There was no doubt that Nathan could be difficult at times, so the possibility that he could have gotten into an escalated altercation with Longstands, resulting in the shooting did cross Longstands’s mind a few times but it didn’t stay. Nathan and Jonah vehemently denied any altercation and even if there were, Bushwacker couldn’t have shot Nathan for that. Longstands’s head swirled with questions swimming in all directions: Could Bushwacker have shot Nathan and Jonah so he could run away with Ashana? The man hardly ever saw a woman and was occasionally mentally dysfunctional—it was the reason he’d been discharged from the military. Bushwacker must have figured that he could keep the girl. After all, he’d been ordered to dispose of her so he wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with keeping her. But why shoot Nathan?
“When you return you’ll answer my questions before you take a bullet,” Longstands said. He’d resolved to wait for Bushwacker; surely the man would return to his house and whenever he did, Longstands would be right there waiting for him. Four hours later, Longstands changed his mind, sitting in one location waiting for Bushwacker was driving him crazy. Besides, Bushwacker might have decided that it was safer to abandon his house; after all it was the very first place Longstands would look when he realized that his son had been killed. By the end of the day, Longstands had crossed seven plantations and consulted with the owners but none of them had seen Bushwacker. Hungry, exhausted and frustrated, Longstands tied his horse to a horse stand by the Sweet Coco bar in the middle of Roseau and stumbled in. He meant to get something to eat, get a few drinks, and retire in one of the rooms on the second floor of the Sweet Coco.
“Holy Mary!” the man behind the counter exclaimed, staring at Longstands floundering to a chair. “Holy Mary, mother of God,” the rest of the men repeated. Longstands was not one to be seen in places like that and for him to be seen at the Sweet Coco bar in the state he was in was enough to shock anyone who knew who Longstands was.
“Johnson, get me something to eat, something to drink and a clean room. Hello fellas.”
“Right away Mr Longstands,” Johnson said and disappeared in the back. By the time Johnson returned minutes later, the men in the bar had congregated in five different groups, talking in whispers. Longstands ignored them all; he knew that in a few days the rumour of his misfortune would travel the island.
“Is everything okay?” Johnson asked, taking a seat opposite Longstands. “Need any kind of help?
“I am looking for Bushwacker, he shot my son…”
“Holy…” Johnson began then paused and turned around. “Did any one of you fellas happen to have seen Bushwacker lately?”
“Bushwacker?” the men chorused.
“He died years ago, I killed him myself,” one of them said, staggering to his feet and then collapsing to the floor.
“Shut up Winston and get off my floor before I kick you out,” Johnson yelled out. “This is serious business. Now anyone who has any information can drink on the house till he’s blind.” This caused a roar of excitement to go up. “I mean information in the past five days, not past five years, and if you come to me with any cooked-up stories, it’ll be the last time you’ll see the inside of Sweet Coco; don’t think any one of you can bear that.”
“No!” they all roared like school kids objecting to a threat to cut their play time in half. But no one had anything to say.
“Thanks buddy!” Longstands said. Johnson had been a good friend of his back in England and had relocated to Dominica on his advice and assistance, though ever since, they had not kept in touch. “Please take me to a room. How much do I owe you?”
“Longstands, you mean how much do I owe you, right? You owe me nothing and you can stay as long as you want and have whatever you want. Come, I’ll show you to a room.”
“Many thanks.”
“Your food and drink will be brought up promptly and there is fresh towel and soap in the washroom. I’ll keep asking if anyone saw that buffoon, we’ll talk in the morning after you have rested,” Johnson said and pulled the door. Longstands was deep in a slumber when a loud bang on his door jolted him. “Longstands, we have news, open!”
“Johnson what is it?”
“Get ready. Bushwacker was seen in Scotshead and I think I know the hut he might be hiding in; he’d shown it to me once trying to convince me to invest in a venture he had in mind. I have three men ready to ride with us…” Longstands was ready to go by the time Johnson finished speaking.
“Johnson, I must talk to you,” Longstands said, putting his hand over Johnson’s shoulder as they exited the bar and leading him to the side of the building. “I must do this by myself; can’t bear anyone getting hurt for my sake. Bushwacker is a very dangerous man.”
“Very well then, Longstands,” Johnson replied, gently sliding out from underneath Longstands’s arm. Then facing him squarely, he added, “I surely understand, go ahead but we ride behind you, we go with you and it’s of our own choice, so saddle up big man.”
“Johnson…” Longstands called out but the five foot-six inch man was already half way to his horse. Longstands shook his head as he watched Johnson gather his blond hair in one bundle and work it into a ponytail before mounting his horse.
Two hours later, all five men stormed Bushwacker’s hut in Scotshead but he wasn’t there.
“Blood!” Winston yelled out, bending over a caked pool of blood.
“That’s lots of blood,” Johnson said, quickly stooping over to join Winston.
“I reckon it’s at least two days old,” Longstands said. “Wonder what happened; it’s a ton load of blood.”
