by Koboah, A D
For a moment I couldn’t move. Then I slowly inched my head forward and surveyed the scene ahead.
A large crowd made up of slaves, the Master’s family, and Mr Jenkins, a slaveholder from one of the neighbouring plantations, were standing about five metres from where I lay. I couldn’t see the faces of all of the people gathered there but the ones I could see in the meagre glow of a few oil lamps were distorted either by fear or anger.
“Do you expect us to believe that some demon tried to hurt Master John? It was her! And I’m not going to let her live long enough to try again!” shouted Mr Jenkins, a burly, greasy man with a large moustache.
His words were met with a roar of approval.
Father Geoffrey had his hands held out as if to try and hold back the crowd and I could hear the low, imploring murmur of his voice but not the words. He was probably the only thing keeping them from putting a noose around my neck and lynching me from the large pecan tree that stood at the back of the slave quarters like a gnarled sentinel.
I searched the faces of the crowd. It didn’t matter whether they were black or white, they were all glaring at me with varying degrees of antipathy and some even turned away in fear when my gaze met theirs as if they thought I could reach out and harm them in some way.
I closed my eyes, feeling completely alone, until Jupiter squeezed my hand. I hadn’t exactly given the other Negroes on the plantation much reason to like me over the years, but it was still hard to face the fact that they believed me capable of something like this. At least Mary wasn’t part of the baleful mob and hopefully she wouldn’t be here to watch them kill me.
“Do not worry, Sister Luna. Father Geoffrey will calm them.”
“Help me up.”
“No. You must—”
“Help me up!”
When he didn’t respond, I shrugged his arms away and sat up, turning to face him.
“If they gonna kill me, then let them.”
I saw a sort of shrinking despair in his deep brown eyes before he lowered them.
“Sister Luna. You do—”
“No, Jupiter. You know what the demon be doing to Massa when I finds them? It be drinking his blood! I ain’t gonna die that way. I ain’t, so help me God!”
“Look! She’s awake!”
It was Zila whose shrill cry interrupted us, her face a mask of unadulterated hatred. Abruptly, she broke away from the crowd and came charging toward me. I quickly got to my feet but Jupiter was quicker and caught Zila by the arms just as she reached out to slap me.
“Zila, stop this! You know she did not hurt Massa John!”
But it seemed Zila’s actions had broken the dam and the majority of the blacks that made up the crowd surged forward.
“She did this! She called that demon here!”
“We all gonna pay for what she did to Massa!”
“Kill her ’fore she calls it back!”
My head began spinning as I faced them, most of what was being said lost in the confusion of voices as they surrounded us. Jupiter pushed Zila back and moved to stand in front of me as I backed away, only to find myself trapped by the cabin wall. He appeared calm as he silently challenged all of them and perhaps recognising something in his gaze, something better not challenged, they held back.
The worst thing was that apart from Zila, who could barely contain her hatred, they were all genuinely scared. Scared of me.
“I told you all. She did not summon that demon. Listen to me...” Father Geoffrey had raised his voice now, but like a pillow pressed against a man’s face, the authority in his tone was being smothered by the rising panic.
“Get out of my way!” Mr Jenkins pushed past Father Geoffrey. I remembered once that he had tried to get Master Henry, and then Master John, to sell me to him, and for a lot more money than a female slave of childbearing age was worth.
“You’re not going to lay a finger on her.”
A tremulous silence fell as everyone turned to the sound of the voice. The group of slaves who had surrounded us slowly backed away. It was Master John. In the midst of the uproar no one had noticed him and Master Peter walking toward the slave quarters. He was holding a bloody handkerchief to the wound in his neck, and had his other arm around Master Peter, who was supporting him. Even though his mouth was set in a determined line, he looked weak and pale. Master John and his brother were not alone. Mama Akosua was with them, and trailing behind her, with two horses in tow, was one of the field slaves.
Mama’s expression was not one I’d ever seen before. I’m sure a lioness guarding her young wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fearsome as she appeared at that moment. I was surprised to see her here but I shouldn’t have been because she was always there in my time of need. Hadn’t she found her way back to Mississippi when Master Henry sold her away to a plantation in Louisiana? And of course she had braved the storm on that night so she could deliver my baby and nurse me back to health in the weeks that had followed.
“This nigger wench is my property,” Master John spat. “I, and only I, will decide what happens to her. Do you hear me?”
The appearance of Master John seemed to have given Father Geoffrey the confidence that was so obviously lacking before and there was a calm authority in his voice when he spoke again.
“Luna didn’t do this. If you don’t believe me then ask Master John. Ask him what happened!”
All eyes were on Master John again who seemed to be shrinking under the weight of those questioning gazes.
“It wasn’t Luna,” he said, his voice smaller than usual and his lip trembling with fear. “It…it was—”
“We don’t know what it was,” Master Peter said coming to his brother’s rescue. “But it definitely wasn’t human.”
Mr Jenkins met this with a derisive grunt but although he clearly wasn’t convinced, he wasn’t about to call Master John a liar.
