Abby 1

Abby

Abby heard the bell ring even through the heartbeat ringing in her ears. "No!" she thought, "It can't be!" But it was. She counted the tolls... "One... Two... Three... Four." Shuddering, she continued on, pushing herself harder, if it were possible. They would know soon.
Though it seemed like an eternity, it was in fact only a few minutes later when she again heard the bell ringing. This time though, it wasn't the slow tolling that told the hour, but a loud alarm calling the entire settlement to a search for an escaped murderer. Abby stopped for an instant, the ringing freezing her in mid flight, but then forged ahead, using the sun as a guide in her frantic race.

Abby's life in the frontier of northern Canada actually began in the streets of London, where she worked for a man who "owned" a whole ring of pickpockets and thieves. There, she spied an ad proclaiming "BRIDES WANTED". That being the limit of her reading ability, she tore down the sign and went in search of someone who could read.
Soon she found him, and her friend told her what the advertisement said.

"Brides wanted! Our queen's newest colony, Canada is currently being settled by courageous frontiersmen, and it boasts all of the amenities of home... and more! The only thing this grand colony is lacking is women to help build it a prosperous future. To this end, the fine men who live off this land are willing to pay passage across the ocean for any young lady that is willing to take their hand in marriage."

Abby couldn't believe her ears! She had been longing for a way to get out of this hellhole for endless years, and finally, a passport out was within her grasp. She almost leaped for joy. Instead, she cultivated a perfect poker face, which she was so famous for, and asked the boy for the address the advertisement gave. He told her, and she was off on the adventure of a lifetime.

When Abby arrived in Canada, she couldn't believe her eyes. She had never seen so many trees in her life! Come to think of it, she hadn't seen many trees at all in her life. That was what happened when you grew up in London. She took a deep breath, noticing how fresh the air seemed, and followed the other brides off the ship and to a two story house about a block away from the docks.
The other brides seemed shocked at the horrible living conditions in the settlement, but Abby was used to bad situations, and she had seen worse. Now, all she could think about was the man she came across the ocean to marry. She hoped that he would treat her better then her boss had in London.

     One month later, Abby had become acquainted with her new husband... and his fist. She wasn't a very accomplished housekeeper to say the least, and her husband let her know his displeasure with her many mistakes by "disciplining" her. In other words, he beat her every time she messed up.
     Since she had pretty much remained a loner on the ship, and she now had no one to tell her troubles to. They probably wouldn?t have been able to do anything any way. In those times, women didn't have a whole lot of rights.
     When Abby found out she was pregnant, her husband was happy, but when she had a girl he wasn't. As soon as the midwife left, he again beat her, this time within an inch of her life.
     He told her that she was worthless, which she had already figured out, and that her baby didn't deserve to live. That was when Abby decided to do something about it. She would not let her baby grow up this way.

     So she had done something. One night, while her baby was sleeping, she took the butcher knife out of the kitchen and used it on her husband. Then, she took her baby and ran, like she was tonight. They had caught her that time, taken her baby away from her, and sentenced her to death by hanging.
     She had escaped though, and now she was running again, this time without her baby. They had given the girl to a loving widow in the town. She was glad... and now she was going to get away.
     The sun was getting low in the sky, so Abby knew she had to stop soon. She pushed through one last bush, and stopped short. Her eyes widened in terror as she realized her mistake. In her ignorance of forest lore, she had followed the sun in it's elliptical path across the sky, and it had led her right back to the settlement.
Now there were men all around her. She had no defense. No one knew the hell that she had gone through. Only God could judge her soul now, and as she was dragged through the town toward the stocade where she would spend the night before her death, she prayed he would be merciful.

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