Good Fortune (9781416998631) (49 page)

“You mighty busy now, Anna, out here savin' the community by teachin' these kids, workin' wit your own tutor, an' helpin' Mama Bessie out all at the same time. Don't know no one else who could do it all!”

I looked down at my feet, smiling a little. “You make it sound like a lot, brother.”

“It is, tho',” he said.

“I guess so. You know, Sebastian, I was thinking that one day, I could get a building for the school. You know, it's nice out here, but this would be more like a school if we were actually under a roof.”

“Gotta go one step at a time, sis. You'll get that buildin', jus' like you got yo' education. You got this special way of bringin' to you what you really want.”

I shrugged. “Some things.”

“Yeah, well, you know, I'm thinkin' 'bout a house right now. We need a home.”

He was right. He had been staying with Rodney's relatives, and I had been living at Mama Bessie's for a year and a half now.

“Talked to Henry,” Daniel said to me, changing the topic.

I looked away from my brother, recalling our conversations after the night of the dance. I remembered Florence telling me the proposal wasn't so bad and that Henry really cared for me. She didn't understand, but Daniel did, and the only thing my brother had told me that night with a sad smile was that I was one stubborn woman.

“Said he's doin' jus' right fine. Got him a—”

“I've been meaning to apologize to him, Sebastian,” I explained quickly, interrupting him.

Daniel put his hand on my shoulder and stared at me until I looked up at him. “It ain't my business, sis,” he said with a soft smile. “Don't care if you like that wit all the menfolk you meet!” he said, laughing. The laughter quickly died, however, when I didn't respond.

“Anna, I jus' wanted to tell ya. We've bin here fo' some time. You gotta … you gotta live yo' life.”

“I am, Daniel!” I whispered harshly, and then more calmly, “Sebastian. Brother, this is my life,” motioning to the yard where I held my school sessions.

“I know that, Anna, but—”

“He promised me, Sebastian,” I said softly, looking steadily into my brother's eyes. He swallowed, looking back at me, and I turned to walk away, making every effort in the way I walked and the way I held my posture to seem content with my situation. But I was fooling myself, and I knew it. What kind of chance was there that John would find me? I didn't know what I meant by telling Daniel what I did, but I buried the questions and let my concerns blow away on the wind.

CHAPTER
 
45 

W
ITH TWO STRONG BEATS OF TWO MIGHTY WINGS
, I
WAS HIGH
, very high above the shores of my homeland. The wind caressed my face and I was cradled in a woman's arms. African scent, black skin: Mama
.

A woman with skin a little lighter, her body a little heavier, began to stroke my hair away from my face, her own brilliant wings sheltering me from the sun's rays: Mary
.

Then I stood alone, watching the two women, radiant with light and love, smiling at me, telling me without words to remember my name
, Bahati.

With a few beats of their massive, colorful wings, these bare feminine bodies disappeared over the seas and flew across lands, rejoining the trees, the plants, the earth, the animals
….

“Sarah!” I heard my name being called, pulling me back to Earth.

“Anna!” Could that be … was that …
John
?

“Anna!” The loud whisper jolted me awake, pulling me quickly from my dream. I jumped up in time to see Anita
pulling open the door and running over to me. Florence had woken up and was staring wide-eyed at Anita. Panic spread like a wildfire through my limbs.

“What is it, Anita?” I asked as Mama Bessie walked through the door with her arms crossed and deep furrows lining her forehead.

“She can't find him, Anna, she can't find him! They're looking for him, but … but they can't find him! He came to Mrs. Rosa—”

“Anita!” I whispered loudly, trying to slow her thoughts down, feeling my own heart straining to stay calm. “Anita, who? Who are you talking about?”

“Mrs. Rosa … Mrs. Rosa's husband …”

My heart paused feeling the tension in her words. I pulled on my clothes, looking over at Florence and then at Mama Bessie. They stood unmoving, concern in their eyes.

“Anita, has Mrs. Rosa been harmed? Where is she?” Anita didn't answer, just stood with her hands around her arms, staring past me. “Anita!”

“She's fine, Anna. She wanted me to find you. She felt you were a part of this, and she needs your company.”

I nodded, my heart feeling heavy.

“Anna?” Florence whispered from under her pallet. “Anna, let me see what I can find out around here, and I'll find you two. Where … ?”

Florence and I turned questioning eyes to Anita.

