Island of a Thousand Springs

by Sarah Lark

  So, Nora and Dede had to be ready to travel within a day, which seemed hasty to her. On the other hand, there was really not much to pack. She would just tie up a bundle with the most necessary clothing and more importantly, provisions for the journey. Already on her way back to Nanny Town, she had decided that Princess could take over her hut and everything inside. The most difficult thing was going to be persuading Dede to leave Nanny Town without saying goodbye to Jefe, so Nora decided that it would be best if she told the child they were only going on a short trip.

  In any case, she would find a solution — Nora couldn’t imagine anything not going in her favor. Her life had been complicated long enough and now everything would finally turn out all right.

  However, those dreams were shattered just an hour after her return to Nanny Town. Nora sat in front of her hut with Princess, ate a few fruits, and told her new friend as much about her night with Doug as she could without Dede noticing as she played nearby.

  “But you want to marry, no?” said Princess, who was rather prudish, just as Akwasi came from the direction of the village with a grim facial expression. He frighteningly towered over Nora and glared at her.

  “What have you done? You spent the entire night with the witch? Is this some kind of conspiracy, some kind of magic? Or is there another child? Undress, I want to see if you’re bleeding!”

  Nora shuddered inwardly. Of course, the guards. Someone had seen her both on the way there, and the way back from Tolo, and then informed Akwasi. Fortunately, the superstitious men only feared some secret rituals — Nora just had to stay calm to ensure Akwasi didn’t guess the truth. She lowered her skirt a calmly as possible and hoped that Akwasi didn’t want to see her chest. Doug’s more passionate kisses and caresses may have left their marks behind. But there was certainly nothing to see on her lower body — Doug and Nora had bathed extensively in the pond beneath the waterfall before her departure. On top of that, they had been sitting by Tolo’s fire, and the smell of bent herbs still lingered in her clothes and her hair. Princess had scrunched up her nose when she sat beside her. Now the freed slave turned away, ashamed, as Nora exposed herself.

  “Satisfied?” Nora asked him, scornfully. “Or do you also want to see the herbs that Tolo says can only be picked on half-moon nights? I will have to disappoint you there, since they’re still drying over her fire. But you can smell them!”

  Utterly fearless, she held her skirt up to Akwasi. As an ardent supporter of Nanny’s, he had certainly not visited the Obeah woman and couldn’t know that it always stank horribly near her fire and the homes of her spirits.

  Akwasi shuddered as he took in the odor. “What do you do with that stuff?” he asked, grudgingly. “Wake the dead? Or mix poisons? I don’t like seeing you with that witch, Nora, so keep away!”

  Akwasi turned on his heel — surely even a bit embarrassed about his outburst. Nora pulled her skirt back on and looked at him angrily. Now that Akwasi forbade her from visiting Tolo, her departure on the next day would be much more complicated — especially if Akwasi ordered the guards to keep a watch over her. She could only hope that by the time they reported her departure; she and Doug were already far enough away when Akwasi began his search. She briefly considered postponing her escape. In a week or two, Akwasi might not have forgotten that he forbade her to go there, but the guards surely would have. Nanny also often changed the watchmen, so the risk would be even lower. Nora turned it over in her mind, but stood by her decision. Nora wanted to leave — sooner rather than later!

  Nora didn’t normally harvest medicinal herbs with Tolo — she actually did it alone much more frequently and usually during the day when she could see the often-small roots, berries, and leaves better and compare similar plants. So, on the day of her escape, she said goodbye to the other women in the field around noon.

  “I’m going into the woods. Yesterday, I discovered a few allspice trees that already have berries. It’s best if I pick some soon before I forget where the trees are.”

  The other women nodded to her. Only Jefe protested when Nora went to take Dede with her.

  “I want to come, too!” the little boy demanded. “I want to picnic in the forest, too!”

  Nora had just used the picnic to make their excursion more appealing to her daughter and it also gave an explanation for the bundle of provisions, which she was now filling with fresh fruit.

