by Sarah Lark
So, Doug only took along a pistol and otherwise counted on his skill with a sword and hunting knife. Whether he was defending or attacking, it had to be done as quietly as possible anyway. After the first shot, the Maroons would be warned, gather, and apprehend him. Otherwise, he supplied himself with non-perishable food, especially hardtack and dried meat from Barefoot’s stores. Of course, he could also go fishing and set traps while he waited for Nora, but the latter was especially risky. If the Maroons found a trap, he was done for. His only chance was if they weren’t looking for him. If they suspected an intruder on their territory, then they would chase him down.
Princess excitedly followed Barefoot’s vague directions to Nanny Town.
“She will get to the correct settlement, won’t she?” Doug had asked, concerned, but Barefoot just grinned.
“Cudjo Town is dozens of miles away, all the way in the northwest. Accompong is in Elizabeth Parish. By the time she got there, Nanny’s people would have seen her ten times. Just let Princess go — and make sure you watch your own back!”
Actually, Nanny Town was reachable from Kingston within a good day’s march — if you knew where you had to turn. Princess, who wasn’t the fastest and also hesitated the entire way as if every plant wanted to poison her and every butterfly eat her, took until nightfall before coming across Nanny’s watchman. She screamed loudly as a warrior armed with a spear and knife jumped out of the bush in front of her. Doug, who was around fifty yards behind her, quickly ducked behind a leafy bush. He could only hope that the man hadn’t seen him. He himself had been just as surprised by the large black man’s appearance as Princess.
Now he listened in on the voices in front of him and filled with rage when Princess’s alleged savior first made advances at her. Of course, he would bring the freed slave to Nanny Town. But first they could really have some fun together. Such a night march to the settlement was really not pleasant …
Doug prayed that Princess didn’t accept the offer — and that the man made no attempt to force her.
For him, a night journey was much safer, as the darkness provided him additional protection. But what if the man tried to rape her? Doug would have to come to her rescue and thus reveal his presence.
Fortunately, these fears didn’t turn into a reality. Princess fended him off, horrified. She was certainly no longer a virgin — Barefoot hadn’t only kept her as a shop assistant — but she was also Christian and wanted to live a Godly life. She dreamed of a husband, preferably a proper wedding, and openly shared that with the brutish Maroon at great length.
The man surely only understood half of her explanatory and apologetic stream of words, but he knew to respect a no. Resigned, he set out to escort Princess directly to Nanny Town and came upon the next lookout just a few hundred yards further along. And he also seemed to have no interest in spending the night in the bush. He was equally ready to accompany Princess, and neither of them made any effort to move silently or at least keep their voices low. On the way to the river, they caught the attention of five additional watchmen. Doug tried to remember their hiding places, but it was hopeless in the dark.
The men laughed and chatted with Princess. Two more guards joined Princess’s escorts, probably to get the new girl for themselves. Doug wondered if they weren’t afraid of being punished. Surely it was forbidden to leave their posts without good reason. On the other hand, it was swarming with guards and just half as many would have been enough to secure the settlement. Doug didn’t know what to make of it, but he still remained unnoticed.
Almost two hours after the men and Princess, Doug reached Stony River and saw the fire from Nanny Town further up above the river. The blacks waded through the river and now would have climbed the cliffs, just as Leisure described. Instead, however, they were apparently leading Princess to an easier way around. Doug suppressed the impulse to follow them and scope out an escape route for Nora. But that would be foolish — Nora had lived there long enough to know the paths. And he didn’t dare enter Akwasi’s lions’ den. So, he let Princess go and wandered further downriver — very carefully now, and always on the lookout for other guards. At one point, where it didn’t seem dangerous to him, he finally crossed the river — and came across a sort of path that probably led downstream from Nanny Town. And then his heart almost stopped when he suddenly heard steps. Apparently, someone was coming towards him. Doug hid back in the undergrowth — and heard a voice from above.
“You two! Everything all right? You’re late! You shouldn’t go at night, Queen says.”
An indignant male voice — surely another bored watchman in a lookout on a tree. However, he didn’t seem surprised and apparently also wasn’t expecting runaway slaves, but instead residents of Nanny Town.
There was female laughter in response. “Oh, Jimmy, nothing happening! Otherwise little magic that Tillie did don’t work. You not say, Jimmy, who you make little magic for!” Another giggle. Apparently it was two young girls.
Doug tried to merge with the shadow of a palm tree as they passed, but there was no cause for concern. One of the black girls and the guard Jimmy obviously only had eyes for each other. To Doug’s continued surprise, he also left his post, climbed down the tree and joined the girls. Eagerly flirting with the young Tillie, he disappeared in the direction of Nanny Town. The discipline of the guards in this settlement clearly left much to be desired.
Doug looked at the girls, who were both wrapped in dark, loose robes and got a new idea. Apparently, this path led to some holy place where the women and girls held their small Obeah ceremonies. Such a thing existed at every plantation and, of course, the women wove their love and fertility spells at night. Thus, the guards here were accustomed to secret visitors. Doug took a blanket from his backpack and draped it around himself like a veil. In the dark, he must have seemed like a woman that was sneaking away to her spirits.
