"Bry, make haste, damn ye!" a voice shouted from down the road.
Finally the shadows changed again. More steps crunched on the road. These were followed by grunts as the man drunkenly tried to get back on his steed. "Stand still, ye cursed monster!" he muttered. The horse nickered and Freddy heard a deep belch, followed by the clop-clop of the animal trotting heavily down the road.
Freddy exhaled, holding her chest with one hand. She hadn't even known she was holding her breath. A bright cluster of stars overhead provided just enough light to make out the others' faces. Birdie shook her head, her hand still over her mouth. The priest stifled his laughter.
"Jesus in Heaven!" she breathed. Her ears felt like they might burst as she suppressed the mad giggle rising in her throat.
"God settle the pisser," Father Tomas whispered, snorting. "We should wait a bit, to be safe…"
Freddy sat all the way down on the ground, her legs tired from squatting. She leaned forward, bunched up part of her skirt, and laughed hysterically into the fabric. Birdie and the priest joined her, finding their own ways to stifle the sounds.
Laurie tugged on her sleeve. "Mama?" he said softly.
"Shhhh." Freddy straightened and put her arm around his tiny shoulders, tears in her eyes from her fit of giggling.
Now came another rumble of galloping horse hooves, this time heading toward town. In the flickering torchlight, they ducked and looked at each other, alarmed. But the sound passed quickly.
They waited in silence.
Father Tomas leaned over. "Let's be gone!" he whispered.
The women nodded and without a word they cautiously crept through the towering cane the quarter-mile or so down to the white sand. The women carried the older boys on their hips. As they approached the water, the cane stalks rustled softly in the sea breeze. Colin would hide under a clump of mangrove trees on the edge of the sand, he'd said, the same trees from which he had made his own escape. He would have a dinghy ready.
They stole down to the sand, staying under the huge, gnarled mangroves. Where was Colin? Freddy saw no evidence of him, but did make out the shape of a sloop just off shore. The vessel was an inky shadow on the dark sea. The glassy water rippled gently.
Freddy remembered this spot with a sharp pang. She and Kofi had bathed together in the moonlit sea here, and made the sweetest love she'd ever known. Her heart ached as she looked around. Watching over them now, he would be very happy that they were escaping.
She flinched when a nighthawk called from a nearby mangrove branch. She could make out the white markings on its wings as it repeated, "Pity-pit-pit!"
Father Tomas pointed to a clump of trees down the beach. Quickly, silently, they followed him to the shadows there. A man in black clothing crouched beneath the thick branches, between two big roots at the edge of the sand. Colin had said he would disguise himself in the traditional austere black hat and black coat of Quaker men. Next to him was a beached dinghy.
As they reached the dinghy, Freddy realized this man was smaller than Colin. Her stomach did a flip as once more her heart jumped into her throat. Who was this?
He silently rose and turned, removing his hat.
Freddy gasped as she realized she was looking into Paulina's hateful eyes.
Before Father Tomas could grab the woman, she shoved a pistol into his ribs. They all froze in place. Father Tomas lifted his hands. The boys whimpered. Freddy shifted Laurie on her hip, gave him a squeeze, and glanced at the sloop. All was dark there.
"No one move." Paulina spat the words, her voice hard. "I WILL shoot!" She shoved the priest in front of her and turned toward the cane uphill. "Caw! Caw!" she called.
"Caw!" The reply came from the darkness.
Raz and Laurie had begun sobbing.
"Keep those urchins quiet." Paulina tossed two strips of muslin at Birdie. "You, tie their mouths with these…"
"That will only frighten them more—" Freddy began.
Paulina slapped her across the cheekbone, hard. "Silence!"
"MAMA!" Laurie wrapped his little arms around his mother's neck and buried his face in her gown, his bawling escalating into screams. Freddy tightened her hold on him, her mind in such a tumult she barely noticed her cheek stinging from the slap. Surely they could overpower this house slave. There must be a way.
Raz was quiet astride his mother's hip. He sucked the middle fingers of one hand, his eyes darting from Paulina to Birdie and back.
"Muffle this one first." Paulina pointed at Laurie.