  “It takes too long, Jefe,” Nora told him. “Maybe we’ll stay until dark and then your Mama will scold us. Next time, Jefe.”

  Although the boy howled, Nora left with Dede and happily greeted every guard on their way. She gave each of them a few fresh mangos and told them her plans for the day. She didn’t mention Tolo, and the men didn’t seem to be harboring any suspicions. They probably considered Akwasi’s ban on Nora visiting the healer exaggerated anyway. Warning her family of his wife’s possible witchcraft was one thing, but to restrict the woman’s freedom was another. Nora lost a lot of time by chatting with the watchmen, but thought it was worth it.

  Actually, her escape would have remained unnoticed, had Jefe been a little less upset about Dede’s departure. But the little boy was in a marked defiant phase, and he was not going to calmly accept his fate as Nora deprived him of his sister. Instead, he whined and behaved badly — he even tried to rip the sugar cane saplings that the woman had just planted out of the ground and to trample the other plants. Eventually, even the very patient Maria had had enough. She forcefully picked up the flailing child and pushed him into Mansah’s arms.

  “Here, take him and bring to his Mama. He should be annoying Máanu. Here only keep us from working!”

  Of course, Mansah needn’t be told twice. She still hated working in the fields and took every opportunity to duck out. So, she happily dragged the defiant Jefe to the village and brought him to his parents. Akwasi was mediating some dispute between two potters; Máanu was scolding a weaver because of his sloppy work. She only took her son from Mansah grudgingly.

  “Why can’t Nora calm him? She always manages otherwise and with Dede he is always calm,” she was surprised.

  Akwasi looked up.

  “Nora is in the woods collecting berries,” Mansah answered. “Somewhere near Tolo’s hut. She won’t come back until tonight — and she probably also doesn’t want to look after the little troublemaker. I would spank him, Máanu. Maybe it’s not common in Africa, but he will never be a useful nigger otherwise.”

  While Máanu was still upset, as she had no intentions of raising a “useful nigger,” but rather a great warrior, Akwasi abruptly brought his business to an end.

  “She’s with Tolo, Mansah?” he asked. “Again?”

  Mansah shrugged. She had heard nothing about the fight between Akwasi and Nora. “She picking berries and leaves from the allspice tree. You make oil from it, it helps with gas,” she admitted candidly. “I don’t know if she’s with Tolo or not, but they probably found the trees together.” The allspice tree actually grew quite close to the coast. Nora considered it a stroke of luck to find one in the area and it was the only one that had fruits to be used for healing oils. Neither Nanny nor Tolo knew of its possible applications. Maybe Akwasi would have dropped the issue, had he known that, but the comment “near Tolo’s hut” had aroused his suspicions.

  “Send the people away if they want anything else from me today,” he said to Máanu. “I’m going to the waterfall — I have to see what the two witches have been doing there for days! Picking fruit from an allspice tree! I will not be made a fool of!”

  CHAPTER 8

  Doug Fortnam had completed his preparations when Nora and Dede entered the clearing late in the afternoon. His weapons and what little other equipment he had were all packed away and he had memorized Tolo’s description of the landmarks on the way to Nanny Town. For a white man unfamiliar with the landscape, it had required a bit of effort, as the African woman used completely different images and descriptions than he was accustomed to, and she was completely
lost with the map he had carved into the ground in front of her hut. Ultimately, however, he seemed to have understood everything. The further up in the mountains they went before going east to get around Nanny Town, the safer they would be. But it was best not to embark on a descent on the other side, since there was the threat of encountering Cudjoe’s or Accompong’s men.

  He had spent the last few hours tensely waiting — expecting that Nora would first come in the evening. Her appearance at midday was a pleasant surprise and he had to try hard to restrain himself from spontaneously pulling her into his arms. Nora, however, resisted him with her brow furrowed and a sideways glance at the girl that had dutifully came along, holding her hand.

  “This is Deirdre,” she introduced her.

  Doug smiled to the little girl. He had not expected such a marked beauty and resemblance to Nora.

  “But you won’t bring bad luck to Ireland, right?” he teased her.

