Princess Ces'alena (Webster Fields)

by Mercedes Keyes

  “Hope!” Lena yelled, just as her daughter ran into Thomas’s legs. Laughing after witnessing the scene, he bent and picked her up. “What is this I see. Surely someone so pretty…should act pretty too?” He asked walking towards Lena, who stood with her hands on her hips glaring at her daughter. Hope gave no reply, her glare a belligerent frown with her arms clutching the small toys to her just incase he meant to steal them, and then her eyes narrowed at Thomas and he threw his head back laughing.

  “Why Ms Ceś alena, I do believe you’ve got yourself a handful.”

  “Believe me I know it.” Lena answered, standing before him now.

  “Alright young lady, give me the toys.” Lena ordered with her hand out.

  “Mine!” Was Hope’s one word declaration.

  “Okay fine, you don’t want to share, you shan’t have any.” Lena decided, and then removed them from her daughter’s arms, while she screamed and kicked her displeasure. Lena placed all the toys before a wide eyed Jamie and Nia, and then turned back to Thomas who was struggling trying to hold onto her. Lena laughed at the look on his face and took her screaming toddler to walk to her porch where she sat, placing her on her lap.

  “G’down…mine … mine…mine…!” She screamed and struggled in Lena’s lap. “Would you like mama to get a switch? Would that help?” Lena asked her softly, calmly. Hope suddenly grew still, then quieted sucking in a few calming breaths, having tasted the sting of a switch on her legs. “Now when you are good, you can get down and play.”

  “I g’momie.” She sniffed looking up at her mother.

  “Em hm, we shall see. You just sit here until I’m convinced.” Lena replied as Thomas came and took a seat beside her. Hope leaned forward and looked at him with drawn eyebrows. Her expression was clear, and it conveyed the question, “What you want?” Lena chuckled and shook her head. “What can I say?” Was her only response with a smile, flashing clean white teeth.

  “No explanation needed. She’s beautiful and spirited.” Thomas complimented. “And a bit spoiled…I admit it.” Lena added. “It’s a beautiful evening isn’t it?” Thomas nodded while engaging in his favorite pastime, staring at her. “Were you on your way somewhere?” She asked feeling uncomfortable with him always staring at her so closely. “As a matter of fact I was, and I came to see if you would like to join me.”

  “Join you…where?” She asked, not realizing her daughter had quietly left her side and was off the porch, back on the ground with the other two children. “I’m on my way to an Indian village, the Chickasaw Village.”

  She was stunned. “The Chick-a-who? Why?” She asked, giving him her full attention. He wondered if he should totally confide in her. But if he was inviting her to come along, he would have to. Thanks to Morris, he could now go about the business at hand. He couldn’t believe his luck after the nightmare of being attacked by the group of white men who raided his and Phillip’s camp. They’d been robbed and beaten, his papers proving him a free man taken and destroyed. He hadn’t a clue as to what happened to Phillip from being tied up by the ankles and wrists, then he was dragged behind a horse until he’d passed out. When he’d come to, he’d been in a barn where someone threw a bucket of water on him to wake him. They’d argued about what to do with him, one wanted to hang him, and the other came up with the idea to sell him. They’d left him there tied to a stall rail. He’d passed out again. Next time he woke…it was to see her eyes staring down at him. He owed Morris Webster his life, and was sincere in all he did for the man. But he had his assignment to fulfill. At night, he’d been sneaking out to meet with the others, each taking turns to hunt out the village and its location. Patrick Johnson had been the one to finally find it. So with his wife Liddy, they would escort Thomas back and forth to the village, while Jacob, and Markus Gentry worked on trying to set up a hidden education system that would teach any of the slaves who wanted to, how to read and write.

  Once they were educated enough, they would then go about helping them to escape to freedom. One of the jobs Thomas had to do was to falsify freedom documents once they had so many selected and ready to escape.

