QUICK RECAP:
"Turn around."
I shake on the spot, my lower lip trembling. The voice is familiar, but I can't place it.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"You mean you don't recognize me?"
* * *
Slowly, I turn to face the voice. Upon recognition, my eyes open wide and I clasp my hand over my mouth.
"It can't be you...no...I don't understand..." I trail off helplessly.
"Thought you could escape me, did you? No...I'll never forget. You ruined my job. You...embarassed me in front of the whole plantation. And you thought I'd never get my revenge. But there's a law since. " He laughs grimly, pausing for effect.
"And I can take you back."
Greasy black locks with chubby, short posture. The man who haunts my nightmares is back.
Frederick found me.
He grabs my wrist and drags me towards the manor house.
I try and yell, but he quickly muffles me until I quiet down. My blood is boiling, and I'm panicking now. My eyes dart left and right, but I know there's nowhere to run. How did he find me all the way in Kentucky, three years later?
"How did you track me?" I hiss.
"Didn't your dear mum teach you to keep yer friends close, and yer enemies closer?"
He doesn't elaborate. What does he mean? I haven't told anyone about--.
I pause to gather my thoughts. Well, almost anyone. I told Ava about me being from Jackson Plantation. About me and Isaac getting away. I trusted her. We spent weeks together in the manor house...she...was a frail, old lady. I didn't think...
My suspicions are confirmed when I gaze upon her, sitting on the porch steps with a glazed look in her eye.
"You told him...you told him where I was. You tricked me into meeting you alone tonight...you..."
She responds solemnly. "There's a saying in this plantation--money is the best currency."
I frown. "You sold me out for money? What the hell do you need that for?"
"I have kids you know. They can...they can buy their freedom now." Her face is unreadable.
I remember the advice John Parker gave me, years ago...
"Walk lightly, carry little, and don't talk to anyone, not even fellow blacks, about who you are, and where you've come from. Remember the Fugitive Act. People will do anything to earn a pretty penny around here."
Ava turns to him. "Now, the money, Frederick."
He pauses to consider her words. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I mean...you are only a slave. And I'm not buying her from you. She is technically mine." He sighs. "I've changed my mind."
"WE HAD A DEAL, YOU MANGY CUR!" she growls and lunges at him. He grabs her by the wrist and pulls her frail body easily to the ground.
"I lied," he states, dragging me to the steps of the manor house. A man stops him from entering.
"You are?"
"Frederick of Jackson Plantation, here on business from Mister Jackson 'imself." He pulls out a letter from his pocket, and hands it to him.
YOU ARE READING
A Game of Colours
Historical FictionBorn to a middle class family in New York City, Alice's life changes forever when she and her family are kidnapped and sold into slavery. She is torn away from everything she loves and only allowed to keep her name. She is forced to work long hours...
