The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden: (Revised Edition 2020)

by Londyn Skye

  “Lily, I will see it done.”

  With his insistence, Lily proceeded to explain what she knew would give the student orchestra the anonymity they had requested, and what she hoped would give the audience a show that would truly be unforgettable.

  * * * *

  “Beautiful day isn’t it?” James asked, walking up beside Lily, holding two fishing rods.

  “Sho’ is.” Lily had finally made her way out to her favorite spot on the lake. She was in dire need of a way to mentally escape after the earlier rehearsal disaster.

  “I’d love to relax my mind by doin’ a little fishin’ right about now. But seein’ as how it’s been pointed out to me that I ain’t so good at catchin’ bait, I sure could use me some help from an ol’ pro,” James teased.

  “I don’t see the point. I could dig you up a whole bucket full ‘a worms, but you couldn’t catch a fish if it jumped in your lap,” Lily smiled.

  The origin of her joke flashed instantly in James’s mind. As kids, he and Lily had set out together one Sunday in his tiny fishing boat in their childhood paradise creek. After casting their lines, James was startled by a fish that leaped out of the water into his lap. Frightened, he jumped up and started dancing around to get away from it. He lost his balance and fell out of the boat with his arms flailing, screaming like a little girl. The sight of it had Lily bent over howling with laughter.

  “Guess I’ll neva’ live that one down, will I?” James laughed after recalling the embarrassing moment.

  “Nope, ’fraid not … nor the fact that I’s always a much betta’ fisha’woman than you,” Lily reminded him.

  “Now, that part seems to have slipped my memory. You’ll have to prove it to me. I’ve got two fishin’ poles here.” James held them up. “And there’s a rowboat ova’ yonda’,” he said, motioning his head toward it.

  Lily looked in the direction of the boat, contemplated a moment, but then declined. “Naw, that’s alright, you can go on without me.”

  James felt his heart sink a little. He had no desire to fish without her. “C’mon, now. A little lazy fishin’ll get your mind off things for a while. Besides…” He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “Umm, geez, I just can’t quite rememba’ you bein’ all that great of a fisha’man.”

  “Fisha’woman!”

  “Oh, excuse me! I stand corrected. Well, I’m gonna need you to jog my memory on how great of a fisha’woman you truly are, ’cause I have an awfully hard time believin’ that.” The Lily James knew as a boy never backed down from challenges. He figured he would try the old tactic on her and see how well it worked nearly ten years later.

  “Well…” she started.

  “Well, what?”

  “Well, you’ll have to make it worth my while.”

  “Oh.” James raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “If I catch more fish than you, then Anna Mae and I get to watch you cook dinna’ for the rest of us tonight.”

  “Well, what do I get if I win?”

  “The simple honor of finally havin’ caught more fish than me for the first time in your life!” she answered, snatching one of the poles and giving him a smile dripping with playful arrogance.

  “You got yourself a bet!” James smiled in return. “But it doesn’t count ’til we shake on it.”

  Lily looked him in his eyes and reluctantly extended her hand. James took it gently into his, barely shaking it all, concerning himself more with the softness and warmth of her skin. Lily was not oblivious to the way his facial expression changed when he touched her. It was subtle, but she read it well. “Now, it’s official,” she said, creating an excuse to take her hand out of his and settle the rapid beating she suddenly felt in her chest after the way he had just looked at her.

  James gestured his hand toward the boat and allowed her to walk ahead of him. Shortly thereafter, he rowed them out into the middle of the lake. Lily let her eyes roam everywhere except for on James. She could feel him looking at her, but she did not want to reciprocate. When they reached the deepest part of the water, James continued to watch her bait her hook with worms and cast her line out as if she had done it just the day before, and not years. While gazing at her, James was thinking about the fact that Lily only allowed him short glimpses of her old self before quietly slipping back behind her carefully crafted wall and shutting him out. Even while they were just feet apart, she sat staring at her fishing line, having yet to say another word since their interaction on the shore. “What’s on your mind, Miss Lily?” James asked, in hopes that she would give him another glimpse of her old self for a while.

