by Riva Zmajoki
There was even fewer of them now. Josephine thought about the room they’ll close now and of the fields, she’ll sell to get by. Still, she wasn’t sorry in the slightest for the gift she gave to Ina or the dowry for Sue. Josephine thought about that as dowry that Sue’s mother would give to her if she had anything to give.
Belva was concerned that she wouldn’t even know Luiz is at her trail if her grandson Santos didn’t come to aid her.
The fact that Evan sent Santos was suspicious. That meant he thought that she needs additional protection. Did that mean that he knew that Luiz is after them and kept it from her?
If he did, how could he just leave?
“Father sent me to assist you in your important task,” Santos said and Belva smiled at him asking about his two sisters and his mother fearing that Evan went and did something stupid. He was never smart when Luiz was in question.
Still, Santos was a good choice to send to her aid. He had inherited skin even paler than Belva’s. He was young enough to run around doing errands and nothing had connected him to the person Belva used to be.
“You’ll go and spy for me the sheriff office in York.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Santos frowned, he was a smart kid.
“It is for me but you made no crime, you’re a free citizen. There’s nothing dangerous in it for you, just good pay.”
“And spying for you,” he snorted.
“Isn’t that why your father sent you?”
“He sent me to take care of you, not to spy for you,” he said quickly and Belva laughed.
“You don’t have to. You can stay here with us mature women and watch us sow, that’s all I do all day anyway.”
Like a charm, Mrs Huffing came in with a tray of cookies and tea.
“I already started to doubt that you really have family up north. I thought you’re just running around climbing hills to let out that energy of yours. Your grandson seems strong and capable. He can go and buy us fabrics and clean our windows.”
“Actually,” Santos spoke up looking at the fragile cups. “I’m just passing through. There is a job for me in York County.”
“That’s a pity,” she sighed. “Anyway, you know where to find us if that doesn’t turn up as it should.”
9.1 Coloured Tiles
Charcoaled House
When her unfaithful lover William Colclough came back to claim her, she was shaken. He did send letters in his absence claiming that he’ll return but Sue doubted it.
In fact, she was sure that those were just words to console her and to calm his guilt. She knew that in the village a girl is waiting for him to marry her. If his mother would meet Sue on the market, when she still went out to make errands, she would just turn her head in the other direction and pretend not to see her.
Now he stood there all bearded and big. He just expected of her to run in his arms.
Sue looked down at Ina and decided to leave her a good memory of their reunion. She went out and hugged him.
When she fell asleep, they talked quietly so no one can listen in.
“I thought of nothing but you since I left,” he talked. “No one was ever as perfect as you are, always smiling and kind. I could never do what my mother asks of me.”
“How would we live without her blessing?” Sue wasn’t convinced.
“I went to my uncle who supports us. I spoke of you and the child and how I want to be an honourable man that keeps his promises and leaves no bastard children unprotected. He’ll give us a cottage and some land to start from. That will be a good life. You can’t go on being a maid forever. The world is changing, who knows what awaits of us tomorrow but I want to see it all with you by my side.”
Sue thought about it. When she looked at his face she could remember how she loved him. She believed that she could love him again. After all, he came and wants to make up for all those humiliations she went through without him.
“I’ll talk to the mistress,” Sue said finally.
“What does she has to do with anything?” William frowned. “She’s just an old cuckoo bird who has no connection to reality. Everyone knows that she’s crazy.”
Sue pressed her lips together in anger.
“If you ever repeat anything like this I’ll leave you. Whatever anyone thinks of her, she did right by Ina and me. We wouldn’t be here to greet you if it wasn’t for her aid. What did you think who will take care of me when you’re gone?”
“My mother,” he said slowly. “That was her promise. She said that she’ll take you in if I go. That’s why I went. Afterwards, she claimed that you didn’t want her help that you chose to stay here in the house of sin. That was the reason she urged me to forget about you.”
“She offered me nothing,” Sue pressed her fists together suppressing a scream.
“I know that now,” he enveloped her fists. “I would have deserted if I knew. I would do anything for you. She tricked me to go.”
“I hope you won’t be so easily tricked in the future or our family won’t last long,” Sue whispered.
“Never. I’ll put my trust in you and your smart head,” he kneeled and Sue finally lost her composure.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she cried and threw herself over his neck.
In the morning, she went to talk to her mistress. For a moment, Sue thought that she will make them stay. Sue disliked the idea but was trying to see why she would want that for Ina, to stay here in this house that is just about to break from the strain of their secrets.
When it became clear that the mistress is demanding of Sue to get married, Sue was washed over with sadness. She’ll miss her eccentric mistress.
Of course, the priest yielded before the mistress and the pay so Ina got baptised. When everything was done they weren’t Sue and Ina Preston anymore but Sue and Ina Colclough. The change felt strange.
