Riverbreeze: Part 1 (4 page)

Both boys knew how lucky they had been. Mr.
Tyler could have been as bad as their older brother, Wesley. They
could have traded one bad situation for another. They still had to
work, that was for sure, but it wasn’t the hard labor that other
indentured servants had to endure. And miracle of miracles, Mr.
Tyler owned horses! Two beautiful bays from England and their colt.
Jamie was in heaven! How had Robert known?

The years passed in peace and contentment.
The brothers grew to love their adoptive father and he them. They
never forgot their own loving father and Tyler could never replace
him, but this man who had taken in two wretched, downtrodden boys
and had raised them to be two fine young gentlemen, the gentlemen
they were meant to be, was a close second.

They became a family, the five of them, Mr.
Francis Tyler, his two daughters, Maureen and Kathleen, (Mrs. Tyler
had unfortunately died from an ague seven years ago) and Robert and
Jamie. The brothers thanked God every day for their good
fortune.

After only six years in the colony, Robert,
at the age of eighteen, was given his freedom and his plantation;
of course marrying the master’s daughter helped a great deal in
that aspect. It was not general knowledge that in Virginia upon
completing one’s term, that one may or may not receive land as part
of the freedom dues even though servants bound for Virginia were
promised land according to the custom of the country, or fifty
acres according to custom, but in reality, it all depended on the
generosity of the master and most indented servants received
nothing but ten bushels of corn, thirty shillings and one musket
worth twenty shillings and maybe a new set of clothing. Only
persons who could pay for their passage were promised fifty acres
of land and received it. So when Robert was gifted five hundred
acres of land by Mr. Tyler when he married Tyler’s younger
daughter, Kathleen, he was truly humbled.

Jamie was given his freedom a year later, at
the age of seventeen, when Robert’s wife died after childbirth. It
was only a legal issue to release Robert and Jamie from their
contracts of indenture. Mr. Tyler never considered them to be
servants; he never treated them as such. He also knew how close the
two brothers were and knew that Robert would need Jamie’s love and
support after the death of his wife.

The plantation was still small but prospering
and Robert was extremely proud of the progress he had made. It was
located approximately twenty-four miles north of Jamestown by way
of the James River. It was situated on the north side of the river,
bordered on one side by Queen’s creek and on the other side by
Herring creek. Gunn’s Run creek ran down the middle, flowing
perpendicular from the mighty James to the back of the property.
The property was mostly woods, about ten acres of cleared land and
two swampy areas, one at the mouth of Queen’s creek, the other
along the shore of the James River at Herring creek. It was a
beautiful spot, at the crest of a large loop of the deep river, a
prime location to establish a prosperous tobacco plantation.

So far, it was a typical farm with a modest
one and a half story brick house, several rustic outbuildings, a
large kitchen and herb garden, a newly planted orchard of apple,
cherry and peach trees and two dozen mulberry trees for the
beginning of a silk producing operation, six acres of tobacco
fields, one acre of corn and wheat, goats and chickens in the yard,
pigs in the woods and a newly constructed stable with two
magnificent horses.

They had truly been blessed, although since
the death of his wife, Robert didn’t see it that way. The last two
years had been extremely difficult for the brothers, working side
by side, sunup to sundown. Robert had worked himself nearly to
exhaustion every day to keep thoughts of his dead wife at bay. He
had given up interacting with all of English society, and angry at
God for allowing his wife to die, he had turned his back on the
church. He had even wished he could have stayed away from weekly
church services, but that was against the law and paying the fines
each week of fifty pounds of tobacco would have taken everything he
had planted. His family didn’t know how much longer he could go on
like that, but they were helpless to change the situation. Robert
was grateful for their concern, but he wished they would just leave
him alone.

Alas, it wasn’t to be, though.

* * *

Today, the brothers were going to a party,
hosted by their adoptive father, Francis Tyler, in honor of Tyler’s
identical twin nieces who had just arrived in the colony three days
ago. They thought that the twins probably wouldn’t be in the mood
to be introduced to society so soon after their arrival, but it
couldn’t be helped. The invitations had been delivered over a month
ago, given out at the last council meeting or after church
services, the date of the party chosen carefully to fall at the end
of the tobacco season and in anticipation of the girls’ ship
arriving on time.

