The Price of Freedom (5 page)

“Well, I’m glad to see Ann looking
happy,” remarked his mother appearing next to him.

“And why wouldn’t she?” Richard
asked rhetorically. “She’s engaged to a very charming fellow.”

His mother rolled her eyes, not at
all fooled by his charm.
“When he wants to be.”

Charles came back after one dance
and returned Ann to her fiancé’s arm.

“You look quite flushed, my dear,”
remarked Richard, “would you like to take a turn on the terrace to cool
off?  I hope it’s not too cold.”

“That sounds lovely,” Ann agreed
and Richard excused them and headed for the terrace, leaving his mother smiling
approvingly after them while Charles’ eyes followed enviously.

The terrace was refreshing after
the heat of the ballroom with a bit of a chill in the air.  Ann shivered
slightly and rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

“Come closer, so that I can warm
you,” invited Richard, drawing her into his arms and deeper into the shadows.
Ann snuggled contentedly in his warm embrace.  Richard felt her curves
pressed against him, or as much as the ball gown would allow anyway and found
it quite pleasant. 

“Is that better?” he asked pulling
back from her slightly.

“Yes, thank you.”  Her eyes hungrily
watched his mouth as he spoke and she unconsciously licked her lips in
invitation.

Richard obligingly bent his head
and softly kissed her moist lips.  They had exchanged fairly chaste kisses
before but this time Richard deepened the kiss to test Ann’s response. 
She responded with an unexpected display of eagerness causing his body to stir
of its own volition.

Perhaps it was the knowledge that
he was leaving soon that prompted her response or maybe she had been waiting
for him to increase the intimacy of their kisses. He smiled to himself as he
realized that though Ann may not stir him to great passion, bedding her might
be more interesting than he had anticipated if she showed as much eagerness in
the bedroom.

She wound her arms around his neck
and pressed her body against his, swept away by the unfamiliar sensations that
he was arousing in her. Only the sound of another couple entering the terrace
caused her to break the kiss and hide her face against chest, breathing
heavily. Richard smiled against her hair, pleasantly surprised by her response.

"Do you really have to go to
Barbados?" She asked breathlessly pulling back from him. She was now even
more eager to marry him than before.

"Yes. There's much for me to
learn there to make your plantation more profitable."

"I will miss you so."

"The time will pass quickly
and before you know it I will be back home."

"I’m afraid that you will
fall in love with the daughter of some plantation owner and want to stay
there," she confessed worriedly.

Richard laughed softly. "Not
likely, my dear. There's too much here for me to give up," he added
caressing her cheek. Ann leaned into his hand with a sigh, reassured by his
words.

"I would give up everything
for love," she declared romantically.

Richard gently kissed her lips and
allowed her to believe that he agreed, but he knew that there were some things
that he wouldn’t give up, even for love.

Three weeks later

Richard watched as the last of his
trunks was loaded onto their ship, the Adventurer. She was a beautiful
schooner, long and elegant, freshly painted in blue and white, with bright
white sails that had recently been replaced.

The boat was a hive of activity,
with the sailors scampering about in response to the captain’s shouted orders.
In quick time the sails were unfurled in anticipation of her departure and the
captain shouted “All aboard!" although it was only Richard waiting to get
on.

The whole family, as well as Ann,
had come to see him off. He turned to hug his mother and his
sister
who were
teary eyed as if he were going off to war instead of a trip to
Barbados.

"Give my regards to Elizabeth
and Thomas. And kiss the girls for me. I hope they like their gifts."

"I'm sure they will, mother.
Now look after Ann for me while I'm gone." His mother gave a tearful smile
in response.

“I’ll be back in time for your
wedding,” he promised his sister Charlotte.

“You better be, because we’re not
waiting any longer than we have to.”  She and her fiancé Albert, who was
his good friend, were very much in love and eager to get married and Richard
was happy for them.

"Now Charles, let me hear
that you're engaged when I get back," he teased. "And to your own
fiancée," he added for his ears only. Charles flushed guiltily.

He shook hands with his father who
said, "Now don't worry about things here. I was running this business
before you were born. You just enjoy your time in Barbados, learn as much as
you can and spend some time with our man there. And give my love to my dear
sister."

"I will, sir."

The family moved away to give him
and Ann a little privacy, as much as could be had on the busy dock.

The tears she had been holding
back now spilled from her eyes.

"
Shhh
.
Don't
cry
love. I'll be back before you have time to
miss me." He wiped her eyes with his handkerchief.

"I already miss you! Remember
what I said and don't go falling in love with any beautiful Barbadian
girls," she warned half-jokingly.

"Not likely,
sweetheart," he assured her. "Not when I have my own beauty here in
Carolina." He gave her a long kiss and gently pushed her in the direction
of his family.