Birdie put Raz down on the sand, silently holding a finger to her mouth. He obeyed, sucking harder on his fingers.
Birdie began wrapping Laurie's mouth with the fabric and he slapped her hands away. Again the Indian woman held her finger to her mouth. Laurie cried louder, his huge eyes shifting from Birdie to his mother and back. Birdie tried again to wrap his mouth, and this time succeeded.
Freddy felt glued to the place where she stood, unable to move a muscle.
Still holding her pistol against the priest's back, Paulina sidled over. She wrapped her fist in Freddy's long braid and leaned in. "I would take pleasure in shooting your priest, then beating you senseless," she hissed, yanking Freddy's head by her braid.
As Birdie turned to Raz to stifle him with the fabric, both infants began to wail.
"Make haste!" Paulina commanded. "Quiet those babes."
Freddy took Kofi's warm body from the sling and cradled him in her trembling arms. His wails faded. Birdie shifted Efia to her breast to shush her. She finished tying the fabric behind Raz's head, and again balanced him on her hip.
Paulina lined up the group on the sand in front of her, with Freddy in the lead. Above their covered mouths the boys' eyes were round with fear.
Freddy's cheekbone throbbed.
The Creole rammed the gun barrel into Father Tomas's back. "Mind," she snarled, "I will not hesitate to shoot him if you try anything. Now! Up the hill!" Paulina marched them into the cane fifty feet above the beach.
"Halt there!" she barked at Freddy.
To her right the cane rustled.
"Over here!" came a familiar deep voice.
Paulina shoved Freddy toward the voice, keeping her gun aimed at the priest. Freddy tripped, but caught herself. She came to a small clearing on a cart lane. There knelt Colin, his hands on top of his head. Sam stood behind him in his characteristic wide stance, holding a pistol at Colin's back. Another pistol was tucked into his waistband, next to his whip.
"Come, imbeciles," Sam growled. "Next to him. Kneel."
Freddy put Laurie down and sank to her knees next to Colin, deliberately close enough to rub his arm with hers. He was bare-chested and his breeches were streaked with mud. He stared straight ahead, his back rigid.
"Sit down," Birdie whispered to the boys.
"Quiet!" Sam strutted before them, waving his pistol. "Good work, Paulina." He nodded at her.
The house slave nodded back at Sam, then threw him a wide smile.
"Did you think we wouldn't know what you were about?" the driver jeered, again waving the gun back and forth. "We will make good money on this, eh, my love? That white bounty hunter will love this!"
"That he will," Paulina crooned, tossing aside the black clothing she'd used as a disguise. She resumed holding her pistol on the priest.
"What shall we do with you?" Sam taunted in an eerily subdued voice, pacing before them but keeping his gun trained on Colin. He rested one hand on his whip handle, then caressed it. "If only there was time for more whippings—"
Suddenly Colin cupped his mouth. "EEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Freddy jumped, startled by the shrill noise. Was he daft?
In a split second Sam was on him. The driver whacked his head with the flintlock's handle. Colin reached up, grabbed the pistol barrel, twisted it from Sam's hand, and struck his face with it. Sam seized his arm and wrenched it with a sickening snap. Colin writhed on the ground, holding his arm. His head was bleeding, too.
"God!" Colin yelled as Sam roughly turned him onto his stomach, sat on him, and gagged him with a rope belt. The driver's nose was dripping blood. He got up, rolled Colin back over, and abruptly straightened his broken arm. Colin screamed out in pain, then lost consciousness.
Sam tied Colin's wrists together in front. He then pulled the second pistol from his waistband, ignoring his own bloody nose and face. "I can do much worse," he warned. "Paulina, take the boys."
She pulled Raz from his mother's hip and dropped him with a thud to the ground.
"No!" Birdie cried.
Her son scrambled to his feet, his frightened eyes watching the Creole woman.
Paulina stood over Birdie, holding her hand high as if to slap her. Instead she yanked Laurie from Freddy's grasp and led both toddlers to the side of the clearing.
"You!" Sam pointed to Freddy. "Put the babe back in its sling."
She did as she was told. Kofi and Efia were blessedly quiet.
"Priest!" The driver spit the word savagely. "Hands behind you! Paulina, keep your gun ready."
