Ransom of Love

by Al Lacy

  “I’ll tell you what we’re arguin’ about, Pa,” said Lewis. “It’s—”

  Charles threw up a palm. “Just a minute! Let your sister tell me.”

  “He’s just acting the fool as usual, Papa. He had the audacity to tell Benjamin to get off the property and not come back. I told him Benjamin’s being here is none of his business. He started in again about black people thinking they are as good as white people, and he was about to call them animals again. That’s what we were arguing about.”

  Charles looked at Lewis with disapproval. “Where did you get the idea you can overrule my authority? Benjamin is here because I invited him here. Now, you take your horse to the barn immediately.”

  Lewis gave his sister a sullen glance and went to his horse and swung aboard, then trotted away.

  Charles turned to Benjamin. “I am truly sorry for my son’s behavior.”

  “I am, too,” said Priscilla. “Please understand that Lewis is the only one in the family who carries this ill feeling toward Negroes.”

  Benjamin smiled. “I know that, Miss Priscilla.” He turned to Angeline. “Well, Miss Angeline, it is getting dark. I need to get you home.”

  As Benjamin helped her into the carriage, he gave Dorena a smile that made her heart flutter.

  Two weeks later, when Benjamin drove the carriage up to the front porch of the Moore mansion, Angeline and Priscilla were waiting for him. As Benjamin hopped out to help Angeline in, he looked around and said, “Is Dorena where I can see her?”

  “She will be here in a minute or two, Benjamin,” Priscilla said. “She asked Papa for permission to take you back to her parents’ cabin to meet them, along with her brother. Papa said it would be all right.”

  “Oh, good! I would love to meet them.”

  Even as he was speaking, Dorena came around the corner of the mansion and hurried toward him.

  “I told him,” Priscilla said.

  Dorena’s big brown eyes fastened on Benjamin.

  “They are ready,” she said, extending her hand toward him. When he took it, she looked at Angeline and said, “I won’t keep him long.”

  Angeline giggled. “I’m sure you would like to.”

  Dorena blushed and hurried away, holding Benjamin by the hand.

  Priscilla watched them go, then sighed. “They are such a handsome couple. It just has to be that the Lord will make a way for them to have a life together.”

  “I’m sure He will,” said Angeline. “A love like theirs came from the Lord. They are His children, and He has a plan for their lives.”

  The two girls talked about the pleasant day they had spent together, and before twenty minutes had passed, they saw the couple come around the corner of the mansion, holding hands.

  “So … how did it go?” Priscilla called.

  “Wonderful!” said Dorena. “Mama and Papa were very warm toward him. They told him that all I talk about is him.”

  “Well, isn’t it?” Priscilla said, laughing.

  “Most of the time, anyway. And Matthew really likes him, too. I think they are going to be good friends.”

  “That’s good,” said Angeline. “They are only a year apart in age, aren’t they?”

  Dorena nodded. “Fifteen months, to be exact.”

  Benjamin looked into Dorena’s eyes. “I must take Miss Angeline home now. I will see you again very soon.”

  “You don’t have to make it soon at all!” came Lewis’s voice. “In fact, black boy, if you didn’t show up around here at all, it would be a good thing!”

  “Lewis!” Priscilla said. “Can’t you be civil? What did Benjamin ever do to you?”

  “He brought his black skin on this plantation! That’s what he did!”

  Benjamin had a powerful desire to coldcock Priscilla’s brash and insolent brother, but he refrained for Dorena’s sake.

  One hot afternoon in early August, Benjamin was repairing a stretch of white fence where the lane met the road. While hammering nails into a new length of wood, he heard a familiar voice say, “Need some help there, my friend?”

  Benjamin looked up and smiled. “I could get it done faster with some help.”

  “I’m really not looking for work, you understand,” Dan Johnson said. “But you and I haven’t had much time together the past six or seven weeks. Thought maybe if I volunteered to help, we could at least talk to each other for a while.”

