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I sed back round I wasn’t as afraid of ht be desperate, but he was my brother! Surely he wouldn’t hurt me! At least he hadn’t done in the past, when our father had been alive My heart pounded as John and I looked at each other, then he rounded the desk and stood in front of ly frown

“You will er

“I will not!” I yelled bravely back

Now, as we stood toe to toe, staring at each other, I realized I rong John cared not a whit about me; he only cared that I do as he bid He raised his hand to strike me and I turned and fled

I could hear his footsteps pounding on the carpeted floor behind me as I ran from the roorace – his limp slowed him down

“Come back here!” he yelled “You cannot hide from me!”

I didn’t reply Instead, I picked upJohn could not follow at this fast pace He would have to hold the banister and pick his way carefully, otherwise he would fall

“You cannot run fro as I flew into the kitchen and out the back door, onto the street

As I ran, ers instinctively felt for the coins I’d secreted, sewn into the lining of les I’d saved fro were my path to freedom

But where would I go? My family ell known in this part of Philadelphia thanks to our father’s business success, and my brother was feared, al what he wanted, and had used our father’s erousThey weren’t aware that John’s funds had dried up and they would stop at nothing to carry out my brother’s orders I didn’t know anybody ould hide ainst my powerful brother, and he was far more desperate to marry me off than I had realized

Not wanting to draw attention todown the street, I slowed to a walk