  It had been so many years since James had concerned himself with Lily’s emotional state. Over the last few weeks, she realized that it was a lot more challenging to adjust to his kindness than she had anticipated. After everything that had happened between them in the past, she kept telling herself that it made more sense to keep her private thoughts as just that. But there was something about the way James spoke to her lately, in such a gentle tone, that was slowly making her want to open up to him just as she had in her youth. Lily often wondered, though, if she would regret unlocking the entrance to her protective wall and allowing him in, even if only for short periods of time. Despite her fears, she let him in again, but proceeded with great caution. “Well, I been wantin’ to tell you how sorry I am about rehearsals today. I…”

  “No! No! No!” James replied, cutting her off and startling her.

  “What?!” Lily jumped, thinking it had something to do with his fishing line. “What is it?”

  “You don’t owe anyone any apologies, ya’ hear?! If anything, those little rats should be apologizin’ to you! I don’t appreciate the little stunt they pulled today! And I’ll tell you right here, and right now, if any one ‘a them personally gives you a problem, you let me know,” he demanded, recalling the cold glance between her and Austin. “Alright?!”

  Lily just stared at him a moment, surprised at his instantaneous hostility and his genuine desire to be protective.

  “Alright?” James insisted again.

  “Alright,” Lily finally replied. “I’ll rememba’ that. But I hope maybe we can get the changes done on time and everything will be fine,” she said calmly, attempting to settle James down.

  “Me too, but it neva’ should’ve come to this. They…”

  “They what?”

  “Neva’mind,” he said, running his hands through his hair and blowing out a breath to calm himself. “Listen, we’re not s’pposed to be thinkin’ or talkin’ about anything like that while we’re out here, don’t you rememba’?”

  “Rememba’ what?” Lily asked, looking confused.

  “Surely you rememba’,” he said, calmness finally having returned to his voice. He took a second to reflect before diving back into a moment of nostalgia. “It was the summa’ right afta’ Auntie passed away and my parents were about to send me and my brotha’s away for a couple ‘a weeks to stay with my uncle and cousins for a while.” He continued talking as he baited his fishing line. “Rememba’ we were both feelin’ mighty down about everything? So that Sunday, we decided we’s gonna do a little fishin’ before I’s due to leave. But before we left the shore, we promised each otha’ that wheneva’ we was floatin’ out in the middle ‘a the wata’, just like we are now, that we’d always pretend like we’s in anotha’ world, in a world where no troubles could touch us, where we talked about nothin’ but happy things.” He turned to look at the profile of Lily’s face. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

  Lily turned and looked him in the eyes. She was instantly warmed by the fact that he had recalled something that meant so much to her at the time. “How could I eva’ forget somethin’ like that?” she smiled, feeling comforted by the memory. “I guess I’m just surprised that you haven’t forgotten eitha’.”

  “You ain’t the only one here with an amazin’ memory,” James boasted, poking his chest out, feigning arrogance.

  Lily tried not
to smile at his playfulness, but she could not help herself.

  “Ya’ know, speakin’ ‘a my cousins, that reminds me,” James said, finally casting out his fishing line.

  “Reminds you of what?”

  “I neva’ did get around to thankin’ you way back then,” he said, as they both turned to focus on their fishing lines.

  “Thankin’ me for what?”

  “Back when my uncle had sent my cousins to stay with us for a change, I rememba’ us boys decided we’s gon’ try to make a tent usin’ some ‘a my mama’s dresses. Wasn’t too bright of an idea, but we was just a bunch ‘a dumb little boys.”

  “I can’t argue with that!” Lily teased.

  “Wasn’t long ’fore we ended up rippin’ a hole in two ‘a her favorite dresses, not to mention all the dirt stains we’d gotten all ova’ ’em. I rememba’ I tried to hide ’em, thinkin’ maybe she wouldn’t find ’em. But the oddest thing happened…”

  “And what might that be?”