It was foggy when they left and that seemed fitting. Sue was looking forward to her new life but she didn’t look back because she knew that it would hurt her to see them cry after her.
Her new husband took her by her arm carrying their Ina and Sue let herself feeling hopeful. Maybe everything will be just fine for them, maybe everything will be sorted as it should have been from the start.
The door opened at the first house he knocked at and Carol knew that he chose wisely.
The lady of the house Luanne greeted him with open arms.
He got a position and decent pay.
“I must warn you,” Luanne said. “This is a respectable house and we try to keep our image so keep your private business private and my niece is out of bounds.”
Carol bowed to her will.
He considered her wise to keep secrets between themselves.
Everything went well and the lady of the house would sometimes visit him at night.
Then one day things weren’t well anymore.
“Pack your things and go,” Luanne stormed in his room in the midst of the night.
“Why?” he was confused.
“The letter came from your former mistress,” she showed him her handwriting. “She’s claiming horrendous things.”
“What does she say about me?” he was expecting as much of her, revenge came upon him.
“Not about you. She claims that we loved each other. Further, she claims that she had no idea about your endeavours, that you did them on your own.”
“Of course she didn’t. Why would she?” he was confused.
“It was implied that it was all part of the game that was played in the house of the sin.”
“What that changes?” he sighed not understanding her babble.
“Everything. Playing a game is just playing a game. It has no value in the real world but if you mean it, if you take pleasure from our exercises then all of it is an act of the devil.”
“Devil?” Carol was tired and sleepy. “Are you serious?”
“Quite serious,” Luanne said firmly and stood upright. “This is a decent house. We don’t need
your kind here to claim that we participated in some sort of a devilish act. Leave. If she’s ready to write all of this in a letter, she is ready to say it out loud. This is a decent house.”
“Alright,” Carol lied down. “I’ll go in the morning.”
“No, right now,” Luanne pulled his cover. “This is a decent house I don’t want to hear of you or your mistress again. My husband won’t stand the thought that he exposed me to such sin thinking that it was all a game.”
Carol sighed and picked up his things.
Soon he was out in the night thinking of his next station. Why life wasn’t fun anymore?
‘The mistress takes in the tiles that burn, she doesn’t care for their colour,’ his master taught him. ‘Take a good look at them while they burn because when the flames settle they will change colour. Some of them will become the white tiles you must be respectful before. Others will become an even darker shade of thickness upon which you can dance whatever dance you choose.’
9.2 The Mob
White Phoenix
As soon as she heard ‘torches’ Cynthia jumped up and gathered her favourite things.
She had no desire to burn, no desire to be spat at or to be hanged. She ran straight to the forest but there she paused. If she gets in alone, she was sure that she’ll only get lost.
That’s why she turned back to find some company. In the light of the kitchen she left behind she could clearly see Tricia holding Santos’ hand. The moment lasted briefly but it stayed engraved in Cynthia’s mind.
“Come on,” Tricia grabbed her by her arm and pulled her under the trees.
“I hate this,” Cynthia said when her hair got entangled into bushes. Her skirt was all torn. “We did nothing wrong. If anyone is to be responsible, it’s the mistress. Why do we need to run?”
“Because angry mobs aren’t asking which is which. They are just looking for someone to punish. Duck down, they are coming.”
In the darkness, the flames floated in the air. Cynthia could see the top of heads, hats and hear the murmur.
The murmur made her skin crawl. It sounded like someone is turning her insides out. She had no desire to be caught by those men. Men were vicious pigs that didn’t deserve any trust, they just destroyed whatever they would touch.
Tricia remained calm when everyone went crazy around her. There was not much for her to carry. Since their mistress warned them about the danger, she had all her belongings in a pouch tied around her waist.
She was expecting men but she expected Santos to lead them, to be the loudest of them all because she scorned him.
Now there he stood in the doorway warning them about the danger.
There was the whole town full of people they knew. People show knew their mistress for years and years. Those people now gathered to attack them, to tear the house down and to bring shame to their mistress for being a kind-hearted woman who helped those in need.
None of those people who tipped their hats sat in the church by their side, opened the door for them, none of them was here to warn them.
Only Santos stood in the door with short breath and sweat on his forehead from running.
He came to warn them after she attacked him after she told him off after she told him who they were.
The mistress hugged her. The contact was strange but comforting. It was like the mistress is more of a mother to her than her own. Tricia felt like crying. She will miss her strange mistress.
The mistress let her go and pushed her through the door. As Tricia passed him by he caught her hand. She stopped and looked him in the eye.
There was no smile on her face, this wasn’t a moment for a smile but she nodded at him. He nodded back.
To prevent herself from throwing herself on his neck she went to the woods and led Cynthia through the bushes away from the danger.
All the time while she pushed forward, all she could see were his kind eyes when he nodded her. She didn’t know did he realize but that meant that, if she was to accept any man ever, she would accept him.
