The Forbidden Expedition

The Master Is Upset

Just the day after the tea party. Someone had seen me and Avis going to Dorothy's house. Apparently, me and Avis couldn't walk around the place like how we were. When the master found out, he got mad, and started looking for me. I didn't find out about it until just before he found me though. One of the girls came and told me just before master Waldegrave came in. He glared at me with pure hate, and hit me a few times dragging me outside. I could have fought him of, after all I was a little taller and much stronger, but Mama always said, 'if the master drags you somewhere, you don't struggle.' So I didn't he took me to a tall post in the back of the house just in front of the fields and made me take off my shirt. When I did it he made me wrap my arms around the post and he tied my hands together with rope. Then I new what was coming. He walked behind me stay a few feet back hounding a longer thicker rope, "don't touch my daughter again ya hear?!" He yeld. That's when the whip came down.

He had whip me so many times by now, I was shaking and couldn't yell anymore. That's when I herd the door to the house open and slam and a familiar voice yelling and getting closer, "Daddy! What are you doing? Stop it! He didn't do anything!" I couldn't make it out after that, just muffled yelling then a sharp popping sound and silence. After a while I felt my hands be untied and I fell to the ground, unable to stand, I felt people pick me up and take me to my cottage laying me on my cot with my back up. I saw Blanche, at least I thought it was Blanche, sit next to me, putting a wet, alcohol soaked towel on my back I yelled it pain again. I herd her trying to sooth me by saying, "I know, I know it hurts. But you don't want it to get infected. It'll be ok soon, just try to sleep." Then she hummed a soft tune. I started thinking of Mama again. She would hum that same tune to me when I was younger and didn't want to sleep. Slowly, ever so slowly, I drifted into sleep.

I herd a nock on the door that woke me up, just a little though. I was about to fall asleep listening to the sound of the voices talking, but then I herd Blanche say in a loud voice, "get outta here, and don't come back!" Then the door closed and a few seconds later I saw Blanche, "blanche... Who was.... That?...." I asked between breathes, "no one Hugh. Go back to sleep." I tried to push myself up to look at her better. I didn't get that far up but I did a little. "Who... Was that?...." I asked getting angrier, "Hugh, lay down, you'll hurt yourself!" she begged me scared for my health. "Tell me... Who it was....." It was a demand now, I don't know why I was getting so angry. For all I knew it could have been a slave trader and Blanche had just saved me from being sold off again. But something told me it wasn't, "Blanche... Please...." Now I was begging. She sighed, "it was the masters daughter. I nodded and lied down, "I need to talk to her tomorrow." Blanche frowned but nodded then left.