He waved briefly to them before
turning to walk across the shaky gangplank.  As he stepped on board and
gave them a final wave the sails were slowly raised and the boat began to move
away from the dock.  A great sense of freedom and adventure came over him
and an eager anticipation for the visit to Barbados.

March 2, 1696

The Acreage Plantation, Barbados

Deborah ran from the yard to her
favorite spot on the plantation, as anger and despair welled up in her, almost
suffocating in their intensity.  She had discovered the grove of trees
that overlooked the East Coast of the island years ago and the vista had been a
balm to her soul on many occasions. From this vantage point she could see the
lush vegetation of the eastern part of the island with deep aquamarine waves as
a backdrop and the scenery usually calmed her.

Today she struggled to find peace
as the agonized cries of a mother and daughter still rang in her ears. The
girl, probably no more than fourteen, had been sold to another plantation to
help the mistress.  She had been dragged away, screaming for her mother
who fought in vain against the restraining arms of her husband, as he watched
stoically while their only child was wrenched from their lives, powerless to
help her.

Deborah couldn’t believe that
Master Thomas could be so cruel as to sell the girl.  How could he stand
by unemotionally while a family was being torn apart on his orders? This was
the same man who sometimes slipped presents to her and her mother and who had
sent away his son after he raped her?  What was to stop him from selling
her? He could just as easily sell any of them. 

The harsh reality of the scene she
had just witnessed snapped her out of her complacency.  She had become
almost comfortable in the time that William had been away, only having to deal
with the mistress’ sharp tongue, for behavior that she called insolent. But
life had been fairly uneventful until today.

She should be glad in a way, for
it reminded her that she was still a slave and she hadn’t made any progress
with her plans for freedom.  Never again would she forget what she was and
what could possibly happen to her.  Suppose the master died suddenly and
William took over the plantation?  She shuddered at the possibility of
that happening. She needed her freedom.

The beauty of the landscape tugged
on her eyes like a magnet and she couldn’t help but admire the magnificent
trees with their dense foliage, the contours of the land as it sloped gently
towards the coral sand against which powerful waves crashed every few seconds.

The family Bible that the girls’
tutor used to read to them said that God had created all the earth and that he
created man.  She wasn’t sure if she believed a Bible which was used to
justify slavery as well, but when she looked out at the trees, all so different
from each other, the sky and the sea, she knew that there must be a divine
being
who
had created it all.

Jethro had said that God loved the
world but she didn’t know if that was true. He certainly didn’t seem to love
slaves. Are you real? She asked silently.  Where are you?  Where were
you when William took my innocence? Where were you when that girl was wrenched
from her parents today?  Why do you do nothing while we are bought and
sold like cattle? 

The wind in the trees was her only
answer and her soul cried out for answers to the questions that left a gaping
hole in her that only the truth could fill.

Pulling herself up from the soft
grass, she headed back to the house despondently.  There was lunch to be
served.

Deborah could hardly bear to look
at Master Thomas as she served lunch to the family. She generally liked him,
even loved him, but today she couldn’t suppress the resentment that rose up in
her at the sight of him calmly opening a letter and handing one to the mistress
while she and Cassie served the meal. How could he be so unaffected by the
agony he had just caused?

“This is from your nephew Richard,
Elizabeth,” he said reading the letter.  “He says that he would like to
come and spend three months in Barbados to learn how we use slaves on the
plantation to produce sugar since he is planning to invest in a plantation and
convert it to rice and plans to use African slaves.” 

Deborah couldn’t help hearing that
and took an instant dislike to the unknown man who was talking of using slaves
on his plantation in the same way that he would talk about using mules.

“Oh, wonderful!” exclaimed Elizabeth.
Deborah had not seen her so lively since William had been sent away.  Most
days she was very morose but these were punctuated by days where she roused
herself enough to be verbally abusive to all the slaves but mainly to Deborah
whom she blamed for William’s banishment, as she called it.

“We can put him in William’s room.
I’ll have to get one of the girls to get it ready.  When will he arrive?”

At the mention of William’s room,
Deborah tensed. Memories of William trapping her in that room and violently stripping
her of her innocence surfaced bringing back feelings of anger, fear and shame.

“He said that he would be leaving
at the end of February so he should be here by the middle of the month.”

“This is so exciting!  Mary
says in her letter that he has recently got engaged to the daughter of a
plantation owner and that Richard will run it when they get married, which
should be towards the end of the year.  Charlotte, my niece, will get
married when Richard gets back and that will only leave Charles who she is
trying to find a nice girl for.”

“Richard says that he is looking
forward to helping me on the plantation.  That would be a welcome
change.”  The veiled criticism of William did not go unnoticed by
Elizabeth whose face became bitter and resentful.  Her look was lost on
Thomas who had folded up his letter and now shifted his attention to the food
on his plate.

Cassie and Deborah returned to the
kitchen where the house slaves were eating their midday meal of fried plantains
and cassava cakes.

