Whispers
Romance Books

Acadians: Emilie
by Cherie Claire

Excerpt

"Do you wish to establish yourselves on the land assigned to you?" Pedro de Piernas bellowed to the group of Acadians filling the back room of the riverside warehouse. "Are you ready to give us your answer."

When no one spoke, Jean Depuis moved to the front of the crowd. "Monsieur Piernas," he began. "Honoré and Alexis Braud have beseeched you to allow us to join our families at St. Gabriel. As they mentioned in their letter to Governor Ulloa, we came to Louisiana in the hopes of exercising freely our Catholic religion and restoring our communities. We simply want to join the others."

Piernas held up a hand to silence the elderly Acadian. "Alexis and Honoré Braud have refused passage to Natchez, left the city and gone into hiding. They are outlaws of the Spanish crown. If anyone wishes to join them or refuses to obey this order, they will be exiled from Louisiana and deported immediately."

A collective murmur rose from the crowd and Emilie felt a sense of panic rush through her. She grabbed Gabrielle’s hand and squeezed. They had to get to St. Gabriel. They had to find their father. But the man was talking exile.

The Acadians stood together speechless. The Braud brothers had been their leaders since Maryland and they had fled. There were no more choices. All diplomatic avenues had been tried and failed. There was little else they could do.

"We agree," Jean said softly.

Piernas nodded. "Then we leave immediately."

Emilie turned toward her mother and saw the heartbreak of thirteen years reflected in her hazel eyes. Gabrielle wrapped her arms about Rose, who was trying valiantly to be brave.

They had traveled so far and were now so close. If Joseph was indeed alive, he was living and breathing only several leagues away. But it might as well be the moon if they were forced to settle at Natchez.

"We’ll find him," Emilie commanded them all. "We won’t give up."

Despite her brave words, panic began to consume her. She needed Lorenz. As she searched the room, Emilie found it increasingly difficult to breath. Where was he?

Since the evening he proposed, Lorenz refused to speak with her. Even in their close quarters, Emilie would sometimes go days without seeing Lorenz. He spent a lot of time surveying the river, talking to residents and bartering food for the group. Emilie tried to follow him one day when he left the warehouse and headed into the wilderness outside of town with an Acadian she did not recognize, but she quickly lost sight of them. He was up to something, and Emilie was dying to find out what.

Emilie finally spotted Lorenz across the room, the silhouette of his tall, broad frame shadowed against the back wall. He was carrying supplies, a large sachel of some sort, and watching the room suspiciously. It was time he forgot this silly notion about marrying, resumed their friendship and spoke to her, Emilie thought. They needed each other, especially now that they were being sent upriver to Natchez while Papa waited at St. Gabriel.

She moved toward the other side of the room, but Gabrielle caught her sleeve. "Don’t," Gabrielle warned.

Emilie wanted to demand an answer but the cautionary look in Gabrielle’s eyes held her tongue. Suddenly, she knew.

"Not without me," she exclaimed to Gabrielle. The panic rose in her throat and Emilie thought it would strangle her for sure. Lorenz was leaving, going into hiding like the Braud brothers.

And leaving her behind.

"He’s going to get word to father," Gabrielle whispered. "Leave him be before the Spanish notice."

Emilie swallowed hard. "Not without me," she repeated.

Gabrielle stared hard at her sister, then glanced back toward Marianne and Rose who were busy collecting their things for the trip upriver. "You can’t," Gabrielle said. "You don’t know what’s out there."

"I have to go, Gabi," Emilie pleaded. "Tell mother I’m with Lorenz. I’ll be safe with him. If anybody can find their way through this marshland, it’s Lorenz."

Emilie spotted a sachel of clothes belonging to Charles Braud, one of the younger boys in the group. Without his noticing, she grabbed the small bag and stuffed it under her shawl. "Please, don’t do this," Gabrielle said.

Suddenly Emilie felt calmer than she had in days. "I’ll be fine, Gabi," she said and embraced her sister. "Tell mother I’ll see her in Natchez with father by my side."

Gabrielle attempted to hold on to her, to keep her sister safe at her bosum, but Emilie broke free. She quickly moved through the crowd and left through the back door. The same one that Lorenz had just exited.