A Book of Ruth (3 page)

“Get back up that hill you dirty no good boy.  What makes you think you can outsmart me.  You know you can’t.”

The young black man looked with pleading eyes at Peter and Naomi.  Haunting eyes that Naomi did not think she would ever forget.  The sound of the screams and the sight of a  bloody battle that Peter
knew
he would never forget. 

Without even an acknowledgement, the men made their way away from Peter and Naomi. The young couple began to hear the dogs howling, the whip continuing to lash.  Naomi lay in her husband’s arms, shaking, for what seemed like a long, long time.  Finally, Peter coaxed her back to the wagon, he dressed quickly, and they began back on the road to Savannah. 

They did not speak for what seemed to her like hours. She was still soaking wet, but at last, Peter broke the silence and asked, “You ok?”

Naomi broke, she cried and cried and through sobs said, “Peter, please don’t keep the slaves.  Please release them from the estate.” 

“Not a problem, my dear.  The lawyer has already drawn up the paperwork.  Some have asked to stay on as servants.  Others have already left with money in their pockets and freedom papers in their hands.  I could not do that any other way.”

“Thank you,” she said.  “Thank you. I shall love those servants with all my heart.  With God as my witness, I will teach them of His love and mercy.”

Hope

“Boaz,” came the shout of his father.

Boaz slowly motioned to Julia to follow him.  The two made their way slowly and quietly down the stairs and out to the front porch of the general store.  There had grown a crowd around the man’s back door.  Someone said he needed the doc.  Boaz’s father was waiting just inside the door.

“Boaz, what’s going on?”  He asked as he looked Julia up and down.  “Julia what on earth are you up to?”

“She’s leaving pa.  She can’t take it no more.”

“Well ya may not have to.  I think he’s dead.  I was just in there.  The doc is going to be checking him out.”

Julia felt a joy flood her veins.  But that joy soon was replaced with a hopelessness that made her come back to reality.

“No sir.  I’m leaving tonight.  It doesn’t matter.  They’ll just sell me again.”

Pa took a deep long sigh.  He understood the pain.  Well he thought he did, as well as any outsider that was not actually enslaved himself.  He had seen the evidence of the things the man had done to this young girl since bringing her up from Mississippi years ago.  However, God spoke clearly to him.  He waited just a moment in the silence of the moment.

“Julia, go into the back room.  There you will find a new shipment of dresses and some night gowns that just came in.  I want you to put one of the gowns on, and lay out a dress for tomorrow.  Bed down there tonight.  No one will come looking for you here.  They trust me.  I’ll take care of this in the morning.”

“No sir.  I’m leaving tonight.”

“Boaz, come on.  We need to go home, ma is waiting.  She’ll be worrying.”

“But Pa..” he stammered.

“Come along son.  God has this all under control.  It’s not our place to make these decisions right now.  Julia, rest in the back room.  You are safe for the evening.  Do not, under any circumstances, open these doors.  Do you understand me?”

Julia looked for a few moments at the kind older gentleman that had helped her so many times in life.  She trusted him as well.  She let out a sigh and tears began to fall from her eyes.  “How can I?  I’m so close.  I must go north.  It’s freedom sir.”

“Freedom is an amazing thing, Julia.  But freedom through Christ, as I have told you so many times before, is the only freedom that matters at the end of the day.  Take time and pray tonight.  He took a bible off the shelf and handed it to her.  Take time to read as well.” 

