The Price of Freedom (32 page)

December 15, 1696

As it grew closer to Christmas, Sarah
and Deborah’s shop began to get very busy with an influx of customers wanting
clothes from Sarah and soap and perfume from Deborah. They took delight in
decorating their house and shop with greenery and dried flowers and looked
forward expectantly to Christmas day, their first as free women where they
would not have to get up at the crack of dawn and serve the family.  They
could choose to do whatever they wanted.  Such a thought gave them great
joy and this year they had an even greater appreciation of Christmas since it
celebrated the birth of Jesus.

It was only Williams’ threat that
prevented Deborah from fully enjoying the season. She kept expecting to see him
appear in the shop and had become quite anxious.  When she confessed her
concerns to Richard, he advised her to carry a knife in her pocket and to make
sure that Jacko was around as much as possible. He was spending many hours
working with the agent before he left to return to England and she barely saw
him except on Sundays. Sarah chaperoned them to make sure, as Richard teased
her, that they stayed on the straight and narrow. They had set their wedding
date for the last day of the year since they wanted to start their new life and
the New Year at the same time.

Thomas came to Town and visited
with them one Sunday and let them know that he had told the family about their
impending marriage. Deborah said nothing about William’s threat since she
didn’t want to cause any more trouble between them.  She only hoped that
now he knew that she and Richard were getting married he would leave her alone.

Nevertheless she did not intend to
be caught unaware by him so the knife that was constantly in her pocket gave
her comfort that she would be not be defenseless if he ever tried to attack
her. She was certainly not going to let him violate her again without a fight
and she was prepared to use it if she had to.

December 23, 1696

William watched Sarah leave the
house with her slave woman from his seat near the door of the White Hare. Good.
He had spent hours in that seat since he came to Town on Friday surreptitiously
watching the house up the street. His father had wasted no time in assigning
him duties on the plantation and he had surprisingly found himself enjoying the
challenge of taming the land and the slaves who worked on it. 

Speaking of taming slaves, he was
long overdue in paying a visit to the one across the street. All he could think
about as he slept in his bed was that Deborah had willingly entertained his
cousin on that same mattress while she had rejected him. Worse than that, his
father had told him that Richard wanted to marry Deborah.  Fool!  Who
would marry a slave, even if she had been freed?  She had obviously
bewitched him.

He had not seen Jacko leave the
house, so he knew he was around somewhere but he had not seen him go upstairs
when Sarah went out so he would most likely be in his own quarters. Anyway what
could he do with only one hand?

Pushing back his chair he left the
tavern and glancing up and down the street to make sure that no one was coming
he walked quickly up the road and climbed the stairs leading up to the
house. 

Deborah heard a knock at the door
and opened it a crack thinking that it must be Richard since she was expecting
him.  She cursed herself for not asking who it was when she saw
William.  She tried to pull the door closed but he yanked it from her
grasp before quickly stepping over the threshold and closing it behind him. The
sound of the lock turning froze her blood.

“Hello Deborah, that was rather
careless of you.  Don’t you know that you should ask who’s there before
you open your door?” He smiled as she backed away. “I know I told you that I
would come and visit you but I’ve been very busy.”

“What do you want, William?” She
tried to stop her voice from shaking even as she eased her hand closer to her
pocket, thankful that she had gotten into the habit of keeping the knife in it
even when she was at home.

“Do you really have to ask
that?  I believe we have some unfinished business.”

“We have no unfinished business
William.  Please leave my house and don’t come back,” she ordered bravely.

“Do you think I’m just going to
walk out now that I’ve got you alone?” he asked coming closer.

“Stop right there,” she commanded
slipping her hand in her pocket and feeling the comforting hilt of the knife.

“Or you’ll do what?” he taunted.

Deborah pulled the knife from her
pocket with a shaking hand and gestured at him with it. “You don’t want to find
out.  Just leave now William.”

He laughed and made a sudden lunge
towards her. Deborah instinctively raised her hand to ward him off and the
knife opened a two inch gash on his cheek. Blood sprang from the cut and began
to drip down his face.  William put his hand to his face in disbelief and
stared at the blood that stained his fingers.  Deborah froze at the fury
that came over his face and she knew that only one of them would come out of
this alive.