The whisper came out of nowhere. Santos ignored it hoping that it’ll go away but as the day went on it grew.
Luiz wasn’t in the station.
“He went out to follow some clue,” the old sheriff told him. “Why are you moving around him so often? You seem like a nice kid. Don’t get stuck with him.”
“What will you do about them?” he gestured towards the crowd that grew bigger with each moment.
“What should I do? They are just citizens having a peaceful protest. They can’t be blamed if they are upset if their neighbour is stealing their slaves and laughing behind their back,” the sheriff tipped his hat back and leaned towards Santos. “You spent awful a lot of time down there in White Phoenix. They say you got entangled with those wicked girls. Did they tell you about the slaves? Did you know? Did you help them?”
The sheriff talked loudly and few heads turned.
“I just delivered the packages. Why would they tell me anything?”
Santos withdrew hoping that Luiz will get back soon. He was a man who had a sense of justice. Lynch crowd had no such bounds. When the big cross came to the crowd, Santos slowly walked away and then ran to find his grandma. She was surely at the spot. Runaways were scheduled to go out tonight.
She’ll know what to do.
9.3 The Spy
Between Tiles
Evan was mesmerised by the insides of the barracks.
It was like a place he was always in.
It seemed like the outside world where he could go where he pleased and chose his own path was a distant memory.
The first day the man with a whip came in.
“Will I have to break you in,” he growled at Evan expecting rebellion.
“No,” was all that Evan said. “Tell me what to do and I’ll try to do it.”
“There’s no try here fancy boy,” the man screamed. “You do what you were told or you get whipped.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Evan said and that made the man pause.
“Are you sure that you are the one without a surname, you surely don’t talk like these uneducated folks.”
Evan considered his voice but felt like it would be suspicious to change it so suddenly.
“They talked like that in my previous house. I was a servant, not a field worker.”
“A fancy house with servants?” the man snorted. “You’ll regret from escaping them. Here there be chains and cotton picking, nothing else the whole day through. That and whipping, I enjoy when slaves misbehave, it’s my field day.”
“Calm down,” the man said before the barrack. “The sun is up, we’re losing time, if he’ll work he’ll be valuable if not, there is gutter waiting to be filled.”
“Alright then, you heard the man, to work you miserable lot.”
They exited into the burning Sun from the darkness of the barracks. Evan found it easy to pick up the pace and pick cotton. The song began and Evan joined in. He could recognize the parts of the song that he and his mother weaved it in.
He felt pride for all of their work.
The slavery seemed like a bearable thing but as Sun crossed the middle of the sky Evan started to feel the fatigue and thirst, unlike anything he felt before.
He didn’t dare to complain.
When he was already on the verge of dropping down from exhaustion, the barrel with water came and he too drank from the cup that was spread around his row.
He worked on not wanting to be the one to fall.
If anything, he wanted to stand beside his fellow men and stand tall. He didn’t want to let them down by falling. His own weakness and pain in his fingers seemed like a suitable punishment for staying free for all this time that he should have spent alongside others who suffered.
Luiz heard about the toddler when the crowd already gathered.
“It wasn’t enough,” the man shouted standing on a chair. “That she betrayed the legacy her husband left her by dismembering his land
and letting his slaves go. That made slaves think they can get away, watching her slaves march on the street with papers of freedom. That wasn’t enough. Now her home is a nest of runaways while she laughs in our face.”
The crowd grumbled. Torches were high in the air, the cross in the crowd ready to be lit. Luiz looked at the crowd knowing that there is no way of controlling it now.
All he could do was to walk behind them and hope they won’t kill servants as well.
“We let her wickedness rule, let’s end her,” they shouted and went towards White Phoenix.
Luiz looked around. His deputies were either in the crowd or leaned against the station with their hands crossed unwilling to interfere.
To control a crowd this big he would need much more men. Luiz sighed resigning to the situation. The fools will ruin all the evidence and probably kill whoever they catch.
As he looked around he noticed an absence. His spy was nowhere to be seen. That made Luiz worry. He became quite fond of the boy although he brought him no palpable information.
Surely, he wasn’t as foolish to go before this kind of a crowd into the plantation. Luiz frowned.
There was a girl he would mention and his face would lit up. Men were stupid creatures when love would be at stake. Luiz slipped before the crowd and went towards the plantation. If there were some data to salvage it would be now before the crowd becomes angry enough to move.
Luiz jumped on his horse and hurried towards White Phoenix.
STATION FOUR
The prosecutors are relentless.
No matter.
We are more persistent because our lives are at the line, our children are at stake.
If we make it, our children will know how to walk these vast plains without a conductor to guide them.
Their own feet and eyes will be enough and no hidden markings will be needed to guide them forward to where they want to go.
X. The Lady will give you Comfort
12/18/1859
Dear Josephine,
I know no one better suited than you to give aid to those in trouble.