Sam began with Freddy, pulling her up and tying her wrists tightly in front. "We could have had such fun," he whispered, wiping his bloody nose with the back of his hand. He yanked the burning rope tighter. "Don't think I won't hurt your little ones if you try anything…"
Colin stirred and opened his eyes.
"Up!" Sam barked, walking over and kicking him in the ribs.
Colin struggled to his feet, and Sam began marching the group up the terraced hill.
"THWACK!" They flinched at the crack of the driver's whip over their heads.
Beside her, his hand held by Paulina, Laurie sobbed audibly through the muslin that covered his mouth. As she turned to comfort him, Freddy heard a loud thud. She turned back in time to see a young man holding an oar high over Sam's head. The driver was crumpled at his feet. The big wooden oar slammed down again, on Sam's head. Before Paulina could react, another, taller man struck her in the head with an oar. She collapsed, releasing the toddlers. As the two men quickly seized all three guns and the whip, the boys ran to their mothers.
"Good pirates!!" Freddy whispered, holding Laurie's hands with her own tied hands. She smiled into his eyes, nodding.
The shorter man held two guns on Sam and Paulina, even though they were unconscious. The tall one rushed over to Colin and cut off his gag with a big knife.
"Johnny!" Colin breathed hard as the man sliced through his wrist ropes. He clasped his broken arm to his side and turned to the others. "Fear not, these are my trusty men, Johnny and Owyn."
As he deftly cut her wrists free, Freddy realized that Johnny was dripping wet. He moved to Birdie, then Father Tomas, to slice their bindings. The women hugged the toddlers to them as the tall buccaneer carefully removed the tight wraps from their mouths. He then gagged Paulina and Sam with the strips of fabric. Laurie hid his face in Freddy's neck, whimpering. She rubbed her sore wrists as she embraced him. Birdie silently held Raz close.
"God love ye!" Father Tomas murmured to Johnny. "You swam?"
"Aye, the lad and meself are the only ones who can…"
"God love ye…" Freddy repeated the priest's words in a dazed whisper.
Father Tomas tied Sam's ankles and wrists with the long driver's whip. Owyn still held the driver and Paulina at gunpoint. Johnny pulled a coiled rope from his waistband and began binding the Creole's ankles.
"Light!" Birdie blurted, making Freddy jump again.
Their heads jerked up. Sure enough, slanting beams of light flashed through the cane.
"On the road." Father Tomas stood, trying to see. "From the south."
"Make haste!" Colin whispered. "To the dinghy, hurry! Johnny, Owyn, tie these evil felons together!"
As she and Birdie scurried back to the white strand, Father Tomas was dragging Paulina over to where Sam lay. The four men caught up to them just as the women were approaching the dinghy. Without a sound the men shoved the wooden rowboat to the edge of the beach and they all crowded in, the women and children sharing the bow bench. With the Quaker coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, Colin braced his arm against his body and carefully lowered himself to the bottom of the dinghy, wincing from pain. One of his ears was covered with blood. Owyn nimbly shoved them off, climbed in, and tucked himself on the floor of the bow. They held their breath as Johnny quietly turned the boat toward the sloop and began rowing. All Freddy could hear was the soft groan of the oars pulling against the ports.
"The wretches won't be found any time soon, in that tall cane," Colin whispered.
Freddy nodded, grabbing Birdie's hand and scanning the hillside for torchlight. She spotted six lights moving north. She forced herself to take several deep breaths, her eyes locked on those lights.
Laurie wriggled impatiently in her lap, trying to turn so he could see the sloop. "Soon we'll reach the good pirate ship, son," she whispered into his ear. Kofi squirmed but was quiet. Efia fussed a little. Birdie put her little finger in the babe's mouth and the little one eagerly sucked it.
The women's eyes shone with joyful tears as they watched the curve of white sand and the hills of Whittingham Plantation slowly recede into the distance. Not only was this night black enough to hide them, the sea was calm enough to allow the overloaded dinghy to stay afloat. It rode precariously low in the water. Tiny ripples were stirred by the oars and the night's gentle wind.
"Soon!" Freddy murmured into Birdie's ear, still holding her hand.