  “I would like that. You don’t have to help. Just stand there and talk to me.”

  “Couldn’t do that,” said Dan, moving close to him. “Here, let me hold that board while you finish nailing it.”

  While they worked together, Benjamin said, “What about your Texas plans?”

  “Still in the making. I’m just waiting on the Lord to let me know when it’s His time for me to go. I thought I’d be there by now, but I don’t want to get ahead of the Lord.”

  “Well, I will be glad to have you here as long as possible.”

  Dan gave his friend a wry smile. “Say, I’ve been hearing things around the house.”

  “About what?”

  “About you.”

  “Me? What about me?”

  “My little sister told me a month or so ago that things were looking pretty serious between you and Dorena. And of late, she said there’s no question that you two have fallen for each other.”

  Benjamin grinned. “Oh, she did, huh?”

  “Yeah. Now, come on. Is it so?”

  Benjamin hit the last nail, then ran a sleeve across his sweaty brow. “Yes, Mr. Dan. It is so. She is the most wonderful girl I have ever met in my life. She is the most beautiful girl God ever made, and she is a sweet, dedicated Christian. What more could I ask for?”

  “I can’t think of anything. Sounds like she has really captured your heart.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, I think it’s wonderful.”

  Benjamin looked at the paint bucket sitting on the ground and reached for the brush. While he was opening the lid on the paint can, he said, “Mr. Dan, while we’re talking about Dorena and me … what about you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve never heard you say anything about a sweetheart or young lady in your life.”

  Dan scratched behind his ear. “Well, Benjamin, I date some of the young ladies in the church, but there’s no sweetheart … no special one. The ones I date are nice girls, but none of them strike me as marriage material. I figure the Lord has the right girl for me out there in Texas.”

  Benjamin nodded. “Since the Lord seems to be leading you there, Mr. Dan, He no doubt has her waiting for you to walk into her life.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “I can say that it sure feels good to have found the right girl for me, Mr. Dan, but I have to let the Lord work it out so we can marry one day.”

  “It will take the Lord to work it out, since you’re a free man and Dorena is a slave.”

  “Yes, sir. I know there are strict rules about that. Slaves have to marry slaves, and they have to marry slaves owned by their masters.”

  “Mm-hmm. It’s been that way since slaves were first brought to this country. And the only way a free man could ever marry a slave girl is to buy her from her owner.”

  “Yes. I have thought of that. In our case, Mr. Charles Moore would have to be willing to sell Dorena to me … if I had that much money. Which I do not. It definitely will take the hand of the Lord to bring it to pass.”

  Dan nodded. “Especially because Dorena is Priscilla’s slave. She will not be for sale.”

  “I have talked a lot to the Lord about that, Mr. Dan. And in my heart, I know He is going to work it out. Just how and when, I have no idea. Dorena and I will have to wait on Him. Sort of like you are waiting on Him to tell you when it is time to go to Texas.”

  “Right,” said Dan. “But the Lord loves you and Dorena, Benjamin. And in spite of every rule and obstacle, when it is His time for the two of you to marry, He will work it out.�
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  Benjamin smiled at his friend. “Thank you, Mr. Dan. You are a real encouragement to me.”

  “I sure want to be. The Lord may test your faith and your faithfulness, Benjamin. But just remember … with God, all things are possible.”

  At the Colvin plantation, another slave was dead from a beating.

  All the slaves were in attendance at the burial service, as were Finn, Martha, and Edward Colvin. This time, none of the neighbors had been informed.

  After Ol’ Mose had preached the message at the graveside, and the fragile coffin had been lowered into the ground, he stood alone over the fresh mound, his heart heavy.

  Tears rolled down Ol’ Mose’s cheeks as he thought of Jecholia, whose body now lay six feet in the ground. Jecholia had been nearly seventy years old, and his health had been failing. Slaves who witnessed it said that Jecholia was beaten to death by Edward Colvin.

