Chapter 2 - Don't Tell My Wife I'm a Cult Leader

Chapter 2 STEINBERG & DIAZ

CHAPTER 2

by Jocelyn Diaz

Created

SALADO, TEXAS - FALL 1862

<My name is Emma Kessler and I am a survivor of this summer’s massacre near the Mexican border.>

Forty of my German-Texan compatriots were slaughtered by the hands of one hundred villainous Confederate soldiers led by the merciless Captain Simms.>

<what i witnessed was as evident as the noonday sun. a sheer bloodbath. we were not hostile forces as the Confederacy and their lying press would have you believe. we were victims!> s

<prior to the war, my husband and i ran a bakery in Fredericksburg. Ludwig loved to delight the townsfolk with new culinary creations.>

Kessler Backerei Texas

<Ea da, te pezl ae iig ht ad te cs i ray.>

<g o nw. ty i!>

<“Lie ti, Lui?”>

{} <i’s diiu!>

<bt wa i yu a t te iie cs?>

<js a i o bckir t mo te flvr.>

<i’s pret.>

<b islf, te ht cs i hre i n ie, hwvr...>

<Ah, bt tee’s mr...>

<I lv te ie w’r biig tgte.>

<ih m ivnin, te cs sas wr, gd t te ls cub.>

<ad ti ie nx ya, w’ hv a nw il tse i te ice.>

<but because the German-majority counties voted against secession, the confederacy viewed us all as insurgents.>

<nightriders stole many young men and conscripted them into the rebel army.>

<our homes and livelihoods were torched to the ground.>

<even our officials and community leaders were hanged for refusing the oath of allegiance.>

<Ludwig and i, along with dozens of other townsfolk, chose to flee to Mexico rather than yield our lives to the slaveholding south.>

<Focd t lae Tea fr te sm rao w fld Gemn. piis!>

<mrhaos ie i mle cooae...> <te ih a sls o ishae fr a ik!>

<One te uin is, w rtr srih aa t i cuty ad rbid.>

<o, Ea itn t m nw ie...>

{Sih} <gd iig, w’ a hv a tse oe dy.>

seventy miles from the Mexican border

te Gemn su i cmig dw fr te ih...

...lt’s t te cp’n.

<my husband’s optimism couldn’t slow down the confederate detail that—unknowingly to us—was now within striking distance.>

<egl p ih a w b wk aa. i’s hpl.>

four in the morning

<a qit ad paeu ih. te rbl wud hv aakd b nw.>

<ci u, Ea te ie poet te cmp a d or sot ptos.>

<Do’t ira te ded cpi Sis. h i-->

<at the first gunshot, a third of our men scattered in terror, leaving the remnant unable to adequately defend the camp.>

POW POW poof poof

SLASH POW BAM

<of the men that fled, some escaped while other were caught and killed. but i attest before god that the ones who surrendered on august 10th were rounded up and executed like pigs.>

mry, h kiÄn. sae u.  bg yu.

su yr hl, yu blei’ saaa.

plae!  hv a yug ie. se i ih cid.

sy...  dn’t srce dush.

<the survivors managed to conduct funerals and properly bury our dead in a nearby town. i felt as if it were a funeral for me as well.>

<tee wr. tee “nin.” tee “mn.”>

<I'm dn ih tee pol.>

<one week after the massacre, i made a decision that many would say is unnatural. but for me, it was the only choice.>

<o Lui, hw  i yu til.>

<Emma Kessler was now dead. I became Otto Ludwig, farm boy turned bugler in the 12th Texas calvary.>

How do you do, fellow rebel?

<for weeks, our troop ran repetitive drills and endless fatigue duty.>

<and I was able to blend in with the boys through hard work, humor and avoiding dubious situations.>

I say jasper, why do the French have so many civil wars...?

...it’s

nah, I'm gonna hit the hay fellas.

the only way they can win!

<but my real duty was to gain a private audience with the captain Simms before my sex became too obvious to conceal.

<one fateful night while on nightwatch, the captain would soon find out that I'm a very bad guardsman.>

<I knew this scoundrel’s tent inside and out. where he kept his stationery, his britches...>

<HIS PISTOL.> q

<after avenging my husband and countrymen, i considered fleeing, but i felt it was my duty to stay and help effect an end to this so-called nation... while i still could.>

<my first target will be a munitions factory in a small town south of the red river. they will readily hire any able-bodied man due to labor needs, and word has it they are especially desperate for a good foreman.>

DENTON, TEXAS - FALL 1862

<they will soon find out I'm a very bad foreman.> Otto comin’.

mny, cn yu si ha m?

py poe’s id jckd ot hr.

saik, bt yu’r cig truh.

aya, se’s dig te hay iig. ’m tig cr o a te dti-oine tss.

“hl u, mny...

“Y SE! hw’m  soe t ee oe u ti cuk tb?”

fii’ ct o te i ih te x-at kie  gv yu.

u-hh. gt hm sn tog. w hv ta ie tih a m prns.

ad i’s mra rpi, db.

i ta ie tih? ay wy yu flk’ tk a ricek?

mm’s mig hr pt rat. i’s a a dy lv ai.

ie. le bek te nw t se.

y sey! ga bl. ’ d te cuig mnÑa.

i’s mra rpi, bt ya, ’ mng.

tty laig i hnig. s lt m iih u ti oe ls tig...

lt m ge... oe ls iaee?

two hours later

s... fly.