Disguised as such, Doug walked along the riverside path, which he found astonishingly well trodden. When Leisure had told him about the spring he’d said it was a secret hiding place … Well, much had happened since the attacks by the various former governors of Nanny Town. Maybe the settlement had spread out and Doug’s hideaway was now closer to the huts. It was certainly more dangerous for him, but would be easier for Nora if she wanted to go to him.
However, he didn’t see houses or fires on the path described to him. Other than the pale moonlight, it was pitch dark as he reached the river bend and then the stream that flowed into Stony River. It had rained continuously in the last few days, so the water was high. Doug followed it as Leisure had told him. The way first led through dense forest and then the jungle thinned out. The spring reflected the moonlight and opened up before him, like the brightly lit stage of a play. In the glimmering cascades, the water jumped over smooth, round stones … Despite his exhaustion, Doug could hardly get enough of its beauty. And the caves should be to the left of it … He dropped his cover and set out in search of them.
“Don’t move! Hands away from the sword! I have a gun!”
The cutting voice came from the left, maybe out of one of the caves. Doug turned to her, startled and angry with himself. Did he have to hand himself over on a platter? Couldn’t he have first secured the clearing?
“Who are you? Where are you from? You’re not a nigger!” To his surprise, the woman was speaking very proper English.
“Madam—” He still couldn’t see anything, the voice came from the darkness, but someone cocked a gun. Then he heard a sort of giggle.
“No one has ever called me madam!”
“I mean you no harm, madam, please—” Maybe he could get the woman to calm down and then get away before she called the guards. If she weren’t hiding there herself … Doug looked for an escape route.
“There is nothing to steal here. And if you want to defile me …” More almost ghostly laughter. “Well, it’s been a long time, maybe it’ll be fun …”
With that, the woman stepped out into the moonlight.
Doug could see a portly, older black woman that reminded him a bit of his cook Adwea. She grinned a toothless grin.
“My name is Tolo,” she introduced herself. “Welcome to my kingdom.” Doug looked into the clearing and saw a hut that was built partly into a cave. It looked as if the mountain cut it into two pieces. There were smaller structures in front of it. A chicken coop, cautiously fenced in, and a few miniature huts, invitingly open to the spirits.
It was all becoming clear to Doug.
“You’re the Obeah woman,” he said. That explained the well-trodden path. The women came there looking for help with their rituals.
Tolo laughed. “I was at some point anyway. But come now, or do you want to get caught by the guards? I just need to fire the gun and they will come. Even if we just make too much noise. I am not alone here, white man—”
The warning was clear. But it was still strange that the sorceress lived so far away from the village.
Doug followed the woman into her hut: a windowless semicircle, as the moonlight came through an opening in the roof. It smelled of herbs, but also musty, as it must have been damp in the caves.
“So, what do you want here?” Tolo asked. “Is the governor planning another attack — are you his spy? I find that hard to believe, since you’re too clumsy! But, then again, you made it this far unseen.”
Tolo gestured for him to sit on the floor of her hut and pushed him a pillow. Doug thanked her and sat down.
“The guards are not particularly attentive,” he said.
Tolo giggled. “That’s because Nanny isn’t there,” she explained. “They don’t take Akwasi seriously—”
“Akwasi is her deputy?” burst out of Doug’s mouth.
Tolo looked at him searchingly. “You know Akwasi?” she asked.
Doug nodded grimly. “It … it doesn’t really surprise me,” he then said. “He’s a clever man.”
Tolo furrowed her brow. “Is he? Well, perhaps men judge it differently to me … but now talk: what brings you here?”
“Then where is Granny Nanny?” Doug asked in return. “I thought—”
“The queen and king met with Cudjoe and Accompong in the mountains. They’re calling upon their gods about this treaty with the governor. I hope the gods hear them. Africa is far away.” Tolo didn’t sound very optimistic.
Doug smiled. “Doesn’t God always hear us?” he said.
Tolo raised her eyebrows. “Probably doesn’t depend on God,” she remarked, vaguely. “The African gods don’t travel much. What about you? Or do I have to get my gun out again for you to talk?”
Doug grinned. He could have overpowered the woman long before she managed to get it out and cock it, but that was the last thing on his mind.
“My name is Doug Fortnam,” he introduced himself, “from Cascarilla Gardens. Do you know … Nora Fortnam?”
He spoke calmly, but was trembling inside. It was still possible that he had been mistaken. The white woman didn’t have to be Nora …
A smile came across Tolo’s broad, black face.
“You’re too late,” she said. Doug didn’t understand. “Well, she expected you sooner,” the old woman was more specific. “I wonder if she still wants you … I don’t know, I don’t know …” It sounded like she was teasing him, but it cut into Doug like a knife in his heart. “I thought she was dead. I thought I had lost her. If I had only known … I would have come the very next day, I—”
“Then you probably would have been dead,” Tolo said, impassively. “The spirits sometimes play jokes on us. And now you want to take her with you? Akwasi won’t like that.”
