The trip lasted six long, bone shaking and teeth rattling hours. The sky was an angry gray and matched Mary’s soul. Mary felt as though her bones had been shaken loose, her body ached along with her heart. Her rump was numb along with her face and hands. Ellis had fallen asleep in her arms, his thin arms wrapped around her narrow waist. She watched as the Anderson’s carriage passed them on the street, heading for the large hotel three blocks away. This was the first time that Mary had away from her home and her mouth hung open as she looked around her. There were dozens of carriages and wagons that filled the cobblestone streets. Her honey colored eyes darted around her.
People filled the streets and sidewalks. There were huge buildings that lined the streets. There were shops with signs, that had writing on them. Mary couldn’t read, but the signs looked fancy. The people looked fancy as well. There were women in fancy dresses, and men too, dressed with fine coats and tall hats. Some sported fur that kept them warm. Mary shook her head. She’d never seen so many people. There were little black boys, who trailed behind their mistresses, carrying packages and boxes.
The streets were lined with massive oaks and Mary picked up a strange scent. She’d never smelled it before. It smelled of rotting plants, salt and fish. It was noisy around her, but her head turned this way and that. Large crows sat among the branches of the large oaks, calling down to the people below.
Clark instructed the driver to turn off the main street and head for the slave stables where the children would be kept tonight. Tomorrow, they would go onto the slave block to be sold to their new owners. Clark handed down each child to the auctioneer, giving him the appropriate papers for each child. The children held on to each other, their crying starting once again. Mary held onto Ellis’ hand; her eyes wide with fear. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and her legs trembled.
The hefty man herded the children into a stall filled with straw that wasn’t too clean. Closing the door on the children, he walked away, ignoring their piteous cries. Mary stood numbly as her hands held onto the rough stable door, splinters digging into her small hands. She was going to be sold, Clark had tricked her mother. There would have been nothing her mother could have done had she known anyway. There were no choices given to slaves, and this was another bitter lesson Mary learned.
Looking around the other stalls, she saw other wretched men and women in various states of dress; many were woefully lacking suitable clothing for the dead of winter. Mary was grateful for her boots and stockings. She wore no coat, but held the blanket her mother had given her, around her narrow shoulders. She could also huddle with the other children and that would keep her reasonably warm. The smell inside the stables made her gag, it smelled of putrid death, of foul dung and urine. The men and women stared blankly into space, hope long wrenched from them. She turned her gaze away from them.
Mary felt her heart squeeze as she thought once again of her mother. Her eyes glazed over in pain. She didn’t hear Clark at first, and then her head cleared.
“I said, you stupid little whelp, the Mistress wants you to come to the hotel. You ain’t gonna be sold today.” He whispered in a nasty voice. He jerked her roughly by the back of her dress and dragged her out of the stable, the quilt dropped to the straw floor and left behind. She watched as the children gathered around the stable gate, Ellis picking up the old quilt and clutching it to his chest.
Her last vision of the place was of solemn dark eyes, dirty fingers gripping the gate and tears. Desperation was like a living thing in this building. That vision stayed with Mary for the rest of her life, as real and as poignant as that very moment. She raised a small hand, waving good-bye to her childhood friends. Their hands waving back in farewell, like dark flowers waiving in the wind. Mary thought that her soul had left her and she felt her heart shatter.
Guilt tore at Mary, but it was overshadowed by elation. She wasn’t going to be sold, it hadn’t been a trick. She would see her mother again; she would see Liza and Nan, Patina, Dark Henry, Cookie and Old Bitsy. Mary walked as fast as she could, to keep up with Clark, because she would have been dragged otherwise. Mary’s head turned like a loose pivot, as she took in the big city. She had never been anywhere and her mouth hung open as she saw all the people, both whites and slaves alike. It was different walking than from the wagon too, she was in the middle of it all.
She looked into the large windows of the tall buildings, with everything imaginable displayed in their windows. Mary had no idea as to what they were, odd things. She saw beautiful material and dresses. She saw shoes and books and furniture. She tripped and would have fallen in horse manure had Clark not been dragging her along. She tried to concentrate on where
