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
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
Similar Books
