Queen (26 page)

elegant copper plate hand, he 'did not write "James," but rather the formal

English abbreviation, "Jas."

    It amused James, and he began calling his son "Jas." After a while everyone

    adopted it, but because it looked a little odd when it was written down,

    they added another letter to it, and so James Jackson, the son of James

    Jackson who was the son of James Jackson, became known simply as Jass.

    The christening was a splendid affair, held on the new lawn in front of the

    house, near the magnolia tree, which had grown several feet since James and

    Andrew first planted it. Nearby there was a wigwam, which James had

    provided for an Indian family, but none wanted to live there, and so the

    children used it for play. A.J. pretended he was a great chief, and

    tormented his older sisters, and the slave children.

    Eleanor and Thomas Kirkman from Nashville came with their son Tom, who was

    a young man now, and was engaged to Sally's first daughter, Elizabeth. Sara

    came with her boys, and John Coffee, who had a fine plantation near

    Florence, with his family.

    Politicians and influential men were there in abundance, and while they

    enjoyed the celebration, their conversations, which they kept from the

    women, were all about the recent sensational case of Denmark Vesey.

A free black who lived in Charleston, Vesey had plotted with other blacks,

slaves, to rebel against the whites, and had somehow amassed guns for the

purpose. A nervous maid had discovered the guns, and the plot was revealed.

Vesey and thirty-seven of his followers were executed.

    It was not the first example of insurrection by blacks. Many of the men

    present could remember the bloody revolution on the Caribbean island of

    Santo Domingo, when the armies of the black general Toussaint L'Ouverture

    massacred the French and took control of the island. Or the Gabriel

    rebellion, much closer to home, in Richmond, Virginia. In each instance,

    the rebellions had eventually been bloodily suppressed, and new and even

    more stringent laws were introduced against the blacks.

It was happening now, in Charleston. A law had been

    BLOODLINES 153

passed that any free blacks arriving as crew on ships were not permitted

to land, but had to be kept on board as long as the ship was in harbor,

at the captain's expense. The law was taking its toll of sea traffic into

Charleston, but the Southerners considered this a small price to pay for

their security. Throughout the slaveholding states discipline had

increased and punishment for any infringement been made more severe. Armed

patrols to discourage runaways had been introduced, in addition to the

regular slave catchers.

    James had his own problems with this matter. Many of his new field hands

    were troublesome, and there had been a few instances of slaves running

    away. It angered James. He thought he was a benevolent Massa, and

    regarded the slaves as ungrateful, and their actions threatening to his

    wealth and position. It was clear to him that Evans, the foreman, could

    not control such large numbers, and, regretfully, had to be replaced.

    He spoke with John Coffee, who was pleased. Coffee had always regarded

    James as overly lenient with his slaves, and thought that perhaps with

    his new wealth and position to protect, and his outstanding plantation,

    James had found some backbone.

    "Someone with a strong sense of discipline?" John Coffee asked.

"Whatever is necessary," James agreed.

    Coffee thought he knew just the man. Egbert Harris had served under him

    against the Creek, and at New Orleans. He was working as an overseer on

    a small plantation in Georgia, but was anxious to find a situation closer

    to his home, in Nashville. John Coffee promised to investigate the matter

    for James.

By tacit agreement among the men, there was no discussion of slaves,

slavery, or the Vesey plot with the women, and James spent a pleasant

afternoon circulating among the guests and receiving their congratulations

for his new son and his new house, and his new political career.

    He was introduced to William Perkins, who was looking to buy land in the

    district. William Perkins was small, studious, and almost permanently

    worried. He was married to an am-

    154 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

bitious woman whose given name was Pocahontas, but who preferred to be

called Becky. It was the Perkinses' personal tragedy that neither of their

two babies had lived, and they blamed the fierce coastal humidity of South

Carolina. Becky was pregnant again, and William, having caught the

Florence fever, hoped that the move inland would benefit his wife and

coming child.

    James was flattered by his attention and amused by his constant anxiety.

    He had recently bought two more small plantations, in Florida and

    Mississippi, and gave William some basic advice. William hung on every

    word, jotted down notes, and would not leave his side. James spied his

    nephew, Tom Kirkman, who was moving to Florence when he married Eliz-

    abeth, to work for James. He introduced the two men, and told Tom to look

    after William.

    That evening there was a fine family dinner. James, at the head of the

    table, and Sally, opposite to him, were surrounded by loving relatives.

    They started to tell tales of the old days in Ireland, and then sang

    songs and toasted the martyrs, Oliver Bond and Lord Edward, the Sheares

    brothers and Wolfe Tone.

    "Erin go bragh!" they shouted, although they were a long way from Erin.

    "And Sean," James said, raising his glass. He was already a little drunk.

    No one else knew whom he meant, but toasted Sean anyway, and drank the

    health of the new baby, Jass, and welcomed A.J., who was attending his

    first formal dinner, to the clan.

    It was midnight when they went to bed. Cap'n Jack, who had been on his

    feet since dawn, was dozing in his Massa's dressing room when James came

    in. He woke with a start, helped James undress, and was genially

    dismissed for the evening.

Cap'n Jack didn't go to his own hut, for that was not his routine. He went

to the weaving house, as he did every evening, to be with Annie for a few

minutes. Her candle was still burning, and she was sitting at the loom,

weaving and humming one of her strange songs. She didn't speak or acknowl-

edge his presence, but he knew she was pleased he was there, and that she

had been waiting for him.