Doug flew into a rage. “I don’t care if he likes it or not. I never did anything to him and Nora most certainly did not. If need be, I will fight for her, I—”
“So, you want to go to the queen and propose a duel?” Tolo cackled. “That sounds like the kind of fairy-tale that we’ll still be telling our children in a hundred years.”
Doug held his tongue. “I’d rather not,” he said. “The governor … well, he doesn’t want any diplomatic complications. No white slave, no spectacular rescue. So, I thought that if she still wants me she will just come here and then we’ll go …”
Tolo laughed again. “So, have you also already sent her a love letter?” she asked. “With a white dove? The daughter of my old missis drew such a thing on her letters. With a little heart in its beak …”
Then Doug also laughed. “More like a black crow. But she will know that I am waiting here for her. If I may …”
Tolo nodded. “If the spirits have sent you. Who am I to stop you? But stay hidden! Around the hill there are other caves. And don’t expect it to be easy. No one just leaves here if the queen doesn’t want it. And Akwasi is highly respected.” Tolo stood up and pushed the curtain to the side, closing her hut.
“You also have to be sure that you still want Nora,” she then said, almost reluctantly. “If she comes, she won’t come alone, white man. She had a child.”
CHAPTER 6
Word got around quickly that the guards had apprehended a runaway slave, and Nora was there when Princess was brought to Akwasi. It was Sunday, and Dede had demanded they visit Jefe in his hut. The little girl liked to sit on the floor and copy her brother: to eat with her fingers, which Nora never usually allowed, and then beat the drums that were scattered all over the space. Dede marveled at the colorfully painted shields on the wall, the spears, and the flamboyant pillows and carpets. Máanu spared no effort to make her hut as similar to an African dwelling as possible, whereas Nora thought it important that her daughter be acquainted with furniture and eat with a spoon. A visit to her second mother was a welcome change.
Of course, it was hard for Nora to accept when Dede called Máanu, Mama, for the first time, but then she realized that she must have copied the expression from Nanny. The queen liked to play with both children when Dede visited Jefe and was just as compassionate and grandmotherly with Nora’s child as she was with Máanu’s. Nora wondered if she was pained by the fact that she didn’t have her own children, but maybe that was normal for an Ashanti queen. Even in Africa, there were female tribal committees, like the one that the communicative Maria had coaxed some freed slaves into joining. Among the Ashanti, the sister or aunt of the chief presided over her own council and was the next most influential person in the tribe. Maybe these women weren’t permitted to marry. Or perhaps Nanny’s childlessness was caused by something that her former backra had done to her. That was also among rumors that sometimes passed around the camp. But now Nanny and Quao were somewhere in the mountains, begging for the blessings of some gods about a treaty that had finally been negotiated, and Akwasi had been left in charge. This made him feel excessively important, as Nora noticed him demonstratively take his on place the chief’s stool and the new woman — Princess — stood before him. Princess told him the usual story. Her backra had gone too far with the work and abuse. When he fell asleep drunk, she had run away. She was lucky to not have been caught.
“So, you did not kill him?” Akwasi asked.
It looked as if that would soon be important. The agreement stipulated the return of escaped slaves, at least under certain conditions.
Princess shook her head aggressively. “I not kill. I Christian!” She held up the cheap cross she was wearing around her neck. “I baptized!” she said, proudly. “New reverend baptize slaves. Say that all the same to God and sweet Lord Jesus!” Reverend Stevens’s successor had finally arrived and saw the issue of the blacks’ souls differently to his predecessor. He baptized them in droves after every service.
Akwasi was not impressed. “Good. You can stay here. But you have to take a husband. Here …” He let his eyes drift across the group of men who had accompanied Princess there. “Tally! Will you have her?”
Princess looked at the tall young man who had propositioned her earlier in the night.
“I not husband now,” she opposed. “Not any man. I Christian …”
; “Tally isn’t just any man!” Akwasi informed her. “He is one of our best warriors. He owns a lot of land, but has no wife to cultivate it. Do you want her, Tally?”
Nora and Maria watched the scene in disbelief. Of course, the woman who had just arrived had to take a husband — that was common. But certainly not so quickly and so suddenly! In Africa, girls were married by their fathers — mostly without being asked. The women had already known that. But in the settlement, they had actually adopted the method that was common on the plantations: if a single woman arrived, the single men aggressively courted her. In the end, she chose whom she took into her bed for herself. In Nanny Town, the young women’s decisions were guided by how much prestige the man had in their society and how much land he owned. But they couldn’t force Princess to think like that. If her husband’s faith was more important to her …
Astonishingly, it was Máanu who finally stepped forward.
“Are you her father, Akwasi, to get to marry her off?” she sneered at him. “Or her backra, to sell her? What did Tally offer you for her? You don’t need to take a husband, Princess. You can build yourself a hut and look for one later.”
“But I cannot build house,” Princess said in desperation. The situation was obviously too much for her. She hadn’t imagined her freedom like this.