Carried Forward By Hope (34 page)

Miles opened the door and stepped out on the porch. “Well, ain’t y’all a sight for sore eyes,” he called. “What you doin’ back in Richmond?”

Moses grinned and jumped from the wagon. “I’ve got some very special people I want you to meet, Miles.” He made the introductions quickly.

“You said you was goin’ to find them, Moses,” Miles said admiringly. “I reckon you did.” He held the door open and beckoned to them. “Y’all come on inside, Miss Annie and Miss Sadie. May just pulled some cookies out of the stove. I figured she and I would eat them all, but I reckon I’m willin’ to share with Moses’s family.”

Everyone laughed, but Annie hung back at the bottom of the stairs.

Moses turned back to her. “What’s wrong, Mama?”

Annie stared up at the house. “I ain’t neber walked in de front door of a white man’s house,” she said fearfully. “I don’t aim to start now. Where de back door be?”

Moses took her arm. “I know it’s going to take some getting used to, but things are different now. You’re free, but it’s more than that. The Cromwells are family,” he said soothingly. He could tell by the frightened look in her eyes that she wasn’t convinced. “Mama, don’t you trust me?”

Annie looked at him then, obviously absorbing strength from what she saw in his eyes. She nodded slowly. “I do trust you, Moses, but…” She stared at Miles. “You be a slave here?”

“No, ma’am,” Miles said promptly. “I sho ‘nuff used to be, but I’s be free now.”

“Then what you still be doin’ here?” Annie asked suspiciously.

Miles straightened himself proudly. “Mr. Cromwell told us we could leave. May and I decided not to. At least for now. We like it here. We have all the food we need, and we gots a fine house to live in all by ourselves.” He grinned, his white teeth flashing against his dark face. “Why would I want to go and leave somethin’ like that?”

“You go in and out the front door?” Annie asked.

“No, ma’am,” Miles answered honestly. “But that’s because I work here. You be comp’ny!” He held the door open and beckoned to her again. “Things ain’t like they used to be, Miss Annie. You hold your head up high and walk through this door. You’re comp’ny!”

Annie stared up at him and then lifted her head high. “Thank you, Miles,” she said graciously, her eyes full of wonder as they all walked into the foyer.

May bustled out of the kitchen, her face flushed from the heat of the stove. She stopped short when she saw the group in the foyer, but her face flashed into a grin when she identified Moses and Jeremy. “Welcome home!” she called. “I didn’t know you two was comin’. Don’t you know you’s supposed to let a body know?”

Moses laughed and made the introductions again. “We weren’t sure we were going to stop,” he explained. “Mama is getting tired after so many days in the wagon. We decided soft beds and some of your good cooking would get us the rest of the way to the plantation.”

“Hmph.” May sniffed and gazed at Annie. “That boy of yours always known how to get his way?”

Annie smiled, relaxing even more. “Eber since he was old ‘nuff to talk,” she agreed. “My man used to say our boy had a golden tongue.”

“He was right,” May agreed. She waved her hand toward the parlor. “Y’all go right on in there. I’ll bring out some cookies and lemonade.”

Annie moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll help,” she offered.

May stepped in front of the door. “I’ll be happy to let you in my kitchen sometime,” she said firmly, “but right now you are guests of the Cromwells.” She smiled and pointed toward the parlor. “Go act like guests,” she commanded.

Annie acquiesced, a look of wonder on her face. “Guests in a white man’s house,” she murmured, her eyes shining. “I reckon things are really a changin’.”

Jeremy pulled Moses to the side. “I’m going into town to get the news,” he said quietly.

Moses nodded gratefully. He, too, had seen the increased tension on the faces of the black people they passed. He saw the fear shining from their eyes, and he could feel the strain in the air. He was glad his mama felt safe at the Cromwells, but he knew all was not well.

******

Annie sat back in her chair with a sigh. “A body could get used to eatin’ like this eberday,” she said.

Moses smiled. “I’m going to make sure you have a place where you and Sadie can eat like this every day, Mama. It may take me a little while, but I’ll make it happen,” he promised.