  Jacob and his son, Zedekiah would transport those who were ready to a point of contact on the Mississippi river. Under the cover of night, the night before the power steam engine riverboat got underway; volunteer emancipators in place would stash them away below, where they would then smuggle them up North where they could live free, with some education aiding them in their freedom. Persons there would place them in whatever jobs could be found. There was a call for ship builders in Boston, many free blacks fled there for jobs, as well as joining on as crew members on ships.

  However, as he learned first hand, and then from what Jacob and Patrick informed him, only a few at Webster Fields were interested in the prospect of freedom. Reluctantly, they would gather for learning, but they were only willing to hear about the possibility of being free. None yet voiced a desire to actually seek the chance to be free. There was fear of the unknown, and leaving the good life found at Webster Fields – few were willing to take that gamble. All their needs were met – there was no abuse – they were left with their dignity and self-respect – in exchange for fair labor.

  Manny and Morris Webster they knew.

  That world of freedom out there…they didn’t. For the most part, their fears were that the newcomers would do something to jeopardize their peaceful lives there. So many turned a deaf ear of disinterest in what they were trying to do. So far, they’d made contacts and spread the word to Harvest Gold plantation, Hastings Manor, with their base at Webster Fields. There were still many more plantations to infiltrate, but they were off to a good start. As well as keeping an ear out for what may have happened to Phillip Preston, who also happened to be white. Thomas prayed that his being white would have saved his life. He took a deep breath and stated, “Ceś alena, do you know what an abolitionist is?” She stared a few moments, with her mind working, then nodded and finally voiced, “I have heard of them. You are one of them, are you not?”

  “Yes, I am…and I’m here to help the Indians, and our people as well. Every Friday when Morris leaves for his games, I leave to go and teach.”

  “Teach?” Her eyes lit up. Thomas picked up on it immediately. “Yes, I’m a teacher. And I’m here to instruct those within the Chickasaw village on the laws of the land, and those of our government…as well as, reading and writing.” She was quiet, but very much intrigued. “I knew you were different, that night when Morris brought you home.”

  “Yes…well, it is what I have come to do.”

  “I wondered where you’d disappeared to over the weekend only to reappear Sunday before Morris returned. You know - what you are doing is dangerous. I cannot believe after that beating, you’re still taking such risks.” She shook her head.

  “Black people, in the South - just like you and I, are slaves. I will not stop - until I see its end. Slaves live in a constant existence of pleasing and aiding the white man in material gain and prestige. When we, gain nothing in return! The Indians, because of the white man’s aggressive takeover, also loses all that was once theirs. This growing white nation is fair to neither in their pursuit of freedom! I cannot help but feel anger at their hypocrisy, when I know the very things for which they fought and came here for – that, they ran from - they now subject others too! Though my part is small, I will do that small part! Risk or not - I will do my part to help in building for a change.”

  “You are only one man, how can you possibly make a change?”

  “By infecting other men with a desire to fight for the very same rights those Europeans crossed the water for! By being a part of a team who believe as I do. There are many others like me, and the more people I get, and educate, the more powerful this movement becomes. We have to start somewhere.”

  Lena looked away at her daughter, and thought of her son. Of course he was right, she’d tasted the bitter reality of who, and what they were when Katherine felt the desire to tak
e revenge, and there was no one to stop her. She gazed back at him, he was watching her, reading her thoughts.

  “You know I’m right. Unless we begin making this change, how many more mother’s will weep as you must have, when you lost your son?”

  The rush of tears to her eyes were so sudden she looked away.

  “Join me Ceś alena. Come with me and see what I do. That is all I ask.”

  “I cannot.” She answered unable to look at him.

  “Why? You waiting on him to return? And then what?” He asked softly. She shook her head unable to answer him, still unable to look at him.

  “There is not much time. I have made my feelings no secret. You are a woman who knows when she is being pursued. I want you Ceś alena, I want you – in an honorable way, allowing you your dignity and the respect due you. God is my witness, I will do all within my power to convince you…that you are better off with me.” He pressed, and added. “You still have one child left? What will be her fate…if you stay?”