“What happened is anyone’s guess, the question is did the person survive?” Winston muttered, looking up at Longstand with bloodshot eyes. Winston had taken to drinking after his life became completely shattered two years back when his wife and two daughters were killed by a freak fire accident that consumed his house and burnt it down in less than twenty minutes. His friends and relatives had thought that sending him down to the island might be an easier way to sober him up but it didn’t seem to be working.
Chapter Thirty-nine
N
athan closed his door and lay down on his bed; he’d been very sad since his father left in humiliation but the parcel in his hand had brought some smile to his face; it was from Victoria. He slowly ripped the parcel open and began to read:
Dear Nathan,
Don’t mean to disrupt your vacation with this but I think it’s important that you are informed right away of what I have recently become aware of, it’s a bit of a terrible news but I am sure you will find it worth the pain it might cause you.
Nathan frowned and propped himself up after reading the first paragraph, sitting with his back against the wall. It was the weirdest letter opening he’d ever read from Victoria and the urge to continue reading was just as strong as the fear of what he was yet to read.
A week ago, my father called me into his bedroom and shared with me everything I am about to share with you; a man named Livingstone has been extorting money from my father with a threat to blackmail him if he wasn’t cooperative. My father has been having an affair with your mother for over two years and this man called Livingstone has been aware of it; he had correspondence between my father and your mother that are prove the existence of an intimate relationship between them, which I have also included.
The funny part of the story is that Livingstone is also your mother’s lover; imagine that. Livingstone is an obsessive gambler who somehow managed to clean your mother of all her savings as well as your father’s—in effect your parents have no money right now.
Now there are two reasons your mother is so adamant for us to get married; one being because it will help her get a contract from her father who is pressuring her for grandchildren. The contract would help her replace all the monies her lover siphoned from her before your father found out but in addition to that and most importantly our marriage would have ensured a permanent link between her and my fa
ther.
Her grand plan was that eventually she would divorce your father and get married to my father; grand plan indeed.
I don’t know how you’ll handle this but I moved out of my father’s and am now living with Christopher, I am never speaking to my father again but do keep in touch, my new address is on the next page.
So long for now Nathan.
Viki.
Nathan collapsed into his bed and the paper slipped from his hand to the floor as he stared at the same spot in the ceiling for a long time–he was just making sure the room wasn’t spinning. Nathan’s stomach churned and rage tore through his body like wildfire, all these years he’d been cleverly fooled by his mother to believe that she was a very faithful wife; he’d admired her strength and her constant preaching on the importance of family had him completely blinded him while she went about whoring herself like a nymphomaniac.
Now she was getting what she wanted and she was getting her dreams come true through his help. “Bloody fool,” Nathan swore at himself. Through his help, his mother had successfully put his father out of the Fort and snatched the plantation that he’d worked so hard to build from him.
So many times he wanted to listen to the voices in his head; to storm into the parlour and confront his mother but the very last drop of his energy had been sucked out by the letter. “I have to find my father,” he said with a sigh of relief, “Edwards!” he shouted.
“Massa!” Edwards came running.
“Get my horse ready, quick!”
“Massa no horse, Massa no well,” Edwards protested fearfully.
“Thanks Edwards for your concern but get my horse ready please.”
“But Massa…”
“Edwards please go get my horse ready now!” Nathan insisted, he knew that Edwards was right and that he shouldn’t be riding for another month or so but his father had been gone for two days already and he had to find him before he was gone forever.
“Where do you think you are going, Nathan?”
“To find Mr. Langley…sorry I meant Mr. Livingstone…oh no, what is wrong with me, I meant I am going to find my father!”
“What?” was the only word Nathan heard from his mother as he exited the room.
Chapter Forty
“M
rs. Longstands…,”
“Please don’t you call me that and never make the mistake of associating me with anything that has to do with Longstands anymore,” Suzanne fumed at the man seated in her parlour.
“Very well then, Mrs. Suzanne, my sincere apologies. I am here to see Mr. Longstands, would you be kind enough to let him know that Mr. Lambert is here,” the man continued.
“Listen Mr. Lambert, Longstands is not here and if you cannot discuss with me whatever you have for him then I am afraid I do not have any more time for you. I am a very busy woman.”
“I am afraid Madam that what I have concerns a legal matter and I cannot share it with you except if Longstands is here. Now I beg to take my leave.”
“So long then Mr. Lambert…”
“Barrister Lambert Lesley, Madam. I prefer to be addressed with my full title,” the short and bald man interrupted.
Suzanne gave the man a condescending look as he stood to his feet, adjusted his shirt collar, and turned towards the exit. She hissed loudly, noticing his short fingers as he slowly unbuttoned a few more buttons of his shirt before she returned to her room. The reason for a barrister visiting Longstands was so insignificant a bother to Suzanne, it was immediately swallowed up by Nathan’s unknown whereabouts and his last words before he left the house the day before.