It may have been a foolhardy thing to do
knowing how uncertain and unpredictable the crossing of the
Atlantic could be. Anything could happen while out on the open
seas, but Tyler had had complete confidence in Captain Neil
Fletcher and the ship he commanded. Unfortunately the ship had
encountered trouble on the open seas and it had been nobody’s fault
that the ship had arrived two weeks late.

But Jamie wasn’t worried about the girls’
moods; he was just thrilled to be going to a party. He knew Robert
didn’t want to attend, but he didn’t care. He wanted to go and he
was determined to enjoy himself despite Robert’s sour mood.

After dressing carefully in the new doublet
and breeches he had just purchased from a prosperous London tailor,
he bounded down the stairs and hurried into the kitchen. Robert was
already sitting at the board table with his two-year-old son,
Robin, who was sitting in a high chair which Jamie had constructed.
Mrs. Abigail Chilcott, Robin’s wet nurse and their housekeeper, was
at the large fireplace frying corn cakes on a three-legged spider
skillet.

“Good morning, all.” Jamie said cheerily as
he slid onto the bench opposite Robert. A place had already been
set for him at the table with spoon, knife, napkin and a tankard of
hard cider. “Mmm, that smells good.” He added, grabbing the tankard
and taking a long drink.

“Morning, Jamie. Sleep well?” Robert asked,
spooning coddled eggs into his son’s mouth.

“Like a log. What’s for breakfast?” He asked,
his focus on Robin. He smiled broadly at the boy, then made a goofy
face to make him laugh.

Robin did laugh, displaying an open mouth
full of yellowy and white slime. “Eggs!” He announced happily.

“Lovely.” Jamie muttered, making a face at
Robert, but Robert was already scolding Robin and scrubbing his
mouth with a linen cloth.

“Here you are, Jamie.” Abigail said, placing
a pewter plate full of eggs, ham, and corn cakes in front of him.
“You’re looking very handsome this morning.” She teased him.

He smiled shyly and smoothed down the front
of his doublet. “Thank you, Abby.” He was pleased she had noticed.
He had hopes of catching the attention of a pretty female at the
party and now he felt confident he would.

“You’re welcome.” And she returned to the
fireplace to fill a plate for herself.

“Hoping to impress anyone special?” Robert
teased him also.

“No, but I am looking forward to meeting our
cousins.” He said, then he bowed his head and quickly said, “Thank
you, Lord, for this fine food. Allow it to give me the strength to
persevere in all that You expect of me. Amen.”

“A-men!” Robin copied his uncle, clapping his
small hands together.

Jamie smiled at him. “Good boy, Robin.”
Robert made some kind of growling noise in his throat, but Jamie
ignored him. He scooped up a large spoonful of eggs. “So, what do
you think the twins will be like?”

“Snooty and boring, I expect.” Robert said,
breaking up a corn cake for Robin. He then poured a little honey
from a small pitcher onto another cake for himself before biting
into it. “Everyone from London is boring.” He ended, licking his
fingers.

Jamie frowned at Robert. “Oh come on,
Rob.”

“You asked.”

“Well, I disagree. I expect they’ll be
sophisticated but sweet. And if they’re anything like Maureen and
Kathleen, they’ll be as gentle as lambs.”

Robert said nothing, just glared at Jamie. It
was obvious he did not like that statement.

“What are their names again?” Abigail asked,
returning to the table with her plate along with a bowl of stewed
apples. She placed the stewed apples in the middle of the table,
then sat down beside Jamie.

Jamie scooted over a bit. “Elizabeth and
Evelyn Tyler.” He answered around a mouthful of ham and eggs.

“I’m sorry I’m going to miss meeting them.”
Abigail said, wiping her hands on her apron.

“Then why won’t you come with us?” Jamie
asked. “You are invited.”

“Because she’s smart.” Robert retorted.

