Esther’s Pillow: The Tar and Feathering of Margaret Chambers
Описание книги
The year is 1911. After attending college for two years, Margaret Chambers returns home to teach in the one-room school house of her youth. Trouble brews quickly. The God-fearing citizens of his small, weather-beaten town feel threatened by the bright-eyed, full-figured Margaret. She’s too smart by half and she needs to be put in her place. The men devise a plan to chase Margaret from the county forever. But fueled by whiskey and the shame of their own desires, their plan soon spins out of control. In one night of violence, they ambush Margaret and tar and feather her naked body. After the men are arrested, a long, painful trial begins – a trial that will thrust this proud, private Kansas town into the national spotlight, splitting families apart and exposing the dark secrets of one hideous night. Esther’s Pillow is based on a true story. About the Author: Marlin Fitzwater was born and raised in Kansas. He has written a memoir about his years of service to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Call the Briefing; two novels, Esther’s Pillow, and Death in the Polka Dot Shoes; and a collection of short stories called, Sunflowers. He is married and lives in Deale, Maryland.
Отрывок из книги
Esther’s Pillow
The Tar and Feathering of
Margaret Chambers
.....
Mrs. Garvey, Ed’s wife and the schoolteacher for as long as anyone could remember, beamed as the new benches were put in place. She had taught Nickerly students in the back of Tilden’s dry goods store for seven years, or as long as it took to get Ed Jr. through at least the ninth and tenth grades, and into his father’s business. She had intended to quit teaching after Ed Jr.’s schooling ended, but she stayed on a few more years. Now she stood at the front door of the new schoolhouse, arms crossed, overseeing every ounce of activity; directing the location of the benches; seeing that the shutters were level on the windows; and hanging the yellowed roll-down chart of the alphabet, the first building block of a Nickerly education.
Margaret, even at age eleven the tallest girl among her friends, stood in a circle of her schoolmates to watch these final touches being applied to a school that would be hers, with a name, Sunny-side, that she could call her own. The new school gave a feeling of independence to Margaret. It was a separate building, almost like a home, that she would share with other children away from the adult world. It was also the private domain of Margaret’s idol, Mrs. Garvey, a figure of fortress-like qualities. She was a strong woman who knew the strange world of adults and thrived in it. She was independent. Margaret could never imagine Mrs. Garvey crying, as her mother often did. Margaret wanted to be just like Mrs. Garvey, and at age eleven she knew that this school would be the ticket. And that’s what Margaret made of it. Often she walked home with Mrs. Garvey after school. They talked of distant places. After Margaret discovered that the Garveys had been to Wichita, she started asking her teacher about other cities. Her schoolbooks pictured a vastly different life in places like New York and Washington, where business, wealth and political power had created a class of people that Margaret’s father called, simply, “the rich.” Mrs. Garvey had also been to Kansas City, and she told Margaret about hospitals and schools where thousands of people lived in small areas. It was Mrs. Garvey who first mentioned college, and Margaret took to the idea immediately.
.....