by Smith, Skye
Mary came running into the room, not seeing the company. "Who is that dreamy boy holding the horse outside? He is..." She looked at Jim and Britta sitting together, and at the stern face of her mother. "Oops," she said and backed out of the room.
"The boy will be Britta's brother Jon," said Lydia. "If you want to know what he looks like, look at your own son."
When they were again sitting in the cart, Lydia demanded to be taken to meet Mercy. Britta refused her. "They are doing something political at her house today and there will be guards. They will not admit us. It may even be dangerous for us. It is best we not be seen there. Not today."
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MAYA’S AURA - the Redemptioner by Skye Smith
Chapter 21 - At Jim's Church
Britta sat on Lydia's bed and gave her a hard stare. Robby was in his bed, and Jon was still busy downstairs bringing in wood for the morning, and locking the shutters. "You spin webs of deceit so fluidly that I don't know what is true anymore. I want you to tell me the truth about what happened between you and Robert. I need to understand why you are living here above a coffee shop and not in your grand house."
Lydia looked at her and nodded. "Where shall I begin?"
Britta thought for a while. She had seen Lydia weave her stories before so that the full truth was hidden. "I will ask simple questions, and you will give simple truthful answers."
"Ask them," said Lydia. Britta was too much of a sister now to be treated like a servant. She was owed the truth.
"How did Robert's first wife conceive a black baby?"
"She cuckolded him with a stud named Walker. He was hung like a black but looked white. My, he was hung. He turned out to be a runaway slave."
"What happened to the black baby?"
"Robert smothered it."
"You witnessed this?" Britta's eyes went wide.
"I did. I was her maid. I was taking care of mother and child at the time. I was busy fetching something and when I came back he had done it. I was gone for moments. It only took moments."
"How did his wife die?"
"To protect her child, she leaped at him like a banshee possessed. He hit her, too hard. She was already so weak, so ill. He carried her back to bed, and with her last breath she cursed him."
"Now about Red. When did Red first have you?"
"Three months before the black baby was born. He is very skilled at seduction, and very convincing with his promises. You may have noticed."
"Who had you first, Red or Robert?"
"Red and once I let him once, it was hard to deny him. I was terrified that I may be pregnant, and me being a bond girl, Red laughed at me when I asked him to marry me. I convinced him to be a witness for me, and then I seduced Robert, down by the river. Red 'accidentally' came across us while we were going at it.
Once I let Robert in, I could not keep him out. He was my master, and his wife rarely left her bed, so he visited mine constantly. And still I met secretly with Red. It was as if a sex demon had possessed me and wanted me to be used. I got pregnant almost immediately. Of course. My body was on fire with the lust and I was constantly filled with their seed." Lydia looked at the scorn in Britta's eyes. "Don't you dare to judge me. Not until you have been alone and pregnant and unmarried and poor."
"Did you blackmail Robert?"
"No, his wife was still alive then. I tried to convince him to give me a dowry large enough to attract a local husband such as Red, but he refused. It never occurred to me that he was sterile. The first I knew of it was the day he died. After his wife died, I was too afraid of him to blackmail him. I seduced him often to keep his feelings friendly towards me, and I became a mistress rather than a maid. That was when I convinced him to fight the opium.
He refused and refused and refused to marry me, and then he consented and I was so happy. It wasn't until months later that I realized he had married me only because a wife could not testify against a husband in court. I was so frightened. When you are breast feeding your new child, insane thoughts go through your head. For a time I was convinced that he would murder me once Robby was weaned."
"It could have happened. You were a witness..." started Britta.
"He had no fear of me. Not about smothering the baby to save Ellen's reputation. Newborns die all the time. How many are unwanted and are allowed to die? You must know. You are a midwife."
Britta took Lydia's hand and squeezed it warmly. It was true. Village midwives often had to decide whether a newborn was in God's image before they allowed it to breathe, especially if it were the spawn of incest or rape.
Lydia watched Britta nod. "His only mistake was that he thought Ellen was sleeping. Her death was unintentional." She leaned into Britta's warmth. "You see, I have never lied to you, though I may have misled you."
"You lied to the Otis family about how Robert died," challenged Britta.
"I did not," Lydia defended herself. "Robert often put himself in harm's way so as to allow God to judge him for his wife's death. If Beth had pushed you or I towards the window like that, we would have easily, instinctively saved ourselves from falling through. To save himself from the fall, all he had to do was to steady himself with either hand. He didn't. He was waiting for God's judgment."
