Damned if this girl didn't intrigue him, Gabe thought. He got to where when he heard her enter the cabin he'd pretend to be asleep just to feel her hands, soft and tender, caressing his face and always touching his gray furrow.
"I know you're not asleep. You're just lying there pretending and hoping for another kiss but you'll not get it."
Listening to Faith caused a slight smile Gabe couldn't prevent. He opened his eyes and looking at the beauty staring down at him said, "God, I'm in love."
"Well, I still ain't kissing you," Faith replied. "Here I done saved yore hide and you playing possum with me to steal a kiss. I ought to turn you in, is what I ought to do, and I still might." But as Faith rose from the side of Gabe's bed she looked to see if anyone was watching, quickly leaned over and gave Gabe a quick peck on the lips, then without a word she dashed off.
With his strength returning Gabe would get out of bed and move about the cabin. "Keep away from ’da
’doh," Lum had begged. Tonight he could stand it no longer. He had to be about, he had to have some fresh air.
"Well, if you ’dat determined we'll take a stroll when the marse goes down," Lum said. Gabe could tell the
old black man didn't like the idea but also understood Gabe's needs.
Walking through the shadows Gabe paused under a giant oak tree. The front of the house was there before him. It was a huge white house with eight columns. It was set up high off the ground and while the house was wood, it had been bricked from the ground up to the porch. Gabe counted ten steps that had to be twenty feet wide, leading up to the porch.
"Why is the house built so high?" Gabe asked Lum.
"Cause ’da be a flood. This heah is what ’da cal s the low country. ’Da's a river what flows to the marsh and den ’da's the ocean. Course back datta way ’da's a swamp. Marse Hindley say's they's crocogators in dat swamp what eat up people."
Gabe had never heard of a crocogator but didn't pursue it. "Why do they brick up around the house?" Gabe asked, still curious as to the design.
"Why dat helps keep out ’da rattlers and cottonmouths and copperheads. It's where ’da ’stoh the potatoes and vegetables. And when we get eggs from the hen house we keep ’dem there cause it's the coolest place. Marse Adam keeps his wine and cider down there too."
"What are those buildings off that way towards the river?"
"That's the sawmill then past dat is the gristmill. We can do bout anything heah on Marse Adam's plantation.
We's got a blacksmith shop and dat big building over there is ’da ship's warehouse and jail."
"Ship's warehouse. What's in that?"
"Why thangs ’da bring in off ships. We plantation slaves, we don't go over there. Only Marse Hindley's boys go over there. They's men watch over dat place with guns."
"Hmmm," Gabe said deep in thought. Was this where the gunpowder was to be sent after being unloaded from the Turtle?
"Foh Missy Faith's mama and daddy died they owned ’da plantation and Marse Adam shipped ’da cotton and wood and stuff. But now he head of it al.
He is Missy Faith's uncle but she don't care much for him."
"Why is that?" Gabe inquired.
"Well, she don't say but nanny says Marse Adam look at her like a woman from town and not his dead brother's child."
"Tell me," Gabe asked, "Why is it you and nanny are so close to Faith? More so than the other slaves." Wiping the sweat from his balding scalp with a dirty rag, Lum placed his battered hat back on. "Nanny was Missy's wet nurse and I was Missy's daddy, Mr. Thomas Montique's, personal servant. Marse Adam, he jus kinda lets us be, less it pleases him to do ’utter wise."
"What's that sound?" Gabe asked. A loud baying sound had broken out by the warehouse.
"Sumthin's going on over by ’da warehouse dats set dem dawgs off. Let's get on outta heah foh trouble starts."
Turning the two found themselves face to face with Hindley, the overseer. He had two other men with him, both carrying muskets.
"Who you got there Lum?"
"He's jus a friend ’o Missy Faith's, suh."
"Missy Faith's friend. Well I ain't never seen him around before."
"Naw suh, he's a new friend," Lum answered the overseer.
"Does Mister Adam know his niece has a guest?"
"I don't rightly know, suh. I's ’jus lookin after him foh the missy since he been sickly."
"I see," Hindley said suspiciously, "What are ya'll doing out this late?"
"We just took a notion to stretch our legs."
"Have you stretched your legs over by the warehouse Lum?"
"Oh naw suh, we show to gawd ain't sir. You know's ole Lum ain't going no where's around Marse Adam's warehouse."
"What about him?" Hindley asked pointing to Gabe with a curled black bull whip in his hand.
"Oh naw suh, naw suh, you know I wouldn't let nobody do dat and me catch ’da blame for it."
BANG!…BANG!…
"Shots down by the river," one of Hindley's men said.
The bays of the dog continued and added to the noise. Loud voices could be heard.
"Looks like whoever was at the warehouse is trying to escape down by the river, shouldn't we move on?" Hindley knew his man was right but something smell ed about this man with Lum.
Now lights were on at the big house and Adam Montique's voice could be heard. "What's al the commotion?"
Making a quick decision Hindley ordered, "Smith, you and Lum take this man on up to Mister Montique while Ledbetter and I go see what's about down by the river."
Gabe had the desire to run but knew if he did he'd have little chance of making it. He also knew things would go worse for Lum and he didn't want to endanger the old slave. As the three men approached the mansion's front steps Gabe saw a man standing up on the porch.
"Well, I'll be damned," he thought. He'd known there was something familiar about the name Montique but couldn't place it. Now he knew. This was the man from Antigua. He had owned the house Commodore Gardner had lived in. He'd also had numerous ships under contract to the Royal Navy. Now it appeared he had chosen to fight with the Colonials. I wonder if he still
has Royal Navy contracts, Gabe thought to himself.
Stepping to the edge of the porch, Montique held a lanthorn up high.
"What do we have here?" he asked Smith.
"Some white man with Lum. Mr. Hindley says to fetch him to you as he claims to be a friend of Miss Faith's.
"Well, step forward," Montique ordered. Holding up the lanthorn he noted the worn clothes Gabe had on. As Gabe reached the top step he decided to act the part of an old acquaintance.
"We've met sir," he said. "I had the pleasure of being introduced to you at a reception given by Commodore Gardner in Antigua." Gabe held out his hand to Montique whose face became hard, and twisted into a glare, his eyes like burning coals as the flame from the lanthorn reflected in them.
With clinched teeth, Montique spat on the porch.
"Damned if we haven't. Mr. Smith, we have before us the bastard son of a British Admiral."
Without thinking Gabe lunged at Montique but before he could reach him Smith clubbed him with the butt of his musket. As Gabe went down he heard a woman screaming, "Uncle, what have you done?"
Chapter Eight
Once on the river travel was much faster. The old store owner was so grateful to Dagan and his group for running off the 'river trash' that he sent a runner to a nearby Indian veil age to set up a barter. After a short time, Kawliga had made a trade for two canoes.
"They're not in their prime," Caleb said of the canoes,
"But for a sack of tobacco, flour and salt I think we did better than we hoped for."
It sure beats walking, Dagan thought. He'd always felt more comfortable on water than on land. They travelled for several days on the river, at times they'd have to haul the canoes overland for a short distance in an effort to miss rocky rapids, snags or fallen trees. Then once past the hazards, the journey downstream would begin anew.
Each night they'd make camp on shore and far enough from the river their fire couldn't be easily seen.