I asked her, “What should I call you?”
She said, “That’s not fair, Master Paul. You think of a name.”
She and I made love that night. The next morning I asked one of Michelle’s slave girls for some hot water so that I could shave. While I was shaving, the new slave girl asked me if I had thought of a name for her yet. I asked her, “What do you think about Katy?”
She smiled and said, “I love that name.”
I got dressed, went to the door that led downstairs and it was locked. “What the hell?” I said. I then headed over to Michelle’s room. I knocked and she told me to come in. I went in and breakfast was being served. She asked me if I was hungry.
I told her, “Yes I am, but that’s not why I came over here. The door leading downstairs is locked. I want to go down and check on my horses.”
“Your horses and property are just fine. I will show you how to get downstairs after breakfast,” she replied.
I went back to my room and told Katy to come to Michelle’s room for breakfast. She came with me and Michelle asked me if I had named her yet. I told her that I named her Katy.
Michelle rang downstairs and told Katy to pull on a dumbwaiter and our breakfast would be up. Luke came in from the other room and said, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”
After Katy served everybody, Michelle told her she could sit down. After we had all finished, Katy put everything back in the dumbwaiter and sent it back down to the kitchen.
After we finished breakfast, Michelle told Luke and I that she wanted us to go with her. She said, “Bring your guns.” I went back to my room and got my six-shooter and so did Luke. We then went into another room that was next to Luke’s and she went to a closet and showed us how to access the secret panel inside. As soon as it was open, it exposed a circular stairway that went down to ground level. We went down the stairs; they led to a locked door. Michelle unlocked the door and we went through it. The door opened up into a hallway that led to another door where there was a creole man standing guard. There was a shotgun rack on the wall with four shotguns. The creole was carrying a pistol in an open holster. He opened the door which led to the back yard. There were several boys back there working. A white haired Negro was in charge of them.
He addressed Michelle and asked, “Have you seen the two stud horses these gentleman have? They are probably the two finest studs in the whole state.” Michelle asked Luke and me if she could put a couple of her mares in with our studs and we told her that she could.
I picked up the dragoon pistol and put it in my belt. Now both Luke and I had two pistols apiece. I took the money belt and some other money that I had in the wagon and kept it with me.
After we went back upstairs, Michelle showed me how to open the iron door. It led down to a level where all of her working girls were. She rang a bell and about 30 girls came out of their rooms. They were all dressed in various attire, none of which covered much.
We then went down to the main level where there was a big party room and a dining room that was nicely laid out. From there, we went to the kitchen and the washrooms where several black girls were working away. Two of the new girls were with them washing some clothes.
Michelle then called in a big Negro woman and asked her to bring the two new girls upstairs. She wanted Lisa, her seamstress, to make some dresses for them.
We went back up to Michelle’s bedroom and she sat at her desk and started looking through some papers. She began to tell us about some of the problems she was having. She said that she was making money with her uncle’s business but everybody was after her place. She said the only way anyone could get it was if she sold it, if she got killed, or kidnapped and shipped to Brazil. She told us that is why she needed security.
Michelle then asked me, “Paul, how was Kathy in bed?”
“She was very good and she seemed to enjoy herself,” I replied.
“If she works out, I will train her to be a front person or hostess and then I will more or less disappear from the public eye,” she stated.
Just then, a bell rang and she went to the iron door. It was the big black woman with the two new girls. Michelle told the two girls to get undressed; they needed a bath and their hair combed. They both had a sad expression on their faces. They didn’t know what was going to happen to them. Katy was lying on the bed and Michelle picked up a riding crop and whacked her on her behind. She said, “Get over there with the other two, Katy.”
Katy went and stood by the other two girls. Michelle’s seamstress then came in the room to measure the girls. Lisa got a tape measure out and measured each girl one by one. Katy helped her measure the other two girls. Michelle asked the redhead what her name was.
She said, “Cindy Jones.”
“Forget the Jones. From now on you are just Cindy,” Michelle told her.
She then asked the other girl what her name was and she said, “Betty.”
“Betty, are you from French Canada?” asked Michelle.
“Yes ma’am,” she answered.
When they were finished getting measured, Michelle asked them if they had had anything to eat.
Cindy replied, “No ma’am, we have not.”
Michelle rang the kitchen and ordered two steaks with eggs. A black girl then came up to the room and set the table. Not long after, the dumbwaiter bell rang and the food was sent up to the room. The girl got the food out of the dumbwaiter and sat the food on the table. When Lisa finished measuring the girls, Michelle told them to come over and eat their food.
Michelle asked Katy, “What kind of dress would you feel sexy in?”
After Katy finished describing it to Michelle, she went to her closet and pulled out a dress similar to the one Katy described. She handed it to her and said, “Here, try this on.” Katy put it on and it fit her perfectly. She looked very sexy.
Katy said, “I used to wear my hair up like this,” and showed Michelle.
“That looks really nice. We will fix your hair like that,” Michelle told her.
Both girls finished their food but Betty only took a few bites. I asked her what was the matter and she told me that she didn’t feel well.