  “Three days lata’, mama was dressed for church in one ‘a the dresses we tore up. I saw ’er walkin’ toward me in that thang, and I swore she was comin’ to grab me by my scrawny little neck. But she walked right on past me with her dress flowin’ in pristine condition. She must ‘a thought I’s half outta my mind the way I circled ’round her two or three times lookin’ for that big ol’ hole that I’s certain I’d put in the backside ‘a that dress. But magically…” He waved his hand in the air. “It was nowhere to be found, nor were the stains,” James recounted, in a hypnotic voice.

  “Ya’ don’t saaay!” Lily replied sarcastically.

  “Can you believe that?” James smiled, sounding just as sarcastic.

  “Simply amazin’!” Lily smiled back. “But, I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Lily looked around as if somebody was going to overhear her. She then leaned in close to James. “You don’t have me to thank for that.”

  “No, well who else could it’ve been? I know good ‘n well my fatha’ and brotha’s can’t sew worth nothin’.”

  “Shh, this is a well-kept secret amongst all us slaves.” She looked around once more and whispered, “it was The Sewin’ Fairies who fixed your mama’s dresses.”

  “The who?!”

  “Shh! Keep your voice down!” Lily insisted, looking around again. “The Sewin’ Fairies.”

  “The who?!”

  “You mean you ain’t neva’ heard ‘a them?”

  James just kept looking at Lily like she had lost her mind.

  “I just don’t know what we’d do without The Sewin’ Fairies. See, they float around at night searchin’ for clothes that dumb little boys done tore up tryna build tents … tents that actually look more like flags blowin’ in the wind,” she sarcastically pointed out. “Then when they spot ’em all balled up in the back ‘a the closet … where any blind man could find ’em!” she teased again. “They swoop down outta the sky, wash ’em up, sprinkle a little mendin’ dust on ’em to make ’em good as new, and hang ’em back on the rack ’fore anybody eva’ notices a thang.”

  This time around, floating out in their fantasy world of happiness, drifting far away from the reality of their troubles, it was James who sat in the fishing boat laughing uncontrollably at Lily.

  “I can’t believe you’s laughin’ at The Sewin’ Fairies afta’ they saved your little scrawny behind all them years ago. You should be ’shamed ‘a yo’self,” she joked, fighting to hold back her laughter until she finally lost it too.

  When they regained their composure, James was quiet for a moment while he reflected on the flash of many memories from his youth that were the most precious to him. In every single one of them, he realized that Lily was always there by his side. “Thank you, Lily,” he suddenly said, seriousness now in his tone.

  “I already told you it wasn’t me,” she teased again.

  “No, I really mean it … Thank you,” James said again, turning toward her this time.

  Lily looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

  “For helpin’ to give me a childhood full ‘a unforgettable memories,” James continued.

  Lily could feel her cheeks flushing red as he stared at her in a way that conveyed his sincerity. “Thank you too, James.”

  “For what?”

  “For givin’ me a childhood at all.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Slave Code

  Article VIII Section XI

  No slave is permitted to work for pay, or to keep horses; or to own a wagon or carriage; or to buy or wear clothes finer than “Negro cloth.”

  Saturday

  April 15, 1859

  Annual Spring Extravaganza

  and

  “The Return of William Werthington”

  William had never known what it meant to be nervous or anxious about a performance, until this very moment. Not being able to foretell the future had his stomach in knots, his heart racing, and sweat threatening to seep through his clothing. The stage was normally like his second home. But now, here William was, sitting at the piano in front of a lawn full of people, about to strike the keys to begin a show that would undoubtedly be epic, in the most magnificent of ways … or in the most disastrous. Such immeasurable pressure had William experiencing a feeling that had always been foreign to him. Before he began, he silently prayed that the end result of the night’s events would be worth crying tears of joy and not tears of heartbreak. But it was not himself that he sent that prayer for. He wanted the night to be spectacular … for Lily. Anything less than that would have devastated him.

  Even in the hours before William took his seat at the piano, it was apparent that he wanted nothing but the best for Lily. Not wanting nerves to affect her leading up to the show, William expressed to James that Lily would more than likely benefit by having her mind and body far away from the night’s approaching events. He explained that drowning one’s thoughts in every detail of the show just hours before could be detrimental to the outcome. After that advice, Lily had been awakened that morning by Anna Mae and her daughter, Isabel. “Wake up, sunshine,” Anna Mae said to Lily as Isabel drew back the curtains, letting in the beautiful spring sunlight.