“You cut me,” he said in disbelief
and struck her across the face, knocking her to the ground. The knife flew from
her grasp and slid across the room.  She thought that he would kill her
right there but he pulled her to her feet and dragged her against him. Her
throat closed up in fear, cutting off her scream.

“You will regret that,” he
promised and dragged her into the small parlor. She closed her eyes in
horror.  Not again!  She would prefer to die than let William violate
her. She saw that the knife had landed near the doorway and wondered how she
could get to it. 

William pushed her to the floor
and ripped the front of her dress open.  The reality of what was about to
happen restored her voice and she screamed for Jacko before he could silence
her.  Deborah fought like a wildcat as he tried to raise her skirt. 
There was no way she would make this easy for him; he would have to kill her
first.

God where are you?  Help me
please, she prayed silently even as she tried to claw at his already bleeding
face.

The sound of the door being broken
down penetrated her consciousness seconds before William was plucked from her
as if he weighed nothing and tossed aside. Looking up Deborah saw Jacko who
opened his mouth to ask her if she was alright. Fear for Deborah seemed to have
given him supernatural strength.

Before he could get the words out,
William sprang to his feet and charged at him and the two men began to
struggle.  William had the advantage, having both hands, and
years of being owned by the Edwards was
ingrained in
Jacko’s
head and he was reluctant to fight with William.

There was a clatter of boots on
the stairs and Richard rushed into the room.  He had been walking up the
road when he saw Jacko running up the stairs and he had broken into a run. The
sight of Deborah with the front of her dress ripped open stirred up a rage
unlike anything he had ever felt before.  He grabbed William who was
attacking Jacko with furious blows, spun him around and did what he had wanted
to from the time Deborah had told him her story; he smashed his face with his
fist.  William fell to the ground but managed to crawl over to the knife
which was still by the door.

Springing back up he swung the
knife in an arc towards Richard. Deborah screamed but Richard jumped back and
the knife missed him.  As William brought the knife down towards Richard,
he grabbed his arm and stopped it in its motion. Years of physical work gave
Richard the greater strength and he was able to twist William’s hand until he
dropped the knife. 

Picking it up quickly, he stepped
behind William and brought the knife to his throat applying just enough
pressure for a thin line of blood to appear.

“Don’t Richard,” pleaded Deborah.

“Give me a good reason why I
should not end his miserable life?” Richard asked in a deadly voice.

Go ahead, do it
, urged a
voice.
No son. Let him go.  I will deal with him.

Richard struggled with himself for
a minute before releasing William with great reluctance and pushed him towards
the door. “Barbados is too small for both of us.  You better head back to
England or move to some other island because I can’t promise that I’ll be so
generous with your life next time. Now get out!”

William wasted no time in clearing
out.  The thin cut on his neck was burning from sweat and the gash on his
cheek was aching badly but at least he had his life.

Richard dropped to his knees and
hugged Deborah.

“Are you alright?” She nodded
still shaking. “I’m so sorry I was not here to protect you.  I will send
word to my uncle about this and he’d better get him out of the island if he
does not want him arrested. I’m sure that he won’t try anything again but I
want you and Sarah to move in with me until we get married so that I can
protect you.”

Deborah nodded in agreement. She
could think of nothing she would like better.

December 31, 1696

The Residence of Richard and Deborah Fairfax

“I thought this day would never
come, Mrs. Fairfax,” Richard said as they entered the master bedroom of the
house he had purchased and closed the door behind them. It was a pretty two
storey house situated a short distance along the coast from Carlisle Bay and
was close to the homes of two families called the
Needhams
,
who had a business in the same area as his.

They had exchanged vows before the
minister at St. Michael’s Parish Church only hours before with Sarah and Thomas
as their witnesses while Jacko and Mamie watched from the back of the church
with Cassie and Jethro, who had accompanied Thomas to town as a surprise for
Deborah. 