Luke yawned and Michelle asked him, “Did you get enough sleep last night?” He just laughed. “Luke, why don’t you and Paul go take a nap in your rooms and take the girls with you,” she suggested.
I took Betty with me in my room. As soon as she laid her head on the pillow she fell asleep. She was exhausted. I lay down next to her and dozed off for a while myself. When I woke up, I reached over and felt her head. She was burning up. I knocked on Michelle’s door and she told me to come in. Two girls from downstairs were working on Katy’s hair while Michelle watched them.
I told her, “Betty is sick. She is burning up with a fever.”
“I will send up Linda to look after her,” she replied.
She rang downstairs and told whoever answered to send up Linda. Pretty soon she went to the door and let in another Negro woman. We then went back to my room and Linda left a powder on the nightstand and told me to give it to Betty as soon as she woke up. We let her sleep.
Michelle asked me if I was hungry and I told her I wasn’t. She then went back to her room and invited me to lie down with her. The two of us watched the women work on Katy’s hair. Michelle snuggled up to me and put my arm around her.
She then asked me, “Do you like your new job, Paul?”
“Yes, very much,” I replied.
That evening one of Michelle’s friends, Dede Dupré, stopped by the mansion. Michelle introduced her to both Luke and me. She was also a very pretty woman, but Michelle told me that she was twisted in the head; she only liked girls.
Michelle stated, “She has been after my body ever since we went to school together. She’s very rich and she brings me a lot of business. She also has some very powerful friends. Sh
e farms 25,000 acres and owns a lot of slaves. I told her that I would sell the two white girls to her later. I know that she’ll take care of them and she won’t send them to Brazil.”
I asked her, “Why don’t you just contact their families and get your investment back?”
“I will think about that,” she stated.
Michelle sent a flimsy robe to Cindy and told her to wear it at dinner. She came into the dining room with Luke. I went to check on Betty but she was out of it and was still burning up, I told Michelle.
Katy came to the dining room all decked out. She looked stunning. Dede couldn’t take her eyes of Katy. Katy sat down next to Dede, very close. I figured that Michelle had given Katy instructions concerning Dede. When I got up to get the wine, I noticed that Dede had her hand on Katy’s thigh.
Katy asked Dede, “Are you staying the night?”
“You bet your bloomers, Darling!” Dede exclaimed.
“Too bad I don’t have any bloomers on,” Katy replied.
Dede then leaned over and kissed Katy on the cheek.
Michelle interrupted and said, “Dede, Luke and Paul own the two finest studs in the state. You should make arrangements with them to get some of your mares bred.”
“I will look into that,” she answered.
We had a prime rib roast for dinner with a lot of good wine. We played some cards and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After a long evening, Michelle stated that she was ready for bed.
Luke got up, reached his hand out to Cindy and said, “Let’s go to bed, Honey.”
Katy said, “I am going to bed too. Dede are you coming with me?”
“I would love to,” Dede replied.
I made love to Michelle that evening even though we were both very tired. When we finished, I gave her a kiss and went back to my room and lay next to Betty. She was still hot but not as hot as she had been previously. I woke up during the night and she was shivering so I held her close to me, and we spent the rest of the night like that.
The next morning I got up and told one of the girls in the hall that I wanted the tub with some warm water in my room. Michelle stopped in to check on Betty. I told her that she was unconscious. I asked Michelle if she could get a girl that spoke French to help me with Betty. A young Negro girl, Milly, came up and I told her that I wanted Betty to have a bath after I rinsed off. When I finished, she helped me lift Betty into the water and we gave her a bath. We got her out, dressed her, and put her back to bed. Milly stayed with me all morning.
Michelle brought in a Negro doctor to examine Betty. The doctor told her that Betty had yellow fever.
Michelle asked me, “What are we going to do?”
I told her, “I will stay with her. I will try to get some medicine from a real doctor in town.”
Milly tried to leave the room, but Michelle ordered to her stay and help. Michelle then told me, “I will have a boy in the hall. If you need anything, he will get it for you. He will bring you food, water, and anything else you need.”
I asked for two more blankets and a mattress or something that Milly could sleep on, and they brought me everything I asked for.
I stayed in the room for a week. While there, an idea formed in my mind on how I would get these girls out of here. My window was open to the side of the building and I was able to call to Luke to come to the window. I explained my plan to him. It involved the two servants too, but they wouldn’t mind.
I told the boy to tell Michelle that Milly was sick with yellow fever too, even though she wasn’t. I needed her to think that the fever was spreading for my plan to work. Michelle sent back a message that she and Katy would be moving in with Dede for a while so they wouldn’t get sick, but they would be downstairs every evening.
Betty was slowing making progress. She opened her eyes a couple of times and was able to swallow some broth.
A couple days after I talked to Luke, he came to my door and told me that a captain that had been taking girls to Brazil was downstairs with eight men. He said, “The men did not catch on. They came in one at a time as customers. Michelle, Dede, and Katy are downstairs. The captain came in last. He is talking to Michelle now.”
