Saraphine

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

September 1847

The last few months had been hell for Saraphine. Despite the damage to her soul, she had decided to place her faith in Ellen and whatever plan the woman had devised. It was hard to explain why she had done that but there had simply been something inside of her urging her to trust the woman.

Perhaps it had been her overwhelming need for a plan and some kind of hope for her future.

Each and every time Saraphine had been close to breaking and declaring she could not stand Samuel's abuse any longer, Ellen had come to her and pled for just a little more time. She would swear that Saraphine's freedom was growing closer with each passing day.

But it had been months and, so far, that freedom had not arrived.

And Saraphine's life had just gotten decidedly harder.

Her womanly courses were late. Nearly a month late. She was growing a child within her womb. A child born of rape. A monster's child.

Saraphine knew there were ways to end a pregnancy. As she lay had hands over her flat belly, Saraphine knew she couldn't do that. She stared in the mirror as she thought of the tiny life inside her and watched a tear roll down her cheek.

Samuel would destroy her child. Even if he allowed it to live, the baby would either be ripped from her arms and sold or raised by an evil father to be just as evil.

Yet again, it seemed life was having a joke at her expense.

A knock on her door jerked Saraphine from her tangled thoughts. She frowned. Samuel was gone on a business trip and Ellen was rarely awake and out of her room before eleven.

Saraphine cleaned her face with her hands before walking to the door and pulling it open. She was surprised to see Ellen standing there bouncing on her heels as she rubbed her hands together.

"You've been crying," Ellen accused, her excitement fading. "Why?"

Saraphine blinked several times, then shook her head. "I had troubling dreams, that's all," she replied, unwilling to voice her recent realization.

"I have news that might put a smile on your face." Ellen paused and Saraphine wondered what had the typically forlorn woman bubbling with such anticipation. Ellen leaned in close. "Are you ready, Saraphine?"

"Ready for what?"

Ellen smiled as her eyes grew moist. "For freedom."

Saraphine's heart skipped and she gripped the door frame. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Did I not tell you I had a plan? Today is the day. We are bound for auction and you are coming along."

Saraphine's lets grew suddenly weak beneath her. She stumbled back and came down hard on her bed. "Auction?" she gasped.

Ellen practically bounced to the vanity and leaned against it. "I have been planning this for months."

"But Samuel... He would never agree to this."

Ellen's throat bobbed as she swallowed hard and ran her fingertips over the wooden brush that lay atop the vanity. "Samuel isn't here. And, for once, he has left me in charge of something. It seems he believes I'm trained well enough. That, and there have been whispers about my lack of appearances away from the plantations in the last few years."

Saraphine's mind fought to wrap around and take in what she was saying. "But the foreman....?" she whispered.

Ellen shook her head. "Only one is at the plantation house today and he is the only one riding with us to auction. He has been...." Ellen shivered a bit, though Saraphine suspected she was trying to hide it. "...well compensated for his cooperation. And your buyer is all lined up as well."

Ellen stepped forward and took Saraphine's hand. "You're going to have your freedom, Saraphine, and the life you've always wanted. I swear it."

Tears filled Saraphine's eyes as her heart twisted. No, it wouldn't be quite the life she had always longed for. There was no Daniel and there would be a babe....

Saraphine took a deep shuddering breath and laid her hand over her stomach. Ellen's eyes narrowed. Her gaze dropped to Saraphine's middle. She gasped and covered her gaping mouth with a trembling hand. "Please no...." Ellen pleaded. "Please, tell me you're not..." She couldn't seem to say the horrible words.

Saraphine stared out the window. "Yes."

Ellen fell down hard on the vanity chair. "Oh Saraphine...."

The women sat for a long moment in silence. "Will your buyer still want me?" Saraphine finally whispered. "I have to leave here, Ellen, even if he won't. I could be purchased by someone else. Anywhere would be better than here."

"I...."

Saraphine interrupted Ellen, feeling a desperate kind of panic seize her. "Ellen, please, you must understand. I never wanted this to happen." She indicated her stomach. "It was always my greatest fear. I could not stand to have my babe ripped from my arms as I've seen so many other mother's lose their children. And I can't let the child be raised by him."

Ellen held up her hand as a small, sad smile graced her lips. "The buyer will still want you," she vowed. "I hate that my plan took so long. I wish I could have prevented this..."

"Who is my buyer?" Saraphine inquired. Perhaps it was a family man with young children who wouldn't mind having a slave with a babe.

Ellen stood slowly, her gaze stubbornly avoiding Saraphine's. "The less anyone knows, the better. Trust me, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you reach your destination."

Saraphine had no idea what she was feeling. Excitement, joy, fear, sadness and once hundred other things all jumbled up at once.

As Saraphine tossed her meager belongings into a sack, she frowned at Ellen. "What about you?" she whispered. "What happens when Samuel returns and realizes you sold me?"

Twenty years seemed to age Ellen in an instant. "I will deal with that when it comes. You should not be forced to suffer any more than you have because of my mistakes. You are the truly innocent one in all of this."

Saraphine opened her mouth to argue but Ellen headed for the door. "Let's go now. We should have already left."

Saraphine's heart raced as she was led out to the waiting wagon. Her heart filled with a stirring of hope as she climbed inside and took a seat among the other slaves.

She was still afraid. Yes, the uncertainty of her future was terrifying. But she was also hopeful. She was getting away from Samuel, away from this plantation which held so many terrible memories.

She and her child would have a new life—a better life—what more could she ask for?