'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.
'Still smell smoke, but no see blaze,' Kawliga had said in his short sentences. Kawliga had also proved to be an excellent cook. He fried bacon at night, cooking enough to have for breakfast in the morning without cooking again. He was good at cooking fried cornbread in the bacon grease and on a couple nights he even fried sliced sweet potatoes. Jubal seemed to think nothing of Kawliga's cooking abilities but Caleb and Dagan were impressed.
'Sure beats the hell out of old Frosty's cooking,' Caleb swore.
'That it does,' Dagan agreed but both men missed the 'old coot'.
One morning Kawliga spoke to Jubal who in turn turned to Dagan. Motioning his head toward the Indian Jubal said, 'He thinks we're in South Carolina now.'
'How can he tell?' Caleb asked.
'Lots of ways,' Jubal replied. 'There's more moss on the tree limbs that are hanging over the river. The lands more flat, more swamp and backwater. You don't see the clearly defined river banks we've been used to.'
The air that had smell ed like honeysuckle now seemed to have a fetid odor. Birds stood in the shallows.
A white wood ibis on the bank beat its wings and lifted off. A sound like a bellow was heard.
As the bird lifted off Kawliga pointed. 'Alligator scare bird, make it fly.'
Lily pads were thick in areas, some with bright yellow blossoms. Turtles sunning on logs made plopping sounds as they slid into the water as the canoes passed by. Herons stood high on their long thin yellow legs.
These were al changes Dagan and Caleb had seen but had not realized the significance. They were out of their element and Dagan was once again thankful he'd been able to obtain such guides as Kawliga and Jubal.
'The only things I've seen different,' Caleb responded, 'Is more mosquitoes and snakes.' That night it rained again and the men slept under the boats. They had turned the boats over and using downed tree limbs to prop them up, creating a shelter of sorts that kept things dryer and made the night more comfortable.
'Supplies are about out so we have to get some soon,' Dagan told the party that night before they turned in. 'If we don't find a trading place on the river soon we'll have to go inland before we continue to Charlestown.'
Rising early the following morning the group rowed with a determination, putting a great distance behind them before the sun started to set. It was like they could al feel the urgency that possessed Dagan's very soul. As the canoes turned toward the shore another bird caught Caleb's eye, 'Look at that. That's the prettiest bird I ever seen.'
As the colorful bird flew off, Jubal said, 'That's a bunting.'
'I'm not sure what it is,' Caleb thought to himself, 'But I wouldn't mind seeing Kit y with a thin nightgown on
