you’re sorry.” Mama wiped her eyes and pleaded with me.
    â€œNext time I will kick you in the straddle,” I hissed at Mr. Griffin.
    Mama’s face turned white and Mr. Griffin slapped me hard. Mama started to pray.
    â€œYou will go out to the crib and shuck corn,” Mr. Griffin said. “You will shuck three bushels of corn and you will shell it to take to mill.”
    Mr. Griffin grabbed my left arm and put his paw on the back of my neck and pushed me out of the bedroom and out of the house. He pushed me across the yard, scattering chickens, to the corncrib.
    â€œYou will work until your heart is calm and you have time to repent,” he said. He pushed me up the steps of the crib and closed the door behind me.
    But shucking corn until my hands were raw was not the only punishment Mr. Griffin had in mind. As soon as I was inside the crib he latched the door behind me. The door had a simple latch with a peg that held it in place. I was locked in, and the slats of the crib were too close together for me to reach through.
    â€œHelp!” I yelled to Mama. But she just stood on the porch watching me.
    â€œThe Lord will hold us responsible for teaching that child,” Mr. Griffin said. His shirt had come loose from his pants and the tail hung almost to the top of his boots.
    â€œLet me out!” I yelled.
    The corn had just been gathered and I looked at the heap of un-shucked ears. At first I thought I wouldn’t shuck one single ear. And then I thought, No, I’ll work hard until he lets me out. For I’ve got to get out. And then I’ll think of my revenge.
    First I tried reaching through the cracks to touch the peg, but it was too far away. I looked around for a stick or wire. There was nothing but corn shucks and cobs. A cob wouldn’t fit through the slot, but a stiff shuck would. The problem was to find a shuck stiff enough to push the peg out of its hole in the latch.
    It began to get dark and started turning cold. It was October and the days were warm, but the nights chilly. I shivered and looked for the stiffest shuck I could find. But every time I pushed a shuck through the crack it bent on the peg and wouldn’t push it up. I reckon the damp of the evening made the shucks softer.
    I sat down on the shucking stool and cried because Mama let Mr. Griffin treat me that way. I hated it she was so afraid of Mr. Griffin, so afraid of losing him. Since she married Mr. Griffin Mama had acted stranger and stranger. I knew she was afraid of being left alone as she got older, there way out in the woods of Carolina, east of the Catawba River. And if I didn’t have Mama to help me I didn’t have anybody.
    I cried so long I shivered and felt dizzy. I reached back to the floor to steady myself and felt this strip of leather. It was a ring of leather on a peg, and I knew it was the shucking stick Mr. Griffin had made for himself.
    I grabbed up the shucking stick to see if it was long enough to reach the latch pin. In the dark I had to feel my way to the door and find the crack closest to the latch. Squeezing the leather band flat, I worked the stick through the opening. In the house the candles had been lit, but outside the only light was starlight.
    I pushed the stick hard against the wall and felt the peg come loose in its hole. I was sweating I was trying so hard. I pushed a little more anda little more, and the wooden pin raised out of the hole. I eased the stick up with all my strength and all my