  Raising his tired eyes heavenward, Mose said in his worn and cracked voice, “Heavenly Father, I know You never make a mistake. But in this old man’s human heart, it is so hard to understand the hatred of one man fo’ another. As You know, I have stood by fo’ so many years and watched Master Finn put this unfair and humiliatin’ treatment on his slaves. Lord, I don’t understand how You can let it go on. It is almost more than this old man can bear.”

  Almost at once, conviction assailed his heart. He bowed his head low. “Please forgive me, Lord. I don’t mean to say that You are wrong because You allow this mistreatment to go on. You are a kind and loving God. It’s just that this ol’ slave preacher is mortal, and there are things he doesn’t grasp.

  “Help me to trust You completely and to remember that You have a way of doin’ things that Ol’ Mose doesn’t always understand. Help me to be the witness fo’ Jesus I ought to be, and to always remember that Your grace is sufficient. In Your time, all will be made right. I know You are workin’ out that which is best fo’ Your children here on this plantation.”

  A quiet peace stole over Mose’s heart. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Finn Colvin approaching.

  “Don’t cry for Jecholia, Mose. He’s dead because he disobeyed his overseer, and he disobeyed Edward.”

  The burden in Mose’s heart for Colvin freed his tongue. “Master Finn, you heard me tell in the message that Jecholia was a born-again child of God. And because of that, he is now in heaven.”

  “Yeah. I heard it.”

  “You also heard me warn everyone who was gathered around the grave that one day it will be their time to die. And if they aren’t saved, they will never see Jecholia again. They will be in hell.”

  Finn did not reply.

  “Master Finn, I have a heavy burden in my heart for you. I want you to be born again so you will go to heaven when you die. I can show you right here in my Bible how to call on Jesus, and—”

  “AW, save your breath, Mose! I’m not afraid to die. I don’t need Jesus Christ, and I don’t want to hear any more about it, do you understand?”

  “But, Master Finn, you—”

  “I said I don’t want to hear any more about it! Ever! Have you got that?”

  Mose looked at him through a fresh wall of tears.

  “Ever!” Finn said and stomped away, muttering to himself.

  Ol’ Mose thumbed away tears as he watched him go, then set his sad eyes on the mound of dirt where Jecholia’s body had been buried.

  THE NEXT MORNING, MARTHA COLVIN opened the back porch door and looked into the solemn face of her oldest slave.

  “Good morning, Mose,” she said. “Are you feeling all right?”

  Pressing a smile on his lips, he said, “I’m fine, Miz Martha. Where do you want me to work today?”

  “In the flower bed on the left side of the front of the house. I’ll show you what I want done.” Martha led the old man down the porch steps. “Mose, you’ve got me wondering …”

  The stoop-shouldered old slave looked at her from the tops of his eyes. “About what, ma’am?”

  “You have that look again.”

  “What do you mean, ma’am?”

  “You have the same look on your face and in your eyes that you had after the dream about George. Have you had another dream?”

  Mose avoided her penetrating gaze. “I’m sorry I have that look on me, ma’am. Please don’t let it worry you. Now, what was it you wanted done here?”

  Martha’s gaze grew more intense. “Mose, I asked you a question. Have you had another dream?”

  He swallowed with difficulty and looked at the ground. “Yes’m.”

  “When?”

  “Last night.”

  “What was it?”

  “Miz Martha, I really should get to work here. I see some weeds, and I have my weed tool in the cabinet on the back porch.”

  “Mose!”

  “Yes’m?”

  “What did you dream?”

  “You really shouldn’t bother yourself about it, ma’am.”

  “Mose, did you dream that someone else died?”

  Mose nodded. “Yes’m.”

  “Who died in your dream?”

  Mose kept his gaze on the ground.

  “Tell me!”

  Tears coursed down the network of wrinkles on his cheeks. There was anguish in his voice as he said, “The richest man in the county.”

  For a timeless moment, Martha’s heart seemed to stop beating and there was nothing but silence. She studied the old man’s weathered face and worked at freeing her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Mose’s dream about George and its horrible fulfillment lanced through her like a dagger.

