When Property Flees (eBook)

A Novel

Gregory LeFever (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2019 | 1. Auflage
378 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-5439-5411-1 (ISBN)

Infos

When Property Flees is a novel of courage. It looks beyond the romantic legend of the Underground Railroad to tell the story of an enslaved family's desperate flight, the people who helped them, and their pursuers. When Property Flees offers insights into the political, economic, religious, cultural, and moral issues fiercely dividing the United States in the years leading quickly to the Civil War.

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When Property Flees is a novel of courage. It tells of the lives and struggles of people in two farming communities, one in southern Ohio and the other across the Ohio River in northern Kentucky. It tells of lives threatened by cruelty and hatred and of people's fight for dignity when their neighbors, their government, and its laws are against them. When Property Flees looks beyond the romantic legend of the Underground Railroad. Through the story of an enslaved family's desperate flight, we meet fellow travelers, helpers both eager and reluctant, and pursuers, and we come to understand the issue of slavery from these complicated perspectives. When Property Flees offers insights into the political, economic, religious, cultural, and moral issues fiercely dividing the United States in the years leading quickly to the Civil War.

Textauszug

Chapter Six

Decision

“Nettie, is something troubling you?” Grace Leyden looks up from the mound of clothing on her bed.

“Just got things on my mind, ma’am.”

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

The two women are on different sides of the canopied bed, culling the mistress’s apparel and setting aside garments that no longer fit or have fallen from fashion. Grace moves to her vanity table and sits on the padded stool. She snaps her fingers to get Nettie’s attention and then points at an overstuffed chair.

“Sit down right there, Nettie, and tell me what’s bothering you. I know something is.”

Nettie moves to the chair. From this seat she glimpses her own reflection in the vanity mirror against the backdrop of the room’s plush furnishings. She looks down at her feet.

“Ma’am, it’s my oldest boy, Richard. Mister Hill says Richard and some other boys did something bad to a fence. My boy says he didn’t do nothing wrong. But Mister Hill says he’s going to tell Mister Leyden about it.”

“Nettie, you know my husband is a fair man.”

“I know he is, ma’am. I never seen him do wrong by any of us.”

“So why are you worried?”

“I don’t want Mister Leyden thinking my boy is bad.”

“Nonsense.” Grace brushes lint from the sleeve of her dress. “You and William are among our most trusted servants. William’s been here since he was a child and you and your boy have been here, what, ten years now? You know I’ve liked you from the very beginning. I made you my maidservant and put my trust in you to take care of my May. You know these things. So you shouldn’t worry about what my husband is thinking.”

“I know, ma’am. It’s just you been so good to me and I don’t want nothing bad to happen. I get scared.”

“Let me put your mind at ease,” the mistress says. “I’ll talk to my husband about this and I’ll talk to my brother. I’ll make sure your boy is treated fairly.” Grace steps over to her armoire and swings open its doors. She runs her hand across the dresses hanging there. “If it turns out Richard did behave badly—and I’m not saying he did or he didn’t—I’ll make sure the punishment is mild. I’m sure he’s a good boy.”

Raindrops spill from William’s hat brim onto his hands as he pounds a steel pin through the flanges of a barn door hinge. He steps back and slowly swings the door open and closed to test the hinge.

Bobby Hill suddenly appears at his side in a rubber slicker. “Come to the house.”

The overseer’s words strike fear in William.

“It’s nothing bad. Bring your measuring tape.”

The two men walk up the muddy path toward the house, past the deep front porch with its graceful lines. “I’ll bet you’re familiar with every inch of this place,” Bobby Hill says. “How long you been taking care of it?”

“Ever since Mister Leyden made me his carpenter. Been a good many years now.”

The overseer leads William past the outbuilding that serves as the summer kitchen. They enter the house through a rear door and wipe their boots with rags. They step quietly through the dining room and then down a wide hall to another room where Philip Leyden stands beside his desk.

“How are you, William?”

“Good as can be, Mister Leyden, sir.”

Leyden pulls himself to his full height and straightens his green satin waistcoat. “Come over here, William. Take a look at this wall.” Three framed landscape paintings hang on it. “I want bookshelves built right here. Enough for a small library. Yes?”

William looks across the room to a set of shelves already holding several books.