"The mistress' nephew coming
here for three months,” announced Cassie. “The mistress said she going to put
him in Master William's room so somebody
goin
’ have
to clean it out soon. I
ain't
seen the mistress so
happy since Master William left."

“I wonder if he is as handsome as
the master,” said Hattie.

“He is the mistress’ nephew, not
the master’s,” corrected Cassie.

“That don’ mean that he can’t be
handsome like the master,” insisted Hattie.

Hattie was a house slave who had been
bought about a year ago to help with the cleaning and serving on occasion. She
was an attractive buxom girl of about twenty with smooth brown skin.  She
made no secret of the fact that she was looking to improve her status and would
like to become the master’s favorite. Deborah considered her to be no better
than a prostitute willing to sell herself for trinkets or a few coins.

She wasn’t surprised to hear
Hattie wondering about the mistress’ nephew. She was probably already thinking
about how to get money or gifts from him for her services. Deborah however,
didn’t care if he was handsome or not; she already disliked the sound of him
and she was not looking forward to his visit. 

She preferred to stay as far from
men as possible, especially white men, and she had no desire to just improve
her status, she wanted to be free. She knew that some slaves sold their favors
to earn money to buy their freedom, but she would never sell herself in that
way.

Tuesday March 20, 1696

Off the coast of Barbados

“Land ho!”  The lookout
shouted from the crow’s nest.

Richard Fairfax peered into the horizon
but all he could see was a speck.  Eventually it grew until he could make
out white sands and lush vegetation as the ship headed towards Carlisle Bay
where it would drop anchor.

Leaning against the side of the
ship he waited with barely restrained patience as they got closer to the coast
of Barbados.  After being on the boat for almost three weeks, doing very
little, he couldn’t wait to get to his uncle’s plantation and start working.

The brisk breeze blew his dark
hair away from his face and it settled on his broad shoulders as the wind
subsided. He
squinted
his navy blue eyes against the
glare of the sun which was now high in the sky.

“Barbados straight ahead, boss,”
advised the Captain, coming over to have a word with him.

“Will I be able to hire someone to
take me to my uncle’s plantation?”

“For sure.
They’re always lackeys around the shore to transport people.”

“Thank you,
Bostick
. 
I’m looking forward to feeling some firm ground under my feet. I can’t say that
being cooped up on a boat for weeks is my favorite thing.”  The captain
laughed and went about shouting orders to the crew to prepare to drop the
anchor. From there cockboats would transport them and the cargo to the shore.

Richard gazed towards the island
with eager anticipation.  He had heard much about Barbados and he was
looking forward to making her acquaintance. 

“Your trunks will be unloaded in a
few minutes, boss” the captain advised him.

Richard thanked him and climbed
down the ladder into a waiting boat which carried him to Barbadian soil.

He was able to hire a carriage to
transport him and his trunks to The Acreage with little effort.  He
decided that he would come another day to meet up with the family agent, but
for now he was eager to get to the plantation.

As they passed through the town he
was amazed to see how well developed it was with straight, long streets,
well-built houses of stone alone or combined with wood and numerous taverns and
shops with all kinds of merchandise.  The island certainly looked
prosperous. Then again it had been colonized long before Carolina and was
England’s wealthiest colony in the West.

He had opted to sit up in the
front with the driver so that he could ask questions as they travelled. The
driver was a talkative fellow and soon inquired of Richard where he was from
and the reason for his visit to Barbados.  The island being so small, he
knew Thomas Edwards who, Richard discovered, was one of the very prominent
planters in the island.

“The city used to be known as The Bridge
up to about 1660 but now it’s officially known as St. Michael’s Town or people
just call it Town. The streets were laid out by a surveyor by the name of James
Swan in ’57 which accounts for them being so well ordered,” his driver told
him. “The country is divided into eleven parishes and The Acreage is in St.
James, which is on the west and it’s high up, so you can probably see the East
Coast of the island from some parts of the plantation. We will pass through
Jamestown, where the first settlers landed, to get there.”

Richard listened attentively to
the history lesson and was also brought up to date on the more recent events
that had taken place in the island. He caught glimpses of the ocean as they
travelled along the road that ran parallel to the coast and he felt strangely
at home in the beautiful island with its lush vegetation and colorful wild
flowers.

“How long will it take to get
there?” he asked.  He was already sweltering in the unaccustomed heat.

“About three hours.  I can
stop in Jamestown so that you can get something to eat and drink if you didn’t
bring anything with you.”

“Thank you.  I’d appreciate
that.  I didn’t think to bring anything.”

“The roads are better than I
expected,” he remarked some time later.

“Yes, we’ve spent a lot of time
and money repairing the main roads and keeping them clean. But they’re a lot
worse after the rainy season.”

After about two hours, by which
time Richard’s throat was parched, the driver pulled into a tavern in Jamestown
and said, “You can get something to eat and drink here before we turn inland to
the plantation.”