  That snapped her head around and the tears she tried to dry rushed forward and spilled over. “Go! Go about your assignment…and leave me alone.”

  “Today I will. But the next time I go-…” He nodded sure.

  “You’ll go with me and you’ll see a new way…a different life. One that could be, for you…and more importantly…for her.” He nodded towards Hope playing in the dirt. Then rose and walked away; leaving Lena, with that plaguing thoughts.

  For the next week, Thomas left her alone to think. He was ever present, but only for a reminder of the promises he made to her. The night before, she lay in her bed, reading over another of Royal’s journals, this one focused on her time with her son, and the joys that he brought her. The mischief he often found himself in, and the bravery of him. Half way through it, Lena lay down the journal and stared up at her ceiling deep in thought.

  “Am I feeding on a fantasy?” She asked softly. In the dim quiet of her cabin she looked around at all that Manny tried to provide for her, wondering what she was trying to hold on to? She closed the book leaning over and turned down the lantern extinguishing the flame. Laying on her side, one arm beneath her pillow and head; she slowly drifted off to sleep.

  “Alright…I’ll go.” She informed Thomas the next morning in the kitchen as he was passing through. He turned at the door with a smile. “If - you can assure me that Hope will be safe. That we both will be?”

  Thomas sighed, “Lena, nothing in life is a certainty. I can promise that we have seen to the success of our travels back and forth, and that you both will be protected. The rest is in God’s hands.” She nodded, he was right.

  “Still going?” He asked holding his breath. She was silent a moment, as he waited on her answer. Chewing her lip nervously, she nodded then answered, “Yes, still going.”

  Thomas smiled. She glanced back and saw the smile, and wanted to clarify where she stood. “I’m only agreeing to go with you to see what you do. Just for the adventure. Nothing else…I do not want you thinking this means anything else, or anything more.”

  “Fair enough.”

  They left much earlier than usual because Morris was gone from the previous night. Thomas stood watching as she prepared her daughter for the journey. Applying the cream to her skin which darkened it, and hiding her hair beneath the scarf, just in case they were to cross paths with someone, who was acquainted with Katherine or Manny. She couldn’t take the chance someone would see her and know…it wouldn’t take long before it reached the wrong ears. So with a wrapped and tied bundle of clothes within for Hope and herself, she joined him. Shyly, she met Patrick and his wife Liddy Dovey. Liddy was a sturdy young woman of ambiguous origin. There was something about her, that made it hard for Lena to believe she was all Irish as many assumed.

  Her figure, while not given to excess, was full bodied and ample; busty, tapering waist, and broad hips and rear. The texture of her ash/sandy color hair, though wound up tight at the base of her head - Lena knew would uncoil to reach past her hips, at the same time she was sure it would curl and twist naturally. Her skin, though very fair…was not however, transparent showing veins as most white fair skinned women. It had a thick, rich olive quality about it, not delicate. Her eyes were just a bit too dark, black in fact, her nose a touch too rounded and not the common straight, sharp thin lines one would expect; her lips, dark maroon, and full.

  She was mulatto; Lena was certain of it, but kept her suspicions to herself. Liddy could feel Lena’s observant, examining eye on her and was quiet most of the trip…reluctant to speak. Only nodding or shaking her head in answer to chit-chat sent her way.

  Lena sat in the rear of the wagon with Hope. It would be a comfortable trip with the short canvas top on the wagon, leaving the sides wide open for air to circulate around them, as they viewed the scenery while offering shade from the hot sun. Thomas had changed into a garb normal for Negro slaves, and rode beside the wagon, as Patrick and Liddy rode up front. She listened as they spoke of the progress they were making, and the setbacks as well. They laughed at the antics and questions of some…Liddy would rock and nod, smiling her agreement, with a chuckle here and there.

  Patrick reached over to pat and squeeze his wife’s hand. “Speak missus. No need to hold your tongue.” She looked up at him with loving eyes…but would not speak. He accepted her silence knowing she was not yet ready to confirm what Lena already suspected…her speech and her voice would give away her heritage. It was during this trip to the Indian village that Lena would learn of Thomas’s past life and the various assignments in one state after another. He had done a lot of traveling in his adult years to this thirty-first year.

