again after the war. Joseph and Meshach have been hiding them, as y’all know, but Dunlivey knows this place. If anyone can find them, he can.”
A gasp leaped from mouth to mouth.
“So, I will do as my father said. I promised him, and a promise is a promise.”
“Where you go?” Lucinda continued as speaker for all.
“I can’t tell you that. Not because I don’t trust you, but to help keep you safe. If you don’t know where I’ve gone, then …”
“Den we can’t tell no one.”
“That too.”
“One thing I can do to keep you all safe is give you your freedom papers. Then no one can sell or buy you.” Chatter started, but she raised her hands for quiet. “You don’t have to leave here. I will pay you wages for stayin’.” Where she would get the money, she had no idea. Other than the tobacco crop. “Life will go on like always here. You all know what to do, many of you better than I do. Then when the war is over, we will raise horses and plant tobacco and soybeans and other crops, just like we always have.”
She hoped they believed her words, because right now all she could think of was leaving. She, who had never been beyond Lexington, had to find their way to Uncle Hiram’s in Missouri.
“Who goin’ and who stayin’?” Lucinda rocked the child she held to her bosom.
“Good question. I’d take all of you if I could, but we have to travel fast and at night so we don’t get stopped.” Fear tasted like blood in her mouth.
“I wisht I shot Dunlivey right ’tween the eyes.” Meshach muttered so quietly Jesselynn barely heard him, but the gasp from Lucinda confirmed her suspicions.
“There’d only be others.” Jesselynn looked from face to face. Tearstreaked, shaking, eyes pleading, all of them were her people, her family. Leaving them defenseless—the thought made her eyes burn, and the tears running down Ophelia’s cheeks called for her own tears.
She sucked another deep breath into lungs that refused to expand. The lump in her throat grew. “God will keep us all safe. The Bible, it—” She could go no further. “Excuse me.” The chair rocked behind her as she left the table.
“De wagon loaded,” Meshach said from the doorway to the study. Jesselynn finished the final signature, each one appearing more like her father’s as she wrote out the twenty manumission papers. Her hand cramped, and she was nearly out of ink.
“We’ll leave an hour after full dark. No one should be on the roads then.” She folded and slid the last sheet of paper in an envelope and wrote Meshach’s name on the front. “Here.”
He crossed the faded oriental rug and took it from her. “I don’ need dis.”
“You might.”
“Joseph out here like you said.”
“Good. Bring him in.”
In a moment the two black men stood before her, one as tall and broad shouldered as the other was skinny and stooped. Both of them clutched their hats in their hands, wringing the life out of the brims.
“Joseph, keep this someplace safe.” She handed him his envelope.
“Laws, Missy, I …”
“Now, Joseph, as a free man, you can leave Twin Oaks if you want, or you can take over Meshach’s job as overseer and make sure the tobacco is harvested and dried.” Please, God, let him stay .
“Where would I go? Dis my home.”
Relief attacked the stiffening in her spine. A momentary slump, a swallow, and she smiled around her clenched teeth. “Thank you, Joseph. Between you and Lucinda, I know you can keep Twin Oaks together. With the garden and the hogs to butcher, you’ll have enough to eat.” If you can keep it all out of the hands of either soldiers or scum . “We will leave you guns and lead for hunting.” And to keep off the scavengers .
“Supper ready.” Ophelia, a white cloth tied around her head, spoke from the doorway.
Jesselynn scooped the remaining envelopes into a pile and straightened them. She’d give out the rest at the table and down in the cabins.
When she entered the
A gasp leaped from mouth to mouth.
“So, I will do as my father said. I promised him, and a promise is a promise.”
“Where you go?” Lucinda continued as speaker for all.
“I can’t tell you that. Not because I don’t trust you, but to help keep you safe. If you don’t know where I’ve gone, then …”
“Den we can’t tell no one.”
“That too.”
“One thing I can do to keep you all safe is give you your freedom papers. Then no one can sell or buy you.” Chatter started, but she raised her hands for quiet. “You don’t have to leave here. I will pay you wages for stayin’.” Where she would get the money, she had no idea. Other than the tobacco crop. “Life will go on like always here. You all know what to do, many of you better than I do. Then when the war is over, we will raise horses and plant tobacco and soybeans and other crops, just like we always have.”
She hoped they believed her words, because right now all she could think of was leaving. She, who had never been beyond Lexington, had to find their way to Uncle Hiram’s in Missouri.
“Who goin’ and who stayin’?” Lucinda rocked the child she held to her bosom.
“Good question. I’d take all of you if I could, but we have to travel fast and at night so we don’t get stopped.” Fear tasted like blood in her mouth.
“I wisht I shot Dunlivey right ’tween the eyes.” Meshach muttered so quietly Jesselynn barely heard him, but the gasp from Lucinda confirmed her suspicions.
“There’d only be others.” Jesselynn looked from face to face. Tearstreaked, shaking, eyes pleading, all of them were her people, her family. Leaving them defenseless—the thought made her eyes burn, and the tears running down Ophelia’s cheeks called for her own tears.
She sucked another deep breath into lungs that refused to expand. The lump in her throat grew. “God will keep us all safe. The Bible, it—” She could go no further. “Excuse me.” The chair rocked behind her as she left the table.
“De wagon loaded,” Meshach said from the doorway to the study. Jesselynn finished the final signature, each one appearing more like her father’s as she wrote out the twenty manumission papers. Her hand cramped, and she was nearly out of ink.
“We’ll leave an hour after full dark. No one should be on the roads then.” She folded and slid the last sheet of paper in an envelope and wrote Meshach’s name on the front. “Here.”
He crossed the faded oriental rug and took it from her. “I don’ need dis.”
“You might.”
“Joseph out here like you said.”
“Good. Bring him in.”
In a moment the two black men stood before her, one as tall and broad shouldered as the other was skinny and stooped. Both of them clutched their hats in their hands, wringing the life out of the brims.
“Joseph, keep this someplace safe.” She handed him his envelope.
“Laws, Missy, I …”
“Now, Joseph, as a free man, you can leave Twin Oaks if you want, or you can take over Meshach’s job as overseer and make sure the tobacco is harvested and dried.” Please, God, let him stay .
“Where would I go? Dis my home.”
Relief attacked the stiffening in her spine. A momentary slump, a swallow, and she smiled around her clenched teeth. “Thank you, Joseph. Between you and Lucinda, I know you can keep Twin Oaks together. With the garden and the hogs to butcher, you’ll have enough to eat.” If you can keep it all out of the hands of either soldiers or scum . “We will leave you guns and lead for hunting.” And to keep off the scavengers .
“Supper ready.” Ophelia, a white cloth tied around her head, spoke from the doorway.
Jesselynn scooped the remaining envelopes into a pile and straightened them. She’d give out the rest at the table and down in the cabins.
When she entered the
Similar Books