  Dede looked at him with her green eyes, confused, and knit her brow, just like Nora did. Doug loved her immediately.

  “I’ll have to tell you the story at some point,” he then said. “Deirdre was the name of a princess, you know. A beautiful girl, but it was prophesied at her birth that it would bring bad luck to Ireland …”

  “Did they have bad luck?” she asked, curiously. She loved stories.

  “In a way,” Doug said. “But it wasn’t Deirdre’s fault. The king himself did …”

  “Our friend Doug will tell you the story on the way,” Nora interrupted him, and looked anxiously at the path they took to get there. “Let’s get moving — I’m frightened of Akwasi. I should have said that I was collecting berries somewhere entirely different. In any case, we should go.” She threw her bundle over her shoulder.

  “You’d better stay!” A commanding voice echoed from the edge of the clearing.

  Doug looked for his pistol, but the gun was stowed away in his backpack and the sword, which he had quickly drawn, was hardly any help. Akwasi, and three equally large black guards, stepped out of the woods.

  “Well, well, well — and I always thought that the witchcraft here was just a superstition!” Akwasi said with a wicked laugh. “But no, it seems like old Tolo managed to make forgotten lovers appear out of thin air. Or how did you get here, Fortnam?”

  Doug shrugged and held out his weapon defiantly. Maybe he could fend off a spear with it if Akwasi threw one. But four spears …

  “I always come back, Akwasi,” he said. “You should have trusted that. It took a long time, but today you would be a Busha at Cascarilla Gardens.”

  Akwasi laughed. “Top nigger for the backra! Exactly what I’ve always wanted … but you couldn’t even get your old man out of the way yourself. If I hadn’t—”

  “I was ten, Akwasi!”

  Doug felt like he had to carry on this absurd dispute forever. But at least now he knew who had killed Elias Fortnam. He couldn’t really blame Akwasi for it, although the manner in which his father had been killed, didn’t bode well for his own future.

  “Let us go, Akwasi!” Nora said. She knew it was useless, but she had to at least try to appeal to Akwasi’s sense of reason — and his love.

  “If you care for me at all, Akwasi, then let us go. I belong to Doug, not you. I want to go home. And you belong to Máanu. She loves you—”

  “Máanu is sitting obediently at home as is befitting of a good wife,” Akwasi said. “While you cheat on me. It would be interesting to know how that would be punished in Africa. One of the Muslims once told me that they stone the women—”

  “If you kill me, then you’ve also lost me,” Nora commented. “You lose me anyway, Akwasi. And as for Doug — you were once friends. Is there really nothing left that binds you?”

  She only needed to look into Akwasi’s eyes to see that there certainly was something. That thing was hatred. Pure hatred.

  “Let it be, Nora, it won’t be peacefully resolved,” Doug said. “But it can be handled otherwise, Akwasi. We stand here today as two free men. We could battle for her—”

  Akwasi laughed again. “Are you suggesting a fight?”

  “White gentlemen call it a duel,” Doug said. “And yes, I would fight with you. You can choose the weapon.”

  Nora shook her head. Akwasi was taller and heavier than Doug — he towered over him by a head. And he had been training in combat with the traditional weapons of his people for years. He could effortlessly kill Doug with a spear or a knife. But Akwasi was not ready for that.

  “Oh no, Backra, you’re not going to entice me with that. I’m not a gentleman — you don’t need to flatter me. If anything, high-born, and then maybe someday the king—” The men behind him whispered, astonished, and possibly terrified. “And you, my friend, you are no longer the backra. I hereby take you prisoner and with that you are nothing more than a slave. It is a very old custom in Africa, whether black or white!” he grinned. “And she is my slave anyway—” He pointed to Nora. “What is it for escape, my dear? For women it’s seventy lashes, isn’t it?”

  Nora glared at him. “Don’t you dare! I am your wife, Akwasi!”

  “All of a sudden?” Akwasi sneered. “All right, we can also discuss stoning. There’s time. First we’ll bring the prisoners to the village. I can imagine there are many people who want to get retribution on a white backra!”

