129. A Savage Beating
Amy simply can't let this mystery go unsolved. She finds a catch to open the glass display case and slides the case open. She blows the dust off the plaque and rubs it with her finger until it's legible. The plaque reads: “Remains of cane used by Representative Preston Brooks to beat Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate, 22 May, 1856.”
Amy curls her upper lip in disgust. She can't help giving a little lecture to herself (and, of course, her ever-present invisible audience).
“Preston Brooks was a disgusting man! He represented South Carolina in the House of Representatives in the days before the Civil War. He owned slaves and, when Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech attacking slave owners, Brooks ambushed Sumner in the senate and beat him with a cane to within an inch of his life! He was an evil man who did evil things in support of an evil cause.”
“I say!” a voice from behind Amy interrupts her. She nearly jumps out of her shorts with surprise at the sound. Spinning around, Amy is confronted with the ghostly image of Representative Preston Brooks.
“I say, madame, if you are indeed worthy of being called madame, which I submit that you are not!” the ghost continues, “I'll not have my honor impugned by a Yankee wench like yourself!”
Amy takes a few steps backward, trying to put some distance between herself and the racist ghost that now threatens her. As she does, she notices the two pieces of the cane rise up from their display case, then fuse together, forming a complete cane. The cane then floats over to the Representative, who grabs it in his right hand and holds it aloft over his head.
“You behave with the manners of a dog, so now I shall do my duty and beat you as a dog!”
The ghost rushes forward and slams the head of the cane into Amy's head. The blow comes too quickly to dodge, and Amy stumbles backwards. He then strikes another blow, this time to her shoulder. The hit causes Amy to fall sideways, crashing into the display case. Amy tries to grip the case to steady herself, but the impact of her body breaks the front-left leg of the case, making it unstable. Putting her weight on it causes it to topple forward, trapping her underneath it.
“Now, doesn't this look familiar? You find yourself in the same position as that dog Sumner! Now to finish the job I left half-done with the Yankee bastard!”
Brooks proceeds to beat Amy savagely about the head, neck, and shoulders. Amy's face is covered with bruises and welts and her vision is obscured by blood. Finally, she can take no more and expires.
Satisfied that his honor has been adequately defended, the Representative returns his cane to its case, re-broken, and evaporates back to the after-life.
Amy is in no condition to continue this adventure or her life.