“We can’t turn against each other now,” Father Geoffrey said. “The thing we saw tonight is powerful and it’s a common enemy to slave and slaveholder alike. We can’t afford to be divided when faced with such a deadly enemy.”
Mr Jenkins completely ignored Father Geoffrey and strode over to Master John.
“So if what you’re telling me is right and this...demon…is after the girl, then why are we standing here arguing?” he asked incredulously. “We should take her back to the chapel and let that thing do whatever it wants to her!”
“And then you will have two hungry demons to fear,” Mama Akosua said, her voice calm and steady.
Mr Jenkins turned to her, his eyes bulging in his round, meaty face. “What do you mean?
“This creature is no ordinary devil. It feeds on blood and it has the power to make other demons like it. If you give her to it, you will have two blood thirsty demons on your hands.”
A frightened hush fell over the crowd and then a male voice rose up into the night.
“We gots to kill her now ’fore it comes back!”
A murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd.
“I know how to kill it,” Mama Akosua said quickly, stepping in front of Master John and speaking directly to Mr Jenkins. “But if any of you harm my daughter, I will do nothing.”
“You’ll do as you’re told, nigger, or pay with your life!” the plantation owner hissed.
“Then I will pay with my life. My daughter is everything to me. Harm her and I leave this demon to slaughter you and your children as you sleep!”
“It won’t come to that,” Master Peter said gesturing for the field slave to bring the horses over to us. “Father, take them back to your home.” He gestured to me and Mama Akosua. “The rest of us will—”
“No. She stays with us.” Mr Jenkins had taken a hold of Mama Akosua’s arm. “If there really is a demon and she knows how to kill it then I don’t want her going anywhere.”
I looked to Master Peter, pleading with my eyes, but all he did was make a furtive gesture for me to get on the horse. Jupiter was only too quick
to heed the gesture and he pulled me along with him, only letting go of my arm long enough to mount the horse before quickly hoisting me up behind him.
“Be reasonable,” Master Peter continued. “She doesn’t need to stay. The demon will not trouble us with the girl gone.”
“The witch stays here or her daughter dies,” he said firmly.
Master Peter met his gaze for a few seconds and then turned to Father Geoffrey, who had mounted the second horse.
“I’ll send someone with news for you tomorrow,” he said.
“Massa John,” Mama Akosua said. “I did not come to you so that you could let them take her away. Only I can protect her from this devil. You have to let me go with her.”
But Mama’s words were in vain, for although Master John no doubt wanted her to go with us, he was really in no condition to argue the case, for he looked even paler than when he had first arrived.
“You’ll have to do what you can from here,” he said before he turned to Father Geoffrey. “Make sure you bring my property back to me, untouched.” His gaze flickered to Jupiter briefly on the last word before it returned to Father Geoffrey. “Go.”
Jupiter urged the horse onward and Father Geoffrey followed. I kept my eyes on Mama Akosua, who looked completely bereft as she watched us draw farther and farther away from her.
She was and always would be completely devoted to me, and I realised with a sinking kind of shame that I had done absolutely nothing during the course of my miserable life to earn or even reward such a powerful level of devotion. Absolutely nothing.
When her forlorn figure finally disappeared, I began to cry.
I was sure I would never see her again.
Chapter Seven
I clung to Jupiter as our horse raced away from the comforting lights of the plantation into the night. The only thing that broke the emptiness of the stark landscape was the moon above and a ghostly black mass of woodland some distance to our left.
I had never felt so afraid, my gaze darting to every dark shape that swept past us and any sound other than the drum-like beat of the horses’ hooves sending spikes of fear through me as we were carried deeper into the night. It was like a living thing, hostile and heartless in its absolute dominion and I longed for even the dim light of a solitary farmhouse to take away some of its power. But there was nothing; only the indifferent stars above and the awful realisation that I had lost everything, the only home I had ever known, and the few people that meant anything to me.
And it seemed the night held more horrors in store for us for we were only fifteen minutes into the journey when Jupiter abruptly brought the horse to a stop and turned it around. He was completely still, his body tensed like that of an animal that had caught the scent of a predator. Father Geoffrey, who was a few paces behind us, slowed to a stop and peered questioningly into Jupiter’s face.
“What is it?” he asked, panting heavily.
“Look.”
At first I couldn’t see anything, but then I spotted a tiny amber glow in the distance struggling against the darkness that threatened to swallow it. It was obviously a lamplight, and on this night, it could only be bringing one thing upon us: Death. And now I could hear what had caused Jupiter to stop and whip the horse around. The faint sound of two, maybe three horses beating a ruthless path toward us.
A powerful, mind-numbing fear, as deadly as quicksand, clasped me as I watched that tiny orb of light steadily get closer. All my strength left me as that fear pulled me down into its cold callous depths.
“Massa John was not able to stop them,” Jupiter said. “They are coming for us.”
I watched the colour slowly drain from Father Geoffrey’s face.
“We...we’ll never make it,” he said.
“We must try,” Jupiter said fiercely. “Head for the trees. It will be harder for them to follow us once we are in the trees.”
He spun the horse around and urged it forward as a sound like thunder tore the night apart making my heart leap so violently in my chest that I almost fell off the horse.
