Indentured

by Jeanie P Johnson

  Her head jerked up, as she heard a noise. “I thinks theys a comin’” Theodore whispered.

  “I think you are right,” Leatrisha, whispered back. She nudged Black Magic forward, and came up to the woods, to greet the small band of slaves, all walking in single file through the woods, with Nat in the lead.

  “Take over the lead,” Nat whispered, when he saw her approaching. “Did you bring your gun?”

  Leatrisha nodded, and brought her horse in front of the group of slaves, with Theodore at her side, and Nat fell back to the rear, as they continued to meander their way along the path through the woods.

  The trek was uneventful, even though Leatrisha’s heart was in her throat the whole time, frightened they would run into slave hunters. When they finally reached the cave, she let out her breath, giving the bags of food to Nat, to hand out to the slaves when the time came.

  “I’ll take one of my kisses, now,” Nat said, leaning over from his horse and taking her head in his hand. His lips pressed against hers in a gentle kiss. “You did a good job, but next time you have to take us a different way, to confuse the slave hunters. We have to find a new rout to go each time, so there is never a beaten path to the river.”

  “All right. Theodore and I will ride out during the day to find new paths to follow, or make our own path,” she promised him.

  “Be careful going back,” he cautioned. “Sometimes the slave hunters are on our trail, but farther behind.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go back a different way than we came. Rand knows I ride out at night, and he will back up my story, if anyone thinks it is unusual for me to be riding out in the woods at night. Theodore is with me, and I own him. Slave owners don’t usually help other slaves escape, it would be a contradiction to the very act of owning slaves.”

  “Only Iz happy bein’ Miss Lettie’s slave,” Theodore piped up. “I’m a never gonna runs away from her,” he insisted.

  “And I would miss you terribly if you did,” Leatrisha assured him. “Come along, Theodore, we had better get back, or Rand will be tearing his hair. I know he never sleeps when we ride out at night. I will have to go and let him know we are back safe and sound.”

  When Leatrisha did ride up to the Plantation, her body ached, and her mind was a frazzle. Her worn out condition wasn’t brought on because the ride was long. It was the stress of worry that went with it, as they rode.

  She could not relax. She strained the whole time listening for more than the noise of the slaves plodding slowly through the woods, which took them longer to get to the cave, then had she just ridden there on her own. On the way back, Leatrisha pushed her horse into a gallop most of the time to make up for the time it took plod their way out there.

  Theodore took the horses into the stable, and Leatrisha went on up to the house, anxious to fall into her own bed, but going straight to Rand’s room first, and tapping on the door. When she opened the door, expecting Rand to be pacing the floor, worrying about her, instead she heard murmurs coming from his bed, and Mazy’s head popped up from the covers, when the door opened. Leatrisha took in her breath. Rand had led her to believe that he had lost interest in Mazy, and he had been upset about her for kissing Nat, she fumed.

  Rand sat up. “You needed something?” he asked.

  “No! I just thought you would be happy to know I am back in one piece. But apparently you were not that worried, so please carry on,” she said, as she slammed the door.

  “You had better go,” Rand said to Mazy. “Tomorrow, I will give you your release papers, and you will be a free slave. It is the only way I can think of to thank you for your service.”

  “You have always been too good to me, Rand,” Mazy sighed. “You really love that girl, don’t you?”

  “That is why I need to let you go, Mazy. You can see how angry it made her to find you here with me. Somewhere in her heart, she loves me too. Anyway, I keep hoping she does, only as long as you are here, she will feel too intimidated to admit it.”

  “Good luck,” Mazy whispered, kissing Rand passionately.

  She knew she would miss him more than she wanted to admit. Then she pulled out from under the covers, pulling her wrapper tighter around her waist. Rand had not made love to her since the girl entered the house. It was best she leave, and being a freed slave, would give her a chance to do something with her life. She just had to get to the north as soon as she could, because the slave catchers were known to capture freed slaves and burn their papers, and then sell them into bondage again.

  Leatrisha flung herself on her bed, and pushed the gun under the mattress. The thought of Rand taking Mazy to his bed bothered her more than she wanted to admit. After all she had let Nat kiss her, but that had just been a game, and a way to keep warm.

  Just as she started to close her eyes, without even getting up to change her clothes, the door opened, and Rand stepped in. Leatrisha sat up and blinked.

  “What are you doing here?” she mumbled in a tired voice. “I thought you were busy.”

  “I was busy,” he smiled. “I was telling Mazy that tomorrow, I am freeing her. I don’t need her services any longer.”

  “You don’t?” she asked.

  “How would it look, me being engaged to you, and keeping Mazy on the side? It wouldn’t seem genuine, now would it?” he reasoned.

  “You would free Mazy just to appear like you were really going to marry me?” Leatrisha asked in astonishment.

  “Mazy deserves to be free. I am very fond of her, and would hate to think she was being used by any other master. Therefore, if she is to make love to a man, it will be of her choosing in the future,” he told her. “But you, I don’t know what I am going to do with you, Lettie. I can’t free you, or marry you, it seems,” he chuckled. “Did you enjoy your ride?”