Thomas had told Deborah how much
he regretted William’s transgression against her which he was reminded of every
time he saw the scar on his face.  England had obviously not improved him
so rather than send him back he had said that he would be in contact with some
of the planters he knew in the other islands to see if one of them would employ
William on their plantation.

“Deborah Fairfax.  I like the
sound of that,” she smiled.

“So do
I
,”
he agreed. Looking into her eyes he said, “I love you with all my heart,
Deborah Fairfax and I thank God every day that he brought me to Barbados.”

“I told you that you were on a
divine mission,” she reminded him. “I can’t believe that nine months ago I
didn’t even know you.  Now I can’t imagine life without you.”

“I’m sorry that I forced you into
my bed long before we made our vows.”

“You did not force me, I chose to
come. Let us not speak of that anymore. All is forgiven.”

Richard gently kissed her lips in
thanks and unbuttoned the cream colored wedding dress, letting it slide down
her body until it formed a pool on the floor. He lifted her out of it and swung
her around until she was free of the encumbrance and dressed only in a light
chemise. Deborah pushed his jacket from his shoulders and quickly unbuttoned
his shirt until it hung open giving her access to the contours of his chest to
explore.

Bending his head, he reverently
kissed her eyes and her cheek where the bruise from William’s blow had now
faded, before claiming her lips in a kiss that began softly but increased in
intensity as she peeled off his shirt to delight her hands in the feel of the
taut muscles of his shoulders.

Richard relieved her of the last
of her clothing paying homage to her as she stood before him.

“Exquisite,” he whispered in awe
as if he were seeing her for the first time.

“One of us is wearing too many
clothes,” Deborah teased, fumbling with the buttons of his breeches. 
Richard hurriedly took over the task from her and quickly tossed them aside. He
drew her into his arms and sucked in a breath at the feel of her against him
and they held each other close, enjoying the differences between them; one
soft, one hard and both made perfectly to complement the other.

Richard picked her up and carried her
to the massive four poster bed where he gently deposited her like the precious
gift she was.

“My wife,” he said hoarsely,
deeply affected by the sight of her hair spread across the pillow and the
eagerness for him that he saw in her eyes.

“My husband,” she answered and
opened her arms to him in welcome.

There was no more talking save the
quiet murmurs of encouragement and approval as they explored each other as if
for the first time, their love creating in them a desire to give rather than
take, and in the end rewarding them with exquisite pleasure that surpassed
anything they had experienced before.

Richard drew Deborah back against
him as they lay side by side under the thick blanket. December was always quite
cold by Barbadian standards and the wind blowing off the ocean and through the
bedroom window chilled Deborah who was glad for Richard’s warmth against her
back.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been
happier,” she murmured snuggling against him. “I am now complete.”

Richard dropped a kiss on the top
of her head, supremely contented.  “I feel the same.”

“I really hope that one day my
mother finds this kind of love and happiness,” she confided. “I know that
Jethro always had a soft spot for her so maybe they will get together if Master
Thomas ever decides to free him.”

“Jethro is a good carpenter so I
don’t know how willing my uncle would be to free him but I can ask him. I could
offer to buy him and then set him free as I did with you. Maybe I can help him
to start a business or he can work on our ships when they need repairs.”

“That would be very good of you,
Richard.”

“I’m nothing but good.” He teased.
“Speaking of good, my uncle has generously given us £20 as a wedding gift. He’s
going to be escorting Aunt Elizabeth and the girls to England early in the New
Year but he will come back once they are settled. I think they’re hoping to
find husbands for them and that they will remain in England rather than live in
this corrupt society.”

“He told me that he is trying to
find somewhere for William to go and I will be glad when he’s no longer in
Barbados.  Maybe living in another island, like Jamaica, will change him.”

“I think only God can change him;
after all look how he changed me.”

“Look how he changed us,” she
corrected. “You’re right. With God all things are possible.”

These words reassured them as they
contemplated the future they would face together in a world that was ruled by
prejudice. But they had hope that one day people’s eyes would be opened and
they would realize the truth of what Sarah had said.

“We’re all the same. Maybe it’s
just that when you don’t know people, when you don’t mix with them, they seem
like they different.  But we’re all the same.”

THE END