“You also gonna decide to tell me what’s botherin’ you?” she asked casually. She laughed when Moses just stared at her. “You think I didn’t see you and Jeremy take off together when he got back? You think I couldn’t see how your eyes got all tense after the two of you talked?” She smiled, but her eyes were serious. “It may have been five years since I done seen you, but that don’t mean a mama forgets her boy — even one that grows up to be a giant.”

Moses took her hand. “I don’t want you to worry, Mama.”

Annie laughed and raised her eyebrows at May who had just come in with a hot pot of coffee. “Ain’t that just like a man,” she scoffed. “Dey ain’t no good at hidin’ things anyway, and then dey think we’re too stupid to see what’s dere.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Moses protested.

“Good,” Annie replied serenely. “Then why don’t you quit playin’ your little game and tell me what’s going on? Me and Sadie been takin’ care of ourself a long time. A little truth ain’t gonna kill us.”

May chuckled as she set the coffee down. “I do like your mama, Moses,” she said decisively. “You and Mr. Jeremy done look worried ever since he done got back. Since I’m sure it’s trouble for the black folk, I do believe me and Miles will listen in iffen you don’t mind?”

Moses looked at Jeremy and shrugged. “I told you they would know,” he muttered.

Jeremy nodded. “You were right.” He took a deep breath and turned to everyone. “There’s trouble,” he admitted.

“Boy, life be about trouble,” Annie said. “What kind of trouble there be now?”

“The white folks here in Richmond are afraid of how many freed slaves are pouring into the city.”

“They just be lookin’ for a living,” May protested. “They’s free now!”

Jeremy nodded. “That’s true, but the city just doesn’t know what to do with them. It was already overpopulated. It’s getting worse. The freed slaves are coming because they believe there is opportunity, but there aren’t enough jobs for everyone.”

“What dey expect dem to do?” Sadie demanded. “They’s free now.”

“I heard a lot of talk,” Jeremy responded. “I may have lost my job, but I’m still white, so it’s easy for me to listen.”

“Handy,” Miles commented laconically.

Jeremy chuckled and then continued, his eyes worried. “The plantation owners are afraid they won’t have any labor to put their new crops in if all the freed slaves come to Richmond.”

“Seems to me if they’s givin’ out jobs with pay dat plenty of us will want to work,” Annie observed. Then her voice sharpened. “You still ain’t tellin’ us what’s really goin’ on. You tellin’ us what it be about, but you ain’t saying what kind of trouble there be.”

Moses shrugged. “She was always smarter than me,” he said. “Tell them what is going on, Jeremy.”

Jeremy hesitated and looked around the table. “The military came through and arrested hundreds of blacks for vagrancy. They took them outside the city limits and told them to not come back.”

“What?” Miles exclaimed. “They’s can’t do that to free men!”

Jeremy frowned. “I’m afraid laws are being made up as they go,” he admitted. “The North is convinced the only way to revive the Southern economy is to rebuild agriculture. They’re also convinced that reviving the economy is the only way to keep everyone down here from starving, and also make their job easier.”

“That seems ‘bout right,” Miles agreed. “Mr. Cromwell talked about how bad the economy is. You worked with all that money stuff, Mr. Jeremy. Don’t you think they be right?”

Jeremy sighed. “I agree with the fact that the Southern economy needs to be rebuilt…”

“But they’s wantin’ to force all the freed slaves back out to de plantations,” Annie said flatly.

Jeremy exchanged a long look with Moses. “You did say she was smarter than you,” he murmured. He turned to Annie. “Yes, ma’am,” he agreed reluctantly. “That’s their plan. The army is issuing stringent orders to stop the influx of freed slaves into the cities.” He took a deep breath. “I learned today that the army is banning any more freed slaves from coming into Richmond.”

“Anybody?” May gasped.

Jeremy shrugged. “The order says anyone seeking employment, family members, or protection against violence.”

Silence fell over the table.