  “I went too far, and now I am tired,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t go so far, the next time,” he advised. “I wish you would let me come with you when you go out at night,” he added.

  “Maybe sometime,” she promised. “Have the invitations been mailed out for the engagement celebrations?” she asked, changing the topic from her night excursions. “I hope you sent one to Nat as well, because I promised to dance with him.”

  “As long as you save most of your dances for me,” Rand grumbled. He looked down at her. “You really do look tired, Lettie. You also seem worried. I’m not going to punish you for coming in so late,” he tried to comfort. “But I wish you would take it easy, you have lost so much weight. You seemed so excited a few days ago, but now you appear worn out.”

  “Too many things on my mind,” Leatrisha admitted.

  “Then I will let you get some rest,” Rand whispered, as he walked over to her and placed a kiss on her mouth. “See you in the morning, when I get back from taking Mazy to the train station.” Then he walked to the door, leaving Leatrisha to try and straighten out her own muddled mind.

  She had a great feeling of accomplishment for helping in the Freedom Train movement, and knowing that the slaves she helped guide through the woods, would be free to direct their lives without bondage, and yet she herself was in bondage in a sense.

  Rand himself, claimed he couldn’t free her or marry her. The next six years, her only purpose in life would be to help as many run away slaves as she could, without getting caught. But what if she was going to have James’ baby? What would she do when Rand sent her back in disgrace to England? She would be an outcast, with no cause to distract her from the life she would have to lead.

  Leatrisha slept late the next morning, so when she emerged from her room, Rand had already returned from taking Mazy to the train.

  “I just had a thought,” he told Leatrisha as she came into the dinning room to discover if there was still any breakfast left on the side bar, where she and Rand could usually helped themselves, when they came down to eat. “All of your gowns seem to just hang on you, and I thought it might be pleasant if we went and got you a new gown for the engagement celebratio
n. What do you say, Lettie?” He gave her a very encouraging smile.

  “I think that would be wonderful,” Leatrisha surprised him by saying. “I haven’t been in town since…well I wouldn’t mind taking a trip to town and spending some of your money,” she smiled, trying to forget the last time she had been to town only to discover that James had been killed.

  “Eat something, and when you are finished, come out to the carriage,” Rand instructed, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You are looking more rested this morning, if you would just try more smiles than frowns, I would almost believe you were your impish self again.”

  Leatrisha watched his broad back recede through the door, and turned back to the side bar. Her stomach was too upset to eat, but if she didn’t start eating more, she would have to get all new clothes, she thought glumly. She was anxious to go to town in hopes that she would see Nat, and find out if the slaves made it safely to the river. Maybe that was why her stomach was all twisted. She didn’t want to find out that Nat had been killed after she had left him to guide the slaves on his own.

  Leatrisha managed to eat most of what she dished up for herself, and then went to join Rand, who was waiting out on the porch for her, when she appeared.

  “Looks like a nice sunny day, in spite of the chill in the air,” Rand mentioned, offering her his arm.

  Leatrisha took it, as her stomach rumbled in protest to what she had just eaten. She paused, trying to will away the sudden urge to throw up.

  “Are you all right, Lettie?” Rand asked, looking down at her.

  “Yes…yes, I will be fine,” she whispered as the feeling passed, and her stomach settled down to normal. “I guess I am still a little tired from my ride.”

  “If it tires you so much, why do you insist on taking them?” Rand asked.

  “It usually doesn’t,” she insisted. “Only last night when I got so far away, I tried to take a short cut back through the woods, and it took longer than I expected.”

  Rand hustled her up into the carriage, and put the carriage blanket over her knees, as he climbed up beside her, placing his arm over her shoulder.

  “I don’t want you to get a chill,” he murmured, as he pulled her closer to him, breathing in the smell of her hair, like a life saving balm.

  Leatrisha leaned her head against Rand’s shoulder. It felt warm and comforting to be so close to him, and she found herself drifting off to sleep. She was more tired than she had expected, she realized.

  Leatrisha jerked awake, when the carriage came to a stop.

  “Are you feeling more rested now?” Rand asked.

  He had enjoyed looking down on her sleeping face while the carriage rocked her against him. Her dark lashes resting against her tanned cheeks, with a smattering of freckled over her nose. She didn’t seem to worry about her complexion like most women did, and he thought she looked charming with her tanned features, like she was actually alive, and not some pampered flower in a hot house.

  “Yes, I feel much more rested now,” Leatrisha agreed. “I wonder if Nat is at his place of work. Do you know where it is?” she said, as he helped her down from the carriage.

  Rand frowned. Is that why she wanted to come to town, to see Nat, in order to give him more kisses?

  “Why are you concerned?” he asked.

  “I wanted to talk to him about something, and make sure he got the invitation to our engagement celebration.”

  “You seem more concerned about him coming, than you do about getting a gown to wear to it,” Rand muttered.

  “He is my friend. He knew James. We have a lot in common,” she informed him. “It won’t take long, if you just direct me to his place of business. You hired him to drive your wagons, so you must know how to contact him,” she smiled.

  “I will take you to it,” he sighed.

  “I would rather go alone,” she responded.