  Patrick also told of his beginnings with the mission, and after meeting Liddy, married her…and joined the cause. As he spoke, Liddy smiled but held true to her reticence. They wanted Lena to feel a part of the group, and soon she too told a little about herself; leaving out her royal background and the status of her father as ruler of Makia Island. She told them only that she’d come from Makia Island and how she ended up at Webster Fields. She and Thomas had to laugh at Morris’s skill in getting slaves without having to pay for them half the time. She went into what it was like for her experiencing slavery for the first time, how frightening it had been to be taken from her home, thrust into an unfamiliar world where she lost value as a human, and was re-classified as to what worth and category she might be placed.

  She admitted that it was no doubt through the grace of God that she ended up in the hands of the man who lost her to Morris Webster. So at fifteen years old, she came to Webster Fields and had been there ever since. She talked about her son, Michael and for the first time, they learned the truth first hand, from the horse’s mouth.

  That Manny had no knowledge of Hope, and why it had to be that way, mainly to protect her from being taken away as her son had been. Even though Thomas didn’t want to hear it… she slipped into explaining the way she knew Manny would be if he knew of their daughter.

  All was quiet, Lena in thought feeling she had said too much when suddenly Liddy, who’d kept her back turned the entire time she spoke, turned to look back at her. Her eyes were filled with tears, rolling down. She climbed from her seat and went into the back and grabbed Lena and hugged her, holding onto her. At first Lena held her thinking Liddy meant to console her…but then, the young woman’s shoulders began shaking and she started to sob. Shocked Lena held her tighter. Patrick only looked back once, with moist eyes, then back to the front as he led the team. Thomas rode ahead leaving the woman to sob in Lena’s arms. Hope sat back staring, quiet … not understanding, but stayed still. Not a word of explanation came from her…but for Lena, none was needed… she knew when Liddy was ready…she would say why she cried. Finally she calmed and slowly withdrew from Lena’s arms, ashamed and unable to look her in the face.

  “It’s okay.” Lena spoke softly, handing her the hanky her husband passed back from the seat.

  Liddy blew her nose…and hel
d herself still.

  Then told Lena, “I been wit’ Mr. Weston since I was a lil’girl, ‘bout. My daddy was a Negro slave, my mama…the white daughter of the missions - she help him escape. We live in a little hidden cabin shack in the bayou… we was always laughin’, fishin’ and walking through them swamps. My daddy know’em like the back’o his han’. At night, we would go to the mission meetin’s…an’… then we sneak back to our cabin. Nobody know we was there. We hear somebody comin’…we just sneak below in this hole my daddy dug with a false flo’ on top’of it. We stay down there till they gone. Then we come out…and all was fine.” She quieted looking up at Lena. “My daddy…he love my mama so much and she love him too. They was always touchin’ each other…singin’ to each other, they voice sound so beautiful together, my daddy, voice deep and strong, my mama’s like a bird, so sweet. They be hugging and thankin’ the Lord fo’ each other – all the time.” She was lost in thought a while more. Hope had crawled to Lena’s lap and lay there dozing as the movement of the wagon rocked and jostled them.

  “Then one night while I lay sleepin’, my mama woke me, she rush me to the hole. She ain’t move that fast cause she was heavy with child. She shove me down real quick, an’ drop the floor over me…tol’ me hush and don’t come out till they say come out. I didn’t…I - I didn’t come out…” She stopped a while more, silent tears rolled once more. She wiped them away and soon continued, “I had to pee so bad…an’ I was getting’ so hot – I was down there so long an’ it was daylight and so quiet – cause I fall asleep and when I woke up, everythin’ – so quiet. So I come out…I try to be quiet so nobody know I come out. I snuck out the back doah. Never got no further…I’on know how long I sit on the back poach. Must’a been - a few days…cause Elder Weston and his son, they…they come and fetch me.”