    BLOODLINES 155

He sat in a rocking chair and did not speak.

"What's wrong?" she said softly.

    He didn't reply, and when she turned around to look at him, she saw he

    was dozing. She woke him gently and told him to lie on the bed. He was

    too tired to argue, and did as he was bidden. Annie went back to the

    loom, to her cloth and her humming, and Cap'n Jack drifted to sleep

    listening to the lovely lullaby.

    When he awoke a few hours later he was puzzled, because he wasn't sure

    where he was, and knew he was not alone. He realized that Annie had

    crawled onto the bed beside him, fully clothed, and was curled in the

    crook of his arm, fast asleep.

    It felt right and natural to him that she was there, and wonderful, and

    his heart was golden. He didn't stir, but turned his head gently so he

    could see her better.

    The moonlight traced in through the window, and a wayward moonbeam

    shimmered over Annie's face. She slept peacefully, with no hint on her

    face of the pain that she would not discuss with Cap'n Jack.

    The soft light of dawn replaced the moon, and Cap'n Jack lay motionless

    beside Annie, wide awake, staring at his love, and caressed by her gentle

    breathing.

    19

When Cap'n Jack and Annie got married, James gave them a splendid wedding

party, because Andrew was running for president.

    Annie had been reluctant to accept Cap'n Jack's proposal. After his first

    night with her, when nothing had happened between them, Cap'n Jack slept

    in the weaving house regularly, with Annie. As they got to know each

    other better, and felt secure with each other, a physical relationship

    developed. It was something that they both wanted and needed, just as

    they wanted each other in all aspects of their lives. They made no

156 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

plans for a future, but accepted what they had now, and it was precious

to them. For the first time in her life, Annie started to trust a man and

she even stopped taking her special herbs and grasses to prevent a child,

because she began to want a baby by Cap'n Jack. She still doubted the

future, but lived, as she had always done, for the day.

    She became pregnant. For a while she thought of doing something to

    herself to change her condition, but then she realized that the innocent

    thing inside her had become all of her hope. If it was a boy child, he

    could be raised in his father's image, as a man who was caring to women.

    If it was a girl child, she would have the life that Annie had never had,

    a life without fear of men, secure in the love of both her parents. Even

    if anything were to happen to Annie, and she fully expected her happiness

    not to last, Cap'n Jack would love and nurture the child.

    She told Cap'n Jack of her condition, and he immediately proposed

    marriage, as she had known she would. She was puzzled that she had told

    him of the pregnancy, because she had no ready answer for his question.

    Marriage seemed very permanent to her, and Annie did not believe in

    permanence. Cap'n Jack wooed her beautifully, and did not press her, but

    presented all his arguments patiently. He courted her, and made her feel

    as if he were asking her to give herself, unlike other men, who simply

    took her.

    Eventually, because she could think of no good argument against him, and

    because in her heart she wanted to be married to him, she accepted him,

    and the look on his face, of simple, unalloyed joy, made her glad.

    Cap'n Jack told James, who immediately gave his consent. The slave then

    asked his Massa for a privilege. He wanted a proper wedding, and he

    wanted his old friend Alfred to be his best man. James said that he would

    write to Andrew and request permission for Alfred to come. Cap'n Jack

    asked him one more favor.

    "Annie ain't got no pappy," he said. "You her Massa, you her pappy. Will

    you give her away?"

    James was moved. The whole question of slavery had been exercising his

    mind recently. The South was still quivering with righteous indignation

    and latent fear from the Vesey plot,

    BLOODLINES 157

and several states had sharpened their laws against blacks. Many in the

North were complaining of the treatment of the slaves, and the South was

closing ranks against their outrage. At the same time, James was having

continuing problems with his own field hands. They were truculent and

troublesome; three more had run away, and one had never been found. Evans

was worse than useless, and had indicated his readiness to step down, but

John Coffee had not yet heard from Egbert Harris.

    Cap'n Jack's request began to put the whole issue into perspective for

    him. He was father to his black children. They were an extension of his

    family, and he treated them well, if sternly, as he would his own family.

    There could be no better example of his relationship with the best of his

    slaves, in these troubled times, than the public admission of his role.

    He would be delighted to give Annie away.

    He wrote to Andrew requesting that Alfred be Cap'n Jack's best man, and

    to his surprise, Andrew replied in person, rather than by letter.

He came to The Forks, unannounced, to see James. He brought Alfred with

him, and immediately gave his consent to Alfred's role in the coming

wedding. Andrew greeted Sally warmly, and the children, and insisted they

call him Uncle Andrew. He brought greetings from Rachel, who was ailing

and not able to travel, and told them the news of his sons. He met Jass

for the first time, and played happily with the infant for a while, and

then told A.J. war stories, and acted out the battle of New Orleans for

the wide-eyed boy.

    James and Sally watched from the veranda, as General Andrew chased around

    the garden after A.J., who had been cast as the British Army.

    "I wonder what he wants," Sally said softly, and James laughed.

"I'm sure you can guess," he said.

    Andrew had a pleasant dinner with James and Sally, and was at his most

    charming. He described the new house he was building for Rachel to

    replace the older, smaller Hermitage. He told them all the gossip of the