Saraphine

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

The trip to Savannah was an exhilarating and frightening experience for Saraphine who had never once left the plantation. Every bit of scenery and each person they passed was something new to her.

And when they rode into Savannah and she saw the crowds, the willows, the Spanish moss and the stone buildings, it took her breath away.

It was all so very beautiful. Their wagon left the main road and traveled down a back alleyway where things seemed darker, danker and far less pleasing to her eye.

The smell of blood wafted from a warehouse. Saraphine saw a man chopping meat inside. Now and then he would toss chunks to a group of dogs nearby and they would growl and tear at one another to have a taste.

Saraphine wrapped her arms tighter around herself and kept her eyes peeled forward. She saw a wooden stand erected up ahead with tents set up all around it. A crowd was gathered, milling around and yelling occasionally.

She saw a slave bound by chains led onto the wooden stand. The man was nearly nude save for a swatch of fabric wrapped around his hips to cover his manhood. His dark skin gleamed in the oppressive summer heat. He was forced to turn slowly and a tangle of scars on his back became visible.

Saraphine's stomach turned and her temper flared. Why were her people treated worse than animals simply because of the color of their skin? That man had been whipped, beaten and now was being forced to parade around before rich white men and women before being sold to the highest bidder.

Her earlier awed opinion of this town's beauty faded. She now only wanted to leave. A place that did such things to people could not be beautiful.

Ellen brought them to a stop and walked to the back of the wagon. "Saraphine, come with me. Franklin will take the others to the auction."

"But I thought I was to be sold at auction."

Ellen shook her head. "Privately. The deal I've made for you is a private one. That's how the buyer wished it."

Saraphine turned to the large group of slaves who were to remain in the wagon and go to that horrible stage to be picked over like cattle. "I wish you all the brightest of futures. Where you end up, I hope it is a place with love and warmth and hope. Perhaps one day, even freedom."

There weren't many warm sentiments returned. Her special treatment as they saw it, had earned her hard feelings from them and not much else.

Ellen helped Saraphine from the wagon and the two women headed for a warehouse that smelled of seawater and fish. "Who is my buyer?" Saraphine asked. "I want to know who would go to all this trouble."

"Trouble?" Ellen questioned with a raise of her brow. "What trouble?"

Saraphine rolled her eyes. "Secret meetings at the auction. Hidden contact over the course of the last months. Wanting me even though I'm..." She didn't voice the word aloud.

Ellen did not meet her gaze as they continued walking along the side of the warehouse. "A man named James is taking you today. He works with a group of individuals who specialize in taking slaves to Canada where they'll find freedom."

"I'm going to Canada?" Saraphine could not believe it. Cecil had spoken of Canada so long ago. It was a continent away.

"Yes," was Ellen's short reply.