“Oh Rob, be quiet.”

“You know I’d rather not attend social
gatherings, especially now that I’m still grieving for my friend.”
Abigail said quietly, her eyes downcast.

“I know and again, I’m sorry, Abby.” Jamie
said, then addressed his brother. “At least you’re dressed and
ready to go.”

Robert shrugged his shoulders while finishing
off his corn cake. Then he took a swig of cider. “It would be rude
of me to not go. Besides, I admit I am looking forward to seeing
father and Maureen again.” He said grudgingly.

“Hallelujah!” Jamie exclaimed. “The crab has
finally come out of his shell!”

* * *

Jamie finished his breakfast in record time.
It was already well past daybreak and normally he would have been
down at the stables feeding and watering his horses long before
now.

As he strode along the crushed oyster-shell
path, he whistled a merry tune. At nineteen years of age and not
quite six feet tall, he was no longer that small, frail boy of nine
years ago. Despite succumbing to the intermittent fever his first
summer in Virginia and having had several relapses throughout the
years, good and plentiful food, fresh air and hard work had
nourished his body, so much so, that it had been a challenge to
keep him decently clothed. Francis Tyler had often joked that it
took all his profits to keep the two growing boys in proper-fitting
clothes and he couldn’t wait for the day when they would experience
the same frustration of trying to clothe and feed their own growing
sons. Jamie still hadn’t filled out as much as his brother had, in
fact he was so lean one might think he was still starving, but he
was strong and healthy, as long as the intermittent fever lay
dormant.

The stables were approximately one hundred
feet behind and slightly left of the main house, just recently
completed. Jamie was quite proud of himself; he had built these
stables with the help of his brother, their good friend, Roger
Wentworth, and Phillip Archer, their brother-in-law. And it didn’t
matter to him that the building was a far cry from the stables of
his father’s or that it had been constructed using second-hand
clapboards from the original house on the property that had been
torn down. To be honest it resembled a cow barn more than a proper
stables; there was just enough room for the two horses that had
arrived from England only a fortnight ago and maybe a few goats and
pigs, although, at this time most of the goats and all of the pigs
were left foraging in the woods. But Jamie knew this was only the
beginning and no one or no thing, such as a lingering disease, was
going to stop him from having the best horse farm in Virginia.

It had rained overnight and up until a few
minutes ago. The sky was still gray with thick, stormy clouds, but
the air was clear and crisp and suffused with the scent of earth
and pines, and there was a chilly breeze that soughed through the
trees. It prompted him to breathe deeply of the fresh air,
expanding his lungs, feeling wonderfully alive and content. This
was his favorite time of year when the mornings were quite cool and
the afternoons temperate. It was so much nicer than the oppressive
heat of summer. He would never forget their first summer here; it
had been so hot and he had suffered miserably, not only from the
infernal heat but also from that damned intermittent fever.

But he wouldn’t worry about that now. It was
refreshingly cool and he was feeling perfectly fine. He could hear
numerous birds busy in the dripping trees, red birds, chickadees,
finches and mocking birds. He whistled back to them and then
chuckled when two chickadees flew closer and chattered at him. He
heard scores of crows further away and then soaring high overhead
he watched, spellbound, a magnificent fish hawk, a bird as large as
an eagle, fly towards the river and circle around until it swooped
down to catch a fish in its large claws.

And then the sun came out from behind a break
in the clouds and lit the whole place like a gift from God.

He stood facing the sunshine for a minute
with closed eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face,
thanking God for that gift. It wouldn’t have been pleasant at all
to have to travel in the rain, either by boat or riding the horses.
Everything would get sopping wet, from the hats on their heads to
the tips of their boots. They’d have to try to keep their pistols
and powder dry under their heavy wool cloaks and hope to God they
didn’t come across any wild beast or savage and discover that the
powder had gotten damp, rendering the pistols useless, except maybe
as clubs. And he didn’t think the horses would have appreciated it
either, slogging through all that mud and marsh, rain driving into
their eyes and soaking their coats. It would have been just plain
miserable for everyone around.