Excerpt from "The Coles"
After dinner, Mary, Hugh and their older children continued to sit at the kitchen table discussing their options while the younger children played in the yard. Suddenly, Joseph, Ebenezer and Ruth stampeded into the house. ”An Indian! An Indian is out there!”
Mary quickly bolted the door after them while Hugh and the boys reached for their guns. Hugh peered out the kitchen window and recognized Tockamock, one of Philip’s men, standing in the yard, arms crossed, facing the house.
Hugh looked around at his frightened family. “Are we all here?” he asked. “Good! Now you younger ones, find a hiding place, each of you, and don’t move until I tell you. Boys, keep your guns ready to shoot, but don’t start shooting. I see only one Indian, but there may be more.”
Then he stepped to the door. Mary gasped in fright. “Don’t, Hugh,” she cried, but her husband was already outside. Frozen in terror, she watched as Hugh, gun at his side, walked right up to the Indian. Anticipating the ferocious-looking man to reach for his war club and knock her husband dead, Mary almost fainted in relief as she watched him say a few words and leave.
His family gathered around him as Hugh entered the house. “It was a warning from Philip. He can control his warriors no longer, he said, and told us to leave Swansea. We shall go to Aquidneck Island. Quickly, James, you and Junior get the boat and the raft ready to launch. I’ll need you, John, to help me bring food from the cellar. Anna, tend to the younger children. Be sure everyone has extra clothes. Mary, bring what we may need from the kitchen. I want everyone ready to leave and down by the river in fifteen minutes.”
Mary was trembling as James helped her into the crowded boat. She settled on the seat in the bow and took the crying baby from Anna’s arms. For the children, it was a scary adventure; for Hugh and her, it was the end of their idyllic life at Riverby. The girls huddled on the bottom of the large rowboat, while Ebenezer, also on the floor, perched on his knees and peered over the rim, the only member of the family who was relishing their dramatic escape. In the bow Mary tried to hush the crying baby. Hugh sat in the middle leaving room for James to jump in after he pushed off the boat from the bank of the river. Father and son rowed with Herculean effort down the river. In the distance ahead of them, Mary could discern the raft on which Junior, John and Joseph had left moments earlier.
Just before they entered Mt. Hope Bay, Ebenezer tugged on Mary’s skirt and whispered, “Look at the pretty light. What is it?”
Mary quickly glanced up and saw that her young son was pointing up the river to their home. A cold wave of dread enveloped the woman as she realized what it was that Ebenezer saw. “Hugh,” she said in a voice she didn’t recognize.
Hugh and James stopped rowing and the girls looked up. Wordlessly, the family watched as flames engulfed their home.
Mary quickly bolted the door after them while Hugh and the boys reached for their guns. Hugh peered out the kitchen window and recognized Tockamock, one of Philip’s men, standing in the yard, arms crossed, facing the house.
Hugh looked around at his frightened family. “Are we all here?” he asked. “Good! Now you younger ones, find a hiding place, each of you, and don’t move until I tell you. Boys, keep your guns ready to shoot, but don’t start shooting. I see only one Indian, but there may be more.”
Then he stepped to the door. Mary gasped in fright. “Don’t, Hugh,” she cried, but her husband was already outside. Frozen in terror, she watched as Hugh, gun at his side, walked right up to the Indian. Anticipating the ferocious-looking man to reach for his war club and knock her husband dead, Mary almost fainted in relief as she watched him say a few words and leave.
His family gathered around him as Hugh entered the house. “It was a warning from Philip. He can control his warriors no longer, he said, and told us to leave Swansea. We shall go to Aquidneck Island. Quickly, James, you and Junior get the boat and the raft ready to launch. I’ll need you, John, to help me bring food from the cellar. Anna, tend to the younger children. Be sure everyone has extra clothes. Mary, bring what we may need from the kitchen. I want everyone ready to leave and down by the river in fifteen minutes.”
Mary was trembling as James helped her into the crowded boat. She settled on the seat in the bow and took the crying baby from Anna’s arms. For the children, it was a scary adventure; for Hugh and her, it was the end of their idyllic life at Riverby. The girls huddled on the bottom of the large rowboat, while Ebenezer, also on the floor, perched on his knees and peered over the rim, the only member of the family who was relishing their dramatic escape. In the bow Mary tried to hush the crying baby. Hugh sat in the middle leaving room for James to jump in after he pushed off the boat from the bank of the river. Father and son rowed with Herculean effort down the river. In the distance ahead of them, Mary could discern the raft on which Junior, John and Joseph had left moments earlier.
Just before they entered Mt. Hope Bay, Ebenezer tugged on Mary’s skirt and whispered, “Look at the pretty light. What is it?”
Mary quickly glanced up and saw that her young son was pointing up the river to their home. A cold wave of dread enveloped the woman as she realized what it was that Ebenezer saw. “Hugh,” she said in a voice she didn’t recognize.
Hugh and James stopped rowing and the girls looked up. Wordlessly, the family watched as flames engulfed their home.