  “No. It will look too unacceptable. Not only being unescorted, but going to see a man on your own, who doesn’t happen to be the one you are believed to be marrying,” he growled low in his throat.

  “Very well, but you must give me a moment alone with him, when we do find him.”

  “What is so important that you must talk to him alone?”

  “It is a private matter, concerning me and James,” she said, glaring at him to dare him to challenge her answer.

  “But James is dead, so why the secrecy?”

  “You know why James was killed,” she hissed under her breath. “It has something to do with his death, that Nat might know about.”

  “That is all behind you now, Lettie. Why dredge it up?”

  “Because I want to know!” Leatrisha snapped.

  Rand, took her arm, a little roughly, and began propelling her down the sidewalk, as she tried to keep up. She knew she had angered him, by insisting to see Nat alone, but she would not rest easy until she discovered first, if Nat was all right, and then if the slaves got to the river safely.

  When they came to the cargo transport office, Rand ushered her in, requiring if Nathan was working? The man at the desk, nodded, and pointed his thumb to a door.

  “He’s out loading a wagon in the back,” he told them.

  Leatrisha took in her breath, and when Rand saw the creases between her brows relax, he wondered why she had been so stressed about him? He must have something to do with what James was up to, Rand reasoned. That is why he knew something about James’ death. But if that was the case, he had plenty of time to tell Leatrisha about it, when they spent the night together.

  “I’ll wait here,” Rand said, forcing himself to remain in the office, as Leatrisha pushed through the door that led out back.

  “Nat!” Leatrisha, called, when she saw him. “You got back safely!”

  “Of course, did you doubt I would?” he asked, coming over to her and giving her a hug.

  “No collecting kisses now,” she whispered. “Rand knows I came to see you, and he is not happy, but I had to make sure the cargo got loaded at the river safely.”

  “Every single piece,” he grinned. “I really appreciate your help, Lettie. Everyone does.”

  “Did you get the invitation to our celebration?” she asked, now that she knew everyone was safe.

  “That I did,” he replied, “and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Rand has brought me in to get a gown that actually fits me,” she laughed.

  “I didn’t mind the loose fitting one you wore the last time we were together,” he breathed.

  “Shame on you,” she scolded. “I’m worried, though. Rand has gotten rid of his quadroon, and he just told me that he couldn’t free me or marry me, so I fear his next suggestion is that I become his mistress, and pretend we are married, when the year is out. He said it didn’t look right to have a slave in his bed, if he was supposed to be engaged to me.”

  “Would you do that?” he asked.

  “I may not have any choice,” she responded.

  “He is despicable!” Nat grunted.

  “I agreed to be indentured to him, so I suppose I can’t complain,” she said quietly.

  “He will turn you into a ruined woman,” Nat growled.

  “I am already a ruined woman. You know that I let James take me.”

  “But you had planned to marry him. It wasn’t like he was trying to use you.”

  “Only we both knew we could not get married for six years. We should have waited. I should have waited. It was my idea, because…” she paused. “Because I loved him so much,” she lied instead.

  “I could help you escape, the same way I do the slaves,” he whispered.

  “You could?” she breathed. If Rand threatened to send her back to England, maybe that is what she would do, and she would take Theodore with her, giving him his own freedom, if necessary.

  “I will have to see what Rand plans to do with me, and then I will let you know.”

  “I would do anything for you, Lettie. James told me to watch out for you, for him, when
he was dying in my arms. That is why I will always be here for you, if you need me.”

  “You are so kind, Nat, but I have to go. Rand will get impatient and come out looking for me, if I stay talking to you any longer,” she mumbled. “I’ll see you in a few days at my pretend engagement affair.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him, and laughed. Then she turned back towards the door.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Leatrisha, stood gazing at herself in the mirror, dressed in the new gown that Rand had purchased for her to wear that night. She did not look like she was carrying a child within her, but she was almost positive that was exactly the case. She smoothed her hand over her still very flat stomach, noticing how well the dress fit her, and made her breasts that had been filling out more than the rest of her, look even more appealing, as they mounded, above the square cut collar.

  She was trying to gather the courage to tell Rand before the festivities began, so he could decide what he was going to do with her. He could use this gathering as a pretext to call off his pretend engagement, making some sort of excuse that her father was dying and she had to return to England again, once he discovered her condition.

  Finally, she took in her breath, and turned from the mirror, placing the lace shawl over her arms. She did not wear gloves, because Rand wanted her to show off the ring, and as she looked down at the ring, which he said she could keep, regardless of what happened, she knew that every time she looked at it, she would be forced to think of Rand. Already she was starting to tremble.

  Bravely, she stood in front of Rand’s door, resolute to follow through with admitting her condition to him, as her heart pounded, and her hands began to sweat. When he opened the door, he looked surprised. He was just tying his neck tie beneath his high collar, and it hung loosely about his neck.

  “And what do I owe the pleasure of your presents at my door?” he asked. “Could you not wait to show me how stunning you look in the dress I got you?” he chuckled.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said, her voice shaking, and when Rand saw the look on her face, his brow wrinkled, as he backed up, and pulled her into his room.