Indentured

by Jeanie P Johnson

  “Then let me go with you. I would worry that you may fall from your horse, and in your condition…”

  “Rand, please, will you just let me decide how I want to treat my body? I am stronger than you think! Besides, you know Theodore will be with me. I have been eating more, like you insist. How many other things are you going to demand of me, once I become your wife? After all, the child isn’t even yours,” she reminded him.

  Rand frowned. She was constantly reminding him of that fact, like a slap in the face, in spite of his good intentions to try to make the situation easier on her. He was saving her from ridicule and little thanks he was getting!

  “Do as you please. You will anyway,” he growled, as he threw his newspaper on the table and stood up. “You have taken little interest in your own wedding. I thought you would be more concerned, with the dress, and the flowers, and…”

  “This marriage was not my idea,” she interrupted.

  “But you put yourself in the position to make it necessary, so I don’t want to hear any more complaints out of you. You love that horse and slave of yours more than you love the idea of marrying me!” he bellowed, starting to lose his patience with her.

  “I appreciate what you are doing for me Rand. Honestly I do. It’s just that I escaped England so my father wouldn’t marry me off to someone I did not choose, and now…”

  “When you first met me, you were begging me to marry you, so you could come to America!” he reminded her, “But if the idea suddenly repulses you now that you are here, you should have thought of that, before you went and demanded James take away your virginity!” he snapped. “You should have waited until you were safely married before that ever happened. It was the reason I would not deflower you. You are young and silly, Lettie, and you never bother to think about the future. You want to go out riding at night, not thinking of the future of that little one you are carrying. You risk too much, Lettie. James risked too much, and that is what put you in the predicament you happen to be in right now. So don’t you dare start to complain, when I am merely trying to repair the mess you have made for yourself!”

  “Yes, you only think of me as a silly child, who you have to correct the mistakes for, but you won’t mind taking that silly child to your bed, will you?” she spit back at him.

  “If you prefer not to share my bed, silly child, I will not force you. For someone who begged me to touch you on your birthday, and tried to touch me while on the ship, you certainly have turned suddenly prude! Perhaps I may not be James, but eventually, I will be your husband, which is something he never accomplished!”

  Rand turned from the table and stomped out of the room, as Leatrisha sat feeling worse than she had since James died. This marriage was never going to work, and yet she was going to be stuck with it.

  She was glad the Freedom Train would be running tonight. It would give her a chance to think of something other than becoming Rand’s wife. Rand didn’t love her. He merely felt responsible for her because he brought her here. He was angry at her because she let James have her, to spite him, when he had turned her down. And now he was going to make her feel guilty about it for the rest of her life. If she didn’t love the plantation and slaves so much, she would have Nat take her away someplace, but in her condition, she had no other choice.

  She just worried that now, every time she wanted to go out at night, Rand would try and stop her. Once he married her, he would feel he had the right to keep her from going out at night. If that ever happened, she would just have to sneak away, she resolved, and it would serve Rand right.

  Leatrisha and Theodore moved in to join Nat, as the small group of Freedom riders, came in view.

  “I think the slave hunters are close on our trail,” Nat warned her, as she approached. “We should try to double up on the horses, to make better time,” he suggested. “You let Theodore take the child, I’ll take the man, and you take the woman.”

  Nat swung down from his horse, and put the child in front of Theodore, and the woman behind Leatrisha, and the man climbed up behind Nat.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Nat called, and the three of them gave their horses a kick.

  Halfway through the woods, Nat slowed.

  “I think we lost them,” he breathed. “We’re almost to the cave.”

  They slowed their horses to a walk to let them catch their breaths.

  “Rand didn’t want me to come out tonight,” Leatrisha grumbled. “He is getting harder to deal with the closer it gets to the wedding.”

  “I worry about you too, Lettie” Nat admitted. “Only problem is, it would be hard to do it without you.”

  “I want to do it. I can continue to ride a horse for several more months, until the snow falls. Then I am sure we will have to stop for a bit, considering it would be easy to discover our tracks in the snow. By the time the snow melts again, the baby will be born and I can continue helping,” Leatrisha began to plan.

  “But if something happened to you, what would happen to the baby?” he asked.

  “I am sure Rand would take good care of it,” Leatrisha murmured.

  “You talk as if you are not even concerned about James’ baby,” Nat said, catching her eyes.

  “I do care about the baby,” she insisted. “But there are other things I care about as well. What about all the babies that will be born into slavery. They will have no choice in life. They will know nothing about what it is like to be free. At least my baby will be free, whether it has a mother or not.”

  “What about the people that love you, Lettie? All the slaves at the plantation, Rand, me. What about those people, Lettie? You know they will miss you the same way you miss James.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to me, Nat, and I am honored that you claim to love me, the same as everyone else in my life. I doubt that Rand loves me, though. I am almost like another possession to him. Once I am married to him, he will have more ownership of me, then he ever did when I was his indentured servant.”

  “Had he not loved you, he would have sent you back to your father,” Nat pointed out.