A gun. They had guns.
I clung even tighter to Jupiter as the horse tore across the barren countryside whilst the sound of gunfire chased us, each shot closer than the last. I could barely breathe, and the quicksand continued to pull me down leaving me lightheaded and trembling as the pursuing horses drew closer.
All I could do was pray. Pray that God would deliver us from the evil on our heels and let us reach the relative safety of the trees in time. But I already knew we wouldn’t make it. In fact, what the events of this long, terrifying night had shown me was that God had forsaken me. I was being punished, not only for those babies I had killed in my womb, but for the child I had borne ten years ago and tossed aside like worthless trash.
Another gunshot rang out. This one was so loud it seemed to shake the very ground we sped across. I screamed but my cry was swallowed by the piercing shriek of the horse as it pitched forward and I realised it had been hit. My arms were wrenched from Jupiter and the world seemed to turn upside down in a whirl of gunfire and screams as the ground rushed up toward me.
I hit the dry earth with a bone-jolting thud that completely knocked the breath out of me and sent stars shooting behind my eyes. For a moment I couldn’t move even though there was no pain, only numbness. The piercing scream of the wounded horse filled my ears. Closing in on that sound was the deadly tattoo of the approaching horsemen.
Bringing my head up, I looked around, my vision swimming sickeningly through a haze of tears, and saw the dim outline of Father Geoffrey limping toward me. He was covered in the same brown dust that clung to my face and clothes and there was blood streaming from a cut along his hairline.
“Quickly.” He pulled me to my feet. “Where’s Jupiter?”
“I am here.”
He was standing a few feet away with his back to us and looking directly ahead. The three horsemen were upon us and we were all soon snared in the ominous light of the lamp as they slowed down to trot in a loose circle around us. The bloodcurdling shrieks of the wounded horse slowly began to fade, as if in response to the menacing presence of the three horsemen, until there was only silence. I wasn’t surprised to see that the lead rider was Mr Jenkins. He stopped directly in front of us and held his lamplight up even higher before he turned his head in the direction of one of the other men.
“Eli,” he said and nodded curtly.
The one called Eli, a thin, dark-haired boy of no more than sixteen, raised his gun and aimed it at me. A low mewing sound escaped my lips. I tried to take a step back but I was now completely submerged in my fear-induced quicksand and I couldn’t move. Everything seemed to slow down. I squeezed my eyes shut as Eli pulled the trigger and a deafening crack filled the air.
Instead of the blinding pain of a hot bullet piercing my flesh, I heard a strangled cry and something that sounded like a sack of coal hitting the ground. I immediately opened my eyes and saw Jupiter lying sprawled on his back at my feet.
“No!” I screamed as Father Geoffrey called out his name.
My legs turned to water and I fell to my knees mumbling Jupiter’s name over and over again as I cradled his head in my lap. He tried to sit up but then inhaled sharply before he fell back down with a groan. Father Geoffrey was kneeling by my side looking just as horrified and helpless as I felt, especially when his gaze fell on the dark red stain that had appeared on the shoulder of Jupiter’s shirt. It was spreading quickly down his arm.
Eli and the third assailant, a short, scruffy man, had dismounted, and as Eli stepped forward and aimed the gun at my head, the third man hoisted Father Geoffrey onto his feet and dragged him away.
I could only stare helplessly into Eli’s sickle-thin face, taking in the malice in the mean, dark slits he had for eyes. I was sunk so deep in the quicksand of fear that I was beyond any kind of coherent thought or action that might have been able to make a difference. I could only marvel at how someone as young as Eli could be filled wit
h so much hate. All the while, warm blood continued to gush from Jupiter’s wound, soaking through my dress and running down my thighs.
It seemed Eli was determined to prolong the moment as long as possible because he slowly moved the gun down so that it was aimed at Jupiter’s chest.
“Now, which one of these niggers do I kill first?” he asked in an amiable tone of voice.
A flare of anger sent my fear scurrying away and an odd focus quietened my mind in what I knew were to be my final moments. I pulled Jupiter closer and stared defiantly up at Eli. This boy may have had the power to take my life, but I wasn’t about to let him have the satisfaction of seeing me quiver with fear at his feet.
With Jupiter in my arms, I was ready to meet my fate.
But it seemed my fate wouldn’t be decided by Eli after all, because at that moment I was unexpectedly engulfed by the same sensation I had felt at the clearing when the demon first revealed itself to me. Everything sharpened just as it had then and I didn’t need to see it to know that it was there in the same way that I didn’t have to see the flames of a fire in order to feel the heat it generated.
If I thought I had felt fear a moment ago, then I was mistaken, because what I felt now was the paralysing shock of pure terror. I began to shake violently and my chest tightened painfully.
Eli, mistakenly assuming that I was reacting to the gun, smiled before bringing it back up to my head.
“It’s here,” was all I could whisper in warning. But it was too late.
Eli’s attention was caught by a flicker of movement to his right. He let out a gasp and swung the gun away from me. The weapon was torn out of his hand and sent soaring into the air where it was swallowed by the darkness. I heard it fire once when it hit the ground some distance from us and then there was silence.