"And Jemmy Otis?" asked Britta. "Do you think he puts himself into harm's way?"
"I don't know, but when I described it to them, they both went white in the face." Lydia heard a sound on the staircase. "Enough. Jon is coming up. Go to your bed and dream of your Jim, and stop worrying about me."
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Of course there was no keeping Jim and Britta apart. Jim ignored his school books and his chores. Britta would stop her chores a hundred times a day and just stare out a window. Lydia would see her leaning against a broom, or standing dead still with a wet cloth, obviously daydreaming about him.
Jim's mother Ruth banned him from seeing Britta. Lydia warned Britta over and over that she was just infatuated, and that it couldn't last. Ruth and Lydia were ignored, completely ignored, by the young couple.
Even if Ruth could forbid that Britta enter her house, there was no stopping Jim from visiting Britta at the shop. After two days of this Lydia accepted the inevitable. At least when Jim visited she could get some work out of the girl, and though she worked slower, Jim would help her so all the work did eventually get done.
On Sunday, Jim came for them in a shay to take them to his church. He was adamant that they must close the shop and all come and be introduced to the congregation.
"You are playing with fire, young man," Lydia warned him. "This will make your mother very cross."
"I don't care. Britta must be introduced to my pastor, and since I am giving her a ride anyway, you should all come."
Lydia dropped her warnings quickly for inside she was pleased at a chance to change churches. Never underestimate the importance of attending the right church, to a woman's position in society. At Jim's church she would be shoulder to shoulder with the society madams of Boston, rather than the fishwives of the market.
To attend church they dressed in Puritan drab except for Lydia, who dressed in her costly widow's gown from Robert's funeral. When they were ready to leave, they hurried three customers out of the shop so they could lock up and drive up the hill to church.
After Jim formally introduced them to the pastor, the pastor formally welcomed them to the congregation. This caused Ruth to stand, seething, and stomp out of the church, which naturally caused first a hush across the pews and then the hum of a hundred gossiping tongues. Everyone had assumed that these new members would be sitting with the Otis family. Since obviously that was not to be, everyone now wondered where they would sit.
It was Mercy who rescued them by standing and inviting them to come and sit with the Warren family. The silence ended on a note of approval, and switched to speculative gossip about why Ruth had left in such a huff. That was quickly replaced by even better gossip. Seeing Mercy and Jim and Britta
together made the connection in the memories of the younger women. Britta was the woman in the turquoise gown from the opening night of Mercy's play.
Now rather than Lydia's group having conspicuously empty seats around them, those seats quickly filled with young women, and their young men, all eager to meet them. Lydia beamed. Her dream of being accepted by Boston society was coming true.
Britta beamed with happiness. She could not believe this was happening to her, a peasant girl from the marsh lands of England. Scarcely six months ago she had arrive on these shores as a redemptioner with nothing of value and no prospects. Now her own dream had come true. She had met a kind man with very good prospects. Not only that, but he was young and handsome and gentle and they were in love.
As the congregation quieted for the beginning of the service, Jim and Britta lost themselves in each others eyes and smiles. Britta was holding his hand as if she would never let go. It was all Jim could do not to take her into his arms right there on the pew. They were besotted with each other and the whole congregation could clearly see it.
Although Jim's family and Lydia were completely surprised by what happened next, it was of no great surprise to anyone else. Jim had included their names in the reading of the banns.
Jon whispered urgently to Lydia, "What does that reading signify?"
Lydia whispered back. "They must be named as engaged and intending to marry on three different Sundays before they can be married. It gives anyone with legal reasons why they should not be married ample time to come forward with those reasons."
"You mean they are going to get married?"
Lydia looked at him as if he were an idiot child. "Where have you been for the past week?"
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"Maya, what has happened. You look so happy," Nana asked as she brought her great grand daughter the first of the morning's cups of tea. "You are beaming."
"I'm in love," sighed Maya and held her hands over her heart. "Or at least Britta is. Oh I had such a lovely dream last night, filled with romance and innocence. They are engaged. Britta is getting married."
THE END of Maya's Aura - The Redemptioner
Be sure to look for the continuation of Britta's adventures in
Maya's Aura - Destroy the Tea Party.
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MAYA’S AURA - the Redemptioner by Skye Smith