  “What time is it?” Lily asked, rubbing her pasty eyes.

  “A little afta’ nine o’clock. You’s the only one still asleep in the whole house.”

  “Nine o’clock!” Lily shrieked, throwing the covers off herself in a panic. By this time, she was usually wide-awake, helping Anna Mae prepare breakfast for everyone. “Why didn’t anyone wake me?” she asked, scurrying to get out of bed.

  “Whoa, whoa, lay down chil’! Just relax,” Anna Mae said, stopping her. “Everything’s fine. We all wanted you to rest before your big performance tonight. We figured it’d do ya’ good to let you sleep in for a change.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Lily replied. She quickly settled down, leaned back on the headboard, and yawned. “I didn’t fall asleep ’til well afta’ midnight,” she admitted.

  “No worries baby. That’s all the more reason for us to pamper you and help you relax a little before tonight,” Anna Mae smiled. “We don’t want you liftin’ a finga’ ’til then.”

  “Pamper me?”

  “That’s right!” Isabel smiled. “And you can start with breakfast in bed!”

  “Breakfast? Sittin’ in bed?”

  “Well, yes! Ain’t you eva’ had breakfast in bed?” Isabel asked, looking bewildered. Anna Mae nudged her spoiled daughter. She had led a privileged life thanks to William. She was only six when he bought her at auction. She hardly remembered what being a slave was like. Isabel was now in her twenties, but often still acted much like a mindless teenager, despite her sweet disposition and good intentions. “Me and Elijah used to make mama and daddy breakfast in bed nearly every Sunday,” she continued, despite her mother trying to get her to be quiet.

  “Ain’t nobody eva’ served me nothin’, ’specially not while in a bed,” Lily laughed, finding the thought of such a thing amusing.


  “Well, there’s a first time for everything!” Isabel squealed, sounding like an excited schoolgirl. She then handed Lily a tray filled with eggs, biscuits, bacon, fruit, oatmeal, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

  “Thank you. This is mighty kind ‘a you ladies to go outta y’all’s way like this,” Lily said before she dug into her breakfast. She was appreciative of Anna Mae and Isabel’s efforts, but still felt a bit strange about someone bringing her food and then eating it in a bed. She did her best to adjust and enjoy such a rare pleasure though.

  Breakfast was only the beginning of Anna Mae and Isabel’s efforts to treat Lily like a pampered princess. While she finished eating, Anna Mae stepped out of the room for a moment. Isabel then sat on the edge of the bed and chattered on and on about all the latest gossip that had gone on in her life since the last she had seen Lily at William’s gala. When the pair first met that day, they had an instant sisterly connection. That night, Isabel talked so much that Lily could hardly get a word in edgewise; the same held true this time around. Lily did not mind it, though. She was always thoroughly entertained by Isabel’s stories and found her bizarre unfiltered comments amusing. She was fascinated by the ignorant bliss that Isabel’s mind seemed to wallow in. She also thought it was adorable that she always went on and on talking about Elijah, her parents, or her latest beau, jumping from one story to the next without a breath in between.

  “Maaama! Is it ready yet?” Isabel suddenly screamed while slap in the middle of a story. She then sporadically jumped out of bed like a hyper two-year-old and peeked her head out the door.

  “Is what ready?” Lily asked her.

  “Your bath wata’, silly,” Isabel replied, like the answer was obvious.

  “Bath wata’?”

  “Don’t tell me you ain’t neva’ had one ‘a them eitha’?” Isabel asked, putting her hands on her hips, not realizing how offensive she was being, as usual.

  “Naw, it ain’t that. I’ve had plenty since I been here in William’s house. Truth be told, I done had more here than in my whole life.” Lily rubbed her arm, feeling the dramatic change in her skin’s softness in the previous weeks. “It’s just that I ain’t neva’ had nobody draw up the wata’ for me.”