Empire

Chapter seventeen

  "We will move you to plantations" translation: you're all going to be sold as slaves "try to escape if you can."
  If you haven't escaped in two weeks we'll buy you back, oh and we'll make sure they don't hurt you too bad. They don't use those exact words but that's what they mean.
  Now I'm standing with the rest of the contestants waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.
  The officials have treated us well, making sure we look our best, but whoever buys us might not be so 'kind'.
  Flair is being "advertised" right now as a house slave by a man who I know is an official. I can tell she's scared, we all know that we won't have to stay here the rest of our lives but two weeks can be a long time. She's standing very straight, not looking at anyone and trying to look brave. It doesn't take long before a lady buys her and takes her off to a cart, where Grey is waiting already. He was the first to be sold, they both look happy that they won't be alone. As they ride away Flair finds me and waves sadly.
  A few more people are ahead of me but I don't want to watch where they go and keep my eyes on the ground.
  Eventually I see the steps to the platform in front of my feet. I climb them slowly and then finally look up.
  The official starts talking "Look at this fine young woman, she's pretty enough to serve your table and strong enough to work in your fields. Can I get a bidder on her."
  I scan the faces of the crowd wondering how they think this is normal. They start bidding and eventually I'm sold to a rich looking man with a white wig. I'm led away to a wagon that is waiting behind an elegant carriage. Someone puts a chain on my wrist and connects it to the wagon. From here I can barely see the platform, but I can hear them talking and fighting over people.
  I have to wait a while longer before the man with the wig comes back, this time Tretan, Takira, and Amandi are with him. They are loaded onto the wagon with me and the man gets into his carriage. We start off slowly and don't stop again till after the sun goes down.
By that time we have reached our destination, a huge plantation that is very close to the mountains. The mountains, that's where we need to go to end the challenge.
  A big white house is sitting on a hill surrounded by fields. Some of the fields are white with a plant that looks like clouds are growing on them. Most of them though have tall canes that look a little bit like a tree I saw in Japan.
  "Sugar canes." Takira whispers. She's been telling us the names of some of the things we've passed.
  I see people in the fields of sugar canes, most of them are white although they are very sunburned. Here and there I see someone with skin as dark as Amandi, but I see more people that are brown like Takira.
  "The white people come from Ireland," says Takira "the negroes are from different places in Africa, and the others are mulattoes."
I look at her, confused.
  "Their mothers are white and their fathers are black..." she says "like me."
  She doesn't say anything else after that. The wagon we are in pulls up to the house and stops. The man in the wig gets out of his carriage, the driver of his carriage and the driver of our wagon follow him. He motions for the carriage driver to lead Takira and I into the house, although not by the main door. While the driver of the wagon takes Tretan and Amandi in the direction of the fields. I look behind me as long as I can while we are led away. I see Tretan turn back to me and mouth the words "God be with you", then smiles and turns away.
  Once we get in the house Takira and I are put in a small room with ten other girls. I feel very tired and even the floor looks comfortable right now. Mats are spread in a row on the floor where most of the girls are sleeping already. A middle aged lady with thick brown hair shows us where to lay down. After a few minutes I'm asleep, even though my brain doesn't want to settle down.
  A few hours later the lady wakes us up again.
  "It's time to start the day." she whispers in an accent that sounds a bit like Takira's. She gives Takira and I dresses that match the rest of the girls. I fold up my other dress and put it on my bed, hiding my knife inside.
  We follow her into a huge kitchen along with the rest of the girls. Most of the girls look younger than me, the only person who looks over twenty is the brown haired lady.
  "My name is Lynn," the lady says introducing herself "you will follow my orders while you work in my kitchen. Trust me, it's better to work here than in the fields and I will try to take care of you. Do either of you know how to make bread?"
  I can make bread but not the kind she's talking about and not on that oven.
  "No, not really." I answer.
  She looks at me as if she's confused "You're not from Ireland, are you?" She asks.
  "No."
  She looks like she wants to say more but turns to Takira instead "What about you, can you bake?
  Takira nods and Lynn puts her to work, she gives me a spoon and sets me to churning butter in a large barrel. I haven't done this before either but it's easy enough to figure out.
By the time the sun is up breakfast is ready for the master, as I'm told we're supposed to call the man with the wig. Lynn instructs me briefly on serving before putting a plate in my hands and sending me into the breakfast room. Basically don't speak unless you're spoken to, don't make eye contact, and don't spill anything.
  The breakfast room is elegant but not too fancy. It has high ceilings, big windows, and a medium sized table in the middle. I have to remember to keep my head down although it's hard. The master is sitting at the table with a woman who I'm guessing is his wife. He has five children although only three of them are here now. Two girls who look about my age and a boy who is probably older than Tretan. His other two children are married already. Lynn told me this as she got me ready.
  I wonder if the Master is an official of some kind.
  The girls are chattering on about the last party they where at and the next one they're going to. The mother joins in sometimes, and so does their brother. The master is reading some sort of paper. Nobody takes note of the people who are making sure they have food to eat.
  Thankfully I escape notice through breakfast, one of the girls asks about the 'new slaves father got yesterday' but I step into the kitchen before I can hear his answer.
  After breakfast I help with the cleanup and then we have to start making lunch and cutting things up for supper. Guests are coming for supper tonight so that means a lot more work.
I'm not serving at lunch time but I'm given the job of drying the dishes. Lynn is beside me washing and rinsing.
  "Where are you from?" She asks me.
  "Germany." There's no point in lying.
  "Are any of your family with you?"