Pa took Peter by the shoulder and the two of them left the store.  As the key turned, Boaz felt a fear grip him.  However, Julia felt the spirit of God grip her.  She did as the man had directed her to do.  She found the garments that fit her.  She laid out her dress for the next day, smoothing out the wrinkles as best she could.  Now it was time, time to rest. She climbed into the bed that was in the back room.  She had rested here so many times before, where Mabria had nursed her back to strength.  Oh, never all the way.  The master would never allow that.  But the kindness of this family and the prayers over her many a day, she felt safe, and she felt at home.  A comfort in this bed, oh that she would dream of sometimes at night as she slept on the bit of straw at her master’s home.  She opened the bible and her eyes fell to a familiar passage that Mabria had so many times read to her, ‘come unto me all ye who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’  She took time to come to her knees right next to that bed and prayed as Mabria had taught her.  She asked forgiveness for the hate she held in her heart for that master.  She felt it flood through her and out through the tears that stained her new garment.  She felt Christ’s Spirit, like she had before, only this time, this time; it was just Him and her.  A presence of God that she would never forget fell on her this night.  She climbed back into the bed, pulled the covers up over her face, and as she tried to hide, she realized, she needn’t hide any more.  God was in control.  She would face whatever it was she needed to face in the morning.  This time, freedom through Christ, was what was going to carry her.  No more fear, no more pain, with Christ by her side.  She had confidence in that and as she closed her eyes, it seemed only moments when the bright rising sun through the window and the banging on the door woke her from her rest.

Strangers

Savannah was bustling and busy.  Naomi wasn’t so sure about this place.  There was lots of noise and lots of people.  Being out on the road, she had become accustomed to not being around folks for a few weeks.  She all of a sudden wasn’t so sure about this trip south. 

“The lawyer’s place is just over here next to the Sheriff’s office.  We can get down there and stretch a bit before going in,” Peter spoke interrupting her thoughts.

“Peter, I’m a bit scared of this place.”

“Its alright, it’s from being on that road.  We’ll be fine.”

Peter jumped out of the wagon and tied it near the back of the buildings.  There was a trough nearby for the horses and he wanted to make sure they had a chance to drink and rest as well.  He helped Naomi down and while she was getting used to standing up again he took the burden off the beasts.  It felt good to get out of that wagon.  He was beginning to feel stiff.  He noticed the post office nearby. 

“The post office was the hub of home.  Probably is here as well Naomi.  Why don’t you go introduce yourself, while I go take care of this business?”

“I think I’ll wait for you Peter if you don’t mind.  I really feel scared here.”

“Come on in with me then Naomi.  We’ll be fine.  You’ll be used to this place in no time at all.  That post office will be where you come to stay in contact with back home.”

Naomi moved along the streets with Peter.  But she just wasn’t so sure about this place.  She was now a stranger in a strange land. “I must pray,” she thought.  “I must draw closer to God through this.”

Freedom Longings

The bangs on the door kept coming.  Julia laid stock still, frightened that the door would break in at any moment.  When she heard Don’s voice outside it seemed to calm her.  He was yelling though, and there was an argument. 

“Now Don, I’ve been told Boaz snuck her in here last night.  A very reputable source said it.  You need to open up and let us have her.”

“Boaz was with me last night.  You need to move along.  This is my establishment and I open when I open and you won’t be coming in here looking for anybody.”

Then the back door from the alley creaked open.  Julia slipped quietly behind a barrel in the room and hoped that she would not be seen. 

“Julia,” came Mabria’s whisper.

Julia ran into her arms and wept softly.  Mabria stroked her hair and her slender back and attempted to soothe the poor child as she had so often done.  “Its ok girl.  Trust God.  He has a plan.  Trust Him.”

“I should of ran last night Mabria.  I should of ran.”

“No, you did right.  Joe is dead.  He died last night.”

“Dead?  Oh Mabria?  Now what?  What will they do? They’ll sell me to another for sure.”

“Stay still.  Shhhh.  Don is seeing what can be done.  He has the lawyers working on it.”

“Sheriff why don’t you go talk to Joshua and see what is going on over there,” came Don’s voice from outside.

“Ok Don, but I’ll be back.  Roy stay out here and make sure she doesn’t leave.  Caleb you take the back. Remember she’s property, Don.  You’re responsible.”