Her friend nodded mutely, squeezing Freddy's fingers so hard they hurt.
With her other hand, Freddy wiped at the hot tears making tracks down her cheeks. She winced when she touched the spot high on her cheek that still tingled from Paulina's slap. Blinking and inhaling slowly, through her nose, Freddy memorized the moment. The oars dipped into the smooth water again and again. As the dinghy carried them further out, Freddy watched the shore from her backwards-facing bow seat. She could no longer make out the torch flames. Her vision was blurred from the tears coursing down her face. She made the Sign of the Cross and prayed that the cursed island would now exist only in her memory. "Please, God," she murmured to herself, "no more pain, no more tears."
At her feet, Colin had not moved a muscle. He appeared frozen in place, his eyes still focused on the shore.
She leaned over, carefully put one knee on the boat bottom, and eased her weight onto it. Holding Laurie on the bench by his waist, she slowly turned to face forward.
Freddy smiled into the fresh sea breeze. As the dinghy drew near, the sloop rocked, its rigging clinking against the mast in the darkness.
CHAPTER 35
February 1656
A loud thud shook the Alizé. In the dark officers' quarters Freddy flinched, clutching little Kofi tighter against her breast. Huddled with Birdie and the children on a narrow bunk, she listened to rapid footsteps overhead. The cabin smelled of lingering smoke. From farther away came the heavy sliding sound of the anchor chain. But this chain sang a song of freedom, not bondage. Freddy anxiously peered into the darkness and wondered if the militia was in pursuit. Perhaps the black night was a good sign, since militiamen would surely carry torches.
Laurie's head was on her lap. He whimpered softly. The babe stirred in the sling. Pressed against her other side, Birdie was trembling and breathing hard. Freddy could hear nothing from Raz or Efia. In the darkness she found Birdie's knee and patted it.
"Are you all right?" Freddy whispered.
"Yes," Birdie murmured, clasping her friend's hand.
Kofi stirred again, this time letting out a hungry cry. "Hush," Freddy murmured, freeing her hand to position the babe for nursing. She guided Kofi's mouth to her nipple and he suckled noisily.
She felt a change in the movement of the sloop. They were under sail! Again she found Birdie's hand, held it tight, and took a
shuddering breath.
Young Owyn had seen them to the cabin in the dark. Captain's orders, he'd whispered as the rest of the crew scurried to get the sloop underway. The officer's quarters would give them privacy, he'd explained, and the small windows would provide fresh air. Before settling on the bunk, Freddy had groped her way around, running her hands across a table, benches, four bunks, and a tin chamber pot hanging from a hook. Now resting her head against the back of the berth, she stroked the babe's silky head. The sloop rocked forward.
When they reached Montserrat, where Colin had promised to deliver Father Tomas, Aileen's home on St. Kitts would be a mere sixty miles away. A strange mixture of sadness and resolve washed over Freddy. She would not try to see her sister. The risk was too great. Babe Kofi, being half Coromantee, was legally banned from St. Kitts. Aileen's husband was an English plantation owner. The important thing was to get far from here, to protect the children. Her sister would understand. God willing, they would sail north from these islands where Aileen remained behind. As they journeyed, Freddy would write to her of the children, Kofi, Birdie, her decision to venture to the Virginia Colony, and Colin.
Colin, she mused, absently rubbing the mourning band on her forearm. Tonight he had saved them all by signalling the sloop, even with Sam's gun pointed straight at him. Colin deserved to know the whole truth. If he was the man she believed him to be, he would accept her love for Kofi as readily as he'd accepted her bold ways. Surely his amorous feelings would not be swayed. Cut from the same cloth, she and Colin were drawn to each other as kindred souls. His strong spirit had attracted her to him. That and, she had to admit, his dark good looks. When he turned those penetrating blue eyes on her, it sent her heart to thumping so wildly she feared it would fly out of her very chest.
Freddy shook her head, berating herself for entertaining such thoughts. It had been eight months since Kofi's death. She would mourn him for a full year. She tucked the sleepy babe back into the sling, pulled out her rosary, and kissed its crucifix. Her mouth moved silently as she recited the prayers.
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