  "No, they're safe at home. But my friend is here, he's working in the fields." I say.
  "Don't take your friends for granted." She says quietly.
  "How long have you been here?" I ask her.
  "Twenty years."
  "Why haven't you run away?" I whisper.
  "My son and one of my daughters are here, we wouldn't all make it." She says as if she's convincing herself "but we have a pretty good master, and the kitchen is one of the safest places to work, as long as you avoid making trouble for yourself. I try to help the girls that work here."
  "Is one of them your daughter?" I ask.
"No, my daughter is ten, she brings water to the men and woman in the fields. My older daughter worked here until she was sold." She doesn't say much after that.
  I spend the rest of the afternoon cutting, stirring, and cleaning.
  I won't be serving supper but my job is to make sure they have water the whole time. That means stand in a corner, watch the big clock, and walk around the table every fifteen minutes refilling their cups. Maybe I'll hear something tonight that will help us escape. I haven't been thinking about that a lot today because I was trying to not get in trouble. But from now on I need to focus on getting away.
  The dining room is bigger and darker than the breakfast room. There are two windows but they have thick, dark curtains in front of them. One wall has a fire place and the opposite wall has a picture on it. The table is much bigger as well, and already set with fancy dishes.
  The master and his guests haven't come in yet so I position myself in a corner and wait.
  Takira is standing across from me, she will be serving tonight. We have both been given more elegant dresses. They are still simple but a bit prettier than our uniforms. There are slits in the sides of the dresses for pockets and I put my knife in there for safekeeping. At exactly six o'clock they come into the room and sit down at the table. The ladies titter and flutter like over-frilled butterflies making comments about parties or what someone said about someone else. The master and his friend talk about their fields, their livestock, the problems of Port Royal, and how pesky the maroons have been. I notice Takira perk up when they mention Maroons. Why? What are the maroons. I listen closer as well.
  "I lost three slaves last week!" Says the masters friend.
  "It's a good thing His Majesties troops will be here soon, they have been burning my outbuildings and stealing my crop." That's the master "I got two slaves yesterday who seem pretty strong and I'm thinking about training them as guards."
  He's talking about Tretan and Amandi.
  "Do you really think that's a good idea? They could turn around and join the maroons and then we'd be worse off."
  Join the Maroons, that means they must be a group of people... maybe that should be our goal, try to get to the Maroons.
  Soon I have to walk around the table again and I can no longer hear the men talking. I can't rush or they'll know I'm eavesdropping. I focus on slowly filling everyone's cups trying to move gracefully and not spill anything.
  No one even acknowledges me until I get to the master's son. He stops talking to his friend, reaches his glass out to me and says quietly     "What's your name?"
  I'm confused... why does he want to know my name. He looks kind, but it doesn't make sense.   My hand automatically goes to my pocket but I resist the impulse to draw my knife.
  "Susan." I whisper, pour his glass full and then move on.
  His friend asks him what I said.
  By the time I've gone around the table my pitcher is empty so I go into the kitchen to fill it back up. I tell Lynn about the boy asking about my name.
  She looks at me carefully "Be careful of master Eric." she says.
  Now I'm even more confused.
  I come back and stand in the corner again. The master and his friend are talking about something else now. I'll have to ask Takira about the Maroons.
  I make four more rounds uneventfully. The fifth time around the boy, Eric, drops his napkin. When he doesn't bend down I pick it up but keep walking before he says anything. I hear his friend snicker as I move away. I wonder what he thinks is funny.
  Fifteen minutes later when I pass them again Eric's friend sticks his foot in my way. I notice it too late and come crashing to the floor, spilling the water over the master's friend in the process. I lay stunned for a moment before slowly getting up. The man is now very wet and very angry.
  "Clumsy wench! Look what you've done!" Then he turns to the master who has the tiniest smirk on his face "I hope you punish this girl thoroughly!"
  I can feel my cheeks going red, what am I supposed to do now? I decide on going back to the kitchen. As I go I see Eric look at me apologetically. His friend is trying desperately to hold in a laugh.
  In the kitchen the girls look at me with questions in their eyes. But everyone goes back to work and I find a job to do not sure what's going to happen. I wasn't supposed to attract any attention and now I've made a spectacle of myself. Well, it wasn't actually my fault but there's nothing I can do about that. Why did that boy trip me?
  A few hours later after the guests have left someone comes to the kitchen and summons Lynn. I told her what happened, and she looks worried as she follows the man.
  It was only water, I didn't hurt anyone, except myself, but it hurt someone's ego. I don't know what happens to slaves who are in trouble.
  A while later Lynn comes back and tells me   "The master is reasonable, I told him you were tripped so he's not going to whip you. But you can't work in the kitchen anymore, I have to send you to work in the sugar cane fields. I'll try to help you as much as I can. You can sleep here for tonight."
  I thank her and then change to the dress I came here in, putting my knife back in my garter. So far it hasn't helped me anything.
  Takira is waiting in the servant's room. The other girls are all sleeping.
  "What's going to happen to you?" She asks me.
  "I'm being sent to the fields... it might be easier to get away from there." I say hopefully.
  "Okay, I'll try to keep in contact with you. We need each other, it will be better for escaping."
  I lay down and then remember what I was going to ask her "Takira, what are the Maroons?"
  I can hear her smile as she says "They are the slaves who escape. They hide in the mountains and fight the British." Then quietly but with pride she says "I am a Maroon!"
  "What, I thought you said you were a slave?"
  "My parents were but they escaped when I was born, this is the first time I remember  being a slave..."
  We go to sleep after that but my head is buzzing with questions.