The names her son mentioned on his way out the previous day had denied Suzanne any amount of sleep during the night and whenever she managed to grab a snooze she was accosted by nightmares that drenched her bed with perspiration.
It was rather impossible that Nathan would accidentally mention the names of the two men in her secret life, two men who only existed in a world which neither Nathan nor his father were aware of, much less allowed into. Assuming Suzanne dismissed the mentioning of those names as purely accidental how was she to classify the boy’s tone and deportment when he finally informed her that he was going to look for his father?
“Idiot,” Suzanne cursed out loud. “Don’t expect an orange from a fig tree anyways,” she muttered as she stretched out on the bed.
Nathan could go search for his father how he wanted but Longstands wasn’t returning to the Fort; he was already in the process of being removed from her life for good and as soon as the proper documents were drawn, she would send for Livingstone. He’d take over the running of the Fort and plantation.
Livingstone was a moron and an illiterate; give him some spending money and drinks and he’d be fine. There were no casinos in the island so he might get over his gambling habit, while in Dominica. She needed him because he was a stud of a man and satisfied her secret fantasies and desires. To control him, all she needed was to make him dependent on her for money since he was too lazy to work.
Things were working in her favour, Suzanne thought gladly; soon enough the chase for Ashana would be over and Nathan would return to his senses and marry Victoria. Eventually she’d get married to Victoria’s father and her plans would be realized. She’d have one man in England who took care of her need to live the high life and mingle with the rich and powerful and another man in the West Indies who took care of her dark desires. A prolonged smirk covered her face as she lay in bed seeing herself enjoying the life she’d always wanted…
“Massa!” A whisper at her door interrupted her thoughts.
“What is it Edwards?” she yelled back.
“Massa and small Massa and Ashana come now!” Edwards whispered back excitedly.
“What?” she yelled back a second time, jumping to her feet; the mention of Ashana’s name stung her out of her bed. “What did you say, you idiot?” she said, yanking the door open but Edwards wasn’t standing there as she’d expected. “Edwards!” she shouted, her voice echoing through the house.
“He’s over here Suzanne, what do you need of him?” Longstands said confidently, stopping both Suzanne’s feet and her heart, temporarily.
“Longstands! I told you never to return to this…” she barked but stopped at the sight of the crowd in her parlour. There was Nathan sitting next to his father, Barrister Lambert Lesley to their right, and Ashana and Jonah to their left.
“What the bloody hell is this circus about…”
“Let me save you the trouble,” Longstands interrupted. Suzanne went quiet but her frame continued to shake very hard just as much as her breathing. “You see Barrister Lambert just reminded me that I now officially own the plantation and this Fort, based on the agreement that I and your father signed five years ago…”
“Impossible!” Suzanne interrupted. “My father never mentioned that–you are a liar.”
“You will find out in time, Suzanne, no need to hurt your head right now. Secondly, based on your affairs with our family friend, Mr Langley and a worthless hooligan by the name of Livingstone, I have instructed Barrister Lambert here to draw up our divorce papers. You are free to contest it but if you do then I’d have no choice but to let the world know about you and Mr. Langely. I will also let everyone learn of the ease with which you and your lover erased our savings—it’s your choice.”
“Edwards, get a horse ready for me immediately,” Suzanne roared like a wounded lion and stumbled around towards her bedroom. “I have to go to Roseau, I have to talk to my father.”
“Edwards get her a horse and chariot and get Anthony to drive her,” Longstands said. “But I think it’s a little late now, the post office must be closed already. I suggest you wait till tomorrow, you can stay here until the next ship leaves for England in five days.”
“No! I am leaving now,” she cried, running to her room like a spoilt child denied her favourite toy…but she never came out.
Chapter Forty-one
T
he silence in the room was only comparable to that of a long abandoned cemetery; all of their heads were bowed except Longstands’s but although his wasn’t bowed it was as heavy as the weight of a dead elephant. Ashana, Nathan, and Jonah were waiting for him to speak, while he waited for the right word to come to his mind, with which to break the silence.
After three minutes of another dreadful silence, Longstands opened his mouth. “Jonah I begin with you and I begin by saying that as of this day, you are free, you are no longer a slave; neither mine nor anyone else’s. This paper in my hands grants you freedom.”
Barrister Lambert took a deep breath and began to translate Longstands’s statement looking Jonah in the eyes; he knew a moment of emotional display was on the way and he didn’t want to miss it. By the time he was halfway through, Jonah was already on his knees thanking Longstands profusely and crying like a little child; tears gushing down his eyes like a waterfall.
Barrister Lambert’s eyeballs floated in the tears that formed in his eyes; he’d drawn up a lot of slave release papers and made a lot of money travelling the different islands to do his job but nothing brought him as much satisfaction as seeing the emotional articulation of each recipient that received the paper.
“Please Jonah get up, don’t go on your knees to thank me, I owe you an apology for plotting to harm you and I should be thanking you for saving my son’s life,” Longstands added, handing Jonah the release paper drawn up by Barrister Lambert.
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