  With a quick movement of his spear, Akwasi hit the sword out of Doug’s hand. The attack came as such a surprise that he didn’t immediately react. The other blacks seized him at once and pulled his arms behind his back.

  “Tie him up!” Akwasi ordered them. “And the woman and the witch.” He pointed to Tolo’s hut. “She helped them, she must also be punished. We’ll bring them all to Nanny Town.”

  “Papa …” A small voice rang out. Dede stunned by the arrival of her father as a fierce warrior. Now she huddled up beside her mother as the men prepared to tie up Nora. “Are you angry?”

  Akwasi grinned down at her. “Dede, little one, don’t be afraid! I’m not angry, at least not with you. And you will thank me for what I’m doing here one day. Your mother wanted to take you with her to the whites. And do you know what you would be there? A slave. With the whites, nigger children have to work hard and are not allowed to play. If you’re not good, they beat you with whips. Your mother—”

  “Akwasi, don’t tell her such thing!” Nora cried out, desperately. “It’s not true, Dede, I would never do you any harm. And Doug wouldn’t either, you—”

  “With the whites I’m a princess!” Dede built herself up, just as confidently and resolutely in front of her father as he had in front of his prisoners. “Deirdre. And if you are not careful, then I will bring misfortune upon Ireland!”

  Despite his current situation, Doug almost let out a laugh at the tiny, elfish person that defied the powerful warrior. Akwasi listened to her, stunned. Naturally, he didn’t know the legend — and hadn’t known that Nora had named his daughter Deirdre until that moment.

  “Your name is Dede!” He said, glaring at Nora angrily. “That is your only name, a good, African name that doesn’t bring misfortune to anyone.”

  “And if it does, then you just have to steal a chicken for the Obeah man!” Nora glared back at Akwasi, her eyes now equally filled with rage. “That will fulfill all of your wishes. As long as you just believe.”

  Dede looked just as puzzled as her father looked furious.

  “How do you know that?” he hissed. “But yes, it’s true; I cast a spell on you. You should be mine and you still belong to me!”

  Nora spit in front of him. “You see what I’m worth to him, Deirdre,” she scoffed. “A black slave woman easily costs 250 pounds at the market. A hen costs a shilling at most.”

  The little girl began to cry and Doug decided it was time to put an end to this vicious dispute that was taking place in front of her — especially since it was keeping the combatants sufficiently preoccupied, which had long kept the attention of the guards. The men had
not properly tied his restraints. Doug spun around, pulled a knife from one of their belts and simultaneously reached for his sword that had been thrown into a bush from Akwasi’s attack. It lay there almost within reach and in one fluid motion Doug thrust it into the shoulder of on of the warriors who was about to pounce at him. But of course the escape attempt was hopeless. The two others were immediately on him and at least one of them seemed to be skilled at fencing with a stick. His weapon hit Doug painfully on the upper arm and hip. The arm slackened and he let the sword fall.

  “An escape attempt!” Akwasi smiled, brightly. “A runaway slave. It keeps getting better, Doug Fortnam. We will hold a tribunal. It is a great shame that we don’t have a reverend to tell you why you have to faithfully serve your backra before he prays with you while they cut off your foot.”

  Doug wanted to say something, but Nora looked at him imploringly. It was useless — their only chance was to go along quietly and trust in Máanu and the other villagers’ sense of reason. And to hope for the early return of the queen! There was no way that Granny Nanny would allow for a white intruder to be whipped and dismembered so close to the signing of the treaty.

  Before the men could get even closer to tie her up, she took her child in her arms.

  “I will come voluntarily!” she said. “And him, too.” She gestured to Doug. “Akwasi is not our judge, even though he is acting like it. We submit ourselves to the jurisdiction of the queen.”

  The black guards had surely never heard the word jurisdiction, but they left Nora undisturbed. However, they bound Doug’s arms behind his back with brute force. Nora saw that he was in pain and he probably had a large bruise on his right arm after being hit with the stick.