“We'll be at my house.” Then Anita explained to Florence, as quickly as she could, how to get to the old man's place. Then Anita and I rushed out onto the road, where a wagon
was waiting. She gestured in the direction of the driver.

“The old man I live with hired him out. You remember when I came over asking for the medicine after Joshua got sick?”

I nodded.

“He lived through that, but barely so. He's been bedridden to the point where he can't even get up and take his normal morning walks. But I explained to him what happened this evening, and he offered to help in whatever manner he could. He's a good man.”

“What did happen, Anita?” I asked her as we pulled off into the night. “You said Mr. Caldwell's missing.”

“He didn't come home when he was supposed to, last Thursday evening. Mrs. Rosa waited for two days, hoping he was simply tied up in travel or the like. But it wasn't that.”

I clasped my hands together nervously and stared off into the night, afraid of what would come next.

“He came to her earlier this evening, Anna. He used the back entrance and their code to tell her there was trouble. She only saw him for a few minutes, but … there was blood on his face and hands.”

I caught a sob that had tried to escape my throat, and listened on in silence.

“He told Mrs. Rosa he didn't have long, that he didn't know how the night would end. He said that she was safe—and that he wanted her to wait at home for him for at least a few hours. No one saw him approach the house—but he said he was on the run. Some person had been tipped off that through his work, Mr. Caldwell was helping runaways.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. “Was he really doing that kind of work, Anita?”

“I don't know, Anna. But regardless, Mr. Caldwell said they had no real proof. He said it was also possible that somebody had found out about his black blood, but he wasn't sure.”

“But he was bleeding, Anita—”

“Anna, let me tell it all. A few folks had found his book he was trying to put into print under a different name, and traced it back to him. Some of his close friends were baffled by it all, but figured that they could protect him from whomever had it in their minds to attack him, but Mr. Caldwell said he knew better than that. He knew angry folks would come after him, would find him, and that's exactly what happened. He left Mrs. Rosa's just as quickly as he came, and now we don't know where he is, or … or if he's even alive, Anna.”

“How do you know all of this, Anita?” I asked, disregarding her last comment and trying to keep my head on straight.

“I was there. Mrs. Rosa doesn't live that far from where I stay. The first night Mr. Caldwell didn't come home, she came by, asking me to stay with her and Little Sue until Mr. Caldwell came back home, just in case he needed her and she had to leave her child. I did what I had to for the old man but stayed at Mrs. Rosa's, thinking nothing of it. It had happened at least twice before, Mr. Caldwell not returning the night he'd promised and Mrs. Rosa calling on me to watch Little Sue. I didn't see him, Anna, so I
can't say how bad he really was. But I could hear him fairly well.”

“And you said there are folks looking for him now?”

She nodded. “I believe Mrs. Rosa already had a plan for this. There are a few men that Mr. Caldwell knows fairly well in Hadson, and Mrs. Rosa called on them to help look. I believe your brother's among them.”

“Where is Mrs. Rosa now?”

“Where we're headed, the old man's place. The lot of us agreed that, even though Mr. Caldwell told her she was in no danger, it might be safer for her and Little Sue to stay somewhere else until he's found.”

We fell silent and didn't mutter another word until we pulled up to the house.

“There she is,” Anita said softly, nodding toward the figure of a woman leaning against the porch rail with a small child fast asleep in her arms.

We walked up the steps and stood on either side of our tutor. She looked frozen in place as she gazed out onto the old man's land.

“Mrs. Rosa,” I said softly, placing a hand on hers.

She took a deep breath, blew it out, and turned to me.

“Anna, I don't know where he is. I don't know how serious it is.” She glanced down at her palm, and I followed her eyes to see a small spot of dried blood she hadn't washed away. The tears I saw in her eyes made my own swell. Her hand balled into a tight fist. “A bunch of angry folks found out about his work, the things he wrote in that book of his, maybe even about his blood. I know they're after him.”

“You know exactly who it is that's after him, Mrs. Rosa?”

She shrugged. “I know the type of men who wouldn't like the work my husband was doing. I don't know any names or faces, but I know the type.” She turned to Anita, then to me. “But where is he, Anita? Anna?” I looked in her eyes and saw flames. They were threatening, something I had never seen in her before.

“Mrs. Rosa, they'll find him.” But I knew that my words would be buried under the haunting images that sat in our minds.