{PT} fly.

ys, te pt rat ws get, ms. hm.

Mad ts m yu clsd o sm ra ett.

ys m’a, te od itl fcoy.

wa a pinn ridr o or iy’s plc i te ii wr.

fly, d yu ko te tr “wie eehn?”

lwy! nt nw.

i’s a ie-ue, m. h, bt  hv tp mn wrig o i nw.

i’s a epnie pein s bresm ta--

Wh?

“TP MN.”

cn w a lat bi o det?

Zi i! dd, sae ih.

baiu ih, hH?

ray fr sm hmmd ce i?

c’mn fly, ik u te poe!

mny, da... ie u a iue? fr sr. s y’a iie.

cn’t wi.

le gt ta.

ti la yu gt fo te bn.

At te bn, bt ya.

te tl m yu wr {p} did a la.

 gt a la a te bn, nt fo te bn.

Mad kos ti?

se in’t ak. {p} io dtis.

s a det, w cn t Mad ta i ws’t atay a la...

bt i fc a cs it fo a hml vtrn?

 rfsd i, bt h iitd ta--

te yu sn ta cs it A cubig biig...

...ta is o fy srt, te wrt pr o tw.

ih, bt--

hw i ta iaiae wek b o srie t ayn?

So o te ln w, Mad's ga pit a hg mrl...

{Sih} mrl dn’t gnrt mny, fly.

{ h}

yu’ b al t s i fo--

yu’r sig mny arcs ta id o aein?

fly, ’v ie gy ih zr bckgon o ceeil...

te’r nw ieig eie dprmns a hmc.

nmbr oe isiain. big i tr iin pol a ya.

i yu dn’t tk yuslf siul, n oe es i. aiue i eeyig!

yu js bidy by oe-wy ikt ihu ceig te dsiain.

bt te a hd die ad a iin. yu tog...? yu cn’t iuie ie iue it te ftr.

sud eiig, atay.

eieet den’t py te is, fly.

a a onr, yu hv ukp, wgs, txs...

i ko ta.

“te juny o a tosn ie bis ih a igl se...”

...lo Tz.

Wh?

a... h ray lvs m.

bt yu lck ay ad a bie fnaetl.

ad m ol duhe i b id t yu ie...

cre fr niey ltig ot yu dsucinl ie piooh.

i’s a ie fo te to t cig. mny’s fvie bk.

ieial

fly, yu i by a oe-wy ikt...

o a dmd kiae fih.

s yu’r sig  hv a piooh?

tk m cr. hs m mie nmbr.

c m o te dy yu cah ad br.

gt yu ot o tw...

...n qein akd.

te lk m u ltr. taig m fr taig te a iprat ie lo.

tak fr te vt o cniec.

a lt o mn sy te ht m gt, ih  ws da--

 wud nvr sy ta i.

yu ha?

nw... hw ‘bu a sie o i?

1-4 gd by.

wrt dy o m ie.

bs dy o m ie.

gld i ws s dihfl fr yu.

 had yu ot tee ih dd.

wp! ray? I cn epli te la tig...

{ih} fly, n.

“se kp iiig, ad I ws ie n. bt h si--”

su u! rmmbr? “f yu id yuslf i a hl, so iig.”

lt m iih...

n mn hs ee sd u fr m.

“bt tee yu wr, dfnig m at, m proe... tak yu.”

“No ii.”

“n ii.”

s yu atay ra te to t cig?

eey ie  tk a dmp,  suz i ie catr.

ta’s ie a hl bk yu’r daig it te coe.

“i’s a sce sae fr m. i fc,  hd a eihn o te tie te dy w mt.”

“oa yck. js so.”

te btrm i ie m cuc.

sh.

Go i eeyhr I “g.”

{UH} “Wh d I lv smoe wo’s  pret go ad ol oe pret edaig?”

ta’s wa te sy aot yd. ad lk hw pplr ta dd i.

I’d rte ha aot yu B.M. ta sa wr.

ic w’r ams hm, I’ si t te mrl o te soy.

“Shp cly it a ve, bt i’s te sae ii ta mks i ueu.

“I hd a lt o m id te dy w mt.”

hd  nt epid mslf--i eey rset...

we yu epy yu bwl, yu “lt g” o waee’s nt ueu.

a te to tahs...

 wud hv bn t f o ca t b m.

ad tee’s ta edaig oe pret.

tik.

GET in!

“--ohr ie.

“ya, ’m ga nd ta iy nw.”

ch.

l.ead.me/cult3 make a promise

3 is for me (& U)

contents:

Introducing the Kesslers, a pair of German bakers living in Texas Hill Country during the Civil War. When Confederate Army desperados disrupt their peaceful existence, their fate becomes intertwined with Floyd's a century later as he discovers and unravels a mysterious thread that will forever link their destinies.

But first, Floyd and Mandy must survive an evening dinner at the home of her parents. Their no-nonsense stance on finances and lifestyle clash with the young couple’s relaxed and rebellious approach to living it up in the grungy, neon-soaked 90s.