  “Mose, you couldn’t have dreamed a thing like that! Tell me it isn’t so!”

  “I’m sorry, Miz Martha. That is what I dreamed last night. I … I didn’t want to tell you. I knew it would upset you.”

  Martha put a trembling hand to her mouth. “T-tell me exactly what you dreamed.”

  “Well, I didn’t see any faces, but in the dream I heard a voice say that the richest man in Charleston County was goin’ to die before midnight tonight.”

  Martha’s features paled. “Tonight?”

  “Yes’m.”

  “Oh, dear!” Her breath came in short spurts. “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”

  “Please don’t be afraid, Miz Martha. Remember, I tol’ you I don’t believe in dreams as some kind of message from God. He speaks through His Bible, and—”

  “I know what you said, Mose, but you had that dream about George, and it happened exactly like you dreamed it!”

  “I know. But please don’t worry about it.”

  Martha’s entire body was quaking. “I … I have to tell my husband!”

  As she spoke, she lifted her skirts ankle-high and ran around the front corner of the mansion and toward the barns. She knew Finn was with some of the slaves, getting them ready to put a fresh coat of paint on barn number three.

  A tiny squeak came from her throat when she saw her husband standing with his back to her, holding a paint brush as he talked to six male slaves. Two overseers were with him.

  As she drew near, one of the slaves pointed toward her, saying something to Finn.

  He looked at her over his shoulder then frowned as he saw the look on her face.

  “Finn! Oh, Finn! I need to talk to you right now! Alone.”

  The look in her eyes was enough. Finn spoke to the overseers, telling them to proceed with the paint job, then ushered Martha to a spot out of earshot from anyone else and gripped her shoulders.

  “What on earth has happened, Martha?”

  “Ol’ Mose just told me he had another one of his vivid dreams!”

  “You mean about somebody dying?”

  “Yes. Like that.”

  “Was it about someone else in our family?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, tell me! What was the dream?”

  “Mose … Mose said he heard a voice in his dream say that the richest man in Charleston County was going to die before mid
night tonight.”

  A feeling like icy water drained into his stomach.

  “He … he just walked in and told you this, right out of the blue?”

  “No,” Martha said, shaking her head. “When he came into the house to start his day’s work, I saw that same look on his face as when he dreamed about George’s death. When I asked him about it, he tried to avoid telling me, but I made him come out with it.”

  Finn’s expression was grim. “I want to talk to Mose. I want to hear this for myself. Come on.”

  When they rounded the corner of the house, the old man was bent over in the flower garden, digging up weeds with a hand tool. He turned and looked at the approaching pair, then straightened up as much as he was able.

  “Mose,” Finn said, “I want to hear every detail of this wild dream you had last night.”

  “There really wasn’t much to it, Master Finn. I saw no faces or figures. I was simply standin’ out in one of the cotton fields, and a voice came to me and said that the richest man in Charleston County would die before midnight tonight.”

  “Well, that means before midnight last night.”

  “No, sir. I had the dream ’bout four o’clock this mornin’. Daylight was comin’ when the dream woke me up.”

  When Mose saw the fear in Colvin’s eyes, he said, “Master Finn, I know you tol’ me never to bring up ’bout bein’ saved, but I care ’bout you. The Bible says, ‘it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.’ Every human bein’ has an appointment with death, and no one knows when their appointment is set except God Himself. He is the one who set the appointment. People need to face the fact, Master Finn, that their appointment could be today when they awaken and rise from their bed. Or when they pillow their head at night. They must repent and believe the gospel before it is too late.”

  Finn stared at the old man. Without another word, he turned and dashed up the porch steps and into the house, leaving the door wide open.

  Wringing her hands, Martha said. “Mose, I see you’re digging out weeds here. Go ahead. I need to be with my husband.”

  When Martha reached the vestibule, there was no sign of Finn. She heard a door slam down the hall and figured he had gone to his den.