I grabbed my two dragoons and Luke and I went down the secret stairway. Ralph was standing guard at the lower iron door and I told him that we needed him to come with us because the girls were in trouble. He got a shotgun and we went out back and around the building. As we got to the front of the house, a big covered wagon pulled up with two men in front. One jumped down and went to the back and pulled back the canvas cover while the other stayed in the front of the wagon. They were both holding shotguns.
Ralph said, “They are planning on taking the girls. Luckily they haven’t seen us yet.”
Just then the front door of the mansion swung open and some men were marching Dede, Michelle, Katy and 10 other girls out to the wagon.
I came up with a plan and said, “Ralph, you get the driver and Luke, you get the man in the back.” They both shot and I shot the wagon horse on the right that was closest to me.
I then said, “Luke, you shoot the captain but don’t hit any girls.” Ralph and I both shot and two men in the back dropped. Some of the girls started running back towards the mansion. I had a clear shot on another man and Luke got the captain. They were shooting back at us now and Ralph got hit and fell. Two police men rode up. When the kidnappers saw them they decided to run. They weren’t fast enough though; Luke got two of them.
I then yelled, “All you girls get back inside!”
Unbeknownst to us, a police lieutenant had a very pretty wife and she was in the wagon. They must have picked her up in town. She had worked her gag loose and started hollering. I told Michelle to take a look inside the house. There was a girl that was shackled by her ankles and Michelle told her to sit tight until she came back. She went over to the captain and started searching for the key to the shackles. Luke went inside to help her. The captain was in a pool of blood and Luke told Michelle that he would look for the key. He found it, along with a money belt, which he took.
I went back to Ralph and helped him up the steps and called a couple of girls to help take him inside the house. Michelle took the key and unlocked the girls who had been shackled.
The lieutenant got his wife and took her inside the house and sat her down. Two of the creoles were outside by the wagon and I told them to push it into the wagon shed and to put the horses in the corral. I said, “Get all the guns together and put them in the wagon. Then gather up all of the valuables and bring them inside.” I then went inside the house and went to check upstairs. As I passed Luke, he gave me the captain’s money belt. It was very heavy.
As soon as everything settled down, Luke came to my room and we talked about everything. He said, “The police chief is here and they are confiscating the captain’s schooner. The doctor is working on Ralph. He is going to be all right.”
Luke and I continued talking the rest of the night. He said, “Michelle and Dede are very grateful.”
I told him, “We need to go ahead with our plan. Then we’ll head north and take a look up there. We have about 1,000 dollars. That will definitely buy us some land.”
He said, “I’m with you.”
I sat down and wrote Michelle a letter. I wrote, “I need another wagon so that I can get these sick people out of here while I still can. Luke should not get too close to you anymore either. If we don’t get out of here now, we won’t be able to. We don’t want the fever to spread to everyone else. I have been feeling very dizzy myself. Will you please give me the papers on Milly and the boy Jake? Since they have also been exposed, I will take them out of here too. I will need a couple of dresses for the girls and six blankets. Luke will go down with Jake and get the wagons organized. I believe that this is the best thing for everyone. I hate to leave. If we get well, we will come back.”
Needless to say two days later we got a new wagon, harnesses for four horses, and everything else I asked for. I also asked for medicine for Cindy and myself. Dede sent us 500 dollars to help with the trip. Luke carried all three girls down, Milly, Betty, and Cindy. Betty was feeling much better, but I tousled her hair and told her to let her arm hang loose and let her head hang. She gave me a smile and I kissed her on the cheek.
Michelle, Dede, Katy and a lot of blacks where there to see us off. Michelle was crying. Luke drove the first wagon and Jake drove the second while I sat in the back with the girls. Michelle hollered at us, “I will never forget you!” She gave a note to Jake to give to me.
8
We were heading for Baton Rouge. Cindy wanted to ride up front with Luke, and Milly rode up front with Jake.
I read the note that Michelle had written me. It read, “The police raided the schooner and the riverboat that was tied to it. They found 23 white girls onboard. It will be a long time before anyone tries this again. I love you and Luke and will pray for you. Thank you for everything. Love, Michelle.”
We camped out that night close to a shack that had a bunch of Negro children around it. Jake went to the door and asked the slaves for a couple of chickens and gave them 50 cents. He came back with the chickens and they were picked clean. I made some good Hungarian soup for us. Betty told me that it was the best chicken soup she had ever had.
We laid down in the wagon and she snuggled up to me. She told me that Milly had told her how I had taken care of her while she was sick and thanked me for getting her away from the whore house. We talked into the night and when she dozed off, I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
The next morning we fed the horses some grain and Luke and I rode our horses just to remind them what their jobs were. We stayed were either ahead of or behind the wagons.
The girls only had one dress each, so we promised them that we’d buy them a new one once we reached Baton Rouge.
We were about three days from Baton Rouge when I dropped behind the wagon because I thought that I saw a deer. I figured that if I let the wagons go by, it would show itself. A few minutes later I noticed that the wagons had stopped and I saw a man holding a pistol on Luke. I didn’t let them see me and I stayed in the trees.
The Nagyvradi Brothers Page 8