“And I want those old shelves removed. I want you to build a cabinet where those shelves are, a place where I can put papers and files.” He turns back to the first wall. “Yes, the books will go here.” Then he turns toward the center of the room. “I’ll want the desk to face the door, my back against that window and I think perhaps some shades on the window itself. But we can talk about that as you go along.”

“Yessir.”

Leyden puts his hand on William’s shoulder. He is an angular man, tall enough to look down on the slave. “William, I want your work in this room to be of your highest quality. I’ll be having important men in here and I want them to be impressed. I want them to see by this room that I’m a man worthy of their utmost respect. A man to be trusted. Do you understand what I’m saying, William?”

“I can only build what I know, sir.”

Leyden chuckles. “That’s very true and I have every confidence in your abilities. I’ll see you get good lumber—the best—and whatever hardware you require.”

“Yessir.”

Leyden turns to face his brother-in-law. “Bobby, perhaps you can take William to see the old judge’s chambers in the courthouse in Washington. I know most of the building is a school now, but I believe those old chambers still convey the sense of authority I’m seeking. Do it soon.”

“We can do that,” Bobby Hill answers.

Hours later, back in their cabin, Nettie and William and the children squeeze around the table. On it sits a pan of sweet potatoes Nettie has just boiled from the small stash they buried last fall in the root cellar. William folds his hands. “Hush, you children,” he begins, “Lord, we thank you for this food—”

“And for protecting Richard,” Nettie interjects, glancing across the table at her son.

“And for watching out for the boy, Lord, that’s true. We thank you. Amen.” William opens his eyes and says to Richard, “I sure hope you learning something about not messing up no more.”

With that, William spears a potato and divides it between the two younger boys’ plates. As he slices it, he tells Nettie about his visit to the house and Philip Leyden’s plans for the office. “That man says he trusts me to do a good job to make him proud,” he says, beaming.

“Glad you had it so good,” Nettie laughs. “The missus had me sorting clothes and made me hem a dress for their girl. Whew, I say that girl’s got some temper. Something don’t go Miss May’s way and she shouts so loud the angels got to cover their ears.”

Two raps on the door bring a sudden end to the talk. Bobby Hill enters the cabin, rain dripping from his hat and slicker.

“Just sit, keep eating. I’m bringing news.”

“About Mister Leyden’s new room?” William wipes his hand across his mouth.

“Not that. No, I’ve talked with him about the trouble around here.”

The overseer’s words fall like a shadow over the family.

“You know our boy didn’t do nothing wrong,” Nettie says and reaches over to take Richard’s hand. “You know that.”

“What’d you expect him to say?” The overseer glares at Richard. “Same as Reuben and Ben say. Same as Louie says. Same as Frankie. I told Mister Leyden what I saw.”

The baby Lucy bangs a spoon on the table.

“I know your boy and the others are making trouble around here, like I told you. But this time I caught them red-handed. And you’re the ones who should be keeping these culprits in line.”

The overseer paces around the cramped cabin, moving closer to the fireplace for warmth.

“We try, Mister Hill,” Nettie cries. “You know he’s a good—”

“You people make trouble and you know who gets in a bind? I do. I’m the one who hears about it from my sister and her husband. So I’m figuring how to make these things stop.” He stares straight at Richard. “And I asked Mister Leyden to let me handle the punishment. To let me figure it out.”

“Mister Leyden’s always been fair all these years,” William says.

“I’ll be fair. It’s just I’ve got a different way of handling things. For one, there’s going to be some whipping.”

“No!” Nettie clutches Richard’s hand even tighter. “You know Mister Leyden never—”

“Your wish is granted, Nettie,” Bobby Hill grins as he rubs his hands together near the flames. “I’ve decided it’s the parents who can’t keep their boys in line, so it’s the parents who need to be punished. I’ll be putting the lash to Willis and Rufe and William here.”

“My Pa didn’t do nothing,” Richard cries out as he pulls his hand free of his mother.

“You see how this boy reacts?” Bobby Hill says. “I think these rascals watching their fathers getting some bloody stripes will hurt worse than if I laid leather to their own nasty black skins.”

William looks up at the overseer. “I never been...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.1.2019
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Historische Romane
• ISBN-10: 1-5439-5411-1 / 1543954111
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5439-5411-1 / 9781543954111