Don came inside and motioned to them to stay in the back room.  Mabria made sure the curtains were tucked tight in the tiny window in the back room.  Mabria made coffee as Don stoked the stove.  Then Mabria brought some bread, butter and jam back for Julia to have some breakfast.  A short time later a knock came at the door. 

“Don?” came Joshua’s voice.

Don opened the door and allowed Joshua to come in, locking it in place behind him.  Mabria slipped the backroom door shut quietly.  Julia sipped her coffee and ate her bread thinking it may be her last meal for quite a while.  No telling what was in store for her today.  As she waited for word, she decided to take time to pray.  She fell to her knees near the bedside and asked her God to take care of her and these kind folks that ministered to her so often. 

Then Mabria opened the door.  She had papers in her hands and a light in her eyes.

“Julia, you have been sold to Don, by the estate of your master.  He had debts to the general store.  They have agreed to give Don, you, in lieu of those debts.  Joshua has also drawn up your freedom papers.  You are free Julia.  Your price has been paid.” Mabria could hardly control her voice or her tears.

“Free?  You paid the price?  I can never pay you back?  Free?”  Julia fell at Mabria’s feet weeping.  “How shall I pay…” she could not speak.

Don came in, “I just lost 2 workers,” he was laughing.  “There’s a huge opportunity right here for you to work this off.  Room, board, a little money, and we’ll work it out.” Don was beaming.  “Look what God did today!”  He was still laughing, the girls were crying, and hope came streaming into a young life that day.

Fate

Naomi and Peter had two children, Jacob and Jonathan. 

Jacob loved the south, and was determined to become a part of the elite.  Why shouldn’t he, his father was a land owner.  His father had refused to own slaves, but they did well with the servants that had agreed to work the land and become part of their home, by building their own homes on pieces of the land that Peter had given them in return for their labors.  So he took a wife, Orpah.  They began a life on a piece of land that Peter had given them as well. 

Jonathan, too, took a wife from the south.  Ruth was a servant girl, a daughter of one of Peter’s employees.  She came from a very poor white family that had lost all they had in some faulty land deals in their young lives.  Peter had hired her father when he saw the distress and destitution they were living in.  Jonathan and Ruth had grown up together on the land.  In life they had found themselves toiling side by side in the fields, through many happy times of course, but many trying times.  The drought 2 years ago.  How did they survive that, they had wondered many a day.  Then came the year of the floods, when most of the crop was destroyed.  It seemed to be a lean year. However, Peter was always storing away, for some such year as this, so as to make the impact less traumatic to all.  He was a good father and taught Jonathan and Jacob well. 

Peter and Naomi were overjoyed when Jonathan chose Ruth to be his wife.  Naomi had always observed the closeness of the two, but Jacob refused to even acknowledge Ruth most of the time.  He always thought he was better than the rest.  Naomi was concerned over Jacob’s attitudes and also his distance from God.  Jonathan loved God and looked to please Him in the way he handled his business and his family. 

When the south fired its first shot, all three men had went off to war, seemingly as confederates, but had made their way north, changed uniforms and fought for the northern army. Their home was physically in the south.  But their hearts and their allegiance, was to what they all three agreed on, their great nation. While away they attempted to keep in touch with their wives as much as possible.  Their letters home, because of suspicions raised through the years, had been intercepted, at that post office, by the confederates.  The women were all questioned for several days by the soldiers.  The army had taken all of the horses, Peter’s pride and joy, and left them one work horse.  Naomi had said the same thing that day, “God’s grace, we’ll need that horse!” 

Last winter the three men made their way back home, but were dressed in confederate uniforms. With no way for Naomi to get a message back to them, none knew that they had been exposed.  The soldiers were waiting for them.  All three were hung on the front porch. 

It’s Time To Go Home

Naomi broke the silence.  “I’m going home,” she said softly.  “God wants me home.”

“I’ll go with you,” replied Ruth, with little emotion.