  “I think it has more to do with his pride than love,” Leatrisha flipped back. “He’s gotten used to owning me, and the slaves would rebel if he sent me away, and he knows it.”

  “We’re here, Lettie. You and Theodore had better head back. At least all of us riding made the trip go faster,” he pointed out, and Leatrisha let the woman slid down off of Black Magic’s back, while Nat helped the child down from Theodore’s horse.

  The two turned back through the woods, as the rest of the group went into the cave. Leatrisha was surprised that she did not feel as tired as she had the last time she had taken this trip, but she had been eating more, and she hadn’t felt as stressed, the second time, even thought she knew the slave hunters were on their trail. Nat was right. With them all riding, because the group was so small, they had made better time.

  “Did you hear something?” Leatrisha asked Theodore, as they came out of the thickest part of the woods, back onto the main trail.

  “Up ahead,” Theodore, whispered.

  “I wonder if it is Rand, out looking for me? I wouldn’t put it past him to have someone following me out at night,” Leatrisha wondered.

  “It’s a couple of men,” Theodore said with a shaking voice as he pointed ahead.

  Two men on horseback, were coming towards them.

  “Halt there,” one of them said, when they discovered Leatrisha and her slave. “What are you riding out in the woods at night for?” one of the burly looking men asked.

  “I do not believe that is any of your business,” Leatrisha said hotly. “But to satisfy your curiosity, my slave and I often ride the woods at night. They are part of my future husband’s plantation.

  “You don’t look like a woman,” he laughed.

  “Which makes it safer for me to ride out here at night,” she pointed out. “Ask anyone in town about the girl who wears britches and rides a black horse. I am quite the artic
le at the gossip parties.”

  “Why isn’t your future husband with you?” the other taller man asked.

  “He has not chained me to him yet,” Leatrisha laughed. “I am still free to do as I please. He knows where I am, and I always bring my slave with me, when I go out. I enjoy riding at night. But what are you doing out in our woods this night, trespassing on my future husband’s land?” she returned.

  “Looking for run away slaves. Three of them, to be exact. Have you seen anyone in the woods tonight?”

  “No, but we did hear some noise not too far back. We thought it was deer rustling through the foliage.”

  “Which way do you think the suspected deer were heading?” one laughed.

  “Up over the rise in the direction of town,” she said to put them off in the wrong direction.

  “We just come in from town,” the big one told her.

  “If it was deer, what difference does it make?” Leatrisha laughed. “Perhaps your run away slaves are doubling back to give you the slip,” she suggested.

  “You could be right, the tall man agreed. We lost the trail, so we might as well look in the direction you say you heard the noise. Thank you for your help ma’am, but if I were you, I would not be riding out in the woods at night. If you did happen upon run away slaves, the ones helping them are desperate and may shoot you, just so you don’t report them.”

  “Perhaps you are right, but I am not totally without protection. I always carry a gun, and rest assured, if I found someone helping run away slaves, I would shoot them first, and ask questions later.”

  The two laughed, and then turned their horses back through the woods, in the direction of Huntsville, as Leatrisha laughed to herself at their gullibility.

  “I see you returned safely,” Rand said, as Leatrisha, came through the door. “You look rather excited,” he mentioned.

  Leatrisha was still glowing with satisfaction for out witting the slave hunters, and a smile still played at her lips.

  “We ran into slave hunters in the woods,” she admitted. “In case anyone questions you about me riding in the woods at night, I informed them you knew where I was. Apparently three slaves had escaped and they were on their trail.”

  “This makes me worry about you even more, Leatrisha. You could get caught up in a battle between the two, if you happen to run upon them when they are trying to apprehend run away slaves. That is how James, got killed, or had you forgotten?” he reprimanded.

  “You know you worry too much,” she laughed. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but I have a little pistol that I always bring with me, when I go out. James gave it to me, when he was involved with that business, just in case.”

  “Do you know how to shoot the thing?” Rand asked, feeling astonished.

  “Of course. Theodore and I practice when we go out riding in the woods during the day. I am not totally oblivious of the dangers of riding out on my own. I told you I could take care of myself, but you never believe me,” she pouted.

  Rand started to laugh. “Apparently I am always underestimating you, Lettie. You have a way of surprising me, and knocking the wind out of me when I discover all your little secrets.”

  “Well a woman should be privileged to have some secrets that she does not share with a man,” she smiled.

  “There was a time when we claimed to have no secrets between each other,” Rand murmured.

  “What fun would that be?” she smiled flashing her eyes at him.

  Rand had to admit that Leatrisha seemed to have gotten most of her spunk back, but it only meant he would have to keep a closer eye on her now. There was mischief behind those green eyes of hers, and that usually meant trouble.

  *************************

  Rand looked down in the green eyes behind the veil, as the minister read the marriage rites. This was what he had been dreaming of, and yet there was a certain element missing. Leatrisha was not marrying him out of love or desire. She was putting on a lovely show for everyone else in the chapel, though, but he knew her too well, and her eyes told him, she was just going through the motions.