“I reckon that be everybody,” Miles growled. “They can do dat, Mr. Jeremy? What about us bein’ free?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Everything is a mess right now, Miles. I don’t think what they’re doing is right, but I’m not sure what I would advise them to do differently. Richmond can’t support the number of people here now. Letting more in will only make it worse for those who are already here — both white and black.”

“But where are the free people gonna work?” May asked. “How they gonna survive now?”

Jeremy spoke carefully. “They are trying to get the freed slaves to go back to work on the plantations.”

“You mean dey gonna make ‘em,” Sadie said flatly. “Just like dey still be slaves.”

Moses opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again. His sister was speaking the truth.

“They’ll have to be paid,” Jeremy said, spreading out his hands. “There are no easy answers,” he admitted. “The North wanted the slaves to be free, but they have no real idea how to help them live as free people. Before the war started there were over two million slaves in the South. The Southern economy has been destroyed by the war, and now there are two million more people who need to have jobs and survive.”

Annie nodded. “It’s a problem, sho ‘nuff,” she agreed. “I reckon there be a bunch of us dat don’t want to go back and work on another plantation ‘cause it be just like slavery again. In fact, I ‘magine there be a bunch that just don’t want to work at all. Dey’s just want to be taken care of now.”

Jeremy stared at her with admiration. “Yes, ma’am, that seems to be the crux of it.”

“What the plantation owners gonna do to make it right?” she demanded. “If dey be wantin’ us to come back to work, what dey gonna do to make it right?”

Jeremy hesitated. “The problem is that so many of the plantation owners lost everything in the war,” he admitted. “They still have their land, but they have no money.”

“So’s dey want all their old slaves to come back and work for nothin’?” Sadie asked. “How dat be any diff’nt from slavery?”

Moses jumped into the conversation. “Thomas has the same problem. We’ve worked out a plan where he will pay us what he can, and then we’ll get a percentage of the crop when it comes in.”

Annie nodded. “That sounds like it might work with someone like Mr. Cromwell, but what about owners that don’t tell the truth about what dey make? What’s to keep them from lyin’ and not payin’ when the season is done?”

Jeremy smiled tightly. “You do have a way of getting to the core of an issue,” he replied. “We quite simply don’t have the answers to all those questions yet.”

“Ain’t gonna be fun findin’ them,” Annie said flatly. “Gonna be a lot of anger and wrong thin’s done on both sides.”

Moses stared at her, knowing she was right. “At least you and Sadie will be safe out on the plantation,” he said gratefully, confident he was speaking the truth.

His mama gazed at him, her eyes knowing. “Trouble done have a way of findin’ even the ones who do the right thing,” she said matter-of-factly, “but I believe it be the best place for now.”

Moses took a deep breath, suddenly very glad they were going to be leaving the city in the morning. He looked at both May and Miles.

“Don’t you be worryin’ none about us,” Miles said reassuringly. “We knows where to stay out of, and you won’t find us on the streets after dark.”

Jeremy frowned. “I’m not sure that will be good enough,” he muttered.

“We’re staying right here,” May said firmly. “This been our home all through the war. They’s gonna round up the ones who are new, but they ain’t gonna bother with us. We’re going to stay right here takin’ care of Mr. Cromwell’s house. If things change, we’ll figure it out.” She smiled. “That’s part of being free, Moses. Freedom don’t mean things are going to be easy. It just means we get to make our own decisions. This be the first time I’ve gotten to make my own decisions. This is the decision I’m making. I’ll live with what happens.”

Moses nodded. “You’re right,” he said slowly, the truth of her words sinking in. “We all have to live with the consequences of our actions.”

Jeremy nodded. “My father used to tell me that the life I’m living right now is the direct result of every decision I’ve ever made.” He smiled slightly. “I didn’t like that very much, especially when I wasn’t happy with the life I was living, but I knew he was right.” He gazed at all of them. “All of you have had the right to make your own decisions taken away. Your lives were a result of other people’s decisions. It won’t always be easy, but May is right.”