  When he was given permission to kiss the bride, he almost dreaded having to experience her response to the kiss, but when he touched her lips with his, she responded in a way he had not expected. He wondered if that was for show as well? But why question small blessings, he chastised himself.

  They escaped the crowd at the chapel, and Rand helped Leatrisha up into the carriage, as it clattered off down the road, but not in the direction of Ravenswood.

  “Where are we going?” Leatrisha asked.

  “Into Saint Louis,” Rand divulged. “It is a surprise. It is only a day’s ride away. I had your maid pack your things. We will spend the next three days there, taking in the sights, going to a play, which you missed doing on your birthday trip, and relaxing for a change.”

  Rand was almost expecting Leatrisha to complain about him making plans without her knowing, but instead she laughed.

  “That does sound like fun, Rand,” she said with a pleasant look on her face, which put Rand’s mind to rest.

  She was making an effort not to spoil anything for him, he decided.

  “We will stop on the way, at a little Inn, where we can eat, and you can change into something more comfortable. Either we can remain at the Inn for the rest of the day, if you are too tired to travel, and continue in the morning, or we can go on after lunch. It is up to you, darling,” he smiled.

  “I remember on my birthday, I had asked you for a particular gift,” she said quietly.

  “And I turned you down,” he remembered.

  “But we are married now,” she breathed, “I know you don’t love me, Rand, but my body still craves what you denied me back then. You pleasured Mazy, and you did not love her. I thought…well one of the reasons you have suggested you marry me is so I can take Mazy’s place. I realize I owe you for what you are doing for me, so I…I am willing to let you use my body, if you wish.”

  She was so mistaken about his reasons for marrying her, but maybe it was better to slowly convince her of how he really felt, so he let her believe her assessment of the situation.

  “If I touch you, Lettie, it will not just be to use your body. If you did not enjoy it, I could not enjoy it either,” he informed her.

  “The only way I could enjoy it, is if you allow me to touch you as well,” she whispered.

  “I think I could accommodate you,” he chuckled, as he pulled her to him, and placed his mouth over hers.

  Leatrisha accepted the kiss. She knew a man needed a woman to satisfy his frustrations, as Nat called it. She had her own frustrations, she realized, and if nothing else, they could at least relieve that frustration for each other, so when Rand’s hand slipped under the top of her dress, as he continued the kiss, Leatrisha returned the favor, by placing her hand over the bulge in his trousers, and she heard Rand let out a low chuckle in his throat, before he pushed his tongue beyond her lips to explore her mouth.

  Rand restrained himself, and slowly ended the kiss, removing his hand from under her dress. They had the next three days, and the rest of their lives to explore each other’s bodies, and he wanted Leatrisha’s wedding night to be something she would remember. Not a tussle beneath restrictive clothes, in the seat of a carriage.

  Leatrisha, felt a little disappointed, when the warmth of Rand’s hand receded. Perhaps Rand was not as anxious as she thought, so when he straightened up, from caressing her, she removed her hand from him as well. But he took that hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

  “I believe we will spend the remainder of the day at the Inn after lunch,” he whispered. “and if you your body is still craving a man’s touch, I can take care of that need for you.”

  “What about your body?” she asked. “What is it craving.”

  “You, Lettie. My body is craving you!”

  And then he hugged her to him, and pressed her head against his chest. He had to keep her safe from her own crazy actions, h
e thought franticly to himself, but she was so headstrong, he wondered if he was capable of doing it?

  By the time the carriage pulled up to the Riverside Inn, Leatrisha, had fallen asleep. The day’s activities had taken more out of her, than she had expected. She sleepily opened her eyes, and looked up at Rand, who was still holding her against him.

  “We are here,” he whispered. “I will take you to our room, and have them bring the meal up,” he told her, as he lifted her from the carriage, and carried her through the door.

  “Rand, I can walk,” she insisted.

  “But you are my new bride. It is right I carry you across the threshold to our room,” he informed her, with a chuckle.

  The attendant smiled knowingly, when he saw the couple, dressed in their weeding garb, and handed Rand the key to their best room.

  “Bring our meal up,” he told the attendant, and the man nodded.

  Rand placed Leatrisha on the bed, and then went and took the luggage from his footman slave, and brought it into the room. He opened Leatrisha’s case, and pulled a lacy night dress, from its interior, and laid it across the bed. Then he pulled Leatrisha to her feet, turning her, so he could have access to the buttons of her wedding dress, and began to undress her.

  The lace and satin fell about her feet, and then the night dress was settling down over her head. When the tap on the door announced their meal, Rand threw her the wrapper to cover herself with, and allowed the attendant to bring the meal in and set it on the table.

  Leatrisha felt relaxed, from her nap, yet excited, as Rand tossed his long tailed coat aside, removed his tie, and loosened the buttons on his shirt, before sitting down across the table from her.

  They ate in silence, as Rand devoured her with his eyes, while devouring the food with his mouth, but she could only nibble at her food, in her nervousness.

  At last Rand, rose from the table, taking her hand and leading her to the bed, pulling her wrapper free, and then lifting the night dress over her head.